A Rancher's Heart

by Vivian Arend

  “That’s Auntie Ginny’s chair.” A sullen, childish reprimand.

  “Sasha.” A warning sounded in Caleb’s tone. “Auntie Ginny’s in France. I don’t think we need to leave the chair empty for her. Be nice.”

  Sasha looked back at her plate, but she was quiet for only seconds before turning back to Tamara speaking politely, but pointedly.

  “It will be a good supper because Uncle Luke makes the best garlic bread. Daddy makes the best spaghetti sauce. Uncle Walker makes the best salad. Uncle Dusty…” She glanced across the table at where Dustin was waiting patiently for his plate to arrive. “Uncle Dusty…”

  “Uncle Dusty is the best supper-eater ever,” Luke drawled, catching hold of Dustin’s elbow as it jerked toward him.

  Dustin grinned at his niece. “How about Uncle Dustin serves up the best bowls of ice cream for dessert?”

  Sasha looked up at Tamara with a bit of attitude. “Do you know how to cook?”

  “I can make toast,” Tamara said.

  The little girl’s eyes widened. “Is that all?”

  “Maybe a few more things. But toast is my specialty.”

  Sasha looked back at her plate. So quietly there was no way Caleb could hear she muttered, “We’re going to starve.”

  Tamara fought to keep from laughing.

  Caleb was efficient as he served dinner, and they all had full plates in quick order. No one touched their food, though, until Caleb put the serving spoon down, the final plate resting in front of himself.

  Tamara waited in case the Stones had some other family tradition. But the instant Caleb picked up his fork, it was obvious that was the ready-to-go signal.

  Tamara had no objection. Between the drive and the unexpected dip in cold water, she was hungry enough to do justice to the steaming hot food.

  “Any idea how long you’ll be sticking around?” Dustin asked Walker.

  “Until the new year. I need a bit of a break, so I may as well spend my time with you.”

  Caleb eyed his brother. “Did you take a tumble you need to recover from we don’t know about?”

  Walker paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Do I look as if I took a beating? Don’t worry about me. You’re the one I saw limping as you walked into the room.”

  Shoulders lifting in a gentle shrug, Caleb focused back on his plate. “Wouldn’t be the first time you were black and blue and didn’t say a word.”

  “On a different note, did you girls figure out what you’re wearing for Halloween, yet?” Luke asked. “It’s just over a week away.”

  “I want to be an astronaut, and Emma wants to be a cat. We get to wear our costumes to school all day, and my teacher, Ms. Miller, says she’s going to dress up like Mrs. McGonagall. I think all of the teachers should dress up, but Kelli says some of them take themselves far too seriously to let their hair down and have fun.”

  “Kelli said that?” Luke asked, a smirk twisting his lips as he glanced across the table at Tamara to explain. “Kelli’s one of the ranch hands.”

  Sasha rolled on. “Kelli said she’s going to dress up as a cowgirl, but I don’t think that’s a very good costume because that’s how she dresses all the time.”

  “Ahh. Cowgirl. Now that makes sense.” Tamara made eye contact with Emma. “You know, that’s pretty much what my sister has been for every Halloween as far back as I can remember.”

  Emma leaned across her plate, wonder in her eyes as she checked out Tamara closer. She bumped her shoulder against Sasha.

  “Emma wants to know if you have a Halloween costume,” Sasha claimed before staring pleadingly across the table at Caleb. “Can you take us trick-or-treating this year, Daddy? Can you, please?”

  In the split second before everyone’s attention turned to Caleb, Tamara swore she saw frustration on Emma’s face. She wondered how often Sasha spoke for her little sister and got it wrong.

  Caleb lifted a brow. “Don’t I always take you?”

  “Yes, but I just thought maybe…” Sasha glanced at Tamara suspiciously.

  “Ahh.” Caleb refilled his water glass thoughtfully before he answered Sasha’s unspoken question. “Some of the things you used to do with me, or Ginny, or Dare, you might do with Tamara. That’s what she’s here for—so you don’t miss out on fun stuff if I get too busy. But I’ll always be there for the most important events.”

  Conversation twisted to new topics after that, like Dustin asking Walker for advice on his truck, and Sasha telling her Uncle Luke a long story about one of the ranch dogs who went by the auspicious name of Demon.

  Tamara joined in at moments, but for the most part she listened and watched, trying to learn the rhythm of this new family. They had a kinship and a deep sense of love amongst them, but there was a missing piece as well.

  Growing up on the Whiskey Creek ranch, it had been her and her two sisters with her dad for as long as she could remember. She loved her sisters, and she and her dad tolerated each other, but that same sense of something missing had sent Tamara from working the land to get her nursing degree. Working with her hands to help heal people had been a way to be accepted and appreciated for her skills, and the longer she sat at the table, the more certain she was that this was where she needed to be.

  Settling in at Silver Stone ranch wasn’t going to be completely comfortable. She was pretty sure she and Caleb were going to butt heads more than a few times, but there was something that felt right about being here.

  When the meal was over and they’d finished clearing the dishes, Tamara didn’t fight when Caleb all but dismissed her.

  “The girls and Dustin can do the dishes tonight,” he insisted, ignoring their groans. He looked Dustin in the eye. “Part of being a family—cook or wash, right?”

  His youngest brother sighed heavily, but he hauled a stool into place in front of the sink and plopped Emma up on it with the ease of a well-known routine. “Come on, kiddo. You wash, I’ll dry, and Sasha can put things away. Then you can show me what you got planned for your costume.”

  Moments later, Tamara took a second look around the room it was to discover she was alone. Caleb, Walker and Luke had all vanished.

  She wandered back through the house examining the homey touches here and there, some older than others. Gingham fabric curtains framed the tall living room windows that faced to the east, the same frilly material topping the glass window of an exit door to the side of the kitchen, but the fabric was faded by the sun. In contrast, there were bright new cushions on the couches and easy chairs.

  The pictures on the walls were the same, some old, some new, along with the knickknacks displayed on shelves and bookcases. Each shot and item a bit of memory on display, all pointing to events and details she knew nothing about.

  It was strange to be so…ignorant. Uninformed. Tamara wasn’t sure she liked not knowing things.

  She ran a finger over the edge of a gilded frame. Two families next to each other, a family of four and a family of seven. They stood under a tree, with a lake shining in the background. Caleb was clearly recognizable even though he was years younger. The smile on his face far more innocent and lighthearted than she’d seen so far.

  Everything around Tamara held secrets—clues to this family she’d dropped into the midst of. There was so much she didn’t know. Not just about them, but herself. Would Heart Falls be a long stop on the new journey she’d begun, or a short one?

  All she knew for certain was she couldn’t go back, which meant the future was wide open and very, very unclear.

  Chapter Four

  Caleb strode into the kitchen after doing early chores and came to a complete and utter stop. Considering it was barely six a.m., the last thing he’d expected was to be greeted by the scent of fresh biscuits and hot coffee.

  He didn’t usually start making breakfast for the girls until after seven, and the hour break he took between chores and when they crawled out of bed was when he caught up on as much paperwork as he could stomach.

&n
bsp; Now not only did the kitchen smell like a bit of heaven, the view was damn good too. His gaze shot like a homing beacon to land on Tamara’s ass.

  In his defense, she was bent over, pulling a pan from the oven, but it was wrong how he couldn’t seem to look away. Sweet curves wiggled at him temptingly, and he stepped behind the island to put something solid between her and his rising erection.

  She stood and twisted on the spot, lowering the pan to a couple of hot pads she’d placed beforehand before smiling enthusiastically. “Morning. I made coffee. You’ll have to let me know how you like it.”

  He was pretty sure he would like anything she was willing to give him. Beyond the obvious.

  Dammit, dirty daydreams meant Caleb was having a hard time remembering how to talk. “What’re you doing?”

  Other than making every hormone in his body percolate past high. Sexy, half-naked woman in his kitchen, cooking breakfast and making him coffee? It was far too tempting to let his imagination go wild.

  Tamara frowned. “Something wrong?”

  Something had to be wrong. Otherwise he would simply have grabbed a cup of coffee and gone on with his day, right? Because the instant his cock eased up control enough to let his brain function the tiniest bit, he realized she was doing what he’d hired her to do.

  Nannies cooked and made breakfast, and that’s all she’d done.

  “Caleb?”

  He’d been standing far too long without answering which just compounded the problem. “You need to put some clothes on.”

  The words came out in a rush. The instant they escaped, he wished he could take them back because number one, he sure the hell didn’t mind the way she was dressed, with her long limbs under what was a perfectly decent knee-length robe.

  Number two, what had been a happy expression on her face slammed closed into something far more guarded.

  He waited for her to call him on his bullshit.

  She didn’t fight, though. Her chin rose, but her response was soft and meek. “Okay.”

  Nothing more as she turned to the oven and clicked off the power.

  That was not what Caleb expected. He had an apology on the tip of his tongue before he noticed that instead of taking the shortest route from the kitchen possible, she’d stepped counterclockwise. A move that would needlessly march her past him.

  He leaned against the island, resting his hands on the surface as he waited to see what was up.

  He should have been a lot more worried than curious, because unlike most women who would turn their back as they passed a man, Tamara faced him. In the brief second as she moved through the narrow space between the island and kitchen chairs, her soft breasts slid across his chest. Her hip brushed his groin, and the whole attack sent his cock into full alert.

  She stepped toward the hallway, the swells of her butt cheeks twitching against the silky fabric of her green robe, and he was mesmerized. Unable to look away.

  A half step before she vanished down the hall, the robe slipped from her shoulders giving him a split-second, tantalizing-tease of naked back and a pale blue, barely-there nightie.

  Caleb moved slowly in deference to his unruly erection, stepping to the refrigerator. He jerked open the freezer door and stood there with cold air pouring down as he prayed for strength.

  Stupid ass.

  He closed the door and went to get a coffee, pacing the room uncomfortably. Would she come back, or had he already scared her away?

  But not even five minutes later, when he’d barely settled on stool by the island, she moved past him briskly, her rigid back to him as she poured herself a cup. A light-blue T-shirt tucked into jeans covered her curves, and when she twisted toward him, he jerked his gaze upward to make sure he was gazing into her eyes and not anywhere else.

  Apologizing was the right thing, but God, it was awkward. “I’m sorry. My comment earlier was out of line.”

  She dropped a spoonful of sugar into her cup then stirred vigorously, staring at the surface. “I’m sorry for overreacting.” She lifted her gaze to his. “It probably doesn’t seem like it considering I keep doing stupid things, but I really want this job to work.”

  Him as well.

  It suddenly struck him— “What happened to your job at the hospital? You were a nurse. Why did you want to become a nanny?”

  She sank her teeth into her bottom lip for a second, and he was damn near shocked. She wasn’t the type to hesitate.

  When she spoke it wasn’t with her usual flair. “Dare never told you?”

  Caleb shook his head. “She’s my sister. I trust her. She says you’re the one for the job, and I believe her, God help me.”

  Amusement lightened her expression as a snicker escaped. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. You really think you need heavenly intervention with me working for you?”

  He needed it to stop dreaming about decidedly non-heavenly pursuits. Like her lips, soft and delicious. And those damn glasses she wore—he’d never realized he had a thing for glasses, but obviously, he did. The ones she had on today were black-rimmed with tipped-up outside edges. The way she peered at him through them made the dirty thoughts rise, along with his cock.

  Which wasn’t completely surprising because it had been a hell of a long time since the thing had gotten attention from anything other than his hand…

  …and this was a direction he needed to avoid heading in the future.

  Tamara spoke in a rush, probably taking his silence as judgment. “I didn’t do anything terrible, but I was hoping to keep small-town gossip from starting before I’d been here twenty-four hours.”

  If she’d been sent by anyone other than his sister, that wouldn’t have been nearly enough. “Dare wouldn’t let you come within two inches of my little girls if she didn’t know everything, and still trust you. I don’t suppose I need details.”

  She visibly relaxed.

  “Dare knows?” he asked, just to be sure.

  Tamara nodded. “We sat down and talked before I came out. I hope you don’t mind, but she also gave me all the details about your family. I mean, the part about how your parents and hers were best friends, and how after the accident you made sure that she got to stay at Silver Stone, fostering her as a sister.”

  The stupid, tragic, accident that had taken his parents, Dare’s and her little sister in one moment. Caleb took a deep breath, the pain still sharp after all these years. “She’d lost enough. I figured she didn’t need to lose all of us as well.”

  “Still, she thinks a lot of you, taking her on when you already had Ginny and Dustin to look after. Making sure that you all got to stay together as a family.”

  “It was the right thing to do.” Caleb met her eyes. “Dare was a good kid who’d been dealt a shitty hand for a sixteen-year-old. I’m glad it worked for her to live with us. And I had help. Luke was twenty, and Walker nearly eighteen.”

  Tamara spoke softly. “It was a kind thing, that’s all I’m saying. I’m sure being in familiar surroundings helped a lot.”

  “I think routine and familiarity was good for us all back then.” There’d been times he’d wondered at the people who jumped from place to place all their lives. “There’s something special about living in one place your entire life, but it’s also a strange sort of burden.”

  She was nodding slowly, fingers brushing the handle of her coffee mug in slow circles. “I went away to go to school, but other than that, I’ve lived in Rocky Mountain House. It feels strange to realize the next time I go to town I won’t see familiar faces at the grocery store.” Her lips twitched. “It also means I won’t be hit on by Samuel Tate. Can’t say I’m going to miss that part.”

  Caleb hesitated in the middle of stealing a not-so-hot-anymore biscuit off the cooling rack. “He an old beau of yours?”

  “He’s an old something, but normally the words on either side of old would be dirty and man. He’s mostly harmless, but a local hazard I don’t mind leaving behind.”

  “I’m sure someon
e in Heart Falls will be just as annoying.”

  Her half smile slipped into full bloom. “Well, now, you do have a sense of humour.”

  “Never said I didn’t. Just don’t feel the need to poke and tease as much as Luke does.”

  With a firm dip of her head, Tamara pulled over a notepad she’d had ready on the island counter. “I went over the email you sent, but your list of what you wanted me to do on a daily basis was a little bare-bones. I thought I should double-check what you want me to focus on here for the next while.” She glanced around the room. “You mentioned a calendar last night, but I don’t see one.”

  “It’s in the office.”

  She made a few notes on her paper. “If you don’t mind, I’ll set one up out here that we can all see. That will make it easier for me as I get into a routine. Probably make it easier for the girls as well.”

  Caleb brushed crumbs from his fingers, wondering if he could snag another biscuit or if that would be pushing it. “Smart idea. Go ahead and get what you need. We have an account at Independent Grocers that you can charge stuff to. Just get them to phone me for approval the first time.”

  Her eyes widened for a second before she brought it under control. “Now that’s something I haven’t heard in a long time. They let you keep a running tab at the grocery store?”

  “I know Rocky Mountain House is small, but I have a feeling Heart Falls is even smaller. We’ve got some things we still do with a nod and a handshake.”

  “I kind of figured that when my total job interview and acceptance letter was something to the effect of you saying, Fine, show up on Tuesday.”

  Caleb shrugged. “Didn’t see the need to discuss it. You wanted to be here, and the girls need a nanny.

  “List of jobs?” she reminded him.

  He rotated a finger in the air. “Keep this place from burning to the ground or being condemned. That’s all. Your to-do list is whatever that takes. When you cook, make enough for six, and if there’s leftovers we’ll eat them for lunch the next day if my brothers don’t show up at midnight to demolish them. They aren’t usually here. Walker and Luke both have spaces in the bunkhouse, and Dustin moved out there the instant he finished high school. They eat with the hands most of the time, and yes, we have a cook, but his name isn’t Cookie.”