The Rancher (16 page)

He watched them pass the house.
Colt had invited them to supper as well and Alex had run to their
house hours ago to help watch Emma so Sarah could prepare things.
He still hadn't made the slightest attempt to wash and change his
clothes. Watching that wagon pass the house, he wasn't sure he
should.

After weeks of trying to get
through to Laurel, he now knew what was holding her back. Why she
wouldn't commit to any sort of relationship and as much as he
wanted her for his wife, he wasn't sure she'd ever accept his
proposal. Now with Ethan in town, he feared she'd leave Willow
Creek with her ex-fiancé. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she
did.

The idea of losing her had
invaded his thoughts since the night before. Ever since Ethan
showed up at the dance and said Laurel was his wife. He could still
hear the smug tone in the man's voice and thoughts of violence
caused his fists to clench. He'd waited too long to find Laurel to
let her go but if she didn't want him…

He sighed. They were good
together. The sex alone was enough to leave him feeling dazed but
it wasn't even the prospect of having a willing woman in his bed
night after night that made him crave her. It was her. The way her
face turned pink when she was embarrassed. The smiles he knew she
only offered him. That soft, tinkling laughter that worked its way
into his soul and made him feel ten years younger. The way she
looked at him, her whiskey colored eyes drinking him in and making
him feel like there wasn't another man around for miles.

He'd been imagining a life with
her since leaving Missoula, even more so when she turned up in
Willow Creek and he knew if she refused to marry him, he'd spend
the rest of his life wanting her. He may marry someone else someday
in the future but it would only be to give Alex a mother.

Pete, one of the ranch hands,
called his name and he turned back to the barn. He still had work
to do, regardless of his supper plans. Walking back toward the
barn, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
He stopped, looked toward the tree line to the left of the barn and
squinted into the dying sun. Nothing but the tree branches moved
and he shrugged off the feeling of being watched before walking
into the barn. He nodded to the men already there and grabbed the
bail of hay he'd dropped when he saw the wagon.

Tossing it to Pete, he turned to
grab another and tried to put Laurel out of his mind. Maybe if he
just gave her some space, stopped badgering her about marrying him,
she'd come to a decision about them.

* * * *

The Avery clan had been pleasant
supper companions, even Alexandra, but Holden's absence had been
felt to degrees Laurel wasn't sure how to process. She missed him
and knowing she was probably the reason he hadn't shown up left her
feeling dejected.

The ladies had moved to the
parlor, a spacious room with a warm fire burning, lace curtains at
the windows and rich fabrics covering the furniture.

Alexandra was in the play room
with Abigail and Sarah's daughters and the men were on the porch
discussing things no woman cared to hear about, she was sure.

The chatter was lighthearted and
Laurel listened as she sipped her tea. Emmaline seemed to open up
and talk more since the topic of conversation was the new house
being built at the edge of the property. Laurel had seen it when
they rode under the arched entryway leading to the Avery Ranch.
Colt and Sarah's house, a two-story structure almost the size of
the main house, was nestled behind the creek in a thicket of trees
that was sure to be protected from the summer sun by acres of
shade.

The conversation had stopped and
Laurel glanced up, startling a little when she noticed everyone was
staring at her. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

Sarah smiled. "I said Holden
will be here soon."

Abigail nodded, confirming
Sarah's statement. "He's probably just tied up with work. He
doesn't make the ranch hands do anything he isn't willing to help
with himself. They're probably knee deep mucking out stalls or
storing hay."

Laurel didn't reply but her
conscious was eased a bit. Thinking Holden was working was better
than thinking he was avoiding her. The silence was deafening and
again, everyone was still looking at her. Laurel knew they wanted
something, she just wasn't sure what that was. Setting her cup
down, she folded her hands in her lap and smiled. "What is it you
want to know, ladies?

They actually blushed, threw
covert glances to each other and it was Abigail who spoke. "We were
just wondering about the man from the dance last night."

She should have seen it coming
and was surprised they hadn't asked before now. Telling them
nothing would be easier than rehashing it all but out of everyone
in Willow Creek, this set of ladies were the only ones she felt she
could call friends, as tenuous as their relationship was.

She didn't go into as much
detail as she had with Holden, but she gave them the gist of it and
it satisfied their curiosity. They asked a few questions, which she
answered, and when Sarah asked what she planned to do now, Laurel
was at a loss for words.

"I really don't know," she said.
"I'll not be leaving with him, if that's what you mean."

Abigail leaned forward in her
seat. "Accepting Holden's marriage proposal would settle it once
and for all."

The others agreed, and so did
Laurel to a certain extent. Marrying Holden would solve a lot of
her problems but it brought other's to mind as well. The main one
being, would he betray her like Ethan did?

The answer to that whispered in
her mind the moment she thought it. He wouldn't. For all his
irritating, stubborn ways, he was an honest man. He loved with his
whole heart and she knew he'd love her until his dying breath. So
why was she still refusing to marry him?

The men were returning, their
voices carrying through the house as they entered through the front
door. A gust of chill wind followed in their wake and when Laurel
turned to look at them, her heart stuttered to a stop before
pounding against her ribcage. Holden was standing in the foyer
smiling at her. He removed his hat, ran splayed fingers through his
hair and said hello to the other ladies in the room before turning
to face her.

"Would you like to take a ride
with me?"

"A ride?" Laurel asked. "Where
to?"

He shrugged. "No place in
particular." He glanced to the others and Laurel noticed his cheeks
were red. She'd never seen the man blush but there was a first time
for everything.

His gaze held hers to the point
her pulse was leaping and she found it hard to breath. She smiled
at him, watching his eyes sparkle from nothing more than that one
small gesture on her part and the answer to the question she'd been
asking herself all night became clear. She loved this man, had
since meeting him and, just as he'd told her so many times, she
wanted him. For no other reason than just being near him made her
day brighter, made life worth living.

She excused herself and crossed
the room to where he stood. " Lead the way, Mr. Avery."

He smiled at her and reached for
her coat after she pulled it from a peg on the wall near the door
and helped her slip it on. After she'd buttoned it, he escorted her
outside and Laurel stopped at the top of the steps.

When he'd asked her to take a
ride with him, she'd assumed he meant in a wagon or a buggy of some
sort but there was nothing out front but his black stallion, the
creature looking up at them both, as if impatient to get moving
again.

Holden took her hand, led her
down the steps and before she could ask him about their mode of
transportation, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto
the horse and climbing on behind her.

He'd sat her sidesaddle and she
turned her head to look at him once he grabbed the reins and guided
the horse toward the creek. "I missed you at supper."

He looked surprised, and
pleased, by the admission. "I tried like hell to get finished in
time but with winter coming on, there's more work than there is
daylight to get it all done." He closed his arms around her
tighter, pulling her closer in to his body. "Figured a sunset
stroll through the valley would be more pleasant than supper
anyway. I don't have to share you out here."

Laurel leaned into him and
smiled. "I prefer this myself," she said, craning her neck and
giving him a soft kiss. When she pulled back enough to see his
face, she knew she'd made the right decision. The only thing she
had to do now was tell him she'd marry him.

They crossed the creek in front
of Colt and Sarah's house and meandered along the shallow creek bed
for long minutes, the dying sun sending splashes of red and purples
chasing each other across the sky. The mountains in the distance
were awash with color, the trees climbing their peeks painted in
orange, yellow and crimson.

Neither spoke until Holden
halted the horse, pulling him to a stop at the far end of the
ranch. Laurel didn't know how much of the valley was Avery land but
from where they were, she could see the main two-story ranch house,
Colt and Sarah's place off in the distance, and the construction of
Tristan and Emmaline's future home.

The fencing that surrounded the
area looked to run for miles in either direction. She imagined what
it would look like come spring, the land dotted with horses and
pony's, the grass vibrant green with wildflowers covering the
valley in a rainbow of color. It was stunning, this isolated
stretch of land in Montana.

"What are you thinking?"

Laurel smiled and continued to
look out across the valley. "I was thinking how beautiful this
would be come spring."

He shifted on the horse,
wrapping her more securely in his arms. "It is." He settled his
chin on her head, sighed contently, and didn't speak for long
moments.

When he said, "It means nothing,
though, if there's no one here to share it with," Laurel's heart
skipped a beat and she smiled, silently encouraging him to ask her
to marry him again, just one more time. She turned her head, gazed
up at him and lifted her hand, caressing his cheek. "Life is
nothing with no one to share it with."

The look he gave her heated her
skin, chased away the chill mountain air and warmed her clear to
her toes. He smiled, his eyes lighting up for an instant before he
leaned down to kiss her, his mouth hard and firm against her own.
Raising her arms, Laurel hugged him to her, forced her tongue into
his mouth and kissed him with all the love she felt for him while
the horse danced under them. They were both panting for breath when
they reluctantly pulled away from each other. His smile was still
in place and the happiness shining in his eyes let her know she'd
made the right decision.

A flicker of light out of the
corner of her eye caught her attention and she looked over his
shoulder, squinting. The main ranch house was to their back now and
it took her a moment to realize what she was seeing. She gasped,
pulled away from him and shouted, "Fire!"

Chapter Eleven

They raced into the yard and the
horse had barely come to a stop before Holden jumped to the ground
and was running. The barn was ablaze, the ranch hands running with
buckets of water and Laurel slid from the horses back, grabbed the
reins and pulled him away, toward the house. She was tying the
reins to a post in front of the house when Holden ran into the
barn, mindless of the flames licking at the sides of the
structure.

Holden's father, James, walked
out onto the porch and his eyes were wide, a frightened look
covering his face. Laurel had never spoken to the man, and had
barely made his acquaintance at the picnic Holden invited her to,
but she hurried up the steps and grabbed hold of his arm just as he
was about to venture down into the yard. "We best stay here, Mr.
Avery. Let the ranch hands handle this one."

He looked over at her as if he'd
just then noticed she was standing there. He held her gaze for long
moments and Laurel couldn't be sure, but she thought he was taking
her measure. Whatever he saw must have pleased him because he gave
her a curt nod and eased away from the steps.

They stood by the front door of
the house, watching as man after man raced into the burning barn.
With every passing second, Laurel's pulse beat faster. The acrid
scent of smoke filled the air and when the last of the sun dipped
down behind the mountain, the red haze from the flames lit up the
night sky.

Colt, Morgan and Tristan raced
into the yard, all three of them jumping from their horses much in
the same manner as Holden had, their horses left unattended. Laurel
told James to stay where he was before rushing down the stairs to
collect the animal's reins and tying them where she'd left Holden's
horse. The women were following close behind the men in the wagon,
and soon the entire Avery clan was there, the men rushing to save
the animal's trapped in the barn, the women carrying their babies
up onto the porch, their fretful cries unheard against the roar of
the fire.

Alexandra was still in the yard,
staring off toward the barn and it wasn't until she turned her head
to look back at the house that Laurel started down the stairs.