Book 4: Birthday Boyfriend (Quinn Valley Ranch)

“Granny?” Jessica Quinn pushed open the front door of her grandmother’s cottage at the same time she called her name.

The house smelled delicious, like salted cured meats and yeast—which could only mean one thing. Kolaches.

Her granny was famous for her sausage kolaches, and Jessie could only hope she could eat one now and at poker night later.

“Betsy said you’d have something for me tonight,” she said, feeling weary from head to toe. Perhaps she shouldn’t have agreed to take her sister’s place at the monthly poker night.

Betsy usually played the cards with a few cowboys here at Quinn Valley Ranch, but since she and Knox had become more serious, she’d been getting subs for her poker games. Jessie had said no a couple of times now, because she knew who Betsy played with.

And she didn’t need to make a bigger fool of herself in front of Flynn Hollister. The man was her brother’s right-hand-man and most trusted cowboy. And a complete player. Well, not really, but he sure did have a lot of ladies falling all over him all the time.

“Hello, dear,” Granny said as she turned from the stove. She’d been brushing an egg wash on a sheet pan of unbaked kolaches, and they were the most beautiful sight Jessie had ever seen. “I’m running a bit behind. Can I bring these down to you when they’re done?”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Jessie said. “I can swing back this way and get them.”

“Pish posh,” Granny said. “I’ll do it. Betsy said you just needed them by seven.”

Honestly, Jessie had no idea what time it was. She needed a shower and a nap, and she could only have one at the expense of the other. “Yeah,” she said.

“So I’ll bring them down. You go ahead and go get yourself all dolled up.”

Jessie laughed and took a foil-wrapped chocolate from the bowl on Granny’s counter. Her grandmother always had something good to eat in that bowl, and Jessie really needed a sweet right now.

“It’s nothing to get dolled up for,” she told Granny.

“Betsy said there would be cowboys there.” Granny smiled at her, those bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief. Jessie had seen this look before, and she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.

“Yeah, Granny,” she said dryly. “All the same cowboys I see around the ranch every day.” She shook her head. “Trust me, no one to impress.”

“Oh, there’s someone,” Granny said as if she could work magic and produce a cowboy that would look at Jessie and see the woman she was. “You just listen to Granny and go get ready. I’ll bring these by later.”

Jessie took another chocolate as she chuckled. “All right, Grams. Thanks so much.” On her way out the front door, she sent a quick message to Betsy.

You owe Granny. Did you know she’s making kolaches?

She said she wanted to, Betsy sent back. Said it was a special night for you, and you needed the power of the Quinn kolaches.

Jessie had no idea what that meant, but she knew Granny had a funny way of trying to set up her grandchildren. This couldn’t be that—it was only kolaches. And Betsy brought food to all the poker games.

Bringing something to share was part of the rules. Everyone looked forward to Betsy’s culinary creations, so they’d already be disappointed when Jessie walked in instead of her sister. Thankfully, Jessie would have the kolaches, and she suddenly wondered if they did hold some power she didn’t know about.

Once at the homestead, Jessie showered and shaved her legs and then got busy curling her hair in the basement bathroom, hoping with everything she had that Cami wouldn’t come downstairs. Then she wouldn’t have to explain anything to her little sister.

She could sneak out the glass doors down here, and no one would have to know she’d dolled herself up as if she were going to church to go to…poker night out in the east barn.

Flynn hadn’t had a girlfriend for about a week now, and Jessie thought tonight was as good of a night as any to show him he didn’t have to go into the dance hall to find his next date. She was right there in front of him, working alongside him every day out on the ranch.

Not that Flynn ever had to look very hard for a willing female to hold his hand or spend time at his side.

“It’s no wonder,” Jessie muttered to herself as she swept mascara on her eyelashes. The man was drop-dead gorgeous, and she may or may not have had a huge crush on him for the past year.

And he was so Flynn that he hadn’t even noticed her attempts at flirting. Or she was just really bad at it. Either way, she hadn’t been on a date in a really long time. Most men slid their attention right past her to Cami, the more feminine sister, the one with more blonde in her hair than red, the one who wore pumps while Jessie wore cowgirl boots.

Grabbing her phone, she quickly texted Betsy. You didn’t tell them I was coming, did you?

Of course not, Betsy sent back. If I had, they’d all cancel.

Jessie frowned at the message, not sure if she should take it as a compliment or not. It wasn’t her fault she was extraordinarily gifted at games, especially card games that required her to read another person.

It also wasn’t her fault she worked her father’s ranch with her brother and all the cowboys so that she had better biceps than most women. She’d learned, though, that a lot of men found her intimidating, and she attributed that to her lack of male interest.

And Granny said she brought over the kolaches. They’re sitting on the upstairs kitchen counter.

Jessie groaned, because now she had to go upstairs. Cami would surely see her then, and she’d be late to poker night. She didn’t want to be late. She actually wanted to be early, so she could lean against the chicken coop in the distance and watch Flynn enter the barn.

She pushed the thought away. She wasn’t a creeper. She just had a crush. An insane crush, she told herself, as Flynn had always viewed her and treated her like a little sister. And yet, the hope inside her wailed with strength, and she hadn’t been able to let go of the fantasy of the two of them together.

After glossing her lips with a wand of peach delight, she pulled on her cowgirl boots and checked her T-shirt. It wasn’t as manly as the plaid shirts she wore to work in, and she’d decided she could try to make Flynn realize she was a woman and not just another one of the guys. The pink shirt clung to her curves and the word COWGIRL was spelled out in black letters across her chest.

He could read, she knew that. She wondered if he’d even look at her at all tonight. Invisibility seemed to be another of Jessie’s specialties, and she actually prayed for the superpower as she crept upstairs to get the snack Granny had left for her.

“Still warm,” she said around the sweet dough and spicy sausage. She’d just turned to escape out the back door when Cami came through it. She paused, taking in Jessie’s curled hair and sliding her eyes down to her best cowgirl boots.

“Where are you going?” Her eyes widened as she pulled in a breath. “Oh, my stars. Do you have a date?”

Not yet, she thought as she scoffed for her sister’s benefit. “No, of course not. Poker night.”

Cami’s eyes narrowed. “Poker night? You look like you’re going out with the hottest man in town.” She reached out and gripped Jessie’s forearm. “Just tell me who he is.”

“He’s no one,” Jessie said, already frustrated with the questions. Betsy, Cami, and Georgia had been trying to get Jessie to say who she had a crush on for months now. It wasn’t happening. The Quinns weren’t exactly known for their secret-keeping abilities, and while she loved her sisters, she didn’t trust that one of them wouldn’t accidentally say something to someone.

And before she knew it, Flynn would know about her crush and she’d never get the opportunity to go out with him.

She looked down at the kolaches, actually praying for whatever power Granny thought they had. “I’m going to be late,” she said. “Don’t wait up for me.”

“Hey, just a sec,” Cami said as Jessie breezed by her. “Mom wanted me to double-check and make sure you’re free tomorrow night.”

“For what?”

“For your birthday,” Cami said, shaking her head as she smiled. “I swear, Jess, you’re the only person who doesn’t remember their own birthday.”

“I am not,” she said, though she couldn’t say she was overly excited about turning thirty. Maybe if she had a boyfriend to kiss her and bring her flowers, sure. But tomorrow would just be another day, with calves to feed and hay to mow and Flynn to admire. “Tomorrow’s fine,” she said.

“No hot dates?”

“Nope,” she said, escaping out the door and practically flying down the steps to the blue and white ranch truck she used. She didn’t actually own her own car. Or a house. Or much of anything.

When Rhodes took over the ranch, he’d move from the cabin beside Gramps and Granny to the homestead. She and Cami still lived there, and so would Betsy and Georgia until they got married and moved out. She wasn’t entirely sure of their plans, but she knew Rhodes would let her stay in the homestead as long as she wanted.

Honestly, she wanted to just trade places with him. He could have the homestead; she’d take his cabin.

Her heart started beating faster and faster the closer she got to the east barn. By the time she got out of the truck and collected the tray of kolaches, her pulse sprinted through her chest. She managed to walk to the doors and open them to find the atmosphere lively and charged, with a round table set up for poker and a long one holding the food.

“Jessie?” Newt asked, and it was as if everything came screeching to a halt. All the conversation. All the laughter. All the eating.

“Hello, boys,” she said, adding a sway to her hips as she walked toward the food table. “Betsy needed a sub, and so here I am.”

A collective groan went up, but Jessie just smiled around at each of them. Newt. Clay. Wyatt.

And Flynn.

Her heartbeat fluttered now, especially when he stepped forward and asked, “Are these the famous Quinn kolaches?”

“Mm hmm,” she said, taking in a deep breath of that sexy cologne and trying not to swoon at his nearness. His dark eyes looked from the tray of food she carried to her eyes, and she dove right on in and started swimming around.

It was dangerous in those depths, but she didn’t care.

Tonight, she felt lucky.

After all, she had the kolaches—and all of Flynn Hollister’s attention.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “As always Liz’ books leave me with a goofy smile on my face. Jess has crushed on Flynn for years. Flynn always felt she was off limits and admired her from afar. He was able to buy back his family farm and was being overwhelmed in getting it going again. Jess was feeling left out of his life. Yes there is a great HEA. Love that like all her books, this is clean but never boring.” ~Wren

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I love the dynamic between Flynn and Jess. Not only did they struggle to find their forever which will only make them stronger but they kept God in the relationship. Great story! I can't wait to see what's in store for Cami.” ~Elizabeth J.