by Amanda Renee
If he had told her he wanted to end the marriage she would have still been devastated, but she would’ve respected his honesty. Instead, he had chosen the coward’s way out by distancing himself from her and having an affair with a mutual friend of theirs. Some friend. While Delta fought for her life, Eddie had knocked up his girlfriend. Her world had collapsed around her and she had lost the will to fight. Until Jake.
The dog nudged her knee with his nose, sensing her tension. “What is it, boy? You’re bored, too, huh? Come on, let’s take a ride into town and see what trouble we can get into.”
Delta zipped her ski jacket to the top of the collar. She wished the weather would make up its mind. This morning had to be thirty degrees colder than yesterday afternoon. Jake ran ahead of her and waited patiently by the passenger door of her work truck.
“Not today. We’re going in the Jeep.” Without hesitation, Jake ran to that vehicle and waited for her by the other passenger door. His intelligence scared her sometimes. “How about we pick you up some dog food?” she asked as he jumped onto the seat.
The only place dog-friendly at that hour of the morning was Saddle Ridge Feed & Tack. She wasn’t out of food yet, but she would be by the end of the week. Apparently, half the town had the same idea because the parking lot was almost full. Jake sat still so she could snap a leash on his collar before they stepped out of the Jeep.
A blast of hot air from the heater above the automatic double doors instantly dried her eyes as they entered the store. Jake trotted happily by her side, scanning the floor for bits and pieces of kibble and grain that inadvertently fell out of bags when people brought them up to the register.
“I have a bone to pick with you, Miss Grace,” a man said from behind as they were turning down the dog food aisle.
“I beg your pardon.” The hair on the back of her neck rose as she spun on him. Garrett. He glared at her with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl the size of Montana plastered across his face. “Oh, hey.” Garrett’s expression didn’t change, nor did he move. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why do you have a bone to pick with me?”
“I took your advice, and I spoke to my brother this morning.”
“Judging by the look, I’m assuming your conversation fell on deaf ears.”
“Oh, no.” Garrett tilted back his hat. “Dylan thought it was a great idea.”
“So that’s good, right?” Garrett shook his head. “It’s not good?” Delta wasn’t following.
“He put me in charge of the Valentine’s week couples-only retreat I told you about last night.”
“Ew.” Delta wouldn’t want that job. “I don’t understand. Why isn’t Emma planning the retreat? I thought she was running the guest lodge.”
“Her daughter’s only four weeks old and Emma’s not ready to work full-time yet. She’s been handling all the marketing from home. She got local TV and radio stations to advertise the retreat in exchange for placing their advertising on our revamped website. Plus, she’s planning a wedding. So instead of Dylan putting me in charge of the lodge and having her work on this, they thought it would be great for me to organize all the events, work with the chefs on creating the menus and sprucing the place up so it looks more romantic. All on a tight budget.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Garrett, but you don’t exactly scream Mr. Romance.” Delta carefully chose her words, not wanting to add insult to injury. “Let’s put it this way, a couples-only retreat requires a more feminine touch. I’d think Emma would want to handle that herself.”
“I got the impression Dylan’s afraid she might make things too sophisticated. It wasn’t all that long ago when her plans for the ranch involved turning it into a high-end resort.”
“I remember your uncle Jax telling me about that. I never could envision those changes for Silver Bells.”
“Neither could Dylan, which is why he fought so hard to keep it. This event is a soft reopening of sorts.” Garrett rubbed the back of his neck. “We haven’t had any bookings since the first of the year, since Jax had planned to sell the ranch. His death threw everything into a frenzy. Emma sent out a newsletter to everyone on our mailing list to let them know we weren’t closing, but we don’t reopen until February 1. This Valentine’s event sets the tone for the couples-only vacation packages we plan to start offering.”
“All the more reason for you not to handle it.”
“This retreat has to appeal to men and women. Silver Bells has always been a family guest ranch and that’s great in the summer. Newer ranches took a huge chunk of our business. The romantic getaway aspect would be something they don’t have, especially when most of our competition is closed during the winter months.”
“I still don’t see where you come in.”
“Emma’s goal is to add at least one couples-only week or weekend a month depending on the time of year, but if we don’t appeal to the male client, the concept fails. Dylan doesn’t want to contradict his soon-to-be wife’s ideas, so he put me in charge to eliminate them from the equation. Much to Emma’s dismay.”
“That’s a lot to take on alone. Can’t you get somebody there to help you?”
“Oh, somebody’s going to be helping me. You.”
“Me? Why me?” Delta held up her hands in protest. She refused to play any part of someone else’s romantic vacation. “I hate Valentine’s Day.”
“Yeah, you and me both. Your advice got me into this mess and you’re going to help me clean it up. That’s what friends are for.”
“Garrett, I don’t have a romantic bone in my body.” He’d have better luck with Jake helping him.
“Well, you better find one. You better find lots of romantic bones because I don’t have a lot of time to get everything planned and ordered before February 10 when the retreat begins. We already have regular guests coming in a few days from now.”
Delta quickly did the math in her head. “The tenth is only two weeks from now.”
“It sure is, sweetheart. So—” Garrett wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
“Apparently, I’m planning a romantic Valentine’s retreat with you.” She forced a smile. “I just have to pick up a few things and then I will meet you in your office.”
“Make it my house. I’d like at least one day away from my office. The kids won’t be home until later tonight and we’ll have room to spread out. If we need to go up to the lodge, we can. I’ll wait and you can follow me home.”
Great. Delta hefted a bag of dog food into her arms. Just what she needed. Being alone, in a house, with a man she was trying to convince herself not to fall for. Her and her big mouth.
* * *
GARRETT CHECKED THE rearview mirror to make sure Delta was still following him and hadn’t decided to make a break for it. Not that he could blame her. He didn’t know any sane single person who would want to plan for a couples-only Valentine’s retreat. And it irked him that Dylan even thought this was a good idea.
He didn’t want to think about Valentine’s Day. He didn’t want to think about love and romance. He didn’t want to think. He just wanted to do real ranch work. Hard work that left him too tired to think at the end of the day. That had been part of the reasoning behind moving to Saddle Ridge.
Silver Bells had offered him a clean slate. Rebecca had visited Jax’s house and the lodge, but she’d never been in this house. He didn’t picture her sitting on his couch or lying in his loft bedroom. He didn’t see her standing at the kitchen sink or having dinner at the table. His home was Rebecca free and that hurt equally as much as his need for that freedom.
He parked in front of the house and waited for Delta and Jake. He wanted to make a joke about the mission they were about to embark upon, but his mouth became cottony dry as they climbed the front steps. Maybe taking her to his house wasn’t such a hot idea. There wasn’t anythin
g wrong with two friends working on a project together, because they were just friends.
Just. Friends.
Yep, that was why he’d almost kissed her at the skating rink. And guilt from that had kept him up most of the night. It didn’t matter that Rebecca had given him her blessing to move on after she was gone. It felt like a betrayal. And he was a fool for even thinking Delta would want anything romantic to do with him. She was single and beautiful. She could have any man she wanted in town. She was also standoffish. The reality was, he didn’t know anything about her beyond her dog and her working for the ranch. He sensed she had a story to tell. There had to be some reason she didn’t like mixing friendship with work. It was an extreme response. And Garrett knew all about extreme.
He silently held the front door open for her. She white-knuckle gripped Jake’s leash as she cautiously stepped inside, as if uncertain what she might find. He had spent a few hours cleaning up last night, trying to burn off his guilt. The house bordered on spotless, his conscience on the other hand did not.
He closed the door behind them and hung his hat on the hook beside it. “I hadn’t thought to ask if you had eaten yet. We could’ve stopped somewhere on the way and picked up something to bring back. Or I can fix breakfast. If you’re okay with bacon, eggs and toast. It’s about all I have. Unless you’re a vegan like Belle and Ivy, then I can offer you toast and blueberry jam. Or, if you’d like something else, I can run back into town.”
Delta and Jake stood frozen in the middle of his living room staring at him with their mouths open. Jake looked up at Delta and then to Garrett and back. She unclipped his leash and nodded. The dog crossed the room and sat in front of him, before lifting his paw and waving. He couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. He knelt in front of Jake and scratched the dog behind both ears.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” he asked Delta.
“You needed to breathe.” She smiled warmly at him. There was no judgment. No fear. Just friendship. And that meant everything right now.
“Thank you. I know this might sound weird but you’re the first non-relative female to come into my home.”
“Nah, it’s not weird. I get it. I’ve been divorced for almost three years and I still haven’t had a man over to my place. Friend or otherwise. What you’re feeling is normal. Believe it or not, we’re normal.”
Now there was something he hadn’t known. She’d been married before. And divorced. That must be the bad breakup she’d mentioned their first night together at the Iron Horse.
“Speak for yourself. I haven’t felt normal in years.” He stood and walked to her. “Here, let me take your jacket, unless you want to get something to eat in town.”
“Whatever you’re more comfortable with. But by the time we drive there and back we would probably waste over an hour or more. I’m brave enough to try your cooking.” She eased out of her jacket and handed it to him. “What can I help you with, because I insist on helping.”
“How about you start on the eggs while I defrost the bacon.” Garrett led the way to the small but functional galley kitchen. “There’s a fresh loaf of bread on the counter if you don’t mind slicing it. The knife is in the butcher block next to the sink.”
“This wouldn’t happen to be Belle’s bread, would it?”
“Yes, it is. She’s been on a bread-making kick ever since she got pregnant.”
“Oh, my God, I love Belle’s bread. She gave me a loaf a few weeks ago and I am not ashamed to admit I had intended to share it with my family, but I wound up eating half the loaf on the way to Missoula. It was so good, I didn’t feel like sharing the rest with them, so I ate the other half on the way home.”
“Should I make the whole pound of bacon, then?”
“Hey, now.” She swatted him on the shoulder. “I don’t eat that much. I mean I could, but I try not to. Unless it’s something really good.”
Garrett watched her remove the eggs from the refrigerator and set them on the counter. She opened the glass-front cabinet, grabbed a ceramic mixing bowl and began cracking eggs into it. She looked natural standing in his kitchen. And he found that comforting and scary at the same time.
“Garbage disposal or trash can?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Garrett stepped around her to get the bacon out of the freezer.
“Do you want the shells in the trash can or do you have a garbage disposal?”
“I have a disposal, but Belle composts everything and asks us to keep all scraps.” He opened the fridge and removed a large covered coffee can and sat it on the counter next to her. “The shells go in there. I’ll drop it off later when I pick up the kids.”
“Your family is really close, isn’t it?”
“Yes and no.” Garrett unwrapped the bacon, set it on a plate and popped it in the microwave. “Harlan, Dylan and I are. After our other brother—Ryder—went to jail for running over and killing our father, the family kind of split in half.” He stabbed the buttons on the front panel, causing the entire microwave to slide backwards and bang into the backsplash.
Delta gasped. “That’s terrible.”
“Supposedly it was an accident, but Ryder was drunk and they were arguing.” Garrett sighed. “I still don’t know what to believe.”
“I can’t even fathom what that must be like for you and your family. What about your mom?”
“She moved out to California and remarried. My youngest brother, Wes, stayed on the road bull riding most of the time until he moved to Texas a few weeks ago. And Rebecca and I moved out to Wyoming.”
“Were you happy there?”
Garrett ran his hands under the faucet and dried them, willing himself to talk about Rebecca without breaking down.
“We found out Rebecca had pancreatic cancer shortly after my father died.”
“Oh, Garrett. I am so sorry.” She lifted her hand to reach for him, then hesitated. This was the one time he wished she followed through.
“And then she was gone. I had two major deaths within two years. I didn’t really know what to do or where I belonged, so that’s when I moved in with my in-laws. And then here.” Garret checked the remaining time on the microwave “What about you? Do you have a big family?”
“My mom, dad and my two brothers—Trevor and Cooper—live in Missoula. None of the kids are married and none of us have kids of our own. It’s just the five of us.”
“Earlier you said you had been married. Mind if I ask what happened?”
Delta stiffened at the question. “My husband cheated on me while I was battling cancer.”
Garrett felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut and then sucked all the air out of his body. “You had cancer?”
Delta randomly opened and closed drawers until she found a whisk and then began furiously beating the eggs. “I had stage IIIb Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”
He reached for her hands and stilled them. She turned toward him and looked up. Tears brimmed her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier when I told you about Rebecca?”
“Because you needed someone to listen. And I didn’t want you to think I was being selfish or trying to diminish what had happened to your wife by telling you I fought cancer, too.”
“Honey, that’s not selfish. Cancer is selfish. Hell, it’s the greediest son of a bitch I’ve ever met. But telling me you had cancer is not selfish. How long ago?”
Delta stepped away from him and washed her hands in the sink. She sighed deeply before answering. “Three years ago.”
Garrett felt his heart shudder. “The same time as Rebecca?”
“Please forgive me for not telling you sooner.” Her voice cracked as she gripped the edge of the sink. “I just didn’t think you would want to hear that I had survived when the person you love more than life itself had died.”
“Oh, Delta.” He grabb
ed her hands and held them. “Rebecca died so Bryce could live. We found out she had cancer when she was six weeks pregnant. The doctors gave her options. And she chose life—Bryce’s life over her own.”
Delta pulled away and covered her mouth with her hands. “She made the ultimate sacrifice.”
“She did and there was nothing I could do about it. I begged—I begged her to terminate the pregnancy and start treatment immediately. She refused. Do you know how guilty I feel whenever I look at my son?”
“Oh no, no, no, no. You can’t think that way. You’re allowed to want your wife to live.”
“If she had listened to me, he wouldn’t be alive but she would.” Garrett sniffled and wiped at his eyes. “It’s a sickening feeling. She wouldn’t allow me to make any decisions. Rebecca made her choice and I had to accept it and pray. But some prayers don’t get answered.”
“But mine did.” Delta choked back a sob. “Rebecca’s should have, too.”
“Her prayers were answered. She gave birth to a healthy child that she got to love for sixteen months. By the time she gave birth and started chemo it was too late. The cancer had already spread too much. But that was her choice. Your choice was to fight to survive and that’s exactly the way it should be. Please don’t think for even one second that I would have wanted you two to trade places. I would never think that, Delta. Never.”
“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” The tears she had fought so hard to keep in check streamed down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
Garrett wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. “I’m sorry, too.” He buried his face in her hair, and for the first time in years, he allowed himself to cry.
Chapter Eight
Delta ran into the Silver Bells stables a half hour late on Tuesday. She was scheduled to meet with Lydia Presley to review Lightning Bug’s new scans. She had purposely scheduled the appointment for late afternoon so she could take care of customers and meet with various vendors about the guest ranch’s Valentine’s event first. She had only been helping Garrett a few days and she already wanted to strangle Cupid more than she had before Garrett had roped her into helping him.
