The Delivery of Decor (Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers #7) - Liz Isaacson Page 0,2

company and shoveled bark and gravel for a living, she was strong enough to hold him for a moment. Long enough for him to get his footing, release her, and clear his throat.

“Sorry,” he said.

Dot looked around at his family, most of whom were watching the two of them. Preacher looked mildly horrified, and Ward suddenly knew why Preacher had kept his relationship out of the Shiloh Ridge limelight. Then he didn’t have to deal with awkward situations like this.

Of course, he now held hands with his fiancée, and Charlie fit right in with all the Glovers.

Ward turned his back on the group and stepped over to partially shield Dot too. “Did I miss a text?”

“You said we could talk about the delivery of your gravel.” She looked from him to his family and back, a hint of nerves in her eyes. “I thought I might get to see the babies.”

“You just missed them,” he said. “Look.” He turned his phone toward her, and she took it from him.

“Oh, they’re perfect.” She looked at him again, and as he’d crowded in beside her, their faces were only a few inches apart. He took a breath of her and got something green with dirt and something cottony fresh. Her tank top was a dark eggplant color, and it clung to all of her curves and revealed the muscles in her arms.

“What did they name them?”

“Jonathan and Judith,” he said.

“Judith sounds just like Ida,” Dot said with a smile. She focused back on the picture, studied it for a moment, and then handed it back to Ward. “Are you staying here for a while? I know you and Ida are close.”

“I’d like to see her,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “But her husband said they had her in a recovery room. She’ll be here overnight for sure. I can come back.” He took a step closer to her, though they were already practically touching. “Might be better, since there’s so many of us. We can be a lot to handle.”

“You’re kidding,” she said without the trace of a smile. “I had no idea you Glovers could be hard to deal with.”

“Hey, I’m not hard to deal with,” he said. “Am I?”

“Oh, Ward,” she said, patting his chest and sending excited tremors through every muscle in his body. “You’re the worst one.”

Chapter Two

Dorothy Crockett could admit that a day hadn’t gone by since she’d smashed her raspberry cream whip into Ward’s white church shirt that she hadn’t thought about him. She’d seen a different version of the cowboy that day at the church potluck, and when he’d called and said she intrigued him, Dot had changed her opinion of him completely.

At the same time, he still used his good looks against her, along with that Texas twang she found so sexy. Of course, Dot had always been a sucker for a strong, tall cowboy, and Ward had all the strength and all the height in the world. He could wear a cowboy hat like no man she’d ever met, and she’d never seen him without jeans and cowboy boots too. He changed up his shirts, and as the weather had cooled, he’d started wearing a leather jacket that made her heart pirouette every time she thought about it.

Today, he wore a T-shirt with the outline of Texas on it, and he must’ve bathed in pine needles and sugar, because he smelled masculine and delicious all at the same time.

He looked at her with those blue eyes that had probably broken dozens of women’s hearts, and Dot saw the confusion he harbored there.

“I’m the worst one?”

Dot blinked, trying to remember what she’d said to him and what he’d said before that.

“What have I done that’s been hard for you to deal with?” he demanded, and he fell back a step. Two, then three. He looked like she’d insulted his dog and his daddy, and Dot regretted teasing him.

“Do you know how many times you’ve called my office about gravel?”

“Do you know what it would’ve taken to get me to stop calling?” He folded his arms, and Dot didn’t want to have a stand-off with him in the hospital. Especially not the maternity wing, with his whole family watching.

“One returned phone call, Dot,” Ward said, rolling his eyes. He turned from her as if he’d really walk away.

“I’m returning your latest call,” she said, and that got him to face her again. Something sparked in those eyes now, and Dot really wanted to get