Spring Texas Bride (The Brides 0f Bliss Tx. Book 1) Read online

  “It’s not a ham can. It’s a vintage trailer.” She got to her feet and kissed Dirk’s cheek. “Thanks for picking me up, baby brother, and trying to fix my Jeep.”

  “I’m not sure it’s fixable. The transmission and radiator are shot, the battery is corroded, and the tires are bald. How much did you pay for that piece of junk, anyway?”

  She wasn’t about to tell him. He was the money manager in the family. He also knew how to make it. His online job search company, that he’d started with his friend Ryker Evans, had made him millions. But no matter how much money he had, he still believed that a penny saved was a penny earned. While Spring believed that a penny spent was much more fun.

  “Not much,” she said. “The guy at the used car lot gave me his best price.” She took Lucinda from Dirk.

  He snorted. “I just bet he did. Damn, Spring, I wish you’d called me first.”

  “Don’t cuss in front of the girls.” Gracie stood and took Luana from him. “And your sister doesn’t need to call you every time she buys something. She’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions, including going camping by herself.” She looked at Spring. “But I hope you’re going to stay for a while. I can certainly use a little help with the girls.”

  Dirk looked hurt. “Don’t I help?”

  Gracie patted his cheek. “Of course you do. You’re a wonderful daddy. It’s just that you’ve been kind of busy with the ranch and your city council meetings.” She looked at Spring with pride in her eyes. “Joanna Daily is trying to talk your brother into becoming Bliss’s next mayor.”

  Spring wasn’t surprised. Dirk had always been a leader. The type of man who liked to take charge. For some reason, an image of Sheriff Kendall popped into her head. Now there was a man who liked to take charge. And she couldn’t help wondering what would’ve happened if she’d let him take charge of a kiss. She mentally shook the thought away and returned to the conversation.

  “I think you’d make an amazing mayor,” she said.

  “I’d have to be better than the current one.” He blew bubbles on Luella’s neck until she giggled.

  “Don’t be too hard on Randall Gates,” Gracie removed a strand of her long blond hair from Luana’s fist. “The only reason he took the job was because no one else wanted it.”

  “I don’t get why Joanna Daily doesn’t do it,” Dirk said. “She does everything else.”

  “I think if she took on another job, Emmett would divorce her. She’s busy enough coordinating the volunteer helpers at the museum and planning the spring dance. I tried to help her at the museum this morning, but the girls decided they weren’t going to take their morning nap. And I don’t think people like to hear wailing babies when they’re trying to enjoy Bliss history.”

  “You should’ve called me,” Dirk said.

  “It wasn’t a big deal.” She handed him back Luana. “But you can watch them now while I go start dinner.”

  “I’ll help,” Spring said.

  “No, you stay and visit with your brother.”

  When Gracie was gone, Spring turned to Dirk. “It sounds like you could use a nanny.”

  He set the girls on the floor and sat down behind them. “I agree. But it’s not easy finding someone in a town this small, and Gracie isn’t willing to trust the girls with someone she doesn’t know well. For that matter, neither am I.” He pulled out some plastic building blocks from an antique chest that had once belonged to Lucy Arrington and started building towers for the triplets to knock down.

  Spring placed Lucinda in a circle with her sisters, then sat down. “I’ll be more than willing to nanny until I leave to go camping.”

  “Why camping? You’ve never shown an interest in it before. You won’t like it. You’ve never liked being alone.”

  She didn’t. Which is why she planned to call her daddy and see if he’d meet up with her. After getting the trailer, she’d started daydreaming about camping with her dad—cooking wienies over an open fire, telling ghost stories, and making s’mores. And when she got back, maybe she could prove to her siblings that Holt had changed. That he was making an effort to be a father.

  “Have you talked with Daddy?” she asked.

  Dirk shook his head. “After he tried to take Cole’s ranch, I want nothing to do with him ever again.” He glanced at her. “I hope you haven’t been talking to him either. I know you have a forgiving heart, but he’s trouble, Spring. I lived with him. I should know.”

  Spring didn’t know all the details of what had happened when their father had custody of Dirk. But she knew that living with Holt couldn’t have been fun. While she believed that he had turned over a new leaf, at that time he’d had a lot of problems, including being irresponsible and horrible with money—traits she was afraid she shared.

  “Sometimes people can’t help getting into trouble. Sometimes trouble just follows you. It seems to follow me.”

  “Trouble doesn’t follow Holt. He makes it.” Dirk stopped stacking blocks and looked at her. “And don’t you even think that you’re anything like our father. Holt is a dark cloud that snuffs out light, while you are a ray of sunshine that always makes people smile. Yes, you can be easily distracted at times, but you would never hurt anyone intentionally.”

  She blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to leave the door unlocked. I was just late for my hot yoga class, and then Autumn called to remind me to pick up some things at the grocery store, and then I saw that sad man who lives in the alley. He looked so cold that I ran back inside to get him a sweater. It was a returned sweater with a hole in the sleeve so I don’t know why Summer got so upset about it.”

  He put a comforting arm around her and tugged her close, kissing her head like she was one of his daughters. “You always have been so soft hearted. You might get distracted, but it’s usually because you’re more concerned with other people’s needs than your own. Summer and Autumn know that about you. Which means that what happened was as much their fault as yours.”

  She pulled back to stare at him. “Are you saying they shouldn’t have trusted me to close the store?”

  “It’s not about trust. It’s about giving the right jobs to the right people. No matter how much education, training, and experience a person has, some people do not make good managers. And guess what? That’s okay. Most of us are better foot soldiers than generals.”

  Spring sent him an annoyed look. “I guess I’m a foot soldier and Summer’s the general.”

  “Summer shouldn’t manage the store either.” He picked up Luana, who had started to fuss when she no longer had a fistful of her sister’s arm and bounced her on his lap. “Autumn should be the manager of the store. She’s focused, organized, can make decisions, and is empathetic without being a pushover. Unfortunately, there’s that entire birth order thing. And having been born first, Summer is convinced she should be in charge.” He paused. “Which is why Seasons is never going to succeed.”

  Spring’s eyes widened. “What? But you loaned us start-up money. Why would you do that if you thought it would never succeed?”

  Dirk shrugged. “Because you’re my sisters and I want to make you happy. Besides, would you have listened to me if I told you it wasn’t going to work?”

  She thought for a moment. “Autumn might’ve.”

  He laughed. “But she wouldn’t have been able to persuade you and Summer. So I thought it was best to let you learn the truth on your own. Sometimes you learn more from failure than you do from success.”

  She wanted to argue about Seasons failing, but deep down she knew that he was right. Autumn had been saying the same thing for months. Spring and Summer were just too stubborn to listen. Spring should’ve felt heartsick that the business she’d been working so hard at would eventually go under. But surprisingly, she didn’t feel that upset. She was more upset for her sister.

  “Summer won’t accept defeat until the bill collectors evict us,” she said.

  Dirk nodded. “I know. Th
e woman is almost as stubborn as you are.” He glanced at her. “You seem to be set on this camping trip. I wouldn’t mind if you were going with an experienced camper, but you don’t know the first thing about camping. And I don’t like the thought of you being all alone in the wilderness.”

  “Maybe I’ll pick up a handsome hitchhiker,” she teased.

  “You do, and I’ll take you over my knee.”

  She laughed. “Stop being a worrywart. I’ll be fine. I’m not actually camping out under the stars. I have my little trailer. How much do you think it will cost to fix my Jeep?” When Dirk quoted a price, her heart sank. He must’ve read her worried expression because he heaved a sigh.

  “You don’t have enough to cover it, do you? What happened to your share of the advance from the final Tender Heart novel?” Each member of Lucy’s family had been given a share of the book advance. It had seemed like a lot until Spring had starting spending it.

  “I bought my trailer. And then I had to buy the Jeep to pull it with, because my Kia wouldn’t have pulled it around the block.” She paused. “And then there were a few credit card bills that I needed to pay off.”

  Dirk arched a brow. “I thought we talked about you getting rid of those and only spending cash for things you needed.”

  “Nobody uses cash anymore, Dirk. That’s archaic.”

  “That’s smart. Especially for a woman who has trouble with her spending.”

  Since she couldn’t argue the point, she conceded. “You’re right. I need to curtail my spending. But for now, could I get a small loan? I can’t call Summer and Autumn and ask for money. I don’t want Summer adding to her list of grievances against me.” She sent him a hopeful look. “Just until I get my next paycheck? Please.”

  “Peas.” Lucinda mimicked.

  Spring laughed. “See, even your daughter wants you to loan me money.”

  Dirk sent her a skeptical look. “Or maybe she’s just hungry.”

  Chapter Four

  What do you hate most about the dating process?

  Waylon stared at the question on the screen of his laptop. At the moment, what he hated most was answering the stupid questions on the online dating application. He skipped the question and moved on to others that were just as stupid. What’s your favorite movie? Who are your favorite authors? What are some of your pet peeves? What really makes you laugh?

  Spring.

  It was surprising how quickly the answer popped into his head. Probably because Spring had made him laugh. At least he’d been laughing until she’d looked up at him with big blue eyes that held so much heat he’d felt like a deep-fried chicken wing. Then all the humor of the situation had drained right out of him, and he’d wanted to dive headfirst into that heat and never come up for air. If Spring hadn’t turned away, he would’ve done just that.

  Which was why he’d decided to join the millions of other people who Internet dated. It was obvious by his reaction to Spring that he needed a woman in a bad way. And it was better to take his time and be selective about the type of woman he got in a relationship with than to jump in bed with a woman like Spring.

  Spring Hadley was trouble. Trouble with a capital T. He knew it the first time he’d laid eyes on her. She’d been a bridesmaid in Dirk and Gracie’s wedding, along with her two sisters. But she’d been the only triplet who had short hair with a stripe in it. The only one who’d forgotten her bouquet and hiked up her dress, flashing more than a little leg to the entire church, and sprinted back to the bridal room to get it. And the only one who’d winked at him as she’d walked down the aisle.

  Waylon wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover, but when Spring had proceeded to flirt with every man at the reception, he’d figured her cover was fitting. He’d known girls like her. Even dated a few. They were never satisfied with one man’s attention. They wanted the entire male population to fall at their feet. Which was usually where the trouble came in. And after he’d only just won the townsfolk’s respect, he wasn’t about to mess it up by getting involved with trouble.

  He returned his focus to the questionnaire and typed out quick responses. My favorite movie is Robocop. Favorite authors are Grisham and Crichton. Pet peeves are people who are late or unorganized. Since he couldn’t come up with an answer for what made him laugh, he skipped that question and moved to what he hated about the dating process. First dates. He more than hated them. He despised them. There was nothing more awkward then trying to have a conversation with a woman you didn’t know. Or with one you did know.

  Having grown up with three brothers, women were like aliens from another planet to him. He didn’t understand their preoccupations with their weight or social networking or reality television. He didn’t understand their mood swings or their need to talk about every emotion that passed through their bodies. Just because you felt something didn’t mean you had to talk about it.

  Of course, he wouldn’t ever understand them if he didn’t make the effort.

  He moved onto the next question. What’s your main goal in joining an online dating site? At the moment, it was to get laid. But since he couldn’t put that, he typed something that sounded a little less caveman-ish. To find a woman who shares my same interests. Hopefully, that included sex.

  “You look pretty intense, Way. Are you hunting down the town’s most wanted or Internet shopping?”

  Waylon glanced up from computer to see Raff Arrington standing in the doorway smiling. It was good to see his friend so happy. Raff had been through some tough times in his life and deserved happiness.

  Waylon closed his laptop before waving his friend in. “Just looking at new fishing poles before I call it a day.”

  Raff sent him a skeptical look as he sat down in the chair in front of Waylon’s desk. “Since when do you like fishing? You never could sit still long enough to let a fish bite.”

  “I’ve gotten a little more patient in my old age and thought I’d give it another shot. What has you stopping by so close to suppertime?”

  “I was on my way to pick up Savannah from Home Sweet Home when I saw your light and thought I’d stop by and ask you a favor.”

  “Shoot.”

  Raff relaxed back in the chair and swiped at the dirt on the knees of his jeans. Ranching was hard, dirty work, but Raff seemed to love it. And he was good at it. His Tender Heart Ranch was thriving. “It seems Luke has gotten it into his head that he wants to play high school baseball.”

  Luke was a seventeen-year-old who lived with Raff and Savannah. A year earlier, Waylon had picked up Luke for breaking into Raff’s barn. It turned out that the teenager had been running away from his abusive stepfather. Raff had taken the kid in, and once he and Savannah got married, they became like parents to the teenager. In fact, the entire town had taken an interest in Luke’s well-being. Waylon included.

  “And what’s wrong with baseball?” he asked.

  “I don’t have a problem with him playing baseball. I just don’t want him getting his feelings hurt when the coach benches him.”

  “Why would the coach bench him?”

  Raff ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve been to some of the practices and Luke is pretty bad. I’m talking Matthew Jorgenson bad.”

  Matthew Jorgenson had been a geeky kid whose dad had forced him to try out for baseball. The poor kid’s tryout had been so pathetic it had prompted a catch phrase. Anytime anyone screwed up royally on the field, it was called “Pulling a Jorgenson.”

  Waylon blew out his breath. “Well, shit. Why did the coach let him on the team in the first place?”

  Raff cringed. “I asked him to. Luke’s confidence is still pretty low and I was hoping it would help his self-esteem. But now I’m thinking it will get even worse if he has to warm the bench the entire season.” He leaned up, resting his arms on his knees. “The only solution is to get Luke better. And since you were so good at baseball, I thought you could give Luke a few pointers.”

  Waylon had been good at baseball. So good that he’
d been drafted right out of high school. But his father had talked him into going to college first, and his junior year he’d torn his Achilles tendon and lost out on the draft. Occasionally, he thought about what might have been if he’d gone to baseball straight out of high school. The traveling he would’ve done. The places he would’ve seen. But it never did anyone any good to look back.

  “I haven’t played since college, Raff. I don’t know how much help I’d be.”

  “You’re better than I am.”

  He grinned. “I’m glad you’ve finally accepted the fact that I’m a better athlete than you are.”

  Raff took the bait. “In baseball. I kicked your ass at football. The proof is up on the wall in the high school gym.”

  “You got the record for sacks only because I was out that season with a dislocated shoulder.”

  “Wienie.” Raff’s eyes twinkled.

  Waylon bit back a grin. “Showboat.” He sat up and cupped his hands on the desk. “Fine, I’ll try and help Luke.”

  Raff grinned. “Thanks. But we can’t let Luke know that you’re coaching him. He doesn’t think he’s bad, and I don’t want his feelings hurt. Nor do I want him getting pissed. He has a worse temper than I used to.”

  At one time, Raff had been the most hot-tempered kid in town. Anything could set him off. Thankfully, he’d mellowed with age. Or with marriage.

  “Savannah has certainly tamed the bad boy,” Waylon said. Raff didn’t even try to deny it. “So how are we going to hide the fact that I’m coaching Luke?”