Wrangling the Rancher

by Jeannie Watt

“What if that’s not possible?”

  “What if you can’t get a job you want in Seattle?”

  “I will. It’ll take time, but I will.”

  He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s my answer, too.”

  * * *

  AFTER TWO WEEKS of nothing, Taylor received a small rush of interest. She booked three interviews, and two headhunters contacted her with promising leads in Portland and Sacramento—both areas where she’d feel comfortable living. She was an urban girl, born and bred.

  An urban girl who got a kick out of driving farm equipment. The day before she’d swathed hay for Cole while he baled in an adjoining field. Jancey drove the retriever, and the three of them put in a full day’s work before eating dinner together. Her stay at the farm, which had started as a desperate survival move, had become more of an idyll. A temporary idyll, because she was not going to winter in the bunkhouse. The job market was picking up, and several of the people who’d been laid off with her had landed new positions.

  As to Cole...things were perfect because they weren’t dealing with real-life stresses a real couple would face. There was no jockeying for position. No compromises. Their paths were clearly laid out. They had the moment, as Cole had put it.

  Still, there was no getting around the fact that separating was going to sting.

  So she didn’t think about it.

  And if she did, she told herself that perhaps they could continue long distance...but she didn’t really believe that was a possibility. Distance made feelings fade. Different worlds exacerbated the process. They had the here and now, and she was enjoying every second of it.

  That night, when they walked the property after dinner, she told Cole about her job leads, then wondered if she was imagining the tension in the silence that followed.

  “That’s good,” he finally said, giving her fingers a squeeze.

  “I’m feeling encouraged. Two of my fellow Stratfordites have gotten jobs over the past two weeks. Things are turning around.”

  “Good.”

  And then...nothing.

  Taylor let the matter drop. She didn’t want to ruin the time they had left together.

  “Jancey’s loving her job at Culver Ranch and Feed,” Cole said as they headed back toward the house. “The old guys there have adopted her, and Jolie is giving her advice on how to battle Miranda. I’d appreciate it if you told her not to battle Miranda.”

  Taylor smiled a little. “I will.” She and Jancey did well together. She’d miss Cole’s little sister almost as much as she’d miss him.

  “Speaking of doing battle, I’m going to the ranch this weekend—probably on Saturday. Want to come?”

  “To keep you out of trouble?”

  He gave her a look. “Or maybe because I want your company?”

  She pulled in a breath and told herself there was no need to feel the small twinge of anxiety at his words. Or rather at her reaction to his words. Her heart shouldn’t jump at things like that. “Sure.”

  “Good.”

  Taylor didn’t sleep well that night and told herself it was because her critters were unusually quiet. She put on the coffee, dragged herself to the shower hoping hot water would revive her and had just got undressed when the phone rang.

  Her heart jumped when she saw the number.

  She cleared her throat, nervously pushing her hair back over one shoulder as she answered. “Hello, Paul.”

  “Evans. How are you?”

  “All things considered, I’m doing well.”

  “Have you nailed something down yet?”

  “Three interviews next week.”

  “Market’s picking up.”

  “I noticed.”

  “So you may not be interested in this.” From the way her stomach flipped, Taylor knew that she would be interested. “My assistant here at Whitcote is going on sabbatical. I have a six-month position that could well work into full time if things continue as they are. There’s talk of staffing up this fall.”

  Seattle.

  “No guarantees. I don’t have the final say. It’s a committee decision...but you’re good, Taylor, and I’d love to have you on board.”

  “Do I interview in person?”

  “Skype.”

  “When?”

  “Is tomorrow too soon?”

  “Not to appear easy, but interviewing within the next fifteen minutes wouldn’t be too soon.”

  * * *

  THE DRIVE TO the ranch was quiet, and even though he and Taylor were comfortable with their mutual silences, this was different. Bad different.

  Taylor was distancing herself, getting ready for the move back to the city. He felt the chasm between them widening and didn’t know what to do about it. Or if there was anything he could do. The bitch of it was that the farm—make that his life—was better when she was in it.

  She wasn’t staying.

  They bumped over the cattle guard, then both sat up straighter at the sight of the two ATVs next to his corrals.

  “Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dummer,” he said as he parked. He glanced over at Taylor. “Let’s see what’s happening.” They walked together to where the two model employees, Wyatt and Ashley, stood shoulder to shoulder, pointing out across the fields.

  “Big plans?” Cole asked.

  “Spring branding,” Wyatt said. Cole had never much liked the guy—primarily because (a) he was a pompous jerk, and (b) he was a kiss-ass. “We’re going to make it an overnight event, with canvas tents to house the guests.”

  “Instead of making the long trek back to the ranch?” Which was all of a couple of miles.

  “A different kind of experience,” Wyatt assured him.

  Cole hooked a thumb into the top edge of his belt. “Any other big happenings?”

  “Cattle drives.”

  “Drives? As in plural?”

  Ashley, Miranda’s chief minion, piped in then. “The drives are very popular, so we’re going to be doing several.”

  Cole frowned at her. “How...?”

  “We’ll drive them to the high pasture with one group of guests, then drive them back to the ranch with another.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “It only makes sense,” Ashley said.

  “Not if you’re a cow. They’ll lose weight if you push them all summer long.”

  “Miranda is sending the calves to a feed lot once they’re weaned.”

  “What?”

  “Also,” Ashley said, “I’ll email you the schedule of events here on the working ranch. It’s very full this year, and you might want to plan your visits around them.”

  Visits? To his own place?

  Taylor put a hand on his arm. He didn’t look at her. He was about to speak when Ashley gave him a sympathetic smile. “You had to know when you left that things would change.”

  He pressed his lips together, glanced down at Taylor. “Let’s take care of what we came here for.”

  She nodded, and they turned as one and headed for the house.

  “Why did we come?” she asked after Cole unlocked the door and they went inside.

  “Because I didn’t hear from Miranda after Jancey’s encounter, so I figured something was up. I hadn’t expected to find out what the deal was so easily.”

  “Good that it worked out.”

  “Yes.” He stepped to the window and studied the nimrods making plans for his land. Son of a bitch.

  “How wise is it to hold on to this place, Cole?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She drew in a breath. “I mean,” she said slowly, “that you could sell for a decent amount and buy something new. Something that doesn’t come with built-in heartaches and a lot of issues to
contend with.”

  He wasn’t selling. The thought made his jaw go tight. Totally the wrong move.

  Before he could say anything, Taylor continued. “And don’t tell me that she’ll win. She’s winning now.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Cole.” He shot her a look. “You know it’s true. And sometimes, despite your best efforts, the sanest thing to do is to walk away instead of beating your head on a wall.”

  He turned toward Taylor. “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “It might look that way, but job hunting is different. Eventually something shifts.”

  He decided to ask the question. Even though he was fairly certain of the answer, and just as certain that Taylor would eventually fill him in, he wanted to know now. Get his pain all at once. “Has something shifted for you?”

  “Do you want to discuss this here?” She gestured as if to remind him of where they were and what his current source of stress was.

  “Just got a kick to the nuts. May as well get another.”

  She let out a sigh. “I think I’ve landed a job in Seattle. I interviewed yesterday via Skype. It’s with an old associate. It’s temporary but may work into full time.”

  “Congratulations.”

  Her mouth tightened. “I hope you mean that.”

  “I do.”

  He looked back out the window. The dynamic duo were climbing onto their ATVs. He propped his palms on the windowsill and for one brief moment let his chin drop to his chest. Things were stacking up faster than he could deal with them.

  “Cole?”

  “I’m good.” He straightened back up, pulled in a deep breath. “I always knew you were leaving.” She nodded. “It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “How on earth would we ever mesh our lives?”

  Good question. “Compromise?”

  Her shoulders stiffened. “How?”

  “Hell if I know.”

  “I have a career to build, Cole.”

  “A career only gives you so much.”

  “But I need what it gives me.”

  “I know.” He spoke softly. Admitting the truth wasn’t easy. She wanted him, but she didn’t necessarily need him. She needed her career. “I have to get some stuff, just in case the place accidentally catches fire during a lightning storm or something.”

  Taylor followed his meaning. “You think she’d do that?”

  “At this point, I wouldn’t put much of anything past her.”

  * * *

  CHUCKY DANCED INTO the laundry room as Taylor started folding the clothes she’d pulled out of the dryer. Jancey followed him into the room, a laundry basket on one hip.

  “Here, I’m done,” Taylor said. “Small load.”

  “Cool.”

  Jancey opened the lid to the washer and dumped the entire basket in—whites, jeans, a red T-shirt. When she glanced up and saw Taylor’s expression of horror, she gave a small shrug. “I know, but this is easier.”

  “Did someone do your laundry on the ranch?”

  “No. That was all me.” She gave Taylor a frowning look. “Cole won’t tell me what went on at the ranch.”

  Then it wasn’t her place to fill his sister in. “I’m not sure what happened.”

  Jancey frowned at her. “Did you sit in the truck or something?”

  “I thought it was best to let Cole handle things.”

  The nonanswer worked. Jancey snorted and then poured soap directly into the washer, ignoring the dispenser tray. Taylor wouldn’t have been surprised had she added a few glugs of straight bleach, but she closed the lid.

  “I don’t want Cole all stressed out. I shouldn’t have threatened Miranda.” She turned and leaned back against the washer, gripping it with both hands.

  “Sometimes we just...act. Then we have to do damage control. Part of life. No one does it perfectly. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes.” Taylor put a hand on Jancey’s shoulder. “Are you putting stuff on your socials?”

  “I haven’t. Yet.”

  Chucky gave a small whimper, and Jancey scooped him up. “But if Miranda keeps messing with us, I will.”

  And maybe that was why Cole hadn’t yet filled her in.

  Taylor’s phone rang, and she dug it out from her back pocket, her pulse rate jumping when she saw the name on the screen. She gave Jancey a quick nod. “I have to take this.” She put the phone to her ear and said hello as she abandoned her laundry and headed out of the house so she could speak to Paul in private. She preferred to get her news, good or bad, alone.

  “We knocked around the idea of a second interview,” Paul said after a quick hello, “then decided we didn’t have time. We need someone now, and you fit the bill. Welcome aboard.”

  She’d gotten the job.

  Taylor pressed her lips together and somehow refrained from punching the sky. Her luck had finally turned. She made her way across the driveway to the bunkhouse as Paul gave her the details. Once he was done, and all of her questions were answered, she disconnected the call, set down the phone and let out a breath that felt as if it had come from the tips of her toes. Finally! Progress. It might be temporary, but she was moving forward after too long a period of professional stagnation.

  Now she had about a hundred things to do before her Monday start time.

  There was only one that she wasn’t looking forward to. Telling Cole that she was leaving.

  But it wasn’t as if she could have stayed on the farm forever. They’d both known she was leaving when they’d started sleeping together. If things were different, if their lives and needs were more closely aligned, then her leaving might be a goodbye-for-now.

  She saw no way around it being a goodbye-forever. And it was tearing her up. No matter how badly she might want this to be different.

  She was urban. He was country. She was all about her career and so was he—nonmeshable careers.

  This moment had been inevitable, and she’d fully expected it to be bittersweet. She hadn’t expected it to feel as if a hole was opening up in her heart. She crossed the room and pulled out her suitcase and the boxes she’d packed her dishes in. She didn’t need to get everything together immediately, but she could dive in tonight as soon as she did the hard thing and crossed the driveway to tell Cole the news.

  According to Paul, they needed her yesterday. Things had started to heat up for the firm, and they needed all hands putting in as many hours as possible. Which meant she had to pack and leave so much sooner than anticipated. She’d fully expected at least two weeks...time to wind things down, time for her and Cole to say a proper goodbye. Maybe even to make plans to meet again in the future—in some capacity.

  She needed that time.

  She wasn’t going to get it.

  And then there was Jancey. Taylor headed back across the drive to pick up her laundry. The washing machine swished away, but Jancey wasn’t around. Nor was Cole.

  She got back to the bunkhouse and set the laundry down next to the suitcase.

  She was excited to be moving forward...but she couldn’t say she felt happy about it. She didn’t need to dig too deeply to figure out why. She hadn’t anticipated things happening so quickly, hadn’t thought she’d have to tell Cole goodbye so soon.

  She’d just gotten a job and wasn’t feeling ecstatic—and that wasn’t right. She abandoned her suitcase and picked up her phone from where she’d set it down on the table. She’d call Carolyn and her mother and her grandfather, tell them the good news before she started packing. Maybe hearing some congratulations would jolt her back to reality.

  Because it simply wasn’t possible to have everything.

  * * *

  COLE WAS IN the middle of putting something together for dinner when th
e phone rang. Jancey wasn’t yet home, so he snagged the receiver on the second ring, hoping he wasn’t going to hear that her truck had broken down.

  “Cole.”

  The hairs seemed to rise on the back of his neck. “Miranda.”

  “I heard you ran into Wyatt and Ashley today.”

  “Yes.” He knew from experience that the less said, the better.

  “And that they filled you in on the summer plans for the working ranch.”

  He didn’t give in to the temptation to tell her what he thought of her plans. “Yes.”

  “Good. What I’m calling about is the livestock you have on the property. The horses, to be exact.”

  “What about them?”

  “Matt will not be feeding them. We’ve spoken and he agrees that feeding the horses is outside the scope of his duties.”

  “So maybe he can feed them on his own time. Or do you control that, too?”

  “He doesn’t want to feed them on his own time.”

  In other words, she’d threatened him. “Fine. I’ll get someone else.”

  Who, he had no idea.

  “Have them check into the main ranch when they arrive so that we know they’re authorized.”

  Cole pressed a hand to his head. There was no reason for anyone visiting his place to do that, but that wouldn’t slow Miranda down. “I will. Anything else?”

  “No, Cole. That’s all.”

  Cole hung up and planted a hand against the wall. Took a deep breath. Okay. He’d bring his horses here to the farm.

  And he’d show great restraint by doing it without putting his hands around Miranda’s throat. A tidal wave of frustration smashed into him.

  Was this the way he wanted to live his life?

  He shoved the question aside and headed for the door. He wanted to talk to Taylor. Get her take. He knocked on her door, and it took her a few seconds to answer. When she did, he saw that her suitcase was open on the bed, and his gut tightened.

  “You got the job.” Another happy surprise.

  “I did.” She attempted a smile, but it flattened out almost immediately. “It’s a temporary position, but looks as if it’ll work into permanent by late fall.”

  “And you’ll have to work like crazy to prove yourself.”