Arriving back at the house on Triple C-West, Jacob thanked Derek again and left for the bunkhouse on Triple C-East. Derek dropped Tracy off near the back yard and then he and Cooper parked the golf cart. Tracy found Chloe, Rachel, Martyman, and the twins in a lagoon-like pool surrounded and made private by a rock wall. Martyman and Chloe were playing with the kids in the shallow end of the pool as Rachel lounged in the deep end on a dolphin raft. They called to Tracy, and Chloe pointed her toward the bathhouse, where there were fresh beach towels. Tracy removed her clothes and modestly wrapped a towel around her waist before emerging from the bathhouse. Rachel had switched to a chaise lounge, leaving the dolphin raft next to a pink flamingo raft. Picking out a chaise lounge next to Rachel, Tracy placed her towel on it and waded down cement steps into the heated pool.
Pets, Spike the German shepherd was poolside watching like the family guard dog he was as Scarlett the sleek black cat groomed herself at one end of a chaise lounge. Derek and Cooper soon joined the crowd, wearing swim trunks. The twins squealed seeing their father and brother. Tracy swam to the deep end and nabbed the flamingo. Chloe kissed her husband, hugged her son, and slid onto the dolphin. Derek and Martyman played with the kids.
“I hope Cooper and the twins aren’t too much for you,” Chloe said with a soft laugh.
“Not at all,” Tracy said. “I want children when the time is right.”
“Sometimes it happens when you least expect it,” Chloe said as she gazed at her family. “And it all works out.”
“Yes,” Tracy said but didn’t pry. Once again, she found herself thinking how much she enjoyed life on the Triple C Ranches. But it was Cash who tied it all together.
At the sound of whirring, Tracy looked into the sky. Cash was here. In the helicopter. Tracy gulped and swallowed hard. If this was her ride to his ranch, so be it. As far as she knew, no one else was aware of her terror when it came to flying and she was not about to embarrass Cash by declining a ride in front of his family. Wasn’t it about time she controlled and conquered this fear? Who would she trust more than Cash to help her do so? No one. Tracy decided she’d climb into that helicopter and fly…if it was the last thing she did.
That’s how much she loved Cash Cooper.
Cash sailedacross the sky as the flamingo floated in the water.
“Coop, is that girl on the pink flamingo not the hottest redhead you’ve ever seen in your life?” Cash asked. Although Coop wasn’t a licensed pilot, in the off-chance Cash, Chase, or Derek were to become incapacitated while flying with him, they’d taught him how to land the chopper. “I mean in your whole entire life.”
“You’ve brought home a lot of redheads, boy.” Coop chuckled. “But of all the girls, no matter the color of their hair, Tracy is the most beautiful and the sweetest. Without a doubt.”
Cash landed the helicopter far enough away from the back yard pool so as not to kick up dust. He and Coophopped out, each carrying three pizzas, napkins, and paper plates, just delivered to Triple C-West and made their way to the rock wall. Rachel met them at the gate and opened it for them.
“What a nice surprise,” Chloe said, wading out of the pool.
“Heck yeah! Glad to see you and the pizza,” Derek said and laughed. “I’m starved.”
“I’m starved too,” Cooper said and swam to the steps of the pool.
Cash and Coop set the pizzas on the two tables under big blue and white umbrellas. Austin and Abilene, both wearing water wings even though they, too, could swim, followed their big brother toward the steps. Derek scooped up Abilene and Martyman plucked Austin out of the water. The men carried the twins up the steps, setting them carefully on dry land.
“Hi,” Tracy called to Cash. Cupping her hands, she paddled her flamingo across the deep end to where he stood on the side of the pool.
Looking over the top of his aviator sunglasses at the gorgeous redhead in the white bikini surrounded by hot pink on blue water, he grinned down at her. “Hi.”
“I missed you today,” she said, reaching the side of the pool.
“I missed you too,” he replied. “Do you have a towel?”
Tracy pointed to a beach towel on a chaise lounge, and he grabbed it. He held it out to her as she climbed the ladder out of the deep end. Her hair was in a clip high on her head and water ran in streams down her silky body. Had they been alone, Cash would have trailed his fingers along those rivulets. Tracy, all sexy smile and charming curves, stepped toward him and he wrapped the towel around her. When he pulled her closer, she tilted up her chin, and he kissed her. Then she tucked one end of the towel between her breasts.
Cash took her hand and they strolled to the umbrella tables as Derek, Cooper, and Rachel came from the directionof their outdoor kitchen with drinks and paper cups. Austin and Abilene were scooting child-sized chairs up to a miniature table with a red, white, and blue umbrella which was positioned between the two larger tables. Chloe was busy placing cheese pizza on paper plates for the children as Cooper set three juice boxes on the small table.
“Pinot Noir for the ladies,” Rachel said, holding up a bottle and cups. Addressing Tracy, she asked, “Unless you’d rather have a beer?”
“Pinot, please,” Tracy said, taking a seat at the table closer to her. “Thank you, Rachel.”
“The first time Jade was here at the pool, she told Rachel and me Pinot Noir was the healthiest of all red wines because of the grapes it’s made from,” Chloe told Tracy as she sat at the other table in a chair closest to the children.
“Here you go, gentlemen.” Derek gave Cash, Coop, and Martyman bottles of the Cooper family’s favorite beer.
Coop and Martyman took seats at the table with Chloe as Rachel poured wine for the ladies. Then Rachel and Derek sat at the table with Cash and Tracy. Like everything else with Tracy, having this impromptu and informal meal with family felt right. Easy and fun. Like Chase had said, Tracy was genuine. She fit. Cash couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face if he’d wanted to and he didn’t want to. Every time he looked at Tracy, his feelings deepened. He was going to get her over her fear of flying…at all costs.
That’s how much he loved Tracy Dalton.
After dinner, Chloe scooted back from the table and said, “Don’t anybody rush off, but I know three little kids who need baths and bedtime stories.”
“We need to get going too,” Rachel said and began gathering up paper plates.
