The Rancher's Mail-Order Bride

by Mindy Neff

  Quickest way to show her city roots was to run screaming across the yard with killer chickens and a goat on her tail.

  She giggled and Ian mimicked the sound, causing her to laugh outright. Oh, it was a beautiful day. And she was on a ranch. Halfway to her ultimate dream.

  Although she wanted to cling, she let go of Ian’s hand giving him a measure of freedom. Still, she couldn’t help saying, “Stay close to me, now.”

  “’Kay. What’s that?” He pointed.

  “That’s a rooster.”

  “And chickens!” he shouted, leaping over a dandelion, then doubling back to snatch it out of the ground.

  “Yes.”

  “Do they got eggs?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe.”

  “Wow, Mom, look at all the c-c-cows!”

  “There’s certainly a lot of them.” All bumping against one another within the confines of a wood corral. “Let’s not get too close, okay.” The noise level sounded like these animals weren’t all that happy about something.

  “Aw, Mom.”

  A couple of men stopped what they were doing and whipped off their hats when Hannah approached. She smiled. “Is Wyatt out here?” Pretty ridiculous question since she didn’t see him, but she didn’t know what else to do. He’d said he’d be at the corral or the barn. But there were several buildings to choose from—all wood-sided and painted red.

  It had been dark when they’d arrived last night and she hadn’t known so many buildings were scattered around the property. Almost like a mini town.

  “Try the shop.” One of the men pointed to a large building with roll-up doors.

  “Thanks.” She started in that direction, wondering what in the world a shop was, then saw Wyatt wave to her from the door of yet another building.

  Goodness, she’d have to arm him with a cell phone just so she could find him.

  A horse nickered and Ian nearly pulled her arm out of the socket trying to get her to pick up the pace.

  Which was fine with her. The goat was now keeping up with them and Hannah was seriously worried about its intentions. Shouldn’t it be on a leash or something?

  “Hi, Wyatt!” Ian called and broke lose. Hannah let him go. She nearly forgot her unease of the trailing goat when Wyatt bent and scooped Ian up in his arms, resting him on one strong shoulder.

  Her son squealed and beamed. And Hannah’s throat ached.

  Then Wyatt looked at her—really looked at her—with one of those steady, interested gazes, and the ache moved downward, changing into something entirely different, something quick and fiery in the pit of her stomach.

  Closer now, she saw the change come into his eyes, saw amusement as he glanced behind her. “Picked up an admirer on your way?”

  Frowning, she looked over her shoulder and had to swallow the surge of panic that swept over her when she saw the goat. Come to think of it, he was looking at her like a lovesick…well, a lovesick goat. She laughed, though the nerves still stuck. “I was a little concerned he might be thinking of charging.”

  Wyatt shook his head. “Hannah, Hannah. I’ve told you the males on this ranch are pure gentlemen.”

  She moved a little closer to Wyatt nonetheless. “Chickens, a goat and roosters—it seems more like a farm than a ranch.”

  “My mom’s an animal lover. She’ll drag home anything.” He set Ian on the ground. “Check out the last stall over there.”

  Hannah picked her way through the stalls, trying unsuccessfully to keep a rein on Ian who was intent on chasing everything that had fur or feathers attached to it.

  “Ian—”

  “Let him be. He’s fine,” Wyatt said.

  She wasn’t sure about that. Chickens could peck and goats could butt—despite Wyatt’s claim that this one was well mannered. And the horses were awfully big. It seemed to her if they got it in their mind to do so, they could escape their stalls with a well-placed kick of a hoof.

  She told herself she was going to get this unease under control. It was just that she didn’t know about the animals. Once she learned, she wouldn’t be such a Nervous Nelly.

  She hoped.

  Keeping her shoulder out of nipping range of the horse’s teeth, she glanced in the last stall and her eyes widened when she came upon a camel-like animal and it’s young one. “What in the world?”

  “Meet Fancy. Our resident llama.”

  The llama blinked, looking bored, and continued to chew on hay. Hannah blinked back, then gave a half smothered giggle as something turquoise flashed in the corner of her eye.

  Strutting down the middle of the barn as though taking a stroll down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was a beautiful peacock, it’s vivid tail feathers dragging on the dirt floor of the barn.

  “My goodness, you’ve got a zoo here.”

  Wyatt grinned and shrugged. “A lot of mouths to feed, but what can you do?” He gave Tornado a scratch between the ears and checked the straw in Dusty’s stall. “The calving shed’s over in the next building, but you probably don’t want to go there today. The smell’s enough to knock you out at times.”

  “Calving shed? I thought cows just dropped their babies on their own.” She had done a bit of reading before she’d come.

  “Mostly. But first-time moms sometimes have a little trouble. We’ll bring them in the shed and put ’em in a jug—a stall—and watch them to make sure they don’t need a little help.”

  “I’d like a lot of help when my time comes, thank you very much.”

  His gaze shifted to her stomach. “Did you have an easy time of it with Ian?”

  “Actually, yes. Four hours. This one will probably be even quicker.”

  Wyatt frowned. Out on a ranch like this, that could be scary. They weren’t exactly around the corner from town or a hospital. He’d hauled Becky to the hospital three times before it was actually the real thing and even then, it had taken thirty-six hours for her to deliver.

  The thought of four hours or less was enough to make his palms sweat. It took over an hour just to get to the hospital. And what if she used up the other three thinking her pains were false ones?

  His mind automatically started running through options. Chance Hammond didn’t mind making house calls, but Wyatt wasn’t sure what the doctor’s specialty was. Chance’s family was from Shotgun Ridge, so after medical school, Chance had come back home to set up a general practice. That had been about three years ago.

  Wyatt tried to think back, to remember if any babies had been born. He didn’t think so. Which would probably mean that wasn’t one of Chance’s specialties—if he even did it at all. He’d only used the young doctor a couple times—to set a broken bone when Glen had flipped the four-wheeler, and to treat a nasty infection on Steve’s leg courtesy of an angry heifer and a cow pasture full of mud and dung.

  Still, Hammond was a doctor. And he could make it out to the ranch in about twenty minutes…

  Why was he even thinking about her being here when her time came? She would stay the month until her sister returned home from her assignment. Then she would be on her way.

  Even though she made his blood run hot, he had to tell her he wasn’t interested in a wife. That he hadn’t placed the ad.

  Chapter Four

  Needing to get his mind back on the tour and off Hannah’s labor and delivery, Wyatt tugged at his hat.

  “Okay, ready to go see some cows?”

  “Yeah!” Ian shouted.

  “Didn’t you say something earlier about puppies?” Hannah asked instead.

  Ian, looking as though he’d been told he could pick any item in a candy store, but only one, danced back and forth, looking from Wyatt to Hannah, then back again.

  “We could see c-c-cows and puppies,” he asked hopefully, trying to hurry the decision along.

  “Right you are, partner. We have to go past the cows to get to the puppies. I don’t know why Lady decided to have her litter in the shop, but that’s where they are.”

  “Oh,” Hannah said.
“And the shop is another, uh, barn?”

  “It’s where we keep all the equipment, the tractors, hay balers, four-wheelers and trucks and stuff.”

  She looked a little disappointed. “You mean you don’t use your horses for your work?”

  “Oh, we still ride every chance we get—despite modern technology. In fact, this beauty’s mine.” He paused beside Tornado’s stall again and stroked the horse’s neck.

  “Me, too!” Ian sang and Wyatt lifted him so he could touch the horse. A bit overexuberant, his little hand streaked out.

  Tornado’s head jerked, and he bolted.

  Hannah jumped.

  “Easy,” Wyatt soothed, both for the horse’s benefit and Hannah’s.

  She’d automatically backed up a step, shying like the skittish horse. She seemed to catch herself soon enough, and though Wyatt was holding Ian in his arms, he could see her motherly instincts take over as she squared her shoulders and moved back up beside him, placing her hand on her son’s thigh.

  Wyatt smiled. Hannah Richmond was scared silly of half the animals on this ranch and doing her level best not to show it. He had to give her credit for her spunk and her determination to protect her son despite her fears.

  She glared at him when she caught the grin. “Well, I told you in my letter that I didn’t know the first thing about animals and you said that was okay.”

  His grin grew wider. “And so it is.”

  “With a little time and some instruction, I’ll be a pro at ranching and animal care. You wait and see.”

  That took the grin off his face. She might end up being a pro at ranching, but it wouldn’t be on his ranch. It was just plain silly to think otherwise.

  He hadn’t advertised for a wife, and he wasn’t interested in acquiring one. He was perfectly content with his life the way it was.

  But that didn’t stop him from appreciating this sexy woman who radiated serenity with a hint of flash.

  Suddenly the barn seemed too close and intimate. Even over the smell of hay and leather and horses, Hannah’s subtle citrus scent teased him, made his thoughts wander and his decent intentions waver.

  “Let’s go have some bull-vaccinating instruction. We’ll start out with the two-thousand-pound variety and from then on, the rest of the critters will be a breeze.”

  “Poke fun if you must,” she said and elbowed him in the side. “I’ll be riding in a rodeo by next spring.”

  “Tough lady.” He liked the way she bumped against him, both when she was teasing him or when she was unsure and simply took an instinctive step closer, trusting that he would protect her.

  That absolute, blind trust made him feel about ten feet tall.

  Again, he had to wonder at the kind of man who could throw this woman and kid away. Her ex-husband was an idiot.

  He set Ian on his feet, tickled when both he and Chinook seemed to decide at the same time to torment the goat. With a gleeful shriek and a happy canine bark, boy and dog charged the goat.

  “Come back!” Ian admonished the goat.

  Looking confused, Chinook sat, tongue lolling, ears perked as he glanced back and forth between the goat and Ian. Clearly he’d thought they were supposed to give chase, but now he wasn’t sure.

  Ian fixed it all with an exuberant hug to the dog’s neck. “Good S’nook. Nice puppy. B-but don’t scare the goat. ’Kay? We gotta be sweet.”

  Wyatt grinned. There was something about that kid that got to him. And he couldn’t explain it.

  “I bet you tell him to be sweet a lot.”

  Hannah laughed. “You can tell, huh?”

  “We’ll need to find another word. Cowboys are rarely sweet.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. You seem to have your moments.”

  He shouldn’t let this easiness between them continue. It wasn’t fair to let Hannah get her hopes up. But it felt awfully good to have female companionship. To talk and flirt and feel all macho and capable.

  They walked into the sunshine and headed across the yard. Trevor and Steve were urging a bull into the chute when something went wrong. With a thunder of hooves and the loud split of wood, the bull broke through the corral fence and charged across the holding pen, causing a nervous stampede of heifers standing guard over their newly branded and vaccinated calves.

  Hannah automatically grabbed for Ian as the commotion started up, cupping his shoulders so he’d stay close. Clouds of red dust billowed and the colorful shouts of cowboys split the air.

  Wyatt stepped in front of Hannah and Ian as though he intended to shield them with his body if need be. Hannah’s heart pounded as adrenaline surged. She didn’t know whether to run or stand her ground. That bull had broken through one fence, he could just as easily break another and come right at them.

  Idiotically, she glanced down at what she and Ian were wearing, thankful their clothes weren’t red.

  Bulls charged at red, didn’t they?

  “You two stay back a ways,” Wyatt said, his tone short and tight, his lean body already coiled and bunched as he headed for the fray.

  He didn’t have to tell her twice. She had no intention of getting too close. In fact, she’d about decided she’d had enough instruction and initiation for one day and would just as soon soak up the ambiance of ranch life from the safety of the kitchen.

  But watching Wyatt stride purposefully toward a corral full of excited cows, and one terribly upset bull, was a sight she simply couldn’t turn away from. Like a crash on a freeway, she had to look.

  Not that there was danger, she told herself. Wyatt knew what he was doing.

  She sucked in her breath and revised her opinion when he went right through the corral gate, closing himself in with that maniac bull.

  “What the heck is going on here, Steve?”

  “Sorry, boss. This one’s been giving us trouble. I thought he’d settled down and I could get him in the chute.”

  “You know better than to mess with a bull on the fight like this,” Wyatt admonished. The angry animal was glaring balefully. “Everybody just stand back.”

  Hannah wanted to object. But having known him for less than twenty-four hours, she didn’t feel she had the right.

  “We can get him, boss.”

  Wyatt shook his head. “I said, stand back. It’s my ranch and my bull and my responsibility.”

  The cowboys all got behind the fence. Despite herself, Hannah took a half step closer, her hands still clutching Ian’s shoulders.

  She watched, frightened, yet excited as Wyatt snatched off his hat, slapped it against his thigh, and took an aggressive step toward the bull. Neither man nor animal looked ready to back down.

  Waving the hat like a mighty, gleaming sword, he shouted at the bull. “Go on, now you son of a gun. Move!”

  The bull tossed his head and pawed the ground as though he would charge. Hannah held her breath. For once, even Ian was still.

  “I said, move!” Wyatt shouted, advancing another step.

  “No,” Hannah whispered.

  One of the cowboys turned to her. “He knows what he’s doing, ma’am. Don’t worry.”

  Incredibly enough, the bull gave Wyatt one last irritated look, then trotted out the gate and back into the fenced pathway the other cowboys had been trying to get him into in the first place.

  Hannah didn’t quite know how to define what she was feeling. Breathless, giddy, fascinated…excited.

  Wyatt was a man’s man and that was a powerful aphrodisiac. He took charge. Was capable. Showed no fear.

  With his buff-colored hat back on his head, he strode toward the gate, boots scuffing in the dust, hips loose, jeans tight and sexy, his button-front long-sleeved shirt molding to his chest.

  She thought of Allan, with his soft hands, clean nails and the strong scent of cologne that lingered everywhere he went, permeating the house, the car and his clothes. She recalled how he’d thrown a hissy fit when he’d had a flat tire, hadn’t even thought about fixing it himself. Probably because
he didn’t know how.

  The only things Allan knew how to do well were litigate and commit adultery.

  Wyatt, on the other hand, was the type of man who lived by a code and would go to the mat for it.

  The type of man she desperately wanted.

  And if this sexy, competent cowboy could fall in love with her, she’d be the happiest woman on earth.

  Her goal now was to make sure that happened. She would be the best thing that ever came along for him. She would show him just what an asset she could be.

  Latching the corral fence, Wyatt came up next to Hannah.

  “Make a note of that one’s number, Trevor,” he said, jerking his head toward the ornery bull. “He’s history. I don’t need that kind of grief or attitude.”

  “Will do, boss. If you get Cherry Peyton’s Casanova, you won’t have run-in’s like that.”

  “We’ll still have to deal with the rest of the bulls,” he reminded, “but I am working on getting Casanova. Did you meet Hannah and Ian?”

  “We exchanged a word. Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Trevor said and took off his hat.

  Hannah wished he wouldn’t call her ma’am. It made her feel old. Oh, thirty was far from ancient, but she wanted to think of herself as young, wanted Wyatt to see her that way. To be attracted to her—

  “Hannah?” Wyatt was looking at her oddly.

  “Oh. Nice to meet you too, Trevor. This is my son, Ian.”

  “Are you a cowboy, too?” Ian asked.

  “Sure am, little buddy.”

  “I—I’m gonna be a c-cowboy.”

  “Slow down, Ian,” Hannah said softly.

  The little boy nodded, clearly embarrassed. Hannah looked heartbroken, as though she wanted desperately to fix her son, but couldn’t.

  Wyatt reached down and hoisted the boy up to his shoulder, eliciting a shriek and a giggle, all thoughts of stuttering and their causes forgotten for the moment.

  “I believe this just about covers the cows and bulls, wouldn’t you say?”

  Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. “It is exciting, I’ll give you that.”