Rancher's Dream

by B. J Daniels

“Yes, I’m sure you will like that one,” she agreed when he told her the name. She was anxious for him to leave so she could change the code on the gate at the bottom of the mountain. Maybe it was Hawk’s visit. Or maybe it was the realization that she hadn’t been herself since walking into this house. But she didn’t trust Jet.

  “So I take it you’ve never been down to any of the plants in Mexico City?” She remembered what he’d said about not knowing they had any down there. He’d wanted her to believe that Ethan had been lying. Since Jet had arrived, he’d been undermining his brother.

  “No,” he said quickly with a shake of his head. “They must be a new acquisition. Ethan doesn’t tell me everything, obviously.” He grinned. “He didn’t tell me about you. I had to hear about your engagement from one of his employees.”

  “So the two of you aren’t close.” Which could explain why Ethan wanted Jet to stay at a hotel until he returned. Maybe there was a whole lot more she should know about Jet, she thought as she put down her coffee without touching it.

  “Ethan is too competitive to let anyone get too close, especially a younger brother.” She heard the bitterness again. “I’m sorry, you don’t seem to like the way I make coffee.”

  “My stomach’s bothering me this morning,” she said. “It was a nice thought. Last night, were you around when the lights went out?” she asked as casually as she could.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I thought you might have heard me scream.”

  “You screamed?” He seemed amused by that. “Sorry, I suppose you are jumpy in this house. I know I am. I probably didn’t hear you because, after waiting for the emergency generator to come on, I went looking for it. Found it on the lower level next to the garage.” He looked chastised. “I managed to get it going again only after the electricity came back on.”

  She studied him. “You know about emergency generators?”

  “Only because Ethan was so proud of the one he was installing in this house. Apparently it isn’t as grand as he thought. It didn’t come on, did it?”

  “What is odd is that the elevator was still working, even without the emergency generator coming on,” she said.

  “It’s programmed to come up to the master suite when the power goes off and has its own generator so you can get out of the house quickly if you need to, like in case of fire. Yep, another thing Ethan bragged about during the construction phase. Is it any wonder I wanted to see this place?”

  Jet seemed to have all the answers. “Did you manage to get into your brother’s phone?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “But we don’t need to now, do we? Ethan is in Mexico City and will be returning in a few days. So what do you have planned today?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “I’m going out to lunch with a friend.” She hadn’t thought of it until that moment, but she really wanted to see Lillie, among other things. She got to her feet, signaling that it was time for Jet to leave. “By the way, was it your idea or Ethan’s for you to move into the hotel?”

  Jet laughed. “He thought you’d be more comfortable without me here.”

  She merely nodded. “Ethan is always worried about my comfort.”

  His brother laughed as he got to his feet. “Yes, that’s our Ethan for you,” he said as he started to take their cups over to the sink.

  Before he could grab her cup, she covered it with her hand. “I might want that once it cools down more.”

  He lifted a brow in surprise but left her to take his cup to the sink.

  With his back to her, he said, “Let me know when Ethan gets back. I’ll move out and I won’t bother you further. But I will need to see him when he returns and then I’m out of his hair and yours.”

  She said nothing, torn between guilt and relief. “I’m sure Ethan just wants what is best for both of us.”

  Jet laughed as he turned to face her. “You really don’t know my brother very well, do you? This is between me and Ethan. I’m sorry you ended up in the middle. I never met my father’s expectations. I don’t even try to meet Ethan’s.” He locked on her gaze. “Can I make you something for breakfast before I leave or will you be having an early lunch?”

  “An early lunch. But thank you.” She picked up her cup, deciding to take her coffee to her room until Jet left. Maybe it was silly. Maybe not. But she couldn’t help feeling as if she’d been drugged over the past few days—ever since Jet had shown up.

  Also, she was eager to call Lillie and make the lunch date. She just hoped her friend didn’t have other plans. She needed to see a friendly face, especially after her encounter with Hawk last night and this unpleasant time with Jet. She’d really hoped he would be gone when she came downstairs.

  But first, she stayed in the kitchen as Jet took the elevator. As she watched the dial take him to the parking garage, she realized that he’d already packed his things and loaded them in his sports car before he’d come up to make her coffee.

  Maybe it was nothing more than a nice gesture. Maybe there would be no drugs in the coffee. But in that case she had to seriously consider the possibility that she was losing her mind and would need professional help.

  Returning upstairs, she reprogrammed the pass code at the gate on a panel she found behind a painting on the bedroom wall. She hadn’t known what numbers to use but went with her own birth date. Her reasoning was that Ethan knew it but Jet didn’t.

  Calling Lillie, she made a date for lunch. She needed to talk to her. The more she thought about it, the more she knew what could be wrong with her. How could she move on with another man, when there was so much still tying her to Hawk Cahill?

  She still harbored resentment that she’d thought she’d put behind her. He’d hurt her. She’d hurt him. They’d let each other down.

  Until last night, she hadn’t realized how upset she still was with him—and vice versa. The antagonism over the past simmered just below the surface, neither of them forgetting—let alone forgiving. Not even the chemistry that had always been between them could overcome the anger.

  She’d hoped they could resolve it, but after all these years, it didn’t seem likely. What really bonded them wasn’t just the disappointment, hurt and anger—but the secret they shared. It was something she hadn’t told anyone. Not even Ethan because she felt she would be betraying Hawk. That had to end.

  As long as only the two of them knew why they’d broken up, it would keep them tied together for life. Neither of them could move on. It was time to tell and free them both.

  Realizing that, she felt better. Even her headache was lessening a little.

  * * *

  WHAT MADE HAWK so cranky and irritable the next day was the fact that he felt like a fool for what he’d done last night. What made it worse was that he knew he would do it again if he thought Drey was in trouble. That was what had him cussing and carrying on as he found a number for the local glass business.

  He’d just finished ordering a new window for the Baxter house when he turned to find Cyrus had come into the kitchen. “I thought you were already gone.”

  His brother shook his head. “I’m afraid to ask what that phone call was about.”

  “If you’re smart, you won’t,” he said as he stepped behind the breakfast bar to pour himself a cup of coffee.

  “Sorry, but it will drive me crazy all day if I don’t know why you would be buying a window for your ex at her mansion where she lives with her new husband,” Cyrus said with a shrug. “You don’t want me driven crazy all day, do you?”

  Hawk ground his teeth for a few moments. “I took my horse out yesterday evening. On the way back, I saw the lights go out at the Baxter place. When I heard Drey scream...”

  “You rode to the rescue.” Cyrus laughed. “At least the husband didn’t shoot you.”

  “He wasn’t there. Supposedly his brother was somewhere on the premises
, but I didn’t run into him. I broke a window to get to Drey.”

  His brother nodded. “I’m guessing things didn’t go well after that.”

  “She said she’d had a bad dream, and no, she didn’t seem to appreciate my heroics.”

  “Sorry. But you can’t change who you are. A woman in distress? Hawk Cahill will ride to the rescue no matter who she is.”

  “Yep, that’s me.”

  “Is Drey okay?” Cyrus asked, all the humor gone from his tone.

  Hawk took his time answering. “I’m not sure.” He thought of the state he’d found her in. “I have a bad feeling that she’s not.”

  * * *

  AFTER DUMPING SOME of her coffee into a container and putting the two aspirin in a plastic sandwich bag, she dropped both into her large shoulder bag.

  Pulling out her phone, she hit Lillie’s number, anxious to get out of the house. Soon Ethan would be back. But that didn’t give her the sense of relief she might have felt a few days ago. She listened to the phone ringing, praying Lillie wasn’t too busy to see her.

  Lillie answered on the fourth ring, sounding harried.

  “Is this a bad time?” Drey asked, her heart dropping.

  Her friend laughed. “If you think having baby powder everywhere is a bad time.”

  “Sounds like you’re busy.” She hated sounding so disappointed, but she was. Once she’d made up her mind about something, she liked to see it through. Wasn’t that how she’d ended up married to Ethan? Or how she’d ruined things with Hawk?

  “I’m never too busy for you. What is it?”

  “Lunch. I was hoping you could get away for an early one,” Drey said. “I need to talk to you.”

  “One moment.” Lillie covered the phone but Drey could still hear her talking to her husband. “Trask said he would love to clean up this mess and take care of TC while you and I escape to a lovely lunch. Not the saloon, though. I’ll feel like I should be working.”

  “I was thinking of the bistro downtown. I could pick you up or—”

  “I’ll meet you there. Say, eleven thirty?”

  “Perfect. And thank Trask for me.” As she was leaving to meet Lillie, the repairman from the local glass shop called for the security code to get into the gate down on the county road. She’d gone to school with the man, so Drey had no problem giving it to him. She told him on which floor he could find the broken window, but that she was going to lunch. He assured her he would have it fixed before she returned.

  She couldn’t wait to get away from the house. It all felt surreal, as if she was escaping the castle to save herself from... That was just it. What did she have to be saved from? She checked to make sure the coffee and pills were in her purse. Yes, what did she have to be afraid of?

  Fortunately, she had just enough time before meeting Lillie to stop by the local pharmacy. She found her friend Brittany, the local pharmacist.

  “Could we talk for a moment?” she asked, glad that there wasn’t a line waiting for prescriptions. In Brittany’s office, Drey pulled the two pills from her pocket. “You’re going to think I’m crazy. It’s okay because I think it’s true.”

  Her friend laughed. “I doubt you’re crazy. What are these?” she asked, frowning down at the pills.

  “I was hoping you could tell me. I know they look like aspirin...”

  Brittany glanced up at her. “But you think they are something else?”

  She nodded and pulled the bag from her purse. “I also think there might be something in my coffee.”

  Her friend said nothing for a moment, but she looked concerned. Brittany had been at her wedding only days ago. “Drey, if you’re in some kind of trouble shouldn’t you be taking this to the sheriff?”

  “I’m not at that point yet. It’s just that I haven’t been myself the last few days.” She shook her head, biting down on her lower lip to hold back a sudden rush of tears. “Maybe I’m losing my mind, but maybe...” She met her friend’s gaze. “Maybe someone just wants me to think I am. Will you check the pills and the coffee?”

  “Of course. Are you going to be all right in the meantime?”

  Drey thought of Jet gone from the house. “I’ll be fine.” She felt as if she was at least doing something. All the craziness, the thumb and the mouse and Ethan disappearing on her and Hawk showing up the way he had. She’d been under so much pressure. Maybe that was all it was, she thought as she left the pharmacy.

  But seeing Hawk last night had made her realize not only that she had to find out the truth, but also that he was part of the problem. She’d been so upset about living here in Gilt Edge. She wouldn’t be able to avoid Hawk, nor he her. They would be running into each other and constantly being reminded of the past, something she hadn’t planned on when she’d thought she and Ethan would be living in New York City at least most of the year.

  She had to deal with all of it. The present as well as the past. She and Hawk had skirted around it for years. Well, that was going to change. She’d already taken a step to deal with the present. Now she would deal with Hawk and the past. Then Ethan would return and they could begin their married lives together. That thought should have made her feel better.

  There were issues that would have to be dealt with between her and Ethan, as well. Especially if her suspicions about his brother were true.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  BILLIE DEE COULD tell that Henry thought she was making a mistake.

  “If you’d told me you wanted to hire a private investigator, I would have been happy to pay for it,” he said. “But are you sure you want to do this? I mean, maybe if you just wait...”

  “He might be right,” Ashley Jo added. “Not that it’s any of my business.”

  “No, I’d like to hear what you have to say,” she told the young woman. The two of them had grown so close, she was almost like a daughter to her.

  “It’s just that often these things don’t turn out like you hope. I’m sure your daughter must be scared. She has no idea what you’re like or even if you are that interested in meeting her.”

  “That’s why I have to find her. She has to know that I love her and that I never wanted to give her up.”

  “Still, she would have had loving parents and might feel she is betraying them by looking for her birth mother,” Ashley Jo said.

  “I hope she did have loving parents. And I know what you’re saying. The thing is, she put her DNA sample in. She does want to find me.”

  Ashley Jo nodded but didn’t look happy.

  “Then just give it a little time,” Henry suggested. “Let her be the one to make the next move.”

  She looked to Ashley Jo, who quickly nodded her agreement. “All right, I’ll wait for a little longer, but then I’m hiring someone to find her.”

  Just then the sheriff came in the back door. “I’m meeting Hawk here for lunch,” he said after they’d all exchanged greetings.

  “I’ll show you to a seat,” Ashley Jo said.

  Billie Dee could hear the two of them as they walked down the hallway to the saloon. “I’m surprised you’re against this,” she said to Henry.

  “The problem with hiring a private investigator is that he will have to start at the beginning. You’re opening up a can of worms here, Billie Dee. How can you trust that the father of your child won’t find out that you lied to him all those years ago?”

  She stared at him, realizing what he said was true. “He can’t do anything to me now. Our daughter is raised. He wouldn’t do anything.”

  “But what if he contacted your daughter?”

  Billie Dee felt a shudder, remembering how the man had threatened to take her child from her and raise the baby as his own with his wife he’d said he was divorced from. He’d lied to her from the start, and she’d been so young and naive that she had believed him. If she hadn’t run away...
r />   “You’re right. He must never know that I gave birth to the baby.”

  Henry hugged her. “You’re going to find your daughter. If nothing comes of the adoption site, then I’ll see what I can do.”

  * * *

  “I’VE CHANGED MY MIND,” Hawk said the moment he joined his brother at a table in the corner of the Stagecoach Saloon.

  Flint had debated calling him all morning as his concern for Drey grew. When Hawk had called to say he needed to talk to him, the sheriff had suggested lunch since it was close to that time of the day.

  “Changed your mind? Concerning anything I should know about it?” He had a damned good idea.

  “I shouldn’t have asked you to check up on Ethan Baxter.”

  Flint sighed. “Mind if I ask why you’ve changed your mind?”

  “How about it’s none of my business?”

  He nodded. “Except for the fact that you care about Drey.”

  His brother shook his head. “She’s married now. I need to stay out of it.”

  Ashley Jo came over to take their orders. After they’d both opted for chili and colas, she left and Flint said, “I was going to call you, as it turns out.” He met Hawk’s gaze and held it. “You had reason to be concerned.”

  Hawk sat up a little straighter. “What did you find out?” he whispered. The place wasn’t full yet, but there were a few regulars at the bar and four women at a table up front.

  He hesitated. “In a matter of hours after I made one inquiry, two FBI agents walked into my office.”

  “What the hell?” Hawk said after Ashley Jo had brought their colas and two large bowls of chili along with tortilla chips, cheese and extra jalapeños.

  Keeping his voice down, Flint said, “There’s an ongoing investigation into Ethan Baxter’s business practices.”

  His brother let out another curse. “So the guy’s a crook. Great.”

  “I said under investigation. It might turn out to be nothing. But apparently Ethan Baxter has been under investigation. His latest activities—getting married, selling off some property—have heightened their interest in him. Nothing illegal about either, but possibly worrisome to the feds.”