“Ihave no idea how much or what tribe my ancestors were. It’s not talked aboutmuch in my family.”

Nineturned back to face her with a stern look in her blue eyes. “You should beproud of your heritage no matter how little Indian blood runs through yourveins. We are a proud people. I try to bestow on my sons the love of the tribalpeople.”

“Howmany sons do you have? I’ve met four so far.”

“Ihave nine. My wishes for a daughter were never answered, although I hope tohave beautiful daughter-in-laws and lots of granddaughters when the time comes.I have one grandson already, from my oldest son’s failed marriage, whom I adore, but it’s not the same as having agranddaughter to spoil.” Nina took her hands and spread them wide. “You wouldmake a beautiful daughter-in-law.”

“Waita minute. I don’t even live near here. I live in California.”

“I’mjoking, Mesa, although you are a beautiful young woman and any one of my sonswould be proud to call you wife.”

“I’monly here for a few days. No matchmaking while I’m here.”

Ninalaughed and tipped her chin toward the floor. “No matchmaking.” She walkedtoward the door. “I’ll leave you to change. If you bring your wet clothes andshoes down the hall, we’ll get them washed and dried for you. The supper bellwill be ringing soon. You will join us for dinner, won’t you?”

“Iwould love to, Nina. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. You have a beautifulhome. I wish I could stay longer to explore. It would make a great backdrop forone of my books.”

“You’rea writer?”

“Yes,ma’am.” Mesa blushed, dropping her gaze to the dress in herhands.

“Youmust tell me all about it at dinner. I can’t wait to hear what you write about.”She opened the door. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. Take your time. There aresandals at the bottom of the closet that might fit you temporarily until yourshoes dry.”

Witha soft snick of the door, she was gone, leaving Mesa in the middle of the hugebedroom to contemplate the turn of events her day had taken. First she ran outof gas, and then was rescued by a handsome, melt your panties cowboy, and nowshe stood in the middle of a magnificent bedroom borrowing clothing from awoman so gorgeous she could stop traffic. Wow, what a day this turned out tobe. She surely didn’t think things like this happened to ordinary women likeher. Adventures didn’t come her way on a routine basis. She could count on onehand how many men she’d been out with her in lifetime. Slept with? That wouldonly take a few fingers.

Aftershe quickly slipped off her wet clothes and put on the red sundress, shesmoothed the material over her hips. The dress fit perfectly. A pair of leatherbeaded sandals sat inside the closet. They looked like they would fit. Slippingher feet into the cool leather, she wasn’t surprised to realize they too fitperfectly. Weird. Joel’s mother wore the same sizes she did?

Notwanting to be late for dinner as she heard the clang of the dinner bell, shegrabbed the clothes from the floor and opened the bedroom door. Joel stood onthe other side with a wide grin, propped against the wall with his arms overhis chest.

“Wellnow. Don’t you look pretty?”

“Thankyou, sir.” She dipped a small curtsey.

“I’mhere to show you where the washer and dryer are, and then escort you to suppersince the crowd is already gathering.”

“I’dappreciate it, since I don’t know my way around the house.”

Hetook the clothes from her arms before he grabbed her hand with his warm one. “This way.”

Withinmoments, they had her clothes washing as her stomach growled again because ofthe mouthwatering smells coming from the dining room.

“Let’sget you some food before you waste away to nothing,” he said with a large grin.They headed back down the hall in the direction of the clanking utensils.

“Ohplease. I’m plenty plump that I could miss a few meals.”

“Youare not plump. Rounded in all the right places, I’d say.”

“Flatterer.”

Hestopped and glanced down at her with a serious look on his face. “Don’t let my brothers ride roughshod over you, because they will. They’rea bunch of men, after all.”

“Ithink I can handle it.”

“Don’tbe too sure. I’ll jump in to protect you.”

“Aw,thank you, Joel.” She skimmed her free hand down his chest. “What a gentleman.”What the hell made me do that?

Herreflex was to pull her hand back, but Joel grabbed it in his before she could. “You’rea beautiful woman. Other than guests, which are normally families with youngkids, we don’t get a lot like you around here. Prepare to be overwhelmed.”

Hekissed her fingers before he let his grip slacken on her hand so she could pullit free. The zing that raced up her arm bothered her. Those things onlyhappened in her novels, not in real life. “Um, okay.”

Asthey rounded the doorway, the volume of noise increased tenfold. Several peopleeither sat at the picnic tables chatting away or they were lined up at theserving area with plates in hand. One long table she hadn’t noticed before tookup an entire wall. When she did a double take she noticed nine people, eight menand Joel’s mother, who sat there chatting while they waited for the others tobe served. Holy shit! How many freakin’ brothers does he have again?

“Eight.There are nine of us boys.”

“Stopreading my mind.”

“Sorry.I can tell by the look in your eyes what is running through your head. You havevery expressive brown eyes.” Joel tugged her hand and brought her to the spotwhere there were two empty seats. “Hey, ya’ll. Thisis Mesa.” A chorus of hellos echoed through the room, shushing the rest of theconversations going on around them. Joel quickly introduced the brothers aroundthe table and that’s when she noticed two more who looked like…ohmigod. There are three ofhim? Yes, you could tell they all were brothers by the similar features,but…

“We’retriplets,” he whispered next to her ear with a chuckle.

Ah, hell! One gorgeous hunk totantalize my senses is enough, but nine of them? And two who look just likehim? I’m so screwed!

 

 

 

 

ChapterTwo

Joelthought she looked cute with her eyes wide. Most people were surprised whenthey realized he, Jason, and Joshua were identical triplets. “Let’s get ourplates,” he said, as the group of men took their places at the serving line. “Weall wait until the guests have been served before we get ours. Mom’s orders.”

“She’sa wise woman.”

“Yes,she is.”

“Shemust be tough as nails to raise nine boys, especially with three of them allthe same age.”

“I’msure it hasn't been easy, but Dad is a strong man too. Never took any guff fromany of us boys.”

“Whereis your father?” she asked.

“He’sin the barn I imagine. One of the mares is foaling. He likes to be there incase there are any problems.”

“Now,that I would love to see.”

Heshook his head and laughed. For a woman who wrote about cowboys and ranch life,she sure didn’t seem to have much hands-on-experience with it. “We’ll head outto the barn after supper to see how it’s coming. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“Thankyou. This is sure turning into an interesting day. I can’t believe my luck. Atfirst I thought I had about run out of any kind of luck when my car ran out ofgas, but you showed up and rescued me.”

“Oh,by the way, Jeff and Jeremiah brought your car to the ranch while you changedclothes. You left your keys in the ignition so they gassed it up before theydrove it back here.”

Theserver slid a hamburger bun with a large burger patty on her plate. “Wow. Youguys eat hearty around here.”

“Waituntil you taste it. Even though I live here, I never get tired of the food.They always seem to get just the right taste on everything.”