The Taylor Ranch: Cade (3 page)

“I
suppose you’ve already heard that April Dubois is back in Pine Creek.”

Cade
swallowed. “Yes, I did. In fact, I saw her on Main Street just yesterday.”

Guess people
still think of her as Dubois and not Parker.

“Guess
you know why she’s back,” said Eloise.

Cade
wiped his mouth with the corner of the red bandana the café used as napkins.

“No,
but I guessed that she and her husband might be taking over running the ranch.”

Eloise
put the coffee carafe on the table and put her knee on the chair opposite him,
leaning slightly his way as if preparing to whisper in his ear. The lady loved
gossip. In fact, fifty percent of Pine Creek’s rumors originated in her café.

“Nope,
she and he are no longer man and wife.”

Cade
bit his bottom lip, wondering if he was dreaming. Maybe seeing her again had
sparked something in his brain and he’d dreamed about her divorcing Ben.
However, if he was dreaming, the food tasted pretty damn good.

“You
sure?” he asked.

“I’m
positive. Jon Newly told me. Patrick told him when he was in having his hair
cut at the weekend.”

 
He pinched his arm, just to make sure it
wasn’t a dream before he got his hopes up only to wake up and realize she was
still Mrs. Ben Parker.

Ouch,
he’d been a little too heavy with his fingers.
Definitely not
a dream.
April was single again. However, that didn’t mean he was going
to pursue her. Hell, he wasn’t getting hurt by her again, if she went running
back to Mr. Parker after realizing she’d made a mistake coming home. Women
often did that.

“I
know what you’re thinking,” said Eloise. “Once bitten twice shy, but you’re
perfect for one another.”

“Eloise,
she chose another man. I don’t think she thought that.”

“Something
wasn’t right about their union.”

“He
had money, a nice house in Chicago…need I go on.”

“April
Dubois was never the sort of person who’d marry a man just for his bank account
or possessions. Sure, her uppity mother was that type, but not April. April’s
always been like her dad.
A home-grown Montana girl.
Things began going terribly wrong for Patrick Dubois the minute April’s mother
stepped into his life.”

Patrick…
the town knew him by that name, but few people besides Cade knew that his real
name was Pierre and he didn’t want folks thinking he was all fancy and high and
mighty. Yeah, Eloise was right: he was a down to earth, sixth-generation cowboy
and his daughter was the apple fallen from that tree. April’s mom had been long
gone by the time Cade began working for Patrick, but he’d heard from the older
cowboys that she was a bitch with a capital B. The only thing April had
inherited from her was her beauty.

“So
what are you going to do about it?”
 
asked
Eloise. His food had grown cold but right now he
didn’t care.
“About what?”

“Don’t
play coy, Mr. Mallory.”

“If
you must know, I intend to go and see April on my way back to the ranch.”

Eloise
winked at him.

“And
no, I don’t intend to pick up where I left off and…”

He
was going to say
and have sex with her
.
How many times had he fantasized about them getting horizontal again?

Eloise
winked again. “You bring her in here for breakfast and it’s on the house.” She
turned and left.

 
April and Ben Parker, in splits-
ville
… He sprinkled more pepper on his biscuits and gravy.
He wouldn’t brag and say he’d told her so, but he had. He’d known from the
minute he’d met Parker that he wasn’t the right man for April.

There
was only one man that fit that bill and it was him, Cade Mallory. Why hadn’t
she seen that? They were two peas in a pod.

Cade
dabbed the corners of his mouth and leaned back on the chair, taking a breather
from his breakfast, letting the biscuits digest before he tackled the remaining
sausages.

Proceed, but do
it with caution.

****

April
pulled the car over to the shoulder. She’d had every intention of turning onto
the road that lead to the Taylor ranch.
Now the Cade Mallory
ranch.
Fear had washed over her, forcing her to park and get her
composure back.

She
hated what she’d done to him. In all honesty she never thought she’d have to
face him again. He told her he couldn’t stick around a place that held so many
memories of her. When her father had told her he’d simply quit and left town,
she thought that was the last she’d ever hear or see of him.

In
her heart she’d almost wanted to tell him the truth, beg him to wait for her,
but she couldn’t. She had an agreement with Ben and she couldn’t expect a man
like Cade to wait for her forever. But, fate was a funny creature and here they
were both in the same town again. She had to deal with her feelings, put right
what she’d done to him, and tell him the truth. She didn’t care what Ben had
drafted into their contract, it was time that Cade knew what really happened.
Turning on the radio, she decided to listen to some music and hopefully it
would relax her.

You look great, Cade.

So happy to hear
that you bought this place.

She
squeezed her eyes tight shut. How phony did that sound?
Nothing
like the real April.

Cade, I’m sorry
for what happened.

Sounded even worse.
It was true,
but it didn’t sound like she truly meant it. And she most definitely did.

Putting
the gears into reverse, she backed down the road and turned onto the one
leading to his ranch house.

Better
to get it over and done with, say hello, say sorry, go back to her dad’s ranch
and hopefully them running into one another would no longer be awkward or with
any luck, that frequent.

She’d
been to the Taylor place more times than she could remember. She’d gone to
school with their youngest daughter, Tanya and often had sleep-overs at their
house. April wondered if Cade had altered the house in any way, and if the
sketches she and Tanya had scribbled onto her bedroom wall were still there.

 
 
The
dust spun around the truck, setting up a haze. She’d call at the house first,
but most likely Cade would be outside doing chores like mending or painting
fences, even moving cattle, he’d been a born natural at anything related to
running a ranch.

Pulling
up on the driveway, she looked around for any sign of him. No evidence of a
truck, but it could be he’d driven it onto the actual ranch. She took a deep
breath and got out of the truck before she lost her nerve again.

This has to be
done, it has to be done
became her mantra as she headed toward the front
door.

She
knocked on it, her mouth going dry as she waited for him to answer.

Still no response.
Obviously, Cade
was hard at work on the ranch. She’d leave the truck on his driveway and walk
down to the stables and see if she could find him.

Putting
her dark glasses back on, she headed to the left of the property, knowing it as
well as she did her father’s ranch. In fact, if she stood on the hill to the
right, she probably could see him out in one of the pastures.

Going
down the hill, she spotted the stables and barns ahead. He hadn’t changed a
thing. A man walked out of one of the barns and for a second she thought it
might be Cade, but this was an older, shorter guy.

“Hi,
I’m looking for Cade Mallory.”

“Cade
went into town to pick up some supplies.”

“Shit.”

She
hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but she was hoping they’d get this over and
done with today so she wouldn’t have to find the nerve to do it a second time.

“You
know when he’ll be back?”

“I
think late afternoon. He said he had an extra errand to run while he was out
and about.”

Why did he pick
today?

“Okay,
I’ll stop back some other time.”

“All
righty, I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

“You
know who I am?”

“Sure
do. When Cade interviewed me I went inside his house and he has a photo of the
two of you on the shelf above his desk.”

Chapter Four

It
shouldn’t have been coffee he’d downed at breakfast, but beer, or maybe even a
double shot of whisky.

Both
his hands were shaking.
Trembling so badly he could hardly turn
the steering wheel to head onto the road leading to the Dubois ranch.
He
was sensible enough to know that the shakes weren’t caused by caffeine
overload. Truth be told, he was as nervous as hell about seeing her face to
face again. Spotting the huge oak tree on the left, Cade remembered the two of
them sitting under it, eating the picnic April had put together for them.

She’d
been a great cook.
Sort of forced into the role of woman
around the house when her dad was suddenly made a single parent.
Cade
looked at the tree again and smiled. He’d finally made love to her under its
huge canopy. Yeah, they’d been sneaky and done the deed under the blanket just
in case anyone saw them.

“Have
you ever had sex with an employer’s daughter before?” she’d asked him as he’d
driven his finger into her pussy, realizing it was as tight and sweet as he’d
imagined.

“Never,
and not his son either.”

They’d
both burst out laughing before he’d slid between her legs and pushed his cock
into the warm, wet place that was sheer heaven.

“I’ve
never fucked outside before,” she’d whispered in his ear as he’d thrust inside
her, hoping it was the first of many times they’d make love, but then Ben Parker
had strolled into her life.

He
bit his lip, thinking maybe he should have just punched the guy on the nose and
told him April was his girl, but he’d lost his nerve and he’d lost the girl
too. He’d never do that again.

Up
ahead he saw the stables and house, taking him back to the first day of work,
and the first time he’d set eyes on April. He’d never believed in love at first
sight until that day, and after that he’d argue with anyone who insisted there
was no such thing.

He
pulled into the small lot at the end of the road that led up to the ranch, and
the place where the workers left their vehicles. He sat for a while looking
around, wondering if some of the cowboys he used to work alongside were still
with Patrick. He’d loved working here, and not just because of the boss’
daughter. Patrick had been a great and decent employer. Fair to everyone, and a
guy who made sure everyone had fun and that working conditions were as good as
they could be. He’d set the standard to which Cade now ran his ranch and
treated his own employees.

Getting
out of the truck, he knew if he didn’t do this right this minute he’d chicken
out. He walked over to the main area where the stables and barns were.

“Well,
would you look who’s
here.
”

Cade
smiled when he saw Steve, the ranch foreman to his left. Cade slapped him on
the back and they shook hands.

“I
heard you bought the Taylor ranch,” said Steve.

“Yep,
got my work cut out for me now. Got it cheap because the place needs an
overhaul, but I’m getting there.”

“I
always said you’d be great running your own place one day. So what brings you
here?”

“Thought
I’d stop by and say hi to Patrick, as we’re now neighbors.”

That
had come across as plain stupid. They’d been neighbors for close to four months
and Cade so far hadn’t thought of dropping by. Plus, Steve probably guessed it
had something to do with April returning home. All the other cowboys knew how
he felt about her––it was the reason they didn’t make plays for her. Cowboy
code: you never went after another man’s woman, or there was hell to pay.

“I
just saw him heading toward the house.”

“Great,
I’ll try and catch up with him… it was good seeing you again, too.”

“Don’t
be a stranger and maybe we can go for a beer one night.”

“Sure,
and feel free to drop by my ranch any time you want.”

“I
will definitely do that just to see what you’re doing to the place.”

Steve
walked away, leaving Cade almost unable to put one foot in front of the other.
 
He’d be seeing her in a couple of minutes. He
knew that for sure, because that’s how long it took to walk up to the house
from this very spot.

Willing
his legs to move, he headed up the walkway, passing through the middle of the
shrubs to the path leading up to the front door. He took off his cowboy hat,
tidied his hair and then put the hat back on, coughed and lifted his hand to
knock on the door, but froze again.