The Rancher's Blessed Event

by Stella Bagwell

  “The cocoa will be enough,” he told her.

  Her eyes remained fixed on the saucepan of milk as she stirred it back and forth with a hypnotic rhythm. In the brighter light of the kitchen, Cooper could see the lines of fatigue on her face, the deep bruises of lost sleep beneath her eyes.

  He’d expected to find her grieving. After all, Kenneth had been her husband for nearly ten years. Yet the longer he studied her, he decided she was more weary than anything.

  “I was in east Texas yesterday. Before that, Montana. I’m sorry I missed Kenneth’s funeral.”

  Emily doubted the sincerity of his words. Yet he was here now. She should at least give him credit for making any sort of appearance, she decided.

  “The eulogy was very nice. The church was packed—even some of my old accounting clients came—and I’ve never seen so many flowers.”

  Her voice was wooden and Cooper wondered if she was deliberately making it so to keep from breaking down in front of him.

  “I’m glad for that much at least. Can you tell me what happened? The message I got only stated that Kenneth had been killed by a fall from a horse. Is that right?”

  The cocoa was bubbling around the edges. Emily carried the pan over to the cabinet counter and filled two large mugs. At the end of the table she placed a mug for him, then sat down with her own.

  “You know how Kenneth never would let a horse get the better of him,” she began. “But this one was mean all the way through. I’d begged him to get rid of it but—” Her eyes on the mug in her hands, she shrugged. “He didn’t listen to me.”

  Cooper joined her at the table. “Was this a green horse he was breaking?”

  It seemed incredible to Emily that she was sitting here talking to him as if he’d never really been away. As if nothing had ever happened between them. Down through the years she’d imagined him coming home so many times and how it might feel to see him again. Yet none of her imaginings came close to the strange mixture of pain and joy surging through her at this moment.

  “No. It wasn’t a young horse he was just breaking,” she answered. “He used the gelding to work cattle and ride fence line. But the animal was temperamental and Kenneth had to watch him every second. The day he...I’d gone into Ruidoso and he’d planned to go check on a bull he’d been doctoring. We don’t really know what happened. It appeared the horse spooked for some reason and started bucking. Kenneth fell and it snapped his neck.”

  Cooper drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. His brother had always been a good rider. But even the best of horsemen got caught off guard at times. He knew that as well as anyone.

  “Are you the one who found him?”

  She shook her head. “I was out looking for him. Along with my dad and Uncle Roy and several of his deputies. Daddy was the one who found him.”

  He sipped the cocoa and rubbed a hand through his dark hair. “It’s hard to picture Kenneth not being able to handle a horse. He was always so good with them.”

  In spite of Cooper’s long absence from the Diamond D, Emily could see he was feeling a loss for his brother. Her heart almost softened toward him. Almost, but not quite.

  “It wasn’t really the horse that killed him. It was the liquor,” she said bluntly.

  Cooper’s gray eyes narrowed on her pale face. “Liquor? What are you talking about? My brother never drank.”

  Glancing away from him, she lifted the mug of cocoa to her lips. After she’d managed to take a couple of swallows, she asked, “How do you know?”

  Rage at the loss of his brother, his home, and all that had happened ten years ago surged up in his craw like bitter acid. “Kenneth was your husband, but he was also my brother,” he said stonily. “I knew him.”

  The bit of compassion she’d felt for him a moment ago vanished. “Yeah. Back when? Before you became a big rodeo star? Well, I’m sorry, Cooper, but the brother you knew wasn’t the one that fell from a horse and broke his neck.”

  Something flickered in his gray eyes. Doubt? Guilt? Whatever it was sliced into Emily like the edge of a rusty razor.

  “What are you trying to say? Had Kenneth become an alcoholic?” he asked.

  She realized what her words were probably doing to him. Cooper had always looked up to his older brother. From what he’d once told her, Kenneth had been a steadying influence to him after their parents had died. Then later, when Cooper had decided to try his hand at bronc riding, Kenneth had urged him on like a proud papa. If either of the Dunn brothers had possessed a wild streak, it had been Cooper, not Kenneth.

  Emily’s blue eyes were suddenly snapping with anger as she looked at him and it dawned on Cooper this was the most emotion he’d seen on her face since he’d arrived.

  “No. Kenneth wasn’t an alcoholic, but it was in the makings. I told him not to ever get on that horse if he’d been drinking. But he did anyway. A man with drunk reflexes shouldn’t be on a gentle nag, much less a loco cow horse.”

  Cooper felt physically ill. When the news of Kenneth’s death had reached him all he could think was what a senseless way to die. But now—what Emily was telling him made it far worse. “You know for a fact Kenneth had been drinking? You’d said you were gone to Ruidoso. You couldn’t have seen him.”

  Emily pushed aside her unfinished cocoa and got up from the table. “The autopsy report stated there was enough alcohol in his bloodstream to make him well past the legal point of drunkenness. I’m sorry, Cooper, but that’s the way it was.”

  He stared up at her in disbelief. “You’re sorry!”

  Before she could make a reply, he jumped to his feet and grabbed her by the upper arm. “That’s all you can say, you’re sorry?” His face bore down on hers. “What the hell were you thinking, Emily? Why did you let him get on a horse in such a condition? What were you doing?”

  Her features cold and stiff, she ripped her arm from his grasp. “What were you doing, Cooper?”

  Her pointed question stunned him. His hand fell away from her arm, but his gray eyes mercilessly held onto hers.

  The sick look on his face didn’t give Emily any pleasure and she decided they had both said enough for one night. None of it mattered anyway. Kenneth was gone. And so would Cooper, too. Probably by the end of the day.

  Turning away from him, she started out of the room. Before she reached the door, she said, “I made up the bed in your old room. If you want any breakfast, I’ll have it ready by seven.”

  Cooper wanted to call her back, but he didn’t. It was late and he could see she was exhausted. Now wasn’t the time to press her about his brother. But he would before he left here. And he’d make damn sure he got some answers.

  The next morning Emily was frying bacon when Rose, her stepmother, called. Holding the portable phone with one hand, she forked the frying bacon with the other.

  “I’m just checking on you,” Rose said. “Did you sleep last night?”

  Emily closed her eyes and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. For twenty-three years Rose had been her mother in every sense of the word and throughout that time her love and gentle kindness had never wavered. Nor had it ever failed to touch Emily’s heart.

  “A little,” she told her.

  Picking up the weariness in her voice, Rose said, “You need more than a little sleep. Your dad is going to the horse sale with a friend so I’ve got the day to myself. Why don’t you go back to bed after you eat and I’ll come over and see to the chores for you.”

  “You did that yesterday,” Emily reminded her.

  “And it didn’t hurt me one little bit Now tell me if you need me to bring you anything and I’ll be over in an hour or so.”

  Emily dropped a piece of bacon onto a plate lined with paper towels. “No,” she said quickly. “Don’t do that. I’ll be fine.”

  “But honey, I want to help you.”

  “I know,” she said, then decided she should explain. “Cooper came home last night.”

  The line went quiet as Rose digested
her daughter’s abrupt news. “Is he there now?”

  Emily glanced over her shoulder to make sure the man hadn’t slipped into the kitchen without her knowing. “Yes.”

  “How long does he plan to stay?”

  “He hasn’t said and I haven’t asked.”

  Rose went silent for another long spell. “How does he seem to be taking Kenneth’s death?”

  “I think he’s still in a bit of shock about it.” And Emily was still in a shock over seeing Cooper again.

  “Well, I know the two of them were close at one time. But frankly, I’m surprised the news brought Cooper home. He’s never bothered before. And what can he do now?”

  “I’ve been thinking the very things you just said.”

  “So you don’t really know his intentions?” Rose asked.

  “Not yet.”

  Rose groaned. “Oh Lord, Emily, I wished the man had stayed gone. Harlan isn’t going to like this one little bit. He hasn’t forgotten how Cooper hurt you. And if he’s come back with plans to take over his half of the ranch—well, all I can say is I see trouble.”

  His half of the ranch. Like a cold north wind, the words rushed through Emily. It was true that Cooper and Kenneth had shared ownership of the ranch since their father had died fifteen years ago. But Cooper had never seen fit to take any interest in the place. Neither with money nor his presence. She couldn’t see that changing just because Kenneth was no longer here.

  “You’re borrowing trouble, Mom. Cooper doesn’t have any intentions toward the Diamond D. Why would he? He’s a big rodeo star now. He has all the money he needs. And anybody with one good eye can see this place is falling down around my ears. No. You can rest assured Cooper couldn’t be bothered.”

  “I hope you’re right, darling. You have enough on your mind without something like that. You haven’t told him anything, have you?”

  Emily switched off the burner beneath the skillet and took a peep in the oven at the baking biscuits. “What do you mean? About the accident?”

  “No. About you.”

  Emily quickly glanced over her shoulder again. A few minutes before her mother had called, she’d heard Cooper head down the hall to the bathroom. Any second now she expected him to walk into the kitchen.

  “I have no intentions of telling him anything about my condition. It’s none of his business. And I’d appreciate it if you’d tell Daddy and the rest of the family not to say anything if they happen to run into Cooper.”

  “Is there a reason you don’t want him to know?”

  She bit down on her lip as several reasons came to mind. “He...doesn’t need to know, that’s all. Now I’ve got to finish breakfast. I’ll call you later, Mom.”

  “All right, honey, if that’s the way you feel. You know your daddy and I are here if you need us.”

  Knowing she had her parents’ support was one of the things that had kept her going. “And I love you for it. We’ll talk later.”

  She placed the phone out of the way then gathered a couple of pot holders and pulled the pan of hot bread from the oven.

  “Something smells good. Is it biscuits?”

  Emily glanced around just as Cooper walked into the room. Even though she knew he’d slept across the hall from her last night, it was still a shock to the senses to see him this morning.

  He hadn’t shaved but she could see he must have taken a quick shower because his dark hair was wet and slicked back from his face. A red plaid shirt hung half buttoned on the outside of his jeans. His feet were bare except for a pair of white socks.

  “Yes, it’s biscuits. And you shouldn’t be walking around without your boots. The floor is gritty. You’ll ruin your socks.”

  He gave her a twisted smile. “I’ve been known to get grit in my boots before.”

  No doubt, she thought. He’d made his living in thousands of dusty rodeo arenas. It shouldn’t matter to her if he ruined ten pair of socks on her dirty floors. And it shouldn’t feel so good to look at him, either. But it did.

  Carrying the pan of biscuits over to the table, she motioned for him to take a seat at one of the empty plates. “How do you want your eggs? Scrambled or fried?”

  “Fried, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

  She went to the stove, broke four eggs into a skillet of warm grease, then carried a coffeepot back to the table and filled his cup.

  “Are you always up and going this early?” he asked.

  She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Normally I’m up and about much earlier. But I’ve tried to get a little more rest these past few days.” Not that laying in bed an hour and a half more did any good, she thought. She still felt drained and groggy, but she was determined to get better, to be able to smile and laugh again.

  “You look tired.”

  As she tended the cooking eggs, her free hand unconsciously fluttered to her bare cheek. With no makeup and her hair pulled back in a messy French braid she knew she must look awful. Her work jeans and old blue sweater didn’t help matters, either. But for the past couple of years, she’d ceased to think of her appearance as important. How irritating for Cooper to notice and point out such a thing to her.

  “Ten years can do a lot to a person’s looks.”

  He picked up the steaming cup of coffee and savored the smell as he brought it to his lips. After a careful sip, he said, “I didn’t say you looked older. I said you looked tired.”

  The eggs done, she carried the skillet over to the table, ladled three onto his plate and one on her own.

  As she took a seat opposite him, her eyes briefly met his and she wondered, if like her, he was remembering back to the breakfasts they shared ten years ago.

  Emily hoped not. She hoped that once he’d left the Diamond D, he’d totally forgotten the unabashed way she’d loved him, the nights she’d spent cradled in his strong arms. Just thinking of the pleasure he’d given her sent a shaft of guilty heat rushing through her.

  “I’m really okay,” she told him.

  Emily didn’t look okay. She looked like hell, but Cooper kept the opinion to himself. He could see her nerves were raw and he hadn’t come here to the Diamond D to cause her more pain. In all honesty, Cooper wasn’t exactly sure why he’d come back.

  The funeral had already taken place. He couldn’t help his brother now and he didn’t necessarily want to assert himself into Emily’s life just because she was his sister-in-law and newly widowed. Nor did he figure she would appreciate him sticking his nose into any unfinished legal business she might have to deal with over the accident. So had he really come here just to see her one more time? He didn’t want to answer that.

  Shaking tabasco over his eggs, he asked, “How is everyone else around here? Do your parents still live on the Flying H?”

  Relieved that he wasn’t going to bring up Kenneth’s accident right off, she relaxed a little. “Yes. My brother Ethan has graduated college and is living back home now.”

  His brows lifted and for the first time since she’d found him in the barn last night there was a genuine smile on his face. “Little Ethan is out of college? Why, he was just a little ornery horned toad that last time I saw him.”

  A vague tilt to her lips, she passed him a biscuit then took one for herself. “Well, he’s all grown up now.”

  “What about your aunts?”

  “Justine and Chloe are fine. So are their children. Uncle Roy is still the sheriff. He thought about retiring last year, but the people in this county love him too much to let him go. And my cousin Charlie loves being a Texas Ranger. Uncle Wyatt is still in the oil business and of course Daddy will always be a rancher.”

  And what about you, he wanted to ask her. Had she been happy as Kenneth’s wife? Really happy? Cooper knew he had no right to put those questions to her. But for the past ten years he’d thought of little else.

  “What about your other cousins? Are they still living around here?”

  “The twins are all grown up now. Anna is touring as a concert
pianist and Adam is working in the gas business with his dad. Their younger sister, Ivy, is at NMU studying to be a doctor. And you remember Charlie’s younger sister, Caroline. She lives in Santa Fe and works as a jewelry designer. None of them have married yet. I guess they’ve all been too busy building their careers.”

  Wishing he could think about anything but her, he turned his attention to the food on his plate. It tasted good and he was hungry. But the eggs and bacon did little to fill up the empty hole in him.

  “Emily,” he began after a few minutes of silence. “Last night...about Kenneth...if I sounded—”

  When it appeared he couldn’t find the words to go on, Emily did it for him. “Out of line?”

  He didn’t necessarily think his question had been out of line. Still, he did feel a little badly about being so rough on her. But hell, she’d met him with the barrel of a .30.30 pointed straight at his gut. The greeting hadn’t exactly put him in a warm mood.

  “I don’t think wanting to know how my brother died was asking too much. Even if you didn’t want to talk about it.”

  She reached for her coffee, but suddenly the smell of it sickened her. She put the cup down and reached for the orange juice she’d poured earlier.

  “You think I’m to blame because Kenneth is dead,” she said flatly. “You think I should have stopped him somehow.”

  He grimaced. “I didn’t—”

  “You said it. You know you did. So don’t be bashful. Tell me what you’re really thinking now. God knows I can take it.”

  That weariness was back in her voice and Cooper realized he hated it. More than anything he wanted to see the warm, vibrant Emily he used to know.

  “Okay. I know that if there was one person on this earth who could have prevented Kenneth from getting on that horse, it was you.”

  The smile she gave him was so utterly sad he could hardly bear to look at her. “At one time, that might have been true. But not now.”

  “Why was Kenneth drinking?”

  She couldn’t finish the food on her plate. In fact, she was going to be lucky if she didn’t lose what little she’d managed to get down.