by Cindy Kirk
“Would you like a glass of wine?” Laura asked Margot, already lifting a bottle they’d had breathing on a side table.
“Absolutely.” Margot took a seat in a chintz-covered chair, leaving Brad no choice but to sit on the sofa beside his father, who didn’t smell nearly as good as Margot.
“Margot has a blue heeler,” Brad said to no one in particular, once they all had their wine.
“Really?” His dad actually looked interested. “Now, that’s a dog. Not like—”
“Watch it, Todd,” Laura warned.
Margot took a sip of her wine, watching the interaction with undisguised interest.
“We’re babysitting my friend Lucille’s dog. Lucy lives in Missoula and she’s very ill,” Laura explained. “We promised to keep the dog—”
“You promised to keep her,” Todd said pointedly.
The remark earned his father a scowl. Brad wanted to empathize but he kept his expression impassive. He’d quickly learned no one, but no one, dissed the Maltese.
“Brandie Sue,” Laura called out in that sugary sweet voice usually reserved for young children and the elderly...and white balls of fluff.
Seconds later, tiny toenails could be heard clicking across the hardwood. A small dog that couldn’t weigh more than five pounds trotted in. Her pristine white hair was long and flowing and a pink ribbon adorned the top of her head.
“There’s my baby girl,” Laura simpered.
“She’s adorable,” Margot said, sounding surprisingly sincere.
For some reason Brad hadn’t expected a woman who rode horses, had a blue heeler and seemed more comfortable in jeans and boots to be into frou-frou dogs.
Brandie Sue paused and cocked her head, ignoring him as usual, her gaze totally riveted to Margot. If there were justice in the world, the animal would bare those little white teeth at her.
Instead BS, as Brad privately thought of her, swished her plume of a tail from side to side and approached Margot.
“She likes you.” Laura couldn’t have looked any more pleased when the dog sprang into Margot’s lap. “She won’t go near Brad or Nate.”
A hint of a smile formed on Margot’s lips. “I believe animals can sense whether you truly like them.”
Laura nodded. “What does your dog think of Brad?”
Margot stroked Brandie Sue’s fur and gave what Brad thought of as a Mona Lisa smile. “No comment.”
Laura laughed, clearly delighted. “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Viper.”
Margot shot Brad a disapproving look. “Vivian.”
His mother frowned.
“Her name is Vivian,” Margot repeated. “She’s a real sweetie.”
Brad hid his snort behind a cough when both women stared at him.
“She’s about two weeks from having a litter of pups. Father unknown.”
“Once they get older, if you need any help finding homes, I can ask around,” his dad offered. “Herding dogs are always in demand.”
“Thanks.” Margot took another sip of her wine.
“Have you heard anything from your father, dear?” Laura asked, her blue eyes filled with concern.
“Not a word.” Margot lowered the glass, her expression now troubled. “I called Gage. He sent that detective of his—Russ, I guess?—out checking, but he had nothing new to report.”
“Did they ever find out who purchased the train ticket for your dad?” Todd asked.
Margot shot a sidewise glance in Brad’s direction before answering. “No leads.”
“I don’t know who’d do such a thing.” Laura reached over and patted her son’s knee. “I’m proud of Brad for keeping the place going while your father is gone.”
Todd nodded. “A ranch doesn’t run itself. The Leap of Faith has been limping along ever since your ma died.”
“I didn’t realize how bad things had gotten,” Margot said, but something in her downward glance told Brad she’d suspected and felt guilty over staying away.
“Brad has done a lot of work these past couple of months, getting it ready for winter.” Todd winced when Brandie Sue hopped off Margot’s lap, pranced a few feet then hopped into his.
“Looks like she’s taken to you, Dad,” Brad said.
“All the women like me,” his dad drawled, then grinned at Laura. “But there’s only one woman for me.”
Brad and Margot exchanged glances.
“Speaking of the Leap of Faith...” Margot paused as if gathering her thoughts.
“How long will you be staying, dear?” his mother said, pulling her besotted gaze from her husband.
Laura would have been horrified to realize Margot hadn’t yet finished speaking, but Brad could have kissed his mother.
Margot blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Six months,” she said. “Or less.”
“Brad said you’d had some sort of injury,” his father interjected.
“Yes.” She folded her hands in lap and relayed the story she’d told him, including more detail.
“Oh, my dear, a skull fracture is serious.” Laura breathed the words.
“Should you have been on a horse today?” Brad asked, more sharply than he’d intended.
“I’m to avoid any activity where I could fall and hit my head.” Her lips quirked up. “I haven’t fallen off a horse since I was a toddler. I tried to tell the neurologist that the risk in the ring is also minimal for injury but he insisted it would be unwise.”
“You must be relieved to have Brad around,” Laura said. “I can’t imagine doing all that heavy ranch work would be good for you, in your condition.”
“What condition is that?” Natalie asked, breezing into the room.
She was pretty and blonde, an angelic face with a mischievous streak a mile wide. Brad adored her.
“Hey, brat,” he said in lieu of greeting. “I thought I was going to be able to get in and out of this place without seeing you.”
Natalie stuck her tongue out at him then smiled at Margot.
“Ohmigod,” she shrieked the second she recognized their guest, moving in to give the redhead a hug. “It’s been ages.”
Margot blinked, appearing stunned by the effusive welcome. “It’s nice to see you.”
Brad was seized with the sudden urge to protect, to step between his sister and Margot. Recognizing that as a ridiculous impulse, he remained seated.
Natalie, dressed in a jean skirt that showed way too much skin—what was his father thinking, letting her go out that way—and a blue shirt at least one size too small, studied Margot through lowered lashes.
Brad was suddenly seized with a bad feeling, the same type of feeling he got years ago just before she beaned him over the head with one of her Barbie dolls.
“Rumor is you’re shacking up with my brother.” Natalie offered a sympathetic glance. “Sweetie, you could do so much better.”
“Natalie,” Todd ordered. “Apologize this instant.”
His sister’s head jerked back, her eyes widened. “Why?”
“You’ve insulted a guest in our home, and your brother.”
“I did no such thing.” Natalie gave her blond hair a little shake.
“Natalie.” His father’s voice held a warning.
Brandie Sue, who’d been napping, chose that moment to awaken. Almost immediately she began to bark, as if wanting to add her two cents to the fray.
His father started growling at his mother to shut the dog up while his mother cast censuring glances in her daughter’s direction.
“What?” Natalie threw up her hands. “I was teasing. Letting Brad and Margot know what’s being said around town.”
“I appreciate it.” Margot sounded surprisingly sincere. “I can’t believe the gossip has a
lready started. I haven’t even been here twenty-four hours. Up to now, I’ve only seen Brad and Russ.”
Her gaze shifted to Brad. “Do you think Russ said something?”
Brad considered, nodded. “Probably mentioned to someone you’re back. They would have asked about me, or where you were staying. And the story took off from there.”
Natalie inclined her head. “Are you really going to stay out there with my brother?”
“It’s my home,” Margot insisted. “If anyone should leave, it should be him.”
“You could move back in with us,” Laura told her son and hope flared in Margot’s green eyes.
“That isn’t feasible.” Brad forced a reasonable tone. “Not with winter around the corner. I need to be there to see to things.”
“You could drive over every day.” Margot’s voice took on a hint of desperation. “It’s not all that far.”
Brad knew that he had to put a stop to this kind of thinking right away. Before his mother or—God forbid—his dad jumped on that bandwagon.
“You’re a Montana girl,” Brad said with feigned nonchalance. “You know what the winters can be like. Ten miles away might as well be across the continent when drifts close the road. If anyone should live somewhere else, it should be you.”
From the way her eyes flashed and that stubborn chin tilted, it was exactly the wrong thing to say.
“I’m not moving out.”
“Well, neither am I,” Brad shot back.
Natalie grinned, bent over to kiss her mother’s cheek. “I’m almost sorry I have to leave. This is getting interesting.”
Brad scowled.
Natalie laughed and wiggled her fingers. “Ciao.”
The four sat there in silence while the door slammed shut.
“I’m thinking it might be nice to have a second glass of wine,” Laura offered finally.
On this point, it seemed, everyone could agree.
Chapter Six
“It appears,” Margot said when she and Brad were finally back home and standing in the living room, “we’ve reached a stalemate.”
“Appears so.” Brad kept a wary eye on Viper. He didn’t trust her any more than he trusted BS.
“You’re not going anywhere. Neither am I.” She put her hands on her hips, looked him up and down. “We’re going to have to figure out a way to peacefully coexist until my father returns.”
Though her tone was confident, the look of worry was back, furrowing her brow and darkening her eyes.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much cash to contribute to running the household, but I’ll pay back what money you spend,” she said when he didn’t respond. “I want to use what money I do have for a private investigator. Someone needs to be actively searching for my father. I can call all his old friends, any family, but I want someone out in the field.”
“Not necessary,” Brad said.
“Of course it’s necessary,” Margot said, those almond-shaped eyes now flashing green fire.
“Paying a PI isn’t necessary,” he clarified, “because I already have one on the case. I told you that when we were riding.”
For a second she looked confused. “Did you?”
“How can you not remember?”
Margot flushed. “The doctor told me cognitive impairment isn’t uncommon after a traumatic brain injury.”
The fancy words and the look of guilt on her face told him all he needed to know. The injury she’d sustained was more serious than she’d led any of them to believe. “Well, the man I hired is on the job.”
“You didn’t mention hiring a PI to Russ.”
“I figure he’ll work harder if he thinks no one else is looking.” Brad shrugged. “Once the guy finds something, I’ll let the sheriff’s office know.”
“He hasn’t found anything?”
Brad shook his head. “It’s like your dad vanished into thin air.”
“He could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere.” She closed her eyes and a few tears slid down her cheeks.
Without thinking Brad closed the distance between them and pulled her to him. Instead of pushing him away, she buried her face in his shoulder and cried as if her heart would break.
His shirt was wet by the time she drew a shuddering breath and stepped back.
“I’m sorry.” With the back of her hand she swiped the last of the tears away, her face now red and splotchy. “I don’t know what got into me.”
“Don’t worry. Boyd is a tough old bird.” Brad forced a tone filled with more confidence than he felt. “It’d take a lot to bring him down.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his. “Is that what you really think?”
He’d have to be the worst kind of jerk to not respond to the bald hope shimmering in her eyes. “That’s what I think.”
She sniffled and visibly brought herself under control. “Your parents and sister are nice.”
“They’re okay.”
“I liked Brandie Sue.”
He had to smile. “You would.”
She wiped her eyes and smiled back. “Well, I guess I better go to bed.”
With any other woman, Brad would have gone for broke and kissed her. But as she’d just cried all over him, making a move now felt as if he’d be taking advantage.
“Thank you, Brad.”
Before he quite realized what was happening, she stepped close, plunked her hands on his shoulders and pressed her lips against his. Then she turned and headed up the steps, Viper at her heels.
“Hey,” he called out just as she reached the top step. “What was that?”
“That was for not being a jerk.”
Brad could only stare as she disappeared from sight.
His revving body reminded him of the time he’d gotten a chance to drive a sprint car around the track at the Chicagoland Speedway several years ago. Back then, his foot had been heavy on the accelerator and his hands firmly on the wheel with a set destination in mind.
With Margot, he’d gone from zero to sixty the second he’d felt those sexy lips on his. He’d wanted to devour her, to race with her all the way to the finish line, which in his mind was the bedroom. But she’d simply walked away. After thanking him for not being a jerk.
The way Brad saw it, things flowed more smoothly in his life when he was the one in control. Tonight, Margot had been in the driver’s seat. While it felt uncomfortable, it hadn’t been so terrible.
Brad ambled into the kitchen, still puzzled over the evening’s turn of events. The refrigerator door had barely opened when he heard toenails clicking on linoleum and turned to see Viper. For once the dog wasn’t growling or snarling.
Instead, the animal strode to her dish and gave it a shove with her nose.
“You’re hungry. Is that it?” Brad crossed to the bag of kibble Margot had brought with her.
Viper’s eyes lit up.
Brad held the bag out for her to see. “If I give you food, will you promise to be a good girl and do everything I tell you?”
The dog emitted a low growl.
He supposed that could be a yes.
After filling the dish, Brad topped off the water bowl then turned his attention back to the refrigerator. Though his mother had served a good meal, he was in the mood for something. Even as he opened the refrigerator door, he knew it wasn’t food he wanted.
He wanted Margot. He wanted to go upstairs and see if they could continue what she’d started.
Brad pulled a beer from the cool depths and took a seat at the table. There was a method to Margot Sullivan’s madness but darn if he could figure out what it was...
Possibly she was waiting for him to make a play so she could go to his parents and say she couldn’t trust him to keep his hands off her. While hi
s parents didn’t run his life and tell him what to do, if it came to something like that, he’d definitely get the pressure to move out.
That, he figured, was the most logical reason for her action. She could be upstairs now, chuckling to herself and just waiting for him to come to her.
Brad took a long pull from the bottle and smiled. Well, she could just go ahead and wait.
Brad Crawford was nobody’s fool. No matter how much he was tempted, his hands were staying off her...until this whole mess with the house was resolved.
Or, at least for tonight.
* * *
By the time Margot came downstairs the next morning, Brad was already in the kitchen, a mug of coffee in his hands. While the sun had started its ascent, darkness still filled the sky.
Though she could have easily slept another couple of hours, Margot figured this was her ranch and she needed to establish that fact from the start. Plus, the longer she went without seeing Brad after last night’s kiss, the more difficult facing him would be.
Pressing her lips to his had been a simple gesture, but a mistake. There was no getting around that fact. What had she been thinking?
Margot had spent a good hour last night considering how best to handle the attraction between them. It was simply there. Even now it simmered in the air.
He looked up from the paper spread open on the table in front of him. “Help yourself to coffee.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” She sashayed past him and poured herself a mug.
“You’re up early.” Even as he gathered up the paper and folded it neatly, she felt his gaze on her.
“Life on a ranch starts early.” She took a sip of the dark brew with a bite and felt herself begin to wake up. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
He lifted a brow. “What agenda would that be?”
“The ranch duties?”
“Oh, that one.” He offered a lazy smile. “I plan to clean out the chicken coop and make some repairs. It promises to be lots of fun.”
Margot resisted the urge to grimace. Cleaning the coop had never been high on her list of favorite chores. “My dad got rid of the chickens right after my mother died.”
