“It’s beautiful.” His inability to carry a decent tune hadn’t spoiled the lullaby’s loveliness or impressive calming effects.
“I’m from a large family. Seven kids. My mom had a lot of practice getting babies to sleep.”
He spun around rather suddenly, and the next thing Natalie knew, they were standing face-to-face. Her heart gave a small leap at his proximity.
“I…um…sing to her…too. Doesn’t work quite so well.”
“She was having a bad day. We all do every now and then.”
Was he referring to himself? The meeting with the Tuckers couldn’t have gone well, if Alice’s cranky mood was any indication.
Natalie knew she should move. Briana had reached the base of the small hill leading to the main lodge and would be climbing the porch steps soon. Natalie’s feet, however, remained glued to the floor. So, apparently, did Aaron’s. She swore she felt his touch, warm and lingering and so intense the hairs on her arm stood on end. Yet he did no more than gaze at her.
“Is there something I can help you with inside?” she asked weakly. He had to have come to the main lodge for a reason.
“I’m meeting with Alice to go over some prices.”
“Okay.” She didn’t ask for what. His business with Alice wasn’t her concern. “I’ll be at my desk if you need anything.”
“A cot, maybe.”
Natalie smiled. “Changed your mind, huh?”
“That couch isn’t exactly good for my beauty sleep, and I need all the help I can get.”
He was joking, of course. How could he not be? The man was incredibly good-looking. Especially now that she saw him up close. So very close.
“I’ll take care of it right away,” she murmured and unstuck her feet just as Briana approached the stone walkway. Had Natalie delayed one second longer, Briana would have had quite a tale to tell her father.
Walking over to the steps to meet her babysitter, Natalie watched Aaron go inside from the corner of her eye and a moment later heard the door shut. Only then did her heart cease beating erratically.
Jake Tucker might detest Aaron, but his little sister hadn’t and neither did Natalie. With each encounter she had with him, it became clearer and clearer how Hailey could have given her love to him so quickly and so easily.
If Natalie wasn’t careful, she, like her boss’s sister, like her own little daughter, would fall under the spell of Aaron Reyes.
Chapter Five
“I personally checked it out,” Alice Gilbert said with a self-appointed authority that didn’t match her petite size. “The Hailey Reyes Foundation is legitimate.”
She led a group of eight managers, which included Natalie, down the stone walkway and away from the main lodge. Every area of the ranch was represented in the group. Guest services, food services, guest amenities, maintenance, landscape and administration. They were meeting up with Jake and the other members of the Tucker family to finalize the details of the opening-day celebration and to walk the grounds.
Natalie could hardly believe the new season was upon them. The weeks had flown by. Especially this last one since Aaron arrived. She wondered if he’d be at the meeting. No, she hoped he’d be at the meeting. He’d been scarce lately, spending most of his time at the stables with her father. She didn’t dare inquire about Aaron. Her father was no dummy. He’d guess right away her interest went beyond casual, which it did.
“I, for one, think it’s very sweet what he did for Hailey,” Olivia murmured out of the side of her mouth.
“Yes,” Natalie agreed.
She didn’t mention Alice’s earlier remark that the foundation was probably a tax shelter Aaron created to write off expenses. Anyone looking at Aaron would know the man had no expenses to write off. He drove a ten-year-old truck, pulled a twelve-year-old trailer and lived out of a duffel bag. Even his laptop was old.
When the group reached the outdoor fireplace, everyone took a seat on the long, circular concrete bench. While Alice distributed the schedules they would be going over, family members showed up one by one, in cars or trucks mostly. One person arrived on horseback. Aaron. Natalie stole a moment away from reading the schedule to admire the sight of him in the saddle. A small, involuntary sigh escaped her lips.
No doubt about it. She had a weakness for good-looking cowboys—which is what got her in trouble with Shiloh’s father. Wait. Not trouble, she quickly reminded herself. Having a child was the best thing to ever happen to her, and she wouldn’t change her life for the world.
This good-looking cowboy, however, was different from Shiloh’s father. Altogether different. He was Jake’s late sister’s husband.
A meeting around the fireplace to discuss the opening day celebration was a yearly tradition on the ranch. Jake always kicked off the meeting with a speech designed to get them excited about the new season.
Natalie half listened. Most of her efforts were applied to watching Aaron, who, having tied his horse to a nearby hitching rail, stood behind the bench and off to the side.
Apparently, she’d far from mastered the technique of discreet observation, for Olivia leaned over and whispered, “He’s very handsome.”
Natalie played dumb. “Who?”
“Him.” Olivia nodded at Aaron. “The one you keep staring at.”
“I’m not staring.”
Olivia rolled her eyes.
Natalie continued pretending to listen to Jake’s speech. She lasted a full minute before her attention drifted once more to Aaron. This time, he caught her looking at him. Neither of them turned away. Seconds ticked by. An elbow in her side broke Natalie’s concentration.
“Pay attention, chiquita.”
Natalie was paying rapt attention, but to the wrong man.
Jake ended his speech a few minutes later, after which Alice took charge again. She explained that the opening day celebration would have a few small changes from previous years and detailed each manager’s duties. Afternoon games of horseshoes, badminton, a fishing tournament and a scavenger hunt would still be followed by a dinner. Instead of the usual barbecue chicken, they were going to have a chili cook-off. The Payson radio station had agreed to a live broadcast and were sending a celebrity DJ to judge.
Alice might not be a favorite among her coworkers but no one could deny she’d done an admirable job generating publicity for the ranch. While she reviewed the rest of the day’s events, the occasional employee meandered past, heading to the dining hall. Another tradition held this day was the annual company meeting. It was the only time during the busy season all the employees on the ranch gathered together in one place and at one time.
Finally, Alice dismissed the group. Everyone stood, stretched and began to meander toward the dining hall to join the employees. Natalie tried to listen as Olivia rambled on about the chili cook-off and the additional work required of her and her staff. Natalie’s interest, however, wandered elsewhere.
It stopped wandering the moment Aaron fell into step beside her.
Nodding at her and Olivia, he said, “Thanks for the bed.”
“You’re welcome.” Rather than a cot, Natalie had located him a roll-away bed. “Is Teresa cutting you any slack?”
“I’m winning her over slowly but surely.”
Teresa would have to be made of stone not to fall prey to Aaron’s easy charm. Something, Natalie reminded herself, she should be careful of.
Olivia slowed her steps and slipped away, leaving Natalie and Aaron walking alone. She swallowed, acutely aware of him. His height. His breadth. The corded muscles of his forearms, revealed by the rolled-back sleeves of his work shirt. The fine dusting of dark hair on those bare arms. Since Natalie wasn’t made of stone either, she responded to his undeniable masculinity with a purely feminine tingling in her middle.
“How’s Shiloh doing?” he asked.
“No more crying, thank goodness. Not like the other day.”
“Good.” He flashed a grin that managed to be more sexy than humorous. Or w
as it merely the effect he had on her? “If you need my help again, just holler.”
His hand brushed her arm. Accidentally or intentionally, Natalie wasn’t sure.
“Thanks,” she muttered, assuring herself the veiled invitation in his voice was a figment of her overactive imagination.
“So, can anyone enter these opening-day events or just guests and visitors?”
“Anyone.” Natalie breathed easier, glad for the change of topic. “Are you thinking of entering?”
“The chili cook-off. My mother’s an incredible cook.”
“And she taught you everything she knows?”
“Almost everything.” His grin softened, became more intimate. “The rest I learned on my own.”
The tingling in Natalie’s middle returned.
“My mother’s the smartest woman I know. And the hardest worker. My dad left after my youngest brother was born. She raised us kids single-handed, got every one of us through high school whether we wanted to graduate or not.”
Natalie chided herself for assuming the warm look in his eyes was for her. Aaron had been recalling his mother and the sacrifices she’d made for her children.
“She sounds like a wonderful person.”
“You remind me of her.”
“I do?”
“Yes.”
Okay. She wasn’t assuming. The warmth in those incredibly dark eyes of his really was directed at her.
Natalie didn’t realize she’d come to a standstill until he put a hand on her elbow and gently guided her onto the first step of the walkway leading to the dining hall. His fingers were gentle, yet firm, and without the slightest trace of force.
Her father owned a collection of rodeo DVDs, some of them featuring Aaron. She’d studied the segments of him riding closely, watched him stay seated on horses that were four-legged tornadoes hell-bent on throwing him off. The only thing between him and certain injury was the hand that gripped the rope. The same hand that had tenderly stroked her crying daughter’s forehead and now held her arm.
What else was that hand capable of?
Natalie instinctively understood that Aaron could evoke a sensual response in her like she’d never felt before with a simple stroke of his fingers. He was doing as much to her right this moment and he only held her elbow.
With great effort, she placed one foot in front of the other and continued walking. People were bound to notice if she didn’t get a move on.
“You really should enter the chili cook-off,” she said. “It’ll be fun.”
“Are there prizes?”
“Plaques. Nice ones. My mom and I make them. Well, Mom designs them. I help.”
“All the more incentive for me to enter.”
“Jake is reigning horseshoes champion. He’s won the last four years.”
“You don’t say.”
Natalie swore she detected a hint of challenge in Aaron’s voice. “Do you play?”
“I have. Once or twice. I’m a better cook than horseshoe player.”
“And a better bronc rider than cook?”
“Guess we’ll find out during the cook-off.”
They reached the door to the dining hall. Aaron held it open and waited for Natalie to enter. They were one of the last to join the meeting. Most heads turned in their direction and a noticeable hum went through the room.
Natalie straightened. She’d done nothing inappropriate, nothing to feel ashamed of. Yet, for some reason, all the attention she and Aaron attracted caused a giant knot in her stomach.
When she veered right toward where her father was sitting, Aaron followed—because he worked with her father, she told herself, not because he wanted to sit with her. Damn. She should go find Olivia. Wait, no. If Aaron followed her, she’d have no excuse to give people for why he had. Better this way.
She made an attempt at casual conversation for the benefit of anyone within earshot. “I heard about the foundation you started in Hailey’s memory. That’s a nice thing to do. She’d be very pleased.”
“Did you know her well?” Aaron asked.
“Not like Carolina and her sisters. Hailey was a little older than the rest of us. She used to babysit my sister and me before she away to college.” Natalie’s father waved them over. She dropped into the chair beside him, greatly relieved when Aaron sat across from her. “I’m really sorry about the accident. The foundation will do a lot to keep her memory alive.”
“I’m hoping for more than that. We have an entire campaign designed to educate youths on the importance of wearing adequate safety equipment when riding.” Aaron’s glance encompassed everyone in the vicinity and included them in the conversation, for which Natalie was glad. The stir they’d created when they entered the dining hall together appeared to have died down.
“Can’t be easy getting kids to wear helmets,” Teresa said. She sat beside Skunk, who, as usual, listened to his iPod and talked very little.
“It isn’t. There’s a prevalent attitude among kids that wearing helmets isn’t cool. And that attitude isn’t restricted to horseback riding.”
Aaron spoke confidently and skillfully, as if he was accustomed to addressing an audience. Being chairman of the foundation, he probably was.
“English riders have always worn helmets,” Teresa said. She appeared interested in what Aaron was saying.
“Some endurance and trail riders, too.” He nodded at Natalie’s father. “But it hasn’t caught on with western riders. We’re working on changing that.”
Alice went to the podium that had been set up at the front of the dining hall for the meeting and announced they would start in a couple of minutes.
“I’m going to grab a cold drink.” Aaron rose from his chair. “Would anyone else like something?”
A couple people took him up on his offer, including Natalie. She sat back, feeling better by the second. His talk about the foundation had successfully deflected attention from her. Or so she thought.
Her father bent close to avoid being overheard. “I haven’t interfered in your life or told you what to do since you were seventeen years old. Not even when you took up with that fellow last year at the rodeo.” He reached up and tugged on a loose lock of her hair. “So forgive your old man this once.”
“For what, Dad?”
“Be careful, sweetheart.” The worry lines bracketing his mouth deepened. “Don’t get involved with Aaron Reyes.”
“I’m not,” she insisted.
“Not yet. But after seeing the besotted look on both your faces, I’m worried it’s only a matter of time.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I hope.” He shrugged, though the gesture was anything but casual. “Because you’ve got a hell of a good thing going here, and I’d hate to see you screw it up.”
NATALIE PUSHED THROUGH the front door of the main lodge, a cool breeze at her back, and ran to catch the phone ringing at her workstation.
“Good morning, Bear Creek Ranch. How may I assist you?”
While the caller inquired about vacancies in the month of March, Natalie booted up her computer and checked the log.
“Yes, sir. We have a two-bedroom cabin available that week. It’s one of my favorites and has a lovely view of the creek.”
She answered several more questions about rates and amenities. Eventually, the caller booked a reservation. Natalie liked starting the day off on a positive note, especially when the previous one hadn’t ended all that great.
Once again she found herself the center of ranch gossip and disliking it even more than before. Whatever it took, be it ducking behind trees or pretending to be deaf, dumb and blind, she’d avoid Aaron in the coming weeks. Eventually, the tongue waggers would lose interest, at least until another not-so-lucky someone landed in the hot seat. And besides, all the employees would be too busy preparing for the opening-day celebration to engage in frivolous speculation about her and Aaron. Or, so she hoped.
“Morning.”
Natalie looked up from h
er computer to see Alice marching across the lobby.
She stopped at the edge of the reception counter and asked, “Did the mail come yesterday?”
“You know, I forgot all about it.” The annual meeting had run late, and Natalie did no more than close up before heading home to her cabin and Shiloh. “It’s over there.” She pointed to a tray by the white guest phone.
Alice retrieved the stack and began thumbing through it. “Huh!” She withdrew a large manila envelope. “This is for you.” A flicker of interest lit her eyes.
“Really?” Natalie walked over to the counter and took the envelope from Alice’s hands. Strange. It was from an attorney in Wichita. Well, attorneys did book vacations. But why did the envelope have her name on it? She must have talked to the sender about a reservation and since forgot.
Returning to her chair, she tore open the envelope and tried to quell the nervous quivering in her stomach. It only got worse as she read the first few lines of the enclosed cover letter.
Dear Ms. Forrester, I’m writing to you on behalf of my client, Drew Nolan.
Shiloh’s father! Natalie’s fingers began to tremble and her heart raced. Drew had hired an attorney. He was not getting custody of Shiloh and taking her to Wichita. Natalie would fight him tooth and nail. Hire the best professional help she could find.
She continued reading, only vaguely aware she wasn’t alone. Sentence fragments leaped off the page at her.
Mr. Nolan’s forthcoming marriage…
…his wish to abdicate his rights in regards to your daughter, Shiloh.
To this end, he will pay all related legal expenses up to…
…sign and return the enclosed documents.
Drew didn’t want custody of Shiloh. He didn’t want their daughter at all. And he was getting married! Something he’d refused to consider when they were together.
Natalie’s head swam, leaving her disoriented. She set the papers down in her lap.
“Are you all right?” Alice asked, concern in her voice.
“Yes.” But Natalie didn’t feel all right.
She should be thrilled. Relieved if nothing else. She hadn’t wanted Drew in her and Shiloh’s lives, not after his disappointing reaction to her pregnancy. But instead, she was confused. And troubled. Lately, she’d been wondering if she was too quick sending Drew away and admonishing herself for not leaving the door open. Now, Drew had slammed it shut in her face. No, Shiloh’s face.
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