Cowboy's Conundrum (Culpepper Cowboys Book 3) Read online

  Joy shook her head. “Oh, no. They had Charity, Patience, Prudence, and Harmony all ready, in case they had another set of quadruplets.”

  “Do any of your sisters suit their names?” he asked, a half-grin on his face.

  She shook her head. “Not a one of them. Grace is the clumsiest girl you ever did see. Chastity, well, we’re not going to talk about Chastity. She’s technically chaste, even if her thoughts are far from it! Hope is usually hopeful, but she has her moments of doubt. Honor has honor, I guess. As much as anyone, but not more so. Faith has faith, but again, about like anyone.”

  “And Joy? Is she filled with Joy?” Kolby couldn’t believe the odd conversation he was having with her. He reached out and traced her cheek with his index finger.

  Joy nodded. “My parents always talked about how I was the only one to really live up to my name.” She didn’t mention what a turmoil her thoughts usually were. She wasn’t trying to deceive him, but what man would want a woman who wasn’t joyous?

  He smiled at that. “I like that quality in a woman.” He wanted to kiss her. He’d met her fifteen minutes before, and already all he could think about was kissing her. She’d be fine to have babies with, but he really didn’t want to lose his heart.

  They both jumped when the back door opened and Hope came in with his brother. Karlan, she thought. He announced they were getting married. Joy’s eyes widened. Already? She’d expected Hope to be the first among them to marry, but to be engaged within fifteen minutes? Hope did everything first, but this was extreme even for her.

  Joy stood and walked to where Karlan and Hope were talking, sensing that Kolby was right behind her.

  After a brief discussion they left again, and Joy looked at Kolby with surprise. “Well, that was quick.”

  Kolby rolled his eyes. “Just like Karlan. He found the one he wanted and immediately proposed so there was no chance of anyone else getting her.”

  Joy bit her lip. “Does that mean you’d rather be with Hope as well?”

  He opened his mouth to reassure her but thought better of it. “I don’t know. I’ve never met the girl. I’ve only met you.”

  Joy nodded slowly. Of all the sisters, she was the only one who wasn’t asked out on a regular basis. She had always felt miniscule when compared to the personalities of her sisters. “Would you like me to introduce you to the others?”

  He shook his head. “Not now. Let’s go for a quick walk.”

  “A walk?” Joy was confused. Didn’t he care when Hope and Karlan were getting married? Surely he did.

  He nodded firmly. “A walk. I want to get to know you without all these eyes on us.”

  Joy looked around the room. She didn’t feel any eyes on her. Linda and Dr. Lachele were talking. Hope was on the back porch with Karlan. Faith was still on the couch with one of his brothers, and Chastity was—well, it looked like Chastity was trying to lose her virginity in the dining room, but that was neither here nor there.

  “Okay,” she said, not certain what bug had crawled up his butt, but she didn’t really care to find out. She was tugged toward the front door by him, smiling tightly at Faith as she passed her on her way out.

  When they reached the open air, he kept her hand in his, walking around the side of the house toward the stable. “I don’t know what you know about the ranch yet. We have five houses here, one for each of us, and Mom lives here in the big house.”

  “I see.” What she saw were mountains off in the distance, and she wanted to go to them. She wanted to drag Kolby off and beg him to have a picnic at the base of one of the mountains. She wanted romance in her world. She wasn’t so certain that Kolby would be able to deliver on that as she had been in the moments after they’d first met.

  “I’ve lived here since my dad died when I was two.”

  “I’m sorry. You must not have any memories of him.”

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t. My granddaddy made a great substitute father, but I always felt like something was missing.”

  “I can understand that.”

  Kolby walked down a path of rocks with animals painted on them toward a small bench. Once he reached the bench, he sat down, turning to face Joy. “I didn’t really want to walk.”

  Joy stared at him with wide eyes. “What did you want?”

  “I wanted to kiss you somewhere we wouldn’t be seen.”

  “K...k…kiss me?” She’d never been kissed in her life. She’d have been astonished to hear anyone had ever wanted to kiss her.

  He nodded. “Do you mind?”

  Joy swallowed hard. “I guess not. No one has ever kissed me before.” As soon as she’d blurted the words out, she was embarrassed by them. She shouldn’t have told him that. What would he think of her?

  He stared at her in shock. “You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

  Joy shook her head. “No, we were never allowed to. Our parents firmly believed that your first kiss should take place after you speak your vows before a pastor.”

  “Wow.” Kolby wasn’t even sure what to say to that. “I didn’t know there were any girls who were even virgins in this country past the age of twenty, let alone un-kissed.” He frowned at her. “Please tell me you’re over twenty?” His voice was slightly panicked.

  She giggled at that. “We’re twenty-two.”

  “Oh, good. I won’t feel so much like I’m cradle-robbing then.” He was twenty-nine, which was seven years older than her, but that didn’t bother him like her being under twenty would have. He stroked her cheek with one hand, moving his fingers into her hair, and tilting her head to one side. “I’m going to kiss you, Miss Joy.”

  Joy nodded, her eyes drifting closed as his mouth came down on hers. His lips were soft, gently moving against her closed mouth. She put her hand on his shoulder, unsure what she was supposed to do to participate in the kiss. Her parents had never kissed in front of them, and she’d never been allowed to watch much television. Kisses were foreign to her.

  He raised his head, a grin on his lips. “Yup. You definitely live up to your name. That kiss brought me joy.”

  She smiled at him, blushing slightly. She liked that kiss. It was nice. Chastity had talked to her about kisses with tongues, but she knew it would be a long time before she was ready for something like that. Years maybe!

  “I’m glad,” she whispered. “I think I like kissing.”

  He chuckled, already feeling the tug of his heart. This girl was awfully special. “We should probably go back in and see when Karlan and Hope are going to marry. I have a feeling we’ll be attending a wedding today.”

  “Do you really think they’ll do it that quickly?”

  “If I know my brother, and I do, he’s already called the preacher.”

  2

  During the short reception Linda had for Karlan and Hope, which took place just hours after they’d met, the men’s cousin showed up. He made some demands and threatened to take them to court before leaving. In short, he wanted one fifth of the ranch, and nothing else would satisfy him.

  After he’d gone, the sisters all exchanged glances, and Joy could see there was already a plan. Whatever it was, she was on board, of course. She had marketable skills and would happily use them.

  After they’d all had a light snack, Kolby once again asked Joy to go for a walk. She agreed, explaining to Linda where she was going. She could tell it annoyed Kolby a little, but she knew that Linda was acting as her chaperone, and she wasn’t about to be rude to her.

  He led her a different way this time, explaining the layout of the ranch. “I really want to show you my house.”

  Joy glanced up at him in the late afternoon sunlight. “You know I’m not willing to…get frisky with you, don’t you?”

  He laughed, the sound filling her with delight. “Yes, I know. No hanky-panky or premarital diddling. I’ve been given the same memo you have.” Dr. Lachele had made all of them sign contracts explaining about no pre-marital sex, and all of the sisters had to be married wi
thin a month of their arrival or the men had to settle ten-thousand dollars on any who weren’t.

  She blushed. “Well, that’s fine then.”

  “I just want you to see my house. I want you to know where you’re going to live if we end up tying the knot.”

  “All right.” She followed him to a small house and waited as he opened the door for her. She noted that he didn’t bother with a key. She’d lived in a small town, but they’d still felt the need to lock their doors. She liked the idea of living somewhere where people didn’t bother with locks.

  Walking into the house, she immediately noted that it was bigger than she’d thought. As she stepped inside, there was a kitchen and connected dining room off to the left. To her right was a living room, complete with a large screen television. She wondered if he watched television in the evenings, and her mind’s eye saw the two of them sitting cozily on his couch, her working on her plastic canvas and him watching the TV. It sounded lovely to her.

  His room was big, with a bed definitely large enough for two. There was a connecting bath with both tub and separate shower. Then they walked down the hall in the other direction and there were two rooms that seemed to be used for storage more than anything else.

  As she peered into one of the rooms, she smiled, noting the windows were facing the east. “I’d love to use this room as a craft room.”

  Kolby nodded. “I think that would be fine.” He caught her hand, pulling her toward the living room and the comfortable-looking couch. Sitting down, he drew her down beside him. “Now, I want to introduce you to something most girls learn when they’re teenagers.”

  Her eyes focused on the television. Would he show her some sit-coms? She’d always wanted to sit for hours in front of the TV with her crafts. “What’s that?”

  “Making out!”

  She laughed. “I don’t know if your mother would exactly approve of that.”

  He looked over his shoulder. “I don’t think she’s here!”

  “Well, no, but I think while she’s my chaperone, we should at least be cognizant of what she’d approve of.”

  He sighed. “I just want to kiss you. If I promise to keep my hands above the shoulders, would that help?”

  Joy thought about it for a moment before nodding. “I think that would be fine then.”

  As he was lowering his head toward hers, he whispered, “You can put your hands anywhere you want, baby!”

  His lips descended on hers as she stifled her laugh, her hands automatically going to the back of his neck. When his tongue came out to touch her lip, she was startled at first, but then she realized she liked it. She moved closer to him, and he moved his hand to her back.

  She pulled away to look up at him. “That’s below the neck.”

  “It’s your back! Even Dr. Lachele would say that’s perfectly fine.” He kissed her again, this time his tongue found the seam of her lips, tempting her to open for him.

  Joy opened her mouth tentatively, wondering at what he would do. She felt like a child, not knowing anything about kissing, but at least she was willing to learn. When his tongue entered her mouth and stroked hers, she let out a gasp of surprise. She’d thought Chastity was making things up when she talked about how she’d kissed Bobby Banks at church one Sunday morning.

  She felt the kiss all the way through her, her body coming alive for him. Wanting to be closer, she imagined being in his arms with nothing between them. She pulled away, knowing why her parents had wanted them to wait for their first kiss.

  Kolby took deep, gulping breaths. “I need to get you back to my mom’s house.”

  Joy nodded. “I think that would be wise. I like kissing you a little bit more than I should, Kolby Culpepper.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that, Joy.” He wanted a passionate woman in his arms, even if he was worried he might fall in love with her. Getting to his feet, he caught her hand and pulled her to hers. “Don’t get too comfortable at Mom’s house.”

  She looked at the back of his head as he pulled her toward the door, and she wondered briefly if he would always feel the need to pull her around like a child’s toy. Joy was so glad he’d chosen her. She’d fully expected to be the last of the four sisters to be chosen by one of the men.

  As they walked back to his mother’s house in the dark of the spring evening, she rested her head against his shoulder. Being accepted by him was important to her, and she was so thankful, he’d not turned his nose up at her craft. Why, even her sisters made fun of it at times.

  At the front door, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. “One to sleep on,” he whispered.

  Joy smiled up at him, thankful he was there beside her. “Will we spend tomorrow together?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I’ll be here for lunch, but my brothers and I will be working most of the day. We need to talk to figure out a plan for buying Travis out.”

  Joy squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry too much about the money. We’ll help.”

  Kolby nodded, pretending to understand her. Four women who had little training and had never worked, trying to help, didn’t seem like such a wonderful thing to him. Hopefully they had hidden talents somewhere. He didn’t want to have to send his new wife off to wait tables in town, but he sure would if it was the only way to keep the ranch.

  Joy stopped in the kitchen to get a drink of water, noticing that Dr. Lachele and Linda were still talking non-stop. “Have you two been friends long?” she asked.

  Linda laughed. “I met her when she came to do her testing on my sons. We just hit it off.”

  Joy smiled. “I love friendships like that.” She’d had one or two, but her parents had always stopped them quickly. They’d thought having five sisters should always be enough, and there was no need for any of them to seek friendship outside the family.

  “Did you have a nice time with Kolby?” Linda asked, her eyes seeming to know exactly what Joy and Kolby had been doing.

  Joy nodded. “Yes, I did. He’s sweet.”

  “I hope you two will get married. As soon as I met you, I thought you were the one for him.”

  “Oh, thank you! That’s so nice to hear.”

  “Be gentle with him,” Linda cautioned. “He’s the only one of my boys who’s ever been in a serious relationship and had his heart broken. I thought for sure they’d marry.”

  Joy felt an overwhelming sense of jealousy, not even certain why. Whatever had happened was before she met him, so she had no reason or even any right to be jealous. “I wouldn’t hurt him or anyone else. I promise.”

  Linda stood and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re going to be part of the family. Do you need any extra blankets or anything?”

  Joy shook her head. “It’s going to be strange to have my own room. I don’t think that’s ever happened to me. I’ve always shared with Chastity.”

  Lachele shook her head at that. “I’m sure that girl made interesting noises in the dark.”

  Joy blushed. “If she did, I never noticed.” She put her glass into the dishwasher. “Good night. I’m so glad I’m going to be able to sleep alone for once, that I just can’t express it.”

  Linda smiled as she watched her go. “That one seems more fragile than the others. I’m not sure why.”

  Lachele nodded. “I think you’re right. I haven’t gotten into her head yet, but I will. Probably not this weekend though.”

  “Do you have to leave already? You just got here!”

  “I have a matchmaking business to run, and I still see clients in my mental health practice. Yes, I have to go. You know I’ll be back to visit, though. It’s so peaceful here. I miss living in Montana.”

  Linda shook her head. “I can’t believe anyone would move from Montana to Manhattan. That’s just crazy.”

  Lachele shrugged. “I thrive on the city pace, but I sure do love coming to the country every chance I get.”

  * * *

  As soon as Joy got to her room, she took out her cell phone.
It was seven, so it was nine at home in Kentucky. She hated that she was the one designated to call her parents, but they’d all known as they made the arrangements that she would be. It was always her job to deal with them, because she calmed them better than the others did.

  She quickly punched in her mother’s cell number and waited while it rang. It was answered on the second ring. “Joy? Where on earth are you?”

  Joy sighed. She’d called her mother’s phone, hoping for the less volatile of the two of them. “Hi, Daddy. We’re in Wyoming.”

  “Wyoming? What are you doing there? What part of Wyoming? I’m on my way to get you!”

  “No, you’re not. Hope is already married, and Faith, Chastity, and I have men we’re courting here. We saw a Christian matchmaker, and she set us up with four men.”

  “When did you see a matchmaker?”

  Joy bit her lip, knowing now was the time to admit to everything. “Remember that weekend last month when we went into town to go to a friend’s wedding?” They’d lied about the wedding, of course, and that had been another situation like this one, with Joy calling after they were already in town. She hated disappointing them.

  “Yes…”

  “There was no friend and no wedding. We met Dr. Lachele, and she set us up. We’re here to marry four brothers.” Joy closed her eyes, waiting for the yelling to start.

  There was a long period of silence. “Why didn’t you just tell us? You know your mother and I have been wanting you to get married for years.”

  “We weren’t sure if you’d approve of us seeing a matchmaker.” In fact, we were sure you wouldn’t. “And we wanted to make you happy by marrying.” And there was no way we’d ever find husbands under your rule.

  There was more silence, and Joy could tell she’d upset him. “You’ll let me know if something goes wrong and you need me?”

  “Of course, we will!” Joy felt like she’d betrayed them when they’d just done everything they could to protect their children, but she knew they’d done the best thing for them.