Summer Days (6 page)

“Hard work but someone has to do it,” she murmured happily to herself as she pulled on riding boots. She slathered on sunscreen, picked up a cowboy hat, then headed for the front door. As she stepped onto the porch, a familiar Mercedes pulled up by the house. Instantly, her good mood vanished.

May Stryker bounced out of the passenger seat, waving and smiling. “Hello! I hope I’m not being a bother. I just can’t stay away.”

“You’re not a bother,” Heidi assured her. In May’s case, she was telling the truth. The older woman was lovely, and if she was the only Stryker involved, Heidi believed they could easily come to terms.

The bigger issue—all six-plus feet of him—climbed out of the car more slowly. Rafe stared at her over the roof of his vehicle.

“Morning.”

The single word, spoken in a low voice, caused an odd sort of quivering in her stomach.

This was her friends’ fault, Heidi realized. All that talk last night about sleeping with Rafe had somehow latched onto a synapse in her brain. Yesterday he’d just been an evil corporate guy bent on her destruction. Now he was someone with a great butt she should try to seduce in a pitiful effort to save her home.

“Go away.”

She only thought the words, rather than spoke them, but that didn’t lessen the intensity of her wish. Why him? Why couldn’t May have had a nice son who understood that people made mistakes?

“I was, um, going for a ride,” she said. “To exercise the horses we’re boarding.”

May walked toward her. “That sounds like fun. How many horses are there?”

“The two you saw on the tour.”

“Oh, perfect. Rafe, why don’t you help Heidi? If you ride one of the horses, she can be done in half the time.”

Or they could go into town and each get a root canal. That would be fun, too.

Heidi did her best to keep her expression neutral. “It’s not necessary. I’m fine. Besides, I doubt if Rafe would enjoy riding.” Or know how. Although, she had to admit, the thought of him flopping around in a saddle was kind of nice. Maybe he would fall off, hit his head and get amnesia. Then she could pretend he wasn’t furious with her, and her problems would be solved. If only…

Rafe raised one eyebrow. “Think I’m not up to the challenge?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” He reached into the car and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, then motioned to the barn. “After you.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“Y
OU
REALLY
DON
’
T
HAVE
to do this,” Heidi protested as they walked into the barn.

“I know my way around a horse.”

“You’re a guy who probably wears a five-thousand-dollar suit.”

“You’re forgetting, I grew up here. Besides, I want to check out my mother’s land.”

He walked toward the corral where Mason and Kermit were lounging in the sun. Rafe gave a piercing whistle that had both horses turning toward him.

Heidi told herself not to be impressed. Except the horses moved toward him, as if drawn by a force she couldn’t see. Rafe stepped into the corral.

“Where do you want them?”

“In the barn.”

He guided the horses easily. She let him lead the way, her gaze lingering on the butt Charlie had mentioned. She had to admit it was nice. Athletic rather than flat. Okay, sure, Rafe was a good-looking guy, but a coral snake was beautiful and still deadly.

Once inside, they set to work. Rafe might have a job in San Francisco in a high-rise, yet he hadn’t forgotten how to saddle a horse. After using a brush to clean off Mason’s back, he set the pad in place with practiced ease. She worked on Kermit, the smaller of the two horses, huffing only a little as she gently set the saddle on Kermit’s back.

Bridles were next. Both Mason and Kermit were calm horses, taking the bit without trying to spit it out. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rafe making one last check to make sure everything was fastened securely, but not too tight, and that there weren’t any wrinkles or spots that would rub. They led the horses outside.

There was a mounting block on the far side of the barn. As both Mason and Kermit were good-size horses, she turned in that direction, but Rafe stopped her.

“I’ll give you a hand up.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t.”

He draped Mason’s reins over a post, then walked toward her. He waited until she’d taken the reins in her left hand and grabbed the saddle. Then he laced his fingers together.

She stepped onto his hand. Despite the fact that they weren’t touching anywhere, the act felt oddly intimate. She told herself he was just being polite. That his mother had trained him well. Still, she felt flustered as he counted to three, then lifted her toward the saddle.

She swung her leg over Kermit and settled lightly into place.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He continued to look at her. “You’re a little touchy.”

“You’ve threatened me and my home more than once. I think being cautious shows wisdom.”

“I’m protecting what’s mine.”

“So am I.” Which meant what? That they had something in common? “This would be a lot easier if we could get along.”

His mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile. “I don’t do easy.”

“I’m not surprised.”

He chuckled, then walked over to Mason. Rafe settled in the saddle, and they moved away from the barn.

“You have a route you usually take?” he asked.

She adjusted her hat, trying not to notice that, for a guy who drove a Mercedes, Rafe looked pretty comfortable on his horse.

“Uh-huh. It’s a big circle that takes us over most of the land.”

“Good.”

Right. Because he wanted to claim what he considered his. “You’re not going to start peeing on trees to mark everything, are you?”

He laughed. “Maybe when we know each other better.”

He was joking. Unfortunately, his words made her remember her friends’ suggestion from the previous evening. That seducing Rafe was the answer to her problems.

She glanced at him, taking in the straight back and broad shoulders. Was he the kind of lover who took his time and made sure everyone enjoyed the event, or was he selfish in bed? She’d known both kinds of guys, more of the latter than the former.

Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. Sleeping with Rafe would be stupid.

“Is the fence line like this everywhere?” he asked, pointing to the broken or missing posts, the downed line.

“Some of it is in better shape, but only for small sections. What was it like when you lived here before?” she asked before she could stop herself.

“Things were in better shape. Old man Castle might have paid his employees shit, but he cared about the ranch.”

She heard a trace of bitterness in his voice, and knew he had cause to resent what his family had gone through. But she still had trouble reconciling the vision of a hungry little boy with the successful man riding next to her.

“He kept a lot of cattle,” she said, watching the dark, moving shapes in the distance. “They’re everywhere and very wild.”

Rafe glanced at her. “Wild?”

“You know. Feral.”

He laughed again. “Been attacked by a few feral cows, have you?”

“No, but I stay clear of them. They make trouble with the goats. I swear, they come in the night and show Athena how to break out.”

“You’re giving them way more credit than they deserve.”

“I don’t think so.” While he was in such a good mood, even if it was at her expense, she risked a potentially dangerous question. “What does your mom want to do with the ranch?”

“I have no idea. I’d say restore it to its former glory, but it never had much of any. She has an emotional connection to this place. She wants to make it…better. She’s talking about fence lines and fixing up the barn.”

“Does she want to run cattle?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You could ask.”

“Then I’d know, and with my mother, that’s not always a good thing.”

“Not knowing is the reason you’re here now. How come you signed the contract?”

He shook his head. “A few years ago, one of my mom’s friends died unexpectedly. Her affairs weren’t in order and that made a mess for her kids. My mother decided that wasn’t going to happen and made sure she was fully prepared for her eventual passing.”

“That’s both considerate and a little creepy. She’s not that old.”

“I know, but once she gets her mind set on something, she can’t be budged.”

“Oh, so you inherited that from her.” Heidi winced, wishing she could remember to think before she spoke.

“Are you saying I’m stubborn?”

“Pretty much.”

The sun was high in the sky. The temperature was in the mid-sixties and there were no clouds to be seen. Some of the trees were budding, others had pale pink and creamy-white flowers all along the branches. She could hear birds, and if she ignored the wild cattle off in the distance, the moment would be about perfect.

“Part of her plan to get things in order involved me,” Rafe said after a few minutes. “I have to cosign every financial transaction she makes. She uses an online bill-pay, so I’m not involved in those, but every other check or document with a signature comes to me first. It adds up.”

“So, that’s how come you didn’t read the contract to buy the ranch.”

“Yeah. It’s my own fault.”

“Glen’s not a bad man.”

“No one said he is.”

“You implied it.”

“He did steal two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“But it was for a good reason. To help a friend.”

Rafe stared at her. She met his dark gaze and sighed.

“Your point is, stealing is stealing and trying to justify it doesn’t change the act itself. He was wrong.”

“Something like that,” Rafe admitted. “Glen may not be evil, but he’s not big on consequences.”

Heidi wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Rafe was right about her grandfather. Glen skated through life using his charm to get him out of most of the world’s unpleasantness.

“I don’t suppose it would help to say I’m sure he’s sorry.”

“No.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes. She tried to work up a good indignation or some old-fashioned annoyance, but couldn’t. Sure, Rafe threatened her and her home, and she would do anything she could to stop him from tossing her out, but there was a part of her that understood.

Glen had defrauded an innocent woman, and there was no way to make that okay.

“He took me in,” she said, keeping her gaze on the beautiful, untamed land around them. They were riding east, with the mountains in front of them. Snow was still visible. The snow line would move higher throughout the summer, but it would never completely disappear. The Sierras were too high for that.

“He told us that, but it’s not going to change my mind about him.”

She sighed. “I’m pointing out that he’s not a bad man. And why I’m not furious with him. I’m frustrated, but I know he’s basically a good person. My parents died when I was three. I don’t remember much about them. I’d only met Glen a couple of times, so he was a stranger to me. But he didn’t even hesitate to become my caretaker.”

“What did he do?”

“He was a carny. Working for a carnival. It comes through here every year, which is how I knew about Fool’s Gold.”

“I don’t know much about carnival life,” he admitted.

“It’s a unique world. Transient and insular at the same time. We’re always in a new place, so we find a sense of home with the people we work with.”

“How did you go to school?”

“There were a few kids around, so different adults took on various subjects. Glen taught math.”

“That had to have been interesting.”

“He was actually pretty good. My friend Melinda aced the SATs and got into a great college.” Heidi hadn’t been interested in getting a degree, but she and Melinda had still stayed close. If only she’d gone to college with her, maybe everything would have been different.

She told herself not to think about that now. That she couldn’t afford to be distracted around Rafe. Not if she wanted to hold her own.

She turned her attention to the man. He rode easily, looking as if he spent daily time in the saddle.

“You weren’t kidding about having grown up on a ranch,” she admitted.

He patted Mason’s neck. “It’s coming back to me. Maybe being here won’t be so bad, this time around.”

“Or you could, you know, leave.”

His dark gaze settled on her face. “Not likely.”

“You can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“I can but I won’t.” He straightened. “It’s unfortunate we both want the same thing.”

She nodded. “Home and a place to belong.”

“I was thinking more of the land.”

“One means the other. At least to me. That’s all I wanted. Somewhere to settle, a place for Glen and me. And the goats.”

“You’re not going to get rich raising goats.”

“I never needed to be rich. Until now.”

* * *

A
FTER
LUNCH
, R
AFE
WENT
into town. While he’d been out riding with Heidi, his mother had thoughtfully put together a list of projects she would like to see him take care of over the next few weeks. When he’d pointed out he still had a business to run, she’d actually patted him on the head and said he would figure out a way to get both done.

He loved his mother. He really did. But there were days, and this was one of them, when he would cheerfully walk away from his entire family and never have anything to do with them again.

He parked by the lumber supply yard, but instead of going inside the small office, he headed for the center of town. Stiff muscles protested the walking. As his ride with Heidi had only been an hour at best, he was going to have to step up his workouts when he got back to San Francisco. Weight training and miles on a treadmill didn’t prepare a man for life on a ranch, and according to his mother, he was going to be here for a while.

Despite how much he didn’t want to be anywhere near Fool’s Gold, he’d found himself enjoying being on a horse again. Riding in the sunlight, surveying relatively untamed land, had been kind of nice. Either the pleasure was primal, or he’d been watching too many Westerns.

He ducked into a Starbucks and bought a drip coffee and a scone. As he stepped outside, he had the thought that he should have brought Heidi along with him. She would have—

He paused in midgulp of the hot coffee, then nearly choked. Brought Heidi? Into town? What? So he could make friends with her? She wasn’t a friend, she was trouble. All sweet and pretty, with those damn, big green eyes. Yesterday he’d nearly bought into her innocent act. Sure, maybe she hadn’t known what Glen was doing, but he still couldn’t trust her. Or her goats.

He ate the scone and tossed the paper bag into a nearby trash can. He wasn’t going to think about Heidi. Not how good she’d looked on the horse, or how she’d smelled like vanilla and flowers when he’d given her a hand up to the saddle. Not the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, or how he’d been aware of her body moving with each step of the horse. Nope, not him. Not the least bit aware. She was someone in his way—nothing more.

He turned to walk back to the lumber supply yard when an older woman came toward him. She was well dressed, wearing a dark blue suit and pearls. Her white hair was carefully styled in that poufy bubble old ladies seemed to like.

When she smiled at him, he came to a stop.

“Rafe Stryker.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m Mayor Marsha Tilson.”

The combination of her name and the steady gaze of her blue eyes triggered a memory. Rafe frowned. “You’re the lady who gave me the bike.” She was also part of the group that had regularly delivered food and clothing to his mother, but as a kid, the bike had been more significant.

Her smile widened. “Yes. I’m delighted you remember.”

“You were kind to us. Thank you.”

The words were tough to get out. Even after all this time, he didn’t like to recall the past—when he’d gone hungry and his mother had cried all the time.

“You were an impressive little boy,” the mayor told him. “So determined to take care of your family. So proud. You made sure your brothers and sister didn’t have to worry.”

He cleared his throat, not sure how to respond to her statements. “I did what had to be done.”

“You were nine or ten. Far too young to be shouldering life’s responsibilities. Now, I understand, you’re a successful businessman.”

He nodded.