Goodbye Girl (Hidden Lane Ranch) (2 page)

I hopped into
my truck and started it up. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I glanced back
at the diner, seeing her in the window. She tucked her blonde hair behind her
ear and my knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as I remembered the bruise
on her cheek. I had this overwhelming urge to go back inside and drag her out
of there, to protect her and keep her safe from whomever she was running from
and whoever laid a hand on her.

I sighed and
shook my head. I’d probably never see her again. She said she was just passing
through and the thought of being stuck in the middle of nowhere probably made
her panic. There was a reason Wyoming was the second least populated state. But
if she decided to stay, I could keep her safe.

I’d talked to
her for five minutes; why was I so worried about her safety? I couldn’t keep my
eyes off of her and I was pretty sure she had been checking me out too. When I
took her hand to shake it, I swore I felt an electric current between us.

I saw the
lights from the sign of the ranch in the distance. I loved running the ranch
that had been in my family for the past fifty years but late at night, I had to
admit I got lonely. There were plenty of women in town that would love to be
Mrs. Clint Roberts, but since Hope had left me twelve years ago, no one could
hold my interest.

Sure, I’d been
on plenty of dates and I wasn’t lacking any female companionship at all, but I
wanted that special someone. I had a reputation in town of being a heartbreaker,
but I wasn’t really; I just hadn’t met
that
one.

I turned in
the driveway and as I approached the main house, I noticed the lights still on
in the kitchen. Who was still up? I parked the truck and headed inside to find
my mother sitting at the kitchen table reading and drinking some coffee.

I went over
and kissed her cheek. “Hey Ma, what are you doing up?” I went over to the
cupboard to get a glass for some water.

She waved her
hand. “Couldn’t sleep. It would’ve been your daddy’s birthday tomorrow and I
can’t seem to get him off my mind.”

“Aw Ma,” I
said, coming back to sit in the chair next to her.

She smiled and
touched my cheek. “It’s ok, baby. I’ll be fine. I just miss him.”

I looked over
at the picture of Ma and Dad sitting on the fireplace mantle. “I do too.”

She patted my
knee. “He’d be so proud of you, son.”

I leaned back
in my chair and took off my hat, setting it on the table. “I hope so.”

“He would, I
know it. I know you took over sooner than we’d planned, but you’re doing a
great job.” She took a sip of her coffee and gave him a sly smile. “Now if
you’d just hurry up and give me some grandbabies, I could say you were the
perfect son.”

“Ma!” I chided
her. “I don’t even have a girlfriend.”

“Well why not?
Your brother, Wyatt, doesn’t seem to have any trouble with girls.”

I rolled my
eyes. Wyatt was the town’s biggest playboy and he always had a different girl
on his shoulder. He was the last person I wanted my love life compared to.

“Please, Ma. Wyatt
changes women like he does his underwear. Knowing him, you probably already
have a couple of grand babies running around out there,” I grumbled.

“Pfftt,” she
said, getting up to put her coffee cup in the sink. She turned around and
kissed my forehead. “I’m going to try to sleep now. Sweet dreams, dear.”

I reached up
to touch her hand on my shoulder. “Good night, Ma. I love you.”

“Love you
too,” she called over her shoulder as she headed down the hall to her room.

I took another
drink of water and my mind wandered back to Rachel. Her eyes were bluer than
the sky on a sunny summer day. I’d wanted to reach out and brush the hair from
her forehead as we briefly talked. It was obvious she’d just taken a shower,
her hair still damp. I felt a stirring between my thighs, thinking about her
naked in the shower.

I yawned and
checked the clock. It was almost midnight. I better head to bed myself; four AM
came pretty early. I heard a click of the door and turned to see my younger
brother Wyatt stumbling in with a girl on each arm.

“Hey big
brother!” he said, leading the girls over to me.

“Shhhh,” I
scolded him. “Ma was just up. She’ll beat you if she finds you out here with
these two.” I nod at the redheads behind him dressed in barely there skirts and
tank tops. Where did he find these skanks?

He turned with
a grin and put a finger to his lips. “Girls, we better be quiet. My mom will
tan my ass if she comes out here.”

“Clint! Is
that Wyatt?” We froze when we heard Ma’s voice. I held back a chuckle; Wyatt
was so busted.

“Yes, Ma,
Wyatt just got home. He has guests though,” I called back to her, grinning
wickedly at him. I loved getting him into trouble with Ma.

Ma came
walking into the kitchen and frowned immediately when she saw the two girls
with Wyatt. She never told us how to live our lives, but the disappointment on
her face was evident. “Wyatt,” she nodded at him. “Who are your friends?”

If he’d been
buzzing when he came home, he was probably stone-cold sober from the look Ma
was giving him. “These are just some girls I met tonight when I was out.”

She gave them
a nod. “Well, I’m going to bed. Goodnight everyone.” She turned and went back
down the hall. We sat silently, waiting until we heard the click of her bedroom
door.

The three of
them dissolved in a fit of giggles and Wyatt gathered them up to take them back
to his room. “Good night, Clint.” He winked at me as the girls each wrapped an
arm around his waist. I shook my head; Wyatt was going to get an earful from Ma
in the morning.

I flipped off
the kitchen lights and walked off to the master suite. Ma insisted I take it
after Dad died. She said it was too painful for her to be in there anyway. I
decided on a quick shower before bed and imagined how much more fun it would be
if Rachel were with me. As I cleaned myself, I gripped my cock, already semi
hard between my legs. I reached an arm out to brace myself against the shower
wall as I stroked my erection, thinking about being buried deep inside her.

A soft moan
escaped my lips, my hand moving faster. I licked my lips, thinking about how
her skin would taste. I wanted to cover every inch of her body with my tongue
until she cried out my name. I shuddered and released in my hand, breathing
harshly.
Fuck
.

I cleaned up
and turned off the water. I dried off before throwing on some pajama bottoms. I
preferred to sleep naked but I’d been waken up in the middle of the night with
ranch emergencies on more than one occasion and I didn’t like getting caught in
the buff.

I clicked off
the light on the table next to me and lay back, putting my hands behind my head
while I stared at the ceiling. I hated the emptiness in the bed next to me and
thought for a brief second about Hope.
 
She was supposed to grow old with me here
and help me run the ranch just like Ma and Dad had. She’d decided this life
wasn’t good enough for her and headed out west to California. I hadn’t seen or
heard from her in years.

I turned to my
side and touched the empty pillow next to me. Rachel’s image flashed in front
me and I imagined her lying here next to me night after night. I snorted and
closed my eyes. She would probably freak out just like Hope had; life on the
ranch wasn’t easy and for those that hadn’t grown up with it, they had a hard
time adjusting. I wouldn’t give up hope that I would find someone to share my
life with. Eventually, the right person would come.

I couldn’t
shake the feeling that I’d just run into the right person.

***

I almost
overslept the next morning, visions of a blond-haired beauty filling my dreams.
I was going to try to get back to the diner today and hopefully run into her.

As I got
dressed, I thought about all the times Ma had told me when I met the right girl,
I’d know. She insisted the moment she met Dad, she told everyone she was going
to marry him. I’d told her she was crazy; I didn’t believe in that shit,
especially after being so sure Hope was
the one
.

Now, after
meeting Rachel, maybe there was something to what Ma said. I’d only spent a few
minutes with her, but I couldn’t get her out of his head.

I threw myself
into my morning chores, trying to work off some of the frustration I was
feeling. There was nothing like some old fashioned labor to help clear my mind.
I ran this ranch, but that didn’t stop me from getting deep in the trenches
with the other ranch hands. I worked just as hard as they did, if not harder. My
dad had taught my brother and me to work hard. This morning I was messing with
the ranch truck, trying to get it to run again.

It was a muggy
morning, the humidity felt like it was at 100% and it wasn’t long before I’d
taken off my t-shirt. As brutal as the winters were here in Wyoming, the
summers could be just as bad. I tried to get most of the hard work done before
the sun was too high or it was just too hot.

I glanced up
to find Wyatt finally stumbling from the house with a cup of coffee in his
hand.

“Rough night?”
I asked as he walked up to me in the garage.

He grinned
before taking a drink of his coffee. “You have no idea, big brother. You
should’ve joined me. I would’ve shared.”

I laughed and
shook my head. “Did you even sleep?”

He shrugged
and set his coffee down on my toolbox. He turned his baseball cap around and
studied the engine. “I can sleep when I’m dead.”

We tinkered
around on the truck awhile before Ma came out of the house. “Clint, someone’s
here to see you.”

“Send them to
my office please, Ma. I’ll be right there,” I called over my shoulder,
tightening one last bolt.

“Well, it’s a
girl. She says her name is Rachel. Do you know a Rachel?”

I dropped my
wrench and hit my head on the hood of the car in my surprise. Rachel was here?

I bent down to
pick up my dropped tool and when I turned around, there she was. She was
wearing jean shorts and a purple sparkly tank top. Black sandals covered her
feet and she had her hair on top of her head in a messy bun.

“Hi, I’m here
about a job,” she smiled at me shyly.

Fuck me.
Was he really standing there in front of
me with no shirt on?

I watched him
talk to the woman who’d answered the door when I knocked. She was his mom? Guess
ranch living is different than back home. Most men I knew would never still be
living with their mothers.

My eyes
followed a bead of sweat as it went down his chest and disappeared beneath the
waistband of his jeans. My tongue darted out between my lips; what I wouldn’t
give to lick that up with my tongue. I could have spent hours tracing over the
muscles on his chest and stomach. My nipples were tight beneath my tank top and
I suddenly wished I’d been wearing more than just the cami underneath it.

His skin was
golden brown from hours in the sun. He didn’t have any tattoos and it was nice
to see a man that didn’t feel the need to cover his body with ink. Tattoos were
hot, but there was something refreshing about his clean look. So far it seemed
like Clint was the exact opposite of every man I knew and at this point in my
life that was a very good thing.

“Hello
Rachel,” he smiled and nodded at me, grabbing the handkerchief from his back
pocket and wiping the sweat from his brow. “Glad to see you again.”

“You know this
girl?” the woman who’d answered the door asked, looking at the two of us with
curiosity written all over her face.

“We met at the
diner last night, Ma,” he replied, his eyes never leaving mine. Guess I was
right; she was his mother. “Ma, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is my mother Mary.
Rachel’s passing through town but I offered her a job here. I figured she could
help Eliza run things. She’s been begging me lately to get her some help.”

A knowing
smile played on the woman’s lips before she answered. “Good idea.” She turned
to me. “Nice to meet you, Rachel.” She looked back over at Clint. “Should I get
Eliza?”

“Not yet. I’ll
get her.” His mom turned to leave as he reached for his shirt on his toolbox
and slipped it over his head. A wave of disappointment washed over me.
No,
don’t put your shirt on, not yet.
I chewed on my lower lip as I watched his
muscles ripple even beneath his shirt. “Would you like to go inside and talk? I
could use a break.”

I nodded when
another guy came from around the corner of the garage. He looked like a
slightly smaller, younger version of Clint. His younger brother maybe?

“Who do we
have here?” he grinned, walking over to me with a grin that I was sure got him
laid on more than one occasion. I had to stop from rolling my eyes at him; it
was clear by the way he moved and the way his eyes moved over my body that he
was a player. I was all too familiar with men like that.

“Easy boy,”
Clint said. “This is Rachel. She’s here about a job on the ranch.” He turned to
me. “Rachel, this is my baby brother Wyatt.

“Nice,” he
winked at me as he shook my hand. “We could use some eye candy around here.”

“Wyatt!” Clint
scolded, reaching out to punch his arm. He smiled at me apologetically. “Sorry
about that. Wyatt doesn’t know how to behave around ladies.”

I giggled at
Wyatt’s feigned look of shock. I loved the exchange between the two brothers;
it was clear this family was close. That wasn’t something I was used to. It had
just been my mother and I. Once she passed away, I met Seth at a coffee shop and
he was my only family.

Wyatt put his
hand to his chest like he’d been wounded. “I’m hurt, big brother.” He laughed
and turned to me. “Don’t believe a word he says, Rachel.”

“Let’s go
inside,” Clint said to me, ignoring his brother. “I’ll rescue you from him.” He
started walking toward the house and I followed him. I stayed a few steps
behind him so I could check out his ass again in those jeans. I made a mental
note to send the makers of Wranglers a thank you card.

“I’ll
introduce you to my sister, Eliza. She’s probably about your age,” he said once
we got inside. He opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of what looked
like lemonade. “Would you like some?”

I nodded and
he motioned to the table for me to sit while he poured us each a glass. He sat
down next to me and his scent filled my nostrils; it was a mixture of a little
bit of sweat and soap and maybe even a woodsy scent.

He started
talking a little bit about the ranch and I tried to pay attention, but I
couldn’t help but check him out in the light of day with him so close to me. He
really was all man and I found myself drawn to him almost instinctively. I
always thought of myself as a strong woman but there was some part deep down
inside of me that wanted to wrap my body around him and let him take care of
me.

A door
slammed, interrupting Clint and in walked the female version of Clint; this
must be Eliza.

“Hello hello!”
she said, coming over to me and shaking my hand. “Mama said you had someone in
here you were going to hire to help me?” she asked Clint. “I’m Eliza. You must
be Rachel.”

I nodded, a
little bit overwhelmed by the tall beauty with the long black hair back in a
ponytail. She was wearing black tank top and cut off shorts along with some
cowboy boots. She looked amazing with her tastefully done makeup, almost like
she’d walked right out of some sort of fashion magazine.

“Well, it’s
nice to meet you. Don’t listen to a word that this guy says,” she sat down on
the chair across from me. “He thinks he’s in charge, but really, I am.” She
winked at her brother. She froze and her eyes widened. “Oh my God, do
not
let her meet Wyatt.”

“Too late,” he
said wryly. “She met him outside and he was turning on the charm already.”

“Stay away
from Wyatt. He likes the ladies but never the same one twice,” she rolled her
eyes and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t worry. I
know a million guys like him, so he can’t fool me,” I said with a smile.

“Good.” She
stole Clint’s glass of lemonade and took a long drink as we both watched her.

Clint looked
over and me and shrugged. “This is my family, what can I say?”

I loved it. I’d
only been here thirty minutes, if that, and I was in love with them. This place
would be the perfect spot to stay for a while until I figured out the rest of
my life without Seth.

Eliza put the
glass down and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Whatever. You go
back outside to work and I’ll give Rachel the deets of job.”

My heart fell;
I wanted to stay with Clint. If I was honest with myself, he was probably the
main reason I came and even considered working here. I didn’t want to seem
desperate though or keep him from the stuff he had to do.

“Sounds good,”
he said, standing up from his chair. “If you need anything, just call or text
me.” He began to walk out of the kitchen, stopping at the door. “Welcome to
Hidden Lane Ranch, Rachel.”

“Thank you,” I
replied softly.

He looked like
he wanted to say something else, but opened the door and went back outside. I
was looking forward to seeing him a lot more.

The rest of
the day was a whirlwind. Eliza took me all over the ranch, showing me the
cattle fields, the kitchen, and a million other things. I had no idea Wyoming
was such an amazing looking state. When we walked out of the back of the house,
I was breathless from the view; there were mountains as far as the eye could
see along with rolling green hills. I felt like I was in the middle of a
painting. This was something I’d only seen in pictures and here it was right in
the ranch’s back yard.

By the time we
were done, I was crazy impressed with the size of Hidden Lane Ranch. She told
me the history of the ranch and how it’d been in her family for fifty years. I
learned her dad had died about five years earlier, leaving Clint to run things.
She mentioned something about an old girlfriend of his leaving him when they
were younger, but she was vague and I didn’t want to seem nosy and ask.

Every once in
awhile we would run into Clint or Wyatt as we walked around and whenever I saw
Clint, my heart would race and my mouth would get dry. It was like I was back
in high school having my first crush. He’d taken off his shirt again and I
caught myself staring a few times at the trail of muscles that formed a ‘v’ at
the waistband of his pants. I’m pretty sure Eliza caught me looking at him with
my tongue practically hanging out by the grin plastered on her face.

He would
always greet me with a smile and wave but I found myself wishing we could stop
and talk to him. I wanted to know more about this sexy cowboy.

Wyatt found us
a few times too, always turning on the charm. I had to admit, he was sexy and
it was easy to see why the girls flocked to him, but I’d been there, done that
and wasn’t going to fall for a guy like that ever again.

As part of my
employment, I would get to stay at the ranch and have my meals taken care of
too. They had food and lodging for everyone that worked there. You didn’t have
to stay there, but it was one of the perks. I was a city girl through and through,
but I loved the idea of escaping to this rolling paradise for a while.

We sat down in
the living room of the big main house with a cup of lemonade. It felt like it
was one hundred degrees outside and the running around had left us both tired
and sweaty.

“So what do ya
think?” Eliza asked, her dark eyes bright as she looked at me.

“I love it,” I
admitted. “This place is beautiful and perfect for me right now.”

She squealed
and bounced on the couch, clapping her hands like a little girl. “Yay! There’s
so much testosterone in this place, it’ll be nice to have another girl around,
especially one my age. I’ll show you to your room.”

We stood up
and she led me down the main hallway. “Since you’ll mostly be helping me in the
office and here at the main house, we have a room for you in here.” She pointed
to the doors as we walked. “Wyatt’s room, Mama’s, mine.” We arrived at the end
of the hallway where there were two doors. “The one on the end here is Clint’s
master suite. Mama insisted he take it.” She opened the door next to it. “This
one is yours. I’ll give you a second to look around.”

I walked
around the bedroom, checking out the old dresser and nightstand. The comforter
was blue and covered with some sort of floral pattern. The whole room had a homey,
comforting feel. There was a small bathroom attached with a standup shower. It
was perfect.

I sat down on
the bed, suddenly aware of just how close Clint would be next to me at night.
What if he brought a girl home and I had to listen to him? Did he sleep naked? All
of these thoughts raced through my head.

Sweet baby
Jesus. I thought maybe on this sprawling ranch I wouldn’t have to run into him
all that often but I was going to be sleeping right next to him? How was I
going to fight this attraction? It seemed like he was attracted to me too and
now I was practically in his lap.

Eliza teased me about staying away from
Wyatt, but why did I have a feeling Clint was really the dangerous one? I left
Buffalo to get away from one man and here I was attracted to another instantly.
How could I not be though? He was so damn hot and a real man’s man. He was the
kind of man country songs are written about. Well, I didn’t listen to country
really, but I imagined he was.

“Rachel!” Eliza called to me from down
the hallway. I got up from the bed with a sigh. I left the room, closing the
door behind me.

Before going back to Eliza, I looked over
at Clint’s door. I reached out to touch it with my fingertips. What was I
getting myself into here?