Once a Rancher

by Linda Lael Miller

  Grace threw her napkin at him. “She’s not planning our wedding.”

  His eyes were alive as he caught it in a swift reflexive movement. “Is that a yes? You just said our wedding.”

  She had. No one was more surprised than she was, and Slater had an unfortunate way of doing that to her—getting her to blurt out things she hadn’t intended to say. “The sentiment I wanted to convey was that although I think your mother is delightful, if we were to plan a wedding, I doubt I’d ask her to do it for me.”

  He looked at her, the laughter still sparking in his eyes. “If this was the olden days, I’d give you twenty-four hours to meet me in the middle of the street, come hell or high water, with your answer.”

  “That’s for gunslingers, not men and women.”

  “Feels like the same kind of decision to me.”

  True. Sort of. They weren’t talking life or death—like a gunslingers’ battle in one of those old Westerns. They were talking life or…a better life.

  And yet, there were more reasons not to marry him than to go ahead and do it.

  The worst of it, she thought in despair, was that she was in love with him, too. She felt as if she was tumbling down a mountain slope unchecked, a canyon yawning at the bottom. “If you want someone who could gun you down, Carson, you’re looking at her. And really? The olden days? I hate to break it to you, but you aren’t in grade school anymore.”

  His smile was engaging. “True enough, but I hang out with someone who is, and that’s one of her favorite expressions. Of course, Daisy’s usually referring to my youth. I once mentioned riding the school bus, and she looked at me as if she didn’t quite believe there were gas-powered vehicles back then. In light of my extreme age, I can’t wait around forever. Unless you want some sort of elaborate event, we could just elope and have a reception at the ranch later.”

  “Slater!”

  “Just thinking out loud.” He looked absolutely unrepentant, lounging in his chair with masculine grace, that faint grin telling her that now he’d made up his mind, he wasn’t giving up easily. With an almost desperate firmness, she said, “I don’t want to get married again.”

  The grin faded as he searched her face. “Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say you don’t want to get divorced again? I’m not asking you to change your life, Grace. I just want to share it.”

  Unfortunately for her, that was exactly the right thing to say. She pushed her salad away. Then she massaged her temples. “This is turning into a very complicated day.”

  A minute later she discovered that was one heck of an understatement.

  “Grace?” Meg stepped into her office and spotted them on the balcony. “Oh, sorry, but…well…you have a visitor. He said you’re expecting him.”

  What now?

  When her ex-husband walked through the door and onto her balcony, she had to stifle a bubble of hysterical laughter. Somewhere, Fate was chortling, probably hooting it up, as the infamous Red would say. Slater took in her expression, the military uniform on the man coming toward them and came to the correct conclusion in a split second. He rose to his feet, and she noticed that they were almost precisely the same height. Evidently, she liked tall men. Hank spoke first, eyeing her companion. “Hello, Grace. I tried your cell, but just got your voice mail. Then I went to the condo. When no one answered the door, I came here.”

  “Hi, Hank. Sorry, I had a busy morning. This is Slater Carson. Slater, Hank Emery.”

  “I gathered that,” Slater said, getting up to extend his hand. “Very nice to meet Ryder’s dad. He’s a good kid.”

  She could see that Hank, too, was drawing the correct conclusion and not liking it, but he was cordial enough as they shook hands. “Mr. Carson. Ryder mentioned you on the phone. Said he has a job on your family ranch. That was kind of you. He seems to like it.”

  “I doubt he likes it when he has to shovel out horse stalls, but he’s doing a fine job.” Slater turned to Grace with a meaningful look. “I’m headed back to the basement and my new treasure trove. I’ll give Meg the keys when I’m done. Talk to you later?”

  Great. He didn’t seem any happier than Hank did. What bad thing have I done in a former life to bring me this particular day?

  She’d agree to just about anything to escape this awkwardness. “I’ll call you.”

  He left, and then she was stuck there, alone with her ex-husband, who sent her a glance that should have been conciliatory, but wasn’t. “It’s good to see you, Grace. You look beautiful, but then you always do.”

  He looked well, fit as ever, sporting a tan that wasn’t from a beach somewhere. It enhanced his chiseled features, and the uniform didn’t hurt. The problem was that living with him had been an adventure in frustration, so older and wiser definitely applied. “Thanks. Let me give you the entry code to the condo. Just make yourself at home. Ryder has to work, but I’ll pick him up early.”

  “It’s good to see you, too,” he said with unmistakable sarcasm.

  He was right; she should be civil, but her world was completely out of alignment. She took a steadying breath and walked past him to her desk. “I had a stressful morning, so my apologies if I sounded brusque. Ryder might not act like it, but he’s very excited to see you.” She jotted down the numbers. “This will open the garage, and the door to the inside is unlocked. Like I said, make yourself at home.”

  “You don’t mind me staying there?”

  She needed to answer that question carefully. Meeting his eyes, she said, “Ryder wants you there. So I don’t mind for his sake. I guess it’s kind of unusual, but then our whole situation is unusual. How’s your mother doing, anyway? I haven’t talked to your dad in a couple of days.”

  “The chemo is a bear, of course. She’s pretty sick.” He hesitated. “Thanks for taking on Ryder.”

  Here was the part where he should apologize for never being around. Surely at his rank, he could request different duty. The government wasn’t insensitive to the fact that military personnel had families. He just wouldn’t think of doing it.

  No, worse, it wouldn’t even occur to him.

  She said simply, “I love Ryder. We’re figuring a few things out, but Slater’s right. He’s a good kid. I hope the two of you spend a lot of time together.”

  Hank might be insensitive, although he was hardly stupid. “I’d consider that unsolicited advice, but I get it, Officer Emery. I assume I’m going to be seeing Carson fairly often during this visit.”

  She wasn’t interested in an argument, plus a single glance at the cell phone she’d ignored all morning showed a long list of missed messages, two of which she actually welcomed. “See you at the condo later. I have an errand to run. Please excuse me.”

  She practically sprinted out of the resort, wondering if she should leave Hank and Slater in the same building, but decided it was their problem, not hers.

  Her car, delivered as promised, was sitting in the resort parking lot, all the tires inflated and the scratch repaired. She grabbed the extra set of keys from her purse, unlocked it and jumped in, eager to get the hell out of Dodge.

  A discarded husband and a potential husband in the same building—that state of affairs was probably about as stable as two hand grenades with the pins pulled. At the moment Grace didn’t care. The new quilt she’d ordered on one of her shopping trips was ready to be picked up. When she’d stopped by the shop in Mustang Creek, she’d loved the designs but had specific colors in mind, so she’d ordered a custom quilt.

  On a day like today, she needed to do something nice for herself.

  A bell sounded when she opened the door to the quilt shop. She saw two toddlers sitting on a blanket, arguing over toys, babbling in baby talk with the occasional recognizable word tossed in. Mine seemed to win the day. A pretty blonde leaned on the counter; the owner was chatting with her, but smiled in recognition when Grace came in. Grace knew that her husband, Tripp, was the friend of Slater’s who’d flown Ryder to the football game. Hadleigh Galloway sai
d graciously, “Hi, Grace. Glad you got my message. That was quick. This is Melody Hogan, by the way.”

  That was a familiar name. “Is Spencer Hogan your husband, by any chance?”

  The blonde nodded, her gaze curious. “He sure is.”

  “I need to talk to him.”

  Both women looked at her and their brows rose a fraction.

  “Not right now. Sorry, but I’m tired of the male of our species,” she explained. “For today, anyway. Even if I occasionally need their help.”

  The other two women exchanged a grin. “Oh, we get that,” Hadleigh said. “Want a cup of tea? We can sit down and talk about your man problems.”

  *

  SLATER JUST PLAIN didn’t want to discuss it.

  That was a hope born to be dashed.

  The second he walked through the door late that afternoon, he ran into his mother in the hallway, which made him suspect she’d been hovering there, waiting for him.

  Blythe Carson only hovered for one reason. She wanted answers. “Is Grace okay?”

  Slater figured there were probably cobwebs in his hair, so maybe his spider joke wasn’t so funny anymore. He put down the box of pictures he wanted to start with and sighed in exhaustion, picturing Grace with her ex-husband, who didn’t have cobwebs in his hair but instead looked like the classically dashing war hero, with insignias and whatever all across his uniform jacket. Then his heart froze when he thought about her vindictive ex-employee. “She’s fine last I knew, and I saw her a few hours ago. Why? Has something happened?”

  His mother instantly shook her head. “No, not that I know of, so wipe that alarmed expression off your face. But Ryder looked a little wound up when he came to the house.”

  Slater consciously relaxed his shoulders. His mother didn’t need to know about David Reinhart. “His father just arrived in Mustang Creek,” he said. “I met him. He seems okay, but Ryder’s going to have to adjust to his presence here, and of course, Grace isn’t all that comfortable with it, either. There are some complicated emotions involved.”

  His mother propped her hip on the table in the hallway and folded her arms. “Hmm, and how many of those emotions involve Slater Carson? And since we’re on the subject of emotions—how are his emotions moseying along when it comes to the lovely Ms. Emery?”

  “My emotions are just fine.” Not exactly true. Her handsome ex-husband had clearly identified him as competition, and the man was going to be living with her for a month.

  “You wouldn’t tell me if they weren’t, anyway.” His mother’s voice was resigned.

  Well, that was true. “I’d be reluctant to,” he acquiesced. “You’d try to fix every little thing. I’m afraid to ask, but can you tell me why we’re having this conversation?”

  “Mace and Drake have a bet going about when you’re going to propose to Grace, and I got in on the action.”

  If she hadn’t winked at him, he might have stomped off and throttled his brothers in front of witnesses. “You all think you’re so hilarious. For the record, I have no intention of proposing in the future.”

  Not a lie. He already had.

  “What did she say?”

  He forgot his mother was the most insightful person he’d ever known. Slater gave up. “She’s thinking it over. Mom, she’s divorced, I didn’t plan it properly and her ex-husband walked in on the big moment. I’m not sure of anything right now, but I am sure that if Drake and Mace don’t stop these bets, the three of us are going to tangle.”

  She sent him a purely Carson triumphant smile. “I just won that round.”

  “You have to be kidding me.”

  Her eyes twinkled with mischievous laughter. “I see no reason why Drake and Mace shouldn’t water my flowers for a week. I deserve a vacation. I suppose it’s a teeny bit much that they have to wear my gardening hat while they do the watering, but I couldn’t resist.”

  Slater found that quite funny. He slid an arm around his mother’s waist and squeezed gently. “If that doesn’t cure them of gambling on my love life, nothing will. I’m going to take pictures of them in that big floppy hat.”

  She hugged him back. “I’m so glad for you, darling. As soon as I saw the two of you together, I knew Grace was the one.”

  “Yeah, well, let’s see if she feels that way, too.” He said it with a touch of grimness. “She told me flat out she doesn’t want to get married again. She meant it, too. And I see her point in a way. Her ex-husband was—and still is—away from home a lot, he’s dedicated almost exclusively to his work and she’s had to shoulder almost sole responsibility for his child, other than what he provides financially. Let’s face it, she isn’t going to get a much better deal with me. I even made the mistake of saying I want more kids. Grace is a bright woman, and I’m sure she instantly reminded herself that I’d be gone for months at a time, leaving her as the one and only parent all over again.”

  He wanted to kick himself for mentioning more children, but he was just being honest with her. Better now than springing it on her once they were married. Yes, they’d have Daisy and Ryder, but to share a child…

  Maybe Mace was right and he did have a romantic soul, whatever the hell that meant.

  “Wanting a child is never wrong.” His mother supported him instantly, her tone full of conviction. “You’re a wonderful father. Daisy adores you. For that matter, I think she and Ryder have formed the Slater Carson fan club. And may I point out that on this ranch, no one parents alone.”

  With a rueful smile, he said, “I have no idea if Grace would even want to live on this ranch. We haven’t talked about it. There’s a lot to discuss, because I didn’t think through the proposal. Talk about acting spontaneously.”

  Jeez, that was true.

  “Regrets?” His mother’s gaze was assessing.

  “No.” Crazy as it was, he didn’t. It felt as if the minute he’d first seen Grace, something had snapped loose inside him. A taut wire had broken free. One he didn’t know was there, holding him back from an important part of life he didn’t realize he was missing.

  He repeated, “No.”

  His mother linked her arm with his. “I think Harry, who was positive I’d win this bet, made you some lemon bars. Let’s go have some to celebrate.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  SLATER WAS NOWHERE in sight.

  Just as well.

  Only trouble was, Grace didn’t want to see him and yet, perversely, she did. She wanted to find him waiting for her on the elegant veranda of the ranch house in eager anticipation of her arrival. She’d texted that she’d pick up Ryder at seven, so he knew she was coming.

  They hadn’t talked in three days.

  Since he’d proposed, he’d been remarkably absent from her life. It was hard to say whether he was running scared, or if it was because of Hank’s presence. Or maybe he was just busy, since he seemed to be jumping feet first into this new project. Boxes were being carted from the basement daily, and she was given receipts signed with his sprawling signature. But she hadn’t actually seen the man himself…

  She parked and got out, hoping she wouldn’t have to go to the door of the house, in case he’d told his family about his off-the-cuff proposal. She knew this much about the Carson clan, though—Blythe would support his decision, his brothers would be amused and Harry might poison Grace’s food if she didn’t accept.

  Grace, on the other hand, didn’t have nearly as much of a support network. Oh, Slater was right that Ryder would be pleased, to the extent that a teen could be excited about anything. But her brother was a busy man with a young family, and her parents hadn’t approved of her divorcing Hank. Her Seattle friends all had busy careers and complicated lives; their contact was rather perfunctory these days. So she was on her own.

  Except for an unexpected gift in the form of Hadleigh Galloway and Melody Hogan.

  Those two women had been a source of boundless information, not to mention that she’d made two good friends. The three of them had connected instant
ly, and had already made plans to get together again. Other than Meg—and she wasn’t going to confide in someone who not only worked for her, but was also quite young and obviously had a crush on Slater—she hadn’t been in Mustang Creek long enough to make friends.

  Especially ones who were lifelong residents and had the real scoop. Like Hadleigh and Mel.

  Slater Carson, they’d let her know over a cup of Earl Grey, was considered a player. Not that it meant he wasn’t known as an all-around terrific guy, but his reputation was love ’em and leave ’em. Now, when he’d gotten Raine pregnant, he’d stepped right up, so no one could fault him for not being a great dad. When he was in town, he attended Daisy’s ball games and went to parent/teacher conferences, and when he was off on location, his family pitched in to fill the void.

  That was the good side.

  Bad side existed, too. He’d shown no desire to commit to one woman and settle down. He was too focused on his job, and as they sipped tea, neither Hadleigh nor Melody had given her any lace-edged promises that this was likely to change. Based on her experience with Hank and her knowledge of Slater, she had to agree. She admired Slater’s talent and vision, but would that be outweighed by the fact that she’d be on her own most of the time?

  Back to square one.

  Driven man equaled uncertain future spent mostly alone. Yup, she was all too familiar with that equation.

  Both Hadleigh and Melody had just about toppled off their chairs when she confessed that he’d asked her to marry him. If she wasn’t so conflicted and confused, she would’ve loved to take out her phone and snap a quick picture of their comical expressions.

  Hadleigh Galloway had plopped down her cup so hard tea sloshed over the side. “Slater Carson asked you to marry him?”

  Gloomily, Grace had nodded. “And he made it clear he hoped the deal would include more children.”

  “He did?” Melody Hogan had sounded positively astonished. “Was he drinking? I mean, he doesn’t overindulge, but I suppose if he had one beer too many—”