Black Hills Blessing

by A. C. Wilson

  “What the hell is she doing here?” Garrett asked, his voice hushed and gravelly. Matt shook his head, never taking his eyes off the girl standing in the doorway of the bar.

  Lena McCoy. This night was just getting better and better. His ex-flame was standing in the doorway and he was expecting Rayne to walk in at any moment. Garrett wasn’t sure how he was going to handle this, let alone explain it. The mire just got deeper and deeper. It was too much to hope that Lena hadn’t seen them sitting in the corner. Her brown eyes locked onto Garrett’s and he cursed himself for even looking in her direction. It was as much of an invitation to come over as she was likely to get. He groaned under his breath. It was just like Lena to not pass it up too.

  “Garrett Johnson, is that you?” Lena’s voice was still as he remembered it to be, sweet as honey to the ears. She walked up to their table, her hand on her hip. He felt stupid for even letting his gaze roam her body, but he couldn’t seem to help it. Lena was the classic pretty with long hair and big brown eyes. She was petite, but curvy in all the right places. She wore black jeans over boots and a red strapless top that boosted her breasts to the point if she bent over everyone would get a show.

  “Lena.” Garrett said her name and hated the softness that touched the word. “I didn’t know you were in town.” Garrett looked to his brother hoping for some distraction. Matt widened his eyes and took another drink of his beer.

  Thanks for nothing, little brother! Mentally Garrett struggled for some footing. He wished for some of the past anger to rush to the surface so he could justify being rude to her. She’d laughed at his proposal and left with another guy. A guy that wasn’t him! Garrett tried to be angry about it, but it was hard to now. All he felt was a relief that he was free to be with Rayne.

  “I ran into your sister this afternoon and a friend of hers. She’s still a beautiful girl.” Lena leaned her hip against the table, her long red fingernails tapping the Formica top. Garrett felt his heart lurch and his tongue tie up in knots.

  “She is beautiful.” Garrett offered a small smile, taking a sip of his beer. It took him a minute to notice the twisted pout of Lena’s full lips. He swallowed hard and blinked in confusion. “Who were you talking about?” Garrett received a lifted brow for his troubles.

  “Your sister. Who else…?” Lena widened her eyes and leaned more fully over the table. The tops of her breasts were in full view now. Garrett didn’t dare look at his brother. He fought the urge to get up and walk away. “Nora’s friend is the one you are seeing now? Makes perfect sense now why Nora was so defensive about me staking claim to you.” Lena grinned wickedly and purposely ran the tip of her tongue over her upper lip.

  “That’s right, Lena. Garrett is seeing Rayne Randall now. In fact, we are expecting her and my wife any minute.” Matt cut in, his face hardening in determination to rid them of Lena’s presence. Garrett would have applauded his brother’s bravado, but he couldn’t seem to speak.

  How could she tie him up in knots like that? Garrett knew without a doubt that Lena was bad news. He couldn’t deny how pretty she still was or how the tenor of her voice caught his attention.

  “That’s too bad.” Lena straightened up and put her hands on her waist. “Well I might consider finding other pursuits if I could get a beer.” She raised a brow at Matt and with a glare, Matt got up and went to the bartender. She smiled sinfully at Garrett as if to say, “see”. He did see. He understood her motive all too well and it bothered him.

  “You need to move on, Lena. There’s nothing for you here.” Garrett said as sternly as he could and stood up from his seat. The pout returned as he watched her like a mouse watches a snake.

  “Oh we are all grownups here, Garrett. How can I leave when the past is hardly settled between us?” Lena walked slowly around the table, her hips swinging provocatively. Her brown eyes widened and then hooded in a sex kitten sort of way.

  “That’s not entirely true, Lena. The past is finished. You’ve made your decision and I’ve moved on.” Garrett hated that his voice was lowered, his eyes drawn to hers. Lena shook her head and stepped in even closer. Mere inches between them, Garrett had a good seat to the attributes that Lena flaunted.

  “You might have someone else now, Garrett, but that doesn’t mean we can’t reminisce about the good old days. It would be similar to a vacation of sorts as I don’t live here anymore.” Lena ran the tip of her red fingernail along the curve of her red bodice. Garrett closed his eyes and shook his head.

  This cannot be happening! All these years later and now Lena McCoy is throwing herself at you? In another time and another place, Garrett might have considered what she offered. He might have given in to her scheme if only to rid himself of the wondering of what a future with her would be like. Inside and down deep, he knew there never would have been a future. She never stopped playing and he wanted a faithful wife. He wanted a relationship like his parents. He wanted a forever.

  “Lena.” Garrett raised his head to look her in the eyes, but his glance was drawn to the front door of the bar. Lena smiled seductively and stepped into him. Thinking he was giving her a green light, she ran her palm down the front of his jeans. Garrett jumped to attention, but not as much as he did when he saw Rayne. Garrett pushed Lena away from him, but the gesture only served to secure whatever guilt Rayne thought she saw. Lena gasped as she looked to find three women glaring at her and she at least had the courtesy to pale.

  “Rayne.” Garrett’s throat constricted and he knew in that moment that something precious had been shattered. Golden eyes hardened, widened and went cold. The heat that he saw so often there was out. He grimaced as he went forward towards the door. Everyone in the bar seemed to feel the tension and they watched to see what might happen. Rayne touched Andy’s arm, shook her head and walked out into the night. Garrett took off after her. Matt was on his brother’s heels.

  Garrett passed his sister and Andy before he got to the door. Both looked away from him. He’d suddenly become persona non grata for something that looked worse than it was. His stomach clenched at what he could only imagine was a guilty picture. Lena moved in just as he was about to tell her he wasn’t interested now or ever. He’d seen Rayne in the doorway and was mesmerized by the swelling his heart did when it saw her. He’d come here planning to tell Rayne how much he loved her and how he’d wait for her if she asked. He’d wait forever if he thought there would be a chance with her.

  “Rayne! Wait!” Garrett called out as he pushed through the door and into the cold night air. The sidewalk was a bit slick with thin ice and his boots fought for footing. He looked around him. The lighting on the street was awful so he squinted to acclimate his eyes to the darkness. “Rayne?” He heard something bump into something metal. Garrett turned his head to see Rayne’s back to him as she stood at Andy’s car. His heart lurched. Her head was bowed and her palms flat against the black Escape.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Her voice was so soft, but the words reverberated in his brain. He was within a couple of feet now and his hand itched to touch her.

  “It’s not what it looked like, Rayne. There’s nothing between Lena and me anymore.” He hated the way that it sounded. It sounded like something a guilty man would say in protesting the validity of a picture. This was worse. In so many ways what Rayne saw was irrefutable. What Rayne hadn’t seen was the end. She hadn’t seen him walk away as he planned to do. She hadn’t heard his rebuff as he had planned to make.

  “You forget I’ve been down this road before. I won’t be the faithful wife at home while her husband screws every female in sight!” Rayne held her voice just below yelling, but he felt the full effect.

  How could he be so stupid? Garrett should have known she’d lump him into Royal’s company. Once she was suspicious, she’d always be wary. She’d wait for any speck of treason and they’d be done. The relationship would be over.

  “I’d never do that to you, Rayne. Deep down I think you know that, but what you just saw,
well, it’s making you rethink us. I get that, but please don’t throw us away.” His voice cracked. The strength wavered as he pleaded with her. Rayne turned to him, her back against the car. Garrett took a breath of relief now that he could see her face. Her eyes told him so much.

  “I’m not an idiot, Garrett. It was pretty obvious that things aren’t finished between you. I can’t be in that situation again.” Her golden eyes flashed with pain. It nearly shredded his resolve to pursue a reprieve. “I won’t be the woman everyone pities and laughs at behind her back.” The tears that pricked her eyes hurt him more. He’d seen her tears. He’d never wanted to be the cause of them.

  “Darlin’ that was a huge misunderstanding. I swear on everything I love that you are the one I want.” He couldn’t stand it. He took Rayne by the upper arms and anchored his fear. Holding her steadied the near panic that was building inside him. “I love you, Rayne.” The words floated in the open between them. Words he had been thinking in his head for so long they seemed natural being spoken. Rayne lowered her head, her eyes closed so tightly her brow furrowed. Garrett couldn’t breathe. He waited for life. Rayne was the only one who could give it to him. He knew that as surely as he knew he’d never love another woman the rest of his life.

  “That’s not fair.” Rayne swallowed hard, her eyes filled with tears. Her chest heaved with the effort to breathe. Garrett held her tightly wishing he could pull her fully against his body. “You know more about me than almost any other person, Garrett. I’ve shared things with you that no one else knows.” Rayne choked on a sob and Garrett could only nod. She took a couple of deep breaths before she could look him in the eye. He read in them what he never wanted to see.

  “Rayne, I do love you. I came here tonight to tell you that I want a life with you. I want to stay. I want you to stay.” Garrett paused only to take a breath and he said what he was feeling at that very moment. His heart was breaking and he was afraid he’d never fix this one. “I need you.”

  She watched him as she wavered with whatever she was going to say. He mentally pleaded her to consider what this would cost them. His fingers pressed more firmly into her arms and she fractionally stepped into him. The cold air performed a dance of frosty breaths. In the background Garrett could hear the bar door opening and closing, the crunch of boots on the frosty sidewalk out front and the hushed voices that came from whatever audience they’d now acquired. Rayne lifted her chin, her eyes leveling to his. She gently shook her head and all the fight seemed to leave her.

  “I can’t jump this time.” Rayne pulled from his grasp as Garrett tried to figure out how to function next. His hands didn’t want to move and his feet felt welded to the sidewalk. His mouth fell open in shock and he hated most that his eyes misted over. In truth he felt like someone had belted him in the back of the head with a two by four. It was that swift and that painful. Garrett jumped when he felt a firm grip on his elbow. He turned to find Matt next to him.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Matt’s voice was void of all emotion, but his blue eyes were full of sympathy. In any other occasion Garrett would have thought someone had died. Andy stepped up beside her husband and wiped her eyes.

  “I’ll get her home safely, Garrett.” Andy unlocked the car and Rayne climbed inside. The only one still standing undecided was Nora. His sister looked shell shocked when she had been so disappointed before. Matt walked Garrett to his pickup. Andy started the Escape, put it in reverse and backed out of the parking spot onto the street. An empty street with very little light. Garrett thought that was pretty darned ironic. It was how he saw his life from this point on.

  Chapter 26

  Rayne patted Ruger’s head as he bounced along beside her on the dirt path. The snow had all but melted completely leaving behind small puddles of mud. The green of the pine trees was the only vibrant color to the horizon and beyond that just acres of dried prairie grasses. She swallowed hard and zipped her green work coat all the way up to her chin. It wasn’t necessarily cold with the afternoon sunshine beaming down, but she hadn’t been sleeping so well.

  Who was she kidding? She rolled her eyes in response to her inner voice.

  A week. Rayne hadn’t slept but a couple of hours each night for a week. She’d been fighting the nearly debilitating loss of her heart and she still hadn’t figured out how to save the ranch. She looked around her. Rayne didn’t want let go of something so precious to her parents. Now that she’d had time to process the cancer, her mother’s strength, and her father’s pride, the ranch was all that she had left. Even after both had died, the land remained as testament to a family that once lived here.

  Rayne whistled for Ruger to come back from his excursions into the grass and trees. The dog looked torn between her command and his adventure, but soon he sprinted back to her side.

  Too bad other things weren’t so easy to command. At least after much insistence, Royal had gone back to Kansas. Her ex-husband hadn’t wanted to go without her. He’d nearly begged her to forgive him and take him back. Not so long ago she’d promised to be a good, faithful wife to him, but that vow needed to go both ways. Even if Royal’s heart had been faithful, the rest of him was most assuredly not. Royal had left with her promise to contact him should she need anything.

  Anything. Her stomach rolled in now a familiar fashion when she thought of Garrett. She needed him. It wasn’t comfortable to admit that, but here in the quiet, alone except for Ruger, she could admit it. It had taken only a day to realize that what she’d seen and what she’d thought were two entirely different accounts. Garrett would never be Royal, just as Royal would never be Garrett. The absurdity was astounding in her mind and now it seemed too silly to forgive. Rayne tossed a stick for Ruger to catch. She furrowed her brow and basked once more in the foolishness of letting something so important slip through her fingers. It was a mistake she wished whole-heartedly that she could take back.

  Ruger grabbed his stick and then dropped it. He barked, danced around in front of her, and then barked again. Rayne looked in the direction he was romping and saw a mail truck parked in her drive. She wondered what the heck that could mean and took off at a jog. She was out of breath when she reached the front yard. Her mailman greeted her and came forward with a letter in hand.

  “I just need a signature for this letter.” He handed Rayne a pen and smiled. “I’m glad I saw you. I was about to leave.” He dug in his pocket and produced a small bone for Ruger. The collie took it happily and crunched on his treat.

  “Thank you for waiting.” Rayne smiled, out of breath, and took the letter. The mailman drove away. She stood on her porch, looking at the official envelope. It was from a law firm in Rapid City. Her nerves frayed a bit more as she slid her finger along the seal. Hearing the paper tear gave her a sense of wonder and trepidation. Official letters you had to sign for were intimidating with their presence.

  Dear Ms. Rayne Randall,

  It is on the behalf of our clients, Black Hills Legacy Group, that we are contacting you. It has come to their attention that your property, the ranch of your late father, Ripley Randall, has had some financial difficulties. Black Hills Legacy Group would like to help.

  We are pleased to inform you that the back taxes and the property’s mortgage have been paid in full. Our firm has been directed to also inform you that this is a gift. It has been given with the strictest understanding that it shall not be paid back. As such, if you, Ms. Randall, want to sell the property now or in the future, Black Hills Legacy Group will pay you another lump sum of money to purchase it. Please understand that you are not required to sell the property or pay our clients back.

  Enclosed are the paid receipts as proof of payment. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, now or in the future.

  Rayne felt like her legs had gone numb and her heart had ceased beating. She couldn’t believe that she’d just read what the letter described. She’d read it once more. Rayne sat beside Ruger on the front step of the porch and tried to swallow
the lump that had formed in her throat. Never in her life had such good fortune found her. It seemed too real to be true and yet, here were the papers in her hands and the receipts to prove it. Rayne flipped through the receipts. The taxes and the mortgage had been paid off. A grand total of just over fifty thousand dollars! A sum she was directed not to pay back, but to consider a gift by a group she’d never even heard of before.

  A gift! Something not to be paid back! It appeared the only stipulation was that if she sold the property, Black Hills Legacy Group wanted to be the first to purchase it. That seemed fair enough.

  Rayne felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She’d rushed to the phone and door so many times this week, hoping it might be Garrett, and let down each time when it wasn’t.

  @Andy: Are you home? Rayne smiled. Andy was incessantly checking on her and when they got to talking, it was an hour or more before they hung up. Andy was the sister Rayne had never had and it was a comfort this past week.

  @Rayne: Yep. Why? Rayne wasn’t surprised after she sent the message to hear an engine in the distance. A couple of minutes later, she could clearly make out Andy’s black Escape coming down the road. Rayne got up off the step and went inside the house. She picked up Ruger’s water bowl and filled it at the sink, all the while watching out the window for Andy.

  “Here you go, boy.” Rayne set the bowl down and walked back outside. She’d left the papers on the kitchen counter. Rayne smiled as Andy got out of her car and opened the back door to get Harper out. Andy’s daughter was a beautiful little girl. Blonde hair with blue eyes that could easily be attributed to Matt, if someone didn’t know better.

  “We were out and about. Just thought we’d drop by and bug you.” Andy laughed as Harper took off up the stairs of the porch. Rayne smiled and opened the screen door to the kitchen. Ruger was already there, ready to play as he came outside.