Roping the Rancher (Harlequin American Romance)

by Benson, Julie

  Unlike how he and Reed had been with their father, who they tried every trick to avoid. The old man was as likely to greet a simple good morning from his sons with a slap upside the head as a smile, and there was never a way to predict which they’d get or change the outcome. “I trust you. It’s the boys that scare the hell out of me.”

  “We’d just being going to a movie.”

  He’d told himself he wouldn’t be the hard liner his father had been. He wouldn’t drive his daughter away. The last thing he wanted her thinking was that he didn’t trust her. He sighed. Time to cowboy up and prove the fact. “I’ll compromise. Make it a double date, and you can go.”

  His daughter charged around his desk, flung her arms around him and squeezed him tight. “I won’t let you down,” she whispered in his ear and kissed him on the cheek. Then with one last grin, she headed for the door as Nannette McAlister, his assistant at Healing Horses, strolled in. “You’ll never guess what happened. Dad said I could go out on a double date this Friday.”

  “You finally wore him down, huh?” Nannette was the kind of mother every child should have. She loved and encouraged her three children, and their friends were always welcome in the McAlister home. All she wanted was for them to be happy. His brother had found that out firsthand.

  Since Reed married Avery, Nannette’s youngest and only daughter, he and Jess had been enveloped in the family fold, as well.

  “I’m putting my full trust in my daughter,” Colt said to Nannette to emphasize his point with Jess. “She promised she won’t let me down.”

  Jess shook her head. “I’m leaving before he changes his mind.”

  “Smart girl.”

  “I take after my father,” Jess said before she dashed off.

  “How’s the morning going?” Nannette asked once she’d settled at her desk, and started booting up her computer.

  “Better now that Jess is gone. This dating stuff is going to kill me.”

  The older woman smiled knowingly. “I feel your pain. Raising Avery gave me more gray hairs than her brothers combined. I know it doesn’t seem like it sometimes, but you will survive having a teenage daughter.”

  “Thank goodness you keep reminding me of that.”

  When Nannette heard about him turning the Rocking M into a horse-therapy ranch, she’d immediately volunteered to help with bookkeeping. Then when they started classes, she’d assumed scheduling duties, as well. Taking the money he’d gotten from the grant Healing Horses received three months ago to hire Nannette McAlister had been the smartest thing he’d ever done.

  When her computer finished booting up, she punched some keys and said, “We received another client application.” The hum of the printer filled the office. Nannette grabbed the paper, scanned the application and froze. “This can’t be the same Stacy Michaels.”

  “I need a little context, Nannette. So far you aren’t making a lot of sense.”

  She walked across the room and handed him the paper. “Stacy Michaels was one of the finalists when Griffin was on that ridiculous dating show.”

  Colt had wondered what kind of woman went on a show like that and fought with a pack of women to win the “love” of a man they’d just met.

  A woman whose moral compass didn’t point due north, that’s who.

  From the little bit he saw of the show, he remembered flighty, beautiful women with long legs and short form-fitting skirts that almost showed the good china. Great to look at, but no substance. Women who’d looked down their more-often-than-not surgically altered noses at just about everyone.

  After glancing at the application, he said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s the same woman or not because she wants to sign her brother up for the spring therapeutic sports riding session. It’s already started and it’s full.” He picked up his phone and punched in the number listed on the application. The sultry feminine voice that answered could get a rise out of a man two months after he was dead and buried. His pulse rate shot up like a rodeo bull out of the shoot as he asked to speak to Stacy Michaels.

  “This is Stacy.”

  He shifted in his desk chair. Lord, he’d been alone too long if a woman’s voice over the phone could get his imagination and motor running this fast.

  “Hello? You still there?”

  “Yeah. This Colt Montgomery. I run Healing Horses. I received the paperwork for your brother.” He explained about the problem with the class she registered Ryan for. “You’ll need to sign him up for our fall class.”

  “That won’t work. I’m in the area to film a movie with Maggie McAlister. In fact, she was the one who recommended your program. I was hoping we could work my brother’s therapy session around my shooting schedule. I could just pop over from Twin Creeks, deal with his therapy and then head right back.”

  Pop over? Did she think Healing Horses worked like the drive-through lane at McDonald’s?

  “Mr. Montgomery, I’m in a bind here. I can’t lose this movie opportunity, but I have to get my brother into therapy. There has to be something we can do.”

  He’d heard about Maggie filming a movie on Twin Creeks. Since becoming parents, she and Griffin had started a production company and were trying to do more projects at the family ranch when their reality show The Next Rodeo Star was on hiatus. Considering that, Stacy probably was the same woman who’d been one of Griffin’s bachelorettes.

  He shook his head. His gut told him this woman would be trouble. Stacy was probably a high-maintenance city actress who had people catering to her every whim. That was the last thing he needed, but they weren’t talking about her needing therapy. They were talking about her brother.

  The application indicated her brother Ryan had been in a car accident a little over a year ago. He’d suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him with impaired gross and fine motor skills as well memory problems. He’d been through two surgeries to correct his crushed legs. Despite that and extensive physical therapy, he still required a walker and struggled with balance and control issues. The kid was only seventeen.

  If he told Stacy no, would she make her brother wait to get therapy until she finished her movie? He refused to be responsible for a kid not getting the therapy he needed. “We offer private classes. ’Course that’s more expensive.”

  “Great. Sign Ryan up for that instead.”

  Not how much more expensive? Must be nice to not have to worry about money. Now him, he pinched pennies until they cried uncle, but he’d do whatever he needed to in order to make Healing Horses work without having the program’s needs financially impact Jess’s life or her college plans.

  “When would you like his therapy to start?” he asked as he jotted down the changes on Ryan’s paperwork.

  “We’ll be in Estes Park Thursday. If he could start therapy next week that would be great. Having private sessions will work better than Ryan being part of a class anyway. I’m going to do everything I can to avoid shooting conflicts, but sometimes my schedule changes at the last minute. I’m hoping you can be a little flexible.”

  He could see it now, calls with her saying something had come up and she needed to reschedule. Showing up late for appointments because whatever she had been doing ran long. He intended to set her straight up front. “Since we’re a new program, our physical therapist and instructors have other jobs. Rescheduling a session isn’t easy.”

  “I’ll try my best to avoid any conflicts.”

  Once he ended the call, Nannette asked, “Was it the same Stacy Michaels?”

  “Since she’s an actress, I’m pretty sure she’s the one you met. I need you to schedule private sessions for her brother. She said they’ll be getting into town the end of this week. She’d like his therapy to start next week.” He rubbed the back of his neck, where an ache had settled. “Is she as bad as she sounded on the phone? Because she sounded
like an arrogant, high-maintenance, huge pain-in-the-butt celebrity.”

  “When she showed up at the ranch she looked like she was dressed for some fancy New York City cocktail party. She had on this skimpy, skintight dress and these strappy little heels. In Colorado. In December.”

  His stomach dropped. “What about her attitude?”

  “I’m not sure we got to see who she really was. Hardly anything that happened on Finding Mrs. Right was real. There were scripts and discussions about what would make good TV. Everything everyone said and did was for the cameras. Her being here will be different. There won’t be any cameras. This is real life. Plus, she’s not the patient. Her brother is.”

  “She sounds like someone who creates chaos wherever she goes. We can’t let her upset our routine. A big part of our program is having structure and order.”

  “That’s the spirit. You were in the military. Keep her in line.”

  Of course Nannette, the spokesperson for the United Optimists of America, would think that. He’d been to Afghanistan and faced the possibility of dying on a daily basis, but women? No man could keep one in line.

  * * *

  STACY HAD FORGOTTEN how beautiful Estes Park was. Even though she wasn’t really a back-to-nature kind of gal or the outdoorsy type, the scenery called to her.

  The Rocky Mountains stood guard around the small town of Estes Park, almost cradling its inhabitants. That reassuring and enduring presence resonated with Stacy. Something about the wide-open spaces eased the tightness in her chest and stilled her restlessness. The last time she was here she discovered how much slower-paced life was. That had been a huge headache for her. Now it felt as if that was exactly what she needed.

  So far settling in had gone smoother than she anticipated. She and Ryan had unpacked and stocked their cabin with food and other staples. They’d met with the school, seen to his registration and he started his first day of classes yesterday. She’d met with Maggie and gotten the shooting schedule so she could schedule Ryan’s therapy sessions once they had his initial assessment.

  “Now that you’ve had two days of school, are you sure you want to go Estes Park High? It’s not too late for me to get a tutor for you.”

  “I’m cool with going to school here.”

  Maybe he wanted a change. Since his accident, Ryan’s relationship with his friends was strained. Because he couldn’t keep up physically, his friends had moved on. Maybe meeting new people who weren’t comparing him to how he used to be would help him come back out of his shell.

  “I’ve actually met a couple of kids. One of them is the daughter of the guy who runs the therapy program. She’s in one of my elective classes. Her name is Jess.”

  So Rooster had a daughter. “What’s she like?”

  “She’s nice. She said she knows what it feels like to be a little different than everyone else.”

  “What’s she mean by that?”

  Ryan shrugged. “The kids here aren’t as worried about how much money a guy’s family has. They’re more real.”

  His phone dinged indicating he had a text. He scanned the message. “It was from Mom. She said she might join us next week. Can you believe it? Does she really think I’ll buy that? Next she’ll tell me to write a letter to Santa at Christmas.” Ryan chucked. “I’d probably get better results from the letter.”

  “At least she’s trying.” More like Andrea was saying the right thing. Their mother talked a good game and tossed out big promises. Follow-through proved to be an entirely different matter. “She might surprise us.” But only if Grant moved back into the house and agreed to come with her. Otherwise Andrea wouldn’t leave California, but Stacy bit her tongue to keep from mentioning that.

  “When are you going to quit giving her more chances? She doesn’t deserve it.”

  For Ryan’s sake she kept banging her head against the wall in attempt to get Andrea to change. A teenager needed the guidance and love of a parent. He’d changed so much over the past years. Some of it was just normal teenage-attitude stuff, but she knew some of the differences were because of their mother. Every time she disappointed Ryan, every time she put her needs above his, Stacy saw a little part of her brother die inside.

  “She’s going through a tough time.” She regretted her words the minute she uttered them. How could she have been so thoughtless to Ryan when he’d faced far worse than Andrea? “Not like what you’re going through, but she’s not as strong as you are.”

  “She’s a selfish bitch who doesn’t care about anyone but the husband of the month.”

  Out of the mouths of angry teenagers often came the harsh truth.

  Part of her considered talking to him about how families should forgive and love each other no matter what, but she lacked the energy for a battle. Especially when he was right. She’d tried so hard to make up for Andrea’s shortcoming so Ryan wouldn’t grow up feeling unloved, but there was only so much she could do.

  No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t his mother.

  Ryan glanced out the window. “Are you sure you know where we’re going? I think we went past this barn a little while ago.”

  Stacy flashed him a bright smile. “I’ve got everything under control.”

  No way would she admit she didn’t have a clue where they were. She’d never hear the end of it because Ryan had suggested they print a copy of the directions before they left the cabin. Since they were running late, she’d brushed him off saying they’d be fine with her GPS app on her phone. Unfortunately she’d forgotten how spotty Wi-Fi could be in the Rocky Mountains, forcing her to rely on her memory.

  “That’s your too-big smile. It means you’re lying because you’re afraid if you tell me the truth, I’ll be upset.”

  “I don’t do that.”

  “You do it all the time. I’m not a kid. I don’t need you protecting me.”

  They’d both grown up too fast. She’d hoped to save him from some of that, but life had a way of refusing to go along with a person’s plan.

  “Okay, you win. I admit it. We’re lost.” She spotted a small ranch house in the distance to the left. “I’ll head for that house and ask for directions.” Then she pointedly stared at her younger brother.

  He stared back. His right eyebrow rose and he smiled.

  “Are you going to say it?”

  His grin widened. “Say what?”

  “I’m not going to have an ‘I told you’ so hanging over my head. Let’s just get it over with.”

  “But it’s more fun to torture you this way.” His smile faded and he picked at a frayed spot in his jeans. “I know you don’t think this horse-therapy stuff is a good idea, but I researched it a lot. I think it could really help me.”

  Right after the car accident, Ryan’s attitude amazed her. He’d been so full of hope. He swore he’d regain full use of his legs no matter what he had to endure. He’d remained positive during his first surgery and the countless hours of physical therapy. Then the doctors recommended another surgery. When he failed to see much improvement after the second operation, something inside Ryan withered.

  He quit going out with friends. Though he hadn’t said so, she suspected being with them only reinforced what he couldn’t do. He argued with her about attending physical therapy.

  “I’m tired of doctor and therapy appointments controlling my life. I want to be normal again. I want to hang out with friends, go out on a date or spend the whole day in school without getting pulled for an appointment. This sports riding program is my best bet to have that. I know you’re scared because of what happened to dad, but I’ll be okay. Everything I read about the program says falls are rare.”

  But they do occur. She could handle anything but something happening to Ryan again. He was all she had. Her only family. The only one who cared about what happened to her.

/>   No, that wasn’t true. Andrea cared about her, but only because if something happened to Stacy, who would pick up the pieces of her life when it inevitably fell apart?

  “I’m praying you’re right.”

  They came around a curve and a loud pop echoed around them. The car pulled hard to the left. Stacy clutched the steering wheel, pulled her foot off the gas and struggled to maintain control. Her sweaty palms slipped on the steering wheel.

  “Slow down!” Ryan screamed.

  “We’re fine.” She flashed him a quick smile, hoping to ease his fears and stave off a full-blown panic attack. His fingers dug into the armrest. His breathing grew rapid and shallow. “Breathe slow and deep.”

  She’d veered into the other lane. She turned hard right. Too hard. The car spun. Ryan’s screams reverberated through the car as they headed for the ditch.

  Images blurred around Stacy. Her hands grew numb, and then seconds later the car stopped.

  “God, no! Not again!” Ryan screamed.

  Thank you, Lord. He’s yelling. That means he can’t be hurt too badly.

  Her heart thundering in her chest, her body shaking, Stacy grabbed her brother’s arm and squeezed. “Look at me, Ryan. Are you hurt anywhere?” His gaze locked on hers, and he shook his head. “Breathe with me.”

  She inhaled deeply and held her breath for a second before slowly exhaling. She did that for a minute or two until his breathing matched hers and the panic receded from his eyes. “I’m sorry. I think we blew a tire.” She squeezed his hand again before letting go. “You handled that so well.”

  “No, I didn’t. I screamed like a little girl.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Remember how bad the attack was the first time you got in a car after the accident? You’ve come so far since then, but that doesn’t mean that sometimes you won’t get thrown for a loop.”

  A chorus of moos and clomping hooves on the pavement around them drew Stacy’s attention. Not only had they gone off the road into a ditch, but they’d run into a barbed wire fence, taking a good section of it out. Cows making the most of the damaged fence made a break for it and wandered all over the road.