The Rancher’s City Girl: Wells Brothers Book One

by North, Leslie

  “Don’t know that, either.” He felt wide awake, electric with adrenaline. “I’ve never kept track.”

  There was a heartbeat of a pause. “You know, with digital tracking…” Becca focused mightily on the cow, keeping her eyes away from his. “We’d have up-to-date data on the potential for genetic problems before the cattle are bred. Might be easier to make informed decisions that way.”

  Irritation burned its way up his throat like heartburn. He took his hand away from the cow’s neck. “Maybe.” In reality, there was no maybe about it. Becca was right. This was exactly the kind of thing he should have started keeping track of years ago. But that would have taken extra time after every day’s work, time he didn’t have, not if he wanted to be a half-way good father to his daughter.

  He’d have had to muster up his passion for the business, and right now? Well, he hadn’t been passionate about it in a long time. The only thing keeping him going now was Joey, and the care he’d built up for the animals over the years.

  “Think about it.”

  He had to admit that even when she was right—and she could have told him so—Becca had a light touch. In this situation, raised voices would only make it harder on the cow. Becca didn’t tread close to raising her voice. She only stroked the cow’s neck, over and over, her hands steady and sure.

  “I’m thinking about it,” he said.

  “Cade.”

  At the door of the barn, Danny stood with a short, curvy figure—Dr. Lambeth, the veterinarian Danny had worked with for years. He stood to go talk to her. Her hair, dark and streaked with gray, was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. “Danny said she’s been here an hour and forty-five minutes,” she said by way of greeting. “Still struggling?”

  “Still struggling.”

  Dr. Lambeth nodded briskly. “Let’s assess the situation, shall we?”

  His heart beat faster. Cade had his suspicions about what had gone wrong. If it was worse than his suspicions—he shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his mind. His heart threw itself back into the past, when everything at the ranch had seemed like the most important thing in the world. To the cow, this was the most important thing in the world. That was all that mattered.

  Dr. Lambeth knelt next to Becca, and the two women struck up a conversation in tones so low he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Cade inched forward. Neither of them gave any indication that they needed him, which felt…odd. People around here always needed Cade. And after ten years of single-handedly parenting Joey and keeping the ranch running, he wasn’t used to being on the outside.

  Yet here he was.

  Dr. Lambeth pulled on a pair of gloves and glanced over her shoulder. “I’m going in. Be prepared, in case we need to move her.”

  It was a strange relief, being brought back into the conversation, like coming into a warm room after stepping out into freezing temperatures. “Of course.” He got down into position next to Becca.

  “She thinks the calf might be sideways,” Becca told him. “I said that you suspected as much.”

  A bright flare of embarrassment and pride rose and sparked in his chest. “You don’t have to defend my honor, you know.”

  Becca shrugged. He couldn’t tell if she blushed or not, but he’d have given anything to know for sure. “You did, though. You said you thought it might be dystocia.”

  “The important thing to remember here is that it’s better to call in an expert.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. If you’ve got a cow struggling like this, it’s better to call in the vet rather than get your hands in there and screw everything up. You can do some serious damage that way.” Why was he telling her this? And why was there a sharp spot of pain when he thought about leaving all this behind? And why did that pain come alongside hope and fear and an enormous urge to put his arm around Becca’s shoulders? “So don’t be too proud to call.”

  “Right,” Becca said, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Don’t be afraid to do something different when things are going wrong. Got it.”

  Touché. He turned his attention back to the cow.

  “It’s like I thought,” Dr. Lambeth said in an even voice. “The calf is sideways. I’m going to move it into a better position.” She gave them each a meaningful look. “If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to discuss other options.”

  Beside him, Becca held her breath. Then she reached for Cade’s arm and gripped it tight. He went absolutely still, like she might be easily scared off. She wasn’t even touching his bare skin, just the fabric of his shirt, and all of his skin lit up.

  Cade felt Danny step up beside him. The entire world seemed to hold its breath with Becca, there in the middle of the night, in the barn that had been in Cade’s family for years. Dr. Lambeth let out a soft grunt. “Almost there…” His heart pressed painfully against his ribs. “Got the feet,” Dr. Lambeth said finally, and he clapped his hand over Becca’s and squeezed. The veterinarian eased the calf out onto the fresh straw beneath it. “We’re good,” she said, leaning into the calf as the mother cow made a sound that sounded like pure relief. “We’re all good.”

  Becca beamed in the lamplight, her face brighter than the full moon. “Wow,” she said, and he recognized the emotion in her voice. “Wow. That was really something.” He patted her on the back, shocked to find himself rubbing easily between her shoulder blades.

  “It is,” he agreed. “It is.”

  Cade followed Dr. Lambeth to the sinks and talked to her about the new calf while she washed up, then saw her off into the moonlight. When he got back to the stall, Becca was sitting up on her knees, congratulating the new mom. “You did great,” she was saying. “That was an incredible job. Never seen anything like it.”

  She was so enthusiastic that it nearly broke his heart. He’d been like that once. Maybe he could be like that again.

  The two of them rubbed down the new calf with a clean towel, then settled in to watch nature take over. He sent Danny to bed. And when it was just the two of them, he sat shoulder to shoulder with Becca and went over the whole story.

  “We’re talking about this like we both watched a game-winning touchdown up close.” Becca sighed happily. It had been a while. “Oh, look. Cade, look.”

  The calf got up on four wobbly legs and inched toward its mother, dropping down to the ground at the last moment. It nuzzled the cow’s belly and started to nurse.

  “Looks like they’re getting the hang of it,” said Cade. His muscles were heavy with fatigue, but he felt wired just the same. “Probably about time for us to turn in.”

  “All right,” Becca said, standing and brushing her hands against her jeans. “That was so exciting that I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep.” They hung one of the lanterns on a hook on the wall so the cow would have a bit of light. “That was so exciting,” she said again.

  “That’s life on the ranch,”

  A soft whisper of a sound outside caught his attention. At first, Cade couldn’t place it—what would be making that noise on the roof and the ground outside.

  “Rain,” he said suddenly. “We’re gonna have to make a run for it.”

  Becca didn’t hesitate. She sprinted for the door of the barn, Cade on her heels. The falling rain intensified with every passing second, beating down on the grass at his feet. He yanked the barn door shut and chased after Becca. Her hair had come loose from its elastic and flew over her shoulders, catching the moonlight on the strands.

  She put on a burst of speed as they crossed the yard, and his blood surged in his veins. Chase her. He couldn’t stop himself from letting loose, from running full speed at the back porch. Becca got there half a second before he did. They thundered up onto the covered porch, and Becca spun to face him, laughing. “Can you believe it? Rain like this—god, it’s so beautiful. That whole thing, new life coming earthside in the barn—wow.” She gasped. And his heart leapt toward her. “I can’t believe how—”

  She was so
cute, so kissable, that it broke something inside him, and the wall of self-control that guided his life came crashing down.

  He kissed her.

  Cade took her face in his hands and kissed her, the rain beating down on the roof of the porch.

  She made a little noise in the back of her throat that sent sheer pleasure rocketing through him, but he broke off the kiss. A deep breath. He had to get a breath in. Becca’s dark eyes gleamed in the night.

  “Let’s go in,” he said, and opened the door for her.

  “Good idea,” she said, and followed him in, not saying a word.

  7

  Cade’s hands on her face were strong and warm, pulling her in close, and she’d never felt the strength of a man before—not like this. Not in how delicate his touch was, or how easily he held her still. Or maybe it was her own body that wanted to hold still for him. To be still. To be in the moment. To let him explore her mouth with his tongue for one more aching second—

  But it was so bright on the porch. The moon blinded her, sinking low in the sky to peek in at them. But this peek was more like a stare. A stare that was more like a floodlight.

  No, that was way too bright to be the moon. Becca turned over and stretched, pulling away from Cade, who had disappeared.

  A dream.

  She groaned.

  Of course it was a dream. The whole of last night had seemed dreamlike, but Cade kissing her on the back porch? That was something out of a fantasy. And it had ended so quickly she could almost convince herself that it really had been a dream.

  Almost—but not quite. She could still feel the shadow of his lips against hers.

  Becca sat bolt upright in bed. Sun streamed through the window, and all at once she registered the most salient fact—it was late.

  He hadn’t woken her up.

  Becca jumped out of bed, a woman on a mission, and ran for the bathroom. Back in the city she’d slept through her alarm exactly once, and on that occasion, she’d been able to get ready for work in five minutes. It took her only three today. She scrambled into a clean set of clothes and took the stairs to the kitchen two at a time.

  Jayne stood at the sink, washing dishes, and when Becca came in, she turned to her with a broad smile. “Good morning. How’d you sleep? I heard there was a tough birth last night.”

  Becca blinked at her. “I slept just fine, thank you.” The house around her was quiet. “But people don’t sleep in around here, do they?” She laughed a little, like it might be a joke. “Even if it’s Saturday?”

  Jayne gave her a knowing smile. “Not most days, they don’t. Cade must’ve had other ideas for you.”

  Becca’s cheeks went hot at the thought of other ideas. “Well, I wish he wouldn’t,” she said, looking down at her fingernails. “I was ready to head back to work.”

  “Not yet.” Jayne pulled her hands from the sink, rinsed them, and dried them on a clean towel that hung by a hook on the wall above the sink. “The others headed out to feed the cows, so you’ll have to wait for them to come back before you do anything. And I’m supposed to give you breakfast. Cade’s orders.” Jayne winked at her, and Becca felt the irritation in her chest loosen its grip. “Have a seat at the table.”

  She sat alone at the round table in the kitchen and Jayne came over with a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Two minutes before, Becca would have sworn she wasn’t hungry, but the first whiff of crispy bacon had her reconsidering. She picked up her fork and dug in.

  “I guess you’re right,” she told Jayne. “My rental car isn’t the best vehicle to chase them with.”

  “Joey’ll be out at the henhouse,” Jayne said off-handedly. “I’m sure she’d like the company.”

  Becca put the last bite of toast in her mouth. Even toast here tasted better than it did in the city. She hadn’t expected the food to be so vastly different, but it was. It was like the moment Oz turned technicolor for Dorothy. A twinge of anxiety strummed deep in her gut. She was supposed to be evaluating the place for a month before she made her final decision, but this morning a different drumbeat thumped in her head—what if Cade didn’t sell?

  Becca swallowed down the thought of having to pack her bags and get back on a plane, leaving this place behind. It was too much to think about. And it was ridiculous. She’d barely been here a week. It was far too early to make that kind of commitment—or take on that kind of worry.

  She brought her plate to the sink. “I can wash up, if you’d rather,” she said, but everything in her itched to get to work. Her legs were still tight from crouching on the barn floor most of the night. The only thing that would save her now was some decent movement.

  “I wouldn’t rather,” Jayne said, and took the plate from her hand. “Get out to the chicken coop. If Joey’s not excited to see you, I owe you a ten-dollar bill.”

  “I’ll take that bet.” Becca put a smile on her face and marched out into the golden midmorning sunlight. Everything felt so fresh and new and hopeful. Watch one cow give birth, and everything changes. She laughed. That was a saying that could go on a throw pillow.

  A blonde figure darted out from the barn and sprinted full speed across the grass, hair flying behind her.

  “Hey, Joey!”

  Joey skidded to a stop on her heels like something out of a cartoon, whipping her head around in the process. “Hey, sleepyhead!”

  “Not my fault.”

  Joey came running over, her jog surprisingly graceful.

  “Anything you need help with?” Becca asked.

  “No.” Joey pushed her hair, tangled and curled, a natural riot, away from her face. “But you could come with me if you want.” She gave Becca a tentative smile, and her heart brightened. “I’m getting the eggs from the chicken coop first.”

  Becca followed her to the chicken coop, snugged up to a fence on the other side of the yard. The two of them ducked inside. It was warm, close, and smelled like hens. But when Joey pulled out the first set of eggs, Becca found herself almost breathless with awe.

  “Wow,” she said. “You’re so lucky to live here.”

  Joey shot her a look. “It’s just eggs.”

  “But getting your own eggs?” A memory swam up from two weeks before—shivering in the refrigerated aisle of a too-popular grocery chain back in the city. She’d gotten her own eggs then, too, but this was something else entirely. “It’s a good life here,” she said.

  “I know,” said Joey simply. “Everybody knows that.”

  They moved through the coop together, pressed up tight. Joey lowered each egg into a basket lined with a small blanket. “I’ve gotta run these to Jayne, and then we can go feed the pigs.”

  Becca watched as the girl moved smoothly across the yard. It was such a change from the explosive run from the barn, and Becca marveled at it. In the city, it was rare enough to find space to run like this. None of the city kids could ever afford to be as carefree as Joey would. It wasn’t really fair, though, to say that Joey’s life had been carefree. Not entirely.

  But she could run over and present the eggs to their housekeeper, a big grin on her face. Becca watched it happen from the middle of the yard. What would she, herself, look like when she stood at the kitchen window, accepting eggs from Joey? Would she look that happy?

  She would when she bought the ranch.

  The certainty washed over her like an ocean wave. Becca would be happy when she bought the ranch. Last night had shown her as much. Life here had a purpose and a meaning she intended to discover.

  She and Joey fed the pigs, brushed down the horses, and played a game on the old Mancala set tucked into one of Joey’s favorite spots in the barn. One by one, the hours slipped by. Becca looked up from the game when she heard the rumble of a truck pulling up next to the barn.

  “That’s your dad,” she told Joey.

  Joey raised her eyebrows. “Who else would it be?”

  “I have to tell him something. Finish the game later?”

  “You mean tomor
row,” said Joey pointedly.

  “As soon as we can,” she promised, and then she went out to find Cade.

  He stood next to the closed door of his truck, looking at something on his phone. He shoved it into his pocket after a moment and looked up, the sun caught in his sandy hair. “Hey. How’d you sleep this morning?”

  “Too long, thanks to you,” she said. “Listen. We need to talk.”

  He made a face. “Do you have to put it that way?”

  Becca laughed. “It’s nothing bad. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve made my choice.”

  His eyebrows knitted together. “Your choice?”

  “Yeah.” Becca took a deep breath. “I definitely want to buy the ranch. Right now.” Excitement expanded in her chest like a balloon. “No need to wait a month. I know I want it, and I’m not going to change my mind.”

  Cade’s face darkened, and he took a half step back. “I don’t know about that.” At the sound of his voice, the balloon popped. “We had a deal. I have to be sure you can handle this place before I’m going to let you have it.” He stepped forward again, back straight. “I’m not sure we’re there yet.”

  Her first instinct was anger—and defeat. He’d said no. But it was still early yet, and there was something about the passion in his eyes that made her catch her breath. He’d been so matter-of-fact about everything so far. “Okay,” she said slowly, an unease fluttering to life in her belly. That passion could be a sign that he wanted to move on, but needed to be sure of her. Or it could be a sign that he wasn’t ever going to move on, and this deal would be off. “So I haven’t proven myself yet. Didn’t you see me in the barn last night?” she joked. “I was pretty good.”

  “You were,” he admitted, and the change in his voice sent a whoosh of desire straight down the back of her spine. “But I’m not going to sell based on a few days’ work.”

  She nodded. “I accept your challenge.” Becca spun on her heel, heading for the barn. The next chore on the agenda was to clean out the stalls—again. As Joey put it, the stalls always needed cleaning. When in doubt, clean a stall. She’d start on that right now.