Kisses From My Cowboy Stepbrother Read online

  "Well..." she said, slowly. "That's one of the other things about him..."

  I cocked my head to the side, as a confused look crossed my face.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "Well, you know, there aren't exactly a lot of farms around here," she said.

  I stayed silent as I waited for her to finish.

  "He lived in Iowa, honey."

  My jaw dropped and I looked at her like she was crazy.

  "Mom, that's so far!" I said. "Iowa? Really? People live there?"

  She rolled her eyes at my sarcasm.

  "Honey, it's not that far," she said. "He lives near the Eastern border, so it's less than eight hours away."

  I stood up from the floor, shaking my head.

  "I love you, Mom, but you're crazy!" I said, with a playful smile on my face. "You really want to date a guy that lives that far? How will you find time to see him?"

  My mom shrugged her shoulders and said, "You know, I'm really not that worried about that. We'll see each other when we can and try to make it work long distance when we are apart. Besides, both he and I will be retiring fairly soon anyway. So it won't be long before we'll be able to really spend time together."

  I couldn't help but to smile. She sounded like an excited young girl with a crush on a boy. And it was very nice to see her so happy. So I decided to support her no matter what. If it made her happy then I was all for it. I didn't care about anything else. So after a moment of me standing there silently, I said, "You know what, I think it's great, Mom. Who cares about a little distance? That's what technology is for, right? We have phones and we have email. What's a couple hundred miles?"

  Mom's eyes lit up as I spoke. My encouraging words seemed to make her even happier.

  "That's exactly what I was thinking!" she said. "I mean Richard and I met each other because of technology, so why not stay in touch that way?"

  I nodded my head and patted her on the shoulder.

  "Well, you'll have to let me know when you two meet," I said, as I turned to leave the office and go back upstairs. "I can't wait to hear all about him."

  I only made it to the entryway when my mom said, "Well, honey, that brings up something else that I need to talk to you about."

  I stopped in my tracks and turned around.

  "What's that, Mom?" I asked.

  I braced myself. She had been full of a lot of surprises that afternoon and I wasn't sure what to expect.

  "Well, Richard has actually invited both you and I to come out to his farm this weekend," she said. "He wants to meet me really badly and I told him that I should stay here with you, since you just got divorced and haven't been in a good place. That was when he said that I should just invite you to come along."

  I stood there in the entryway and leaned against the door. I thought about it for a moment.

  A farm in Iowa? It's not exactly my idea of a vacation. But I suppose I don't really have anything else going on and I did just decide that I'd support my mom no matter what.

  So I breathed in deep and then slowly shrugged my shoulders.

  "Okay," I said. "I guess that sounds fun."

  Maybe a simple little road trip with my mom will be great way for her and I to bond.

  However, I didn’t realize at the time just how much was going to be in store for me because of that “simple little road trip”.

  Chapter 4

  “It’s been a long day,” I said, after over seven hours of driving. “I hope we get there before sunset. I don’t really want to have to pull over on this road if we get tired. I’d like to not get stolen by some crazy redneck or something.”

  My mom looked over at me and chuckled.

  “We’ll be there any minute, Emily,” she responded. “So you don’t have to worry. Nobody is going to steal us.”

  It had been hours since we had seen any civilization and I started to wonder if the dirt road through the cornfields ever actually ended, or if it just went on forever, like my version of an eternal hell.

  It wasn’t more than a few minutes later, however, when my mom reached over and placed her hand on my shoulder, getting my attention.

  “Emily, I think we’re here,” she said.

  My mom was driving, so I quickly pulled out the map and did my best to navigate our location. I looked up as the dirt road forked in the road. On both sides of us were two huge cornfields with rows of corn as far as the eye could see. I looked over at my mom, chuckling softly.

  “This guys lives here?” I asked.

  My mom laughed and nodded her head, as she pointed out into the field, where a well-maintained farmhouse was located, surrounded by a white fence.

  “Well, actually, I think he lives there, to be exact,” she responded, as she took a right at the fork in the road and began driving us toward farmhouse.

  “Wow,” I said, as I admired the house in the distance.

  It was surprisingly beautiful, with cedar siding and bright red trim. It was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. I had imagined an old shack in the middle of a field, complete with a creepy barn and all sorts of broken down cars. So when we pulled up to the beautiful home, I found myself feeling very impressed.

  “Well, this is actually really nice,” I commented, as Mom put the car in park in front of the house.

  I glanced around, noticing that there actually was a barn nearby, but it looked just as nice as the house. And in fact, there were even two horses inside.

  “Mom, he has horses!” I exclaimed, pointing out the car window.

  “Yes, Richard told me about that. He already told me that we could ride them if we wanted to!” she responded.

  I hadn’t ridden a horse in years and as soon as I thought about it, I instantly became much happier about my decision to go on the trip with my mom. We sat there in the car for a couple of seconds before my mom reached over and placed her hand on my knee.

  “Honey,” she said.

  I looked away from the horses and brought my gaze to my mother.

  “Yeah, Mom?”

  I watched as she drew in a deep breath.

  “I’m really nervous about this,” she said. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

  I reached over and gave her a hug.

  “Mom, he’s going to love you,” I said. “You look amazing and you guys have already been talking so much. It’s not like there are going to be any surprises. So, come on. Let’s go meet him.”

  After releasing her from the hug, I turned and opened the car door, stepping out into the fresh air. I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, closing my eyes as the sun covered my face. I then turned and watched my mom step out of the driver’s side of the car. She was wearing a white sundress and had her dark hair curled over her shoulders. She looked as beautiful as ever.

  “You ready?” I asked.

  My mom looked a bit nervous, but nodded anyway.

  “As ready as I’m going to be,” she said.

  We then walked up to the house and stepped onto the porch, which was covered in beautiful antique furniture and artwork. I walked beside my mother as we approached the front door. Without any hesitation, I lifted my hand and knocked a few times.

  As we stood there waiting, I watched my mom shuffling her feet nervously. Within a few seconds, the door opened up.

  “Oh, my God,” the man said, as he pulled the door open. “You’re even more beautiful in person.”

  The grey-haired man stepped onto the porch, looking right past me and to my mother. Her eyes lit up when she saw him and he stepped forward, pulling her in for a hug.

  “Mary,” he said, as he looked her up and down, shaking his head in awe. “Your pictures didn’t do you justice.”

  I smiled as my mom and Richard gazed into each other’s eyes for the first time. He was quite handsome and I thought that they made pretty cute couple.

  “Oh, Richard,” my mom said. “You’re too sweet.”

  She smiled as she gazed at him, then she glanced over towa
rd me.

  “This is my daughter, Emily,” she said.

  Richard broke his gaze from my mom and then turned toward me, shaking my hand.

  “Ah, Emily,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about you. I’m so happy that you were able to make it out here with your mom. I was kind of worried about her coming all this way by herself, so I was glad to hear that you were willing to take the trip with her!”

  “Well, I was actually kind of excited to come out,” I said. “I needed to get away from the city for a while.”

  I paused for a second as I looked toward the barn.

  “Mom didn’t mention that you had horses, though!” I continued. “I haven’t ridden in years, but I’d love to try it again some time.”

  Richard stepped beside me, gazing toward the barn.

  “Yes, that’s Willy and Nelson,” he said. “They’re great for riding. You won’t find calmer horses anywhere. I’ll have Connor take you on a ride some time while you’re here. He should be back later tonight from his rodeo tour.”

  I raised an eyebrow and I looked toward Richard.

  “Connor?” I asked.

  Richard nodded and then turned to face my mom.

  “Mary, you didn’t tell Emily about my son, Connor?” he asked.

  My mom responded, “Oh, I had spent so much time telling her about you that I forgot to mention him.”

  Richard smiled and then turned back to face me.

  “Well, Connor is my only child. He’s twenty-nine, so a little bit older than you. He’s a professional rodeo man now. He spent some time working in Boston after high school, but then joined the rodeo when he found out that working in an office just wasn’t for him.”

  A rodeo man? I thought.

  Immediately, naughty thoughts flashed into my mind. I pictured a muscular and tan man, wearing nothing but tight jeans and a cowboy hat. The image caused a tingling sensation to shoot through my body and a smirk to cross my face.

  “He’s in the rodeo?” I asked. “Like, the real one?”

  Richard laughed as he nodded his head.

  “Yes, the national one,” he said. “He’s a professional bull rider currently. He has tried just about everything in the rodeo, but he said that there’s something about those eight seconds on a bull that are more exciting than anything else you can do in the rodeo. So that’s what he’s decided to focus on. He’s sponsored now, so it’s how he makes his living. And I have to say, I’m a little bit envious of him.”

  Richard’s smile was wide and it was obvious that he was proud of his son for his accomplishments.

  “Anyway, his rodeo tour is over for the year, so he’ll be coming back home for a while,” he said. “It’s perfect timing, really. I’m glad that you and your mom will get to meet him.”

  I nodded my head and smiled.

  “Yeah, that is pretty cool,” I said. “He sounds like an interesting guy.”

  “He’s quite the character, that’s for sure,” Richard said. “Now, come on inside. I’ll show you ladies around.”

  Richard grabbed my mom’s hand and led her inside. I followed behind them, as we made our way into his beautiful home. Everything inside was made of wood and looked to be hand made, including the handrails that led upstairs.

  “Did you make everything in here?” I asked.

  Richard looked back and smiled. “Well, I can’t take all of the credit. Connor did a lot of this work, too. But between the two of us, we created everything in this house. Including the house itself.”

  I shook my head in awe, admiring the intricacy of the carved, wooden artwork that surrounded me. Carved bears and eagles, all chiseled to perfection, covering shelves and tabletops. It was beautiful and I hadn’t seen anything like it before. It seemed like Richard took a lot of pride and joy in the little things, like creating something out of a piece of wood. He didn’t seem like the type of person who cared much about vanity or consumerism, like everyone else I knew.

  And I had to admit, that I hoped his son Connor was the same way. I liked the idea of having someone in my life that was different than my other friends.

  As we walked through the house, I brought my gaze toward the mantel above the fireplace where I noticed some pictures. I let Richard and my mom disappear into the other room, while I held back and stepped closer to the mantel.

  My eyes immediately were drawn to a picture of a muscular man, wearing a blue flannel shirt and snug jeans, with a giant belt buckle on top. He was sitting on top of a horse, turned to the side and smiling, with his cowboy hat tipped downward slightly.

  Oh, my God. Is that...Connor?

  I looked a little closer, noticing his bright blue eyes and wide smile. On his cheeks was a bit of dark stubble from an unshaved beard. My jaw dropped as I admired the picture. I suddenly felt a burst of excitement inside of me.

  Am I going to get to meet this guy?

  I wasn’t sure that the picture on the mantel was actually Richard’s son, but I had to assume that it was. Richard said that Connor was a rodeo cowboy and the man in the picture definitely fit the bill.

  Holy crap...

  The guy in the photo could have been a model if he had wanted to. His chiseled jaw, perfect smile, beautiful eyes and amazing body were enough to make me melt right there in Richard’s living room.

  This little vacation suddenly turned a lot more interesting...

  Chapter 5

  I spent most of that afternoon by myself. My mom and Richard were together the entire time and I wanted to leave them alone so that they could get to know each other. So I spent the day just exploring the farm and thinking about Connor, the cowboy who I knew would likely end up being a part of my life. Assuming everything went well with Mom and Richard, that is.

  During my exploration, I found a gorgeous wildflower garden. It was at least an acre in size and covered in wildflowers of every color imaginable. It wasn’t more than a hundred yards away from Richard's home. On the outskirts of the area there was a wooden bench, where I took a seat and just admired the beauty that surrounded me.

  It felt good to be in nature. It had been far too long since I had soaked up the sunshine and breathed in the fresh air. For some strange reason, the farm felt like home to be, even though I had obviously never been there before. Maybe it was a premonition of my mom ending up with Richard or something. I wasn't sure, but it didn't really matter. All I knew is that I was very happy to be there and I was glad that I had decided to go.

  I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, feeling the warm sun as it soaked my body. It felt so good that I decided to just lay down on the bench and relax. It wasn't more than a few minutes later when I felt myself dozing off to sleep, though, the sound of the birds in the background soothing me into a slumber. I didn't know exactly how long I was out, but when I finally opened my eyes, I noticed that the sun was about to sink over the horizon.

  "Oh, my gosh," I said, as I sat up slowly.

  I let out a yawn and then reached my hands above my head, stretching up toward the sky.

  Wow, I must have been asleep for a while.

  I sat in silence on the bench for a few minutes and was about to stand up and go back to the house, when I heard the sound of footsteps approaching me from behind. Before I could turn around, I heard a man's voice say, "Hey, sleepy head. My dad said you might be out here. Hope I didn't wake you when I drove up in my truck."

  My eyes widened and I slowly turned around, bringing my gaze to a muscular man. He was wearing a white, sleeveless t-shirt and light-colored jeans with brown cowboy books. He had a cowboy hat on and his head was cocked to the side. There was a boyish smile on his face as he looked at me. I recognized him immediately as the man whom I had seen in the picture on top of Richard's mantel.

  I stood up from the bench and turned to face him.

  "Oh, no, you didn't wake me up," I said, as I slipped my thumbs into the front pockets of my jeans, trying to act casual.

  The man slowly looked me up and down with the f
lirtatious smile on his face the entire time.

  "Well, that's good," he said.

  His blue eyes glowed in the light from the setting sun. He looked at me in silence for a moment and then stepped closer to me.

  "I'm Connor," he said, as he held out his hand. "I'm Richard's son."

  His deep, sexy voice made me melt and I felt the same tingling sensation as when I had noticed his picture.

  "I'm Emily," I said.

  His hand was covered in calluses and I could feel the rough skin as we shook. It was clear that this man had spent most of his life working with his hands and something about that immediately made me even more attracted to him. He definitely wasn’t like the city boys that I was used to.

  "Well, you're very beautiful," he said, as he gazed into my eyes. "And so is your mother. I can't believe my dad found such a pretty woman."

  I blushed at his words and then shrugged my shoulders.

  "My mom is very beautiful," I said. "But Richard is pretty handsome too. I think they make a good couple."

  Connor stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms at his side. He was at least a foot taller than me and his broad, muscular shoulders made me feel so small in comparison. I let my gaze move over his body, noticing how ripped and toned his arms were.

  "So, you and your mom are from the city, right?" he asked.

  I smiled as I shuffled my feet back and forth in the dirt.

  "Yea, we're a couple of city girls, I guess," I said. "We're from Detroit. Like downtown Detroit, where everything is made of cement. I've never been to a place like this farm before."

  Connor chuckled and shook his head. He seemed a bit shocked.

  "You've never been to a farm?" he asked. "Then it looks like I might have to give you a tour. You don't know what you're missing."

  My eyes lit up and I nodded eagerly.

  "Yes!" I cried. "A tour would be fun! Can we do a tour on the horses?"

  Connor stepped close and then casually grabbed my hand, leading me back toward the house.

  "Let's save the horses for another day," he said. "I've been on tour with the rodeo now for weeks and I don't even feel like looking at a horse. Plus, one of their horseshoes is bent, so I need to fix it before we can ride him. I was thinking I could take you to my favorite spot on the farm, though. It's just a little walk away from here."