Her Cowboy Hero (The Colorado Cades) (10 page)

“All right, so what are we thinking?” Hannah’s cheerful voice came from behind him. “Guest towels? Standing mixer? Pillow shams?”

“You do know it’s weird that you sound downright giddy about those things, right?” Did her enthusiasm stem from growing up in other people’s houses, dreaming of the day she’d have a home of her own? The way she talked about decorating this place, it was as if she wanted every curtain panel and sofa cushion to be just right, to match a picture she’d been carrying in her head. Would the reality live up to her dreams?

That was the problem with hope; its flipside was disappointment.

She pulled up a chair next to him, and he saw she’d changed clothes after tucking Evan into bed. There was nothing revealing or inherently alluring about the polka-dotted flannel pants she wore or the pale pink sweatshirt. But he couldn’t help noticing she was braless beneath the soft material. That discovery was more distracting than it should have been.

He abruptly lowered his gaze. “What the...” Her slippers had tails.

She wiggled her feet, showing off the cow slippers. “Aren’t they great? They were a going-away present from some neighbors in Colorado Springs. To wish me luck as a cattle baron.” Her dimples appeared. “Well, baroness. Lucky for you, all baronesses are born with exquisite taste.” She waved her hand as if giving a royal decree. “Scroll away.”

They looked through several pages of items, none of which felt quite right to Colin. Arden’s mini lecture had obviously hit home. It felt coldly impersonal to send his only brother bath mats or a lamp. Hannah offered a compromise that included gifts Elisabeth and Justin had requested while still doing something that showed more thought than simply clicking an on-screen item.

“You can do a play on picnics,” she suggested. “They want eight of those china plates. Buy two of those and that pair of wineglasses.” She pointed. “Then you can get the pretty throw blanket that was on the last page and put it all together in a basket. Rather, your sister can, if we have it shipped to her and she doesn’t mind. Voilà—elegant living room picnic! A perfect date night when you can’t find a sitter and need something romantic at home. In fact, hold on...”

She took the mouse from him and opened a new window, browsing outside the registry. A few minutes later, she’d found a trio of ornamental candles that coordinated with the stuff they’d already selected.

“Nice touch,” he said. “You really do have a good eye for this.”

“The registry made it easy. It showed us what colors they’re using and what their tastes are.”

Sure, it wasn’t rocket science, but he’d always been terrible at shopping. He prioritized function over form. The females in his life hadn’t always appreciated that. “I bet you’d get along with Arden. She’s a photographer, all about space and light and color. When Natalie and I got married, Arden was our unofficial interior decorator.” He was surprised his wife’s name slipped out so naturally. But it felt right. For the past fifteen minutes, they’d been discussing Elisabeth and Justin’s upcoming marriage. Mentioning his own was a logical progression.

Tentative but feeling unexpectedly liberated, he elaborated. “Arden and Nat were best friends, practically their entire lives. Whenever the two of them got together on a project, it was best to just stay out of their way. I worried about dating Natalie at first, since she was Arden’s friend and younger than me. But once she got it in her mind that we belonged together, she wasn’t shy about pursuing me.”

She’d been a real dynamo, not intimidated by obstacles or setbacks.

He turned to Hannah. “She would have liked you. You’re both very determined women.” Natalie had been stubborn in a brassy, unmistakable way. With Hannah’s dimples and mouthwatering array of baked goods, she was less obviously mule-headed. One could misread her sweetness as mild-mannered, but that would be a superficial conclusion. Only a relentlessly tenacious woman could accomplish what she was attempting.

“I take that as the highest compliment,” she said, sounding pleased.

“Good. That’s how I meant it.”

He returned his attention to the laptop. They looked at baskets, checking the dimensions to make sure all the proposed gift items would fit inside, and Colin found himself volunteering more information he hadn’t expected. He spoke softly at first, as if they were in a library. Or a church. “The only room I ever had much hand in decorating was the nursery. Natalie and I did that together.”

“How old was he?”

“Two. He’d be Evan’s age now.”

She reached atop the table and squeezed his hand, the way she had last night. He stared at their fingers, his so dark and rough against hers, until the worst of the ache eased.

“After the funeral,” he continued, “when my siblings finally left and I was alone in the house, I thought that room would be the worst to face. So I didn’t. I shut the door and never went in. In the end, it wasn’t the nursery that drove me to putting the house up for sale. It was the double vanities in the master bathroom. I had my mirror and sink, Nat had hers. Every damn time I brushed my teeth or shaved, there was her side. Empty. She used to gargle mouthwash really loudly and in odd rhythms to make me laugh. And before we went out to dinner parties, she’d talk to me while she was curling her hair, usually trying to guess what woman my brother would bring as a date. All those stupid little rituals.”

“Laundry day.” Hannah gave him a sad smile. “Michael and I met at a Laundromat, so that’s where he proposed. He hid the ring box under some dryer sheets so that I discovered it, then made a big production of asking me to marry him in front of everybody. When we got married, we didn’t buy a washer and dryer. We kept the Laundromat as a silly ritual, and when he was overseas, going to do laundry made me feel closer to him. When I had Evan and moved into an apartment that came with a washer and dryer, I cried every time I did the laundry. Which, when you have a newborn, is a lot.”

She took a deep breath. “Eventually, the tears stopped and I no longer think of Michael every time I pour a capful of detergent. But he is still part of me. You asked the other day if I still miss him. I do, but it’s different than it was. Whenever Evan reaches a milestone, I hate that Michael couldn’t be here to see it. The first day of kindergarten is going to flatten me. But doing something with this ranch, which was in his family for years, is a way to honor Michael. We always knew we’d end up here—he was supposed to inherit it from his great-uncle—but I didn’t have the B and B idea until last year. Sometimes I feel like...if I don’t pull it off, I’d be, I don’t know, letting him down. And I realize that’s completely irrational, so don’t feel compelled to point it out.”

“You’re a hell of a woman, and you’re raising a good kid. I’m sure Michael would be proud.” But her words struck an unpleasant chord within him. Since he spent most of his time trying
not
to think about Natalie or Danny, he rarely considered what his wife would have wanted for him. She knew how hard he’d worked to become a vet, and she’d always been one to speak her mind. What would she say about his current lifestyle? About his giving up the life they’d shared with no real plan for building a new one?

Maybe she’d call him a coward. And maybe she’d be right.

Chapter Eight

The Thursday-afternoon sun hinted at a hot summer to come, and Hannah was glad she wore a hat to work in the garden—and not just because it protected her face. She also hoped the wide, floppy brim helped disguise the number of times she stared in Colin’s direction. He was currently atop a ladder fifteen yards away, wearing a pair of jeans that looked custom-made by the devil, hammering shingles onto the roof of Evan’s playhouse.

He seemed to enjoy building as much as he did working with the animals; it was difficult to tell given the distance and sound of tools, but she could have sworn he’d been whistling earlier. And he’d been like a big kid last night, brainstorming ideas with Evan. Her son wanted a trapdoor for the playhouse, which Colin had nixed. But he’d appeased the boy with the offer of a periscope.

“You’ll be able to spy on everyone in the area. I helped my brother make one when he was little. I think I can make one for your headquarters.” After dinner, he’d amended the sketch to reflect some minor tweaks to the original design.

It had been nearly a week since he’d moved in, and it wasn’t uncommon to see his sketch pad around the house. He’d shown her not only the blueprint for Super-Ev HQ but a great sketch of Viper that captured all of the gelding’s better qualities and made her forget what a pain in the ass the horse could be.

“You’re talented,” she’d told Colin the other day.

“Mom used to say I got it from her. When Justin was in high school, he begged me to draw a picture of this one girl he liked so he could claim credit for it and increase his chances of her going out with him. I refused, but he still ended up taking her to junior prom the following year. Lord knows what elaborate stunt he pulled to impress her.”

From the stories Colin told, Justin sounded unrepentantly outrageous; it was difficult to picture him as the brother of someone so serious. “Does Elisabeth know she’s marrying a con man?” she’d asked. The more she heard about these people, the more she wanted to meet them.

“Reformed con man. And don’t worry about Elisabeth. She knows how to handle my brother.”

Undoubtedly, the woman Hannah should be worried about was
herself.
She was having far too many moments like these—replaying conversations with Colin in her head, letting her gaze stray to him. His smiles were coming more easily, and the anecdotes he shared with her about his family and his past no longer sounded as if he were prying them painfully from himself with a crowbar. But the more he opened up to her, the more appealing he was.

Opening up to friends is what people do,
she reminded herself.

And getting too attached to a cowboy with one boot already out the door was what fools did.

If Hannah thought she might actually be ready for another relationship, there were at least a dozen women in Bingham Pass who’d offered to set her up with cousins and grandsons and coworkers. It seemed statistically impossible that any of those potential dates had as much emotional baggage as a man who’d lost both of his parents, his wife and his child. That much despair was staggering.

Her gaze went to Evan, who was blowing bubbles and laughing as Scarlett chased and snapped at them, and she closed her eyes in a brief prayer for his continued safety and health.

Noticing her attention, Evan ran toward the garden fence. He’d picked radishes for her, but harvesting the peas was a bit more difficult. “Mommy, are you sure Mr. Colin doesn’t need my help? I’m a good helper.”

“Yes, you are. But do you remember our talk about staying back while anyone’s on a ladder?”

His face twisted into a scowl. “Okay.”

“Tell you what, I’m almost—” She was interrupted by her cell phone, which was trilling her ringtone for Annette. “Hold on, honey. Hello?”

“I may have a lead on a horse! For you, I mean. You need more for guests, right?”

“Um...yes? But, practically speaking, I need guests before they can do any riding.”

“I know. Maybe this is lousy timing, but you’re the person who’s always talking about positive thinking and seizing opportunities. Do you know Darcy Arrendale? She and her husband are divorcing, and she’s got an everything-must-go mentality. They have to split the money from selling Ringo, and she said she’d rather sell him cheap to a good home than get top dollar and turn the money over to her husband, who, I quote, ‘would just spend it on his trampy mistress.’ She’s doing this pretty quietly, but I told her you might be interested in coming by to see the horse. Did I overstep?”

“No. It never hurts to look, and I appreciate your thinking of me.”

“Oh, good, because she’s hoping you can come by this afternoon if you’re interested. Apparently, some of her girlfriends are taking her away for the weekend. I’ve got her number, and if you decide to go over there today, you can leave Evan with me.”

After they hung up, Hannah went into the house so that she could take notes while talking to Darcy rather than conduct the conversation from the middle of her garden. She took Evan in with her and settled him at the table with a frozen strawberry bar.

Richard Arrendale was the most successful real estate agent in Bingham Pass. She didn’t know him well enough to know if he went by Dick or if that was just the moniker his soon-to-be ex-wife favored. Darcy used it about twelve times in their short conversation. As they were getting off the phone, she said with a sigh, “I just hate the way these men think they can do whatever they want—not just Dick but the whole ‘good old boy’ lot of them. He plays poker with Gideon Loomis and the bank manager. Between you and me, I think the Loomises hurt your chances of getting a loan. They’ve made it clear they plan to make an offer as soon as you ‘come to your senses.’”

Cold fury knotted in her stomach. “Well, they’d better get used to disappointment, because I’m not going anywhere.” Except to Darcy’s to meet Ringo.

Hannah sent Evan to wash his sticky hands and to change into cleaner clothes for visiting Aunt Annette. Then she hurried out to discuss the situation with Colin.

When he saw her, he climbed down from the ladder. He lifted the hem of his T-shirt to wipe sweat from his cheek, and the glimpse of hard abs almost made her forget what she’d come out to tell him.

“What’s up?”

“Annette called me with what might be a serendipitous opportunity—she knows someone wanting to sell a horse cheap. But the words ‘too good to be true’ also come to mind. How much would I be throwing off your schedule if I asked you to go look at the horse with me? I’d appreciate a more experienced eye before I make any decisions I might regret later.”

“Well, I have to check with the boss lady,” he drawled. “She’s a real slave driver. I should probably clean up first.”

“We have time. Darcy’s not expecting us for an hour and a half. Annette ran into her in town, and Darcy’s not finished with her errands. Plus, I didn’t know how long it would take you to reach a good stopping point, and we need to drop off Evan.”

“Sounds like a plan, but word of advice? Any time you go to see a horse for the first time, it’s not a bad idea to arrive earlier than expected. Unscrupulous people have been known to drug troublesome horses prior to the appointment to make them appear more docile.”

“That’s awful! Why do people suck? Obviously, not all people,” she clarified. But definitely Gideon Loomis and his parents. “Life is tough enough without us sabotaging each other.”

He hit the brim of his hat, tipping it back on his head so he could get a better look at her. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She got a little moody around this time of year—and a
lot
moody when people tried to screw her over—but none of that was Colin’s fault. “I need to get back in the house, make sure Evan hasn’t tried to repaint the walls or help himself to any unauthorized cookies.” It had occurred to her earlier that maybe she should bake a cake for this weekend—Evan would certainly enjoy decorating it with her—but she hadn’t been able to work up much enthusiasm for making her own birthday cake.

Colin joined them in the house a few minutes later, while Hannah was trying to give her son an explanation for why people had to wear shoes from the same pair and shouldn’t just mix and match at will. Evan had decided he wanted to wear one red rain boot and one sneaker. She suspected this was because he couldn’t find the other sneaker and suggested they look harder.

“The ladder and power tools are all secure in the garage, and I’m headed up to grab a quick shower,” Colin told her.

She nodded. “I’m going to hunt through Evan’s room for a missing shoe. If I’m not back in half an hour, send a search party.” Her son’s room was overdue for some spring-cleaning. She’d become so focused on renovating guest areas that she occasionally overlooked the private living spaces.

It took her only a few minutes to locate the sneaker, but while she was waiting for Colin, she took the opportunity to direct her son in some rudimentary tidying. Evan put toy cars into a plastic bin while she shelved all the picture books she found on the floor. She was considering dusting his dresser and the shelves lining his walls when Colin appeared in the doorway, his face puckered into a worried frown.

“What is it?” she asked nervously. No good news in the history of the world had ever been delivered with that expression.

“Maybe nothing, but you’d better call a plumber to double-check. I noticed something on the way downstairs. You have a flashlight?”

Stomach sinking, she grabbed one and followed Colin to the stairs. Even with the staircase light on, the windowless space was dim. Using the beam of the flashlight, he showed her some dark spots along the wall.

“It’s possible you have some water leakage back there, maybe a broken pipe fitting or something. If so, it’s important to find out where and fix the problem before it gets any worse. Water damage...”

She didn’t even want to imagine the possibility of flooding or how costly that would be to repair. “I don’t suppose there’s a way to find or fix the problem without putting holes in my wall?”

His answer was an apologetic wince.

“Dammit!”

“Mommy?” Evan’s voice at the bottom of the steps was scandalized. “We’re not supposed to say that word.”

She resisted the urge to bang her skull against the wall—why weaken its structural integrity further? “You’re right, honey. Mommy forgot. Thank you for the reminder.”

Colin’s hand was warm and reassuring on the nape of her neck. “If it helps, you can swear all you want after we drop him off. I promise not to tell on you.”

“Thanks.” She bit her lip. “I should call Darcy back and cancel our appointment. If I’m about to spend thousands on plumbing repairs, I have no business buying a horse, even one that’s unbelievably discounted.”

“Don’t panic,” Colin advised. “At least, not until we know more about the plumbing. And even if you don’t buy the horse, the act of inspecting him and thinking about the questions you want to ask is good practice. Come on,” he cajoled when she remained tense and silent. “What happened to looking at the bright side?”

“You mean looking at the world through rose-colored glasses?” she asked drily.

He sucked in a breath. “Forget I said that,” he ordered. “I was an ass. Just because I have trouble maintaining a positive attitude doesn’t mean you should lose yours. Promise?”

He sounded so sincerely distraught by the possibility that she nodded. “I promise.”

“Good. Then let’s go see a woman about a horse.”

* * *

A
FTER
THEY
WERE
finished at Darcy Arrendale’s, Hannah called Annette to let her know they were on the way to pick up Evan.

“You sure?” Annette said. “He just ate dinner with us, and he’s welcome to stay the night. You know I keep a spare toothbrush for him, and he had Trainket when you dropped him off, so we’ve got the basics covered.”

Letting Evan spend the night with the Reeds would leave Hannah alone in the house with Colin on a night when she was feeling particularly vulnerable.
Oh, hell no.
“Absolutely not. You and Todd have a two-hour drive in the morning. You don’t need my child waking you up at three a.m. for a glass of water.”

Tomorrow, the Reeds had a consultation appointment at one of the best fertility clinics in the region.

“Any luck with the horse?” Annette asked.

“Not sure,” Hannah said. “Colin suggests I always ask for a short trial period and that anyone who really cares about the horse should agree to that, but Darcy wants to get this over and done with before Richard catches wind of it. She assured me she has the legal right to sell the horse without him approving the sale, but it feels shady. I learned a lot, though.” Colin had given her lots of tips that she might not have considered.

He’d said that any time a potential buyer arrived to find the horse already saddled, it was a red flag. A seller might be trying to hide that the horse was difficult to handle. Colin said she should always watch a horse be groomed and saddled. And while she obviously wouldn’t buy one she hadn’t ridden, he’d stipulated that she shouldn’t ride a horse without the owner doing so first.

“Besides,” she added, “none of the plumbers I called can come out until Monday. If I get good news, I can call Darcy next week and see if the horse is still for sale.” Ringo was sweet. At ten years old, he might not have as many prime years in him as a younger horse, but he had experience. Colin said that horses with some mileage—assuming they’d been appropriately trained and well cared for—were much better with beginning riders. Most of her guests would probably not be equestrian experts.

When they got to the Reed farm, Annette told her there were leftover enchiladas. “Help us finish off this food so I don’t have leftovers in the refrigerator. Todd and I were planning to stay out of town tomorrow night, anyway, instead of making the return trip, and now he’s talking about staying through the weekend, making a minivacation out of it.”

Hannah thought that was smart. The stress over not getting pregnant was taking a toll on the couple. A few days away would do them a world of good.

Evan met them at the door, a wireless video game controller clutched in his hand. “Uncle Todd was going to teach me a racing game. I’m gonna ask Santa to bring me one for Christmas!”