by Kate Pearce
Maybe with Jackson around Cauy wouldn’t have time to obsess over Rachel Morgan and the rest of her family? Maybe he was just lonely.... His gaze swept the almost empty barn. He still hadn’t gotten back to Roy about the proposal to use his barn for the Morgan Ranch guest horses. He tried to imagine a full barn and found the idea not unpleasant.
It would also mean he’d get on with the repairs to the old place faster, and with Jackson here they could come to a decision about whether to keep the ranch or get rid of it. But it also meant Morgans all over his personal space....
One of the horses gently butted his shoulder, and Cauy got with the program. When Jackson arrived, Cauy would like to show him at least one piece of the ranch that proved things could be upgraded.
With that in mind, he took out his cell and sent a text to Ry. He figured Roy wouldn’t be an early-morning texter.
Agreeable to leasing you the barn. Let me know when we can meet and set terms.Thanks.
His cell buzzed in reply immediately.
Awesome I’ll be in touch. Ry
Cauy was just about to put his phone away when he received another text.
Hey, this is Jenna. Wanted to give you an update on the dog. She’s doing good, but is pregnant. Surprise, surprise!
Cauy blinked and read the message twice before replying.
Okay. Let me know how that affects the estimate you gave me. It’s not a problem; I’d just like to know. Thanks
Jenna didn’t reply immediately so Cauy considered his options and decided to ride up to the old silver mine and check out the landscape. Despite years of not riding he’d found it easy to get back into it, and actually enjoyed the quieter view of life from the back of a horse. It gave him time to think and appreciate what was around him.
He couldn’t imagine not being able to do this—get on a horse and ride for hours without even leaving your own family land. It was a privilege he hadn’t appreciated when he was young, and all he’d yearned to do was get away from his father and find a new life for himself. Mark had never liked him. The more Cauy thought about it, the less likely he believed the man was his father.
Cauy clicked to the horse and set off at a gentle walk toward the rear of the ranch house. If he really wanted to find out if he was Mark’s son he could do one of those fancy DNA tests. That might tell him something, but what if it did? Would he feel honor bound to give the ranch to Jackson? Mark had specifically left it to Cauy in his will.
Cauy snorted, almost spooking the horse. What if Mark had left him the dilapidated ranch as a final F-you? Maybe he’d hoped Cauy would go under with it. That sounded more like the man he’d known. A man he’d never been able to please, who had never praised him and constantly found fault. Yet he’d allowed the old man to influence his dislike of the Morgans.
Cauy leaned down to open the back gate and moved on up the slope, glad of his horse’s warmth beneath him as the air grew colder. The silence was breathtaking. Even the sparse grass was frozen up here and glittered eerily when faint shafts of pale yellow sunlight managed to infiltrate the gloom.
He buttoned up his winter coat right to this throat, protecting the thin damaged skin there, and crammed his hat down low. Gloves were a necessity up here unless you wanted chilblains and the possibility of frostbite. Rachel hadn’t said anything negative when she’d seen his scarred chest....
“Snap out of it,” Cauy muttered to himself as he reached level ground, and allowed the horse to lope. “She’s not for you.”
He reached the fence line that separated his land from the Morgans’ and did a double take. A good twenty feet of the wire and posts had completely disappeared.
“Holy cow,” Cauy murmured.
He took out his cell and had to take off his glove to punch in the numbers. No one answered so he left a message.
“Roy? There’s a huge sinkhole close to the old mine. Come check it out as soon as possible.”
He’d barely put his glove back on before his cell rang.
“I’m about half a mile away,” Roy said. “I’ll meet you there.”
Cauy stayed on his horse and watched the two riders approach from the other side of the now disappearing fence. Roy pointed toward the mine entrance and, carefully skirting the hole, Cauy crossed over onto Morgan land and walked his horse down to where Roy and the other unknown cowboy were tying up their mounts.
“Hey!” Roy called out to him. “Thanks for calling.”
“You’re welcome.” Cauy dismounted and tied his horse up as the other guy approached him with his hand out.
“Hi, I’m Chase Morgan. I used to be known as TC. Good to meet you at last, Cauy.”
“Good to see you again.”
Cauy shook yet another blue-eyed Morgan’s hand. He hadn’t seen Chase for years, but his dad had mentioned him in his last letter, none of it complimentary. Cauy’s lawyers had also received a couple of optimistic inquiries while the will was percolating through the system about him selling the place, which hadn’t endeared him to the man who was obviously used to getting his own way.
“If you’d sold me your ranch, this would be my problem now,” Chase said.
Cauy blinked and then noticed Chase was grinning. Apparently, the oldest Morgan brother hadn’t taken offense at the increasingly sharp replies from the Lymond lawyers.
“It’s still your problem,” Cauy replied. “It’s the Morganville silver mine and it’s technically on your land.”
“So you think I should just fill up my part, and leave yours alone?” Chase asked. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
They started walking up toward the disappearing fence line and stopped well before the edge of the sinkhole.
“Wow,” Chase said as Roy whistled. “That’s something all right. Rachel told me this might happen.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Cauy asked.
“We’re already on it.” Chase’s gaze swept the barren landscape. “As soon as the equipment arrives Rachel’s doing a survey of the area so we can get some idea of the extent of the mine works.” Chase paused. “With your permission, of course.”
“She’s not intending to go down there, is she?” Cauy asked.
“Nope, apparently, there’s some new technology we can introduce beneath the surface to attempt to get a 3D image. Once we know exactly what we’re dealing with, we’ll consider how to fill the place in without damaging the water table.”
Obviously, Chase Morgan didn’t hang around worrying about a problem, he just went ahead and found solutions. Cauy tried to reconcile the slender nerd he’d known at school with the decisive tech millionaire who stood beside him.
“Sounds good.” And now he sounded like a begrudging fool.
Chase nodded. “We’ll keep you in the loop. You already know Rachel, right? So you can talk to her.”
“Okay.” Yeah, like he’d be doing that. Not.
Roy peered down into the hole. “I’ll get some of that flashy orange tape you love, Chase, and stick it around the perimeter. We haven’t got any rides scheduled up this way, have we?”
Chase consulted his phone. “Not that I can see. I’ll put a note on the schedule and make sure everyone is aware of the issue at the team meeting tomorrow morning.”
Team meeting? Cauy had a sudden image of the Morgan barn horses all gathered in a group huddle to hear what the great Chase Morgan had to say. He bit down hard on his lip and turned away. What a time for his sense of humor to return.
“You aren’t running any cattle up here, are you, Cauy?” Roy asked.
“Nope. None to run.”
Chase Morgan looked up from his phone. “We should talk about that.”
Not if Cauy had anything to do with it. He’d had about enough of the Morgans taking over his ranch.
Chase obviously hadn’t noticed Cauy’s lack of enthusiasm as he kept talking.
“Ry says you’re going to be our backup barn for the next few months. That’s awesome.”
“Yeah, we
ll.” Cauy shrugged. “Place is just sitting there three fourths empty.”
“Getting permission to build the new barn has been hell,” Chase confided as they walked back to the horses. “The fire regulations alone are enough to bankrupt me.”
“Baloney.” Roy snorted. “You just don’t like being told what to do.”
“True.” Chase’s unrepentant grin at Roy almost endeared him to Cauy, but he wasn’t willing to be bowled over too easily. “Some people say I’m a mite over-controlling.”
“Some people?” Roy raised his eyebrows. “Just your wife, your entire family, your business partners, and me.”
“Hey, I’m trying.” Chase gave Roy a playful punch on the arm. “January wouldn’t put up with me otherwise.”
“Best thing that ever happened to you,” Roy said gruffly.
“Yeah.” Chase’s smile died. “One hundred percent true.”
Cauy almost looked away from the obvious emotion on Chase’s face. He tried to imagine what January Morgan was like and couldn’t come up with anything.
Roy mounted up with a spring in his step that belied his years. “I just had a thought. Maybe you should ask Ms. January if the historical society has any more information on the mine. You never know what might turn up.”
“That’s a great idea.” Chase got into the saddle as well and tipped his Stetson to Cauy. He looked all cowboy on a horse. “Thanks for the heads-up about this, and I’ll get back to you with an update as soon as I can, okay?”
“Thanks.” Cauy nodded as he turned away. “I’d appreciate it.”
He waited until the Morgans left before turning around and taking a good look at the entrance to the old mine. He hadn’t been here since he was a kid when all the locals had visions of discovering gold, and came up here to try their luck. The fact that it was a silver mine and that they stood more chance of striking it rich in the running water of Morgan Creek hadn’t deterred anyone.
The mine entrance was sealed up tight, and the discarded machinery and ironwork had been cleared away, leaving the place surprisingly bland and unexciting. Cauy turned back to his horse and mounted up.
He really should think of a name for the gelding, but he’d never been good at that kind of stuff.
Chase Morgan hadn’t said a word about the hole being mainly on Cauy’s land or even suggested Cauy needed to pony up some cash to help out. Cauy couldn’t decide if that made him happy or mad. The Morgans all assumed that because the ranch was a dilapidated mess then so was he . . . Not that he’d done anything to dispel that impression, but still.
“The whole family is a bunch of control freaks.” His words echoed in the silence. Yeah. That was it. In a nutshell.
Cauy grinned and clicked to his horse. Time to get back home and finish repairing the fencing on the second pasture. If the Morgan Ranch horses were coming, it would be needed.
* * *
Jenna threw herself down on Rachel’s bed, and let out a sigh, and a discreet burp. “That lasagna was so good I’m not going to move for a week.”
Rachel smiled down at her. “Ruth is an amazing cook.”
“She’s just amazing all-round. If she hadn’t been helping me furnish this new house I think I would’ve murdered Blue by now.” Jenna opened her eyes. “Sometimes he digs his heels in about the stupidest things, and we end up arguing, and I hate arguing, but sometimes you have to stick up for yourself, you know?”
“Yes,” Rachel said fervently. “I know all about hating to argue but ending up doing it anyway.”
“So what’s going on with you and Cauy Lymond?” Jenna got right into it.
Rachel winced and sat on the end of the bed. “Nothing now.”
Jenna nudged her with her foot. “Come on, tell me all about it.”
“You promise you won’t tell anyone?” Rachel asked.
“Not anyone by the name of Morgan, if that’s what you mean. So you like Cauy, and I know he kissed you, so what gives?”
“I asked him to kiss me,” Rachel pointed out.
“Okay, nothing wrong with that.” Jenna nodded encouragingly.
“But that’s the problem. It’s always me.” Rachel stared at Jenna willing her to understand.
“You mean you feel like you’re stalking him or something?”
“No! But it feels like I’m always the one who has to do all the talking and the asking.”
“From what I could tell, he’s not exactly the chatty type,” Jenna said cautiously. “But he’s a grown man. If he didn’t like you kissing him I’m fairly sure you’d know about it.”
Rachel considered that. “But what if I’m . . . imposing myself on him?”
“In what way?” Jenna chuckled. “You didn’t strip naked and lie in wait for him in his bed, did you?”
Rachel pressed a hand to her heated cheek. “Not exactly.”
Jenna sat bolt upright. “What exactly?”
“I was upset about something, so I went over to his house, uninvited, and we talked it through, and then he gave me a hug, and he was being so kind that I kissed him, and things . . . happened.”
“You slept with him?”
“Almost.” Rachel sucked in a much-needed breath. “I would’ve, but we were interrupted, and then he decided I’d made a mistake when I was emotional, and bundled me out the door.”
“Not naked?” Jenna breathed.
“No. I’d put my clothes back on, because, reasons, which was why he assumed I was already leaving despite the fact that he’d gone to tidy up his bedroom.”
“Okay, so who would you say was at fault here?”
“Him for jumping to conclusions? I tried to explain what had happened, but he didn’t want to hear me.”
“Was he mean to you?” Jenna asked.
“Like angry?” Rachel paused. “It’s very hard to tell with Cauy. He doesn’t exactly give much away, but he didn’t exactly shout at me. He just said maybe we’d made a mistake, and walked me to the door.”
“So he didn’t say it was all over, and he didn’t want to see you again?” Jenna pressed.
“We’re not exactly a couple. He didn’t have to break up with me.” Rachel sighed. “And I was the one who went over there without an invitation, cried all over him, and then let him give me . . .” She broke off, and whispered, “Sympathy sex.”
“You cried all over him and he didn’t run a mile?” Jenna raised her eyebrows. “That’s pretty amazing, Rachel. And then he stayed around to give you sex?”
“We were in his house! He could hardly run away,” Rachel objected.
“Maybe he really did wonder whether you had changed your mind when you had all your clothes on,” Jenna mused. “Because sometimes men can be just as unsure as we are about whether someone really wants them or not.”
“Cauy—” Rachel hesitated, remembering how fierce he’d looked when he’d put his T-shirt back on. “I think he was scared. I told him so as well.”
“Scared of you?”
“Kind of. Scared of wanting me.” Rachel sighed.
“Ruth thinks he’s super shy.”
“Trust me, he isn’t. He just doesn’t believe in wasting valuable words.”
Jenna crossed her legs and looked over at Rachel. “What do you want to happen now?”
“I want him to come here, apologize, and explain,” Rachel said.
“Do you think he’s going to do that?”
“Probably not,” Rachel grimaced. “But I can’t keep chasing after him. Because whether he means to or not he makes me feel like I’m begging for some sign of affection, and I’m sick of being that person.”
“I know exactly how you feel,” Jenna said fervently. “So maybe this really is the time to make him come and get you. Has he ever done that?”
“He did come and find me and apologize once,” Rachel admitted.
“Then maybe he’ll do it again?” Jenna hesitated. “If he doesn’t, then you’ll know either way, right?”
“I suppose so.” The thought
of not seeing Cauy made her chest hurt. “I just hate all this uncertainty, you know? And I’ve got to stop storming out like a teenager when he says something I don’t like.”
“Finding love sucks,” Jenna said.
“Until you find the right guy.” Rachel smiled at her companion. “I don’t think you have any doubts how BB feels about you.”
Jenna blushed. “Yeah, took me a long while to believe him though. But that was more about me than about him.”
Rachel lay back on the bed and stretched her arms above her head to stare at the ceiling. Jenna had a point. Maybe she should work on herself. . . .
“Should I go out with Dave?”
“Why not?” Jenna grinned and flopped down beside her. “He’s actually a nice guy under that goofy act. Smart, too.”
“Well, duh, he’s a vet,” Rachel pointed out. “But would that be two-timing Cauy?”
“You just said you had no formal relationship with him to break up, so which is it?” Jenna asked.
Rachel vividly recalled Cauy’s mouth on her and blushed. “Um . . . well, I did let him take . . . liberties.”
“Liberties?” Jenna snorted. “Now you sound like Roy.” She elbowed Rachel in the side. “Have a drink with Dave, keep it simple, and take it from there, okay?”
Chapter Ten
“Cauy, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. Can you meet me in town around five at Yvonne’s to talk about the horses?”
Cauy considered Ry Morgan’s request, his gaze on the barn, and the pasture beyond where his two horses were grazing. He hadn’t heard from Rachel for a few days, which wasn’t surprising seeing as she was probably sick of him, and Jackson wasn’t due to arrive until the Monday just before Thanksgiving.
“Sure. I have to go into town today to pick up my mail. I’ll meet you there,” Cauy replied.
“Great. See you soon.”
Ry Morgan disconnected the call, and Cauy slipped his cell phone back into his pocket. The coldness in the air was making his damaged skin tighten up. He probably needed to speak to Dr. Mendez again and get some more lotion.