Her Risk To Take
Authors: Toni Anderson
(Novella)
by Toni Anderson
Copyright © 2014 Toni Anderson
Kobo Edition
Cover design by Killion Group, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9780993908903
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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Dedicated to Readers.
Also by
Toni Anderson
COLD JUSTICE SERIES
Cold Fear
(Book #4) coming spring 2015
Cold Justice Series Box Set (Books 1-3)
available January 2015
Cold Light of Day
(Book #3)
Cold Pursuit
(Book #2)
A Cold Dark Place
(Book #1)
THE BARKLEY SOUND SERIES
Dark Waters
(Book #2)
Dangerous Waters
(Book #1)
STAND-ALONE TITLES
HER ~ ROMANTIC SUSPENSE SERIES
Her ~ Romantic Suspense Box Set (Books 1-3)
available February 2015
Her Risk To Take
(Novella ~ Book #3)
Her Last Chance
(Book #2)
Her Sanctuary
(Book #1)
I
t was November
in the Treasure State, the sky so blue it made the russet of the dead grass glow like bronze, and the few remaining leaves on the trees shimmer pure gold. The scent of dark, fragrant earth rose up and filled the valley, mixing with the pungent smell of horses, saddle soap, and leather. Cal Landon cinched the girth another two notches as the quiet bay mare turned her head to give him a disgruntled look. Morven was smart and easygoing, but lately she was getting fat and lazy. When the heated indoor arena was built, the mare was going to be invaluable in helping kids and adults learn to ride, but in the meantime, Cal figured he better give her some exercise. He’d saddled a roan gelding for Ryan and was waiting for the cowboy to head out after breakfast. Cal pulled a hoof-pick out of his back pocket and checked the horses’ feet, clearing away clumps of dried dirt.
He and Ryan were checking fences down near the reservoir today. Cattle kept escaping onto the road, and he didn’t want them causing any accidents. There had to be a break in the wire somewhere. He and Ryan could have driven around, but the horses needed exercise, and they both liked doing things the old-fashioned way.
The Triple H Ranch was owned by the Sullivans—Nat and his wife Eliza, and Nat’s sister and brother, twins Sarah and Ryan. Cal had been close friends with Nat at school and had worked at the ranch since he’d gotten out of prison. Most of the time he managed to forget about that dark period of his life, and the Sullivans made it easy. They never judged him, never held it against him. He’d probably have screwed up years ago without their unflinching support. Off the ranch, some people went out of their way to remind him he was nothing but a murderer.
A breeze snaked down off the Flathead Range, a hint of frost in its teeth.
Fall was a quiet time on the ranch. They had a couple hundred head of cattle that needed shelter from the cold and a constant supply of food and water, but it wasn’t a particularly onerous time of year. He and Ryan could pretty much handle it themselves with the occasional help from Ezra, when the older man’s arthritis wasn’t playing up. Nat and Eliza were busy overseeing the construction of the arena and establishing the stud side of the business.
Things were looking up for the Sullivans.
Cal grabbed the saddlebags, which contained an axe, a spade, a couple of hammers, nails, and some coils of fence wire. Enough to patch up any gaps they found until the scope of a proper repair job could be assessed. He pulled on his gloves and swung his leg carefully over the back of his horse. She danced for a minute, adjusting to his weight, then settled and rubbed her nose against the wooden corral.
Sarah Sullivan came out of the house carrying her doctor’s bag in one hand and a pink
Hello Kitty
lunch kit in the other. His mouth went dry, the way it did every time he caught sight of her. She waved and sent him a happy grin. He felt the return smile on his face even as his heart raced. Ryan came out behind her, carrying his daughter, Tabitha. The cowboy strapped his little girl in her car seat, gave her a loud smacking kiss that made her giggle, and then headed over to Cal at a jog.
Cal watched Sarah drive away.
“You should make a move there,” Ryan said as he swung aboard his horse.
Cal narrowed his eyes. “That’s your sister you’re talking about.”
Ryan snorted. “Yeah, but I’m not the one who wants to jump her.”
Cal ignored him and urged Morven into a trot past the ranch house, but Ryan wasn’t done. Something the twins had in common was the inability to hold back anything they might be thinking or feeling. Most of the time it meant Cal didn’t have to say more than two words all day, which suited him fine. But when that focus was directed at him? Look out.
“No one lives forever, brother.” The wind whispered through the nearby aspens, rattling branches and making a shiver crawl over Cal’s skin, despite his flannel shirt and sheepskin jacket. “Don’t assume she’ll still be around tomorrow.” Jesus, that thought was depressing, but Ryan had lost his childhood sweetheart to cancer, so no one knew better that life was short, and sweet could be snatched away in a heartbeat.
But Sarah Sullivan was too good for the likes of him. She was a doctor. He was an ex-con.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He dug his heels into the horse’s ribs. She shot forward. Cal would be lying if he said he didn’t get satisfaction from beating Ryan to the reservoir. But the guy still wasn’t done.
“I know how you feel about her, you know. I see it every time you look at her.”
Cal winced, then shrugged. Hard to lie to a man he’d worked with daily for the last decade.
“She feels the same way.”
“She tell you that?” Cal shot Ryan a look.
“I just know.”
Cal snorted. “You’re an idiot.”
“Right back atcha, brother.”
Cal rolled his eyes even as he ran his gaze along the wire. He pointed. “There’s the problem, up there.” A tree had come down where the fence cut through a small wood.
“You bring the axe?” Ryan asked.
“Yup.”
Ryan rolled his shoulders. “Looks like we’re going to get a good workout today.”
Cal grunted. As long as he didn’t have to talk about his
feelings
for Sarah, that was fine.
The sound of the horses’ huffing breath in the cold morning air was accompanied by the creak of leather and the jangle of harnesses.
“Remember what you said to me after Becky died?” Ryan asked quietly.
Cal froze. That was the first time he’d heard Ryan utter his wife’s name since she passed. “I remember,” he said.
“Sometimes all you can do is keep breathing…”
Cal nodded and looked straight ahead.
“You were right, Cal. Those words got me though the first few days, the first week without her—hell, maybe even the first year.” Cal glanced at Ryan who gave his head a sharp shake as if to clear it. “I don’t remember that time, at all. Just the pain, and the fact you told me to just keep on breathing.” Ryan swallowed repeatedly. Cal’s fingers tightened around the reins. “I don’t remember Tabitha as a baby—without Nat’s photographs I wouldn’t be able to picture her at all.” Ryan had totally ignored his daughter, unfairly blaming her for his wife’s death. “Becky would have had my hide for that. Fuck, imagine if she knew about the rest…”
Cal closed his eyes at the pain in his friend’s voice. It had been the worst time imaginable, and they’d almost lost Ryan too. It had taken a couple of years of drowning in alcohol and women before Ryan had come through the other side. Cal could hear the knowledge, finally, that Ryan knew he had to move on without her, without the love of his life.
No one should have to go through that.
Ryan cleared his throat. “So those words of yours actually saved me when I needed saving.”
Sometimes all you can do is keep breathing
… The cowboy looked out across the silver water of the reservoir, the mountains reflected in all their glory. “The thing is, eventually, you need more.”
Cal knew where this was going. He shook his head. “Nuh uh. Not everyone.”
Ryan grabbed Morven’s bridle, brought their horses to a stop and forced Cal to meet his eye. “Everyone. Even you.”
They were almost at the woods now. Cal slipped from the saddle and ducked under the mare’s head, led the horse forward and tied her to a tree branch. He wasn’t about to argue with Ryan about life or happiness or expectations. Compared to where he’d been, this was paradise, and not a day went by that he didn’t thank God for the Sullivans and the Triple H. And, if his dreams sometimes included a certain petite, sassy strawberry blonde? That was his business. Didn’t mean he had to act on it.
He took off his jacket. “Pass me the axe,” he ordered.
Ryan held it out with a grin. “As long as you don’t go all
Brokeback Mountain
on me.”
Cal gripped the wooden handle and braced his legs apart. “I was thinking more
The Shining
, asshole.”
“The Shining Asshole? Sounds awfully close to Brokeback—”
Thwack.
Cal poured his energy into the foot wide trunk of the downed birch and prayed he was man enough not to put his fist through Ryan’s pretty face.
Thwack
. It was great his friend was finally moving on after his own tragedy. It didn’t mean anything had changed for Cal. He didn’t expect it to.
November 23
rd
.
S
arah Sullivan put
her arms into the sleeves of her down jacket, eased her feet into sturdy winter boots, and slipped through the kitchen door. One of the ranch dogs, Blue, snuck out beside her and looked up at her with anticipation in his liquid brown eyes, as if wondering what adventure they were going on now.
