The Rancher's Return

by Kathy Douglass

  Looking around, she realized that Donovan and Elias weren’t the only ones struggling to get their tent together. From what she could see, most of the other tents were in a similar state. Maybe ranchers spent so much time outside that they didn’t camp for recreation. She loved sleeping under the stars, but maybe she was an aberration. Not that the ranchers were the only ones struggling. Dr. Tyler, Mayor Devlin and several other Sweet Briar residents didn’t seem to be faring much better.

  She heard laughter and turned back to her men. While she’d been looking around, they’d managed to get the poles through the frame and were now raising the tent. When it was finally standing, she applauded softly.

  “Finished,” Elias said proudly, wiping sweat from his brow.

  “Not quite,” she pointed out when Donovan nodded in agreement. “You need to nail in the tent pegs and set up the rain-fly.”

  “It’s not going to rain,” Elias said as if he were in charge of the weather.

  “Better safe than sorry,” Raven said. Hearing her words, she wondered if that had become her motto for life. After giving her heart to Donovan and having it smashed when he vanished, she’d become leery. That was most of the reason why she’d agreed to marry Carson. She didn’t love him so her heart was safe. He could never hurt her.

  She looked at her son hammering away at the tent pegs and wondered if she’d taught Elias to behave the same way. Was that why he’d been so willing to shove Donovan out of his life? Was he worried that Donovan would hurt him, leaving him brokenhearted? She didn’t want her son to play it safe in life. Not with his emotions. She wanted him to experience the full joy of love even if it meant he might get hurt occasionally.

  “Now we’re finished,” Elias said, dropping onto the grass beside her.

  “My hero,” Raven said then kissed his cheek.

  “He had help,” Donovan said. He sat beside her and pointed to his cheek.

  Her stomach lurched and every nerve ending in her body was suddenly on high alert. Deciding to keep it light, she leaned over and gave him a peck. The stubble from his jaw tickled her lips and she felt woozy. Tiny stars danced on her skin, leaving bits of heat and light behind.

  “Are we going to put our stuff in?” Elias said. “The games are going to start soon.”

  “Right.” Donovan stood and held out his hand to help Raven stand. She took it and the warmth from his skin reached inside her chest and warmed her heart, and she smiled. She’d arranged this weekend so Donovan and Elias could rebuild their relationship, but there was no rule saying she couldn’t use the time to see if anything remained of hers and Donovan’s. And if there was? Well she was finished playing it safe. If there was something there, she was grabbing on to it with both hands.

  Raven picked up her gear and stepped inside the tent. It wasn’t huge, but it had enough space for two adults and a child. They selected their spots and unrolled their sleeping bags. She couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as if Donovan had maneuvered it so that he would be sleeping next to her. Since she’d been plotting a way to do the same, he wouldn’t get a complaint from her.

  A bell rang and Elias raced outside. She and Donovan followed more slowly. When everyone was assembled, Joni began to speak. The first game was a scavenger hunt. Each family would be its own team. The numbers wouldn’t be even because some families were larger than others and some of the kids were really little, but she reminded everyone this was all in good fun. There wouldn’t be prizes. She hoped the end result would be closer family bonds. That should be reward enough.

  “Now, each family should choose a representative to pick up your sealed envelope. It has a list of what you’ll need to find. That person will be your team leader.”

  “Please pick me,” Elias said.

  Donovan and Raven exchanged looks and nodded.

  “Thanks. I’ll do a really good job.” Elias raced to Joni’s side. Raven noticed that most of the leaders were kids about Elias’s age.

  “This was a great idea,” Donovan said.

  “I wish I could take credit. This was Joni’s brainchild. All I did was sign up.”

  “We have ten minutes to read the list and come up with a strategy,” Elias said, running back over. “Miss Joni’s going to blow a whistle letting us know when the game starts.”

  They sat and scanned the paper. There were thirty items on the list. Some of them could be found among the things they’d brought with them, like a comb or toothbrush. Others were things they would have to pick up in the surrounding area. Raven’s competitive juices began to flow. Even though this was all in good fun, there was no reason not to try to win.

  “Here’s what I think we should do,” she said, leaning in.

  Donovan poked her in her side and she glared at him. He frowned and angled his head in Elias’s direction. “We elected Elias to be our leader. He should come up with the plan. Go ahead, Elias.”

  “Well, Mom is better at this than I am. Maybe she should be the leader.” Elias held out the list to her.

  “No. Donovan is right. We chose you because we trust that you’ll do a good job. Look how good you guys did with the tent.” She hoped a strong wind didn’t blow it over before she could sneak over and tighten it when they weren’t looking. She might not care about the fragile male ego in general, but she did care specifically about Elias’s ego.

  Elias smiled again. “Here’s my plan. I think we should find the stuff farthest away from camp first. Everybody will be looking for the same thing. We have to get them just in case they run out. Plus we won’t be bumping into them. Then we can grab the stuff from our tent.”

  “Sounds good,” Donovan said.

  “Should we separate?” Raven asked. “We could get more things if we each took part of the list.”

  “We can’t. Miss Joni said we all have to go together because it’s a ‘family’ game.”

  Raven noticed that though he put emphasis on the word family, he didn’t seem to have a problem thinking of Donovan as part of theirs. But she didn’t think their issues had been resolved. She knew better. Still, this time of camaraderie was nice.

  “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...” Someone was counting down and kids began to join in, Elias included. “...five, four, three, two, one.”

  A whistle blew and there was a loud cheer before people began running pell-mell around the campground, looking for items on the list.

  “This way,” Donovan said when she and Elias would have followed the crowd. “There are a whole lot of wildflowers about a quarter mile from here.”

  “How do you know?” Elias asked, running behind Donovan.

  “I told you. I used to hang out with Jericho when I was your age. We went all over the ranch just about every day.”

  A few minutes later they’d found a bunch of pretty flowers. It was almost a shame to pick them, but this was part of the game. “Where to next?”

  Donovan shrugged. “What should we look for next, Elias?”

  “The deer and the rabbit.”

  Raven held up her hand. “Just so you know, I’m not trying to catch either one of those. I believe they should be free in the wild.”

  “We only need pictures, Mom. Geez.”

  “There’s a spring over that hill,” Donovan said, pointing behind her shoulder. “If we’re lucky and quiet, we just might spot some.”

  Elias grinned and they sprinted in the direction had Donovan indicated. Donovan might not be able to pitch a tent to save his life, but he had a great memory and an excellent sense of direction. They found the spring in the meadow he’d indicated. They waited ten minutes before they spotted a deer. Elias snapped a picture with Donovan’s phone. They waited a couple more minutes before giving up on the rabbit.

  They found a few other items on the list and headed back to camp. There was a time limit on the game and they wanted to grab the things from their bags.
They raced into the tent and Raven grabbed her bag. “I’ve got the comb.”

  Elias dumped out his backpack and held it up. “This is something gray.”

  Laughing, they pulled out other items and added them to the pile.

  “One minute left.” Joni’s voice blasted into the tent. She’d somehow gotten her hands on a portable microphone.

  Scooping up everything, they raced out of the tent to the finish line. Other families ran out, as well, carrying their treasures. When Joni announced there were ten seconds left, everyone joined in the countdown again. One little girl toddled over with her item just as the whistle blew.

  Joni and several teenage volunteers counted the items each group had collected. Raven felt good about what they’d gathered. Although they hadn’t found every item, twenty-four out of thirty wasn’t bad.

  While the judges were tallying the scores, Elias joined a group of boys his age who were standing on the edge of the crowd. She recognized most of them. They were laughing raucously, no doubt recounting the fun they’d had on the scavenger hunt.

  Raven looked at Donovan. “Elias often asks to go to the youth center, but I’ve told him no more often than not. It’s so far away, you know? But now I’m wondering if that was a mistake. Listening to you talk about your friendship with Jericho, Tony and Billy, made me see what he’s missing. There are no boys his age on the ranches nearby. His good friends live in town. He sees them all the time during the school year, but school is out now and it takes more of an effort to get them together. Unfortunately he doesn’t get to hang out with them as much in the summer.”

  “Do you think he would enjoy going to the center? If so, I can drive him there sometimes. We could take turns. Or you could have his friends come out to the ranch some, too. Again I’m willing to help.”

  Raven nodded. It felt good not to have to do everything on her own.

  “Okay, everyone. We’re ready to announce the results,” Joni said. “First, let me say you’re all winners. No family found all of the items, but two families found twenty-six—the Tylers and the McDermotts. There was one item that only one family found, and that was the picture of the deer, found by the Reynolds-Cordero family. Congratulations to them and to all of you. You have a couple hours on your own. Dinner will be at five thirty. Until then, enjoy yourselves.”

  Elias raced back over. “Hey, there’s a lake not too far from here. Me and my friends are going to go fishing. Is that okay, Mom?”

  Raven started to say no but changed her mind. True, this was supposed to be a family weekend, but that didn’t mean the three of them needed to spend every waking moment together. She glanced at Donovan, who shrugged. “Sure. But be careful.”

  “We will. Kenny’s and Bobby’s dads are coming, too. Bobby’s dad is a doctor, so you don’t have to worry about me getting sick.” He darted into the tent and came back with his fishing pole.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered to Donovan. It was clear that being excluded from the trip with the other fathers hurt his feelings.

  “Don’t worry about it. I haven’t been around for most of his life so there’s no reason for him to think of me as his dad.”

  “No reason other than the fact that you are.”

  Elias joined his friends and their fathers and they set off to the lake.

  “How about a walk?” Donovan asked. He held out his hand and she took it. They had a couple of hours to kill so they might as well make the most of it. They went in the opposite direction from Elias so it wouldn’t look like they were following him. They didn’t speak until the sound of the camp no longer intruded on them.

  “I never knew how beautiful the Double J was.” Raven hadn’t spent much time there before today. “It’s almost as scenic as my parents’ ranch.”

  “It is. If Jericho wasn’t my oldest friend I’d be jealous.”

  “Your ranch has its own appeal.”

  “I missed it.”

  They came to a fallen log in an isolated part of the ranch and sat. They’d been holding hands the entire time they’d been walking and continued to do so. They stared into the horizon for a while. The companionable mood gradually shifted to a sexually charged one.

  Suddenly Raven became more aware of the warmth of Donovan’s hand, the rough calluses on his palm. His masculine scent surrounded her, tempting her, and with each breath, her longing for him grew in strength.

  Unable to resist any longer, Raven lifted her head and stared into Donovan’s eyes. They were dark with desire. He hesitated briefly, as if debating his next move, then brushed his lips against hers. Her mouth tingled at the contact and she sighed. He smiled at her response and a moment later, he deepened the kiss, wrapping her in his arms. Desire swept through her in intense waves, knocking over her common-sense reasons why they couldn’t do this. She leaned in closer, pressing her body against his. She murmured his name as years of need to be in his embrace again was finally satisfied.

  He ran his fingers down her back and shivers raced up her spine. Her head spinning, she tried to get even closer to him. She needed to be closer.

  Without breaking the kiss, he slid his arms under her knees and gently lowered her to the ground. She pressed her hand to his chest and felt his heart thudding in a rapid beat that matched hers. The years fell away as the past and present merged. Being with Donovan again felt so right, so natural. Though they were no longer nineteen and their bodies had changed, they still fit together perfectly. It was as if the past ten years hadn’t happened.

  But they had. And as much as she wished she could, Raven knew they couldn’t take up where they’d left off. Too much had happened. Too much could still happen.

  She eased back, reluctantly ending the kiss. She needed to keep her head.

  Blowing out a breath, she sat up and watched as Donovan did the same. He was breathing hard and her eyes were drawn to his muscular chest as it rose and fell with each breath. Instead of sitting on the log again, they remained seated on the ground and leaned against it. She brushed a hand over her hair in an attempt to remove the twigs and give it some sort of order then straightened her clothes. While working, she tried to organize her thoughts. He pulled a leaf from her hair, then gently caressed her cheek. Unable to resist, she leaned into his hand and kissed his work-roughened palm.

  He dropped a kiss on her hair and her heart stuttered. Her eyes drifted shut and she basked in his nearness. Nothing could ever feel better than being close to Donovan. Yet she knew she needed to be strong. Sighing, she opened her eyes and met his gaze. The longing that remained nearly weakened her resolve. “What are we doing, Donovan?”

  “I don’t know.” He flashed her a dimpled grin. “Making out?”

  She laughed and swatted his arm, then leaned her head against his shoulder, unable to end all physical contact. “Besides that. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but we can’t get caught up like this again. Everything is too complicated right now.”

  His lips turned down and his humor fled. He nodded. “I know. Hopefully we’re getting to know each other again. Becoming friends. And if we’re lucky, we might become more than that again.”

  “Do you think it can work? We’re different people now.”

  He shook his head. “I thought that at first, too. I was wrong. We’re the same people we were back then. We’ve just lived life apart for ten years. Our experiences helped us grow and mature. But still, underneath it all, we’re still Raven and Donovan. Now we just need to find out if we mesh as well today as we did years ago.”

  One thing was certain, the physical attraction was just as strong now as it had been ten years ago. Even though she knew they needed clear minds to work though the situation, and that they didn’t need the complication of a physical relationship making thinking more difficult, Raven kissed Donovan again. She kept it brief, believing she’d be able to control her desire, but she was wrong. She was ready to com
bust.

  Donovan ran his finger over her cheek once more, then, expelling a long breath, stood and offered his hand and helped her to her feet. They didn’t speak much as they walked back to camp, each pondering their own thoughts.

  Donovan’s words stuck with Raven the rest of the day and into the night. Dinner was a loud and fun affair, with families eating barbecued ribs, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad and cake and ice cream at long tables. Elias seemed to know most of the kids, so she took the opportunity to get to know their parents.

  After dinner they sat around a campfire and sung silly songs as well as traditional camping songs. Eventually the youngest kids began to fall asleep and their parents carried them to their tents. Even Elias started to droop. After the last song, they wandered back to their tent.

  “This was so great,” Elias said, pulling his dirty T-shirt over his head and dropping it onto his sleeping bag. “I can’t wait to see what we do tomorrow.”

  “Neither can I.” Donovan pulled off his shirt, as well, revealing his muscular torso and ripped abs. If possible, his body had become even sexier since the afternoon they’d gotten drenched. And it had definitely felt wonderful this afternoon. But they’d agreed not to act on their attraction until they sorted out things.

  Donovan caught her staring and flexed his pecs and winked. Raven broke eye contact. Fighting her feelings was going to be harder if he didn’t cooperate.

  “I need you guys to step out while I change into my pajamas.”

  Donovan chuckled. “That’s going to be a problem since one of us has already conked out.”

  Raven looked at Elias. He’d climbed into his sleeping bag and was already sleeping. “Okay. Then you.”

  “You looked at mine. You didn’t hear me complain.”

  Raven laughed and then shooed him from the tent. When she’d changed into her pink cotton pajamas, she opened the rain flap and let him back in.