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  The dog came running, and when she reached him, he laughed at her and bent down to give her a healthy scratch. “You ready to roll over?”

  Penny barked as if saying, No thank you, Tripp. Where’s the treats?

  He took the cheese out of his pocket, and Penny sat down, her front paws twitching as she kept her eyes right on that treat in his hand. “Good sit,” he said, smiling at the dog. “Shake.” He put his hand out for Penny, and she put her paw in his fingers.

  He gave her a bit of cheese. “Lay down.”

  She did. Treat. He worked through all of the things she could do really well, and then he said, “Roll over.”

  Penny went onto her side, but she would not roll all the way over. She whined, and Tripp tilted his head at her. “Just roll over, girl,” he said. “You’ve done it before. Go on. Roll over.” With a little more coaxing, Penny did what he wanted.

  He cheered and gave her the rest of the cheese, scrubbed her ears and said, “Good girl. Rhett is going to be so proud of you.”

  He straightened, realizing what his life had become. The best part of his day was getting a cattle dog to roll over. Standing in the brutal June sun was enjoyable.

  Tripp really needed to get out more. And not to lunch with his twin. But with a woman.

  A specific woman who hadn’t answered his last text. “Ivory Osburn,” he whispered. He’d been out with her a dozen times over the last nine months, but she was hot and cold with him. She’d go out with him three or four times and then say she needed some space.

  He’d given it to her when he really wanted to keep seeing her. Meet her son. Ivory hadn’t allowed him to meet Oliver, and Tripp didn’t want to push her on that. A mother should get to decide when to bring people into her children’s life.

  The thought to text her and ask her to dinner crossed his mind, but he crossed it off his list just as quickly. She’d just ignore him again, driving the pin further into his heart.

  He wished he could let her go, but for some reason, he couldn’t. Hadn’t, at least. Maybe with some effort, he could.

  “Ready?” Liam asked, and Tripp spun toward him. His mind cleared, and he’d made it a personal rule not to eat out twice in one day. Besides, Jeremiah would make dinner, and Tripp loved his brother’s food.

  “Yes,” he said, following Liam back into the house. “I’ll drive.”

  “You and that fancy truck.” Liam chuckled, but Tripp just took his keys off the hook in the kitchen and went into the garage.

  He’d bought a new truck a couple of months ago, true. It was dark blue and full of all the bells and whistles. The truck made the twenty-minute drive to the town of Three Rivers almost fun, and Tripp adjusted the radio and the air conditioning when he got behind the wheel.

  “Okay, where are we going?” he asked once they got off the lane where the ranch sat, the truck’s wheels rolling well over the asphalt.

  “I’m feeling like Chinese,” he said.

  “The one by the post office?” Tripp asked. “That’s the one I like.”

  “China Isle,” Liam confirmed. “That’s the one. I’m feeling like the chicken noodle bowl.”

  “You and your love of noodles.” Tripp shook his head as he smiled.

  A mile or two passed before Liam asked, “Do you think we should’ve invited Wyatt?”

  “Oh,” Tripp said, surprise moving through him. “I mean, maybe. He wasn’t in the house, though.” He glanced at Liam. “And we didn’t invite Jeremiah.”

  “I’m just saying I forget about Wyatt sometimes,” Liam said. “He’s so quiet.”

  Tripp laughed then, and that definitely wasn’t quiet. His mother had always told him he had the best laugh out of any of the boys, and Tripp liked his laugh.

  “Yeah, well, compared to us, anyone would be quiet.” Tripp caught sight of the outskirts of town, and his stomach grumbled as if he needed a reminder that he was hungry. “Wyatt seems happy enough, though.”

  “Yeah, he has a way with the horses,” Liam said. “And he doesn’t want to train them for the rodeo, which I don’t get.”

  “Well, he’s working at Bowman Breeds, and that’s what they do. Maybe he feels like this town is too small for two rodeo training operations.”

  The truth was, Tripp didn’t really know how Wyatt felt. His brother had said he needed some time to figure out his life without the rodeo in it, and everyone had left him alone to do that.

  “It’s fun having him here,” Tripp said as he turned to go down the right street.

  “Yeah, totally,” Liam said. “I just don’t want him to feel like we’ve left him out.”

  “Fair point,” Tripp said. “We should be more careful of that.” Sometimes the two of them got in their twin space and didn’t realize that the other brothers might feel like they weren’t welcome.

  He turned into the parking lot and started looking for a spot. “Wow, this place is popular during lunchtime.” He swiveled his head left and right, searching. “Anything over there?”

  “No, and I had no idea this many people liked Chinese—watch out!”

  Tripp slammed on the brake pedal, having just saw the woman bent over in the middle of the parking lot. She’d dropped a bunch of packages, and a very keen sense of déjà vu hit him right in the chest.

  So hard that he unbuckled his seatbelt and slid from the truck. “Ivory?” he asked. The first time they’d met, she’d dropped an armful of packages right in front of him at the post office.

  She sniffled and snatched the last package before he could help her. His pulse sang and skipped through his veins. At the same time, he realized that there was something wrong with Ivory.

  “Are you okay?” He actually glanced at the front bumper of his truck just to make sure he hadn’t touched her.

  “Tripp.” She balanced the packages in one arm and used her free hand to swipe that dirty blonde hair out of her face. “I’m fine.”

  But she wasn’t fine. She’d been crying, and while Tripp wasn’t well-versed with crying women, he sensed an opportunity here.

  “Let me help you,” he said, taking some of the packages before she could protest. With three or four in his hands, she only had a couple left to carry. “You’re taking these to the post office?”

  “Yes,” she said, walking now. He met his brother’s eyes through the windshield, and even without their freaky twin communications, Liam would’ve gotten the message to slide over and get the truck parked.

  This is Ivory Osburn, Tripp thought, suddenly so glad he’d waited for Liam to finish his work before coming to lunch.

  “Why’d you park over here?” he asked.

  Ivory just glared at him, then she picked her way across the decorative rocks that separated the restaurant parking lot from the post office one. “No reason.”

  “Ivory, wait,” he said, frustrated she was already pushing him away again. “There’s something wrong. A blind man could see it. Let me help you.”

  “You want to help me?”

  “Yes,” he said, though her voice bordered on dangerous.

  She stepped onto the sidewalk and faced him, her face filled with irritation and anger. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I don’t need help. They’re just necklaces.” She started taking the packages from him and ended up bobbling all of them, dropping them to the ground again.

  A frustrated moan came from her mouth, and she bent to collect the packages again.

  “Ivory,” he said, feeling helpless with a hint of humiliation.

  “I’m fine, Tripp,” she said. “I mean, if you can get more people to buy my jewelry, I might be better. Or if you could get my addled mind to remember where to turn to park at this blasted post office, that might be good too. Or you know what?” She straightened, all of the packages securely in her arms again.

  “Maybe you could get my ex to drop the custody challenge he started. Can you do that?” She cocked her eyebrows at him, and Tripp had no idea what to say.

  “I didn’t think so.” Sh
e turned and marched away from him. “Don’t offer to help if you can’t actually do it,” she said over her shoulder.

  Tripp turned to look behind him, sure some help would be standing there. No one stood there, and Tripp watched Ivory walk into the post office and right out of his life.

  Again.

  TRIPP’S TRIVIAL TIE is coming soon! Preorder it now!

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  Want another Walker Brother? Another cowboy billionaire in Three Rivers? Yeah, me too! You can preorder TRIPP’S TRIVIAL TIE right now, and get ready for more great Christmas romance, another fake relationship, and the swoon-worthy cowboy billionaires in Three Rivers!

  Have you read the books in the Three Rivers Ranch Romance series? That’s where this world started! Begin with SECOND CHANCE RANCH or THE FIRST LADY OF THREE RIVERS RANCH, both entry points to the Three Rivers world.

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  Love small town western romance at Christmastime? Who doesn’t, right? Try CHEERING THE COWBOY, and travel to Texas Hill Country for Christmas!

  About Liz

  Liz Isaacson is a USA Today bestselling author and a Kindle All-Star Author. She is the author of the #1 bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, the #1 bestselling Horseshoe Home Ranch Romance series, the Brush Creek Brides series, the USA Today bestselling Steeple Ridge Romance series (Buttars Brothers novels), the Grape Seed Falls Romance series, the Christmas in Coral Canyon Romance series (Whittaker Brothers and Everett Sisters novels), the Quinn Valley Ranch Romance series, the Last Chance Ranch Romance series, and the Seven Sons Ranch in Three Rivers Romance series (Walker Brothers novels).

  She writes inspirational romance, usually set in Texas and Montana, or anywhere else horses and cowboys exist. She lives in Utah, where she teaches elementary school, taxis her daughter to dance several times a week, and eats a lot of Ferrero Rocher while writing.

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  RHETT’S MAKE-BELIEVE MARRIAGE

  Book One in the Seven Sons Ranch in Three Rivers Romance series

  by Liz Isaacson

  Copyright © 2019 by Elana Johnson, writing as Liz Isaacson

  Published by AEJ Creative Works

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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  Interior Design by AEJ Creative Works