Harlequin Superromance January 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: A Ranch for His Family\Cowgirl in High Heels\A Man to Believe In (50 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

E
LLIE
'
S
NEW
JOB
wasn't particularly challenging, and it wasn't particularly engaging. It was simply an undemanding position that allowed her to go home every day and focus on her own life rather than plotting strategy for the next day. It was also a job she would have turned down a year ago because it didn't offer enough room for growth. She was no longer as concerned about growth as she was about security and longevity.

Her new rental was only a mile away from Kate, and now that they were once again in the same city, it allowed them more one-on-one time—which Ellie was beginning to see as a mixed blessing. Not because she didn't like to spend time with her friend, but because Kate was too intuitive for Ellie's liking.

“Do you miss it? The ranch?” she asked one evening after they'd gone to a movie and dessert.

Did she? Did she miss the ranch? Or did she miss Ryan? Both, probably. “It grew on me.”

“It was beautiful?”

“Very, but more than that...” She tried to think of how to explain why her memories of the place were poignant without mentioning Ryan. “It's the place where I came to terms with being pregnant. Started to bond with my baby.” Which she now knew was a boy, but she hadn't yet told Kate. Or her mother. Or Angela. She wanted to come up with a name before she started sharing.

“And the cowboy you hooked up with?”

Ellie gave her a startled look. “How do you know he's a cowboy?”

“I saw the photo you're using as a bookmark.” The photo she'd snapped with her phone during that last roping practice.

“Just a reminder of good times.”

Kate leaned across the table. “I don't think you would have taken a photo without him knowing it unless you had a reason.”

“How do you know he didn't know it?”

“He's looking to the left, into the distance. His back's half turned.” Kate settled back in her chair, giving Ellie a don't-try-to-bullshit-me look. “Did it go well when you ended things?”

“No.” Ellie tried for matter-of-fact, but the word came out sounding choked. Kate pressed her lips together but said nothing, so in an effort to sidetrack her, Ellie said, “Funny, but the first time I saw him, I knew you'd like him.”

Kate played along. “Then why didn't you introduce us? I have no problems moving to a ranch, burying myself in the country.”

Ellie tried to imagine Kate rescuing a goose out of a pond and just couldn't do it, but to be fair, she couldn't have imagined herself doing the same thing a few months ago.

“Maybe I wanted to keep him to myself,” Ellie said softly.
For a while anyway.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I'm a realist.”

Kate nodded. “Yes, you are. Your greatest asset. Your greatest flaw.”

Ellie wasn't going to ask why being a realist was a flaw. She didn't want to talk about flaws, or Ryan. Especially not Ryan, because her thoughts in that area were anything but peaceful. She'd done the right thing. The only thing. Why didn't she feel at peace?

“I'm enjoying work,” she said, not so deftly changing the subject. “It feels like it's been years since I've been off, but really it's only been four months.” Four months in which she found out more about herself than she'd thought possible.

“You'll love it. It's a great work environment. I should know, I interned there four years in a row.”

“Only to go to work for the competition.”

Kate snorted. “They pay more.” Actually, her father had encouraged her to get experience in other companies before she came back to take over the reins of his company when he retired. Know the competition, he'd said, and what better way than to work for them? “So you're really happy to be back?”

“Of course. It's the place where I belong.”

That night she unpacked the laptop Walt had borrowed from her, and in the case was the notebook where she'd written her three goals upon arriving at the ranch. Wondering idly if Walt had read her goals, she flipped the pages open and found the entry.

Had she succeeded?

Have a healthy baby.
She was working on that, and it looked as though she was doing an excellent job. She'd found a doctor she liked. Her blood pressure was great; the baby's growth was right on schedule; she ate only the healthiest of foods...except for the ice cream, but the kid seemed to enjoy her lapses in that department. Mavis had started sending occasional brief emails inquiring about Ellie's health, and two days ago she'd received a surprise package in the mail containing a spectacularly impractical newborn designer coat with a fur collar—suitable for either boy or girl, according to the note. Ellie smiled at the thought. Perhaps her child would have a grandmother. Of sorts.

Present Milo with understandable overview of ranch operations to enable him to make future ranch management decisions.
She'd done that, too. Milo was seriously considering selling the ranch, which Ellie thought would be best for everyone involved. The yacht he had his eye on was a better fit for both him and Angela.

Use time at ranch constructively to prepare for personal future.
So had she succeeded or failed there? Ellie told herself she'd succeeded. She was relatively satisfied with her life, focusing on the baby and her job, such as it was. Yes. She'd succeeded there.

Indeed she had.

She only wished it felt more like a victory.

* * *

C
HARLES
HAD
AGREED
to a meeting in two days' time, which gave Ryan more time than he wanted to think. And think some more.

Damn, but he missed Ellie. He'd thought Walt was stubborn once he set his mind to something, but he was a reed blowing in the wind compared to Ellie, who had it in her mind that the only reason Ryan wanted her was to undo some of the shit his father had done. To make up for her kid not having a father. He'd tried to contact her three times but she hadn't responded, which both pissed him off and tore him up.

After Ellie had pointed out the possibility that he was confusing love with the need to rescue her, he'd given the matter some serious thought. And decided her theory was bullshit. After two weeks away from her he knew that he didn't want to rescue her. He wanted to be with her.

He honestly had fallen in love with her—for all the good it did him now that she had a new job and was building a life for her and her baby in the world where she felt comfortable—not like on the ranch, where she'd been so sorely out of place.

Only in the beginning....
She'd changed after the first few weeks....

That didn't change the fact that there was nothing for her on the ranch, just as there was really nothing for her rich relatives who wouldn't be visiting this summer. Milo had arranged a teleconference with him and Walt two days ago and the three of them had hashed out ranch business. The end result was pretty much that Milo understood that he needn't have even hired George. Milo's ultimate message had been to carry on and not be surprised if within a matter of months potential buyers once again start touring the place.

Ryan's gut tightened just thinking about it, but this made it more important than ever that the meeting with Charles went well.

* * *

“I
CAN
GIVE
you guys an hour,” Charles said. He'd wanted his Billings attorney there when he met with his sons in the public library conference room in Glennan, but both Matt and Ryan had said they'd only meet privately this first time. After that Charles could bring in all the lawyers he wanted. And since Charles wasn't exactly in a position to draw any lines in the sand, which was clearly killing him, he'd agreed.

“Shouldn't take that long,” Matt said, taking a seat. “You know Ryan, I believe.”

Charles stood. “If that's the tactic you're going to take—”

“Dad. Sit down. Please.”

Slowly, Charles lowered himself back down and Matt leaned forward. “My brother and I have some business to discuss that will benefit us all. Ryan and I have decided that now that our competitive days are over, we're going to become friends. People can make of it what they want, but if they haven't figured out by now that we're brothers, they never will.”

“So you're friends,” Charles said with a sneer.

“And brothers,” Matt said in a low voice.

“What about your mother? I thought you'd give just about anything to keep her from finding out.”

“She won't find out,” Ryan said. “Not from me. Not from my mom.”

“And I'm supposed to believe that.”

Ryan's expression went flat. “Look. I figured out I was your kid when I was fifteen, after Matt, here, beat the crap out of me at a rodeo. I never said a word. My mom never told anyone, either, which was why it upset the hell out of her when you threatened her. She wasn't responsible for Matt finding out—maybe the furthest thing from it—and she was afraid that whoever had told would keep spreading the word and you'd follow through on your threat. What was it again? You'd see to it that her beauty shop didn't pass code?”

Charles started to turn red.

“I'm not signing the agreement,” Ryan said.

“Then why are we here?” Charles asked.

“You know that money you offered to pay Ryan and his mom?” Matt asked conversationally. “I want you to loan it to Ryan. At three percent interest.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Charles and Ryan said simultaneously. They exchanged hard glances, then Ryan shook his head.

“No,” he said firmly.

“Why not?” Matt asked. “It makes perfect sense to me.” He looked at his father. “You were going to give him the money. Hell, you owe him the money. Did you spend a dime in child support?”

“He bought my braces,” Ryan muttered.

“I know,” Matt said, earning a sharp look from his father. “But like you said, you had to rodeo with a beat-up truck, a four-hundred-dollar horse and a single-axle trailer. I think he owes you this loan. And since it's a loan, I don't see why either of you would object.”

“Maybe the source of the money?” Ryan said. This was not working out the way he had anticipated. He'd figured they'd meet with Charles, strong-arm him into backing down by offering a united front then he'd go home and do his chores. He wasn't going to take money from Charles Montoya. His pride wouldn't let him.

“Which will help you keep that mentor of yours on the land he seems to love so much.” Ryan shouldn't have told him his concerns about Walt on the drive over. “Think about it,” Matt said. “You can make an offer on the ranch—see if the doctor will sell. It's not a huge place. I looked up the previous purchase price. Surely you have some money socked away from your winnings, and then with a loan from the Montoya Land Company....”

Ryan took in a long breath, then locked eyes with his father, holding Charles's steely gaze for a moment before saying, “I have a different proposal.”

“Please don't tell him to shove it up his ass,” Matt murmured from beside him.

“Tempting, but no.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Two months later

E
LLIE
RAN
HER
hand over her belly as she sat at the computer looking up tie-down roping results. Ryan had managed to hold on to his position in the top fifteen money winners in the world standings. There was a lovely photo of him with a gorgeous redhead standing next to his black horse. The redhead wore a tiara and sash, which would have made Ellie feel better about the picture, if only Ryan's hand hadn't been placed so low on her hip.

Not that it mattered.

“I hope you don't want to be a cowboy,” she murmured to her belly. Because she no longer had the means to give him a cowboy life, or even a cowboy vacation, since Angela and Milo had gotten an out-of-the-blue offer on the ranch.

Walt had offered them purchase price plus three percent. Milo was still debating, but Ellie knew that the fact that he hadn't instantly said no meant that he'd finally come to terms with the fact that while his friends the Kenyons were loving life on the Vineyard Ranch, that didn't mean his bride was going to embrace life on the Rocky View. Angela had confided that he was
this close
to making an offer on a sailing yacht.

The big question to her was where had Walt come up with that kind of money? She hadn't noticed any Montana bank robberies in the news.

Soon her last tie to Ryan would be severed, leaving her with good memories and a dull ache in her heart. It wasn't even as though she could move back to the area and see what might happen between them. She had responsibilities. She had a job.

She had a prenatal class in fifteen minutes.

Ellie grabbed her bag and was on her way out the door when a text came in. She took a quick glance, then nearly dropped the phone when she read the first words.
This is Walt...

Walt, who didn't own a cell phone and who'd just somehow made an offer on the ranch he'd lost? The man was full of surprises.

The message continued.
Never underestimate the power of a second chance.

What the hell?

A second chance? Was he talking about his second chance with the ranch? Was he texting her because she was maybe instrumental in the place going up for sale?

Ellie turned around and went back into the house. She no longer felt like going to class.

What kind of second chance?
she tapped into her phone.

Several minutes later, as she visualized Walt's arthritic fingers painfully clicking out letters, she received:
If I have to tell you then you don't deserve it.

Typical Walt.

Ellie pressed her fingertips to her forehead and tried to remember what life had been like before she'd decided to have one impulsive fling six months ago.

Stop being stubborn,
Ellie typed.

Me? Ha!

* * *

“Y
OU
WHAT
?” R
YAN
asked as he closed the tack door. He'd just gotten back from his last rodeo of the regular season. He was dragging-ass tired and Walt had met him with the happy news that he'd taken it upon himself to resurrect Ryan's love life.

“Well, you've been hell to live with since she left,” he muttered. “So I sent her a text.”

“Telling her what?”

“To give you a second chance.”

Ryan's blood pressure redlined. “If she'd wanted to give me a second chance,” Ryan said from between his teeth, “she probably would have answered my calls after leaving.”

“She didn't answer your calls?”

“No.”

“Then she's a fool, too.”

“No. I think there's only one fool standing here.”

“Yeah, you.”

“Look, Walt. I appreciate the thought, but don't help, okay?” It was hard enough dealing with this alone.

“Fine. Be stubborn. I can't tell you how far that's taken me.” Walt huffed off.

Ryan shook his head and went back to his trailer to unhitch it—right in front of the house, as he wanted to—comforting himself with the knowledge that Ellie had probably ignored Walt's text as well as his calls.

“Where are you going?” he called as Walt started to get into his truck.

“To pick up Ellie. She's at the airport. I asked her to come and consult on a personnel problem I'm having.”

* * *

E
LLIE
WORE
HER
Christian Louboutins because she needed all the confidence she could get. After ignoring Ryan's farewell voice mail, he could well tell her to go to hell. If so, she'd turn right around and leave. At least she could tell herself that she'd made a stab at fixing the mistakes she'd made.

Ever since Walt had texted her about second chances she'd been floored by how much she wanted one. How afraid she was that due to her own stubbornness she wasn't going to get one.

Would Ryan even talk to her after she'd refused to answer his calls or even call him back? Did she deserve to have him talk to her?

She was about to find out, because there, working his way past a small group of people at the entryway, was the man who'd filled her thoughts for the past months. Looking better than she remembered and totally pissed off.

He hadn't forgiven her. He'd found out and he was there to send her home.

Ellie stopped walking and he instantly spotted her. It took all of three seconds for him to reach her, plant himself in front of her.

“I thought Walt was coming,” Ellie said in a low voice.

Ryan scowled. “Look, I know Walt got you out here on some kind of pretext and I'm sorry about that.”

He looked so distant, so totally put out that Ellie took a step back, nearly tripping in her trusty heels. Ryan automatically put out his hand, but she regained her balance without touching him. So much for second chances.

She lifted her chin, regret ripping through her at being so close to him and not being able to do anything about it. He was so...real. The angles of his face, the scent of his body... Everything was so much better than she'd remembered. And yet she couldn't touch him because he was so damned withdrawn.

Your fault.

“Walt didn't ask me out here,” she said. “I came. I merely asked him for a ride from the airport.”

“Why?”

“I was going to ambush you,” she said candidly, holding his gaze even though it cost her. “I thought...”
Get a grip. You've made people cry in the course of your work. You're tougher than this.
“I thought...given a chance...despite the phone message...” She pulled in a breath that raised her shoulders even as she hunched them protectively. “I never expected this to be easy.”

“What?”

“I miss you so damned much.”

There. She said it.

Ryan cocked his head, narrowing his eyes as if he hadn't heard right. “Me, too.”

For a moment Ellie stared at him before she realized that he'd given the very best of answers. She moistened her lips. “You missed me?”

“Yeah.”

She broke into a breathless smile. Then before either of them could come to their senses, she launched herself at him and Ryan caught her, holding her so tightly against him that her feet left the floor.

“Don't want to hurt the kid,” he murmured against her ear, easing her down to the floor.

“He's tough,” she whispered back, placing a hand over her small rounded belly.

“He?”

“Joshua. I thought it was a good, strong name.”

“Does he have a middle name?”

“Not yet.”

Ryan pulled her back against him, burying his face against her hair. He leaned back a few seconds later to give her a wry smile. “I'm sure there's someone at the ranch who would think Walter is a decent middle name, since he's quite certain he's rescued me from decades of loneliness.”

“Decades?” Ellie asked, not feeling one bit intimidated by the possibility.

He smiled that heart-stopping half smile. “I thought he was crazy...but now I have some hope.” The smile faded. “How long
will
you be here?”

“I can stay for a week right now...and if everything works out... Well, I've started making a plan with my employer to transfer to a department where I can work long-distance.” It didn't pay as much, but she wouldn't leave Kate's dad in a lurch. Thankfully, he understood the situation and was willing to work with her. She owed him—and Kate—in a big way. As to what she owed Walt... Words couldn't express what she owed Walt.

“I love a good plan,” Ryan said before frowning as he seemed to realize she was close to looking him in the eye. He glanced down at her feet, then met her gaze with a sexy smile. “Those aren't lime-green...but I like them.”

“They'll do,” Ellie said, tucking her arm in his as they started for the baggage claim. At least until she could get into some boots.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from THAT SUMMER AT THE SHORE by Callie Endicott.