His Hometown Cowgirl (2 page)

On more occasions than she cared to count,
she'd taken the driver's seat herself, but that meant she wasn't
free to interact and mingle with the children and adults who sat in
back on the bales of hay looking around all bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed. It was much better when someone else drove so she
could sit in the trailer with her visitors giving them a
personally-guided tour, explaining how things worked on the farm,
answering questions about the ranch, singing songs.

As she herded today's visitors toward the
picnic pavilion in the main "compound," Kelsey glanced around the
yard and couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction that flooded her
system, knowing her dream was turning into reality right before her
very eyes.

Unlike the dreams she'd shared with Chris.
Her heart squeezed a little, and she bit her bottom lip. Guilt hit
her square in the stomach for the happiness she felt; the joy that
had been absent from her life for so long. It had been a year and a
half since Chris had been killed. Eighteen long months filled with
heartache and sorrow. Didn't she deserve a little happiness? Chris
wouldn't want her to grieve for him forever. He would have been
proud of the business she'd started.

So far, the opening season of Farmtime Trails
was a resounding success. Blood, sweat and tears had gone into the
making of the business, and it would take a lot more work as she
unraveled the kinks and made plans for bigger and better
attractions on down the road and into the future. Kelsey had no
intention of taking any of it for granted or resting on her
laurels. She enjoyed the challenge.

She was glad she'd found something she could
do on the ranch to make a comfortable living. She couldn't imagine
living anywhere else but the Diamondback Ranch and Salt Fork,
Texas. Sometimes she wondered how she would have felt, how it would
have worked out living in Lubbock with Chris, if he hadn't died and
their plans for their life together had gone forward.

Kelsey took a deep fortifying breath, pasted
a smile on her face and pushed the traitorous thoughts from her
mind. She settled the visitors at the picnic tables beneath the
pavilion where her cousins Molly and Maddie served an afternoon
snack of homemade donuts, biscuits and jam. Coffee, tea, milk (from
their own cows), and juice were the beverages of choice.

Making sure everyone and everything was good
to go, she headed across the barnyard so she could thank Pete for
coming to her rescue once again.

She smiled. Pete Lafferty had been coming to
her rescue ever since she'd been a little girl. She'd had a big
crush on him for longer than she could remember. She'd treasured
every smile he'd flashed her way, the warm look in his eyes when he
caught her staring at him, the strength of his strong hands
whenever he chanced to touch her or brush past her. And when she'd
been fourteen, she'd even been lucky enough to feel his muscular
arms cradling her close after she'd broken her wrist and he'd
carried her into her grandmother's house.

Dear lord. She'd thought she'd died and gone
to heaven.

Back then, she'd known Pete was way out of
her league. He was five years older, and the difference between
fourteen and nineteen had seemed insurmountable. He'd been a grown
man; she'd still been just a girl. So she'd cherished her secret
crush on the man even when he'd gone away to college. Even when he
purportedly dated hundreds of girls. The Salt Fork grapevine buzzed
with stories comparing Pete's love life to her Uncle Tyler's
before
he'd married Aunt Caitlyn. People said Pete was a
love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. A lone star heartbreaker in his
own right.

But somehow, Kelsey couldn't quite believe
that of Pete. Oh, she could believe he dated lots of women. Why
shouldn't he? But had he really broken that many hearts?

Kelsey had always prided herself on being a
realist. She'd known a crush was a crush, and nothing more. Well,
maybe a little more. She admired and respected Pete. She would
trust him with her life. But she'd given up all hope that he would
ever think of her as anyone other than the
kid
he was so
fond of calling her.

So she'd tucked away her feelings for him in
a safe corner of her heart and gone on living her life. She'd had
her fair share of dates both in high school and college. It wasn't
until she'd had to call the Lubbock fire department to come put out
a raging barbeque fire that she'd met Chris Jacobs. It was love at
first sight.

After a whirlwind courtship, the handsome
firefighter had asked her to marry him and Kelsey had said
yes
. She'd been blissfully happy her third year at Texas
Tech. Everything had seemed to be going her way. She'd pushed aside
any niggling doubts about how she would have to live in Lubbock and
not on the Diamondback Ranch for the rest of her life. But she
would have Chris as her husband and by her side. She'd assured
herself that she would be happy living with him anywhere. Anyways,
Lubbock wasn't too far from the ranch. It would have worked.

Besides, nothing was perfect in this world,
right?

Kelsey's breath hitched as she drew air into
her lungs, memories flittering in her mind. Her near-perfect world
crashed around her the day she'd received a phone call telling her
that Chris had been killed fighting a three-alarm warehouse fire.
Kelsey still couldn't think about that day without her stomach
cratering out.

She kept on walking toward the barn, her eyes
on the door, waiting for Pete to emerge. It hadn't been until the
last couple of months really, that she'd begun to feel a little joy
in her life again. No, Chris would definitely say it was time to
stop grieving for him and get on with living.

Which she'd done for the most part. Somehow,
she'd managed to finish school and graduate. Then she'd jumped in
and focused all of her energy on phase one of her business plan,
which was transforming a small portion of the Diamondback Ranch
into an agritainment attraction and learning center. She'd hoped if
she kept busy enough, she wouldn't have time to think about Chris
and what might have been.

Kelsey resolutely shoved away the thoughts
when Pete walked out of the barn, making a beeline to his truck
that was parked near the gift shop at the east corner of the
compound.

"Pete! Wait up!" Kelsey quickened her steps
toward the tall, good-looking man she'd known all her life. He
stood stock still in the yard with an expression on his rugged face
that looked none too pleased.

A little out of breath and with her cheeks
burning for God knows why, Kelsey halted right in front of him. She
tried to still the pounding in her heart. Damn, she was too old to
still be cherishing a crush for this man, wasn't she?

She knew a crush couldn't compare to actually
falling in love. She'd found true love with Chris. She wasn't sure
if she ever wanted to fall in love again. At least, not for a good
long while. And certainly not with a man in a dangerous profession.
No way could she risk her heart like that a second time. Which
pushed Pete right off the list,
if
she even had a list. His
job was doubly dangerous: Piloting small aircraft and fighting wild
fires. No way, no how. Huh-uh.

Besides, Pete would never look at her with
more than warmth and friendship in his brown eyes, no matter how
much she might wish otherwise.

Which she didn't.

Although a couple of times lately, Kelsey
thought she'd detected the heat of desire gleaming in the depths of
his gaze, but she could never tell for sure. Pete always quickly
masked any emotion, erecting an invisible barrier between them. It
shouldn't make any difference, but somehow it touched her on the
raw. She'd always had a soft spot in her heart for Pete. Long ago,
she'd reconciled herself to the fact that he didn't feel anything
stronger than affection for her.

Only . . . since she'd moved back to the
ranch, and whenever she was around Pete, it was like she was
hurtled back in time to when she'd been a teenager and he the older
man. But now, they were both adults; the age barrier really made no
difference.

Not that she cared one way or another.

Pete jerked his Stetson from his head and
plowed his fingers through his dusky brown hair before slapping the
hat back in place. He looked impatient and put out with her,
although Kelsey hadn't a clue why that would be.

"Is there something else you want me to do?"
he said. "I really need to get on back to the airfield. I have two
chemical applications scheduled for tomorrow, and I have to prep
the planes. Plus, Tyler wants me to test fly the new chopper we
bought for applications and fighting fires later this evening."

Kelsey shook her head. "No, there's nothing
else." Nothing she could actually say out loud to him, anyway. "I
just wanted to thank you again for stepping into the breach and
driving the tractor for me."

Pete stared at her for a moment, and she
wished she could tell what he was thinking. Sometimes, he acted as
if he didn't even like her anymore. That she was more of a nuisance
now than when she'd been a child tagging along after him.

He inhaled deeply and blew it out. His smile
looked forced. "No problem. Anytime, you know that. Now, you'd
better go see about those paying visitors of yours. Molly and
Maddie will be needing your help with whatever activity y'all have
planned for your encore presentation. What is it today? Making jam?
Milking cows?"

"Molly's going to make pumpkin pies. We have
to do something with all those pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, you
know."

"Yeah. You had a bumper crop this year." He
reached out and chucked her under the chin. Something he'd been
doing for years. An innocent gesture in and of itself. But when his
eyes strayed to her mouth for a long heart-pounding moment,
Kelsey's lungs refused to draw in air. She felt just like when
she'd used to play soccer and had the breath knocked out of
her.

Kelsey hadn't felt that familiar tug of
desire since Chris had died. And had it ever been that strong for
the man she'd been going to marry? Quickly, she banished that
disloyal thought.

Pete dragged his gaze back to her eyes and
straightened his hat again. He cleared his throat. "I want you to
know that you're doing a fine job here, kid. Keep up the good
work." He turned on his heel and strode off toward his pickup
truck, his boots crunching on the red sandy soil.

"Pete!"
Oh God, this time she had
not
imagined that heated look in his eyes. But what to say?
What to do? She should probably just ignore it. She wasn't ready to
get involved with anyone yet. Especially not with someone like
Pete.

He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to
face her again. The look in his eyes held no heat now, only
impatience. Irritation. Perhaps frustration. Kelsey could only
speculate and wonder at him.

"Yes?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Um . . . Sunday is Grams' birthday party.
You planning to go?" Kelsey groaned inwardly. How lame of a
question and excuse was that to keep him from leaving?

Pete tilted his head back and closed his eyes
for a moment, before returning his attention to her. His emotions
were carefully banked once again behind a tight smile. "You know
I'll be there. Mom's coming, too. She's baking cupcakes. With all
your little cousins running around, there can't be too many cookies
and cupcakes."

"That's the truth." Kelsey smiled. She had
ten younger cousins, plus a little sister. Lots of kids running
around the Diamondback Ranch these days. "Sarah Sue's bringing
several of her awesome pies and a platter of cinnamon rolls. And
Molly's baking a special cake for Grams. Actually, it's Gram's
famous Texas Hot Cocoa cake recipe. Molly wants to surprise her
with it. I don't think anyone has ever baked one especially for
Grams before."

Pete nodded. "God, I love that cake. That
will
be a special surprise for Mrs. Ruth. See you Sunday,
kid."

"See you--"

The buzz of Pete's cell phone cut her off
midsentence. He dug it from his pocket, groaned, then answered the
call. "Hey, Mrs. Hollis. Did Ranger decide to visit you again? Uh
huh. Um hm. Okay, I'll be right over to get him. Sorry about that.
Thanks." He ended the call and stuffed the phone back in his
pocket.

"Ranger take off again?" Kelsey asked with a
grin. Pete's Siberian Husky was infamous for running away every
chance he could. If somebody didn't rescue him, Ranger would just
keep on running and exploring. He'd end up lost, miles away from
home.

The canine escape artist had become something
of a standing joke on the Diamondback Ranch and the surrounding
Salt Fork community.

Pete shook his head. "One of these days, I'm
going to murder that damned dog."

"Aww, now. You don't mean that. You love that
dog."

"Yeah, but this running away crap is getting
old," he said. "Now, I really gotta get going. Bye, Kels."

"Goodbye, Pete." Kelsey watched him walk to
his truck. She couldn't help admiring how the worn denim of his
Wranglers lovingly covered his tight butt and long legs.

Well, damn. Seemed like her hormones had
finally awakened from a long dormant sleep. Not good. Not good at
all.

Heading back to the pavilion, Kelsey shook
her head and frowned. For one split second, she'd glimpsed
unadulterated desire in Pete's smoky brown eyes. Could he actually
be attracted to her after all these years? She kicked a stone out
of her path with the toe of her boot. And had her innocent crush
turned into something not so innocent?

****

"That should just about do it. Anything more
I can help you with?" Kelsey hung the rake on the peg in the barn
and walked over to the stall where her cousin Maddie stood grooming
one of the horses for tomorrow's trail ride. Molly was in the big
kitchen next door cleaning up after the pumpkin pie-making session
from the afternoon cooking demonstration.