Red Hot Rancher

by Maureen Child

  Star whickered as if even the horse could judge his shift in mood. Well, hell, damned if he’d be so transparent an animal could read him. Shaking his head, Caden stroked her forehead one last time and said, “You be good to that girl and she’ll love you all her life.”

  Just for a second, he thought about how ironic it was that he was selling Star now. Caden had thought that in letting the horse go, he’d be getting rid of the last real reminder of Emma on the ranch. Was it cosmic or karmic or just fate with a sense of humor to send Emma home now?

  “It’s a kick in the ass for damn sure,” he muttered.

  Then he turned his back on the past and walked out of the trailer and into an icy wind. Shaking hands with Matt Fraser, he said, “You’ve got a good horse there.”

  “We’ll take care of her,” the other man said.

  Nodding, Caden looked at the man’s daughter. About fourteen years old, she was practically vibrating with excitement.

  “Your dad says you’ll take good care of Star. Is that right?”

  “I will,” she said solemnly, her eyes locked on his face. “I promise I will.”

  He nodded. “If you do, that horse will love you forever.”

  “Thank you!” The words rushed from her and she impulsively gave Caden a hard hug. When she let him go, she looked up at him, eyes dazzled. “This is the best day of my whole life.”

  Caden smiled, despite the pang of regret he felt in losing Star. There was nothing quite like the relationship between a person and a horse.

  And now, this young girl was clearly seeing a long, happy future ahead of her and Star. He hoped she had half the fun he’d had with River. “Well, you’d better get her home so you two can have a ride.”

  The girl raced to close the door on the trailer and jump into the front seat of her dad’s truck. A few minutes later, the Frasers and Star were gone in a swirl of dust and wind.

  Caden watched them go and realized that it was easier now to say goodbye. To let go. When Emma had left him, she’d ripped the earth out from beneath his feet. But she’d taught him something, too. He’d learned that he could survive loss.

  And most importantly, he’d learned he couldn’t trust Emma.

  * * *

  Gracie watched Emma drive off and a part of her wondered if she’d be back. She hated feeling the way she did, but Emma had hurt her deeply by leaving and that pain was still with her. How could she just forget? Forgive?

  She huddled deeper into her jacket and pulled the collar up to protect her neck. Every winter, she thought about growing her hair out just because it would be warmer. Then in the summer, she was grateful it was short.

  She tipped her head back to look at the sky and shivered a little at the gunmetal-gray clouds swarming in. Brightly colored leaves were ripped from the trees and sent tumbling on the icy afternoon wind.

  “The place looks nice,” Madison Peters said. “You got the corral fence painted.”

  Gracie smiled. “That was Caden. He sent some of his guys over to take care of it a couple days ago.”

  “He’s a good friend,” Madison mused.

  “Yeah,” Gracie said, “he is.” Caden was someone she could always count on. He’d promised he’d take care of it and he had. When Caden gave his word, you could put money on it. That was something Gracie had really come to appreciate over the past five years. When she needed help, he was there. Unlike Emma.

  Fresh anger erupted and bubbled in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t like it. Didn’t want to be so furious with the sister she’d loved so desperately most of her life. But how was she supposed to get past what she was feeling?

  “Gracie, you’ve got to get over this thing with your sister.”

  She turned her head to look at the other woman, not even surprised that Madison had read what she was feeling. Her long red hair was pulled back in a braid, to keep it out of her way while she was working. Her pretty face was dotted with golden freckles and her green eyes shone like twin emeralds when she smiled. Which she wasn’t doing at the moment.

  “How’m I supposed to do that?”

  Madison threw both hands up. “I don’t know. Be grateful you have someone else here to help you with the ranch?” She tipped her head to one side and asked, “Aren’t you always telling me that you need extra help here? Well, now Emma’s home and you’ll have it.”

  “Will I?” Gracie’s mouth twisted. “She was in here straightening out the tack room earlier and now no one’s going to be able to find anything.”

  Madison laughed. “I’m willing to thank her for bringing a little order into that room. And you should, too.”

  “Now I should thank her?” Disgusted with Mad and with herself, Gracie turned her face into the wind. “No. She can’t slide back into her own life like nothing ever happened.”

  “Is she really trying to do that?”

  “Yeah,” Gracie said, staring at the other woman. “She’s acting like she never left! She’s back in her old bedroom and she’s taken over mom’s sewing room for the baby...”

  “You weren’t using it for anything.”

  “You don’t get it, Mad,” Gracie said, shaking her head and pushing her own hair out of her eyes.

  “Gracie...”

  “She just does whatever the hell she feels like and screw what anyone else thinks about it.”

  Madison sighed. “You’re just mad at her. Still.”

  “Of course I am.”

  Irritated that her friend wasn’t able to understand what she was feeling, Gracie had to bite back a quick burst of anger. It wasn’t surprising that she couldn’t see this. Madison was new to Cache. She’d only moved there three years ago to take over the retiring vet’s office. And almost from the moment they met, Mad and Gracie had been thick as thieves.

  Taking a breath, Gracie now told herself to relax. Usually, she really appreciated Mad’s optimistic, sunshiny attitude. But today, she’d really like her best friend to be on her side. “You weren’t here when Emma left town. You don’t know how hard it was. On everybody.”

  “You’re right. I wasn’t here,” Madison agreed. “But you’ve told me about it. You’ve also told me how close you and Emma always were. So why’re you so mad that she finally came home?”

  “Whose side are you on?” Gracie asked, a little wounded that Madison was being so damn impartial.

  The redhead laughed shortly. “Yours. I’m always on your side, Gracie. I just think maybe you should cut her a small break.”

  “Okay, what about this?” Gracie stepped in closer to Madison. “What if Emma’s going to Caden’s? What if he tells her?”

  Worry flashed across Madison’s eyes briefly and didn’t do a thing to lessen Gracie’s anxiety.

  “Do you think he would?”

  “No, but I didn’t think Emma would ever come home, either, so don’t go by my opinion.”

  “All right.” Madison nodded sharply. “Let’s say he does tell her. Would that really be so bad? Don’t you have to tell her and your dad at some point?”

  “Sure I do. But when I’m ready.”

  “And when will that be?” Madison’s voice was small and Gracie winced.

  “Soon. I swear, soon,” she said and reached out to briefly squeeze Madison’s hand.

  “Secrets never stay secret, Gracie,” Madison said.

  “And I don’t want it to,” Gracie took a breath and chewed at her bottom lip. “Right now, I don’t know how to tell them. But I’m going to figure it out. I swear.”

  “I know you will. And when you’re ready, remember that I’m here for you.” Madison gave her a smile. “But I’m not the only one who cares about you. You’ve got your dad. And now your sister. And the baby’s here. You can’t fool me, Gracie. I know how much you love kids. So let yourself love that baby.”

  Gracie sighed a little. She
already did love that tiny girl, but she was afraid to let it show because what if Emma left? Again?

  “How about,” Madison continued, “when Emma comes home, you talk to her. Sit down, have a beer and just get it all out.”

  She laughed shortly. “Never thought I’d say this, but a beer can’t solve everything.”

  “It’s a start...”

  “Why do you have to be so understanding all the time?”

  “Because someone has to be.” Madison asked, “Are you mad she left? Or mad she came home?”

  “Both.” Gracie waved one hand before Madison could say anything. “And yes, I know that makes zero sense.”

  Madison grinned. “Well, at least you know it.”

  Scowling, Gracie looked at the other woman. “You’re not helping.”

  “I don’t know how to help.” She shrugged, and grabbed her bag before heading into the stable. Gracie stuck with her and Madison kept talking. “You and Emma used to be close.”

  “Key words there being used to be.”

  They walked into the stable and Madison headed for the far stall, where Diamond, an aging stallion, was waiting. “Uh-huh, but she’s back. And the only thing stopping the two of you from being close again, is you.”

  “It’s not the only thing,” Gracie muttered darkly. She was feeling like a temperamental child throwing a tantrum. And speaking of child... “And she’s got a baby she never bothered to tell us about. Who does that, Mad? Who doesn’t tell her family that she’s pregnant?”

  Madison glanced at her before stepping into the stall. “We all have secrets, don’t we, Gracie?”

  She flushed and didn’t like it. “Okay, good point. But she’s clearly expecting Dad and I to take care of Molly.”

  “You love kids.” Madison cooed and soothed the horse, then slowly bent to inspect the small nick on his foreleg.

  “Not the point.”

  “What is the point, Gracie?”

  Irritated, frustrated and just feeling so not herself, Gracie snapped, “The point is, Queen Emma has arrived and all of us peasants are expected to toss confetti her way.”

  Madison straightened up, looked at her for a long second or two, then burst out laughing. “Honestly, you’re really going over the top here, Gracie. She’s your sister. She came home. Sure, you can be upset, but she’s family. That hasn’t changed.”

  Gracie stuffed both hands into her jacket pockets and faced her friend. “I can’t forget that she left.”

  “No one’s asking you to,” Madison said, bent down again, to medicate and wrap the small cut on the horse’s leg. When she was finished, she stood up, and looked at Gracie across the half-door of the stall. “All I’m saying is that maybe you set the last five years aside—” she held up one hand when Gracie would have spoken “—and try to find your way from here.”

  “I don’t know...” Gracie turned her head to look toward the open double doors and the darkening day outside. “She wasn’t here, Mad. When I really needed her, she wasn’t here.”

  Sighing a little, Madison left the stall, and set her bag down. Then she hugged Gracie tightly before taking a step back and meeting her eyes. “I know, honey. And it was hard for you. But you got through. And maybe it was a good thing that you had to face things on your own. Make the hard decisions and learn what you really wanted.”

  Giving her a wry smile, Gracie said, “Have I told you that I really hate it when you’re so rational?”

  “That’s why I do it,” Mad told her with a quick grin.

  Gracie gave her a hard hug, then let her go. “Fine. I’ll try.” She narrowed her eyes. “I make no promises, but I’ll try.”

  “That’s good enough,” Madison said. “Now, Diamond should be fine, but I’ll be back tomorrow to check on him.”

  “That’s the best news I’ve had today. I like when you’re here.”

  “I’m glad,” Madison said with a quick, impish grin. “Now, why don’t you walk me out to my truck?”

  “Sure.” Gracie fell into step beside her. “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”

  “As long as the Callahan’s cow doesn’t go into labor,” Madison said. “Fingers crossed. I’ll call you if I can’t make it. Otherwise, I’ll meet you at the Little River Diner at five.”

  Gracie opened the door and held it while Madison climbed in. “Thanks for listening to me rant.”

  Madison grinned again and her bright green eyes sparkled. “Not a problem. Now you owe me the next time I need to vent.”

  “Deal.”

  She patted Gracie’s hand. “Don’t be so hard on Emma. She might surprise you.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of,” Gracie admitted.

  * * *

  On the short ride to Caden’s Emma rehearsed what she wanted to say. Not that it would help. The minute she saw him again, her mouth would go dry and her heart would hammer in her chest. Caden had been having that effect on her for as long as she could remember.

  And during the years she was in California, surrounded by men who were deliberately gorgeous and continually posing to put themselves in the best possible light, she hadn’t met a single one as amazing as the cowboy she’d left behind.

  “This is such a bad idea,” she told herself sternly, driving along the narrow road.

  Seeing him, being with him, was only going to stir up more of the feelings he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in reviving. But she was home now. She wasn’t leaving again. Caden’s ranch was so close to hers and Cache was such a small town, they’d be seeing each other all the time. So they had to find a way to be together without a constant state of war between them. “That would just be exhausting.”

  She glanced into the rearview mirror and wished she’d taken the time to put on some eye makeup or something. But if she’d waited, she might have avoided facing Caden at all. So she was going to face down her former lover without a shred of makeup and with her hair in a tangle from the wild, cold wind rushing across Montana.

  She gave her reflection a quick glare. “Why do you care what you look like? It’s not as if you’re going over there to seduce him.”

  Though that thought set up a flicker of fire that had her shifting uncomfortably in her seat. A moment later, her mind lit up with memories. God, sex with Caden had spoiled her for any other man. Not that she’d lived like a vestal virgin for the five years she was gone. But no one had come close to making her feel what Caden could with a single touch.

  Images raced through her mind, one after another. Moonlit nights in Caden’s arms. The two of them, naked and wrapped around each other in a sunlit meadow. Sex in a canoe that had ended up being sex in the lake once they’d capsized the narrow boat. Her lips twisted into a reluctant smile, but in the next instant, that smile faded.

  Everything was different now.

  Familiar countryside stretched out on either side of the road. Trees, meadows, the last lingering wildflowers, already bent in half by the cold wind bringing winter. So much was the same, and yet so much had changed.

  Caden had once been not only her lover, but her best friend. The one person she could go to with anything. He had been her touchstone.

  Now he was a stranger to her and seemingly way too close to her little sister. Gracie had gone running over to Caden’s three times in the few days Emma had been home. Why? What was going on there?

  She remembered how Gracie had thrown herself into Caden’s arms two days ago. She’d also heard her sister on the phone with him several times since then and late last night, Gracie had gone to Caden’s place again to “talk.” Anger bubbled inside and with it, some jealousy, as well. Was Gracie going after Caden because he’d once been Emma’s? Was Caden doing the same thing?

  She chewed at her bottom lip and ignored the swarms of what felt like dragons in the pit of her stomach.

  Her hands t
ightened on the steering wheel. “If he’s using Gracie to get back at me, that’s going to stop today.”

  She made the turn into the Double H drive and familiarity stirred inside. How many times had she come down this road, to this ranch, running to Caden? She couldn’t even count them all.

  And Emma remembered that she and Caden had once planned to lay out a road linking their two ranches. Going straight across their land, it would be a private road, cutting ten minutes off the trip, making sure their families could always reach each other in a hurry.

  But that plan had died along with so many others when she’d left Montana. Oaks, elms and aspen trees lined the drive and the fall jewel tones of gold and red and orange were bright splashes of color in a gray day. The wind drove fallen leaves into mini-tornadoes that drifted across the front of her SUV and temporarily blinded her.

  Once they’d passed, Emma spotted the ranch house and came to a dead stop.

  This was not the house she remembered. Five years ago, Caden’s place had been big, but not palatial. This house was a Western palace.

  Two stories, with a steep roof for the snow to slide off, the front was a wall of glass that would provide a spectacular view of Flathead Lake. River stone and golden oak planks made up the walls and lined the wide balcony off the first floor where several chairs were gathered around what she assumed was a gas firepit. The front porch was flanked by black iron sconces and the surrounding trees stood like soldiers on guard duty.

  Simply staggered by the beauty of it all, Emma wondered what had happened while she was gone to allow Caden to build this place.

  After a second or two, she continued on and noted the much bigger barn and an even larger stable with a corral that seemed to take up almost an acre of land. Caden had done just what he’d always planned to do. Taken his father’s ranch and expanded it, made it something extraordinary. Of course, the plan was always that Emma would be a part of it. They’d both had dreams for this place and something tugged at her insides when she had to admit that he’d done it all without her.