by Jill Sanders
“Well, of course everyone in town is talking about how you snatched up this place from the bank. Haven’t had any problems with it so far?”
He turned to glace back at the small house.
“No, the water heater could stand to be replaced, but so far so good.”
“So,” Chase turned back towards him. “Where’s this heifer of yours?”
“Well, I ran into a small issue on the way home I’m hoping you can help me with...” He nodded towards the barn door. “Seems the little guy ran into a barbed fence.” Chase followed him into the barn and back towards the stall. When he opened the door, the dog rushed towards them, tail wagging and tongue drooling.
“Well lookee here.” Chase bent down and snatched up the dog. “Mighty scrawny critter,” he said as he ran his hands over him. “She’ll need some stitches for the cut. That and a few pounds of fat on her should do the trick.” The dog leaned up and started licking Chase’s face. “Plus a whole slew of shots...” He glanced at him. “If you’re looking to keep her?”
Luke thought about it. “Do you know anyone in town that lost a dog?”
“Nope, but I can tell you the pound is pretty full. I can take her to the clinic, patch her up, and hold her for a few days until you decide. Either way, I’ll want to keep her overnight after the stitches and shots.”
He nodded as his fingers reached out and scratched the small dog under her chin. He was rewarded with a quick lick and a snuggle.
“Looks like she likes you.” Chase chuckled. He handed the dog over to him and Luke instantly fell for the stupid mutt.
“Patch her up, let me know when she’s ready, and I’ll come get her.”
Chase nodded. “My wife and her sisters are dying to know what brought you to Fairplay,” he said out of the blue.
“Found a good deal on the ranch,” he answered, wanting to keep his answers short. He’d come up with excuses and reasons for everything and had been prepared.
“No matter to me, it’s just…” Chase rolled his shoulders. “You know how women can be. If I didn’t ask the next question, I’d be eating out in the barn with the horses tonight.” He took a deep breath.
“Shoot,” Luke said, handing the dog back over to him.
“Well, they want you to come to dinner sometime.”
“They?” he asked, feeling his gut twist.
“My wife and her sisters, along with our families. Wes and Haley are your nearest neighbors. They own the place just above yours.” He nodded towards the west. Luke knew the place he was talking about.
“The cop?”
Chase nodded. “Alex and Grant live closer to Saddleback, that’s our place.”
“I’ve heard of it. Driven by a few times as well,” he added, leaning back against the stall door.
“Well, we’d like to invite you out this weekend. We’re having a barbeque. It’s our daughter Abbi’s birthday.”
Luke watched as the man’s chest puffed out slightly.
“I’m not—”
“Don’t say no yet. Just think about it. You’re welcome anyway. We start the party around eleven on Saturday.” He sighed and Luke thought he looked relieved that task was over with. He shifted the dog under his arm. “Since her bleeding has stopped for now, let’s leave her be while I take a look at that heifer of yours.”
Chapter Three
There were too many little kids running around the yard to count. The noise was almost deafening, but Tessa was enjoying every minute of watching them play.
The birthday girl, for her part, wasn’t dressed in a frilly dress, but instead had on jeans, a flannel shirt, and well-worn pink and brown cowgirl boots. She was chasing a bigger boy who had a hat on with a pair of foam bull horns taped to the top. Several kids had small ropes and were trying to catch him like a steer. It was quite amusing to watch.
It had been almost a week since she’d buried her mother and still the emptiness had yet to subside. She doubted it ever would. But, she had to admit, being around all the kids was helping a lot.
Still, it was getting harder to fight the depression that came with being home. She’d avoided going into town since returning and had only been seen publicly at her mother’s services. Even then, she’d spent most of her time locked up with what she deemed her only friends.
The bitterness and hurt ran deep. Not to mention the feeling of shame she carried around inside. Even though the truth of her “accident” had never been discovered, she still carried the guilt.
She had never confided in anyone, not even her mother, about what she’d done that day on the bridge. Nor did she think she ever could.
“Are you okay?” Lauren asked, sitting down next to her on the front porch swing.
“Sure.” She plastered on a smile. “I’m just enjoying watching the kids play.”
Lauren looked off towards the yard where several of the men were encouraging the kids to hog-tie the teenager they had just roped. Neither could hold in a chuckle as the teenager reared his head up and gave his best impression of a cow mooing.
“It can be a farm around here in more ways than one,” she said and turned towards Tessa. “You looked sad just a moment ago. Thinking about your mother?”
“Some.” She took a deep cleansing breath. “I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
“I know what you mean. After losing our parents…” She shook her head slightly. “Let’s just say, if you need someone to talk to…”
They both glanced over as a silver truck bumped up the lane, spewing dust in the air. They turned back towards each other when it stopped and parked.
“You know you can talk to any of us. We’ve only got one another now, but sometimes all you need is the ear of a friend.” She reached over and patted her hand gently.
Just then it hit her—what she would have done years ago to have someone to listen to her when she was going through hell at school. She’d spent so many years feeling alone and like an outcast, she didn’t even really remember not feeling that way.
“Thanks.” Tessa felt her stomach settle a little when she knew Lauren wouldn’t push her farther. Then they both glanced over to the yard. “So, what’s the story for tall, dark, and brooding?” She nodded towards Luke, who was walking towards the group of men standing in the front yard. She didn’t want to admit it to Lauren, but she had wanted to tag “sexy as hell” on to her description.
“No one really knows anything about him other than his name. Lucas James. His name fits him. I imagine a lone cowboy, riding the plains.” When Tessa chuckled, Lauren shook her head. “Sorry.” Too many romance novels. Alex lent me a few a couple weeks ago. Anyway, he bought the place down on Cedar a few months back. He sticks to himself for the most part.” Lauren turned towards her. “Why do you want to know more about him?”
Tessa shrugged. “He was at the house after my mother’s services. He seemed nice enough.” She watched as he glanced around while talking with Chase. When his eyes landed on her, she thought she saw recognition, but then he shifted until his back was towards her as Chase pointed out something to him in the distance.
She liked the look of him, but didn’t dare hint at the attraction. She’d learned early on in life to keep her secrets to herself. Not that she didn’t trust Lauren or her sisters, she just didn’t think she could deal with the hurt if it went farther than them.
“What does he do for a living?” she asked, taking a sip of her ice tea, just as Alex, Haley, and Missy walked out onto the porch, carrying large trays of sandwiches, chips, potato salad, watermelon, and drinks.
“Well, as far as we know, he’s a rancher,” Lauren said as she pushed off, setting the swing moving.
“Oh, who are we talking about?” Alex asked. She glanced around and saw the newcomer. “Oooh, tall, dark, and sexy?”
“Hey.” Haley slapped her sister’s shoulder. “You are a married woman.”
“Sure, but that doesn’t stop me from admiring a sexy cowboy when I see one. Besides, Grant is
sexier.” She smiled and set the tray down on the table.
“Not to mention a lot friendlier,” Missy added. “Do you know, I bumped into him a few weeks back at the Grocery Stop and the man didn’t say a word to me.”
“Maybe he’s just shy,” Tessa added. Her eyes ran over his back as he talked with Chase and the other men. “He doesn’t seem to have a problem now.”
“Hmm,” Missy said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Maybe he’s just stuck up. After all, I heard from Betty who heard it from—”
Haley groaned, stopping the long string of “heard it from, who heard it froms.”
“Okay, anyway,” Missy said continuing. “Someone heard that he was from a pretty wealthy family in Austin.”
“He doesn’t strike me as a snob,” Alex said sitting back and taking a bite out of her sandwich. “And I’ve known a lot of snobs in my time.”
“Savannah no longer counts,” Lauren said as she took a few sandwiches and cut them in half for her kids.
“She does too. After all she did to us when we were younger.” She watched Alex shiver, then smiled. “You have to admit, no one in town would have ever expected her to turn out the way she has.”
“She was my first friend,” Tessa added, then blushed slightly when everyone turned they eyes towards her.
“Your first? Surely you had friends your own age in school?”
She was saved from answering when a pack of kids rushed onto the porch and started devouring the food, which was almost gone by the time the men finally made it up to the porch.
She had wanted to know what else Missy had heard about Luke, but figured the gossip wasn’t a reliable source. After all, she’d spent most of her life fighting against gossip about her.
“Hey,” Luke said when he sat across from her on the porch. Most of the kids had come and gone, devouring the food quickly so they could continue playing in the yard.
“Hi.” She took another drink of her tea to cool off from the heat his eyes were causing her. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” She wished that she’d spent a few more minutes on her makeup and clothing before coming over. She shook her head at her concern. Ever since her first weeks of college, she’d made sure never to step outside without looking her best. That was one of the lessons she desperately wished she’d learned earlier on in life.
“I wasn’t going to, but Chase invited me.” He glanced down at the plate in front of him.
If she didn’t know any better, she would have sworn he was trying to figure out how to leave already.
“Besides, I figured it was high time I started imbedding myself in the town.” He took a drink of his tea, then glanced quickly around. “What about you?”
“Me?” She felt her stomach roll as she thought about imbedding herself back into Fairplay. She felt all the blood leave her face as she thought about going through her entire childhood again.
***
“Woah, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He set the almost empty plate down and leaned closer to her. “I just thought…” He shook his head and felt like kicking himself.
It really had been too long since he’d been social. He was out of practice. Especially since the last two events he’d gone to, he’d ended up only talking to one person. His eyes moved over Tessa’s face again. He wondered why he was drawn to opening his mouth around her.
Everyone else was still standing or sitting on the wide front porch, but for some reason, he felt like they had been abandoned to be alone with one another. Almost like it had been planned.
When he’d first arrived to the ranch, he’d listened to Chase talk about how he’d fixed up Saddleback. How much time, money, and effort had gone into saving the place. Looking around now, he couldn’t imagine it being anything short of spectacular like it was now. Still, it had been nice hearing how much the man had done to rescue the place.
His mind had gone over everything he’d already done for his own place and, more important, how much still needed to be done. Which made him think about Tessa. He’d been thinking about her ever since their talk the week before.
“You didn’t scare me.” The corner of her lip curled up. “It’s the thought of moving back to Fairplay full time that scares me.”
His eyebrows shot up in question. “Didn’t have a good childhood here?”
She chuckled and rolled her shoulders. “You could say something like that.”
He set his tea down and glanced around. There were half a dozen kids running around in the front yard. Most of the women and men had followed them out to the yard now and were enjoying watching a young boy ride an older-looking horse in the corral.
Ever since eight months ago, he’d shied away from crowds.
“How about a walk?” he blurted out.
Her dark eyebrows shot up in question.
“I…” He swallowed. “I’m not good around a lot of people.”
“How about to the barn and back?” She pushed her plate aside and he noticed that she’d only eaten half her sandwich. There were a couple of dogs laying on the front porch and when she got up, she tossed them each part of her sandwich.
“Lauren said that you might use Roger as your stud?” she said when they stepped off the porch.
“Roger?” He almost lost his footing as she giggled.
“One thing you need to understand about the Wests. If Alex gets to name an animal, it’s going to have a human name.”
He held in a chuckle. “I suppose news spreads fast in a town this size.”
“Then you’re from the city?” she asked, keeping her eyes towards the ground as she moved.
His gut took a punch. “Yeah, Austin.”
She glanced at him. “Originally?”
He nodded. “I moved around some, but I was there for the most part until I moved here. You?”
She shook her head. “Born and raised here until I went to school in Austin a few years back.”
“What did you major in?”
“Arts. Music to be precise.” He noticed her shoulders straighten slightly with pride.
“Really? That’s pretty cool.”
“You?” She stopped in front of the large red barn and leaned against the post of the corral.
“After joining the military, I didn’t really have time for school.” He propped a boot up on the lowest rung and watched the kid ride the horse. Actually, he was impressed with how well he was doing, like he’d been born in a saddle.
“Do you ride?” She nodded towards the kid.
“Not as well as he does.” He chuckled.
“That’s Ricky. Chase and Lauren’s boy. All the Wests are born for the saddle.” She sighed and rested her elbows on the post. “When I was younger I wished I could run away and be in the rodeo.”
He turned slightly towards her. “Not the circus?”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid of clowns.”
He smiled. “Who isn’t?”
“I know, right?” She turned towards him. “I wanted to be the girl who sang the national anthem at every event.”
“So, you must have a pretty great singing voice then?”
She sighed. “It’s okay.” He frowned until she added. “I get by. Really, it’s my love for writing music that sets me aside.”
“Oh?” He leaned closer, and when his arm brushed hers, he froze. Just the slight feeling made him realize how close they were. He swallowed the lump in his throat and leaned slightly back as she continued to chat about the possibility of getting signed with an agent.
The entire time she talked, memories flooded his mind of another woman. A pretty petite blonde with haunting green eyes. One whose laugh was warm and rich. Whose slightest touch had made his entire body shake.
Then, before he could stop it, the other memories where filling his mind. Screaming, bright lights, and then all the pain washed over him. He felt his breath hitch, his chest tightened, and his palms turn sweaty. Instantly, his flight instincts kicked in.
“I’m…” He b
roke in and dropped his foot as he took a step back. “I’m sorry, I… I just remembered I have some hay being delivered. I’ve got to go.” He turned without another word and rushed to his car.
By the time he pulled into his driveway, his breathing was back under control. Closing his eyes, he rested his head back and tried not to think about how much he’d embarrassed himself.
Wasn’t this why he kept to himself? He had hoped that he would have everything under control by now, but today proved to him that he didn’t.
He felt stupid for making a fool of himself in front of Tessa. He didn’t know why her opinion of him mattered so much, but out of all the people in town, hers did. He thought about stopping by later that week to apologize, but just the thought of facing her again made his heart beat out of his chest.
Best leave it be. After all, if the rumors around town were true, she wasn’t going to be sticking around much longer anyway.
Chapter Four
It had been almost two months since her mother had died and Tessa was getting frustrated. Why the hell was she still in Fairplay? Especially since she’d penned a deal with the Harper Group, one of the largest and best known talent agencies and publishers in the south She had sent them three songs so far, the three that Alex and Grant had tried out at the Rusty Rail, each one a bigger hit than the one before. She had a book full of other songs that she wanted to work through, but there was so much she still had to do.
In the last few weeks, her father’s health had deteriorated, both physically and mentally. Every day she tried to get him up and out of the house to work on chores. Her parents hadn’t owned a lot of animals, but still, the two horses and roughly a dozen cattle needed daily attention. Not to mention the several dozen chickens that still lived in the coop out back. The place was falling in on itself and needed a new metal roof, which meant hiring someone to do it since she didn’t want to see her frail father up on a ladder.
She could do things herself, but the last time she was up on a roof, she’d broken two fingers and had to be carried down the ladder, fireman style. Boy, that had been embarrassing.
