by Lori Wilde
“If there are any profits,” Dan muttered. Sometimes he felt he was kidding himself. Running a ranch was much more daunting and expensive than he’d first anticipated. Had his father been right, after all? Was this venture doomed to fail?
“Yep, Raleigh is one special gal,” Pete mused.
Dan had eyes. He could see that.
“And she knows horses,” Pete went on. “Me, I’m better at renovating buildings than I am at caring for cattle and horses. Raleigh? She’s the livestock whisperer.”
“No kidding.” Dan couldn’t stop thinking about her cute little tush and that sexy rolling walk of hers. One good reason why he should not hire her.
“She could see after the animals while you and I do the carpentry work.” Pete nodded at Matt Dillion. “She’s a right hard worker, too, plus an extra pair of hands would be a godsend. I don’t mind telling you, we sure need more help if you aim to open this dude ranch by next spring.”
“Give it up, Pete. I doubt she’d go for a room and board deal.” If he was going to hire someone, he needed a young, strong man, not some tough-talking petite woman who wreaked havoc on his ability to think straight.
“She might. Never can tell about that girl, and she’s got a little brother to raise, so she’ll do whatever it takes to make ends meet.”
Against his better judgement, Dan leaned against the gate and propped his chin in his palm. “Tell me more about Raleigh.”
Pete gave him a long, assessing stare. “You like her.”
“She’s attractive,” Dan said, trying to play it cool. He should probably forget about her, but dadgummit, he found her quite unlike any woman he’d ever met. “Why is she raising her brother alone? What happened to her parents?”
“Folks are dead. Her pa passed on in January. Kidney failure. Raleigh’s a real private person, and she hates for people to feel sorry for her.”
“What makes her so touchy?” Dan liked her hot-blooded nature. He came from a controlled, unemotional family, and her feisty spirit intrigued him.
“Just her way, I guess.”
“Does she have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t like to gossip. Maybe you better ask her yourself.”
“Come on, Pete. Throw me a bone.”
Pete shuffled his boots in the sand. “No. She ain’t got a fella. Least not right now. She don’t go out much. Spends most of her free time with her brother, Caleb, or with horses.”
“How come? She’s cute and smart and talented.”
“She’s got her reasons.”
“Some man broke her heart?”
“Might say that.”
Dan took off his cowboy hat and turned it in his hands. “What else?”
“It’s not my place, boss. Talk to Raleigh if you’re interested.”
Dan sighed. Maybe it was better if he let the whole thing drop. He had things to do and chasing after Raleigh Travers wasn’t one of them.
“I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better,” Dan confessed. “But I’m not ready for a relationship. This dude ranch is commitment enough for me.”
“If that’s true, I suggest you give her a wide berth.” Pete growled. “She’s suffered a lot in her short life, and she deserves better than being a fling.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Dan slapped Pete on the back. “I’m steering clear of her.”
“That’s good, ’cause if you hurt her, you’ll have me to contend with.”
Dan raised his palms. “Don’t worry, Raleigh is strictly off-limits. But maybe, one day, I’ll find the right girl. I’m a family man at heart.”
“One thing at a time, boss. First, let’s get this dude ranch up and running. After all, I have a stake in this too.”
Pete was right. His priorities lay in renovating the ranch. But that couldn’t dispel the memory of Raleigh Travers’ unique scent or the sweet curve of her fanny.
He’d already learned one painful lesson about letting his heart rule his head. His track record wasn’t exactly stellar. Nope. The best course of action was to forget about Miss Raleigh Travers entirely.
Raleigh drove aimlessly.
She pushed her sunglasses up on her nose and wrapped the end of her braid around one finger. Her thoughts churned. For one dizzy moment back there in the corral, she’d been totally immobilized by Dan’s scrutiny, finding herself inexplicably drawn to him.
She had wanted him to kiss her.
Groaning, she shook her head. The realization shocked her. Not since Jack had anyone made her feel so sensual, so attractive, so desirable.
Shivering, she placed a hand to her forehead.
She felt panicky and immediately shied from her feeling. Panic was a sure sign her emotions were involved. She thought of Jack again, and a heavy suffocating breathlessness came over her as if someone were holding a pillow over her face.
No.
She would not think about either the past or Daniel McClintock.
The clock on the dashboard told her it was five fifteen, but it perpetually ran ten minutes fast no matter how often she reset it. Caleb would be home from his summer job of helping tend the bee hives at Hightower Honey Farm and hungry for supper.
At the thought of her fourteen-year-old brother, she sighed. How could she tell him she’d struck out one more time?
Raleigh parked outside the rented duplex that she and Caleb had called home since their father’s death, cut the engine, got out, and sauntered up the front porch steps. She’d never grown accustomed to living in town. Raised on a farm, she missed the animals, the garden, the wide expanse of open land.
“Hey, Sis.” Caleb greeted her from the porch swing.
“How’s it going?” She leaned over to ruffle his hair. The gesture drove him crazy, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“Not good.” He ducked away from her hand, solemnly smoothing down his hair and handed her a folded letter.
“What’s this?”
“Bad news.”
Tentatively, she unfolded the letter. An eviction notice, for failure to pay rent. Her stomach nosedived to her feet. She’d known it was coming, but she’d been hoping against hope that their landlord would take pity on her and at least give her time to come up with the back rent.
No such luck.
“We’ve got to get out by the end of the month.” Caleb tried to sound brave, but his quivering lip sold him out. “That’s in five days.”
Evicted. They were being kicked out.
Scanning the letter again, Raleigh sighed, crumpled the paper, and tossed it into Caleb’s lap. “So what? We didn’t like living here, anyway.”
“But what are we going to do?” Her brother looked scared.
“You let me worry about that.”
“I can’t help it. I worry, too.” Caleb’s steely-blue eyes reminded her so much of Pa. A tug of loss and longing yanked at her heart.
She held up her hands. “Have I ever let you down?”
“No.”
“And I’m not about to start now.”
His face brightened. “Did you get the horseshoeing job?”
“No.”
Caleb gave her a hard look and sucked in a breath. “So, what are we going to do?”
“I’ll take Fay up on her offer to work at the diner.”
“Ah, Sis, you’ll hate waiting tables.”
“It’ll only be temporary, until a horseshoeing job opens up. You can do anything if you know it won’t last long.” She told the lie for Caleb’s sake.
Once employed at the diner, it was unlikely she’d ever get the chance to work as a farrier, and taking the waitressing job wouldn’t solve their immediate housing problems. A waitressing job in Rascal would barely cover the rent, never mind utilities, food, and gas. Even if she could talk their landlord into revoking the eviction notice, they couldn’t afford to stay here.
Caleb’s scowl deepened.
“Come on.” She patted his shoulder. “We’ve still got each other.”
Rock
eting out of the porch swing, Caleb gave her a fierce hug. “You bet, Sis.”
They’d been through so much together. First, the loss of their mother, then Pa’s death. If it weren’t for Caleb, she’d have cracked up long ago. Hugging him right back, Raleigh marveled at how tall he’d sprouted since school let out.
A couple months earlier, they’d been the same height; now he topped her by a good two inches.
“I got paid today.” He jingled change in the pocket of his faded jeans. “How ’bout I treat us to a burger?”
She started to say no and tell him they needed to save every dime, but what did a few dollars matter when they owed hundreds?
“Come on,” he wheedled. “I know you hate to cook. Besides, there’s nothing in the house to eat, and we’d have to go grocery shopping.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “My arm’s been properly twisted.”
“Great. I’m gettin’ a chili cheeseburger and onion rings.”
They piled into the truck and drove the few blocks to Fay’s Diner. For Caleb’s benefit, Raleigh tried to be cheerful, turning the radio to his favorite station, talking about how his day went. But her thoughts kept vacillating between the eviction notice and Daniel McClintock.
He was the sexiest thing to show up in Rascal since…well…he was the sexiest thing to show up in Rascal. Tall, dark, and handsome. Razor-sharp brown eyes. A backside that looked sensational in tight fitting Wranglers.
A sizzling smile.
It was the smile that did her in. Uprooted her in an unsettling way.
Why couldn’t she shake that man from her mind?
Ever since Jack, she’d been able to ignore men’s attentions, for the most part. She just wasn’t interested. But McClintock was different. Around him, she felt giddy, girlish, and out of control. It scared her, the notion of losing control.
“Hey, Raleigh, some of my friends are here. Do you mind if I go sit with them for a minute?” Caleb asked.
“Huh?” Raleigh blinked, realizing her thoughts had strayed. Caleb was looking at her expectantly. “No, of course not. Have fun.”
“Thanks.” Scooping up his food, Caleb moved over to the table with his friends.
Raleigh chewed her fish sandwich and sipped cherry cola without tasting it. She waited while Caleb and his buddies talked and joked. Giving him time and space. Parenting a teenage boy required boundless energy and long-suffering patience, two qualities she often found in short supply. Sometimes she questioned her parenting abilities. Caleb needed a male role model, and that was one of the things she couldn’t give him.
“Heck, I can’t even provide a roof over his head,” she mumbled under her breath, wadding up a piece of napkin and rolling it into a tight ball. Glumly, she stared at a clot of dried catsup clinging to the side of the napkin dispenser.
How would she make ends meet?
Raleigh checked her bank account on her phone and assessed the reality of her situation. After subtracting the amount for their weekly food bill, she had a grand total of forty-seven dollars and fifty cents.
“Hi there, kitten. Whatcha up to?” Fay Walton settled herself into the seat across from Raleigh. Fay was closing in on fifty but appeared ten years younger. She had a youthful figure, wore perfectly applied makeup, and carefully dyed any stray gray hairs.
“Hey, Fay.” Raleigh logged off the Wi-Fi, stashed her phone in her purse, and smiled wanly at the woman who used to date her father. At one time, she and Caleb thought Fay might even become their stepmother, but it had never happened. Probably because Pa didn’t want to burden her with his illness. He’d been a proud man. Some said Raleigh was just like him.
“Why the sad face?”
Raleigh forced a smile and shrugged as if she had no cares in the world. She adored Fay, but she preferred to keep her troubles to herself.
“Got turned down for another job, huh?”
“You can read me like a book.”
Fay reached across the table and patted her hand. “It’ll be okay.”
“We’re being evicted from the duplex,” Raleigh blurted and immediately regretted it. This wasn’t Fay’s problem.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.”
“No worries. We’ll find somewhere else to live.” For some crazy reason, an image of Daniel McClintock’s horse ranch popped into her head. Pete was living there, free room and board in exchange for chores, what if she were to…
No.
Absolutely not.
She was far too attracted to the man to entertain such ideas.
“Come live with me. I don’t have much room, but you can stay until you can find another place,” Fay invited. She lived in tiny house on the outskirts of Rascal. “I have a pullout sofa.”
Still toying with the napkin, Raleigh shook her head. “I do so appreciate the offer, but we couldn’t impose.”
“No imposition at all.”
“Caleb’s fourteen. I really can’t expect him to sleep on the sofa bed with me.”
“We could put a sleeping bag on the floor. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“I can’t...” Raleigh shook her head. She had to do something soon, or they’d be living in the truck.
“Well, then, if you won’t stay with me, at least come work for me. I know you have your heart set on continuing your pa’s farrier business, but you’re welcome to work here anytime. Not to mention I could really use the help,” Fay said.
“When can I start?” Raleigh asked.
Fay looked surprised. “Tomorrow, if you want.”
“That’ll be great, Fay. Thank you so much.”
“You’re more than welcome. Be here at six for the breakfast crowd.” Fay squeezed Raleigh’s shoulder. “See you at six.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Fay.”
“What you always do.” Fay gifted her an encouraging smile. “Survive.”
Watching her friend disappear through the swinging doors into the kitchen, Raleigh squared her shoulders. She might have to wait tables for a while, but she vowed that somehow, she would find a way to pursue her farrier career.
And do her best to forget about Daniel McClintock.
3
At eleven a.m. on Saturday, Raleigh was taking an order from table number three when she glanced up and saw him through the window.
Daniel McClintock parked his shiny, blue three-quarter-ton pickup in the parking lot of the First National Bank of Rascal and ambled across the street, heading straight for Fay’s Diner. He wore Wranglers, a blue plaid shirt, A Stetson, and dusty cowboy boots.
She froze.
“Miss? Did you hear me? I said, we’re ready to order now.”
Panic, swift and hard, launched through her like a ballistic missile. She stared at the elderly couple seated at the pink vinyl booth in front of her.
They gazed at her curiously.
“Excuse me...” She choked out the words. Zooming across the room, Raleigh snagged the other waitress’ elbow as the bell over the door tinkled merrily, and Dan strutted inside.
“Annie. Annie,” she said in a rushed whisper. “You’ve gotta do me a favor.”
Dan’s eyes met hers.
He slanted her a sideways glance and winked. Her knees turned to syrup. Simply looking at the man caused droplets of perspiration to collect between her breasts, and the tug of yearning deep inside her body scared the dickens out of her.
“What is it?” Annie frowned, clutching a pot of coffee in the hand that Raleigh clung to.
The elderly couple shifted in their seats, nosily craning their necks to see what was going on. The older man raised a hand. “Waitress.”
“Oh, shoot,” Raleigh muttered. “Shoot, shoot, shoot.”
Dan settled into the booth next to table number three. Her area.
“Switch sections with me,” she pleaded with Annie.
“What? Why? That old geezer’s signaling for you.” Annie wrenched her arm from Raleigh’s grasp.
“You’ve got t
o switch with me, Annie. See that guy over there? The one in the black cowboy hat?” As she spoke, Dan removed his hat and set it on the seat beside him.
“Yeah.” Annie grinned. “I see him. He’s real cute.”
“Well, I don’t want to wait on him. Please switch sections and I’ll give you the tips from both areas. Come on, say yes.” Raleigh peeked over her shoulder. Her eyes met Dan’s, and for one brief second, she felt as if she were tumbling backward into a bottomless well.
“Are you crazy, girl?” Annie perused Dan, and her light-brown eyes widened in surprise. “Why on earth wouldn’t you want to wait on a hunk like that? He can eat crackers in my bed anytime.”
“Please.” Raleigh pressed her palms together.
“Sure, I’ll switch sections with you. Take this coffee to table ten, and you leave that cowpoke to Annie.” The older woman thrust out her ample chest, her breasts straining at the buttons of her bubble-gum pink uniform.
“Thanks, Annie. I appreciate this.”
“Don’t mention it, hon. Just get a move on. You think it’s busy now, wait until the cattle auction lets out for lunch.”
Keeping her head down to avoid catching Dan’s eye again, she scurried away, concentrating on her duties despite the noisy clamor of clinking dishes, high-spirited laughter, and the steady roaring of her pulse whooshing in her ears.
She poured coffee for table ten, then hurried to retrieve an order when the cook dinged the kitchen bell for pickup.
It was her third day on the job, and although she’d been doing well, she could tell she wasn’t cut out for this kind of work. Her temper flared easily when someone criticized the food. She resented casual flirtations from customers. She disliked the greasy smell clinging to her clothes, and she positively hated the pink uniforms.
And now, to make matters worse, Daniel McClintock had appeared to plague her.
Don’t take it personally. He could just be here for the blue-plate chicken fried steak special.
Raleigh took another order and turned to deliver it to the kitchen, but found Annie blocking her way.
