by Seton, Cora
“I don’t know. And I don’t know if we can get the ranch ready in time for the cattle we need to have. What if we don’t make it? We could do everything right and still lose it all if Colt doesn’t come through.”
Now she understood why he wanted Colt to come home so badly. She let his words sink in. If she married Mason, there were no guarantees. They could end up pregnant and penniless.
Well, not penniless.
Regan realized she’d been holding back. Even though she thought she wanted to marry Mason, she hadn’t committed to him or to the ranch all the way. But now she was ready to. She’d never find a man she loved more than him, and she’d never find a man more dedicated to his home and family. Mason thought more about those topics than any man she’d ever met. It was time for her to put her money where her mouth was and meet him halfway.
“We’ll get the ranch ready in time,” she assured him. “And we’ll make those brothers of yours get married. We can do this, Mason. I know we can. And if we blow all of your money trying, there’s always mine. I have savings, too. And I have my weenie apartment—at least for now. In a pinch, I could get my old job back.” She let her lips curve up, hoping he got the joke.
He shook his head. “Why don’t you hate me?”
She reached up to plant a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Because I love you too much. I don’t need a ranch, Mason. I don’t need a big, old mansion, either. All I need is you. We’ll make a home for ourselves wherever we go.”
He was silent a long moment, searching her face as if trying to decide whether she was speaking the truth. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Yes, you do. Let’s go home.”
She held her breath while he surveyed the soaking pasture, the snapped wire and the storm clouds dissipating overhead. “You go on. I need to take a walk. I need to clear my head.”
Regan peered at him worriedly. She obviously hadn’t convinced him. But Mason deserved to make up his own mind about what to do next. “Come get changed first. Then take all the time you need.”
“Okay.” They walked back to the Hall in silence, leaving the truck and the tools behind to retrieve in the morning. Regan’s concern grew with every step. Mason was quiet—too quiet. He changed swiftly, leaving his wet things in the bathroom draped over the tub, and kissed her before leaving again through the back door, but she could almost feel him wrestling with his inner demons. Regan trailed him into the kitchen to watch him go.
“Don’t wait up.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he headed down the track toward the creek.
Regan’s heart broke for him as she watched him walk away.
* * *
When Mason reached Chance Creek, the storm clouds were breaking up and the last rays of the sun colored the flowing water a deep orange-gold. He paced the banks, sorting through his tangled thoughts. He wanted Regan more than he ever had—was sure she was the one he was meant to spend his life with.
But not on the ranch.
He finally let his brothers’ protests sink in. He’d been pushing all of them to conform to his dream of reestablishing his family here where they’d always lived. They’d tried to tell him the terms were too rough.
He hadn’t listened.
Austin and Zane loved the place as much as he did, but neither of them wanted to rush settling down. Colt didn’t even want to get married—or return to the ranch, for that matter. Why should everyone around him be miserable just so he got what he wanted?
And why should he risk Regan’s future—and the future of any children they might have—on a hurried trip to the altar and the chance that his brothers wouldn’t come through?
It was time to give up Crescent Hall—as much as it cost him to admit it. Time to figure out another way to make a living so he could afford a wife and family. He’d still marry Regan—if she’d have him—but first he’d make sure he could provide for her. They’d have a long engagement, and they wouldn’t start a family for a while, but they’d get there.
Somehow.
As the dusk bled into dark, Mason turned around and headed toward home. He was nearly undone again when he saw the lights of the Hall blazing forth. Welcoming him back. Giving up his home a second time would be hard to take. But he’d still have Regan, and that was more than enough.
Once again as he walked heavily toward the Hall he felt his father’s presence beside him. He got no flashes of insight—no fatherly messages from beyond. Just a sense that he wasn’t alone in this dark hour.
He paused at the back door, not wanting to break the spell of the night. His heart was heavy with the knowledge that they’d have to leave, but he was comforted by the thought that he was finally doing the right thing. Being honest with himself—and with Regan—about what his capabilities truly were.
She met him in the kitchen where she must have been waiting for him. Rising to her feet from the kitchen table where she’d been sitting in the dark, she crossed the room swiftly and threw herself into his arms.
“Don’t say we can’t be together.” She hugged him close and her cheek was damp against his throat.
“We can be together, sweetheart. Just not here.”
* * *
Regan listened quietly to all of Mason’s reasons for not going ahead with trying to secure the ranch. She let him tick off on his fingers all the ways they’d be putting their own future in jeopardy by investing their time and money into a project whose outcome they couldn’t control. She waited while he told her he meant to find a job and then try to buy a small property on the outskirts of town where they could keep a couple of horses and participate in country life even if they couldn’t ranch. He promised her he would marry her as soon as he had his own situation in order. He hoped she could wait for him, but understood if she couldn’t.
Long after he’d fallen into an exhausted slumber in their bed in the tower room, Regan stayed awake, thinking their situation over. Mason was right—it was risky going ahead with the plan to secure the ranch if Austin, Zane and Colt weren’t on board, but the more she thought about it, the more every fiber of her being rebelled against the idea of leaving Crescent Hall behind.
She slipped out of bed, found Mason’s laptop and tip-toed downstairs to the kitchen, where she propped it open on the table and turned it on. Bringing up Skype, she easily found his brothers in his list of contacts and started a four-way call.
Colt was the first to answer. He hunched down to look at her, his eyebrows shooting up. “Mason, you’ve changed.” He grinned and she grinned back.
“I needed to talk to you and your brothers. I’m Regan, by the way.”
“I figured as much.”
“What’s going on?” Austin had come online. Like Colt, he was peering at her.
“It’s about Mason.”
“Is he okay?” When Zane came on she breathed a sigh of relief. She’d only get one chance at this. Now she had all three of them listening.
“Mason’s okay, but you three need to know what’s going on. He’s decided to give up.”
“Give up? Mason?”
She understood Zane’s disbelief.
“Because of me. I need you to help me stop him.”
“You’d better start at the beginning.” That was Austin. Regan took a deep breath and did just that. She told them all about what they’d found when they got to Crescent Hall, how they’d been determined to fix everything and planned to ask for help from friends and neighbors. She told them about Zeke’s debts and the way Mason didn’t feel he could approach anyone for aid until he’d paid them all off. She knew they’d heard it all before, but she wanted them to truly understand it before she went on to explain how hard he’d been pushing himself and how she’d tried to help. How today they’d worked through the thunderstorm until the wire snapped—and then Mason had snapped, too.
“Shit—no one was hurt?” Austin interjected.
“No. Missed us by less than an inch, though.”
Colt whistled. “I can see why he got up
set.”
“He’s more than upset. He’s given up. He says that even if we do everything right—get married, get pregnant, get the ranch up and running, there’s no guarantee you guys will do your part. So he doesn’t even want to try.”
All three men were silent.
At last Zane said, “You’re all right with the rest of it? Getting hitched to Mason? Having a kid?”
Her cheeks warmed, but she nodded. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
“I’ll be home in less than two months. If you two can hold the fort until then I’ll work like crazy to help you get the place set up in time. I’ve been answering some of the messages from the wife wanted ad. Nothing’s stuck so far, but I’ll keep trying.”
Zane nodded. “I want Crescent Hall back in the family. Mason knows that. I won’t be out of the service until fall, but there’s nothing I’d rather do than get back to ranching.”
“What about getting married?”
“Hell, I don’t have anything against that, either. Just haven’t found the right one yet. It’s hard when I’m over here.”
“But you’ll try?”
“I’ll more than try. I’ll guarantee it.”
“So that leaves me,” Colt said after another silence.
“That leaves you,” Regan said. “You don’t have to do it, but if you’re not going to, you have to tell us right now. It isn’t fair to let the rest of us invest time and money if you don’t intend to follow through.”
“I know.” Colt scratched the back of his neck. “I just… never thought about getting hitched yet. Not until Mason started all this.”
“Say the word and we’ll call the whole thing off,” Regan said. “No one will blame you.”
“Hell.” Colt made a face. “Don’t call it off. I’ll do it.”
“You swear?” Austin leaned into the screen. “You’ll put Mason into a hell of a fix if you screw this up.”
“I swear!”
“All right, then. Everyone is on the same page? You all promise to get married if we get the ranch set up and stock it with cattle?”
The men nodded. Even Colt.
“But you said Mason had given up. How are you going to change his mind?” Austin asked.
“Oh, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves.”
* * *
Mason woke to the smell of bacon frying and a bright, clear blue sky outside his window. For one moment his heart lifted at the thought of being at home on the ranch with a pretty woman cooking breakfast for him.
Then he remembered the events of the previous day. He’d nearly hurt Regan with his single-minded pursuit of the ranch.
He’d decided to give it up for good.
Soon he’d leave the Hall again and with it all the sweet memories of waking up next to Regan, working with her, playing with her—building a life together.
No, he’d still have that. Just somewhere else. Somewhere new. There was nothing to say it wouldn’t be as sweet. Maybe it would turn out to be better.
Mason snorted, not believing that for an instant, but he made himself get out of bed and dressed in his work clothes, although he didn’t think he’d be doing any more work. First he’d get in touch with his brothers and let them know what was happening. Then he’d sit down with Regan and plan what to do next. At some point he’d let Heloise know it was time to turn the Hall over to Darren.
His fingers clenched themselves into fists.
He found Regan in the kitchen humming a light tune as she forked the bacon out of the pan onto a plate lined with paper towels. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans shorts this morning. He hadn’t seen her in shorts before. She looked good.
“Morning.” She came to give him a peck on the cheek.
“Morning.” Mason frowned. What was she so happy about?
“Have some breakfast and we’ll talk.”
“Okay.”
He sat where she indicated and ate what she put on his plate, as if he was back in the service. The meal was well-prepared, but he couldn’t have said what it was he swallowed. She poured him a cup of coffee and another for herself, then sat across from him.
“We’re not giving up.”
“Regan—”
“Hear me out.” She traced a finger around the brim of the cup. “I love you. I’ll love you even if we end up in an apartment working for minimum wage. But we’ve got a chance for something better here.”
“Emphasis on the word chance.” But his heart quickened its pace. What was she suggesting?
“I talked to your brothers last night.” His eyebrows shot up at this news. “They promised me they’d get married in time. All three of them.”
“Even Colt?”
“Even Colt. I’m willing to take a chance. I want to marry you. I want a child—I told you that right from the beginning. I know we can do what it takes to make this ranch a going concern.”
“I wish I was as sure as you are.”
“We can do it. I know we can. You just have to have a little faith.”
Mason wanted to believe her. He wanted to have that faith, but he knew that if they failed he’d be consigning her to years of hard work to regain their current position. His savings weren’t that large—they could easily be eaten up trying to stock the ranch with cattle, aside from all the repairs.
“Like I said yesterday, if we blow all your saving on the ranch, we’ll still have mine. We can use my money to start over.” Her eyes pleaded with him to say yes.
He shook his head. “I won’t spend your savings under any condition.”
“Then we’ll get jobs. We’ll start small. Heck, we can move into my parents’ basement for a few months if times get really tough.”
He was shaking his head again. “This has to end right now. When I marry you, my first responsibility is to take care of my family—you and any children we have. It makes far more sense to cut our losses now and start fresh.”
She practically groaned. “Even if I want to stay right here? I’m not marrying you for your looks, sailor—it’s the Hall I’m after.”
Mason felt his lips twitch. “You’d put up with me just to get my house?”
“Damn straight. It’s a hell of a house.” She pushed her plate away, came around the table and sat on his lap. “Can we stay? Pretty please?”
It was a tempting offer, but he resisted. “It’s not the prudent thing to do. I’m sorry, honey.”
She hopped off again. “Not good enough.” She took his hand and tugged him to his feet.
“Where are we going?”
She led him out the back door and across the yard that was still damp from the previous evening’s rain. “To settle this argument the Hall way. We’re going to run the Course.”
“We’re going to what?” He stopped in his tracks, but she tugged him forward.
“Run the Course. Winner takes all. If you beat me, we’ll leave Crescent Hall and go live in my apartment. If I win, we’ll stay here and do our damnedest to beat Heloise’s deadline.”
He grinned despite himself at the thought of Regan running the Course. “You don’t have a chance in hell of winning.”
“Oh yeah? Watch me, Navy boy.”
They reached the woods and took their places at the starting line.
“Take off your shirt,” Regan commanded him. He did as he was told, grateful to know she still found him attractive—could still joke around even in a situation as difficult as this.
“You ready?”
“Almost.” She stripped off hers as well, unhooking her bra and tossing it away as well.
“Wait—hold up. That’s not—”
“Onyourmark, getset, go!” She shouted in one long rush and sprinted off toward the monkey bars.
Mason could only stand and gape.
* * *
So far her plan was working. She was halfway across the monkey bars before footsteps behind her told her Mason had gotten over his shock and was trying to catch up. She might not be in the milita
ry, but she’d been an expert at this type of playground equipment back in elementary school. She flung one hand after the next and leaped off it before Mason reached the bars at all.
She broke into another run, charging toward the climbing wall for all she was worth. Running without a bra wasn’t very comfortable, so she clamped one arm across her chest and fought to hold the girls in place. There were no footholds here, no climbing aids for the vertically impaired. As the wall loomed closer, she wondered how Mason and his brothers had made it over when they were kids. Probably just jumped for the top, she thought as she closed her eyes and hurled herself up.
She slammed into the wooden wall and fell back into the dirt. Mason shouted behind her, raced to her side, and crouched down beside her.
“Are you okay?”
Taking advantage of his concern, she sprang to her feet, set one sneaker on his thigh, pushed off and grabbed the top of the wall. She swung her leg up, missed the top by nearly a foot, swung back and tried again. This time she got closer, but not close enough. Her arms were tiring fast. She was about to lose her grip.
Hands on her ass nearly made her let go, but Mason boosted her up and over before she had time to object. She hit the ground hard on the other side and was still staggering, dazed, when he leaped down beside her.
“Sweetheart. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
She pushed him away again and raced onward. If she could keep him off-balance she might just win this thing. And she needed to win it. For his dreams. For their children. For the sake of all of them.
The tires. She could do these.
It took all her concentration, though, to keep her footing. She wiped her face with her arm and picked up speed as she went. The army crawl obstacle had her swearing as dirt smeared all over her bare chest and shorts. Sticks and leaves poked and scratched her, and she was beginning to wish she’d kept her top on after all, but although annoying, the obstacle wasn’t hard. Next, she managed to traverse a gully on a rope swing and time her leap off it to land on the opposite side.
When she reached the log balance beams, however, she came up short.
“Regan,” Mason said as he jogged up behind her. She knew he wasn’t giving it his all—that was obvious. He’d have left her far behind if he had. But she didn’t care. If it took her bobbing breasts to convince him to give saving the ranch another chance, then so be it. The rules of this game were changing even as they played it. All she had to do was cross the finish line first.
