No Limits (4 page)

She stared at him. He wondered where the words were coming from, as well. Was he saying this because of the moonlight? Because for the first time in his entire life he had no idea what he was doing next and getting lost in Molly seemed like as good a path as any?

God, he really hoped not.

She watched him with eyes that asked too many questions he couldn't answer, so he took her mouth in a kiss that was deep and filled with passion. That left no room for thinking—for either of them.

He pulled her into the curve of his body, felt her drape her thigh over his top leg and he nestled his throbbing cock against the center of her body.

The night deepened around them and still they lay there in the grass, kissing and caressing until his horse wandered over and nudged him in the back. He sat up and Molly sat up next to him.

It was too soon to take this any further. They were business partners...maybe friends...and sex wasn't the best idea to keep things uncomplicated.

“I guess we should be heading back,” she said.

“Yeah. We don't want to be out here when the hands start riding the fence and moving the cattle.”

“Definitely not.”

He helped her to her feet and they both brushed themselves off. She bit her lower lip and looked over at him. Questions, he saw them again in her eyes.

“Thank you for riding with me,” he said to divert her.

She was stubborn, and for a minute he didn't think it had worked. But in the end she just nodded. “No problem.”

They rode back to the barn in silence and both of them stabled their horses without saying a word. He wasn't as practiced as Molly and when he looked up from putting away his tack she was gone.

Gone.

It was probably for the best. But he already missed her.

4

M
OLLY
WASN
'
T
HAVING
the best day. Jason had left a message with Jeb that he was going to camp out on the land that evening and that he'd meet her at the lawyer's office the next day. A horse had reared when she'd been trying to saddle it and its hoof had come down hard on her booted foot. She was pretty sure she had a deep bruise and hoped there were no broken bones.

So when she rounded the house and saw the big late-model Ford Bronco sitting in the circular drive she almost turned around and walked back to the barn.

The last person she wanted to talk to this afternoon was Wil Abernathy.

But the driver's-side door opened before she could leave and she wouldn't give him the impression she was running away.

“Afternoon, Molly,” Wil said as she came closer.

Wil was five years older than her and about as tall as Jason's six-foot frame. He'd spent his life on his family's ranch and the years had been good to him. Their derricks were still pulling oil from the ground and the Abernathys ran one of the largest and most successful stud farms and insemination programs in the country.

Wil was okay. A little too slick for her taste. The girls she'd gone to school with in Cole's Hill had always said Wil, with his thick blond hair and blue eyes, looked like Brad Pitt. He had on his dress jeans—she could tell because they were dark blue denim and not faded at all—hand-tooled boots and a Stetson. All the Abernathy men wore Stetsons.

“Afternoon, Wil. What can I do for you?”

“I'm here to sweeten the offer I made your father,” he said. “Maybe we could go inside and discuss it?”

“I'm fine right here.”

“Damn. You are just as stubborn as your dad was,” he said. “I was sorry to hear about his death.”

“Thank you. Thank you, also, for the flowers you sent. I noticed you and your sister at the funeral service, as well.”

“Mick was a good guy and, despite the fact that he didn't get along with my dad, I never had any problems with him.”

“He was a good guy,” Molly agreed. “I'm not selling.”

“You haven't heard my proposal yet,” Wil said.

“Okay. Tell me,” she said. Sweat was dripping down the back of her neck and she felt every inch the working cowgirl talking to Wil. If she hadn't been so determined to keep him out of her house, she could be inside drinking iced tea in the air-conditioning. But her father had always said no Abernathy would set foot in the house...and she was honoring that.

“I want to lease some of your land for grazing,” he said. “Damn, it's hot. Want to sit in my Bronco if we can't go inside?”

She shook her head. “Do you know why Dad was so insistent on keeping you and your kin out of the house?”

“I'm not entirely sure, but I think it has something to do with your mom,” Wil said. “My pops just said that the Tanners were sore winners.”

It was another story she'd never know since she hadn't thought to ask her dad about it, really push him to tell her what had happened. But she was hot and tired and Wil was here offering her an olive branch.

“Why don't you have a seat on the east-facing porch? There are ceiling fans and we get a nice breeze from the creek. I'll get us something cold to drink.”

“Sounds good,” Wil said.

Molly heard him walking behind her as they went up the steps and she gestured to the right so he knew where to go. “Do you mind if I change out of these clothes?”

“Take your time. I scheduled the entire afternoon to be out here.”

“Thank you.”

She opened the front door and as she closed it behind her she tipped her head back and let the air-conditioning sweep over her. “Rina!”

“Yeah?”

“Wil is on the east porch. Will you bring him some iced tea?”

Rina poked her head out of the kitchen and looked down the hall at her. “Abernathy?”

“Yes. Be nice. He's got an offer to lease some land. It might be the cash influx we need to bail ourselves out of this mess.”

“What about Ace?” Rina said, wiping her hands on her apron as she walked toward Molly.

“What about him?” Molly asked. “He's not here and Wil is. I'm going to take the fastest shower in history and be right back down.”

Rina patted her shoulder as Molly sort of limped by her. “Okay, sunshine. I'll keep him entertained until you come back down.”

“Thanks,” Molly said, walking past Rina up the stairs. She felt that urge to cry again. Not because of the pain or the situation but because her dad wasn't here. She wanted to know what had happened between him and Wil's father. Was she betraying him by even agreeing to listen to Wil's proposal?

But he wasn't there. She showered off the day and felt better for it. She pulled on a denim skirt and a sleeveless top then put on her flip-flops, inspecting the bruise on the top of her left foot. Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she went out to the porch where Wil waited for her.

He had a slice of lemon icebox pie and a half-empty glass of iced tea next to him on the table.

“Okay, Abernathy, tell me about this idea of yours,” she said as she sat down.

He leaned back in the rocking chair. “My sister wants to raise Scottish Highland cattle. It's a small herd and I'd like to keep them separate from our stock and the bulls. Leasing the grazing rights to your land—the section that borders our ranch—would allow me to do that.”

He told her more about his plan and what he would pay. She took his proposal, which he'd thoughtfully typed up for her, and told him she'd get back to him with an answer in a few days. The deposit he offered wouldn't be enough to clear their debt, but it would put a nice dent in it.

It was an option she should definitely consider. Actually, it was probably the best option she had right now.

She couldn't help but think that she might have liked Wil if there wasn't a family feud between them. He was a nice guy. Solid. The kind of man who knew what ranch life demanded and was happy to live it.

Not like Jason.
Ace
, she reminded herself.

Molly put the file in her office. She kept looking out the window, hoping to see Jason come walking up, but he wasn't going to. He'd made a point of putting distance between them after the intimacy of last night. She knew she had to give up the idea that he was going to ride to the rescue. She was on her own.

* * *

D
INNER
HAD
BEEN
a loud affair with the hands all giving their opinions on what she should do with the ranch. It was going to affect all of them and she thought they should know that the ranch was in financial trouble. Even though she wanted to ensure their jobs, there would have to be changes. Jeb was the quietest man she knew and he'd just sat there listening to all the ideas. Most of the men weren't too keen on a dude ranch and if Molly was being totally honest, she wasn't, either. She didn't want to have to cater to people on vacation.

“I'm just out of ideas,” she said at last.

“Something will come to you,” Jeb said. “It always does. In the meantime, I'm going to put some of the hands on land clearing. The acres down at the edge of our property haven't been touched for a while and we should get them in shape for whatever you decide to do.”

“Thanks, Jeb.”

He nodded.

“Also, Dad left the ranch to both me and Jason McCoy. So he might be around over the next few months as we are figuring out what to do,” she said. No use pretending the decision was just hers, even if it did feel that way. She'd called Rupert's office earlier and he'd made it clear that the will stipulated she and Jason had to make any decisions for selling or changing the purpose of the ranch land together.

“He's a little rusty, but I think he might make a decent hand eventually,” one of them said.

Guffaws of laughter spread around the table.

“He might. He lived here as a teenager,” Molly said, once the laughter died down. “We used to run a last-chance program for troubled boys. They came from Houston mainly, but we got some from Dallas. Dad and Jeb were in charge.”

“Given how much hell Mick and I raised together, we figured we'd be good examples for straightening those boys out,” Jeb said.

“You were,” Rina added. “All of them have gone on to do good things.”

“Is that a possibility?” Jeb asked after the hands had finished eating and left to do their evening chores. “Do you want to take boys in again?”

“No. I'm not like Dad. I don't have the strength to do that,” she said, getting to her feet and helping Rina clear the dishes.

“Fair enough. Just let me know what you want me to do,” Jeb said.

“I will. Thanks.”

“Girl, you know you're like a daughter to me. You don't have to thank me for doing what family does for each other,” Jeb said, giving her a quick hug on his way out the door.

Family
.

The word had always been unspoken in the house. Aside from her and her dad, there wasn't a blood bond between any of the other residents of the Bar T Ranch, but they'd always felt like a family. Even Jason, when he had lived there.

“What's up?” Rina asked.

“Nothing.”

“Liar,” Rina said. “I've got a bottle of pinot noir that my sister sent for my birthday. Meet me on the deck.”

“Rina—”

“I'm not taking no for an answer. If you don't want to talk, that's fine. But you've been alone enough today and you still haven't found the answers you're searching for.”

“You're right.”

“I know,” Rina said with a wink.

Molly just shook her head and walked out onto the deck that she and her dad had weatherproofed at the beginning of last summer. It was slightly raised, looking down over the large kidney-shaped pool. She walked to the sturdy pine railing and stood there looking out over the land.

The Tanners had been given these 760 acres in a land grant from the Spanish King back in the 1800s. For as far as she could see, the land was hers. They'd run cattle from the beginning and had found oil in the '60s. They'd had several wells that had produced a nice income during her grandparents' lifetime, but by the time Molly was born they weren't producing as much. Her kingdom wasn't what it used to be. Well, hers and Jason's. She liked the view. She liked that she could see the pastures where the cattle were kept and the barn where the horses were stabled. She liked that beyond the pastures and buildings was land that hadn't been developed or used for anything other than ranching and drilling.

Her heart ached at the thought of all she was facing. She needed her dad back, just for a few minutes so she could ask him what the hell he'd been thinking when he'd left half of the ranch to Jason.
Why?
She knew he had to have some kind of motive, but for the life of her it kept eluding her. The value of the land was so far beyond the debt they owed Jason.

The sun started to sink a little lower toward the horizon and the automatic outdoor lights kicked on as Rina walked out with the wine, a couple of glasses and a cheese tray. Hidden bug zappers under the deck kept the mosquitos at bay. She walked over to the seating area where two lounge chairs sat next to a low side table.

“Thanks for suggesting this,” Molly said as she took her first sip.

“I needed it, too.”

She was just now realizing she hadn't been the best friend to Rina recently. She'd been too caught up in trying to keep moving so she didn't break down. She reached across the expanse and squeezed her friend's arm. “I'm sorry I haven't been chatty lately.”

“It's all right. You needed time to get used to things. So did I, but I was just feeling a little lonely. We haven't had a girls' night in a while and I figured if I was feeling it you definitely had to be, too.”

“I am. There are too many men here,” Molly said. “You know what I mean?”

“I don't think that's the problem. I think you're more bothered by the one man who wasn't at dinner.”

“I am,” she said, taking another sip of her wine.

“What happened between you two last night?”

“Nothing. Just a kiss.”

“A kiss. Want to talk about it?”

“No,” she said, fidgeting with the glass. “Maybe. It was nothing. But then it felt like something more. I sound like an idiot.”

“Men do that,” she said.

“Really? I've never known a man to do this to me.”

“Some men affect us like that,” Rina said. “The ones who change us.”

“Who affected you that way?” Molly asked, not wanting to believe that Jason could change her. She liked who she was.

“Never you mind,” Rina said. “I met him before I came out here to live with you. And his life kept him in Houston.”

“You could go to Houston, you know?”

“We're both of us too stubborn to change,” Rina said.

Molly hoped she wasn't like that, but she had a feeling she was.

They didn't talk about men anymore that night. Just sipped their wine and watched the sunset. But Jason was on her mind and she suspected that Rina was thinking of the man in Houston. She realized that relationships were never easy and the thought brought her no comfort at all.

* * *

M
OLLY
STOPPED
BY
Jammin' Java for a mocha latte the next morning. It was busy...well, as busy as a coffeehouse in a small town could be. She saw all the usual customers and they nodded and called out hellos to her.

Maybe it was the fact that Jason had awakened something in her when he'd kissed her—forgotten memories of a life she might have had—or perhaps it was because her father had died, but she had a sense that her life was never going to be more than this. That whenever she came into town for the next fifty years, it would play out just the same.