Romancing the Rancher (The Pirelli Brothers)

by Stacy Connelly

  “I’ll let him know.”

  Her heart was pounding as she carefully lowered herself from the truck. Marie was right. She was feeling stronger, but that wasn’t reason to push too hard.

  Her steps faltered slightly as she approached the stable. Pushing too hard. She’d made that mistake with Michael. Was she about to repeat it with Jarrett? They’d known each other less than a month and now she was about to tell him that she wanted to move across country to be with him?

  Oh, God, what if he didn’t want her to stay?

  As she stepped inside the stables, Theresa heard the sound of voices, and her steps slowed even more. Jarrett was with someone. Now wasn’t the time to talk to him about her plans. Feeling as if she’d been given a reprieve, she started to turn away when he walked out of his office.

  “Hey.” For a second, he looked almost surprised to see her. “I didn’t think you’d be back this soon. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Either Summer found everything she was looking for or she ran out of money in no time flat.”

  “You’ll have to come down to the cabin and see for yourself.”

  A second later, a woman in her mid-fifties appeared in the doorway, holding a cell phone. “I wasn’t able to reach him, but we’ll talk this evening.”

  Nodding to the woman, Jarrett said, “Sounds good. Let me know what you decide.”

  As the woman left, Theresa questioned, “Who was that?” She’d asked out of mild curiosity, but the feeling only grew when Jarrett didn’t immediately answer. “Jarrett?” She followed him into his office, where he opened a cabinet drawer and pulled out a folder.

  Sighing, he dropped the paperwork onto his desk. “She’s a potential adopter. The work Summer’s done on the website is already getting noticed.”

  “Well, that’s great...isn’t it?”

  “It is. She’s an experienced horsewoman, and she and her husband have plenty of acreage for a horse.”

  Everything he was saying sounded positive, so why did she have a growing unease in the pit of her stomach? “Okay...”

  “She’s interested in Silverbelle.”

  “Silver?” Theresa thought of the sweet, shy mare who, right along with Jarrett, had captured her heart from the first moment she’d seen the two of them ride. “But you’ve worked so hard with her and she’s come so far—”

  “Far enough that she’s ready for someone to adopt her.”

  “I thought you were going to train her for the trail rides and riding lessons.”

  “That was the plan if I couldn’t find someone to adopt her. Look, I know this must seem like a tough decision, but there are a few hard rules when it comes to rescue. First, you can’t save them all. And second, you can’t keep them all. If Silver gets adopted, I’ll have room to take in another rescue. That’s the way it works.”

  Theresa knew everything he was saying was right, so why did it all feel so wrong?

  For an instant, sorrow and something else—regret? loss?—swirled in his gaze. But with a blink, the emotion was gone. “It’s easier to let them go when you know they have a better life waiting for them.”

  “How do you know?”

  “What?”

  Swallowing around the sudden lump in her throat, she asked, “How do you know it’s a better life?”

  “I’ll make sure of it. Before the final papers are signed, I’ll take a ride out to their property. See that the barn and the pastures are as nice as Mrs. Davis says they are.”

  “Can I go with you?” Maybe Jarrett was right. Maybe seeing Silverbelle’s new home would make it easier for her to accept that the little mare would be gone soon.

  Jarrett froze for a moment as he reached for a pen. He wrote something on the inside of the folder as he said, “It probably won’t be for another few weeks. You’ll be back home by then.”

  Theresa sucked in a pained breath. After dancing around any mention of her departure, she felt blindsided by the sudden jab. You’ll be back home by then. Because it would be just as easy for Jarrett to let her go, back to the good life she had waiting for her in St. Louis. If she’d had any hope that he would ask her to stay, he’d crushed it along with the scattered hay beneath his boots.

  Tears clogged the back of her throat and burned her eyes, but she determinedly blinked them way. Lucky for her, she wasn’t one of his rescues. And she’d make up her own mind whether her future meant returning to St. Louis or making a new home in Clearville.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Theresa slipped from the bedroom in the early-morning light and carefully closed the door behind her. Jarrett had gone out at dawn to take care of the horses before coming back to her bed. It was a habit they’d started after the day of the storm. She’d greeted his return with open arms, feeling his chilled skin warm quickly as he slid between the sheets. Their kisses were as hungry as ever, stealing her breath as he claimed her body with his own, but she couldn’t pretend anymore.

  After almost two weeks of not talking about her leaving, the one mention had shattered the glass bubble around them. The outside world still existed beyond Jarrett’s ranch, along with the hard decision she had yet to make.

  Stay...or go?

  She retreated deeper into the soft folds of her terry-cloth robe, trying to ward off a chill that came from the inside out, as she headed for the kitchen and the coffeemaker Sophia had loaned her. She went through the motions without thought, and the idea that she and Jarrett were doing the same thing—merely moving through the steps of a relationship—nearly broke her heart.

  She started at a sudden knock at the front door and fought back a groan. It wouldn’t be the first time one of her relatives had shown up unannounced. She wasn’t necessarily trying to keep her relationship with Jarrett a secret, but that didn’t mean she wanted him to waltz naked from her bedroom right into a family breakfast.

  A quick glance through the window showed Summer waiting on the porch, and Theresa exhaled a small sigh of relief. It would be easy enough to tell the younger woman she’d be down to the stables in a few minutes; no reason to stick around inside her cabin.

  “Summer, good morning—”

  “Can I come in?” the younger woman interrupted.

  “Um, I was just getting ready to head down to the stables. After I get dressed,” she added, realizing she was still wearing her robe over one of Jarrett’s T-shirts.

  But his sister didn’t seem to notice. “I just need a few minutes. Please.”

  The troubled look in her eyes called out to Theresa, and she simply couldn’t leave Summer waiting on the porch. “Of course. I’m making some coffee if you’d like a cup?”

  “Thank you.”

  Only after pouring them both a steaming mug of fragrant dark roast did Theresa ask, “Is everything all right?”

  Staring down into her mug as if she might find the answer in the lighter swirls of cream blending with the coffee, Summer confessed, “Jarrett asked me the other day why I was really here. I guess I should have known he wouldn’t believe I’d traveled all this way just to visit.” She looked up as she said, “I didn’t exactly tell him the truth.”

  Summer wrapped her hands tightly around the mug as if needing something to hold on to, something to keep her steady. “A few months ago, my mother—our mother—had a health scare. The doctors did a biopsy, and the test results came back negative, thank God.”

  Despite the outcome, Theresa could hear the lingering worry in the tremble in the younger woman’s voice. “I’m glad everything turned out okay.”

  She nodded. “Me, too. But it was so hard, waiting and wondering.” Emotion trembled beneath her words, drawing out more of her accent. “I wanted to call and tell Jarrett, but she wouldn’t let me. She said she didn’t want to bother him if
it turned out to be nothing, but I don’t think that was the truth. Just like I don’t think she was worried about dying. Not as much as she was worried about dying without having the chance to fix what’s broken between them.”

  Setting the mug down, she continued, “It would mean the world to my mother if Jarrett would just reach out to her. And I thought— I thought maybe you could talk to him.”

  “Oh, Summer...”

  “He’ll listen to you. I know he will. He’s crazy about you. Anyone can see that.”

  As much as she wanted to grab hold of the younger woman’s certainty, Theresa shook her head. Denying the possibility. Denying the way her heart jumped in her chest when she thought maybe, just maybe Jarrett had fallen for her the way she had for him. “I know it’s tempting to get involved, but whatever problems they have, it’s up to the two of them to resolve them. You and I can’t fix this.”

  “But if you could talk him into inviting her here, I really think they’d have a chance. It’s so beautiful here, so peaceful. My mother’s always loved horses, and I know how proud she would be to see all Jarrett’s done with the rescue, especially since she’s the one who—”

  Summer snapped her mouth shut suddenly, but it was clearly too late as the masculine voice demanded, “Especially after she what, Summer? What exactly has Lilly done that would give her any right to be proud of this place?”

  Jarrett stepped into the kitchen, taking in the startled looks in both of their gazes. Judging by the color quickly leaching from his half sister’s face, he didn’t want to know whatever it was she wasn’t saying. But he’d been thinking of his mother too damn often lately. First with Summer around as a painful reminder and then with talking to Theresa about his past. He should have left well enough alone.

  Maybe if he hadn’t talked about the past, maybe he wouldn’t feel as if he was so damn close to repeating it. So damn close to having yet another woman he loved walk out on him.

  Not that Theresa was to blame. He’d known all along their time together was only temporary. He should have been smart enough—strong enough—not to fall for her. But he was too like his father that way—loving a woman destined to leave.

  “Jarrett, I didn’t know you were— Forget it, okay? Just forget I said anything.”

  “No, I want to hear this. What did Lilly ever do for me other than leave me behind?”

  “Jarrett—” Theresa slipped from her chair, capturing his gaze with hers. None of this is Summer’s fault. Don’t take your anger out on her.

  He could read the words in her expression and was almost ready to apologize when Summer pushed away from the table, the chair legs screeching against the linoleum. “She loves you, Jarrett!”

  For a split second, he had the crazy idea that she was talking about Theresa loving him, and a wild beat of hope and happiness nearly burst in his chest. But the feeling didn’t last as Summer advanced on him, her normally smiling face twisted with sorrow and frustration. “All our mother has ever done is love you.” Her head held high, she stared him down as she quietly asked, “Why else would she have paid the premium on your father’s life insurance all those years?”

  Shock sucked every bit of air from his lungs. It couldn’t be true... It couldn’t be.

  “I heard Mama and Daddy arguing about it years ago. Ray started the policy when you were born, but it was Mama who paid to keep it going.”

  As much as he didn’t want to believe Summer, it was just the kind of thing Lilly would do. The guilt that goaded her into paying for his father’s care was responsible for this, too. Guilt...and pity. She’d seen that Jarrett couldn’t take care of Ray when his father had needed him. Maybe she thought he’d be just as useless when it came to taking care of himself.

  “I’ll pay it back. Every damn dime.”

  “That’s not what Mama wants—”

  “I don’t give a damn what she wants!” The words exploded from him, and Summer took a stumbling step back under their force.

  Theresa wasn’t so easily shaken. Instead of retreating, she moved closer. Close enough to reach out and grab his arms. Only a few hours ago, her touch had turned him inside out, but now he couldn’t feel it. Couldn’t feel anything. “I know this is all a huge shock, but isn’t it possible that Summer’s right? Can’t you at least consider the possibility that your mother did this because she loves you?”

  He couldn’t. It was pity or guilt or, hell, maybe another way to try to control him, but it sure as hell wasn’t about love. The ranch, the rescue, everything he’d worked so hard to build as a tribute to his father had been ripped out from beneath him. The only true sense of home he’d had since he was seven yanked away just like when his mother walked out on Ray.

  But he wasn’t a kid anymore. And he’d be damned if he let her tear his world apart again. “Every dime,” he repeated, “if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Theresa’s face paled as his words sank in. “Don’t do this, Jarrett.”

  “Rodeo promoters are always looking for a good comeback story.”

  And it was the best way, the only way he could think of to make money fast. Assuming he won. But the ranch and the legacy that belonged to his father’s blood, sweat and tears and not to his damn stepfather’s easy money mattered too much for Jarrett to even think of losing.

  Theresa shook her head in frustration. “I won’t watch you risk your life for the sake of stupid, foolish pride!”

  “You won’t have to.” Turning away from the sight of tears shimmering in her blue eyes, he spoke the words to the door as he reached for the handle. “You’ll be back in St. Louis.”

  * * *

  The echo of the slamming door was still resounding through the tiny cabin as Theresa sank into the kitchen chair. It was just a door, one then opened as easily as it closed, but the finality of Jarrett slamming it shut between them signaled so much more. Not just a door then, but an ending to their relationship.

  A heartbreaking, devastating ending.

  “Oh, Theresa! This is all my fault.” Tears fell from Summer’s eyes as she stared at the doorway. “I never should have said anything. I never should have come here in the first place. I wanted to help heal Jarrett’s relationship with our mother and now I’ve made it so much worse.”

  A choked sob broke free, and the younger woman covered her face with her hands. Theresa’s throat ached, and for a split second, she could think of nothing better than putting her head down on the table and joining Jarrett’s sister. Crying her eyes out until she was too exhausted to feel the ache in her heart.

  But then an old, familiar training kicked in. Caring and compassion were important aspects of nursing, but so too was being strong. Sometimes the hardest yet most important part of the job was putting emotion aside and focusing on what was best for the patient—even if it hurt.

  Pushing away from the chair, Theresa walked over and pulled Summer’s hands from her face. “Crying isn’t going to help.”

  The abrupt words shocked the younger woman enough to stop, though a few hiccoughing sobs still shook her chest. “I know, but—”

  “We have to figure out what will.” Sucking in a deep breath, Theresa said, “I have an idea, but I’m going to need your help.”

  “Are you sure? You’ve seen what my help has done so far.”

  “We have to do something. He can’t go back to the rodeo. If he does—” The words stopped in her throat, caught up by the lump there. “He can’t go back.”

  She’d known for some time now that she was falling for the hardheaded rancher, but the thought of him riding again, risking injury or worse, made Theresa realize how much she loved him. How totally, completely and hopelessly in love she was with him.

  Her heart ached with the impossibility of it all. She loved him, and he’d just walked away. Instead of standing strong and facing this problem
together, the first sign of trouble had broken them apart. But the pain didn’t change how Theresa felt. And she refused to stand by while he took such a dangerous risk, not if she had even the slimmest chance to stop him.

  Not even if it meant ruining any chance the two of them might have once had of being together.

  * * *

  Just a day or two before, Jarrett had wondered what happened to his quiet, peaceful stable. Feminine laugher had filled the place to the rafters as Theresa, Summer and Chloe had worked together, carrying on a three-way conversation he had no chance of following.

  He’d done his best to stay out of the way, offering a grunt or two when one of them had thrown a question in his direction. He kept his head down, his hat pulled low in hope the brim might hide the smile he hadn’t been able to keep off his face. He would have suffered through torture before admitting it, but he’d started to enjoy the energy and enthusiasm the girls brought with them. More than once, Theresa’s gaze captured his with a secret smile of her own, as if she knew what he was thinking...

  He didn’t have to worry about blocking out their laughter today. Other than the occasional huff of breath from one of the horses, the only sound was the scrap of the shovel as he mucked out the stalls. Both Theresa and Summer had stayed away from the stables since he’d walked out of the cabin yesterday, and Chloe went about her work as quietly as possible, smart enough to know something was going on and smarter still not to ask.

  Even Silverbelle seemed to be giving him the stink eye, though that was only in his imagination. It wasn’t as if the little mare could know about the message from Mrs. Davis on his cell phone. The woman had talked to her husband, and the couple wanted to go through with the adoption. All Jarrett had to do was sign the papers...

  “Jarrett.”

  The soft voice drifted through the quiet, drawing him up short as his gloved hands tightened around the wooden handle. For a split second, his brain thought it was Summer calling his name in that familiar Southern drawl. But his body knew better. His insides lurched, jerking around like that feeling of falling while caught in a nightmare. Because the voice was different—richer, mellower, more mature than his sister’s.