Stroke of Luck

by B. J Daniels

  It wouldn’t be easy. When he was around her, he felt a pull toward her stronger than gravity. His memory of their past had pockets of sweet, endearing moments that he’d forgotten until he’d seen her again. He could see her sitting on the counter in the kitchen cooking with his mother, a smudge of flour on her cheek, and looking so serious that it had made him want to laugh.

  Or that day he’d run to her after she’d been thrown off Lightning and was almost trampled to death, to find her covered with mud from head to toe. He could still see those green eyes shining out of that dirty face. She’d been trying so hard to be tough and not cry. He couldn’t help recalling his awe and relief that Poppy was all right. The girl had tried to ride a wild horse, proving she had more guts than he did.

  There were other memories of her, ones he’d thought he’d forgotten. He wished they could be friends again so he could share them with her. He wondered if she had good memories from that summer catching frogs with him in between guests or eating ice cream on the front porch together on a hot summer day at her cabin while her dad fly-fished the creek out front.

  When his brother Garrett called as he was putting the tack away, he was glad of it. He needed to get his mind off Poppy. “How are things going?” Garrett wanted to know.

  “I don’t know.” He glanced toward the main lodge where Poppy had just disappeared inside and said, “Strange.”

  “Strange how?” His brother sounded worried. “Poppy’s working out, right?”

  “She’s amazing.” His brother chuckled. “Her meals are—”

  “Amazing,” Garrett interjected. “Sounds like she’s won you over. I guess she didn’t agree to work for you to get back at you for breaking her young heart.”

  He didn’t want to share his suspicions with his brother, who he knew would think he was just being paranoid. “I wouldn’t blame her if she did.” He stared at the lodge for a moment. “Wait, you thought that was why she’d taken the job?”

  “I was joking.”

  “So was I,” he said.

  “Why?” Garrett asked. “Has she done something that makes you think she really is plotting against you?”

  Oh, has she. He thought of the spoonful of sauce she’d had him try and felt an ache of desire. If her plan was to seduce him with her food as Dorothea thought, then the woman had succeeded. But he wasn’t like some wild horse that was going to be broke to ride by giving him a cube of sugar.

  “You sound odd,” Garrett said. “You sure everything is all right?”

  “The guests are a little strange,” he said, moving the subject as far away from Poppy as possible. “We’ve already had one accident. Nothing serious. One of them brought a rubber rattlesnake and dropped it on the trail ride. Got two of the horses bucking. One of the riders stayed seated, but the other went off, sprained his wrist.”

  “Another day at the office, huh,” Garrett said, since he knew from growing up at the guest ranch for the summer months that it often involved some kind of drama. “Bet Dorothea is fit to be tied. Her and her proclamations of bad things coming in threes. So if Poppy hasn’t poisoned you, then I guess you’re okay. Unless she’s cast some kind of spell on you.” He laughed. “You can always have Dorothea break it for you.”

  But Will wasn’t laughing. He was looking toward the lodge and thinking about Poppy. He was already under her spell and had been longer than he’d realized. He reminded himself that it would be over in two more days.

  * * *

  LAMAR QUESTIONED WHY his father had scheduled free time until noon today. He’d seen Lexi sitting on her cabin porch pretending to read a book. Most of the time, she was looking around as if expecting something to happen.

  Mick and Allison were playing horseshoes at the pits on the other side of the main lodge with Kirk and Channing. He’d heard horseshoes ringing off metal since after breakfast.

  The person he hadn’t seen was his father. He’d gone down to his cabin, knocked on the door, but gotten no answer. He’d tried the door, only to find it locked. Restless, he’d stopped by Dean’s cabin to check on him, only to find him looking bored and ready to go home. He knew the feeling.

  He’d gone through the paperwork he’d brought until late in the night but hadn’t found anything suspicious, let alone felonious. This morning after breakfast he’d taken his fly rod and, wearing his On the Fly vest, had gone for a walk along the trail they had taken yesterday on horseback until he came to a stream.

  After catching a half dozen nice trout, which he’d released, he was headed back when he saw his father come out of the pines behind the cabins and headed for his. A few minutes later Ruby emerged, as well. She was brushing dried pine needles out of her hair as she headed for her own cabin.

  Lamar swore and headed for his father’s cabin. This time, he didn’t knock but burst right in.

  Big Jack turned in surprise. For a moment Lamar was at a loss for words. His father had been looking at his phone, a strange smile on his face. Since there was no cell phone service up here, Lamar assumed he must be looking at a photograph on his phone. Or an old message?

  “Ruby?” he finally managed to say.

  His father stood his ground as he put away his phone and said, “What about Ruby?”

  “She works for the company you own.”

  “Not for much longer. Not sure there will be a company for long the way things are going, anyway. But I’m washing my hands of the business. You want it, it’s yours. I’m going to retire.”

  “Just like that?”

  Big Jack nodded. “Just like that. Also Ruby won’t be staying, either.”

  Lamar wasn’t going to ask about that relationship. “Who is stealing from the company?”

  His father raised a brow.

  “You can’t believe it’s me.”

  Big Jack shrugged.

  “I need to know what you’ve uncovered.”

  “Haven’t uncovered anything. I just know.”

  He stared at his father. “You just know?” Was Big Jack getting senile? “You just know.”

  “That’s what I said. Now if that’s all, I need to get ready for lunch. There is a hayride afterward and a hike. I don’t want to miss seeing the waterfalls. Haven’t seen them in years.”

  What was this? A trip down memory lane for his father?

  “By the way, the hayride and hike are mandatory,” Big Jack said.

  Lamar started to argue, but saved his breath. If this was his father’s last hurrah, so be it. He would play along. It was only a couple more days.

  * * *

  POPPY HAD THE radio on in the kitchen while she and Dorothea cleaned up after a lunch of thinly sliced roast beef with huckleberry-barbecue sauce on homemade buns, sweet potato fries and chipotle molasses baked beans.

  Again Will had asked her to sit with all of them, but this time she excused herself, saying she had to take care of what she had baking in the oven. No one had put up a fight. They all just wanted to know what it was.

  She enjoyed their excitement when she’d brought out warm oatmeal cake with a rich, buttery brown sugar sauce. She’d stood for a moment, waiting for Will to take a bite; when he did, he groaned with pleasure and looked at her and gave her a thumbs-up.

  Poppy was delighted that the guests were enjoying her meals. True, she was pulling out all the stops since she had only two more days left to hook Will Sterling and reel him in. Earlier, she’d been discouraged after their horseback ride. But she wasn’t a woman to give up easily, although it was clear that Will had been warning her to do so.

  She smiled when, at lunch, she saw him take a bite of his sandwich, close his eyes and lick his lips. But he still wasn’t where she needed him to be yet. She kept thinking of last night on the dance floor when he’d come so close to kissing her. He had tried to warn her earlier that there was no hope of them being more than friends, but now she q
uestioned if he was warning himself off more than her.

  From down the table, he’d met her eyes and there had been more than his usual warmth in those brown eyes before he’d quickly looked away.

  No wonder she felt confused and off balance. Will had surprised her. That thought almost made her laugh. He’d shocked her. First by apologizing and then by telling her that he’d made an offer on the house she’d lived in that summer, the summer that had changed her life. It wasn’t just falling in love with her first cowboy, Will. It was also the time she spent at the ranch, helping make beds in the cabins, cooking with Will’s mother, Kate, feeling like part of a family, not to mention being able to ride a horse whenever she wanted.

  She’d fallen in love with all of it. Montana, the guest ranch, Will and his family. She’d been thinking about that and questioning her motives for being here, so she hadn’t heard what the radio announcer said until Dorothea nudged her.

  “You hear that?” the older woman demanded.

  Clearly Poppy hadn’t. “Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”

  “Yes, I can imagine where,” Dorothea said as she turned up the radio. “Big winter storm coming.”

  “This late in the season?” Poppy listened with concern. Apparently weather forecasters had thought the late-winter storm coming down out of Canada was going to miss the western part of the state. Now, though, they were saying it was a much larger, more dangerous storm than they’d first predicted and it would be hitting the mountains and the Whitefish, Montana, area by midmorning tomorrow.

  “Will needs to shut this down and get everyone out of here,” Dorothea said with conviction.

  Poppy realized she wasn’t ready to leave. She needed more time. “Surely it won’t be that bad.”

  Dorothea gave her an impatient look. “A winter storm? Buckshot broke his leg, you showed up with your charmed concoctions, a guest was bucked off his horse...now a winter storm? If that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.” Poppy had no idea what the woman was talking about. It must have shown on her face because Dorothea added, “There’s a curse on this retreat. I knew it. Once bad luck starts... I told Will...” Dorothea waved a hand through the air. “But does anyone listen to me?”

  As much as Poppy hated to admit it, maybe the woman was right and Will should cut the retreat short. She’d heard that snowstorms this time of year could dump several feet of heavy snow or more, knock out power, close roads. “You should probably mention the storm to Will in case he hasn’t heard yet.”

  Dorothea looked surprised. “It would mean you leaving tomorrow before you got what you came here for.”

  “I’m more concerned about the guests getting out before the storm.”

  “Right. Has nothing to do with Will. You’re only worried about the guests, that’s why you look so disappointed,” the woman pointed out snidely.

  “This retreat was important to him. I hate to see it spoiled.”

  “Yep, that’s the reason,” Dorothea said with a huff. “Has nothing to do with the plan you cooked up, huh. Don’t even bother to deny it.”

  Poppy wasn’t going to. She’d thought she could seduce Will with her cooking. While he did seem to love her food, that’s as far as she’d gotten. Apparently it wasn’t true about the way to a man’s heart being his stomach. He’d seemed to have enjoyed all of the meals she’d cooked and been impressed by her expertise. But he hadn’t succumbed to anything more than her culinary seduction and now she was running out of time.

  They both turned as Will came into the kitchen. Dorothea rushed to tell him about the latest storm warning, but he said he’d already heard.

  “The storm’s not expected to last more than a day or two,” he said. “I already mentioned it to Big Jack. He wants to stay so we’ll weather it as best we can. I was just coming to tell Poppy that the retreat will continue.”

  She looked up to meet his eyes. “Are you sure?” She realized that some of Dorothea’s superstitious fears might have merit. There was already tension among the guests. A storm would only put everyone more on edge.

  “I was thinking that maybe you should leave early,” Will said to her. “We can make do, if you want to get out before the storm hits. I’ll still pay you the bonus. Actually, I’d feel better knowing you got out of the mountains safely tonight rather than wait until tomorrow.”

  He was trying to get rid of her? She didn’t know what to say for a moment. She’d thought she was growing on him. Well, at least her cooking was. Then she glimpsed something in his expression.

  He wanted her to leave. Because her plan was working! Well, he wasn’t getting off that easy. “The storm isn’t supposed to hit until after breakfast. I’d just as soon stay. I’ll leave after the guests do.”

  A smiling Dorothea shot her a knowing conspiratorial look.

  Will didn’t say anything for a moment. “If you’re sure. I just wanted to give you the option.” He met her gaze and started to say more, but stopped. Looking uncomfortable to realize that Dorothea was watching them both closely, he turned and left.

  “You have him where he doesn’t know which end is up,” Dorothea muttered.

  Did she? It sure didn’t feel like it most of the time. But him wanting her to leave told her that Dorothea might be right. Going back to cleaning the kitchen, she told herself that maybe she really was getting to Will. His worrying about her staying might have nothing to do with the storm. Could he be worried that she might steal his heart before this was over?

  She told herself that she was dreaming if she thought that could happen. Also she felt a little guilty. She liked this grown-up Will Sterling. From everything she’d seen, he was a nice, considerate man—no longer that cocky fifteen-year-old cowboy who’d broken her heart without a second thought. Broke it, smashed it, walked on it.

  This Will...well, he was sensitive and caring and—

  She realized the trail her thoughts had taken and mentally slapped herself. The plan had been to come here, steal his heart, break it and get her retribution. Will had hurt her. That hurt was still alive in her, though it felt weaker every day being here with him. She’d thought for sure being reminded of where the offense had taken place would make it even stronger.

  Still, she told herself this was her chance and she might never get another one. Yes, she needed retribution, but she also needed closure. She’d get what she came for and then put Will and this guest ranch behind her forever so she could finally move on.

  But even as she thought it, she wondered if she was losing her taste for revenge.

  * * *

  LAMAR HAD NEVER been on a hayride in his life. Nor did he see the thrill in piling onto a flatbed wagon covered with hay bales to be dragged around the mountainside by a team of horses.

  To make matters worse, Allison and Channing both were flirting with the wranglers. So Mick and Kirk were sulking. Lexi had taken a seat with her back to the rest of them while Dean chewed on a piece of straw. Ruby leaned against a bale of hay, her eyes closed, appearing to be asleep, Big Jack perched nearby.

  “So tell me what it’s like to get on a wild bull and try to ride it,” Allison was saying to Slim, who apparently had been a rodeo bull rider in his younger days.

  “It’s scary and thrilling. The idea is to match your wits against the bull’s. All the bull wants to do is throw you off and stomp on you.”

  Everyone laughed but Mick, who seemed to be tearing his hay bale apart piece by piece and sending it flying into the air behind them. Maybe he was leaving crumbs so they could find their way back, Lamar thought moodily.

  His father was pretending not to notice Ruby. Out of the blue, Channing suggested they sing something and the wranglers were ready with a half dozen Western songs, starting with the classic “Home on the Range.”

  By the time most of them were singing badly along to “You Are My Sunshine,” they had reached the path to the water
falls. As they climbed down, Lamar saw his father buttonhole Ruby. The two started up the trail to the falls together with his father whispering something to her that made her laugh.

  Kirk helped Allison off the hay wagon. She stood waiting for Mick, but he jumped off the other side and headed up the mountain without her. Channing trailed after him.

  “Trouble in paradise,” Dean said as he passed Lamar and pushed his dust-covered glasses up his nose.

  Groaning under his breath, he planned to bring up the rear, but Lexi kept stopping to pick spring flowers until he couldn’t take it anymore and passed her. He caught a glimpse of Kirk walking alone. So had Mick and Allison met up on the trail? The last he’d seen Channing was ahead of Kirk.

  He couldn’t see the others on the trail ahead and quickened his pace, just wanting to get this over with. He still couldn’t understand the purpose of this so-called retreat. If it was to make them all bond, then good luck with that. If it was a trip down memory lane for his father, then it was a costly one.

  As he came around a bend, he saw Mick and Allison. They’d stepped off the trail and were arguing.

  Lamar, having had enough, walked up to them. “Maybe you aren’t familiar with our no-dating policy at On the Fly, but let me remind you of it now. Knock it the hell off.”

  “We aren’t dating,” Allison said and stormed off.

  Mick chewed at his cheek as he looked after her, his expression one of angry funk.

  “Do I even have to ask what is going on between the two of you?” he demanded.

  “It isn’t what you think, big brother, so don’t worry about it,” Mick said and stormed off up the trail, as well.

  Shaking his head, he followed. A few more curves in the path and he saw the others gathered at the falls. His father had his cell phone out and was taking a photo of Ruby with the falls in the background. Allison was flirting with the wrangler who’d apparently decided to make the hike. Lamar realized that Huck must have passed him when he was talking to his brother. Mick was sulking off to the side. Channing had taken off her shoes and was wading in the water at the edge of the creek. She was calling everyone else a wuss for not coming in even though the icy water had to be making her feet ache.