Cowboy Dad

by Cathy McDavid

  Neither had a comeback, which suited her just fine because she was pretty much fed up with both of them.

  “See you in the morning.” She pushed past Jake and trotted down the steps. “You can have the golf cart.” She didn’t tell them what they could do with it. “I’ll walk home.”

  Nothing like a mile-long hike in the chilly night air to take the edge off a person’s temper. It occurred to her only after she reached the stone walkway that she’d just mouthed off to her boss. According to the company manual, insubordination was grounds for termination.

  Tomorrow was so not going to be a good day at work.

  Instead of taking the main road, she cut through the parking lot, crossed a grassy knoll and scampered down one of the guest trails leading to Bear Creek.

  A three-quarter moon rising over the distant mountaintops provided enough light for her to see. Beside her, the creek gurgled and splashed, its glassy surface reflecting the million and one stars in the sky. Overhead, an owl hooted, warning her away from his territory. She hadn’t taken this particular shortcut since she was a teenager and had sneaked out of her parents’ house to go with Carolina to a party. The well-worn path was smooth beneath her feet and indicated the current generation of Bear Creek Ranch kids was still making use of it.

  Natalie stooped and swatted at a low-hanging branch before it struck her in the face. In the near distance, she heard the buzz of the golf cart. Jake taking Aaron home? Not likely. After tonight, she doubted they’d remain in the same room together much less drive the ranch roads side by side in a pint-size vehicle. Aaron must be heading to his bunkhouse alone.

  Had Jake not appeared when he did, Natalie would have been the one to drive Aaron home. And what then? Would they have picked up where his hug left off? Jake was wrong and right. Wrong because Aaron hadn’t practically molested her. Right because their embrace had been more than a platonic hug.

  Reaching the end of the shortcut, she scaled a small slope thick with foliage and came out beside the road. There, she stopped to wipe the dirt and bits of dried leaves from her pants. Her cabin lay about twenty yards in the distance. Her parents’ cabin, twenty yards beyond that.

  Natalie’s pace was considerably slower now than it had been on her hike along the creek. No longer furious, she felt sad and empty. For herself—she liked Aaron and wouldn’t mind pursuing a relationship with him if circumstances were different—but mostly for him and Jake. They’d both loved Hailey, both grieved her death. Those shared emotions should bring two people closer, not tear them apart.

  Distracted by her thoughts, Natalie’s foot came down on a large rock, throwing her off balance. She caught herself before she fell but not soon enough to prevent twisting her ankle. Pain shot up her leg. It didn’t last. When she tentatively placed weight on her foot, she discovered there was no real damage, except to her pride.

  Events of the last week caught up with her in one big emotional rush. The letter from Shiloh’s father’s attorney. Jake’s surgery. The unannounced inspection from the insurance company. Aaron’s hug tonight. Her response to it. Jake’s reaction to it. And now her stupid ankle.

  She promptly and unexpectedly burst into tears.

  “Are you okay, Natalie?” Aaron appeared out of nowhere. His hand closed around her arm, his grip firm but solicitous.

  “I’m fine.” She sniffled, fought without success to stanch the flow of tears. “I tripped.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Just embarrassed.” She wiped at her nose and eyes with the back of her hand. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve been waiting by your cabin.” He pointed, and she saw the outline of the golf cart parked next to her car. “Wanted to make sure you got home safe and sound.”

  That was sweet of him. Jake hadn’t stuck around to make sure she’d gotten home safe and sound. But then he knew she was familiar with every inch of this ranch.

  “Where’d you go when you took off?” He guided her toward her cabin. “I drove around looking for you.”

  “An old shortcut.” Her attempt to remove her arm from his grasp was met with resistance. “Really. I can walk by myself.” Thank goodness she’d finally stopped crying.

  “You Forresters. All alike.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Thickheaded and stubborn to boot. Your father drives me crazy. So do you.” He turned his head, caught her glance, lowered his voice. “In more ways than one.”

  If he weren’t already supporting her, she might have tripped again.

  “Watch yourself,” he murmured. They were scaling the first porch step when he unexpectedly pulled her to a halt. “Let’s sit a minute.”

  “Aaron.”

  Ignoring her protest, he sat on the top step and tugged her down beside him. She was too stunned to refuse.

  Her entire left side, from shoulder to knee, touched his entire right side. Not indecent exactly but there was something sensual, so unnervingly provocative about it. Beneath her jacket, she shivered. No, make that trembled. In anticipation.

  If she went all melty inside at the brush of his leg, what would happen if he, say, held her hand? Put an arm around her? Kissed her?

  What she ought to do was discourage him. Just so he didn’t get any ideas. Though as far as Natalie could tell, she was the only one in the vicinity getting ideas. She should talk about Jake. That would squash any romantic inclinations she had…er, make that, Aaron had.

  “You know, Jake isn’t always so difficult to get along with. He had a rough day. Personally, that is. Businesswise, we did great.”

  “You’re joking,” Aaron said dryly. “He’s been difficult to get along with since the day I met him.”

  “It seems that way to you because you’re always getting the brunt of his bad mood.”

  “Yeah. That would give me reason to think he can’t stand the sight of me.”

  “His ex-wife was at the opening-day celebration today.”

  “She lives here, doesn’t she? With their girls?”

  “Yeah. She brought some guy with her.”

  “I saw them together.”

  “Then you can understand how that would bother a guy.”

  “Depends on how the guy feels about his ex-wife.”

  “Jake didn’t want the divorce. Because of the girls. He agreed only on the condition his ex-wife not move off the ranch until their youngest turns eighteen. He gets to see his daughters every day, which is nice. On the downside, he has to watch another man spend time with them. Go on dates with his ex-wife. Eat dinner at his table.”

  “You’re right. It sucks. And would make anybody irritable.”

  “Exactly!” She sighed, leaning against Aaron as she did. “You understand.”

  “That Jake’s angry at his ex-wife? Sure. At me? No. I had nothing to do with his marriage falling apart.”

  “Of course you didn’t. But look at it from his point of view for a second. He loses his baby sister in an accident. A year later, he catches his wife cheating on him. Reservations drop off, and the ranch has its worst season in history. The man’s entitled to be irritable.”

  Aaron angled his body toward her. The movement, though slight, increased the pressure where their bodies touched. His breath tickled her hair, fanned her cheek, raised goose bumps on arms covered by several thick layers of clothing.

  Natalie didn’t dare move. One twitch, one jerk, and she’d wind up in Aaron’s lap. Her thoughts, spinning already, went off in an entirely new direction.

  “Jake’s wrong about you,” he whispered into her ear.

  “He is?” Did her voice really just squeak?

  “You’re more than an employee. You’re his friend. A good one.” Aaron lifted a hand and captured her chin, tipping her face up until their eyes met. “And if he doesn’t see that, he doesn’t deserve you. As a friend or an employee.”

  “If you gave him a chance, you’d—”

  Natalie might have continued if Aaron’s lips weren’t suddenl
y covering hers. Parting them. Molding them to fit his. His hand slid from her chin to the side of her neck, then to the back of her head where his fingers threaded into the loose curls of her hair. She sank into him because not succumbing was impossible.

  Aaron was an expert kisser. Or, maybe it was the secret wanting and wondering of the last three weeks that had every nerve in her body humming with a need unbearable in its intensity.

  She could probably stop him with a word or a move. But she didn’t. Not when he deepened the kiss and not when his other arm fell to her waist and circled it. The tiny part of her brain still thinking coherently warned her to snap out of it. If she valued her job and her home, she’d stop kissing Aaron and run like the dickens into her cabin.

  The rest of her brain, the part thinking incoherently, urged her to enjoy while it lasted.

  Soon—too soon—Aaron pulled back. He didn’t, however, release her, and she let herself relish the sensation of his arms wrapped snugly around her.

  Smiling down at her, he asked, “What are you thinking?”

  “That I lied to Jake.”

  “About what?”

  “I told him I’d never have an inappropriate relationship with anyone on this ranch, including family members.”

  “I don’t know.” Aaron pressed his lips to her forehead. “This feels pretty appropriate to me.”

  She couldn’t argue with him and neither could she explain. They fit together perfectly and not just on the porch steps. But that, Natalie reminded herself, didn’t automatically make having a relationship a good idea. Not when her boss was so adamantly opposed.

  “I have to go.” She rose in a hurry. “Mom brought Shiloh home from the dinner for me and is waiting up.”

  Aaron’s hand remained briefly on her arm. She half expected him to try to prevent her from leaving.

  He didn’t.

  She squared her shoulders and said, “We can’t do this again,” trying to sound firm and not as if she was issuing a dare.

  He stood. “I won’t endanger your job or your friendship with Jake. I promise.”

  She swallowed and tried to convince herself it was what she wanted. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  “I won’t, however, promise not to kiss you again.”

  Any protest she might have made was thwarted by his fingers caressing her cheek with soft strokes. The next moment, he was gone, walking down the dark road toward his bunkhouse.

  Natalie touched her face, which still tingled from his caress. If Aaron was a man of his word, and she highly suspected he was, she would have to guard herself diligently. A girl could only resist the man of her dreams for so long.

  “YOU’RE LATE.” Natalie’s mother sat up in the recliner and blinked the drowsiness from her eyes. “Dad came by—” she checked her watch “—a little past nine.”

  “I sent Alice home and cleaned up by myself.”

  Natalie went straight to the small bedroom across the hall. Shiloh slept soundly in her cradle. The soft glow of the night-light combining with a pale pink sleeper gave her baby daughter the appearance of a tiny angel. As she did every day, Natalie mouthed a silent prayer of thanks for the precious miracle that had come into her life.

  Drew was an idiot. He had no idea what he was missing by not knowing his daughter. The indecisiveness she’d felt since receiving his letter instantly vanished. Alice and the child-custody attorney were right. Drew should pay. Generously.

  If Shiloh was going to be denied a relationship with her father, she should at least have the benefit of his money. Health insurance. A college education. Dance lessons if that was what she wanted. A car when she was old enough to drive. All the extras in life Natalie would have trouble affording on her salary.

  She was quite suddenly looking forward to her appointment with the child-custody attorney this coming week.

  Leaning down, she kissed her daughter’s head and smelled the faint scent of baby shampoo. Somebody must have gotten a bath before bed.

  Her mother had turned off the TV and was waiting for Natalie in the kitchen.

  “How was she tonight?” Natalie asked.

  “Perfect. Sweet as always. Fussed a little at bedtime but only for a few minutes.”

  “Good.”

  “So, what did you and Aaron talk about outside for so long?”

  Natalie was too thunderstruck to hide her reaction. “How did you know?”

  “He came by in the golf cart. Said you were walking home from the dining hall and that he was worried about you. I told him you’ve walked home from the dining hall a thousand times. He didn’t seem assured. When I didn’t hear the golf cart leave, I figured he was waiting for you. Am I right?”

  “Yes.” Natalie removed a glass from the cupboard and poured herself some iced tea. She wasn’t concerned about caffeine this late at night. Remembering Aaron’s kiss was going to keep her up till the wee hours of the morning as it was.

  “You want to talk about what happened?” Deana asked.

  “Outside?” Natalie stopped in midsip. Did her mother suspect she and Aaron had kissed?

  “The hug.”

  “Oh.” Almost as bad as the kiss.

  “Your dad and I are concerned, honey.” Deana helped herself to a glass of iced tea. Apparently she didn’t plan on getting to sleep at a decent hour either.

  “I’m a big girl, Mom.” Natalie bristled. Her mother meant well, but her tone hinted at past mistakes and that Natalie didn’t always make the best decisions where men were concerned. “I can take care of myself.”

  “We’re not trying to interfere in your life or tell you what to do. Merely letting you know we’re here if you need us.”

  Natalie nodded. The iced tea didn’t taste as good as she thought it would, and she set the glass down on the counter.

  “Aaron’s a terrific guy,” her mother went on. “Don’t get me wrong. Your dad and I both like him.”

  Natalie waited for the “but” that was sure to follow.

  “But besides being a member of the family trust, he has a lot of unresolved issues where Hailey is concerned.”

  “You and Dad comparing notes again?”

  Deana didn’t respond to the sharp bite in Natalie’s voice. “He and your father have talked some. Not so much about Hailey.”

  “Then how do you know he has unresolved issues?” It occurred to Natalie she was being intentionally obtuse. No one ever entirely got over the death of a spouse.

  “It’s pretty obvious, don’t you think? Him coming to the ranch. The foundation. His bitterness toward Jake.”

  “Aaron’s bitterness toward Jake isn’t without cause. He forbid Hailey to bring Aaron here after they were married and has treated him horribly since the day he arrived.”

  “You’re right.” Deana finished the last of her iced tea and rinsed out the glass. “Has it occurred to you Aaron’s reasons for getting close to you might not be aboveboard?”

  “Meaning?”

  “He could be using you to get back at Jake.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Natalie protested vehemently. Aaron’s kiss wasn’t faked. She’d stake her heart on it. “He’s not a deceitful person.”

  “Are you sure?” Deana scrutinized her closely. “The truth is, we only met him a few weeks ago.”

  “You don’t have to be acquainted with someone for years to know they’re a good and honest person.” Aaron had quieted her crying baby by singing her a lullaby. Deceitful people didn’t sing lullabies to babies.

  “Your dad and I just want you to be cautious. You’re vulnerable right now.”

  “It’s been almost a year since Drew left. I’m over him, Mom.”

  “That’s good to hear. You were quite sad there for a while after he…”

  “Dumped me. It’s okay. You can say it.”

  “I was thinking abandoned you.”

  Natalie closed her eyes and rubbed her suddenly throbbing temples. Caustic comments only served to support her mother’s belief she w
as acting impulsively, rather than dispute it.

  “Trust me. There’s nothing you’ve said tonight I haven’t already thought of.”

  “What about the fact that Aaron’s leaving Bear Creek Ranch in five weeks when his stint is over? Have you thought about that?”

  Natalie’s stomach dropped to her knees. She didn’t reply for several seconds, would have avoided replying altogether if her mother weren’t standing there, silently demanding an answer.

  “No,” she finally muttered. “I haven’t.”

  Chapter Nine

  The horse sprang into the air, neck bowed, back bent nearly in half and front hooves a good three feet off the ground. It was almost enough to unseat his rider.

  A young cowboy who’d started rodeoing about the same time Aaron retired hung on to the hack rein. His legs were extended so high over the horse’s head, he looked as if he was lying down on the saddle rather than sitting in it. At precisely seven point two seconds, the horse—aptly named Red Rocket—launched the cowboy into an orbit that ended with his face planted in the dirt. He rolled onto his back but didn’t immediately rise.

  One of the pickup men spurred his mount into a gallop and raced toward the fallen cowboy. The other two went after the wildly bucking horse and herded him out of the arena.

  “Let’s hear it for this young man,” the announcer said over the loudspeaker. “What do you say, folks?”

  The crowd responded with applause and cheers.

  His gut in a knot, Aaron waited along with two thousand spectators at the Payson Rodeo for the cowboy to get up. He relaxed only when the cowboy staggered to his feet with the help of the pickup man, the wind knocked out of him but otherwise in one piece.

  Hat in hand, he waved to the crowd, then limped toward the gate. Unfortunately, he’d have nothing but aches and pains to show for his efforts today. The winnings would go to another competitor who’d lasted the full eight seconds and given the judges a good show to boot. Saddle bronc riding was more than a timed event. Scores were also based on the rider’s style and the horse’s bucking ability. Even if this cowboy hadn’t been thrown eight-tenths of a second before the buzzer sounded, chances were he wouldn’t have placed.