Roping the Rancher (Harlequin American Romance) (11 page)

He shifted his stance, his scuffed cowboy boots kicked up dust with his movements. “You did a damned fine job. I’m duly impressed.”

His words thrilled her as much as an Academy Award nomination would.

“I could tell how hard it was for you to keep quiet, especially when Ryan hit the right spot in the target that first time.”

“That was pretty cool,” Ryan said as he and Jess returned.

She glanced at Jess and then at Colt. “How about it? You two want to go out to dinner celebrate our success—Ryan’s improvement and my first session as a sidewalker? My treat.”

“We’ve got plans. We’re having dinner at my brother’s house tonight,” Colt replied.

“I bet Uncle Reed and Aunt Avery wouldn’t mind if Stacy and Ryan came, too,” Jess added.

“No, that’s all right,” Stacy murmured. “We can do it some other time.”

But Jess wasn’t listening. She’d already pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

“You wouldn’t mind if my friend Ryan—the guy who came with me to volunteer at the shelter the other day—and his sister came to dinner with us tonight, would you?” Jess rattled on about Stacy being afraid of horses and how her dad talked her into becoming a sidewalker. “Ryan’s therapy’s going great, and Stacy survived her first time volunteering, so she asked us to celebrate.”

Stacy cringed. Somehow when Jess said it that way, Stacy felt pathetic and alone. As if she had no one to share good news with other than Colt and his daughter.

And you think you do?

A minute later, Jess ended her call and Stacy said, “I appreciate you wanting to include us, Jess, but you have to call your aunt back. We’re not going to horn in on a family event. We can celebrate some other time.”

“It’s cool. Aunt Avery said she’s been meaning to ask you and Ryan over. She said you two met when you were here before.”

Stacy cringed. She hadn’t made the best impression with Griffin’s family. She’d been a stuck-up pain in the ass, who hadn’t cared about anything but advancing her career.

“Thank you, but no.” She might be pathetic, but she still had some pride.

“If Jess’s aunt is okay with it, what’s the big deal?” Ryan asked.

“We weren’t invited.”

Then Jess and Ryan started talking at once trying to convince her to change her mind. When she remained adamant, Ryan said he didn’t care what she did, but he was going.

A shrill whistle cut through the chatter. She and the teenagers turned to Colt, who stood there, feet braced, arms crossed over his broad chest in full take-charge mode. “We’ll pick you up at seven.” When Stacy started to protest, he held up a hand and stepped closer. The man had a presence that could make a girl swoon. “Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder to get you there.”

Stacy pointed her chin at him in defiance. “I won’t let you in the house.”

“I will,” Ryan tossed out.

“Traitor,” she snapped at him, without taking her gaze off Colt. “You wouldn’t do that again.”

“Wanna bet?”

No. She knew she’d lose. “We’ll see you at seven.”

* * *

B
Y
SIX
FORTY
-
FIVE
Stacy considered telling Ryan she was coming down with a cold, the flu, the plague or whatever other disease she could think of to avoid going to dinner. She’d changed her clothes three times. Everything she owned seemed so—California Hollywood. After her last meeting with Avery and the incident at Halligan’s she didn’t want to look as if she was putting on airs.

The first time she’d stayed in Estes Park she’d been so concerned about her career and looking good for the cameras that she never treated anyone like... She paused. She hadn’t really given anyone here much thought, but things were different now.

Because of Colt. She didn’t want to embarrass him tonight with his family.

Settling on a simple cobalt knit top and jeans, she added her favorite chunky silver necklace and earrings and glanced in the mirror.
I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

When she answered the door after the doorbell rang a couple of minutes before seven, her breath caught in her throat. There stood Colt looking way too fine in dark jeans and a tan shirt that highlighted his golden skin and hair.

His heated gaze scanned her from head to toe. The appreciative male grin that he flashed her bolstered her courage. A pleasant flush spread through her. “You look great, Stacy.”

“So do you.”

Lord this was awkward.
That’s because it feels like a date.

Anxious to blast that thought out of her mind, she called out, “Ryan, hurry up. Colt’s here.”

Footsteps pounded overhead and then down the stairs. A minute later, the three of them headed out the door. Once in the car, Ryan and Jess talked nonstop in the backseat. Unable to stand the silence between her and Colt any longer she asked, “How long have your brother and Avery been married?”

“Since early December, but they’ve known each other their whole lives. They were high school sweethearts until Reed left for Stanford.” Colt told her how his brother came from California to stay with Jess when he’d been deployed. “Jess got sentenced to community service at Avery’s animal shelter for vandalism—”

“In my defense, I didn’t actually participate in the spray painting,” Jess explained. “Some friends of mine, who’re no longer my friends, I might add, did the vandalism. Then they ran off and left me to take the fall.”

Now Jess taking Ryan under her wing made more sense. Her mother ran off, then died. Her father was deployed to Afghanistan, and her friends bailed on her leaving her to take the rap for their vandalism. Yup, the girl understood what it felt like to be on the outside.

“The good news was,” Jess continued, “because of a shelter policy, Uncle Reed had to volunteer with me. That’s how he and Avery got back together.”

Family. Jess’s affection for her uncle and his wife rippled through her voice.

Colt, his daughter and brother obviously had the give and take true families possessed. When Stacy visited Estes Park before, she’d envied Griffin’s relationship with his family. He had a home filled with love and people who supported him. When he defied the network and proposed to Maggie on the finale, his family and the community rallied around him. They hadn’t left him standing alone to fight the battle. Now, since Colt’s brother had married Avery McAlister, he and Jess had been enveloped in the McAlister clan, as well.

As they walked from the parking lot to Avery and Reed’s apartment, Stacy tried to quell her nervousness. What was the big deal? It was just a simple dinner at someone’s house. At someone’s house that she hadn’t made the best first impression on.

When Avery answered the door, Stacy was amazed at how the woman, with only a bit of lip gloss and mascara, dressed in scrubs and scuffed tennis shoes, could look as though she belonged on the cover of a magazine. “Come on in. I just got home. We had some abandoned kittens come in to the shelter right before I left. We couldn’t find their mother, so I get to spend the night feeding them every two hours.”

“Sounds like fun,” Colt joked.

“The joys of having a wife who brings her work home.” A tall, dark-haired man and the scraggliest dog Stacy had ever seen tagging after him joined them. The man wrapped his arms around Avery, and then introduced himself as Colt’s brother.

She’d never guess they were related, much less brothers. Except for their height, Colt and Reed Montgomery had nothing in common physically.

“Do you need any help with the kittens?” Jess asked. “If you do, I could spend the night and help out.”

“You can help me with their next feeding before you leave,” Avery said.

“Reed, the timer went off, so I took the lasagna out of the oven.” Nannette McAlister strolled out of the kitchen. “Everything’s on the table so we’re ready to eat.”

Griffin’s mother was here? Now Stacy wished she’d pulled the “I’m sick” routine. When she’d met Nannette, the older woman made no secret of the fact that not only didn’t she approve of her son going on the reality dating show, she didn’t think much of the bachelorettes, either.

Could this night get any worse?

In a lame attempt to ease the tension she felt, Stacy said, “Thank you for letting us join you. I hope it hasn’t caused too much trouble.” Her words sounded as awkward as she felt. She nodded toward Mrs. McAlister. “It’s good to see you again.”

The older woman nodded and mumbled a polite greeting in return. As everyone moved into the small dining room conversations swirled around Stacy. Once Ryan sat, she took his walker, pushed it into the nearby corner and then settled into her chair in between him and Colt. She felt herself pulling inward as she tried to come up with an excuse to leave once they finished eating. Coming from a small family who never ate dinner together, sitting down with a total of seven people overwhelmed her.

“Your adventures at Halligan’s the other night are the talk of the town, big brother. Did you really get into a bar fight with Travis Carpenter?”

Stacy cringed. The night just got worse.

Chapter Nine

Colt wanted to jump across the table and punch his brother. Didn’t Reed realize how uncomfortable this conversation would make Stacy feel?

Since they arrived, Stacy had changed. Instead of the fearless, say-what’s-on-her-mind woman he knew, she’d become quiet. Almost as if she wanted to blend in with the furniture.

Now his jackass brother brought up the night at Halligan’s. Beside him he almost felt Stacy pulling away even further. He didn’t know where she’d gone, but she wasn’t here with them. At least not the feisty woman he knew.

“Thanks for bringing that up, Reed, because I haven’t been embarrassed enough by everyone in town asking me about the fight.”

His brother flashed him a stupid grin. “Glad to help out. What happened? Getting into a bar fight isn’t your style.”

Before he could answer, Jess spoke, her young face scrunched up with revulsion. “You should’ve seen it. Mr. Carpenter’s hands were all over Stacy.”

“We don’t need to rehash all the gory details,” Colt said, hoping everyone would take the hint and move on to another topic.

“So you played the knight in shining armor coming to a lady’s rescue. Now that seems like you,” Reed said.

Yeah, he was a regular white knight. One who charged in before he thought about the consequences or the fact that his daughter was watching.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Stacy, her posture all rigid, her back looking as if it had been glued to the chair. “Anyone see the Rockies game yesterday? Looks like they might have a good season this year.”

“What Carpenter was doing must have been bad because Colt’s the kind of guy who follows the rules no matter what. Nothing riles him. He’s got more patience than anyone I know,” Avery said, ignoring his obvious attempt to change the subject. Getting this group to move on to a different subject would be as easy as a getting a bull out of a pasture full of cows.

“How awful for you, Stacy.”

Stacy’s eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe someone was talking to her. “The man had more arms than an octopus. It might not have been so bad if he hadn’t been drunk.”

“It’s about time someone knocked some sense into that man,” Nannette added. “Travis always has been too big for his britches. That’s his father’s fault. Travis is the youngest. He’s got four older sisters. His father was so glad to finally have a boy he treated his son like his diapers didn’t stink.”

Reed laughed. “He’d sure be different if he’d had a mother like you.”

“You’re right about that. Mom never tolerated any of us putting on airs,” Avery said. “I’d heard when Travis drinks his manners evaporate.”

“That’s a nice way to put it,” Stacy said, her body relaxing some as the topic moved away from their actions at the bar, focusing on Carpenter instead. “Travis wouldn’t let me leave the dance floor.”

Nannette gaze filled with compassion and concern when she turned to Stacy. “How frightening. Thank goodness Colt was there to step in.”

“And what thanks did he get? He got hauled off to jail.” Stacy turned to him, and the fire blazing in her clear blue eyes told Colt the feisty woman he knew had returned.

“It turned out okay. Having to listen to a lecture from Chief Parsons was the worst part. Other than that, I had to pay a fine and for part of the damages at Halligan’s.”

“That’s not fair. You didn’t start the fight,” Ryan said.

“I’ll talk to Chief Parsons. You did nothing wrong.” Stacy shook her head. “I knew I should’ve contacted my attorney that night. If I had this wouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s no big deal.” He wanted to forget the night ever happened, and not only because of the fight. “As far as I’m concerned the matter’s over.”

“I’ll reimburse you for the fine and whatever the damages were.”

“It’s already taken care of.” He didn’t need her seeing to his responsibilities. He’d gotten into the fight. He’d man up and take the consequences.

“That’s the least I can do since you were defending me.”

“There’s no need.”

“I don’t want what happened taking money away from Healing Horses or from other necessities. It’s not easy surviving on one income.”

He winced. What did she think? That he was a charity case? “I do all right.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t. At least let me pay half.”

“No.”

“Why won’t you let me help you?”

Her words stopped him cold, her offer both thrilling and ticking him off. Anger kicked in both at her for wanting to help and at him for being pleased that she had. “I don’t need the help.”

“Is Healing Horses having money problems?” Reed’s voice startled Colt. He pulled his gaze away from Stacy.

Five sets of eyes trained on him and Stacy.

He’d forgotten everyone else. For a few minutes there had been no one around but Stacy. The woman made him lose all common sense. She lit a fire in him like no other woman. Not even his wife. No woman ever made him so out-and-out frustrated, or made him want her so much.

After a deep breath and counting to ten, he said, “Healing Horses is doing fine. The spring classes are full. We just got another grant. If I get real lucky at an auction I should be able to pick up a few more horses.”

“I’m going to one this weekend,” Avery said. “We received an anonymous donation to purchase horses to keep them from going to meat packers.”

“What?” Stacy and Ryan gasped in unison.

“Horse meat is a delicacy in some places in Europe. Meat packers will buy unwanted horses here and ship the meat overseas.”

“How can people do that?” Ryan’s voice filled with horror. “Horses are such beautiful animals.”

“I know. With the donation we’ll buy as many horses as we can. Then we’ll find adoptive homes for them.”

“I never knew this kind of thing happened. How awful.” Stacy glanced at Avery. “How can I help? Can I make a donation to the shelter?”

“I’ll always take money, or you could come with us to the auction and bid on horses yourself. If you, Colt and I all bid that would help keep the prices up and knock out a lot of the meat packers. They want to get the horses dirt cheap.”

“I should update the website to let people know how they can help, and that the shelter will have horses available for adoption,” Reed said.

“I’ll send out something on Facebook,” Jess added. “Ryan, you can help me with that. I’ll also do a blog on the subject for the shelter.”

They thankfully spent the rest of the meal discussing Healing Horses, Avery’s work at the shelter and Reed’s business. All safe topics. Stacy opened up and talked about Maggie’s movie and her role. “People are calling the movie a female
Bonanza
for the twenty-first century. If it does well at the box office, who knows, it could lead to a series.”

“I think Maggie’s movie will be a blockbuster. Everybody’s always talking about how great cowboys are, how they’re the backbone of the West and all that kind of stuff, but nobody ever shows how strong the women are here,” Jess said.

Avery nodded toward her mom. “Look at Mom. She’s a perfect example of that.”

“I’ve had a lot of help running my ranch from my kids.” Nannette, beaming from her daughter’s compliment, turned toward Stacy. “I know you’ve done both movies and series. Which do you prefer, Stacy?”

“Movies are great, but a series means getting to stay in one place and money coming in consistently. Those things have a big appeal now that Ryan’s living with me.”

“That’s what Maggie says. She and Griffin love doing
The Next Rodeo Cowboy,
but once my granddaughter is school age, they don’t want to do all that traveling.”

“Then we’ll have to hope the movie is a huge success, and Maggie gets the chance to direct the series,” Avery said.

“They could film it here,” Reed added. “Now that would be a boost to the local economy.”

After dinner, Jess and Ryan took Avery’s laptop and went to the living room to work on getting the word out about the auction on social media. When Avery and Nannette started clearing the table, Stacy picked up her plate and Colt’s. Then he picked up some glasses.

“While I appreciate your willingness to help, Colt, my kitchen’s not that big,” Avery said. “And if you help clean up, then Reed will feel like he has to help. Then we’ll be tripping over each other like puppies trying to get to their mom at feeding time.”

“She’s right,” Reed said. “You can help me update the website.”

Colt glanced at Stacy, trying to sense if she felt comfortable being left alone. Then he shook himself mentally. What was he worried about? This was Nannette and Avery.

“Go,” Stacy said, as if reading his mind. How did she do that?

As he and Reed walked through the apartment to his brother’s office, Reed asked, “Are things really okay with Healing Horses? If you need money, RJ Industries can give you another grant.”

“I don’t need my baby brother bailing me out.”

“Think of it as me paying you back for helping me reach adulthood. Hell, if it hadn’t been for you either Dad would’ve killed me, or I’d be in jail for killing him.”

When his brother settled in at his desk, Colt sank into the wing chair in the corner of the room. “Damn, Reed. Getting into that fight with Carpenter scared the daylights out of me. With our history and the way Dad was—”

“You are nothing like that bastard.”

“You didn’t see me at Halligan’s. I’m not sure I’ve ever been that mad.”

“He started the fight. You didn’t go out looking for one. Remember how our old man used to do that?” Anger filled Reed’s gaze, but the emotion was different now. No, it wasn’t exactly anger. More regret and resignation. “Some days I would look at him and know it was going to be a rough one. The look that he was spoiling for a fight was in his eyes. We’re not like that.”

Certainty rang out in Reed’s voice, and Colt knew he was right. Despite his fight with Carpenter, he wasn’t like his father. That didn’t mean the feelings Stacy stirred up in him that night didn’t leave him shaking in his boots. “Thanks. I needed to hear that. How did we turn out okay when he was such a dick?”

“I had you and the McAlisters’ house to escape to. You had Lynn.”

Wow. The words knocked Colt harder than an angry bull. Sure, he’d loved his wife, but had part of her allure been her family? Its stability, the calm that radiated her household? Lynn’s house became his shelter amid the storm of his life. Had he used Lynn as an escape? Had that been another reason why they didn’t make it?

What did it matter now? No use in feeling guilty when he couldn’t change anything.

“Dinner was interesting. Stacy really gets under your skin.” Reed pulled up the shelter’s website. “I wondered what was going on between you two when I heard about what happened at Halligan’s. I’ve never seen a woman light a fire under you like Stacy did when the two of you were arguing about her paying your fine. Not even Lynn got you that riled up.”

His brother didn’t know the half of it. Not that Colt planned on admitting the fact.

Play dumb.

“There’s nothing between me and Stacy.”

Reed laughed, and not just a little chuckle. No. A full out belly laugh. “How could you say that with a straight face?’”

Discipline learned from years in the military.

But he couldn’t deny it. Stacy annoyed him more than any woman he’d ever met, and yet he admired her. Her spunk, her fortitude. The courage it took her to get anywhere near a horse after one killed her father. He liked how she spoke her mind. He thought of their earlier discussion tonight. No doubt about it, a man knew what she was thinking because she held nothing in.

Lynn had been the opposite. She never said what she thought, preferring instead to let him guess. Usually wrong. No, she held everything in and then one day she’d blast him out of the water with how mad she was. That’s what happened with their marriage. He’d sensed for a while that she was unhappy and brought up the subject a couple of times. She smiled and said nothing was wrong. He’d known better, but hadn’t wanted to push. To tell the truth, he hadn’t wanted to know how bad things were. Then one day she waltzed in, said she’d been miserable for years and left. No talking about it. No giving him a chance to change. She’d given up on him.

He couldn’t see Stacy giving up on anything or anyone.

“I think it’s great that you’re interested in a woman. It’s about time you came back among the living male population.”

He stared at Reed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been a monk since Lynn left. Is that what you really want? To spend the rest of your life alone?”

The last thing Colt needed was someone else to worry about, and that’s what happened with relationships. All he wanted was a calm, boring life, without any further entanglements. He needed a romantic relationship like a farmer needed to milk a bull. Plus he had Jess to consider. He couldn’t risk bringing someone into her life who might leave her. She’d dealt with so much in her life. She couldn’t handle any more loss and Stacy would leave.

“I’m happy for you and Avery, but I’m already a onetime loser. That was enough for me. Only an idiot with a track record like mine would go there again.”

“Who said anything about marriage? Go out on a date.”

“I’m not sure I remember what to do. I only dated one girl before I started dating Lynn and that was when I was sixteen.”

“Suffering from performance anxiety?”

After the other night? No way. His body remembered exactly how to react to a woman and what to do with one. That was the problem.

“Things have changed a whole helluva lot since then,” he said.

“Just go out and have some fun. Go to dinner. A movie, whatever. Anything but taking her to a family dinner.” Reed shook his head. “What were you thinking?”

“It wasn’t my idea. It was my daughter’s.”

How did a guy just date and have fun? If there wasn’t any chemistry with a woman he might as well go out with his buddies instead. If there was a spark between them, then how did he keep from wanting more? No thanks. Dating sounded like a recipe for disaster.

“I don’t know why we’re talking about this. Stacy’s only going to be around for a few weeks. Once her brother’s done with therapy and she finishes the movie she’ll hightail it back to L.A.”