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

  “We love you, Joy. Tell your sisters we love them as well.”

  Joy felt a tear slip down her cheek. “We love you, too. Hug Mom and Grace and Honor for me!”

  “Stay safe.”

  With those words, he ended the call, and Joy threw herself on her bed and sobbed. If he’d been mean and demanding, she would have been fine. The hurt in his voice had thrown her off.

  There was a knock at the door, and Joy swiped the tears from her face, sitting up straight in bed. “Come in!”

  Dr. Lachele’s purple head stuck through the door. “You okay? I heard you talking.”

  Joy nodded. “I called my parents to let them know we’d arrived safely.”

  “Did you tell them you were coming here?” Dr. Lachele didn’t wait for an invitation as she sprawled across Joy’s bed.

  “No, ma’am. We didn’t. I thought they’d be angry, but my father was actually sweet. I was prepared for anger, but not love.”

  Dr. Lachele nodded. “Sometimes that’s harder. Are you okay?”

  Joy sniffled, another tear tracking down her cheek. “Mostly. I don’t know why my parents turn me inside out like they do. They make all six of us crazy, but only I still have this intense feeling of loyalty toward them. I guess I’m crazier than they are.”

  “No, Joy. You just have a compassionate heart. That’s a good thing.” Dr. Lachele stood up and leaned down to press a kiss to Joy’s forehead. “Remember, anytime you need me, I’m just a phone call away. I have a feeling this is going to be tougher for you than any of the others.”

  Joy smiled at the older woman. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thank you for caring so much.”

  “You’ll keep my number handy, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I have it programmed into my phone.”

  “Linda is a good one to talk to as well. She’s going to be an incredible mother-in-law to you four girls.”

  Joy smiled. “I can see that already. Thank you.”

  Dr. Lachele closed the door softly behind her as she left the room, leaving Joy alone. Joy sighed. She was tired, but she wasn’t sleepy. She pulled out her plastic canvas bag, and worked on her current project, a Barbie couch. If she was going to help save the Culpepper Ranch, she needed to keep stitching.

  3

  Joy woke early the next morning, her body still on Eastern Standard time. She wandered into the kitchen to find Linda making breakfast. “How can I help?” she asked, still wearing her pajamas.

  Linda turned a smile on her. “Would you mind making the biscuits?”

  “Not at all! Where’s the flour?” Joy had made biscuits enough in her life that she had no problem whipping up a batch from the recipe in her memory.

  “Flour? Oh, girl. Around here, we do everything the easy way. Can of Pillsbury is in the fridge.”

  Joy’s eyes widened. “Pillsbury? What’s that? And how can you have a can of biscuits?”

  Linda stared at Joy as if she’d sprouted an extra four heads. “You’ve never had Pillsbury biscuits? You poor deprived child.” She reached into the fridge and plucked the can of biscuits off the door. “Here. Just follow the instructions. Easy as pie.”

  Joy stared down at the long tube in her hand. “Where’s the can opener?”

  “Can opener?” Linda took the can back from Joy and efficiently peeled the label off before banging the tube twice on the counter.

  When the can popped, Joy jumped a foot. “Is it supposed to do that?”

  Linda nodded, her eyes full of laughter. “Well, yeah. Your mom really never made canned biscuits?”

  Joy shook her head. “No, we always mixed the dough, and rolled them out, and then we used a biscuit cutter. I didn’t know there was another way to do it.”

  “Tell me something, Joy. Do you like to spend six hours in the kitchen cooking every meal?”

  Joy shook her head adamantly. “I don’t mind cooking, but if it were easier, I’d take the easy way.” At least she thought she would.

  “Pillsbury is the easy way. You just pop open the can, removed the pre-cut biscuits, put them on a cookie sheet, and you bake them for the specified time. Doesn’t get much easier than that.”

  “I feel like it’s cheating.” Joy did as she was told, separating the biscuits and putting them onto the cookie sheet. “Is this going to be enough for everyone?”

  “Oh, good point. I don’t even know if the boys are coming for breakfast. Make three cans.”

  Joy went to the fridge and took two more cans out, carefully peeling the labels off, as Linda had done. She jumped again when the cans popped. “It sounds like an explosion!”

  Linda just laughed. “That’s just how they work.” She reached to the drawer under the stove and took out another cookie sheet. “Here. Go ahead and put them on both.”

  Joy did as she was told, carefully spacing out the biscuits. “Do you make cakes from box mixes and everything?”

  “Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker are my best friends! Don’t tell me you usually make cakes from scratch?” Linda looked appalled at the very idea.

  “I do. I bake cookies from scratch too!”

  “Oh, yeah, I always bake cookies from scratch. Then I can make them just how I want them.” Linda turned back to the sausage she was frying. “I thought we could do biscuits and sausage gravy with scrambled eggs for breakfast. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds good.” Honestly, Joy had never had that for breakfast. Her mother had been a fanatic about healthy cooking. She could see there was some real adjusting she would need to do living there.

  When she finished with the biscuits, Linda had her beat the eggs for the scrambled eggs. “I figure we’ll just make enough for whoever shows up.”

  “Hope will come for breakfast,” Joy told her.

  “Don’t you think Hope will make breakfast for Karlan and eat with him?”

  “She usually will. Not today. She’s going to come for breakfast so she can talk to us about our plan to save the ranch.”

  Linda turned to Joy. “You girls haven’t had a chance to talk since Travis was here. How do you have a plan to save the ranch?”

  Joy shrugged. “We just do. We’ve always had that intuition thing going that multiples have. As soon as Travis left, Hope gave me a look that let me know she’d be here this morning. We’ll talk about it over breakfast, and we’ll have a strong financial plan by noon.”

  “We?” Linda asked. “Are you girls taking on our financial problems as your own?”

  “Of course, we are. That’s what family does. And we’re all about to be family. Hope is already your daughter-in-law, but Faith, Chastity, and I will be soon, too. We have to help.”

  Linda smiled brightly. “With nine of us working together, I’m sure we’ll be able to make it work.”

  “I’m going to warn you now, Hope is going to drag you into whatever scheme she has up her sleeve. She’s pretty bossy.”

  “That comes from being the oldest. I’m sure it will all work out perfectly.”

  Joy smiled as she set the beaten eggs on the counter. Yes, it would all work out perfectly. She was about to marry into a supportive family, and she couldn’t wait.

  * * *

  Hope showed up just after they sat down for breakfast. It took all of ten minutes for her to explain her plan to everyone. Basically, each sister would work at her craft, and Hope would open a daycare in the big house, which they all would take turns helping with.

  Joy’s job for the daycare would be working during naptime and filling in wherever else she was needed. She was chosen for naptime because hers was a quiet craft.

  Immediately after breakfast, Joy let her sisters help out with the dishes, since she’d helped with the cooking, and she wandered off to do some research on the internet. She needed to find the best way to sell her creations. She knew about Etsy and eBay, of course, but wondered if creating her own website would be smarter.

  She worked in silence until there was a knock on her door. “Come in!” she calle
d, looking up from her laptop.

  Kolby walked into her room, closing the door behind him. He walked over and sat on the bed with her. “What are you working on?”

  “I’m fine-tuning my part of the plan for helping save the ranch,” she told him, thrilled he’d gone out of his way to search her out. She’d spent the night tossing and turning, wondering if she’d see him with Faith or Chastity today.

  He nodded, deciding to humor her. Hopefully the women could help a little, but he wasn’t going to count on much. He spotted a little couch on her nightstand and stood up, turning it over in his hand. “This is cool. Have you thought about selling these?”

  Joy stared at him blankly for a moment. “What a great idea. I’ll have to do that.” She wasn’t usually sarcastic, but there were times it was just necessary to get her point across.

  He grinned. Maybe with this type of craftsmanship, she could help out with the ranch’s finances. He sat back down, still holding the small couch. “How long did it take you to make this?”

  She shrugged. “An hour or two. It only went that quick, because I’ve made that one multiple times.”

  He set it down. “Mom’s got lunch almost ready. Are you hungry?”

  “Yeah.” She pushed her laptop off her lap and onto the bed beside her. “Are you done working for the day?”

  Kolby nodded. “Karlan declared this afternoon his honeymoon, so the rest of us are taking the afternoon off as well. Cooper’ll probably work, but that’s only because it’s on his schedule.”

  “Schedule?”

  “Yeah, Cooper is nuts about his schedule. He won’t deviate in any way. I think he’s a little OCD.”

  Joy thought for a moment and remembered that Cooper and Faith had seemed to be getting along swimmingly. His brother Chris was the one who Chastity had set her sights on. “He seems nice enough.”

  “Oh, he’s nice. All my brothers are good men. He’s just kind of weird about time.” He got to his feet and held a hand out to her pulling her to him. Leaning down, he kissed her softly. “G’morning, sunshine.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back. “Did you have a good morning working?”

  He shrugged. “We’re working on fixing the last of the fences on the pasture we’ll move the cattle to this week. So, not particularly.”

  “I’m sorry! I don’t think I’d like that either.”

  He turned from her, opening the door. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

  He held her hand as they approached the table, noting that Cooper was fawning over Faith, and Chris looked like he was trying to find any flat surface to throw Chastity onto. “Lunch smells good, Mom.”

  Linda smiled. “Faith cooked.”

  “I guess that puts me on supper duty,” Chastity said, breaking the kiss she was sharing with Chris.

  Joy answered. “Sure does. Your turn.”

  Chastity trailed a finger down the front of Chris’s shirt. “I sure hope you’ll be here for supper…”

  Chris grinned at Chastity, having eyes only for her.

  Joy wanted to roll her eyes, but she’d done her share of kissing in the past twenty-four hours. Maybe not as much as Chastity had, but who could keep up with Chastity? She wondered if Chris had any idea what he was getting into.

  Dr. Lachele looked at Chris and Chastity. “Do you two remember the contracts you’ve signed?”

  “Yes’m,” Chastity said demurely. Joy rolled her eyes at Kolby, squeezing his hand under the table.

  “Oh, yes, ma’am. Nothing will happen before vows are spoken.” Chris’s voice didn’t sound at all convincing.

  Dr. Lachele glared at the two of them. “Make sure it doesn’t.”

  After lunch, Joy went into the kitchen to help with the dishes, but Dr. Lachele shooed her away. “I’m going to help, so I can have a little more time with my friend before I leave. Go enjoy your man.”

  Joy blushed, looking over her shoulder at Kolby. Was he her man?

  Kolby held out his hand for her. “Do you like to walk?”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “Grab six bottles of water, and meet me out front in five minutes. Wear your most comfortable shoes.”

  Joy nodded, rushing into her room to put shoes on. Since she’d been in the house all day, she hadn’t bothered. Shoes were for going outside, not for hanging around the house. She’d never understand why some women loved shoes so much. She hated them.

  She put on a pair of sneakers and went to the kitchen. “Kolby said to get six bottles of water.”

  Linda nodded toward the fridge. “There’s some in there. Do you need a bag to carry them in?”

  Joy shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably. He said we’re going for a walk.”

  Linda frowned. “Wait here.”

  Joy dug the water out of the fridge while she waited for Linda who had disappeared.

  Linda returned with a backpack. “This belonged to one of the boys when they were small.” She handed it to Joy who put the bottles of water into it. Taking it back, she added a small first aid kit that was on top of the fridge, and several packs of peanut butter crackers. “That’ll keep you.”

  “Do you really think we’ll need all that?”

  Linda shrugged. “With Kolby, you never can tell. He’s unpredictable at times, and he loves to hike.”

  Joy took the backpack. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.”

  Linda smiled and hugged her. “Be safe and have fun.”

  “I’ll try.” Joy headed for the front door, finding Kolby waiting for her in his pick-up truck.

  She opened the passenger door, and slid in beside him, immediately buckling her seat belt. She set the backpack on the seat between them. “Your mom added peanut butter crackers and a first aid kit.”

  He grinned. “That’s my mom. She believes in being prepared for everything.” He put the truck in reverse, and backed into the yard.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “I thought we’d go there,” he said nodding toward the mountain range in front of them.

  “Climbing?” she asked, her eyes wide. She wasn’t sure she was up to that.

  “Not this time. There’s a river at the base of the mountains, and we’ll walk along the river. It’s so peaceful there.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  Kolby smiled. “Trust me. It is. You’re going to love Wyoming. It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth.”

  “I just hope we can get used to driving in the snow in the winter.” She had never even had her own car. Hope was given one when they started college, but she’d driven the others wherever they needed to go.

  “I hadn’t thought of that. With you girls being from the South, you haven’t driven in snow much.”

  “We get some snow, but our father never let us drive in it. He didn’t think women should ever drive in less than perfect conditions.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You’ll have more freedom here. If you can’t drive in snow, you can’t drive.”

  Joy smiled at that. “I love the idea of having more freedom.”

  “It’s strange to me the way you were raised. Why were your parents so strict?”

  She sighed. “Mainly, it was a religious thing. We went to a very conservative church, and small Christian school. Our parents believed that women should have only one purpose in life and that was to be good wives and mothers. Until such a time as they married, they should be training for marriage.”

  “That’s really sad. What if one of you wanted to be a doctor?”

  “We weren’t allowed. We all have college degrees, but we got them in homemaking. Hope has a minor in accounting, and Daddy almost came unglued when he found out what she’d done with her electives.”

  “Did you get a minor?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Psychology.”

  “How did your parents feel about that?”

  “They were fine with it when I told them I wanted to learn it to better choose a husba
nd, and because I thought it would help me deal with my children in the future. Hope couldn’t claim that with accounting.”

  He chuckled. “Good thinking.”

  She stared straight ahead at the beautiful mountains. “We’re getting close,” she whispered in awe.

  He smiled. “I’m glad you like my mountains.”

  “I don’t know how you can get any work done with them looming over you. I’d want to be here every day.”

  He turned off into a small parking lot. “This is as far as we can go by truck. The rest is walking.” He snagged the back pack, putting it over one shoulder. “Let’s go!”

  Joy could see a walking trail beside the river, and she eagerly climbed out of the truck. “I do want to try to climb the mountain one day.”

  He grinned. “We’ll have to get you some boots first. Those shoes will never work.”

  “I’d have gotten some if I’d realized how close we’d be to mountains.” She stared up at the mountain closest, her eyes wide with wonder.

  He took her hand, and led her to the path beside the river, walking at a leisurely pace. “This is my favorite place to come when I’m feeling down for any reason. The water speaks to me, and having the mountains so close doesn’t hurt either.”

  “I can see that. It really is beautiful here. I wish I’d brought a blanket and a picnic lunch. This would be a perfect spot for it.”

  “I’ve done that here many times.”

  “Have you brought women here before?” she asked, not sure where the words came from. She really didn’t want to know what he’d done with other girls.

  He nodded. “Just one.”

  “I bet she was special.”

  “I thought so at one point.” He thought of the engagement ring he’d bought her, and dismissed it again. He could sell it now to help pay off the ranch.

  Joy waited for him to say more, but when he didn’t she let it go. She needed him to want to tell her things like that. “Tell me about your grandfather.” She’d heard all about the terms of the will, and was more than willing to have children to help out.