The Rancher's Redemption (The Millers of Morgan Valley Book 2)

by Kate Pearce

  Lizzie winked at Rachel. “Go sit down, I’ll bring the drinks over to you.”

  Rachel found a secluded spot near the back of the extended shop and sat down, unzipping her fleece and removing the knitted cap Ruth had made for her. Cauy followed suit, but of course left his hat on.

  She had a feeling that if she waited for him to start chatting she’d be there all day. He reminded her of a lot of the hired hands on the ranch, men who did their jobs, were magic with the horses, but who didn’t have a lot of time for the niceties of conversation.

  “Did you work on a ranch in Texas?” Rachel asked even though Ruth had suggested otherwise.

  He looked at her. “Nope.”

  “I suppose if you’d wanted to do ranch work you would’ve stayed home.”

  “I worked in the oil industry.”

  “Doing what?” Rachel asked.

  He shrugged. “Whatever paid me a wage.”

  “Like?”

  “General laboring, back filling pipelines, tending to the drilling rig, driving trucks, that kind of thing.”

  Rachel shuddered. “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”

  “I was young and fit, and wanted my independence. It suited me just fine.”

  Lizzie came over with a tray and placed it in between them, interrupting their conversation.

  “Black coffee for you, Cauy, cappuccino for Rachel, and two strawberry tarts.” Lizzie smiled at Cauy. “The second one is on the house.”

  “Thank you.” Cauy nodded. “It looks great.”

  Lizzie took the tray away with her. Cauy hesitated before slowly removing his gloves, which drew Rachel’s attention to his hands. Both were scarred as if he’d been in a fire or something. She immediately averted her gaze, but not before she’d caught the hint of a challenge in his hazel eyes. Did he really think she was such an insensitive jerk that she was going to say something? She left blurting out stupid stuff to him.

  Instead, she busied herself adding cinnamon to her cappuccino and cutting her strawberry tart in half.

  “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  Rachel looked up, her mouth full of strawberry, and hastily swallowed. So much for pleasantries. Cauy Lymond wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible. What was it about her that made staying in her company so awful? Most people liked her. She wasn’t a bitch or the kind of person who liked to dominate a conversation.

  “Slow down.” She pointed at his tart. “You haven’t even tasted it yet. “

  * * *

  “I can do two things at once.”

  Cauy bit into the squishy center of the tart and stopped speaking, it was that good. It took all his concentration not to moan with delight. Rachel was right about one thing. He’d definitely be coming back to Yvonne’s.

  Rachel was smiling triumphantly at him. Damn, she was pretty. “See? Perfection in pastry.”

  “Yeah.” He finished off the tart and licked his lips. “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”

  She made a face and rested her chin on her hand. Her short blond hair was ruffled from being under her hat, and up close her eyes were a startling blue. “Is it me?”

  He blinked at her.

  “I mean, that you don’t want to talk to. Or are you like this with everyone?” Rachel asked.

  “Pretty much like this.” Cauy took a sip of his coffee.

  “I suppose I should be pleased.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that so he took another slug of coffee, which was also excellent, and waited her out. If he were honest with himself he’d have to say it was no hardship sitting opposite Rachel Morgan. There was a freshness and innocence about her that he’d lost a long time ago.

  “Okay, I wanted to talk to you about the old silver mine.”

  He frowned. “The one on your ranch?”

  “Yes, except I think it extends under your land as well.”

  “So what?”

  She blew gently on the froth on her cappuccino and then licked it like a cat, making everything male in Cauy sit up and take notice.

  “You remember the first time we met?”

  “When you were trespassing?”

  Rachel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that time. I was checking out the fence line to see why some of it had gone down, and discovered some surface damage probably due to the last earthquake here in the summer.”

  “And?”

  “It’s possible the tunnels beneath the surface have become more unstable.”

  “So what?”

  “Well, the ground could cave in.”

  “The mine is out in the middle of nowhere. What harm will it do if it does collapse into itself?” Cauy pointed out.

  “I’m not sure.” Rachel wrinkled her nose. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up that we might need to investigate further.”

  Cauy put his mug down on the table with a thump. “I’m not paying for anything.”

  “I haven’t asked you to.” Rachel sat up straight. “I just wanted—”

  “And why did they send you to deliver this message?” Cauy interrupted her. “Did Chase Morgan think I’d be more willing to deal with you because you’re so pretty?”

  Her smile disappeared. “You think he sent his little sister to kiss your ass? Did it even occur to you that I might know what I’m talking about?” She got to her feet and threw a five-buck note on the table. “You really are a pain, Cauy Lymond. Have a great day.”

  She gave him one last scorching glare and then stormed out, slamming the door of the coffee shop behind her.

  Cauy slowly exhaled.

  This was why he didn’t talk to people.

  “Was Rachel okay?” Lizzie came to collect the cups, her expression concerned.

  “She’s just mad at me.” Cauy handed her his empty plate. “I don’t suppose you know what she does for a living, do you?”

  “Rachel?” Lizzie paused. “She just finished college. Some kind of engineering degree, I think. You should check in with Ruth if you want to know all the details.”

  “Engineering,” Cauy sighed, “Yeah, that figures.”

  So maybe she did know a “little bit” about what she was talking about after all....

  Lizzie returned to the counter. Cauy raked a hand through his hair and then replaced his hat. Why did he always seem to put his big foot in his mouth when Rachel Morgan was around? Now he’d have to apologize to her—again.

  He finished his coffee and picked up the bag of prescriptions Dr. Mendez had provided for him. It was three years since the accident, but he still needed medications for his skin and his stupid brain. He’d weaned himself off all the painkillers as soon as he could—probably sooner than his doctors had wanted if he was honest, but he’d been afraid of becoming addicted, had seen too many peers succumb to managing their lives by medicating themselves into oblivion.

  If he walked back to Dr. Mendez’s place he would probably find Rachel there and get the apology over with as soon as possible.

  “Hey.”

  He looked up into the face of an unsmiling cowboy with piercing blue eyes and let out a resigned breath.

  “Let me guess. You must be a Morgan.”

  “Yeah, I’m BB. We were at school together.”

  “Did you come to tell me off for making Rachel mad, Blue Boy?”

  The cowboy set his jaw. “I came to tell you to keep your nose out of my family’s business, and to keep a civil tongue in your head.”

  “Trust me, I want nothing to do with anyone named Morgan.” Cauy kept his tone courteous but ten years in the oil fields meant he wasn’t going to be bullied. “And Rachel seems perfectly capable of fighting her own battles.”

  “She’s my baby sister.”

  Cauy just held BB Morgan’s stare.

  A woman dressed in black came up behind BB and poked him in the ribs. “Are you fighting in my shop?”

  “Not at all, Yvonne.” BB tipped his Stetson. “Just saying hello to our new neighbor.”

 
; Yvonne didn’t look convinced as she turned to smile at Cauy. “It’s nice to meet you. Did you enjoy your coffee?”

  Cauy stood up. “It was great, thank you. I’ll definitely be back.” He eased past BB Morgan, who didn’t make it easy for him. “Have a nice day.”

  Unfortunately, the annoying Morgan decided to follow him out of the shop. Ten paces down the raised sidewalk, Cauy swung around like a gunslinger confronting his opponent.

  “Is there something else you want to get off your chest?”

  “Yeah. My fiancée.”

  Cauy raised an eyebrow and stood his ground.

  “Jenna McDonald,” BB said.

  “What about her?”

  “Your father tried to trash her reputation in this town, so keep away from her.”

  “My father—” There were many things Cauy could say about his dad, but he wasn’t going to give a Morgan the satisfaction of hearing them. “I have no idea what happened between them, but it’s none of my business.”

  “Good.” BB nodded. “Keep it that way.”

  He turned and walked back toward the post office, leaving Cauy to his own company. He was beginning to wish he’d stayed in bed.

  His truck was parked at the far end of Main Street. He took the time to stow his bag of prescriptions and then walked back to Dr. Mendez’s building. Rachel was just emerging through the front door, her head down low as she talked to a diminutive woman who was clinging to her arm.

  Her gaze flicked toward Cauy, and then she ignored him and continued on her way. Keeping a wary eye out for any other Morgans, Cauy followed the pair at a discreet distance to an old SUV parked at the rear of the building. When Rachel struggled to get the old lady into the truck, Cauy stepped forward and helped out without a word.

  While her passenger fussed with her seat belt and found a place for her enormous purse, Rachel turned to Cauy, her disdainful expression mirroring her older brother’s.

  “Did you want something?”

  Cauy met her gaze head-on. “I wanted to apologize.”

  “For what particular thing this time?” Rachel asked. “Existing?”

  He shrugged. “If that works for you. I was too quick to make assumptions. How about you let me know what’s going on with the mine when you get new information?”

  “Wow, three complete sentences at once.” Rachel pressed a hand to her chest. “I’m honored.”

  Cauy knew he deserved her sarcasm, but it was hard not to smile. It reminded him of his sister Amy’s ability to take him down a notch or two. Not that he felt very sisterly toward Rachel Morgan . . .

  “I’ll keep you informed, okay?” Rachel dug her car keys out of her pocket. “I’ve got to take Mrs. Medeiros home.”

  Cauy nodded. “Have a good day.”

  He waited until she drove off before leaving the parking lot to find his own truck. The wind was rising with that particular whine that set his teeth on edge and there was a hint of ice cutting through it. Keeping a wary eye out for BB Morgan, he zipped up his jacket and lowered the angle of his hat against the encroaching breeze.

  He liked the way Rachel stood up to him. He liked the way she stared him right in the eye and told him to knock it off. How long was it since he’d had a conversation with anyone like that? His ex-wife, Lorelei, had tended to agree with everything he said, until one day she’d found someone she agreed with even more and divorced his sorry ass.

  He didn’t blame Lorelei for that. She hadn’t meant to marry a man who no longer cared for the things she valued like big houses, cars, and fancy jewelry. He’d let her down. He’d let them both down, and she’d gotten half of everything he had left after his medical bills were paid.

  He’d bet the ranch that Rachel Morgan wouldn’t walk away so fast. She was young enough to have ideals, morals, and outrage to spare. He couldn’t ever remember being like that, but he sure as hell admired it in others.

  A fine mist of rain chased the cutting breeze, and he hastened to reach his truck and get the engine started. A nagging headache settled over his left eye. He’d have to call it a day and come back to the lumberyard tomorrow. Too many interactions made his brain hurt, and today had been a doozy.

  Chapter Five

  Cauy straightened up as a hint of sound shattered the quietness of the remote field he was working in to repair the fence. He couldn’t quite believe that he’d been at the ranch for a week already. He looked over toward the copse of trees in the corner and tried to work out exactly what he was seeing. There was something big crashing around in there. Returning to his truck, he found his father’s ancient rifle and retraced his steps moving on down the slope toward the green darkness.

  A snuffling sound made him go still again. Wild pig? Mountain lion? He’d heard that the Morgans had recently captured some kind of wildcat on their land. He took another cautious step forward, his weapon raised, and heard a whicker of greeting. Two horses stuck their heads out of the foliage to stare at him. Neither of them had halters on nor looked as if they had been near a groomer for years, if ever.

  Cauy backed up again, returned to his truck, and found a coil of thin rope and the remnants of his lunch. Treats in one hand, rope hidden behind his back in the other, he approached the horses.

  To his surprise, as if keen for some company, they both came willingly. He fashioned a couple of rough nooses and dropped them over the horses’ necks and led them over to his truck. It was too far to walk them back so he’d have to attach them to the rear of the truck and drive real slow. They didn’t seem to mind being taken along, which made him think that at some point they’d been broken to saddle and weren’t completely wild.

  He pulled up in front of his barn to discover another truck bearing the Morgan Ranch logo already parked there. With a resigned sigh, he killed the engine and got out. It didn’t seem to matter what he said, the Morgans just kept on coming....

  “Good morning, son!”

  Cauy considered the wrinkled old cowboy smiling at him. “It’s Roy, isn’t it?”

  “Yup.” Roy tipped his hat to Cauy. “The boss lady told me come on over and see if you needed a hand.”

  “I don’t—”

  Cauy barely got the words out of his mouth before Roy started off toward the two horses, and Rachel got out of the other side of the truck.

  “Where’d you find these beauties?” Roy asked, running a professional-looking hand over the first horse.

  With one eye on Rachel and the other on Roy, Cauy struggled to form a coherent sentence.

  “Uh, out in the far corner of the ranch. I was mending fences.”

  “They look pretty good considering they’ve been outside,” Roy finished his appraisal, and straightened up, not without some difficulty.

  “I haven’t checked to see if they are branded,” Cauy stated. “If they belong to Morgan Ranch, please take them.”

  “Your dad let a lot of things go the last year he farmed this place,” Roy said, grimacing. “I reckon these are probably yours. You’d probably best get them checked over by the veterinary.”

  “But not by Jenna McDonald or BB might kill him,” Rachel spoke for the first time.

  Roy grinned. “BB wouldn’t do that, but he might come along to make sure Jenna was okay.”

  Cauy cleared his throat. “Jenna McDonald is the vet? What happened to Ronald McDonald?”

  “He retired to play golf. His son Dave and his niece have taken over the practice.” Roy patted one of the geldings. “Call Dave. He’ll come out.” He looked over at the barn. “Anywhere safe and dry to keep these horses over the winter, Cauy?”

  “The barn needs a bit of work,” Cauy admitted.

  “Then me and Rachel had better help you out.” Roy turned to Rachel. “Get my toolbox out of the truck and find yourself some gloves.” He turned to Cauy. “While Rachel’s checking out the structure of the barn, why don’t you find a safe place for those horses to graze?”

  Recognizing defeat and reluctant to bundle an old man into his ow
n truck and send him away with a flea in his ear, Cauy meekly untied the horses and led them down to the only field he’d managed to make secure so far. He still didn’t understand how the Morgans could simultaneously hold his father in such low esteem yet be willing to help his son.

  He’d been brought up suckling at the milk of his father’s resentment of the Morgans, and it was a hard taste to get rid of. He guessed his father would’ve been shaking with rage right now, humiliated by being put in this position and more than willing to vent his anger on the next person who crossed him. Cauy wouldn’t do that, but being managed didn’t sit easily with him.

  He’d left home to avoid all that crap, enjoyed his own life without having to worry about parents or family or any of those things that weighed a person down. The Morgans seemed to thrive on being part of a family, and he genuinely didn’t get it.

  After a last pat for the horses, he returned to the barn where Rachel was studying the roofline.

  “It’s basically sound,” Cauy said as came to stand at her shoulder, getting a whiff of lavender soap and warm skin that made him want to bury his face in her neck and just breathe her in.

  “Yes, it is.” She gave it another appraising stare. “How’s the inside?”

  He made a face. “Cluttered and dirty.”

  “Then we’d better get busy, hadn’t we?” She walked over to Roy. “Let’s clean out the interior so that I can take a look at the load-bearing walls and posts inside.”

  Cauy grabbed hold of her arm. “You guys really don’t need to do anything, okay?”

  They both looked at him as if he was nuts.

  “We’re right here.” Roy made a gesture. “Why wouldn’t we help out?”

  “Because I don’t need your charity.”

  “Charity?” Roy spoke up before Rachel even got her mouth open. “Where did you get that mealy-mouthed idea from? We’re neighbors. In this part of the world, especially with winter coming, we help each other. Fifty years ago your grandfather Marvin helped dig out half the Morgan Ranch cattle that were buried in an early snowstorm. Let’s consider this payback, so you can rest easy, youngster.”

  “And you do want somewhere to put the horses, don’t you?” Rachel added, her blue gaze fixed on Cauy. “Even if we just accomplish that it’s better than nothing.”