Montana Welcome

by Melinda Curtis

  “Lily will be safe here, Rudy, just as I promised.” Big E was showing surprising restraint. Normally, he was a master at spitting fire.

  “You think I’m going to leave Lily here after this?” Rudy pointed toward the mustang pens.

  “I’ll stay with her until she comes to her senses.” Danny was nothing if not persistent.

  It was maddening.

  “No!” Conner and Big E said together.

  Big E stepped around Lily’s former fiancé and took Rudy’s elbow. “We made a deal, you and I. And we’re going to stick to it.”

  “What deal?” No one answered Conner. He trailed behind the others, wondering where Lily had gone to. As soon as he could get away, he’d go find her.

  “She wants to stay here on the ranch. At least for the time being.” Big E arched a brow at Conner that told him Conner had to do better in the Lily department. “Lily is a Blackwell. She’ll be surrounded by family and ranch hands dedicated to helping her in any way she wants. Isn’t that what you wanted, Rudy?”

  Rudy drew a deep breath and said nothing.

  “I don’t want you to worry, Rudy. There’ll be no more horse training or risk taking of any type.” Big E’s voice was as stiff as weathered leather. “Conner is being paid extra to make sure of it.”

  “Good,” Rudy said. He would agree. This was exactly the way he’d been handling Lily all her life.

  And it was wrong. No more horse training? Big E could promise all he wanted. Conner wasn’t promising anything. And besides, he’d fulfilled the requirement of the double bonus.

  “We should get that in writing. From Conner.” Danny could sometimes be smart. “I don’t trust him.”

  Smart, but annoying.

  “Right now it’s more important that we find Thomas Blackwell, if he’s still alive.” Big E headed toward the guest ranch, but he swiveled around as if he was looking for something in the ranch yard. “We’ll stock the motor home and head back to San Diego. That was our most promising lead and it’s unfortunate it only came in this morning.”

  “Not to mention Amanda needs us to present a unified front,” Rudy added.

  They were on a quest to find Lily’s father? That explained the need for extra days in California.

  Big E stopped and turned to Conner. “Where did you park the motor home?”

  “Uh...” Uh-oh. It seemed everyone knew about the motor-home incident except for his boss. “I’m afraid the...uh...your motor home won’t be ready until Monday. Small mishap.” Conner held his thumb and forefinger up until they were almost touching. “Fender bender. We’re waiting on a part or two.” A new radiator, brakes, grille and fender. Luckily, the frame and engine block hadn’t been damaged.

  Big E’s frown was more severe than it had been during Rudy’s outbursts. “Why didn’t anyone tell me the tank was in the shop?”

  Conner feigned ignorance with a shrug. “No one knew when you were returning. Katie said she tried to call.” Although he’d bet money she didn’t have the motor home on the list of things to discuss with Big E.

  “We’ll talk more about this later,” Big E promised. He nodded toward the horse pens. “Get back to work.”

  So much for finding Lily. The message was clear—no more crossing lines.

  Conner made a U-turn and returned to the mustang enclosures.

  But his heart was elsewhere.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  LILY FLAGGED DOWN Conner as he was heading home at the end of the day. “Where are you going?”

  “The Rocking H.” Conner tried to focus on the straight fence posts lining the drive.

  “You won’t be eating dinner with us at the guesthouse tonight?” Her brow furrowed.

  Conner wanted to get out and gather her close and reassure her everything would be all right. But he had yet to receive his double bonus and he’d been given a warning. “You’ll be fine on your own. You handled them today.”

  “Yes, it’s just that I...” She squared her shoulders. “I prefer not to be alone against them. They don’t listen to me.”

  “Lily—”

  “I’ve had enough of the Lily-ing today, thank you very much.” She popped her hands on her hips. “You know, Lily, pay attention. Lily, accept my opinion as fact. Lily—”

  “My ranch isn’t exactly the safest place on earth.” And Big E had been clear in regards to Lily. “Stay here. Stay inside... It’s where you belong.”

  “You think I belong here?” Lily gestured toward the beautiful guest lodge, which had been featured in several national magazines since it opened. “Or with Danny?”

  No!

  Conner tapped the steering wheel with his thumb again. He needed this job.

  “Conner?” Her voice cracked.

  “No.” He cleared his throat and clarified, “No, I don’t think you belong here.” But she was a Blackwell and she sure as shooting didn’t belong with him.

  “I’d like to meet your mom.” Lily smiled tentatively. “You know, we’ve had some phone conversations and hit it off. I’m not pressuring you for a relationship. You know, like I want to meet your parents kind of deal.” Color blossomed on her cheeks. “Besides, you said Pearl and Mouse were delivered to the Rocking H earlier. I’d like to see them. Please, Conner. You can show them to me and bring me right back.”

  It was a desperate plea. Having met Rudy and Danny, he felt for her. Where was the harm in taking her to see her stock?

  Conner glanced around. The coast was clear of Blackwells. “All right.”

  Lily ran around and got in. “Feels like old times, doesn’t it? You, driving. Me, your copilot.”

  “You’re the guest of my employer.” And he’d best remember it. Funny thing was, now that the Blackwell Ranch was in his rearview mirror, all he could remember was her kiss.

  They reached the main road before Lily said anything more. “Danny can’t get it through his head that I’m not going to marry him. Ditto for Rudy.” She sighed.

  “Did you call anyone on that fancy cell phone of yours?” The one Danny had given her last night at dinner. “Try to find someone in your family on your side?”

  “Just my sister Amanda.”

  “Did you work things out with her?”

  “Kind of.” Her voice was small. Her hands clasped in her lap. “She thinks my birth certificate is a clerical error or something.”

  What could he say to make her feel better? Nothing. He kept both hands on the wheel.

  Conner drove to the Rocking H Ranch. The early-evening sun made everything look more barren. The open gate hung crookedly. The gravel road was pitted. He pulled into the ranch yard and waited while Lily gave the property a critical look. The barn was in need of a fresh coat of paint. The front porch sagged. There were chickens running loose and a cat lying in the middle of the ranch yard. Parsnip was in the pen nearest the barn with the mustangs and burro. He whinnied at Conner.

  “Home sweet home.” Conner wished he’d brought Lily here after dark.

  “Look at how tall those trees are.” She stepped away from the truck and into the middle of the ranch yard. “Your barn is huge.”

  It may have been large, but he barely used it. “It needs work.”

  “It needs hope.” Lily didn’t demand to be returned to the Blackwell Ranch. She headed over to the barn and her animals. “They’re all together—Pearl, Mouse, Royal and...your horse?”

  “I’ll separate them tomorrow morning.”

  “Not Pearl and Mouse. They need each other.” Lily picked up her pace as if eager to protect her charges.

  Pearl, the burro, stuck her nose through the fence rails, begging for an ear rub.

  “She’s so tame. It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Lily cooed to the burro.

  Conner didn’t find the burro amazing. It was Lily who had earned that label for him. He gave
the little thing a friendly pat anyway. “It’s not uncommon for animals to be set free in the mountains when folks can no longer afford to keep them.”

  “Oh, Pearl.” Lily gazed into the burro’s eyes. “That won’t happen to you ever again.”

  If Conner wanted to put distance between them—something he was desperate to do—he should ask Lily for a stabling fee. He couldn’t find enough saliva to form the words.

  “Good boy.” Lily smiled at the big-boned horse she called Mouse. He’d been looking at her. “Do I have your permission to come visit them? Mouse needs socialization.”

  They both glanced over to Royal, the white beauty who had won Pepper’s heart. The horse turned her back to them. Royal wanted nothing to do with Conner and Lily.

  “You can come as long as you don’t go inside the corrals.” He debated telling her about the ranch yard conversation with her family, deciding it was better to come clean about that, at least. “Big E promised Rudy you wouldn’t leave the ranch or be involved in horse training.”

  “Did he?” That was her small voice. She must have recognized it because she said again, stronger, “Did he?” Lily put her hands on her hips and an uncompromising expression on her face. “And what did you say?”

  “Nothing.” He chuckled. “I know you too well.”

  “Finally.” Lily gave him a sly glance. “Someone knows what I want.”

  “Which is?” He was inching toward that line again because he knew what she didn’t want—not to marry Danny, not to leap into a relationship with him.

  “The freedom to follow my heart,” she said ambiguously, before adding, “I gave Danny my tour business.”

  “What? Why?”

  She shrugged, back to being small. “He had too much of a hand in operations. I’m looking for a new line of work.”

  Horse training.

  Big E wasn’t going to like this. And Rudy...

  He whistled.

  Parsnip trotted over to Conner and thrust his nose against his shoulder.

  “Who is this handsome fella?” She scratched behind Parsnip’s cheek. “He’s beautiful.”

  “My mother named him Parsnip.” He imagined even Parsnip cringed at the moniker.

  “Is he the one?” She stroked Parsnip’s long neck. “The one who caused the accident?”

  Conner nodded, pushing the stallion’s head away.

  “Well, he bears you no ill will.” Lily looked at Conner as if she expected him to do the same.

  “Parsnip doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. But he’s impatient, both during training and just hanging around. Truth be told, he’s waiting for me to finish making him a cutting horse.”

  “Truth?” Lily scoffed. “You’re reading mustang minds now?”

  He nodded. “He’s got a long wait ahead of him.”

  “Conner.” The way Lily said his name conveyed so much—her expectation that he put his ramshackle life back together, train the horse he loved, perhaps even keep moving their relationship along to...

  “You should know something,” Conner said. Something he’d vowed not to share with anyone else.

  Lily stared up at Conner with trust in those clear blue eyes. A breeze lifted the ends of her dark blond hair.

  “I can’t go back to horse training.” His words tumbled out faster to prevent her from arguing. “Everyone wants me to. But the insurance premiums are hefty. It puts the ranch at risk of being underwater financially if I can’t train and sell enough horses.”

  Her mouth dropped open. Crickets chirped while she processed his words. “You didn’t say you were afraid to train horses.”

  He nodded, subtly stretching the twinge in his back. Everyone thought he’d lost his nerve. “I have a healthy respect for the profession, just like I do for ranching. But a man has to realize when he’s beat and focus on what he can do in life and what is foolhardy.”

  Conner’s mother came out of the house led by Ned, who meowed like a small lion. “Is that Lily?”

  “Yes.” Lily turned and waved.

  Two cats raced across the yard to reach Ned and Conner’s mother.

  “She rescues cats,” Conner said half underneath his breath. “Not to mention she loves her chickens.”

  Lily smiled as if none of that should be in a negative column. “You don’t want to let her down.”

  “I’m afraid I already have,” Conner admitted, being on a roll with baring his soul.

  “I mean...” Lily squeezed his biceps, more than trust shining in her eyes, although he didn’t dare put a name to whatever it was. “That’s why you don’t want to train horses anymore. Because of the money, and if anything happened to you, she’d be—”

  “Are you going to make me come over there?” his mother asked. “Or am I interrupting a moment?”

  Lily chuckled.

  Conner closed his eyes. “My mother takes great pleasure in torturing me.”

  “Which makes your need to protect her that much more endearing.” Lily tugged him across the ranch yard. “Hi, Karen.” She trotted up the porch steps and hugged her. “I missed having our phone call last night.”

  “Me, too. Are you here for dinner?” Mom turned to go inside the house. “I made tomato soup with fresh tomatoes. And for dessert, I’ve still got cookies.”

  “You made soup for dinner? What about meat? Or chicken?” Conner glanced back at the free-range birds pecking in the yard.

  “I don’t eat chicken anymore. You know that.” His mother tsked.

  “She became a vegetarian after she named the chickens,” Conner explained to Lily, unable to resist teasing his mother as they went inside.

  “You can’t eat your pets.” Lily grinned. She didn’t seem to care that the carpet was worn or that his mother’s craft projects cluttered the living room, dining room and kitchen. She seemed at ease.

  Conner couldn’t remember if the clutter had been there last night. He removed his boots and hung up his hat.

  Lily removed her boots, setting them next to Conner’s. His ex-wife used to tuck hers out of sight behind Mom’s copper umbrella stand. He’d never understood why. The two pairs of boots implied comfort and closeness.

  Love.

  Conner jolted to a standstill, watching Lily peer at his mother’s collection of figurines in the curio cabinet.

  Mom headed toward the kitchen with careful steps. “I’ll grill some cheese sandwiches and roast some zucchini to go with our soup. No help needed.”

  Lily thanked her and picked up a picture on an end table of Conner riding a cutting horse at a rodeo event. “Very handsome.”

  He’d grown up with the Blackwell brothers, who’d been quite popular with the local gals. No one ever called Conner handsome. “I suppose you mean the horse.”

  “She means you, honey,” his mother called from the kitchen. “Don’t fish for compliments.”

  Conner wasn’t fishing for anything. If he had his way, Lily would still be over at the Blackwell Ranch. But then he’d never have seen their boots together.

  Love?

  “You don’t have kids?” Lily wandered around the small living room.

  “No.” Conner began picking up the clutter. In his mother’s defense, it was challenging for her to walk more than a few steps without one or both crutches. That didn’t explain how she’d gotten all this stuff out. Yarn for knitting. Quilt squares. Scraps of fabric. Her sewing box. Her quilt patterns and knitting books. A couple of romances. She’d been restless today. “We never thought we could afford them. And it was probably for the best.”

  “Contentious divorce?” Lily’s cheeks turned pink, but she didn’t look away.

  “No, ma’am.” Conner should have left it there, but it was important that Lily understand they could be friends but he wasn’t the kind of man she should be looking at for anything more. “I thin
k having a child would put more pressure on me to make this place into something. I don’t think I’m the right one to carry the burden of generations of Hannahs on his shoulders.”

  “Sounds like you gave it a lot of thought after your accident.” Lily stepped onto the brick hearth, studying the pictures displayed on the wooden mantel. Some were yellowed with age and nearly a hundred years old. She traced her finger over the trail of nail holes made by countless Hannah parents to hang their children’s stockings. “Have you revisited the topic since?”

  “Recently?”

  She nodded, turning to watch him.

  “No. You know why.” His mother.

  “She’d understand.” Lily made no argument. Instead, she walked toward the kitchen. “How can I help, Karen?”

  He knew how Lily could help him. She could stop implying things could be different.

  * * *

  LILY SAT ON a porch rail at the Rocking H, pretending to watch the sunset.

  Instead, she watched Conner shoo chickens into their coop for the night.

  “He’s a good man.” Karen sat in a rocking chair nearby. “Not that he’d admit it.”

  “He’s humble. That’s a trait of most good men.” But being humble didn’t mean Conner would open that slow door to a relationship with her. In fact, he seemed dead set against it.

  “You know, when the cutting horses Conner trained began winning competitions, you wouldn’t hear him crow. I suppose if he put more stock into what people thought, he’d have kept this place going after the accident.”

  “He cares about what people think. Big E, in particular.” She’d heard him invoke her grandfather’s name on more than one occasion. “And he’s afraid of what might happen if he trains horses again.”

  Karen made a sound of agreement.

  “Fear is a powerful thing.” Lily concentrated on curling her fingers. “But you can’t let fear win.”

  “I know. I know what my son fears most. Without him able to take care of things, I’d have to sell the ranch.” Karen looked weary. “But things can’t keep going the way they are. He hasn’t been happy for a long time. And this place...”