The Maverick Cowboy

by Kate Pearce

  Jenna stared at him, her fork frozen midway to her mouth.

  “And Faith’s coming back next year, so we’ll have someone with an even more up-to-date degree around, won’t we?” Blue smiled at the McDonalds. “And with my multimillionaire Stanford-educated brother Chase at the helm, there’s no shortage of brainpower or experience in our valley.”

  Mrs. McDonald put down her knife. “Are you suggesting that Jenna wouldn’t be the best person for the job?”

  Blue shrugged. “I thought I was just agreeing with you.”

  “Jenna is an amazing and talented vet.”

  “Sure she is.”

  “Any veterinary practice or ranch should be glad to have her!”

  Blue took a sip of coffee. “Exactly.”

  “Including yours.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Point made, Blue rose to get more food and took his time before returning to the table.

  Jenna was refusing to look at him. Blue smiled at Mr. McDonald.

  “So what do you do with your time, sir?”

  “I’m a professor of theology at UCLA.”

  “Which means you do what, exactly?”

  “I study the theory and history of religion.”

  “Oh right.” Blue considered what to say next and realized he had nothing. “And how about you, Mrs. McDonald?”

  “I have a doctorate in psychiatry and run a large medical practice treating mainly adolescents with mental health issues.”

  “Useful.” Blue nodded.

  “I understand you were in the Marines.”

  She made it sound like he’d been part of a terrorist organization rather than one of the few and the proud.

  “Yeah, I just came out.”

  “Were you ever stationed in Afghanistan or Iraq?”

  “A few times.”

  “What was it like?”

  “Hot and dusty.” He shrugged. “Boring most of the time.”

  “I doubt that,” Mr. McDonald murmured.

  “Lily said you enlisted.”

  Jenna stirred. “Mom . . .”

  Blue kept his attention on Mrs. McDonald. “That’s correct. At eighteen.”

  “Did you ever attempt to become an officer?”

  “Why would I want to do that? I made gunnery sergeant, and that was good enough for me.”

  The McDonalds were looking at him as if he came from a different planet. He didn’t care. He felt the same way about them.

  “Blue served with honor and came back in one piece. Maybe instead of questioning his choices, Mom, you should be thanking him for his service.”

  At that moment, Blue wanted to kiss Jenna very badly. It was interesting that she’d happily stand up for him and not for herself.

  “We’re grateful for everything our military does to protect us, but—”

  “But nothing, Mom. If he’d wanted to be an officer, he would have done so. He sure is smart enough. He scored higher than me on his APs and SAT.” Jenna turned to Blue. “I apologize for my parents, okay?”

  “There’s no need. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. My grandmother was furious when I chose not to take up any of my scholarship offers, and went down to the local recruiting office.”

  “You turned down scholarships?” Mrs. McDonald said faintly.

  “Yeah, sports ones mainly for UCLA, Berkeley, and Stanford.” He grinned at Mr. McDonald. “Hey, you could have been one of my professors.”

  Mr. McDonald finally smiled back at him. “So tell me more about your family ranch.”

  * * *

  “You done yet?”

  Jenna glanced across at Blue as he sat beside her in the taxi, which was taking them back to the ranch. It was early evening and the sun was just dipping down toward the horizon. It was still hot outside and the air-con was set to high.

  “Done with what?”

  “Sulking. You haven’t said a word to me for hours,” Blue said.

  “I am not sulking. I’ve been thinking.”

  “Yeah? Looked more like you were planning how to end my existence.”

  She stared at the back of the taxi driver’s head. “I was going to kill you, but then I worked it out.”

  He draped one arm along the back of the seat, his long fingers curving around her shoulder.

  “You somehow managed to get my mom to agree that me working at the ranch would be a good thing.”

  “I know.” He grinned at her. “Your face was a picture, by the way.”

  “I still don’t understand how you did it.”

  He shrugged. “How do you think I survived the Marines?”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Not by using your brains.”

  He pouted. “I think I’m hurt.”

  She poked him in the ribs.

  “Ouch.”

  “You deserved that.”

  He rubbed the spot. “Especially when you defended my military service.”

  “Yes, I did, didn’t I?”

  “I wanted to lean over that table and kiss you stupid.”

  “I wish you had.”

  He held her gaze. “Really? Damn. I was trying to make a good impression on your parents.”

  “My dad liked you.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll bring your mom around.”

  “To me working at the ranch?”

  His smile deepened. “And the rest.”

  She hurriedly looked out of the window. He shifted closer, his hand closing over hers.

  “What’s up?”

  “I want to stay here.”

  “Good.”

  She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. The taxi pulled up at the exterior gate of the ranch. Blue got out to unlock the gate and let them through. When he came back inside, he spoke to the driver.

  “Can you take the second road on the left instead of going up to the main house?”

  The driver nodded, and soon they drew up outside Roy’s home. His truck was missing, and there were no lights on inside the house.

  Blue paid the driver, and gave him instructions about how to get out of the gate while Jenna found her keys and put her bag in her truck. There was a light breeze blowing off the mountain range, which was refreshing. She turned her face into it, gathering her hair off her neck. After the taxi drove away, the ranch settled down again into relative silence apart from the occasional grunting pig.

  She went to speak, but Blue beat her to it. “Have you got time to do one more thing with me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Didn’t we do that enough at the hotel?”

  “Not that.” He grinned. “I want to take you somewhere.”

  “On the ranch?”

  “Yeah. It’s not far.” He cocked his head in the direction of her truck. “Will you come with me?”

  Ten minutes later, after his easy-to-follow directions, she pulled up and turned off the engine. It was quiet outside; only the wind rustled the treetops and dry grasses.

  “This won’t take long.”

  Puzzled, but willing to follow him, Jenna got out of the truck to find him waiting for her. He took her hand and drew her over some flat but rocky ground toward a line of bushes.

  “Wow, nice view,” Jenna breathed. From their position she could see down across the creek and over to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

  Beside her Blue cleared his throat. “I’m thinking this would be a great place to build a house.”

  “Yeah, it would be awesome.”

  He glanced down at her. “So you approve?”

  She tried to smile. “Well, it’s not up to me, but yeah.”

  After a long moment while they both stared at the view, Blue started talking again. “Thanks for coming to San Diego. If it had been left to me we would’ve found out nothing, and I’d probably be in jail right now for starting a fight.”

  “You would’ve worked it out.”

  “No.” He slid a hand around her neck. “You were the brave one, not me.”

  “It’s easier to be brave wh
en you’re not emotionally involved in the issue.”

  “Who said I was emotional?”

  Jenna raised her eyebrows. “Blue, you had every right to be frustrated and upset.”

  “But not to scare you.” He hesitated. “Were you this calm when you met your birth parents?”

  “I was terrified.”

  “Were they . . . aggressive toward you?”

  “Not really. They just didn’t care about me at all.”

  “Their loss.” He bent his head and kissed her gently on the lips.

  As soon as he lifted his head she blurted out, “I thought you’d be mad at me for not confronting my parents and telling them I want to stay here.”

  “It’s not my place to tell you what to say or how to deal with your parents.”

  “You’re right.” Great. Now she looked stupid and needy. “It’s not as if we’re in a committed relationship or anything.”

  He went still. “Aren’t we?”

  Surprise held her silent.

  “We’re sleeping together—we spend most of our working days together, and you know all my secrets.” He paused. “That’s not a relationship?”

  “I wasn’t sure . . .”

  He sighed and took a step back. “Jenna, it’s all yours, you know, the ranch, the job, this house I’m planning on building, and me. All you have to do is reach out and take it.” He touched his hat to her and started walking back to the truck. “Let’s get you home.”

  She drove back to Roy’s. Blue got out, came around to her open window, and smiled at her. “Night, darlin’. Drive safely.”

  “Don’t you want a lift back to the house?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, I could do with a walk. I do my best thinking when I’m on the move.”

  She managed to nod and mumble a good-bye. He made it sound easy, but he’d also made sure that she knew he wasn’t going to do everything for her. Part of her wished he’d sweep her into his arms and solve all her problems. She knew he could if he wanted. He loved telling her what to do. But what he wanted was far more dangerous.

  It required a leap of faith.

  She’d have to admit she loved him, which she somehow did, and that she wanted to be with him forever. She’d have to face her family’s disappointment and possible rejection. And what if everything went wrong, and she abandoned her family, and then lost Blue? She’d almost lost her family when she’d gone after the dream of her birth parents. Sure, they hadn’t outwardly rejected her when she’d come back, but their confusion and hurt had been obvious and her sisters had been furious at her for being so ungrateful.

  She stared up at Blue’s retreating figure as he walked up the hill to the main house.

  What if she jumped, and he wasn’t there to catch her?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Blue rode Messi in a slow circle and then clicked his tongue, applied the smallest amount of pressure with his knees, and kicked into a lope. He loved riding fast, and Messi had the smoothest gait. He’d spent the morning with the new horses, trying out their paces and writing notes about what kind of rider would work best with each horse.

  He knew from experience that sometimes you just had to sit someone on the back of a horse before you could see if it was a match. The relationship between a horse and rider was more complex than an amateur might imagine, and it would be his job to match each guest with the best horse.

  It was a beautiful crisp day and he’d been up early after a restless night disrupted by dreams of Jenna and nightmares about his mom—sometimes both at the same time. He sensed Jenna was beginning to believe he meant what he said, and he was determined to stand back and let her make her choice without input from him. Anyone who committed to a life out in the middle of nowhere on an isolated ranch needed to make that decision with eyes wide open. His mom had hated it, and he couldn’t bear the thought of Jenna feeling like that.

  He eased Messi back down to a walk and let him cool off as they approached the rear of the pastureland bordering the barn and house. He’d also spent some time thinking about his new house and even jotted down some ideas about the style and interior, which had been far more interesting to do than he’d anticipated. By his reckoning, the property was far enough away from the new construction of the guest cottages, but close enough to get back to the main ranch house when he was needed.

  He dismounted outside the barn and spent a while brushing Messi down and making sure he had enough water before putting him back in his stall. After lunch he’d type his notes into the database Chase had constructed for each horse so that everyone had access to the same information. He’d laughed at his brother for suggesting it, but he was secretly super impressed.

  He walked up to the house, where he found Ruth, January, and Chase sharing a pot of coffee around the kitchen table. They were all looking remarkably serious, and he paused in the doorway to take off his hat.

  “What’s up?”

  Chase held up an envelope. “I got them to speed up your DNA results.”

  Blue took the envelope and sat down heavily on the nearest chair. “Where’s Maria?”

  “She’s out riding with Billy and Roy,” Ruth volunteered, her blue gaze steady but anxious. “They won’t be back for a while.”

  Chase cleared his throat. “Do you want some privacy?”

  Blue shook his head, his fingers already easing under the envelope flap. He took out the single sheet and slowly read through the contents twice before looking up.

  “She’s my daughter.”

  “Well, thank the Lord.” Ruth pressed a hand to her chest.

  “You okay?” Chase asked.

  Blue nodded. “Yeah. I’m . . . kind of relieved, you know? We can keep her safe here and love her as much as she deserves.” He blew out his breath. “I suppose I should go to Sacramento and sort things out with Daniel Lester.”

  “I don’t think you have a choice. Maybe he’ll let you have some of Maria’s things.”

  “He’s probably gotten rid of them all by now.” Blue rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’ll just turn up on his doorstep so he can’t refuse to see me.”

  “Maybe you could check in with Red Williams while you’re up that way. He’s given his permission for us to visit him in prison.”

  Blue looked at Chase. “Do you think it’s worth it? After all, we know Mom and the baby left with Big Mike.”

  “It can’t hurt.” Chase shrugged. “I’d like to investigate all the angles and close this one down.”

  “Sure—unless you want to come with me and see him while I tackle Daniel Lester.”

  Chase grimaced. “I’ve got to get back to the office. With Jake out of action, the workload is crushing us.”

  “At least he’s getting better. You should get him out here. A few weeks of peace and quiet and Ruth’s cooking would do him a world of good.”

  “I’ve already suggested it.” Chase hesitated. “When are you going to tell Maria?”

  “And do you need any help?” Ruth reached for his hand and squeezed it hard. “I can tell her if you’d prefer it.”

  “I need to do this myself.” Blue kissed his grandmother’s work-roughened fingers and released them. “I’ll catch her when she gets back from her ride.”

  Ruth got to her feet and put on her apron. “Then I’d better start cooking a celebratory dinner. Seeing as you boys refuse to give me great-grandchildren, it’s not often we get to welcome a new member of the family.”

  Chase rolled his eyes at Blue. “I’m going back to the city tomorrow. You can catch a ride with me if you like?”

  “Private jet?”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “Then I’ll definitely come.”

  Voices echoed in the hallway and Blue tensed as Roy and Billy came into the kitchen.

  “Maria’s gone upstairs to wash. She’ll be down in a minute,” Billy said, his gaze moving around the kitchen and finally settling on Blue. “Is everything all right?”

  Blue nodded as he headed for th
e stairs. “Talk to Chase. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard Maria singing to herself as she skipped along the landing, her braids bouncing.

  “Hey.” Blue smiled at her. At his daughter, and something inside him curled tight and solidified right next to his heart. “You got a moment?”

  Her smile faltered and she backed up and went into her bedroom. By the time Blue reached her she was sitting on her bed, her arms folded across her chest.

  He shut the door and crouched on the floor in front of her.

  “The DNA results came in. You’re my daughter.”

  “Okay.”

  He met her worried gaze. “I just want you to know that I’m proud to be your father, and that if it’s okay with you I’m going to do my best to always be there and never ever let you down again.”

  She studied him for a long while.

  “You can’t promise things like that. What happens if you change your mind?”

  “I won’t.”

  “You might.”

  “I will do everything in my power not to.” He hesitated. “Maria, I can’t predict what will happen in the future, but I do know that you will always have a home and a family here. We love you, honey.”

  Her lip trembled, and with an inarticulate sound she flung herself into his arms. He held her tight and dropped a kiss onto her black hair. He wished he could hold her like this forever and keep the world from ever hurting her again.

  “I know it’s been horrible for you lately,” he murmured. “But we’ll sort everything out, I promise.”

  “Even with my other dad?”

  “Especially with him.” She raised her head and he loosened his grip on her shoulders. “Do you want to come down and see Ruth and Billy? I’m sure they’d love to welcome you into the family.”

  Her expression lightened. “Is Billy my granddad?”

  “Yeah, and Ruth is your great-grandmother, and Chase is your uncle, as are Ry and HW, and January is going to be your aunt.”

  She tugged on his arm, hauling him to his feet, and started for the door. “What about Roy?”

  “Roy’s like an extra-grumpy great-uncle.”

  “How about Jenna?”

  Blue winked at her. “You never know what might happen there, kiddo.”