Convincing the Rancher (3 page)

Samantha sighed and opened the rickety gate. “It’s so weird to have everyone trying to look after me.”

“Get used to it. You’ve got a couple more months to go.” Tess yanked her unwieldy suitcase roughly over the flagstone path.

“You know what else is weird and kind of terrifying?” Samantha asked as she pulled out a key for the door. “Trying to choose a house for you. You live in a beautiful, modern apartment with a view of the entire city! There’s nothing like that out here.”

“I’m sure it’s great,” Tess reassured her.

She was lying again. Nothing was going to be
great
for her in Benson, especially with her and Slaid’s history getting in the way, but that wasn’t Samantha’s problem.

“I think you’ll like it, though I still wish you’d stay with us. We have our house,
and
we have my grandmother’s old farmhouse furnished and ready.”

Tess felt a pang of guilt. “That’s so kind of you, but I think if I stay in town it will be easier to make contacts in the community.” She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings, but the last thing Tess wanted was to stay in Samantha’s house, or anywhere on Samantha’s ranch, where life revolved around her friend’s pregnancy. She wished her memories didn’t hurt so much, but they did. “Besides, aren’t you turning Grandma Ruth’s house into a bed-and-breakfast? You don’t need me getting in the way while you’re working on it.”

Samantha smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know... Maybe I’m too sentimental... I can’t seem to change anything about it. So for now it’s my office and a guesthouse. Perfect for friends...like you!”

Tess realized her excuses weren’t satisfying her friend, and there was no way she could tell Samantha the real reason. Because despite a decade of friendship, Tess had never explained that she’d had a baby—or that she’d placed it with an adoptive family. Or that she’d never been able to forget those few moments she’d held her son, and the complete devastation she’d felt saying goodbye to him. There were a lot of things she’d never told anyone, and it was way too late to start now. So she shrugged and plastered a smile on her face. “Unfortunately, my friend, I am here to work, and being near you would be too tempting. I’d want to hang around your gorgeous ranch and gossip all day.”

That seemed to appease Samantha. She pushed open the front door, revealing a small entryway, the whitewashed wood panels punctuated by a line of iron coat hooks. “Welcome home, then,” she said with a tentative smile.

Inside, Tess left her bags by the door and followed Samantha on a tour of the cottage. Her friend had been careful in her choice, and it showed. The old plank floors were polished and the walls were a clean white. The tall windows and high ceilings let sunlight flood the rooms. It was soothing. There was a front bedroom that had been turned into an office, and Tess appreciated the old scarred pine table that served as a desk—there was a lot of space to spread out and work.

The shabby-chic decor was the exact opposite of the sleek modern pieces Tess had chosen at home, but she had to admit that it perfectly suited this place. There was a cozy kitchen with a giant gas stove and a comfortable living room with overstuffed armchairs in front of a fireplace. The tiny bedroom was dominated by a scrolled iron bed frame. Tess noted with relief that two extra duvets were stacked on top. She would need them for the cold fall weather out here.

“Tea?” Samantha walked down the tiny hallway toward the kitchen.

After her meeting with the mayor, Tess would have preferred a brandy. “Sure,” she answered, and hauled her suitcases into the bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, pulling the pins from her hair, letting it fall around her face. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Her heart hadn’t slowed down since she left the mayor’s office and her mind was whirling, asking the same question over and over. How was it possible that she’d slept with the mayor of Benson?

She heaved herself up and walked into the kitchen on leaden legs, gratefully accepting the steaming tea Samantha handed her. Its warmth was somewhat comforting. There was a small table by the back window of the kitchen, and Samantha lowered herself carefully onto one of the chairs. Tess sat down opposite her because that was what was expected. And if she just did what was expected, then she wouldn’t do what she really wanted, which was to call Ed and threaten to quit if he didn’t let her go home.

She looked out the window. On this side of the house, they had a view of the rear garden with its small flagstone patio. There was a fire pit in the center of it surrounded by a few old, wooden Adirondack chairs painted in festive colors. It was a cheery scene until she looked beyond the picket fence, where there was only high desert. The dry ground was speckled with scrubby bushes until the hills got high enough to be speckled in granite. Then they sloped abruptly and turned into mountains.

“This is a great spot!” Samantha enthused.

“It’s beautiful.” Beautiful in a rugged, formidable way that made Tess want to jump in her car and race home. “I appreciate all of your help. The house is perfect.”

“You’ll be able to sit here and see all kinds of animals—jackrabbits, deer. And that fire pit will be a lovely place to sit at night and watch the stars.”

The enthusiasm in Samantha’s tone left Tess bewildered. Lonely contemplation had to be one of her least favorite activities. She looked at her friend instead of the window—there was way too much open space out there, too much quiet. “I’m not much of a stargazer.”

“Maybe you’ll become one now. Just wait until it gets dark. You’ll be amazed at how clear the sky is here in the fall.”

Tess made a mental note to stay inside and close the curtains at dusk. Time to change the subject. “How are you feeling anyway?” she asked Samantha, knowing she should.

“Hungry. And sleepy. I just want to nap, then sleep, then nap some more.”

“Of course.” Tess remembered her pregnancy, how her body had craved sleep so badly there were days she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Her uneasiness morphed into full-blown anxiety. The long drive today, with so much wilderness all around, had cracked open the closed doors of her mind, the ones that usually kept memories like this at bay.

“So what did you think of our mayor?” Samantha asked.

Her meeting with Slaid was another life event she’d like to shove behind a closed door. “He seems nice enough.” She tried her best to sound disinterested. “But I couldn’t really tell—we only met for a few minutes. What’s he like?”

“Well, handsome, for one thing. But you’re probably already aware of that.”

Oh, boy, was she ever. She could instantly picture what he’d looked like in that hotel room in Phoenix, skin bronzed over the toned muscles of his abs, his thick erection pressing against her thigh as he leaned on one elbow, trailing a hand across her breasts.

“Tess!” Samantha’s laugh brought her out of her reverie. “Where did you go? He must have made quite an impression!”

Her face got hot.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush! What’s going on?” Samantha’s extraordinary green eyes were wide and full of confusion.

Tess couldn’t look at her friend and confess at the same time, so she looked out at the intimidating view instead. “I slept with the mayor.” It was a relief to just say it.

“What?” Samantha gasped. “Today?”

“Not today! I’m not
that
crazy.” She looked back at her friend and had to laugh at the arched brows. “Okay, maybe I
am
that crazy sometimes. But it was about two years ago. On a business trip to Phoenix.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Unfortunately not,” Tess said weakly.

“And let me guess. You did the Tess Cole tiptoe of shame.”

Tess laughed at her friend’s skewering look. “Yes, of course. But it’s not shame—it’s practicality. I don’t want to get involved, and neither do they, so it’s best just to get out of there before anyone has to make any awkward, meaningless, morning-after conversation.”

Samantha sighed. “And how did it go, then, when the mayor discovered who you were?”

“Not well,” Tess admitted. “It didn’t help that it took me a while to recognize him. He seemed kind of upset.”

“Yes.” Samantha nodded, and Tess glanced over. Her friend was staring out the window now, with a slightly sad expression on her face. “I imagine he was.”

“What is it?”

Samantha looked at her, biting her lower lip as if considering how to answer.

“Please tell me, Sam. I’m in a mess here.”

“Slaid’s a great guy. A really good mayor and very well liked around here.” Samantha paused.

“But?” Tess prompted.

“He’s sort of a model citizen. His father was mayor, and his grandfather...and he was a big high school football star. He goes to church every Sunday. And even though he keeps really busy with his own ranch and running our town, he always seems to have time for whoever needs him...” Her voice trailed off.

“So you’re saying...”

“I don’t see him as the one-night-stand kind of guy.”

“Yeah, I kind of got that impression today.” Tess sighed.

“There’s more,” Samantha said. “Personally, he’s had a rough time of it. A couple years ago, his wife left him and their son. She moved away and hasn’t been back. It was hard on Slaid, and his son has had a tough time, too. Lately it seems as if they’ve both been doing a lot better. As if they’re healing.”

Tess looked back at the view over the desolate plains and the mountains beyond, putting the pieces of Slaid’s history together. She’d met him two years ago. Obviously, Mr. Perfect had had a bad moment after his wife left him and slept with a strange woman in Phoenix. That would be her. Tess. Who had then walked out on him and made him feel even worse. “I don’t know how I’m going to work with him,” she confessed.

“So the meeting
really
didn’t go well,” Samantha clarified.

“No.”

“Tess,” Samantha said quietly, and put a soft hand on her arm. “I hate to suggest it, or even think about it because I want you here in Benson, but professionally, the right thing to do might be to excuse yourself from this project.”

“I tried!” Tess sat up straighter as the confusion of their meeting returned. “I told him right away that I would get someone else to take over for me and he said no! And when I insisted, he told me he’d...” She thought of Slaid’s gilded reputation in this town. She couldn’t share the threat he’d made in such a bad moment. She owed him that much. “Well, he just insisted that I stay on. He doesn’t want anyone else on the project. It makes no sense. Shouldn’t he want me to go? I could ruin his reputation if I told people about Phoenix!”

Her friend didn’t answer for a moment and they just sat, leaning on their elbows, staring at each other. Finally Samantha spoke. “That’s just weird.”

And there it was, summed up perfectly. Tess was surprised by her own laughter. “It is! Do you think he wants to keep me here just to torture me?”

“Maybe it’s a case of the devil you know,” Samantha said. “Maybe he’s nervous about having a consultant around and he figures that at least he knows you.”

“But he doesn’t!” Tess said. “Not at all... Well, only in a naked and sweaty kind of way, but other than that, we’re strangers!”

“A naked and sweaty kind of way...” Samantha giggled. “Tess, you are the only person I know who would end up in this predicament. It could be a sign that it’s time to mend your wild ways.”

“To be honest, my ways have been a lot less wild the past couple of years,” Tess confided. “It all gets kind of boring after a while.”

“Boring?” Samantha repeated. “You have definitely been sleeping with the wrong men. Perhaps it’s time for something new. Like getting to know the guys first for a change.”

“That is
far
too much work,” Tess countered. “No, I’m pretty sure vibrators were invented for people like me. They don’t ask for much, just a few new batteries every now and then.”

“Tess!” Samantha exclaimed in shock. And then the laughter started again and Tess put her head down on the table, resting it on her folded arms, laughing until her hands were wet with tears. When she looked up, Samantha was wiping her own eyes and grinning at her. Tess suddenly felt a deep gratitude. Even if Mayor Slaid Jacobs came to his senses and ran her out of town tomorrow, she was glad she got to have this laugh with her friend today. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed her.

“So how was that night with the mayor two years ago, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Incredible.” Tess sighed, remembering how much she’d wanted him then. How much she could still want him now if she let herself. “Truly amazing.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Just try to pretend it never happened, I guess. And keep out of his way whenever possible. Hopefully he’ll realize how much better it would be to have someone else on this job.”

“I know you’d like to get back to the city,” Samantha said softly, “but I kind of hope you stay.”

“You know I could never move out here like you did.”

The teasing light was back in her friend’s eyes. “Never say never. This place has a way of growing on you. Stay too long and it might even get under
your
skin.”

Tess glanced back out the window, at the vast mountains filling the horizon, and the enormous empty sky graying with the dusk. She shivered. It wouldn’t grow on her. She’d be lucky if she survived a month of all this cold solitude and silence.

* * *

S
LAID SAT DOWN
heavily on the rock and twisted the top off his beer. The cold bitterness was exactly what he needed after his visit from Tess today. He looked up at the nearby peaks, noticing the way the setting sun lit up the granite. Something he’d seen almost every day of his life, yet had never taken for granted.

He liked this rock. His son called it The Thinking Rock because Slaid had come out here a lot after Jeannette had left them, to brood and try to figure out where it had all gone wrong. Now that Devin was a teenager, they came up here together for the occasional heart-to-heart.

It was up on the edge of their property, where the hills started to give way to the mountains, and it had a good view. He could see his house in miniature below—a low rancher his father had built in classic ’50s style. It wasn’t picturesque like some of the old farmhouses in the area, but big glass doors gave way to all kinds of patios and he liked that mix of inside and out. He never felt removed from the land he loved.