The Cowgirl's Sacrifice

by Tina Radcliffe

  Reece cringed.

  “I thought you were going to consider me for the position.”

  “Yeah, we were. Three months ago,” Reece returned. “I practically nagged you about the job, and you never let me know if you wanted it.”

  Kate nodded, acknowledging that he was right. She’d waffled over the decision to move back to Rebel until the choice had been made for her, thanks to an ornery bull.

  “And Jess? What happened there? You lured him down from Montana?” she asked.

  “What happened? It’s already April,” Reece said. “You’ve hardly checked in the last few months, except for a quick phone message here and there.” He looked at her. “Were you dodging us?”

  She eyed her brother and frowned. In true Reece fashion, he’d turned the question around on her.

  “I spend half my time on the road and the other half practicing. You know that,” Kate returned. The words were all truth. She hadn’t lied. Nor had she admitted that she had been lying low and avoiding her family while she recuperated.

  “Kate,” Reece continued. “We’re growing faster than we can handle. I’m managing the orchards next door, and Claire is handling the Ballard Farm B&B while wrangling a three-month-old. Mitch is pretty much doing everything else on the ranch. We needed help ASAP. Believe me, it was fortunate that I ran into Jess.”

  “If Jess is your new foreman, where would I fit in? I mean, if I decided to make Rebel a long-term commitment.”

  “What do you think about equine management?” Reece asked. “I know it’s not the foreman job, but you have a lot of talent that we can use.” He raised a brow.

  Disappointment and gratitude were her immediate thoughts. Her life was out of control, but this was something she could latch on to and ground herself with until she figured things out.

  “Thank you, Reece,” she murmured.

  “You’d report to Jess.” Reece shot her a concerned look. “Is that a problem? I know you dated a time or two, but that was a long time ago.”

  Kate looked away. She’d never let on to her brothers that she and Jess had dated exclusively in college. She had three big brothers who’d regularly terrified her few suitors in high school. Keeping them out of her private life was a skill she’d fine-tuned when she was a teenager.

  “It’s not a problem for me if it isn’t for him.”

  “Jess assured me that you and he were long-gone history.”

  Good to know she wasn’t even memorable after he’d asked her to marry him.

  Reece peered closer. “Is that right?”

  “Absolutely,” she said firmly. “History. And I bet he’s got a wife and a houseful of kids already.”

  “Not that I know of,” Reece said. Again, he looked to Mitch, who offered a shake of his head.

  Kate put on a smile while digesting that information with mixed emotions. “I can start in the stables tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Mitch released a breath. “I’m guessing there isn’t much you can do with a broken arm. It’s not like you’ll be riding.”

  “What about using a mounting block?”

  “Nope,” Reece said. “You’ll need a doctor’s release form before you start working anywhere on the ranch besides desk duty.”

  “You must be kidding. I can remember you coming home from the Scottsdale Parada Del Sol Rodeo with a broken shoulder, and it didn’t stop you from riding.”

  He opened his mouth, and Kate cut him off with a palm in the air before he could speak.

  “Don’t even think about saying it’s because I’m a girl.”

  “Maybe it’s because you’re hardheaded and stubborn.” He raised his brows in challenge.

  “So says the king of stubborn.” Kate burst out laughing and grimaced as her ribs protested the action.

  Reece shook his head. “Flattery will get you nowhere. Get checked by the clinic in Rebel, and then we’ll discuss how soon we can get you on the official payroll.”

  “You’ve offered me a position that I can’t actually have until a doctor clears me?”

  “Correct,” he said with a nod.

  “That’s not fair,” Kate muttered. She’d had enough doctor visits to last a lifetime and had a stack of bills to prove it.

  “It’s the best answer you’ll get for now,” Reece said.

  “You know,” Mitch began, “we should have a little get-together to welcome you home.”

  Kate shook her head firmly. What was there to celebrate? “I don’t think—”

  “Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Reece said to Mitch as though she wasn’t there. “Kate Rainbolt is home. I’d say a little party is in order.”

  “Guys, really. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

  “Not an inconvenience. We’ll have a housewarming party at your place,” Mitch said.

  “I don’t have a place.”

  “Sure you do.” Reece smiled. “Tucker’s house is still empty. Does that work for you?”

  “What would Tucker say?” she asked, almost afraid to get her hopes up. A house? She’d been living in a trailer or her truck since she left home. A house seemed too good to even dare to imagine.

  “Tucker sold the place to Rebel Ranch when he and Jena got married,” Mitch said.

  “Oh. I didn’t know that. Well, then, thank you. I’ll write a check for the first month’s rent as soon as I unpack my checkbook.”

  “Cut it out,” Reece interjected. “You don’t pay rent on your own land. It’s one of the few perks of being part owner of the property.”

  “There are perks?”

  “Sure,” Reece said. “If all goes as planned with the launch next door, we all are finally going to see a handsome distribution check next January. That means the Rainbolts will finally see profit in their back pocket.”

  “I don’t feel like I should get a revenue check. I don’t work here.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re part owner of Rebel Ranch, which makes you part owner of Ballard Farm along with the vet clinic in town. Our holdings have grown.” When Reece looked at her, a wide grin lit up his face. “You know, there’s one more perk I’d nearly forgotten.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Luna Diaz is the ranch chef. She’ll be thrilled to cater your welcome-home party.”

  Kate quickly shook her head. “No. No. I don’t think a party is a good idea.”

  “He didn’t mean party,” Mitch said. “A little get-together with family and friends. Let us do this, Kate. We want to welcome you home, proper-like.” Her eldest brother smiled, making it impossible to say no.

  “Okay, all right. A few people. Um, when?”

  “Next Saturday night work for you?”

  “Fine.” She finished off her fritter and eyed a second one. “Mind if I take a few of these with me?”

  Reece laughed. “I’ll have someone run them over to your new home.”

  Her new home. There was something exciting and terrifying about unpacking for the long haul. It was discomfiting to return to Oklahoma with nothing but her few possessions and her horse. She’d been so idealistic when she’d left ten years ago. Now it seemed the prodigal cowgirl had returned a failure.

  “Thanks,” Kate murmured, humbled by the offer. “I really appreciate this.”

  “Stop acting like you’re a houseguest,” Reece said. His voice held a raw edge. “You’re family, Kate. We lost Levi, but we still have each other.”

  She nodded as emotion washed over her at the mention of her little brother, Levi. The auto accident that took his life was six years ago, but the pain remained a constant ache.

  “I’ll send someone over to help you unload,” Reece said.

  “I don’t need—”

  Reece narrowed his gaze, shutting down the rest of her response.

  Kate raised her palms. “All I
have is a half-dozen boxes.”

  Mitch looked at his brother. “She’ll need furniture and a bed.”

  “Got it covered,” Reece said with a snap of his fingers. “We’ve got furniture in storage in the attic here. And I can take a bed from a guest suite upstairs.”

  “Thank you so much, guys.”

  “We’re just happy that you’re home,” Reece said.

  “Me too,” she said. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

  “Not a thing for you. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Mitch said. “In the meantime, I’ll have someone drop off groceries later today.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “You have to eat.” Mitch offered a tender smile. “Now quit protesting. We’re your big brothers. Deal with it.”

  She leaned back in the chair, grateful and suddenly very weary. Her arm and rib cage throbbed. Elevating the extremity and applying an ice pack would help, along with some over-the-counter analgesic tablets.

  Maybe taking it easy today was a good idea. She looked forward to a hot shower and a nap. Then she’d sit down and figure out a plan to stall her creditors until she got a doctor’s clearance and her brothers were willing to put her on the payroll.

  The accident had lassoed her into a hefty medical-bill payment plan, and the next installment was due soon. Though that bit of information was something she’d keep to herself. There was no way she’d allow her brothers to bail her out when it was her poor decisions that had put her square in the middle of a life turned upside down.

  “Are we good?” Reece asked.

  Kate glanced at both of her brothers. “Yes. We’re good.”

  Good until she could think straight and figure out what the future held for a broken-down cowgirl who’d gone from riding a horse to riding a desk.

  * * *

  Jess pulled up to the modest brick-and-clapboard ranch home with a white picket fence. Kate was so not a white-picket-fence woman.

  As he parked the Double R pickup, it occurred to him that he’d made an assumption he had no right to make. They’d dated in college. On graduation day, they’d saluted the future. He with a ranch-operations degree in his hand and Kate with a degree in business administration, per Mitch’s edict that she attend college. That was the day that Jess had proposed marriage. Things hadn’t worked out as well as he’d hoped. Kate had burned rubber leaving Rebel. Leaving him.

  Back then, Jess’s situation at home hadn’t looked any better. His father hadn’t had a good word to say to him after he’d changed his major from premed. The old man had wanted Jess to follow his footsteps into medicine. The rift between them had only widened over time. His father’s sudden death last year meant Jess would never have a chance to make things right.

  Now, here he was, back in Rebel ashamed of himself and determined to be there for his ailing mother.

  “You sure are thinking awful hard.”

  “What?” Jess turned in the truck’s seat to face Willard Cornell, the wily hand who was older than dirt and told everyone so any chance he got.

  “I’d say you were in your happy place, ’cept you sure weren’t smiling.”

  “It’s Thursday,” Jess said. “I always think on Thursday. That frees me up to daydream on Friday.”

  “Tell me another story,” Willard said. “I don’t think you’re a daydreamer at all. I’ve had my eye on you since you started at Rebel Ranch. You’re so pragmatic it scares me.”

  “Pragmatic? There’s a two-dollar word.”

  “If the boot fits.” Willard nodded to the house in front of them. “What do you think about Miss Kate’s return?”

  “I don’t think about it.”

  “So you say.” Willard removed his battered hat, slapped it on his thigh and covered his gray head again. “I remember when Reece started things out here. All we had was a few horses. That boy had a few stops and starts back then. He didn’t even realize that Rebel Ranch could be a tourist attraction until a few more years down the road when he got his life straightened out.”

  He eyed Jess and kept talking. “I was one of the first hires at Rebel Ranch. Miss Kate was at college. She came home some weekends, and as I recall, you followed her around more than a few times.”

  Jess pushed open the door of the truck, annoyed at the memory of how naive he’d been in those days. Naive enough to give away his heart. “I didn’t follow her around,” he said. “And we were kids. Haven’t been a kid in a long time.”

  Willard laughed as he too got out of the truck. “Yeah, right, ’cause you’re all of what? Thirty?”

  “Thirty-one.”

  “Ha,” Willard scoffed. “I was twice as old as you when I was your age.”

  “I believe it.”

  “So you headed to Montana right after college?” Willard asked.

  Jess lowered the truck’s gate and grabbed two brown bags from the Piggly Wiggly. “You sure are nosy,” he said.

  “That’s ’cause you never say two words.”

  “Maybe you should take a hint.”

  “Not me. Takes a two-by-four for me to take a hint.”

  “That’s nothing to be proud of,” Jess said.

  “Are you going to answer the question?”

  “Yeah, I had an opportunity on a ranch in Billings. No big deal.”

  “And now you’re back.”

  “That’s right. Can you grab that other bag of groceries?” Jess asked. He reached for his toolbox with his free hand and strode to the front door.

  Before he had a chance to put down the toolbox and knock, the door swung open, and he faced Kate through the screen. She stood to the side and eyed him, clearly not pleased to find him on her stoop. Her long hair, the color of dark chocolate, was pulled into a knot at the top of her head. The ends were dark purple, as though they’d been dipped in paint, no doubt a salute to her rebel nature. In a short-sleeved T-shirt and yoga pants, she looked good. Way too good.

  Jess reminded himself to focus. He had no business noticing how Kate Rainbolt looked, nor should he care.

  “We meet again,” she said. “How may I help you?”

  “Willard and I are here to get things moved into the house.”

  She offered a resigned sigh. “Come on in.”

  When he slipped past her into the foyer, the scent of mangoes tickled his nose—Kate’s shampoo. The scent took him places he’d long forgotten and he froze.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing.” Not a thing, except he didn’t want to be thinking about the scent of mangoes.

  It was when she turned to face him that Jess saw the long cast on her left arm. How had he missed that this morning? Maybe because she had wanted him to miss it.

  “You broke your arm?” he asked.

  “Looks like.” Her stance said she wouldn’t be entertaining any questions on the subject.

  “Where do you want these groceries, Miss Kate?” Willard said from behind him.

  “Oh, Willard. Thank you. The kitchen is right through there.” She offered a generous and welcoming smile to the old cowboy.

  Willard looked Jess up and down. “You gonna just stand there?”

  Jess followed him into the kitchen, biting back a comment.

  “Looking as pretty as ever, Miss Kate,” Willard observed. “How’d you bust up your arm?”

  “An ugly bull decided he liked me better in the dirt than standing up.”

  “Maybe it was the same bull that chewed off my digits.” Willard held up his right hand, where he was missing two fingers.

  Jess’s lips twitched. Another day and another tall tale about how Willard had lost his fingers a few years back. In six weeks, he’d already heard six stories. No doubt the real story was much less colorful.

  Laughter slipped from Kate’s mouth at the old cowboy’s words, and for a mo
ment, she relaxed, reminding him of the girl he used to know.

  “Can I get you two something to drink? Or maybe an apple fritter?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Willard said with a grin.

  Jess held out an arm before Willard could pass by. “Let’s get the stuff in the back of the truck emptied first.”

  “Well, you’re no fun,” Willard grumbled.

  “That’s why they hired me,” Jess returned.

  An hour later, Willard continued to grumble as he closed up the back of the pickup and dusted off his hands. “Now can we take a break?”

  “Not until we get that bed frame set up.”

  A phone buzzed, and Willard pulled a cell from his pocket. “From the boss.”

  “Which boss?” Jess asked.

  “Reece. He needs me over at Ballard Farm.” Willard looked up at Jess. “Think you can handle that bed frame all by your lonesome?”

  Jess tossed him the keys to the ranch truck. “I’ll walk back.”

  “Where’s your buddy?” Kate asked when he stepped into the house.

  When she smiled, Jess looked away. He wouldn’t be caught in the snare of those blue eyes.

  “Reece needed him,” he said. Grabbing the toolbox from the floor, he headed down the hall, growing more annoyed that he was now alone with Kate. He was supposed to be a foreman, not her personal mover or the local handyman. What happened to avoiding the woman? Her brothers weren’t making that easy.

  “You don’t need to do that,” she called after him.

  Jess stopped and turned around. Kate’s eyes rounded as she too stopped.

  “I’m employed by Rebel Ranch. Your brothers asked me to make sure you’re set up here. If you have a problem with that, take it up with them, Miss Rainbolt.”

  “So that’s how it’s going to be?” she returned with her right hand on her hip.

  “Just doing my job.” Jess did an about-face and headed into the master bedroom. Kate was the boss’s sister and a distraction he didn’t need. He took the metal-frame segments and attached the wheels and feet. Then he added the center support beam and positioned it with the frame segments. Twice they slipped out of place.