Montana Ranch Series: Love on Willow Creek, Lightning over Bennett Ranch, One Touch at Cob's Bar and Grill, Last Chance for Love, Love Under an Open Sky

by Dawes, Casey

  Tears burned in her blue eyes. “How could you possibly think that? I wanted the adventure. I wanted to share and experience the world with you.”

  Shame flashed in his eyes. He lowered his gaze and flexed the muscles in his arms. “Because I couldn’t provide for you.”

  Her heart lurched. She wanted to reach out and hold him. Instead, she clasped her hands behind her back and stood so stiff that her back ached.

  “You were just eighteen, fresh out of high school,” Max continued, “and the only life you knew was what your father wanted you to know. I left because I loved you. I know I hurt you but you led a good, safe life without me in it.”

  Melody couldn’t accept that excuse. “You stole my choice. Hardships and problems are part of every relationship. I wanted to work through them with you.”

  “Please, darlin’, see this from my point-of-view. I didn’t want the woman that I planned to marry to hitchhike, to sleep under bridges or to rely on strangers for her next meal. I didn’t want you to beg or degrade yourself just to get by. I would’ve tried to protect you from all that and I would’ve failed.” He held his arms open as though in a plea for her to understand. “I just couldn’t be a failure in your eyes. I honestly believed that you would’ve headed back home to Willow Creek after a few months or a few years, and I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did.”

  She never imagined that’s why he’d left without a word of goodbye. Melody hated and loved him for it. She likely would have promised Max that she’d never leave him or look upon him as a failure if he’d explained that to her ten years ago. Now, older and wiser, she knew that she might’ve broken at least one of those promises. She might have left him, and that shamed her. She never would have thought of him as a failure though.

  Max Fortaine was a fighter. He would have done everything humanly possible to make her happy and to provide for her like any decent man would for the woman he loved. She wouldn’t have faulted him for trying. Besides, she believed that she would have fought equally as hard to make him happy and to share the workload. Like him, she didn’t shy away from hard work.

  Melody rubbed her hands up her cheeks to wipe away the tears that had fallen. “Thank you for telling me. That’s actually better than I expected.”

  “You thought that I never loved you, that I just used you, right?”

  “Yes.” Her heart pounded like a drum and her chest throbbed from the pressure. “What did you expect me to think? I waited for you all night in that little motel room in Livingston that you stayed in after Dad fired you. We agreed to meet there at midnight and then head out in my truck. I should have realized that you’d changed your mind since you packed up all your things and moved them out of the room. I just didn’t believe you’d ever hurt me like that.”

  She walked toward the fireplace and pressed her hand to the cold stone mantel. She couldn’t look at him. “Dad showed up the next morning. I don’t know how he found me—he refused to tell me—but I was so angry to see him and more than worried about you. I cursed him six ways from Sunday but he didn’t once interrupt my rant.” She trailed her index finger over the concrete grout that held the large stones together. “Once I calmed down, Dad told me you picked up your last paycheck from Angus the night before and stole a truck from the garage. He said that you high-tailed it out of town like a beaten dog. I didn’t believe him until he took me home and showed me the door that you broke to trespass into the garage. A truck was gone, just as he said.”

  Melody breathed deep as the pain those memories caused washed through her. She whipped around to face him. “You should’ve said goodbye, Max. You should’ve manned up and told me then what you just said now.”

  He cursed her father beneath his breath and retreated to the far side of the room. His nasty remarks irritated her, but she clenched her jaw to not interrupt his spiel. He then fisted his hands and slammed one against a wall. She jumped and clasped her palm over her chest.

  “You don’t know the whole story, Mel, but it doesn’t matter,” Max gritted out the words as he pushed away from the wall. “We can’t change the past no matter how much we may want to.”

  “I always suspected that my father lied about something, or just breezed over the facts. I didn’t know what to believe.” She forced her hands through her hair and then stared around the room. “You’ve done well for yourself after all.”

  “Thanks.” The handsome man didn’t sound as enthused as he did minutes earlier. “I came into some money soon after I left town. I invested part of it with a few big name companies, bought a few government bonds and tied up the rest in a bank with a high return rate. I didn’t spend a dime.” He slapped his hands on his legs and then strode toward her until just a few inches separated them. Max clasped her cheek in his palm, her heart sped fast like a jack rabbit in an open field, and then he leaned forward as though he planned to kiss her.

  Melody fought the urge to meet him halfway. She then turned her face out of his grasp and his hand fell away. He stepped back, disappointment clear on his face. She breathed deep and struggled to calm her racing heart. “Where did you go?”

  A long sigh left his mouth. “I headed to Wyoming, worked on a couple of ranches and befriended some influential people there in the horse breeding industry. I cashed in a bond earlier this year and then supplemented that with a business loan to start my own ranch. I recently purchased two mares from championship lines with my Wyoming connections. The Quarter Horse’s sire has won countless racing competitions and the Rocky is descended from Old Tobe, the horse that originated the Rocky Mountain breed.”

  Her eyebrow arched at the last bit.

  Max spread his arms wide. “I doubt I would have any of this if I’d given our relationship a chance.”

  Melody tilted her chin high even though that statement stung her like a mob of frenzied bees. “Where did that money come from?” She clucked her tongue as his eyelids sealed closed. She gripped his arm. “I’m sick of your vague half-answers, Max. Don’t sidestep my questions.”

  His green eyes then beamed at her. A scowl wrinkled his forehead. Max stepped back but she followed his move and stepped forward. “You should go, Melody.”

  “No. I don’t hate you for why you left. I understand now why you did, even though I don’t like it.”

  A rough, throaty laugh escaped his mouth. He twisted from her grasp and then gripped her forearms in return. “Think about it, then. Don’t you know why your dad didn’t call the cops for the supposed theft of his damn truck? You should know where that money came from.”

  Her heart now skipped a beat. “How do you know that Dad didn’t bother to call the police? Was it because no one found you? As for the money, I don’t know what you mean.”

  He released her arms and then rubbed his hands up his face.

  She swallowed hard to clear her throat. “Angus said that you told him about unfinished business in Willow Creek. Does that have to do with me?”

  His brow arched as though in surprise with the subject change. “Partly, yes.”

  “Why Bozeman? Why didn’t you open a ranch in Wyoming near your friends?”

  “Are you sure you want the truth? No vague half-answers?”

  “Yeah, I can handle it. I’m not the fainting type, remember?”

  A small smile curved his lips. “I’m here to win you back, Melody. I still love you, I never stopped, but now I have something to offer you. I planned to contact you after Fortune’s Ranch opened for business. I want this ranch to be your home and job. I want us to find our way back to each another. I’m better than I used to be. I’m worthy of you now.”

  Her eyes widened. “Better? Worthy? Are you freakin’ crazy? You were perfect for me back then.” She growled as he tightened his lips into a thin line. “Look, I know you had a rough life. Your parents died when you were twelve and you ran away from an abu
sive orphanage in Wisconsin at sixteen. You grew up too fast, all alone, and you struggled for every scrap you had, but you still possessed the ability to love and to show kindness even with all that pain and misery. You had morals, and you had me free and clear. You didn’t even have to work that hard to get me.”

  A blush filled his cheeks but he didn’t lower his gaze. “I would’ve had to work too hard to keep you and, as I said, I doubt you would have stayed anyway.”

  “Maybe, but we don’t know that for sure because you didn’t give us a chance—me a chance. I was never a spoiled brat that always demanded things and never gave. I loved you, Max, and you tossed my heart away like old horse bedding.” She fisted her hands to keep a tight leash on the tears that threatened to fall. “I never cared about money. Yes, I know we would have needed it to live well but I could’ve struggled for a while until we improved our situation. I just wanted you, not what you had to offer.”

  “Well, now you can have both. Me and what I offer.”

  “You don’t understand.” She rubbed her fingers against her temples. “I don’t want it—you, your money or your ranch. You hurt me in a way no one else ever has. You can’t just prance back into my life, throw some cash around and expect me to jump into your arms. It doesn’t work that way for me.”

  “Melody? I—”

  She walked past him to the front door. “This is just wrong, Max, and you know it.” With that, she opened the door and strode out.

  Chapter Four

  Three days passed since Melody went to Fortune’s Ranch. She’d rehashed her conversation with Max in her mind over a dozen times but still felt confused. He wanted a relationship with her but he wouldn’t tell her the whole truth. He didn’t meet her criteria in the slightest but her reckless heart didn’t care. She wanted to give him a second chance.

  Besides, she could do a lot worse than Max.

  Harvey Clausen sat beside her at the dinner table and acted as though she hadn’t kicked him to the curb a few years back. His charming façade fooled her gullible but well-meaning mother the other day at the grocery store and she’d invited him over for dinner. Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell Melody about the dinner plans until just minutes before he arrived.

  Smart move on their part, she begrudgingly admitted. She would’ve ridden Lightning to the far end of a pasture under the pretense of exercising the horse until the man left. Her mother even had the audacity to reprimand her before he arrived. Her words burned through Melody’s mind. “You shouldn’t have broken up with Harvey over one little mistake. Couples need to work through their problems.” Now Harvey sat there and fooled the rest of her family with jokes and cattle stories. She expected her parents would lecture her again on the importance of marriage and family after the sleazeball left.

  Melody repressed a growl as the deceitful man grasped her hand beneath the table. His dark brown gaze perused her body and she felt uncomfortable in her floral-print dress and fancy cowgirl boots. The dress emphasized her ample breasts, drew attention to her narrow waist and the flirty short hem and colorful boots lengthened her legs. She slid from his hold and then braced her arms on the table. Her mother scowled and Melody felt the weight of her gaze as though rockets launched from her eyes. She abruptly returned one hand to her lap, and grasped her fork with the other to push boiled vegetables and roast beef around on her plate.

  Harvey and her father prattled on about their ranches, her brothers complained about the last sports game they had watched on TV and her mother and sister-in-laws chatted about all things baby. She didn’t bother to add her two cents to any of the conversations.

  “Melly, you’re awful quiet. What’s on your mind?”

  She glanced at Harvey. His eyes twinkled and she expected that he used the hated nickname on purpose. She always felt like a country bumpkin whenever he called her that.

  “Oh, she’s been like that for days,” her mom answered for her. She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and then returned the embroidered cloth to her lap. “The stubborn girl won’t tell anyone what’s wrong.”

  Melody resisted a roll of her eyes. Although her mother had married a rancher, the city-lovin’ woman still hadn’t fully warmed up to the country life even though thirty-plus years had passed. She considered telling the truth but she feared her dad might have a stroke if she told them about Max. At least then she could get out of dinner.

  She shook her head at that shameful thought.

  “I’m fine.” Melody laid her fork down to sip wine from her glass. Everyone continued to stare at her and heat rose up her neck. “Well, I do have a few things on my mind but I can handle it. I just have a decision to make, that’s all.”

  “Does it have to do with the ranch?”

  She set her glass aside. Her father’s deep, gruff voice commanded the attention of everyone in the room. He stood at six-feet-two with thick salt-and-pepper hair and blue eyes the same shade as hers. “No, not really. Just Lightning and me.”

  “Lightning is an important asset for this ranch. What’s the issue with him? Does he need the vet? The ranch hands haven’t noticed a problem with him, as far as I know.”

  Melody sighed. She shouldn’t have opened her big mouth. “He’s fine, healthy and happy.”

  Wayne raised an eyebrow but then turned back to Harvey.

  A long sigh whizzed through her teeth. She stabbed a carrot with her fork and slowly ate her meal, not in the least bit hungry, until someone kicked at her feet beneath the crowded table. She met her mother’s annoyed gaze as the older blonde woman mouthed: Act nice and talk to Harvey. Melody bristled. She shoved a bite of potatoes in her mouth to stall. She couldn’t think of anything nice to say—a few insults burned on the tip of her tongue, though—so she just listened and smiled as Harvey finished his story.

  “Well, the cow learned its listen that time,” he joked.

  Melody laughed along with everyone else and her mom seemed appeased. She kept her smile in place for a few minutes more until she felt ready to snap. Then she faked a yawn, as well as a moan of pain and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry, but please excuse me,” she interrupted Dave in mid-sentence and gathered everyone’s attention. “I’m not feeling well.”

  “It’s too early for bed, Melody.” Her father narrowed his gaze on her. “Don’t be rude.”

  She bit her lip to not remind him of her age. “I don’t plan to sleep in the bathroom, Dad. I won’t be gone long.” She ignored her mother’s gasp and stood before anyone else spoke. She walked calmly out of the room and through the spotless adjacent kitchen before she picked up speed down the darkened hallway. She reached the bathroom but paused at the entryway. A squeaky noise echoed down the hall. She headed toward it and soon realized that it came from her bedroom. She barged into her room, flipped on the light and then stumbled to a stop.

  “Max? What are you doing here?” Melody shut the door and pressed her back up against it. The handsome cowboy reclined on her bed with his arms braced behind his head and his legs crossed. His hat lay on the pillow next to him and his boots were clean. Lucky man. She might have to shove him off the bed if he got dirt, or worse, on her baby blue bedspread.

  “I’m here to see you, darlin’.”

  Her toes curled as he purred the endearment with a soft country twang. She braced her hands on her hips. “You snuck inside my room through the window, didn’t you?”

  “I’m surprised no one fixed the lock.” His gaze traveled down the length of her body as his eyebrow quirked up. “Sorry to interrupt dinner.”

  His inspection of her body didn’t bother her as Harvey’s did. She rubbed at her tired eyes. “No, I welcome the interruption.” She then hurried to the window, pulled back the curtain and stared out. “I don’t see your truck. It’s the red Ford, right?”

  “Yep.” Max leaned up and then swung his legs over the s
ide of the mattress as she turned around to face him. “Well, I did park out front first, but then I drove back to the main road and left the truck there. You see, I actually came by to speak with your father but I didn’t realize the time. I still wanted to see you, so I moved the truck.”

  “Good idea. Dad would likely flip if he saw an unknown vehicle in the driveway without a driver.” She nodded toward the window. “It might rain. Clouds are out tonight so I doubt that anyone saw you walk up here. Why do you want to talk to Dad?”

  “We need to talk about you. I owe him a debt and I won’t feel right about courtin’ you until it’s paid in full.”

  “We aren’t dating.” She didn’t bother to ask what he meant by debt. He would tell her if he wanted to.

  “Are those women your brothers’ girlfriends?” He changed the subject as she’d expected. “Who was that man who sat beside you? Why did he keep touching your arm?”

  She frowned. “Did you sneak around the house and watch us from a window?”

  Max nodded as though unrepentant. “Who is he? I swear I wanted to smash through the back door and yank him away from you.”

  A grin spread across her face. Melody then explained that Dave and Steve had married and that she and Harvey used to date. “You know, my mom told me that the dinner guest tonight was actually my guest and that he’s an old flame of mine. She wanted me to dress in something feminine.” She smoothed her hands down the flouncy dress. A few bracelets dangled from her wrists. “I foolishly thought she meant you, that Angus opened his big mouth.”

  “You dressed up for me?”

  Melody blushed scarlet and wanted to kick herself for speaking so freely.

  “You’re beautiful in either a dress or flannel.” Max smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Nah, I bet your parents would rather dig for water under an outhouse and drink it than share dinner with me.”