Just One Kiss

Chapter 1: I Can't Say No To You

Two hours later you walked into the restaurant. All the staff knew you since this was Nat's and your place, and since you usually stopped by at least once a week for margarita night. Since Nat was not there yet you ordered margaritas for the two of you before you took out your phone to start looking for a new job. After five minutes Nat sat down in front of you and you put your phone away.
"What were you looking at?" Nat wondered instead of saying hey.
"I was looking for work," you admit and take a big sip from your margarita. Nat frowned at you and you shook your head.
"You know I will probably be fired by the end of this month," you defended yourself. "And I need a job."
"I think you need a break. So why not take a vacation instead?" Nat sipped on her margarita.
"Nat, I am suspended," you groaned. "I do not have the money to go on a vacation right now."
"What if I pay for it?" Nat smiled and you started to get a sickly feeling in your stomach.
"Nat, you can't pay for my vacation," you shifted in your seat. "And besides where would I go? Bahamas, Spain, or Italy? No, thanks."
"No, you would stay in the States," Nat smirked. You tilted your head and just looked at Nat.
"And you would be doing me a huge favor." Nat continued. "Plus there would be a distraction for you as well."
"Doing you a favor and a distraction," you narrowed your eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"I need someone I trust to go to Montana and make sure that Steve and Peter don't kill each other."
"It can't be that bad?" you said.
"You have no idea," Nat almost growled. "On the way here I took a call from Steve, then from Peter, and then another from Steve." Nat took another sip. "Apparently Peter has already taken bookings for the cattle drive as well as the money. 550 dollars per person and 10 people."
"Can't they just pay the money back to the people who booked it?" You tried to see the problem.
"No, Peter took the money and day-traded it," Nat looked upset.
"He is crazy. He lost it, didn't he?" you said and Nat nodded.
"So why doesn't Steve pay the tourists and help him out of this?" you said and Nat took another sip.
"Well, let's say this is not the only time that Peter has messed things up. It is kind of his thing," Nat sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Peter is seventeen and thinks everything will magically work out for him. This time he put the money on some company that went bankrupt and now he thinks Steve will just pay as he has done before, and as I have done before. But this time Steve wants Peter to learn his lesson and I agree."
"So you are saying Peter sold a fake cattle drive to tourists and people actually paid?" you wondered. Nat and you looked at each other for a while and Nat's eyes started to cross. At the same time, both of you lost it, which made the staff look over at your table and shake their heads; they were used to your antics.
"Where did he get the idea? And who wants a working vacation? Vacations are for resting." you started laughing again. Nat stopped after a short while.
"This is not funny," Nat said. You continued laughing and Nat laughed some more.
"Okay so it is kind of funny, but it is also so wrong. Peter can get in a whole lot of trouble," Nat tried to keep her game face. "Steve is really mad and Peter is upset and thinks he will get away with it."
"But you have to admit," you giggled into your hand. "This will be so funny in a couple of years."
"Yeah, I admit. But I don't think Steve ever will," Nat said and then the waiter came to your table so you ordered.
"I am actually surprised that Steve wanted my opinion on how to handle the situation," Nat said when the waiter left. "We talked for almost an hour contemplating what to do with Peter. We talked about everything, from military school to actually calling the police."
"What did you settle on?" you wondered.
"Something I never thought that Steve would do," Nat smiled. "On Monday in two weeks morning 10 people are going to arrive at the Rogers Ranch and Steve is going to take them on the cattle drive. Steve is not happy about it. Cattle-drives are what Steve calls getting back to his roots. He does not do it as most other ranchers do nowadays, with trucks. He does it as they did back in the day on horseback, with a couple of the men working on the ranch, and moves the steers to the pasture. He also takes the less chatty men from the ranch on these things, I don't think he has ever taken Peter with him and now he needs to bring tourists with him. There will be people who might never have ridden a horse. I believe Steve would rather walk through town naked than do this. But he said that he was going to make Peter go along and do all the crappy jobs and hoping that will teach him a lesson."
"I take it Peter called you to get him out of this mess."
"Yes, but that did not work this time," Nat said. "But I had to make a compromise with Steve and agree to come along on this cattle drive. Which actually made Steve happy."
"Why?" you knew you were probably putting your nose where it did not belong, but you were curious.
"Because I always helped Peter, even when Steve asked me not to," Nat said as you got your food. "But this time I am on Steve's side. Peter is almost an adult, he can't keep messing up like this. We can't keep bailing him out forever and he needs to own up to what he has done."
"I still don't know what you want me to do?" you said after eating in silence for a while and Nat gave you a smile.
"I need someone to run interference with Steve and Peter until I can go to Montana in a few days, well Monday next week at the most. Someone who can help organize things, since Steve already has his hands full with the ranch and Peter is not to be trusted."
"So basically a babysitter for your step-brother?" you asked.
"Yes, and you get a vacation," Nat said. When she saw your hesitation she continued. "You love animals. You said just a week ago that you missed riding, I promise you will get a lot of riding in on the cattle drive. And Steve is really handsome, as long as he keeps his mouth closed."
"A cattle drive, Nat? That is not really what I had in mind when I said I missed riding." You knew she would convince you, but at the same time, you needed to make a bit of resistance. For your own sake. You were not a doormat.
"Come on, Y/N," Nat pleaded. "You've been working too much the last year, never taking the time off for anything. And you always loved the outdoors. You can use my frequent-flier miles."
"The outdoors I am used to is a lot different from Montana," you tried again and Nat looked at you.
"Okay," you said and Nat pumped her fist in the air. You both knew you would cave.
"You will have a great time, and Steve is not the only handsome man on the ranch, plus I hear that Steve's old friend Sam is back in town. He is also very good-looking and a doctor."
"I am done with doctors. And you have always said that you are no match-maker." You narrowed your eyes on Nat. "What are you trying to do?" Nat just smiled and changed the subject.
"I have a flight booked for you tomorrow. Steve will meet you at the airport and drive you to the ranch. Then I will come on as soon as I can," Nat said and you shook your head.
"I just agreed to this," you groan and Nat winked.
"I always knew you would cave," Nat smiled and continued to eat. You decided to do some last-minute shopping to get yourself some boots for the cattle drive, and that Nat would go with you home to pack. That meant just one margarita.

Back at your shared apartment, you pulled out your suitcase and Nat sat down on your bed.
"You will need durable clothes," Nat said as you put the suitcase beside her on your bed. "I know you don't have any flannel shirts, but I have some on the ranch that will probably work for you. Steve will let you have your own room, but then we might have to share." You just shrugged. You lived together now, so sharing a room would not be a problem.
"Can you tell me more about how Steve and Peter and you are family?" you asked. "I know some, but I also know I am missing things."
"You know that Steve and Peter are not my brothers by blood," Nat states, and you nod. "Well, Peter is kind of a late child to Joseph and Sarah Rogers, Steve's parents. Sarah died just hours after Peter was born, complications by birth. It devastated Joe and the town kind of gathered to help him raise his boys. Steve was only thirteen, but from what I heard he grew up fast. Five years later Joe went on his first vacation. He went with a couple of friends and he met my mother. They fell in love fast and got married within a month. So we moved to the ranch. I was fourteen and suddenly had two brothers. Steve was eighteen years living at the ranch working hard but heading to university to study. The plan was all along that he would take over the ranch after his father. But no one knew that it would happen so fast. Four years later my mother and Joe died in a car crash. I was at university and Steve was twenty-two years old and fresh out of university had to take over the ranch. Not only that he fought to keep custody over Peter. They had no family left, just the two of them. Or at least no close family, maybe some distant cousins somewhere. Steve had to take over the part as a father as well as keep the ranch going. Peter was just nine and already a handful."
"Wow," was all you could get out. You knew that Nat's mother had died in a car crash and that she had no other family, but that was unimaginable. "I have no words to express how sorry I am for your loss."
"I have Peter and Steve," was all Nat said and she gave you a small smile, then she quickly changed the subject. But did she really? She spends some time with them in Montana every year, and you knew she kept in contact with Peter. With Steve, not so much? One call a month to Steve for as long as you have known her. Sure it was something, but you always thought there could be more than that. You continued to pack and talk about other things, like the number of cattle there were on the ranch and Peter's different mischiefs through the year. It made Nat laugh and it was nice to hear and see. Your childhood had not been the best, but you never lost your parents at such a young age.

The next morning you were boarding the plane and wondering how this happened. Less than 24 hours ago you were suspended. Now you were boarding a plane to go to Montana and going to keep the peace between a man and a teenage boy, both people you had never met before in your life. It felt surreal. Like something from a movie or a book. Plus you had a four-hour plane ride to obsess over details like. What if Steve were not there to pick you up? And how would you recognize him? You should have asked Nat to see a newer picture of both Steve and Peter. The ones you had in your shared apartment were older. As well as get an address for the ranch or get to know what town was closest to the ranch. All you knew now was that there was about a three-hour drive from the airport to the ranch.