Page 8 of Wrangle Me, Cowboys

“Yes, ma’am,” I said. It was useless trying to think of the right thing to do. I’d had exactly one long-term boyfriend who introduced me to his mother, and she’d hated me. Heaven forbid a girl like to get her drink on and hit up the dance floor every now and then. You’d think I was a seasoned criminal, the way Charlie’s mother had treated me.

And now here I was, making a total fool of myself in front of the mother of all three of the men I was currently crushing on. I’d never even had a chance.

Before I could dig my hole any deeper, I pulled out my phone and sent a covert text to the guys. After falling in the cow water, I’d made sure to get all their numbers and have them at the ready both individually and as a group text in case of emergency. I did seem especially prone to them on the ranch. And if being stuck in a house with their mother wasn’t a dire emergency, I didn’t know what was.

*

“Mother,” Sawyer said, striding in a few minutes later. “How nice of you to drop in on us like this.”

“I didn’t know I needed an invitation,” she said. “I gave you life, after all?”

“How could I forget,” Sawyer said, rolling his eyes over her head.

Holden came in a minute later, stomped his boots, and appeared in the kitchen. He was breathing hard, and his eyes moved from one of us to the next. “Is everyone okay?” he asked. “I got your SOS text.”

I winced, cursing him silently. Now his mother was going to hate me even more.

“Is that so?” their mother asked, eyeing me.

“I can see why,” Holden said, crossing the room to sweep his mother up into a bear hug. “It would have been just awful to miss you, Mama.”

“A real tragedy,” Sawyer said.

“Thanks for letting us know, sis,” Holden said, shooting me a meaningful look over his mother’s head. As if I’d tell her what I’d told Waylon.

The next minute, Waylon came rushing in and pulled up so short his boot heels nearly left skid marks on the kitchen floor. “Lidia,” he said, giving her a curt nod.

“None of that,” she said. “You best call me Mama. I’m the only one the good Lord gave you, and I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Fine,” he grunted.

“Unless you’re planning to replace me with that senator your father’s gone and married.”

Before I could think, a snort escaped me. They all looked my way. “Trust me, you don’t need to worry about that,” I said.

“Speaking ill of her own mother,” Lidia said, shaking her head.

“Would you like something to eat while you’re here?” Holden asked.

“You should try some of Amber’s special avocado-truffle oil mayonnaise,” Waylon said.

I shot him a death glare, but his poker face never wavered. Damn, he was good.

“Kids these days,” Lidia said. “What’s wrong with regular old mayonnaise?”

“Just wait until you try it,” Waylon said, heading for the fridge. “It’s to die for.”

I slid over to the counter and planted my hands on my hips, waiting for Waylon to turn from the fridge. When he did, I hissed, “What are you doing?”

“Making a sandwich for my mother,” he said, a picture of innocence.

“She’s going to hate it,” I whispered.

“If you’re lucky,” he muttered. “If she likes it, she’ll be back every day. And I can’t lock her out like Mrs. Grimes.”

“So tell me, how are you all getting along?” Lidia asked behind us.

“Famously,” Sawyer said.