Montana Hearts: Her Weekend Wrangler

by Darlene Panzera

  Aunt Mary gave a nod in the direction Rebecca had taken. “Because you already had a date with her? How could you, Ryan!”

  He drew in a deep breath, wishing she’d keep her voice down. “Technically, the deal we made was void the minute your field got salted and we couldn’t use it anymore. I can date whoever I want. I don’t have to date Bree.”

  His aunt stuck a crooked finger into his face and narrowed her gaze. “A promise is a promise, young man.”

  She hadn’t called him “young man” in many years. All at once he realized his agony over not dating Bree had made him talk to the elderly lady he loved with disrespect.

  “I’m sorry,” Ryan apologized. “I will get Bree to go out with me after this night is over. Believe me, I will. I won’t rest until I do.”

  Aunt Mary smiled. “That’s my boy.”

  The worst part of the night, or perhaps the best, was that Rebecca had overheard him make this vow, and after an awkward meal, she demanded he take her back to the Collins Country Cabins. Bree hadn’t been home and now he could see why.

  Her truck was parked next to his in his driveway.

  The outside lights were on, illuminating the corral, so he figured she must be there. She was. With Cody. His chest tightened at the sight of them. Bree had tied the mare to the fence post and held tight to the filly’s lead rope as Cody jumped up and down behind the gate, honking a loud plastic horn. Both were laughing and smiling and seemed to be having the time of their lives.

  “That was great!” Bree exclaimed as she set the filly free. Then she ran out of the corral, grabbed both Cody’s hands with her own, and the two of them swung around and around.

  Ryan held still and didn’t breathe, not wanting anything to ruin this precious moment. He was reminded of how his own mother used to play with him when he was young. And all at once he knew Bree would make a great mother.

  She must have seen him by the side of the stable because her smile fell and she glanced around as if looking for a way to escape. Cody spotted him a moment later.

  “Bree and I had our own date,” his son informed him.

  “Then you had a better night than me,” Ryan said, drawing closer and meeting Bree’s gaze.

  “It . . . it didn’t go well?” she asked, worry lines appearing on her face. “Is Rebecca still planning to sue?”

  Ryan shook his head. “Your ranch is safe. I had to do some additional negotiating, but she won’t sue.”

  “What else did you have to promise her?” Bree demanded.

  He grinned. “Another date.”

  Bree gasped. “With you?”

  “No. She agreed to take that date with my brother, since her date with me was so horrible.”

  Bree hesitated. “What was so horrible about it?”

  “She said all I kept talking about was you.”

  Bree blushed, almost as beautifully as her first day back in town. “Really?”

  Ryan took another step toward her. “Really.”

  He could have gazed into her shining sapphire eyes the rest of the night, but his son wanted to tell him all about their evening.

  “We put the blanket on and off her ten thousand times,” Cody informed him. “Then we popped balloons, rang bells, and blew whistles to get her used to noise. Bree had me wave colored flags and things. We walked her over that wooden plank over there. And we got her to go through the course without her mother by her side.”

  Ryan kept his distance as Bree led the mare back into the stable. He wasn’t wearing any lavender soap and didn’t want to make the horse angry. He nodded to the filly, who ran along beside them. “Morning Glory looks like she’s ready for the show.”

  “Bree thinks she might win first prize,” Cody said as they followed Bree toward the stalls, and then frowned. “I’m hungry.”

  “Didn’t you eat dinner?” Ryan asked.

  “Not too much,” Cody said with a shrug. “I bet Bree didn’t eat either.”

  Ryan glanced at Bree and she froze. “No, I . . . didn’t.”

  As Bree shut the door to the mare’s stall, Ryan drew close and asked, “Would you like to go out to dinner?”

  “I believe you already asked me that earlier today, Tanner,” she scolded with a smile.

  “And you said to ask you again after I went out with your CEO.”

  “You can’t just go from one date to another,” she teased, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He took hold of her hand and pulled her fingers up to his lips. “Promise?”

  “Of course,” Cody said, answering for her. “Bree promised she’s here to stay.”

  THREE DAYS LATER, Bree finished giving a group of guests staying at the guest ranch a lesson on horsemanship and walked out of the mounting arena with a leather bridle slung over her shoulder. How she loved teaching. She’d almost forgotten how euphoric it could be when a new rider used the cues she taught to connect with their horse for the very first time. Not just on a physical level, but on an emotional one made of trust and understanding.

  Like her developing relationship with Ryan Tanner. She didn’t always care for his “deals,” but she understood why he made them and respected the fact he always kept his word—­even if she didn’t want him to. Then there was the way his eyes sparkled and the corner of his mouth twitched into a grin whenever he looked at her, making her feel both desired and admired at the same time. No doubt Ryan Tanner could put anyone under his spell, but for some reason he’d chosen her.

  And she was entranced.

  Bree smiled again, relishing the sweeping emotions pouring over her, then noticed her sister, who was waving at her and trying to get her attention.

  “The sick horses are doing much better today,” Delaney said as she approached. “I cut back on their usual grain and they’ve calmed down to their normal selves. Thank goodness we had a few who didn’t touch the supplement so we could still give lessons.”

  Bree nodded. “Yeah, I was afraid after Rebecca took a fall that all our guests would pack up and go home, but . . . it worked out all right.”

  “Dad is waiting for you outside the office by the picnic tables,” Del said, taking her arm. Then she leaned toward her and added, “He has another birthday present for you.”

  “Oh, no,” Bree groaned. “Do you know what it is?”

  Del shook her head. “You’ll have to come and see.”

  A few minutes later, Meghan ran up to take her hand and pulled her toward the blue tarp that obviously covered some sort of large peaked object. Grandma stood behind it, and her father on his crutches.

  “No more wheelchair?” Bree asked.

  Her father shook his head. “I’ve had enough of that crippling contraption. Now that I’m stronger I told your ma to toss it into the garbage. C’mon, take a look at your new present.”

  “You didn’t have to get me another gift,” Bree said, edging closer to the tarp.

  “Of course I did,” he argued. “I’m the one who gave your other one away.”

  “All right.” She reached down, pulled off the tarp and realized . . . it was a doghouse.

  “Luke and I made it together,” her father announced.

  “The two of you are talking?” Bree asked, raising her brows.

  “Of course we’re talking,” her father said, his voice gruff. “When you live on the same ranch together, two ­people are bound to talk to each other once in a while.”

  Bree glanced at the cast on his leg. “But how did you—­”

  Her father rolled his eyes. “Okay, so I had Luke do the actual hammering, but I sat next to him and gave him instructions.”

  “Bossed him around is what you did,” Grandma corrected. “I gotta give Luke credit for hanging in there and seeing the job through.”

  “Yeah, I hope he can finis
h the other jobs he’s got going on around here,” her father agreed, not acknowledging Grandma had meant the problem had been with him and not Luke. “So, Bree, what do you think?”

  Bree glanced at the four-­foot-­high, square wooden structure with the peaked roof. The opening in the front was big enough to fit a full-­sized person. “Is this your way of saying you think I should sleep in the doghouse? You know it wasn’t my fault the Iridescent Beauty exec threatened to sue.”

  Her father frowned. “Of course I know that. No, the doghouse is for Boots.”

  “Of course.” She bit her lip as her mother opened the office door and let the puppy out. “So you don’t want Boots sleeping inside our house?”

  “Boots can sleep wherever he pleases,” her father said in a huff. “Can’t I get you a present without it having a negative meaning attached to it?”

  Bree smiled. “I’m just making sure we . . . understand each other.”

  “What, am I talking like some kind of alien from outer space?” her father demanded. “I just wanted to get you another present because . . . well, I messed up in the past and I don’t want you to hold it against me and take off again. I’m getting used to having you home.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Bree said, and walking over to him, she gave him a hug.

  “Okay,” he said, his voice choked. “Get on now. I’m sure you have a million other things to do. And if Boots doesn’t use the thing, that’s all right, too. I just thought if he was outside he might want to hole up in his own place.”

  “C’mon, Boots,” Meghan said, and climbed into the doghouse with him.

  “Oh, dear,” Delaney said, bending her head to look inside. “Meghan might think it’s a new playhouse for her.”

  Bree laughed. “At least if she disappears you’ll know where to find her.”

  “Bree!” Ma called, sticking her head out the front office door again. “You have a phone call from the district manager of Silvain’s—­in New York.”

  Her father’s pleasant expression disappeared and his mouth tightened into a straight line. “Well,” he said, and let out a small grunt. “You better go see what he wants.”

  BREE’S STOMACH GREW queasier with every step. Why would Skip Silvain, great-­grandnephew of the prominent fashion retail chain’s founder, be calling her—­now—­after all these weeks? What could he possibly have to say to her? If Ma hadn’t already answered the phone she would have hung up on him. She still could. But she didn’t.

  “Hello, Skip?”

  “Bree, honey, it’s so good to hear your voice. How are you?”

  How am I? “I’m fine, Skip. What do you want?”

  “Listen, I need to apologize. I know I should have promoted you instead of Lisa. You were right. She was a stupid bimbo and I let my personal . . . agenda get in the way.”

  “I’ll say you did.”

  “Okay, I get it that you’re still mad. And I understand. Believe me, I know how much of a jerk I was for letting you go.”

  “Do you mean that on a personal or professional level?”

  “Both.” He sighed. “Look, I’d do anything to erase the past and have you back here in my arms, but—­”

  “But you know that’s not gonna happen, right?” Bree demanded.

  Another sigh. “Right. But I was hoping you could put that aside and come back to head the Manhattan store.”

  “Come back to New York?” Bree gasped.

  “I know you had your heart set on that job and it’s yours if you want it. No one is more qualified for the position than you.”

  “Head director of Sylvain’s,” Bree mused. She had wanted that job . . . so much. But now it all seemed so far away. “Sorry, Skip. I’ve had another offer. I’m now head manager of Collins Country Cabins, my family’s guest ranch.”

  “I’ll double your pay.”

  “What? That’s crazy!”

  “The company has plenty of money and you can consider it my way of trying to make amends.”

  Bree glanced out the window and spotted Meghan crawling out of the doghouse with Boots. “There’s more to life than money, Skip.”

  “I’ll throw in three weeks of vacation. Then you could visit your family several times a year.”

  “No.”

  “The marketing team’s willing to take on two of your designs.”

  “You’ll sell my jewelry?” She hesitated. After submitting her own fashion designs for approval and only receiving rejections again and again, she’d considered her creative efforts a lost cause. Of course, Skip knew that and would use her weakness to seal the deal. “The answer’s still no.”

  “Bree, c’mon. Don’t let your feelings get in the way like mine did. Make the right choice.”

  She frowned. “I am.”

  “I’ll give you another week to think about it,” he finished, then hung up.

  Bree stared at the phone in her hand. Then she thought of her father . . . Ryan . . . Cody . . . and how she’d promised each of them she wouldn’t go . . . even if it was her dream to prove to herself and everyone else she could direct a division of the fashion retail giant. She could.

  Chapter Eleven

  RYAN’S FAMILY DIDN’T think the horse supplement had been planted to harm the Collinses’ business. In fact, they didn’t think it had anything to do with the Collinses at all. But they did think it had everything to do with him.

  Ryan shoveled the last bit of manure shavings from the stable and dumped it into the wheelbarrow, while his father and brothers stood around in a semicircle giving him grief.

  “First someone salts one of our fields. Not all, but just one. Enough to keep us extra busy,” his father pointed out. “You shouldn’t have had time to still help Bree with her ranch, but you offered to work as her weekend wrangler, anyway. So then someone puts the supplement in her horses’ feed to make them dangerous while you are in charge. Makes you look bad, doesn’t it? Maybe they hoped you would get fired.”

  “You think the realtor would go that far to make us sell?” Ryan asked.

  “What if it’s not the realtor or the Owenses who are out to get you?” Dean challenged. “What if it’s an old jealous girlfriend?”

  “Sammy Jo?” Josh suggested.

  Ryan shook his head. “Sammy Jo loves the Collinses. She’s practically a member of their family. She’d never do anything to hurt them, even if it’s to get to me. And she’s not the jealous type. In fact, I think she has her sights set on Bree’s brother, Luke.”

  “What about the women before Sammy Jo?” Zach asked. “Some of them were pretty obsessed. Or what about that woman who bought the horse from you earlier this month?”

  Ryan shook his head. “Ms. Kincaid moved to Arizona.”

  “What if it was one of the Collinses’ CEOs? What company do they represent and how well do you know them?” their father continued, narrowing his gaze. “What if they are working with the realtor to get us to sell?”

  Josh smirked. “Or to get a date.”

  “Speaking of dates,” Ryan said, and gave Josh a direct look. “I promised the woman you danced with at the barn dance that you would—­”

  “You didn’t.”

  “She agreed not to sue Bree’s family if you take her out tonight.”

  Ryan’s father clapped Dean and Zach on the shoulder. “Shouldn’t we get back to herding the cows into the other pasture?”

  Both brothers readily agreed. Josh tried to escape with them, but Ryan blocked his path.

  “C’mon, Josh.”

  “No way!” Josh exclaimed, hands up in the air as he stepped back.

  “All you have to do is take her out on one date.”

  “What’s the point of that? When I take a woman out I want to believe there’s at least the potential to take her out again. But Bree’s corporate ladies are supposed to leave this we
ek.”

  “Bree needs the corporate contract to get the guest ranch back on its feet.”

  “What about our ranch? The cows are costing us double to feed this season now that we have to buy hay instead of growing our own. We have double the work, too. There’s no time to be messing around with these ladies.”

  “One night,” Ryan argued. “That’s all I’m asking. If you won’t do it for Bree, then do it for me.”

  “Are we negotiating?” Josh asked, his tone hopeful.

  Ryan grinned. “Of course.”

  “Okay,” Josh said, coming back toward him. “What have you got?”

  “Two tickets to the rodeo in Bozeman on Saturday?”

  Josh raised his brows, a sign he was considering. “You know I was thinking of entering that rodeo myself.”

  “I’ll pay your entrance fee,” Ryan promised.

  “Done!” A wide smile spread across Josh’s face. “What time do I pick her up?”

  BREE’S MIND WAS still on the head retail director position Skip Silvain had offered over the phone as she made her way to Cabin 12 to check in on Chelsea, Katelyn, and Rebecca. They’d been here nearly three weeks and still hadn’t discussed the possibility of booking the corporate retreat. Bree had been afraid to say anything, but now that Rebecca was scheduled to go out with Josh Tanner, she decided it was time.

  She found the women on the front porch, leaning over the wood rail as they watched Delaney hang something in a nearby tree.

  Bree strained her eyes to see what it was. A camera?

  She frowned. “Del, what are you doing?”

  Her sister turned her head to look at her, then knotted a rope around the limb she’d climbed up on. “We’ve set this camera on a timer to film between six and eight o’clock.”

  “We heard this ultraloud screeching outside our cabin last night,” Chelsea said, covering her ears as she spoke.

  “I was so scared,” added Katelyn.

  “We had no idea what it was,” Rebecca exclaimed. “At first we thought it was an owl or a coyote.”

  “Dad’s dog spooked it up that tree over there,” Delaney said, pointing. “I bet it’s a raccoon. I’ve seen them around here the last few days, and we discovered tracks outside the cabin this morning.”