The Rancher's Redemption (The Millers of Morgan Valley Book 2)

by Kate Pearce

  “She was a good mother to me.” Rachel was not sure whom she was trying to convince. “And after she met Paul things improved a lot.”

  “I’m glad she met him, and I’m really glad he brought you up to be such an amazing person.”

  “Really? Don’t you hate her for that?”

  “I used to, but I realized it was pointless and that sometimes in life you just have to forgive people, move on, and do your best to fix your own crap.” He smiled at her, his eyes very blue. “You can’t live your life looking backward, Rachel.”

  She nodded, and he blew her a kiss. “That’s my girl. What are you up to this weekend?”

  Rachel groaned. “Thanks to Ruth it looks like I’m going shopping with Cauy Lymond.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Cauy opened the door to find Rachel with her hand raised ready to knock.

  “I heard your truck coming up the drive.” He stepped back. “Come in.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  She stuck her hands in the pockets of her fleece-lined jacket and raised her chin. She wore a green knitted cap with a reindeer on it that made her look like a pixie, and he wanted to kiss her real bad.

  Cauy shrugged. “If we keep our clothes on, sure. I wanted to show you where I plan to put Jackson so you can tell me what I need to buy.”

  “Okay.” She wiped her feet on his threadbare mat and came in. “If you ask me, the whole place could do with a facelift.”

  “Yeah.” Cauy led her out of the kitchen and along the main hallway that connected all the rooms in the house. He’d shut all the doors so it was definitely gloomy and unwelcoming. “Jackson will be sleeping in here.”

  He pushed open the door to reveal the chair and bed, which were all he’d left behind after cleaning out his dad’s stuff.

  “Wow.” Rachel came into the room and turned a small circle. “This is . . . depressing.”

  “Hasn’t been touched since my mom left,” Cauy agreed.

  Rachel stroked one of the walls that still bore the marks of the tape he and Jackson had used to hang up their rodeo posters.

  “It needs painting as well.”

  “I’m not sure I have time to do that.”

  Rachel nodded. “Then let’s focus on the basics. Bed linen, drapes, a rug, maybe something to put clothes in?” She looked at Cauy, her eyebrows raised, and he wanted to kiss her even more.

  “There’s a walk-in closet in the corner.”

  “That helps.” Rachel opened it and then recoiled from the towering stack of boxes. “What’s in these?”

  “I’ve no idea,” Cauy confessed. “Probably Mom’s stuff. I’ll get Jackson to go through it with me.”

  “Good idea, especially if he wants to hang any clothes in there.” Rachel went out into the hallway and paused beside the open door that led into his bedroom. “You’re using a sleeping bag?”

  “Only when I get cold.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “We’d better get you some decent sheets and blankets as well.”

  “Okay by me.” Cauy hid a smile at the thought of her picking out his sheets.

  “But don’t get any ideas.” Rachel pointed her finger at him. She didn’t miss a trick.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He turned back toward the kitchen. “You ready to go? I need to gas up in town, and then we can be on our way.”

  * * *

  Despite being old, Cauy’s truck ran smoothly over the bumpy driveway that led down to the county road. He was also a good driver, and Rachel relaxed back into her seat.

  “I meant to ask you about the dog,” Cauy said, his attention on the roadway as he took the turn toward town. “Jenna wants to know what you want to do with her.”

  Rachel sighed. “I’d like to keep her, but I’m not sure how Ruth would feel about me bringing a pregnant dog to the ranch and leaving after the holidays.”

  “Ranchers always need dogs.”

  “Yeah, but puppies take a lot of looking after, and Ruth’s got enough to do.” Rachel looked out the window at the frost-covered pasture and fences. “Jenna said the humane society would be glad to have her, but—”

  “I’ll take her.”

  Rachel snapped her gaze back to Cauy’s profile. “What?”

  “I’ll take her. I miss having a dog.” He glanced over at her. “If that’s okay with you?”

  “That would be . . . great!” Rachel struggled for words, which wasn’t like her at all. “That’s really kind of you.”

  “My ex didn’t like dogs so we had cats. Not the same thing at all.”

  “Your ex-wife?” Rachel asked.

  He gave her a “who else” look, but she already knew she was fishing.

  “Lorelei. She stayed in Texas and married a good friend of mine.”

  “Ouch.” Rachel winced.

  “Nah. They deserved each other. No hard feelings except she took half my money.”

  Rachel digested that information. “That’s the price you pay for choosing the wrong person.”

  “People change. Stuff happens.”

  “Like what?” Rachel asked. It took a while for him to answer her.

  “We eventually worked out we didn’t want the same things anymore.”

  “You don’t exactly sound cut up about it.”

  Cauy turned onto Main Street and slowed his speed as they went past the shops. “Would you want me to be?”

  “Not really,” Rachel said. “There’s nothing worse than going out with a guy who sits there all night talking about his ex, and you just know he still hasn’t moved on.”

  “As far as I know Dave’s never been married so you’re good to go.”

  Rachel gave him her sweetest smile. “Thanks for reminding me.”

  Cauy pulled into the small gas station and cut the engine. “I’ll just be a minute.”

  Rachel got out with him. “I’m going to get some gum, do you want anything?”

  “A bottle of water would be good.”

  “Okay, got it.” Rachel went inside the tiny shop and spent a couple of minutes chatting to Ted Baker, who was a really nice guy.

  As she came out with her purchases, a big old farm truck and rusty trailer pulled into the gas station with a shrieking noise that made her wince and backfired. Cauy reacted like he’d been shot, throwing his body backward and colliding with the pump, one arm thrown over his face.

  Rachel ran over and touched him. “Are you okay?”

  He slowly lowered his arm and stared at her like he’d never seen her before, his pupils wide and full of lingering horror.

  “Cauy?”

  He took two or three deep breaths and looked carefully around the gas station before his shoulders relaxed, and he unhooked the gas pump from his truck. Rachel stared at him uncertainly as the corrosive oily stench coming from the farm truck burned her throat and eyes.

  Cauy walked past her to pay the bill and she got in the truck. Should she say something? Should she wait for him to explain why he’d reacted so violently? Rachel had the sinking sensation that even if she dared ask Cauy he wouldn’t explain. And why should he? They weren’t a couple or anything, so she had no right to question him.

  She slowly put on her seat belt and set the bottle of water where Cauy would see it. He got in the truck, fired up the engine, and pulled off the forecourt.

  “Are you okay?” Rachel had to at least make the attempt.

  “Thanks for the water.”

  She wasn’t surprised he hadn’t responded to her concern. “You’re welcome.”

  As he settled into driving she sensed it was the last thing he was going to say for a very long time.

  * * *

  Rachel waved as Cauy dropped her off in front of the house and disappeared off into the gathering darkness. They’d shopped up a storm, but he’d barely opened his mouth after they’d left the gas station. It had been a frustrating day. Rachel kicked the door and marched into the hallway just as Billy came down the stairs.

  “Bad day
?” he asked.

  “You could say that.” She took off her boots and coat, and followed him into the kitchen. “I went shopping with Cauy.”

  “You said you were going to.” Billy handed her a large mug of coffee. “What went wrong?”

  “He hardly spoke all day.” Rachel groaned. “And I tried my hardest to get him talking. I even deliberately needled him, but he wouldn’t take the bait.” She fluffed up her hat-flattened hair. “I spent his money like water, and he didn’t seem to care one bit.”

  “Sounds like a great day out to me.” Billy winked at her.

  “But why did he ask me if he was going to be like that?” Rachel sipped her coffee. “I even offered to go over there tomorrow and help him fix the place up, and he just said he’d let me know.”

  “Do you want to go over there?”

  “Yes,” Rachel said. “I’m trying to be mature about all this and not run away every time he goes quiet on me.”

  “Why?”

  “I suppose you’re going to tell me that I’m too much of a people pleaser and that I should stop it.” Rachel drank more coffee, enjoying the warmth spreading through her system. “I can’t help wanting people to be happy and get along.”

  “Are you?” Billy looked interested. “I was thinking more specifically about Cauy.”

  “Oh.” She contemplated her half-filled mug. “I felt . . . worried about him.”

  “Because he wasn’t talking?”

  “No, because when we were getting gas this morning he lost it when an old truck and trailer backfired and almost threw himself to the ground. After that he clammed up on me and barely spoke at all.” She sighed. “I tried to ask him about it but he didn’t want to share.”

  Billy frowned. “He was in some kind of accident in Texas.”

  “And seeing as he worked in the oil fields it might have involved gas,” Rachel finished his thought.

  “Yeah.” Billy pondered for a long moment. “The thing is, Rachel, you’ve got to let him tell you about that when he’s ready.”

  “I know that. I just wish . . .” Her voice trailed away.

  “That he’d gone ahead and told you,” Billy said gently.

  Rachel just nodded. There was nothing else to say.

  “Maybe if he asks you to help out tomorrow he’ll have something to share with you.”

  Rachel found a smile. “You never know, he might. But I wouldn’t bet the ranch on it.”

  * * *

  Cauy took out his cell and stared at the screen. Should he call her? Didn’t she deserve some kind of explanation for him behaving like a first-class jerk the day before? But she’d seen him behave like a coward . . . how could he talk his way out of that?

  His phone rang, startling him, and he accessed the call without checking who it was.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey. It’s Chase Morgan. Can you meet us up at the old mine this morning? We’ve got some new monitoring equipment to try out, and some of it will need to go on your land.”

  Cauy gripped the phone hard. “Sure. What time?”

  “About an hour? I’ve got some work to finish up, and Rachel’s busy downloading some specific software we need.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you there.”

  Cauy ended the call and stared out over the frozen pasture. Soon he wouldn’t be able to put the horses out to graze anymore and he’d need to purchase food, hay, and all the other necessities to keep them in the barn over a long, hard winter. In a few days the Morgan horses would also be arriving, and the place would be swarming with life and strangers again.

  Things were changing whether he liked it or not. He either had to go with it, or go where? He’d lost his taste for adventure along with his Texas experience and wanted to stay on the ranch his family had owned for generations. He could almost see Mark’s ghost hovering over him waiting for him to mess up.

  Cauy zipped up his jacket and walked back to the house. He now had an excuse to see Rachel, on neutral territory, and maybe he’d find the courage to move things along with her as well.

  * * *

  “You got everything you need?” Chase called out to Rachel as she took another bag of equipment out of the flatbed of his huge blue Ford truck.

  “Yup.” She repressed a shiver. Up here on the lower slopes of the Sierras where the mine was situated the ground was starting to freeze hard. “I hope we can get the probes through the ice.”

  “Shouldn’t be too difficult.” Chase came up beside her, his face half-hidden between the sheepskin collar of his coat and his hat.

  “Like you’d know,” Ry murmured. “Chase is all theory and no action.”

  “Hey, I pay for everything so I do have some uses.” Chase grinned. “Billy’s coming up in half an hour to help after I get back.”

  “Great.” Rachel looked at her two brothers. “Where’s the map of the mine?”

  Chase produced something from his pocket and unfolded it. “Here are the three versions we have all superimposed over each other so you can get a basic idea of where you might need to look. I’ve also loaded the same map onto your phone with basic geological information.”

  “That’s really useful.” Rachel took the map and held it tightly against the wind that was cutting across the barren plain. “I’ve already sketched out a basic plan for where I want to put the probes, and I’ve programmed them remotely to report back to Chase’s laptop.”

  As she studied the map a truck pulled up on the opposite side of the fence line and Cauy got out. Rachel’s heart gave a little anxious jump from just seeing him, which didn’t bode well for her ability to get a coherent sentence out when he actually got close.

  “Hey!” Ry waved at Cauy. “Thanks for coming.” Cauy didn’t say anything as he joined the group, but Rachel felt his gaze on her.

  “Damn.” Chase checked his phone and started moving. “I got the time wrong. I’ve got to go on a conference call in ten minutes. You guys okay without me?”

  “Well, yeah, although you’re supposed to be giving me a ride back,” Ry objected.

  Chase half turned. “You can come with me now, or wait for Billy.”

  “I’ll wait.” Ry winked. “I’ve gotta let Rachel see that at least one of her brothers knows how to get his hands dirty.”

  Rachel wanted to kiss him for staying, but concentrated on the map.

  “So what’s the plan?” Cauy asked.

  Still looking down, Rachel answered him. “I’ve got to set four ground-penetrating radar units up.” She shoved the map at him. “I’ve marked the spots, and I also have them on my phone’s GPS.”

  “Okay.” Cauy studied the map, raising his gaze to assess his surroundings. “How far underground can these probes detect structures?”

  “They wouldn’t work too well on the surface. We need to drill some boreholes first and get them underground.”

  Ry grimaced and looked around the bleak landscape. “I hope we can break through.”

  “What size borehole are we talking about here?” Cauy asked.

  Rachel showed him one of the GPR units. “Not much wider than this. The idea is to hopefully break through into the tunneling network and let the unit give us a 3D visual of exactly what’s going on down there.”

  “Got it. Do you have drilling gear?”

  “Yup.” Ry gestured at the pile of equipment they’d unloaded from Chase’s truck. He grinned. “I was waiting for my dad to tell me how to make it work.”

  “I know how to set up a drill rig,” Cauy said.

  Rachel grabbed his arm. “You don’t have to do that, if you don’t want to—I mean we just asked you to come up here because two of the boreholes are going to be on your land, and—”

  She ran out of breath as both men looked at her as if she was crazy.

  “I’m good, thanks.” Cauy gently removed her hand from his elbow. “Why don’t we start by marking out where those boreholes are going to be?”

  By the time Billy arrived, they’d marked two of the pote
ntial drill sites with bright orange markers and were pacing out the third. It was bitterly cold and the sky and land blended into each other making everything gray and indistinct.

  As the two men consulted about the drilling process, Rachel measured out the distance to the next marker going past Cauy’s truck and onto Lymond land. She gave the sinkhole a wide berth and focused on the GPS on her cell phone. A strange thrumming sound traveled up through the soles of her boots, and she went still. Was there another earthquake happening? She looked back toward the others, who didn’t seem to be feeling what she was feeling. A faint whooping sound rose over the horizon, and she turned toward Morgan Ranch as three or four horses ignored the warning tape and came thundering up the hill toward the mine.

  Billy, Ry, and Cauy were moving toward the incoming riders trying to get their attention before they came too close to the fragile mine.

  “Hey!” Billy shouted. “Where do you guys think you’re going? You’re supposed to be moving cattle!”

  One of the riders slowed down and came to a stop beside Billy.

  “Calm down, dude. We’re just having some fun.”

  Rachel pointed at the fluttering orange tape. “This land isn’t safe, and you shouldn’t be up here unsupervised.”

  “Why not?” A second rider joined the first and looked down at Rachel. “We paid to come here, sweet cheeks, so we get to do what we like.”

  Behind her Cauy made a growling noise and stepped forward. Rachel grabbed hold of his jacket sleeve.

  “Not on my ranch, you don’t.” Billy gripped the bridle of the first horse, and Ry took the second. “Either turn around and go back the way you came, or I’ll take the horses, and you can walk.”

  “Like you could do that,” the first guy joked. “Calm down. We just wanted to check out the mine.”

  “Which is dangerous, and is why you haven’t been given access to it,” Ry spoke up. He pointed at the huge sinkhole. “See that? You could’ve ridden right into it, and no one would’ve been able to stop you.”

  “Like my horse would do that,” Idiot Number One jeered.

  “Hey, you’re right. The horse is intelligent enough to stop,” Ry said. “The problem is you would’ve gone straight over his head and kept going down.”