The Rancher's Family--A Clean Romance

by Barbara White Daille

  “No, I just left Wes’s house later than I’d planned.”

  What had gotten to him tonight? Something beyond grief seemed to make him fly off the handle. Paranoia, as he’d jokingly claimed? A chip on his shoulder? Guilt connected to his kids? He’d sounded defensive when he insisted he could take care of them. Or was she just imagining things?

  Cara refocused on Andi. “I thought about calling to let you know I was on the way, but in the time it would’ve taken me to reach you I’d almost be on your doorstep. It’s not that far from Wes’s place to here.”

  “True. So, how did the rest of your day go?”

  “Fine.”

  We’re doing just fine. Why had Wes sounded as though he needed to remind himself of that even as he tried to convince her?

  Maybe she’d imagined that, too.

  Jed stopped in front of them and handed Andi a tall glass. “Your iced tea. And I brought one along for you, Cara.” He held out a second glass.

  “Thanks.” She accepted it gratefully. It had been awhile since she’d finished her last bottle of water, and though Arizona would win in any argument over which state had the driest air, New Mexico was arid, too.

  “How did things go over at Wes’s house?” Jed asked, almost echoing Andi’s question.

  Cara eyed them both. Maybe her imagination wasn’t working overtime, and maybe Wes wasn’t as paranoid as he thought. “Patty Daniels had a room filled with crafts.”

  “So Andi says.” Laughter from conversations around them almost drowned out his deep voice. He gestured to the wide doorway. “Why don’t we step out in the hall to continue this conversation?” As soon as he’d ushered them from the room, he said, “Did my girl get the chance to tell you her news?”

  Cara looked at Andi, who grinned. “I’m going to be opening a store.”

  “A store? Where?”

  “Right here in town. I hope, anyhow. There are some vacant storefronts on Canyon Road.”

  “You sound like a woman with a plan.” Obviously, this idea excited Andi too much to let her drop it. At least one of them had their future lined up. “You’ve got this all thought out, haven’t you?”

  “Not too much beyond what I’ve just said,” Andi admitted. Although she sent an almost uneasy glance toward her grandfather, her cheeks turned pink at the compliment. “I’m just getting started,” she told Cara.

  “Andi...” She held back a frown. “You know I’m the last person who would want to talk you out of a career. But starting a business is a completely different proposition than selling products online. You’ll need to think about overhead costs, especially in a small town. What are the options on the square footage?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t looked yet.”

  “And what about future inventory?” This business had nothing to do with her, but as much as she wanted to avoid getting caught up in the planning, she had to ask questions. What kind of friend would she be if she didn’t help Andi see all the angles and avoid potential problems? “What are you going to do when you make sales and your stock runs out?”

  Jed laughed. “I knew Andi had a smart idea, roping you in on this.”

  “The inventory is the best part,” Andi said, her eyes shining. “If I can get this business off the ground, I can also help some of the women in Cowboy Creek. They don’t have much opportunity to earn money here, either, but so many of them are good at crafts.”

  “There are active groups at the community center,” Jed put in. “A knitting club...a sewing club...”

  “Grandpa’s right. Not everyone’s going to be interested, of course, but I imagine plenty of the women will love the chance to earn some money.”

  “That’s probably true.” And it might mean Andi could manage without her help. “In that case, maybe you won’t need Wes Daniels’s inventory, after all.”

  “Exactly the opposite,” Jed said. “Andi needs it more than ever if we’re going to give that boy a hand. We’ve seen some progress with him, thanks to you. And we want to help him get to the point where he can move on.”

  His simple statement opened a floodgate of questions. How long would it take for Wes to feel ready? For her to feel the same? How long did grief last? It had already been more than a year for him. Did everyone need the same amount of time?

  She didn’t have answers to any of the questions, couldn’t argue Jed’s statement and didn’t want to. No matter what Wes thought, he and his family did need help. And she would help...for as long as she was around.

  “Wes mentioned the crafts clubs.”

  “Did he?” Jed studied her, his white eyebrows raised.

  Andi stared at her just as intently.

  Quickly, she explained about the supplies she had found. “Wes understood you wouldn’t sell crafting material, so he asked me if you’d donate it to the clubs.”

  “No problem,” Andi said. “It was nice of him to offer that.”

  “That’s what I told him.”

  “And he’s a nice guy, don’t you think?”

  “Sure. But his being nice—or not—has nothing to do with bringing you customers. And how will you sell anything if everyone in town can make their own crafts?”

  “That’s more good news. Grandpa heard from a town council member there’s going to be an exit opening up off the highway, just outside Cowboy Creek. Isn’t that perfect?”

  “For Andi’s store and the Hitching Post, too,” Jed said with a smile. “Of course, construction will take a while, but that’ll give Andi time to get set up. Then think of all the tourists we’ll be able to attract. Speaking of which...”

  He stopped to greet a small group of guests coming down the hallway.

  Once he’d escorted them into the dining room, Andi tilted her head in that direction. “Come on. I’ve got to get in there and mingle, too. Never a dull moment around this place. Or a quiet one. But I’ve taken care of that. Mitch is going to keep an eye on the kids after dinner while you and I have some best-friend time.”

  Her suddenly serious tone gave Cara the first signal something was up. The second hint came from Andi’s smile. A warm, sunny smile that didn’t match the concern in her eyes.

  * * *

  CARA SETTLED IN a chair in the Garlands’ private wing with a mug of tea cradled in her hands.

  She and Andi had left the dining room before most of the Garlands and their guests had gotten up from their tables.

  “Hope you don’t mind if I take care of laundry while we chat.” Andi laughed. “It seems like there’s always a basket at the washing or drying or folding stage around here.”

  “I don’t mind.” But Cara did. Watching Andi smooth a small pink T-shirt on the couch cushion reminded her of the closet at Wes’s house. And the closet at Wes’s reminded her of—

  “The new exit is great news, isn’t it?”

  Grateful for the distraction, Cara nodded. “On the upside, it could be fantastic if it actually brings people into town. If you decide to take Patty Daniels’s inventory—and she’s definitely got enough to get you started in business—and supplement that with stock from your local crafters, you could have a very good thing going.”

  “That’s what I was thinking.”

  “Then add in a line of southwestern-themed gifts, and you might be looking at a potential gold mine.”

  Andi paused midfold and stared, her eyes wide. “I love that idea!”

  “Remember, that’s the best-case scenario,” Cara cautioned. “And that’s based on having enough tourists or travelers come to town. On the other hand, I hate to point out the downside of your plan, but you need to consider it, too.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “A lease on the property alone could put you in a financial hole. With a family to worry about, I’m not sure you’d want to go that route. Couldn’t you start off small and here at t
he hotel?” She gestured in the general direction of the Hitching Post’s entrance. “I’m sure Jed would find space out in the lobby or somewhere close to it for you to set up some shelving and displays.”

  “We already talked about it today. The only space available is the room behind the reception desk. That’s the management office, Tina’s domain. And I want to do more than set up a few displays. With all the women I expect to be interested in making crafts to sell, I’m going to need at least a small store.”

  “Start-up costs are expensive.”

  “I know. And Grandpa offered to take care of those. But Mitch and I discussed it, and for now, anyhow, I want to try handling everything on my own.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. This is going to work out. I can feel it. Here.” She held up her tea mug and leaned sideways toward Cara’s chair. “For good luck.”

  Their mugs clinked together.

  “I’m sure I’ll be able to keep to budget,” Andi went on. “Of course, I won’t know details about what’s available for lease in town till I start looking. I’m going to the realty office tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? What happened to looking over inventory with me?”

  “That can wait for a few days. You said you’ve barely sorted through anything yet. While you’re taking care of that, I’ll make looking for the store my priority. I don’t want to miss out on a good deal.”

  Andi dropped her hands to her lap, apparently unaware she was crumpling a freshly washed T-shirt.

  “Since we won’t have much time to talk in the morning, we’d better make the most of tonight. So, tell me what’s wrong.”

  Grateful she didn’t have to help fold those little clothes, Cara wrapped her hands around the hot tea mug. “Nothing.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t buy that, just like you didn’t buy it when I said the same thing yesterday. Something else is wrong. I mean, besides Brad. I know you’re upset about breaking up with him—”

  “No, I’m over him.” She’d answered honestly but now, too late, realized her mistake would cost her.

  “Really?” Andi tilted her head, eyeing her thoughtfully. “I’ll admit, you seem to be okay. But there’s something still bothering you. Since you’ve gotten here, you haven’t acted like yourself around Trey or Missy or any of the kids. And you haven’t once held Emilia.”

  No, she hadn’t held Tina’s baby. But she had hugged Robbie and Trey...shared hugs and kisses with Missy...caught Tracey’s hand to untangle her hair from those little fingers... All those moments had been more than enough for her.

  Cradling an infant might push her over the edge. Even now, just the thought brought tears to her eyes.

  Tears Andi didn’t miss. “Tell me.”

  “I...” She sighed, then blinked to clear her vision. “I would have told you sooner, but we’ve been so focused on Wes and his kids, and then talking about the store, and then—”

  “Cara, please.”

  “I know. This is just so hard to say.” She took a deep breath meant to pull herself together. It didn’t help. “I told you what happened with Brad. I wasn’t up in Flagstaff with him very long, just a few weeks in early spring, before I found out I was pregnant. We’d talked about having a family and we both wanted kids. But when I told him the news he...he said he’d changed his mind.”

  Andi gasped.

  “That’s when I broke up with him.” Cara rushed on, knowing she had to get this out while she still could. “And then at the beginning of the summer, I—” Her voice broke. “I lost the baby.”

  “Oh, Cara.” Andi reached out to give her a hug. “I’m so sorry.” She grabbed a tissue from a box on the end table, then handed Cara the box. “You shouldn’t have gone through that all alone.”

  “I know.” She dried her eyes. “I planned to tell you. When I found out I was pregnant, I didn’t share the news with anybody, not even the friend I stayed with when I went back to Phoenix. I wanted to wait till I got here. To surprise you. And then when...when I lost the baby, you were the first person I wanted to tell, too. But I couldn’t share all that over the phone. Not the good news and the bad news in one call.”

  Andi nodded, her eyes tearing again.

  “I know I could have asked to come sooner,” she admitted. “Except by then I was having a hard time just making it through the days. And after I got here and you told me what you did, about you and Mitch trying to get pregnant—”

  “Oh, no. You shouldn’t have kept it to yourself just because of that.”

  She gave a shaky laugh. “You didn’t plan to tell me either, remember?”

  “Well, all right, that’s true. But I still wish you had called me instead of going through everything on your own. That’s what best friends are for, you know.”

  “Yes, I do know.”

  “Are you okay? I mean, physically?”

  Cara nodded. “I had a follow-up appointment just before I left home, and everything checks out. The doctor doesn’t have any answers about what happened. She said they don’t always know.” She would never know why she had lost her baby.

  She pressed her hand, warm from holding the tea mug, against her stomach. Her skin heated beneath her shirt, but the warmth couldn’t reach the cold emptiness inside.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  AFTER A RESTLESS NIGHT and a quick breakfast, Cara again drove to Wes’s ranch at the promised time. She rang the doorbell, waited awhile, then tried again. By now, he should have gotten home after dropping off the kids at their day care center. Maybe he was working in the barn she’d seen yesterday.

  She wandered around to the rear of the house. At the back porch steps, she spotted a small sheet of paper protruding from the edge of the screened door. Most likely a note for her.

  Off to work. Door is open, Wes had written. He hadn’t signed the note, just scribbled a phone number.

  People in small towns certainly trusted their fellow man—or woman. Back home, she wouldn’t have left her door unlocked to go to the mailboxes at the end of her block.

  She slid the note into her jeans pocket on her way into the kitchen. Since she had missed lunch at the Hitching Post yesterday, Paz insisted on sending a sandwich, fruit and cookies along with her today. When she tried to protest the care package wasn’t necessary, Jed had jokingly—or maybe not so jokingly—said refusing food would upset Paz, and nobody but nobody was allowed to upset his cook.

  Cara had given in and accepted the offering with much gratitude. To tell the truth, those snacks yesterday afternoon had barely kept her hunger satisfied until dinnertime.

  Wes had left the kitchen clean and tidy. She noted the dishpan and Tracey’s toys air-drying in a drainer, Mark’s artwork covering the front of the refrigerator, his crayon boxes and construction paper stored neatly on a handy counter—all proof of how much Wes cared for his kids. But she had seen the signs of that before today.

  When he had told her he loved his children, she’d already had no doubt. Every time she was with him, she saw the evidence in the way he ruffled his son’s hair and squeezed his shoulder, how he tickled his daughter beneath her chin, making her giggle. She heard the caring in his voice when he talked to both kids. Whether he knew it or not, Wes’s every word and gesture revealed how much he loved them.

  If only—

  No. If-onlys came from the past, from what might have been, from what had never happened. Hadn’t she promised herself she would look only toward the future?

  Needing a distraction, she stored her lunch bag in the refrigerator, then stepped back to examine the outside of the door. It served as a gallery for Mark’s crayoned drawings, finger-painted creations and a few ragged-edged coloring book pictures.

  Beside one of the drawings, a couple of magnets held photos of the kids to the door. One photo showed Mark on the living room couch with his arm draped across Tracey’s shoulders. Stuffed animals filled every available s
pace on the couch around them.

  The other photo was of Tracey. Newborn Tracey, wrapped in a baby blanket and cuddled against her daddy’s chest. The photo blurred as though it had fallen into a dishpan full of water.

  Before she could block it, an if-only slipped past her defenses.

  If only everything had gone as it should, which would she have held in her arms one day, a tiny son or daughter of her own?

  She grabbed her purse and laptop from the table, then nearly fled from the kitchen. She’d made it halfway to the stairs off the living room when she heard the back door open. Blinking, she turned. “Wes? Did you forget something?”

  One step into the kitchen again, she froze. The man framed in the doorway wasn’t Wes.

  He smiled broadly. “Hey. Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  That smile turned him into one good-looking cowboy. Yet he didn’t interest her a bit...except for making her see how Wes could look if he’d just let himself relax.

  “I’m meeting Wes,” he said. “I’m early and thought I’d catch up with him here, instead of where we’d planned. I’m Garrett, the older, better-looking brother.”

  “I can see the family resemblance.” Garrett was tall and broad-shouldered, with Wes’s thick, dark hair and—as she saw when she walked closer—Wes’s dark brown eyes. “He mentioned having a brother.”

  “Did he?” Another smile. “No offense, but he’s never told me about you.”

  “We just met this weekend.”

  “Is that so?” His brows rose, relaying his thought as clearly as if he’d said it aloud. Well, somebody sure moved fast.

  She would need to clear up that misconception just as quickly. Whether it was Wes’s reputation or her own she wanted to save, she didn’t know. “I’m Cara Leonetti. I’m a guest at the Hitching Post.”

  “You’re Andi’s friend. Jed did tell me about you.” She couldn’t miss the emphasis. “Speaking of my boss, he let me have the morning off to give Wes a hand. And as Jed would say, time’s a-wasting. Wes around?”