A Wife in Wyoming (6 page)

Which he apparently wasn't ever going to do.

At the door of her truck, she pasted a smile on her face and turned around to find him standing a double arm's length away. As if he didn't dare get closer.

The smile died.

Opening the door on her own, she climbed into the driver's seat and settled in before looking over at Ford. “Thanks so much for the tour. If it's all right, I'll be coming around after work every day this week to get the dusting done, set up the kitchen, that kind of thing. Don't worry, though—you don't have to feed me.”

His solemn gaze met hers. “You're welcome to join us for dinner anytime. There's always plenty of food. And your face definitely improves the scenery in the dining room.”

She couldn't bring herself to respond. Instead, she shut the door and cranked the engine.

He stayed where he was, watching as she reversed and headed out. Caroline glanced in the rearview mirror several times and could see him still standing there until a rise in the land hid the house from her sight.

Chapter Four

As tired as he was on Tuesday evening, Ford didn't notice the red pickup truck sitting in front of the bunkhouse until he came out of the barn with his chores all done. He stood motionless for a minute, fighting his impulse to go over and check on how Caroline was coming along with her dusting.

“She's working late,” Garrett commented as he walked by. “I know you think this is a bad idea, but she's totally committed to helping those kids to a better life.”

“She's out to save the world. I get it.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I just wish she'd picked somebody else to assist her with that effort. There are other ranches available in the area—her dad's place, for one. Why wouldn't that have been her first choice for a summer camp?”

Garrett stared at him. “I guess you wouldn't have heard what happened, since you weren't here at the time. George Donnelly kicked Caroline out of his house.”

“What?” The news punched him in the gut. “When? Why?”

“When she went to work with the Department of Family Services. He said he wouldn't have her wasting time with ‘those kinds of people' and she'd have to quit her job. Caroline refused so he told her to go and stay gone.”

“What would possess a man to reject his daughter like that?”

Garrett shrugged. “Donnelly's always been convinced that he stands above the rest of us. He had strict rules for Caroline and Reid about who they could and could not associate with when they were just little kids.”

“I noticed we weren't on their invitation list.”

“You've got that right. Donnelly stopped coming to church when they hired me. Which wasn't a great loss, to be honest, since he only showed up on Sunday and mostly slept through the sermon. But Caroline doesn't have access to the family ranch or the family money anymore. She's lucky if she and her mom can get together for lunch once a month, when her dad's away for the day.”

“Why would she give up her family for a job?”

Garrett looked at him with a wry expression. “Interesting question. You'll have to ask Caroline for her reasons.” He clapped Ford on the shoulder. “I'll find something to throw together for supper if you'll make sure the water troughs are full. Dylan's feeding the horses.”

“Will do.” But instead of moving, Ford continued to gaze at Caroline's truck.

She hadn't told him, hadn't explained why she was living in town. He'd made an assumption that she still had access to her privileged background, still depended on her family for support. And she hadn't corrected the impression.

So he really had insulted her, and she'd had every reason to be mad about it. An apology on his part was definitely in order. An immediate apology.

Ignoring the horse troughs, Ford headed for the bunkhouse. He knocked on the door—he didn't want to scare her—and then walked in. “Caroline? It's Ford.”

Silence greeted him, but someone had clearly been working hard. All the surfaces in the kitchen and living room were shiny clean. The door to the bedroom stood open, and a vacuum cleaner leaned against one of the beds. Caroline, however, wasn't there.

Going back to the barn, Ford topped off the horses' water, straightened saddle blankets on their racks, made sure the tack room was neat. When he couldn't find anything else to do, he walked slowly to the house.

In the living room, Garrett and Dylan sat on the couch, wolfing down sandwiches, with Honey sitting in front of them, coveting each bite. “Go get some food,” Dylan ordered. “Caroline set out the sandwich stuff on the table, ready to eat. Just what you were hoping for.”

Not exactly. “Great.” Heading for the dining room, he dug deep for a smile.

Caroline sat at one end of the table with a half-finished plate in front of her. “Hi, there. Since you all were so late, Wyatt and I pulled out something to eat so you wouldn't have to cook. Hope you don't mind taking the night off.”

“Not in the least.” Ford stopped behind the chair across from her and took hold with both hands. “I appreciate the effort. It's been a long day.” Especially after a restless night, though he wouldn't confess that part.

She started to stand up. “I can make you a sandwich, if you want. What would you like?”

He waved her back to her chair. “I'll do it.”

She hesitated for a second but then sat down. “Okay. Help yourself.”

Taking his time, he put together a roast-beef sandwich he wasn't sure he could eat, threw some potato chips on the plate and, because it would have been rude otherwise, took the chair across the corner of the table from Caroline. “I stopped in at the bunkhouse. You got a lot done this afternoon.”

“Looks nice, doesn't it? I should get the bedroom and bathroom done tomorrow. Then we'll be ready for the boys.”

“Ready for the boys to mess it all up, you mean?”

Her laugh reminded him of water tumbling over rocks in one of his favorite creek beds. “Probably. I suspect I'll have to supervise some clean-up sessions while they're here.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Or maybe I'll get you to do it. They'll probably take orders from you a lot more easily than some dumb female.”

“You're definitely not a dumb female, but I get the point. A show of force never hurts when it comes to teenage boys.”

“You would know. People still tell stories about how the four of you took care of yourselves without supervision. Wyatt must have had his hands full.”

“We had our moments.” He thought back over the years, remembering some of the less disciplined Marshall activities. “But we all worked pretty hard to keep things together. And once we got into rodeo, we tended to spend our energy practicing, so we didn't have a lot left over to cause trouble.”

She nodded. “That's just one of the reasons I believe this program will help the kids. When you spend your day riding, roping, moving hay and all the other work that makes up ranch life, you're usually too tired at night to cause trouble.”

“I hope you're right.”

“But you doubt it?”

“I'm reserving judgment. You've made your case with Wyatt, now we'll see how the evidence plays out.”

Her green gaze suddenly held mischief. “Want to bet on it?”

“What would we bet? Not money.” If she was living on a social worker's salary, that wouldn't be fair.

“How about...loser takes the winner on a date?”

“A date?” He gazed at her, noted the flushed cheeks. “You and me?” A very bad idea, because he would enjoy it too much.

“Not a lifetime commitment, Ford. Just an evening's fun.”

He expected to win, given the odds that something would go wrong. “Okay. It's a bet.”

“Great.” She stood up and gathered their plates together. “I'll put this stuff away before I leave.”

“No, you won't.” He tried to keep his gaze away from the cut-off denim jeans she was wearing. “We've got a cleanup crew out there in the living room. Just leave everything where it is, and they'll take care of it.”

“I don't mind.”

“
I
would mind. Let me walk you out to your truck so you can be on your way.”

In the living room, Garrett and Dylan were both slouched down on the sofa, watching a TV baseball game. They came to their feet as Caroline entered.

Dylan reached her first. Taking her hand, he pulled her close and kissed her cheek. “You are a woman in a million. Thanks for getting supper ready.”

She blushed and shook her head. “I hardly did anything.”

Garrett came in for a quick hug. “Hungry as we were, it was great just to dive in. You're the best.”

Standing by the door, Ford cleared his throat. “Ready, Caroline?”

“Of course. See you tomorrow,” she told his brothers, and led the way onto the porch. Her steps were quick as she crossed toward the barn, as if she was in a hurry to leave.

But Ford wouldn't let her go without hearing him out first. “I'll switch off the lights in the bunkhouse,” he said as she started to pass by her truck. “You should be getting home.”

She hesitated and then turned around. “Thanks. I hadn't intended to stay so long in the house, but I hated to leave Wyatt by himself. And he had trouble bending to get things out of the refrigerator.”

“Thanks for helping him.” He opened the truck door. “Before you go, though, I want to apologize.”

Her brows drew together. “Why?”

He wouldn't allow himself to avoid her puzzled gaze. “Garrett filled me in on what happened when you came to work for social services in Bisons Creek. About what your dad has done.”

Her face changed in the second before she looked away from him. “He shouldn't have... You don't have to worry about that.”

“First of all, I hate hearing that your dad is being such a bastard.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “At least he's consistent. And it wasn't just about the job. He hated that I refused to do what he told me to do. He's not used to that.”

“I don't have much experience with parents, but it seems to me that he didn't want you to grow up.”

“Oh, I could grow up if I did it his way—as the wife of some rancher he approved of, giving him grandchildren to dote on.” She took a deep breath. “I admit—I had it easy as a kid. All I had to do was follow my dad's rules, and I was given whatever I asked for. But in college I got far enough away from home to see the real world, where people aren't kept like china dolls on a shelf. I realized I didn't want to be a possession, or a trophy. When I told him so, he cut me off.”

“That's rough.”

Her head tilted from side to side. “Lots of people have it worse. I should have paid more attention to the Marshall brothers back in school, and less to my own concerns.”

Ford cleared his throat. “Well, I apologize for assuming your life hasn't changed in all these years. I drew conclusions without thinking too much about what the truth might be. A teenager can make those kinds of mistakes, but an adult should know better. I misjudged you, and I'm sorry, Caroline.”

She rose onto her toes and put a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks.” Her lips pressed against his cheek—a sweet, simple kiss.

Without thinking, Ford turned his head and brushed her mouth with his. Caroline gave a small gasp. Time seemed to stop.

Then, in the next instant, he moved in again for more. More contact, more pressure. More of Caroline.

The softness of her lips was a welcome like nothing he'd ever known—warm, giving and tender. Her cheek was smooth against his fingertips, her hand on his shoulder trembling slightly when he covered it with his own. He wanted to go slow, to savor each touch. He wanted to be greedy, drawing kiss after kiss from her until they both fell down dizzy with the pleasure. She sighed, and he wanted to drink in her breath, capture the instant inside himself. He wanted—

A horse whinnied, breaking his trance. Ford lifted his head and realized exactly what he was doing. Where and, most important, with whom.

“This,” he whispered, resting his forehead lightly against hers, “was not the plan.”

“No,” she agreed.

“But I'm not going to apologize.”

“Please don't.”

Instead he stepped back. “Good night, Caroline. Drive safely.”

She nodded and climbed into the truck. Those shorts gave him a gut-wrenching view of her legs when she sat down. He clenched his fists to keep them at his sides.

And he watched, for the second night in a row, as her taillights gradually disappeared into the night.

“Not too smart.” Wyatt's voice came out of the darkness near the barn.

Ford stared up at the stars. “No.”

“It's not your style to start something you can't finish.”

“I didn't—don't—intend to start anything at all.”

“Then you just made your road a lot rougher.”

“You can say that again.”

* * *

N
OW
SHE
KNEW
what kissing Ford Marshall felt like.

Like Christmas Eve, with white lights sparkling on a snow-covered spruce tree, mirroring the stars glittering in the wide Wyoming sky. Like a Fourth of July parade, flags waving and the band playing “Stars and Stripes Forever” while military veterans marched in uniform, proud of serving their country.

Like a dark room lit with candles, two people lying skin to skin on cool, crisp sheets, driving each other crazy with hands and lips and tongues.

Oh, yes. He had made her feel all of those things, and more.

She savored the sensations as she drove along Main Street. Climbing the stairs of the old house she now called home, Caroline recaptured the press of his fingertips against her cheek, the warm weight of his hand over hers on his shoulder. Eyes closed, she leaned against the wall and relived each moment of every kiss.

Once inside her apartment, though, she shut the door on her personal fairy tale. Ford had insisted there couldn't be anything between them. He didn't want to take the risk, he'd said. Typical lawyer.

But she agreed. She wasn't going to the ranch to fool around with a cowboy. She would be there to make a difference in young lives. After her privileged upbringing, she owed the world a huge debt. Helping other people, especially kids, was her way of paying it back.

As for Ford, well, she'd initiated tonight's episode by kissing his cheek. That couldn't happen again. He'd said he was attracted to her, so who could blame him for testing the waters? She wouldn't blame herself, either. His apology had been so sweet, she'd only meant to let him know he was forgiven.

From this point on, though, they would behave themselves. Strictly friends, they would be, and casual friends, at that. Ford would return to his job in San Francisco. She would stay where she was needed, here in Bisons Creek. Nothing had happened to change their plans.