Captive of the Cattle Baron (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 1)

by Irene Vartanoff

  There must be a way. The wall phone was still missing from the kitchen, but Miss Betty had a desktop computer in a niche just beyond the passage to Baron’s office. Why hadn’t Addie noticed it before? The boss’s idea of a nice perk, no doubt, in case Miss Betty wanted to look up a recipe online or make a spreadsheet listing the supplies in her pantry. Although it was unlikely she did either. Baron was a generous employer. Miss Betty had all the latest and fanciest appliances, too. Yet what the elderly housekeeper appeared to take the most pleasure in was her small wall-mounted television. If Miss Betty was in the kitchen, sitcoms were playing.

  Addie asked permission before sitting down to open the computer. Miss Betty, done with her kitchen chores, had hauled out a duster with intent. “Go ahead, child. I don’t know how to work that thing and I don’t plan to learn.”

  Addie reached the Internet without needing a password, a precaution hardly necessary out here in the middle of nowhere. She searched for the latest on Caz and the upcoming trial. There it was: “TV Star Love Triangle Shooting Confession,” with a photo of Caz. The clickbait headline led only to speculation about Caz’s love life, no direct quotes from him. The trial had been moved up and jury selection had already begun. She only had a couple more days to hide out.

  A teaser headline named her, too: “Former TV Child Star Vanishes.” Someone had taken a photo of her in the parking lot. It was fuzzy, but it caught her running. The article speculated that she’d left Jackson Hole because of her guilty long-term affair with Caz.

  Right. An affair they’d been carrying on long-distance somehow since the show went off the air when she was twelve years old. Caz was a very immature thirteen at the time, not interested in girls at all. Four years ago, they’d reconnected as friends during a planning session for a made-for-TV reunion movie that thankfully never got made. By then Caz was already on the road to grown-up fame, looking for a pal who didn’t want anything from him. Addie fit the bill. At the time she was still hanging on in L.A., trying to live down her TV career.

  Two years later, she finally gave up and moved out of state. It was just their rotten luck that Leslie Tone jealously followed Caz when he came to visit her. What a mess.

  Did Caz ever check his e-mail? Her ranch manager did. She quickly created a new free e-mail account and sent a message saying she was all right, naming where she was staying and with whom. To Caz she sent a more discreet message in case it was intercepted. She merely said she was out of town, avoiding the media. She promised she would return to Jackson Hole on the day her testimony was required, and asked for updates. She also mentioned that she’d lost her cell phone.

  What else could she do? A live phone call via the computer would have been possible, except she didn’t know Caz’s number by heart. That came from only using her cell’s capture technology to file and access it in her address list. He had to change his number often. Caz’s Twitter identity had been hacked so many times they never communicated that way. She sent her manager a request, but would have to wait to see if he answered. She closed the computer.

  Addie wandered the house again, checking out her bedroom for a few minutes, but unable to stay there. Miss Betty had returned to the kitchen. No need to crowd her.

  “Addie,” came the older woman’s voice.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Come on back here a moment, will you?”

  When Addie walked into the kitchen to her horror, the television was playing an episode of Golden Days. Her openmouthed reaction betrayed her.

  Miss Betty nodded. “Thought I recognized you.”

  “Please don’t say anything to anyone.”

  “Why are you so far from home?”

  “Trying to escape my childhood.” Addie flung herself down at the kitchen table. “I was never that girl. I was acting, reciting lines someone else wrote. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t a wiseacre or a brat.”

  “That little thing for sure never put a stallion through his paces,” Miss Betty cackled. “Hoot told me what you been up to at the corral. You’re a long way from Hollywood. How come?”

  Addie smiled a little. “I was a child, doing what my family wanted of me. Lots of Hollywood kids act, so I didn’t feel weird or different.”

  “But?”

  “As I grew up, I realized I didn’t have what it takes to keep on with an acting career. Not as an adult.”

  “You had trouble with grabby men?” Miss Betty asked, showing concern.

  “Maybe a little.” She shrugged. “More the petty lies, the smiling faces and then the stabs in the back.”

  “Shame on them.”

  Addie stood up, back to feeling restless. “I hate even talking about it. That time is over for me. My life is elsewhere.”

  The older woman nodded. “I won’t tell. I won’t watch the show anymore while you’re here, neither.”

  “I appreciate it. I don’t want my past to always influence my present,” Addie said.

  The loud sound of an airplane came from outside. They both looked up, although there was nothing to see. That must be Baron’s sister and her friend, Paula.

  “Oh, goodness, here they are. I’ve got to finish up.” Miss Betty cried, and began fussing with food preparation again.

  Addie walked through to the front of the house and stepped out on the porch. A small plane flew beyond the rise to the working part of the ranch, and vanished. The landing strip must be there.

  Miss Betty had suggested there was something up with Tess. As for Paula, Addie couldn’t wait to meet Baron’s unwanted suitor. Seeing him squirm would be fun.

  A few minutes later, Baron’s SUV came over the rise. It drew up at the house just as Miss Betty emerged.

  “Welcome, welcome,” she cried.

  The doors opened and a tall, dark-haired young woman jumped out and embraced Miss Betty. “Hi, Miss B. You look great.” She kissed Miss Betty on the cheek, then strode over to Addie. A wave of liquor smell wafted between them. She offered her hand. “I’m Tess Selkirk.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  At her words, the other young woman looked up from greeting Miss Betty. Paula Barton introduced herself.

  “Are you Baron’s new girlfriend?” She made “girlfriend” sound like a disease.

  “Addie Smith,” she replied. “Did you come from very far away?”

  Paula shared a glance with Tess. “Didn’t Baron tell you? We were over in Cheyenne, where J.D. is.”

  “My other brother,” Tess said. “J.D. lives at the VA Hospital. He was seriously wounded in Iraq.”

  “How’s the boy doing?” Miss Betty asked.

  “The doctors say he’ll never walk again,” Tess replied with a throb in her voice. “Mom and Dad are totally freaked out.”

  “He’ll walk,” Paula said. “He’s the most stubborn man I know. More stubborn even than you, Baron,” she said, flirting with him with her eyes.

  Baron hefted luggage and avoided looking directly at Paula. “You two packed enough for a month. What gives?”

  Tess said, “Carry our bags or don’t, your choice. Don’t complain.”

  Addie’s eyes widened. He made no reply, just took the cases into the house.

  Paula called after him in a sweet voice, “You have permission to heft all my luggage, Baron.” She touched Tess on the arm, but Tess shook her off.

  “No, don’t tell me to be nice. I’ve made nice to J.D. for days and days, and it does no good. He takes it as permission to walk all over me.”

  “He can’t walk yet.”

  Tess grimaced. “Mom and Dad keep telling me to be even sweeter, as if that will change anything. He’s bitter and mean and I hate it,” she finished.

  Baron stood in the front hall. “You coming in, or you planning to stay outside in the sun like an idiot?”

  Addie raised an eyebrow. She aimed a general comment at the others. “I’m going to the stables. See you all later.” She took off before anyone could object.

  ***

  “The stab
les?” Tess asked Baron, as she and Paula entered the house. “Why would your girlfriend go to the stables?”

  Baron looked at Addie’s swiftly retreating figure and wished he could take off, too. Being around his half-drunken sister had tensed him up already. In the shape she was in, she turned anything into a fight.

  “She probably wants to avoid our squabbling.” A bright idea struck him. “Matter of fact, I promised I’d go riding with her this afternoon. I took your bags upstairs to your rooms. Why don’t you two get settled, have the snack Miss Betty prepared, and I’ll see you at dinner?”

  Tess looked frustrated, but his suggestion was too reasonable for her to flatly reject it. Paula was probably thinking of something flirty to say. He seized his opportunity and took off after Addie.

  He caught up with her inside the stables. “You have to rescue me from my evil sister.”

  Addie bent a disbelieving look on him. “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “Go for a ride with me. I’ll show you the whole place.”

  “I hear you’ve got 100,000 acres. It could take hours.”

  “Yep.” The tightness in his chest loosened as he contemplated hours alone with Addie.

  “Now I get it.” Her face showed mock disapproval. “You want to avoid your guests. Your guests who have just arrived and probably expect you to spend time with them.” She put her hands on her hips. “You are nowhere near an ideal host, I must say.”

  “Sure I am,” he said, grinning down at her. “I abduct the good-looking ones and ignore the ones I already know. Makes perfect sense.”

  She began to giggle. He took her arm gently to lead her to a stall. Mistake. The electricity arced between them.

  He gave in to impulse. He pushed her up against a stall and kissed her. When she wrapped her arms around his chest and kissed him back, he groaned at the intense pleasure. Her arms around him felt incredible. Her soft breasts pressed into his chest as her softer lips caressed his. He ached to have her completely.

  He finally pulled back. “What is it with you and me? I didn’t mean to do that, I swear. All I did was touch your arm.”

  She’d leaned back in his arms, and her reddened lips were half-opened with desire. An invitation if ever he’d seen one. Why was he talking? He kissed them again. This time, she moaned. Her fingers restlessly stroked his back, which suddenly was highly sensitive.

  He came up for air and pressed her against him. “If we don’t saddle the horses this instant, we’ll be having sex up against this wooden wall.”

  Her eyes went wide with shock, whether from his words or their actions. She visibly shook off the spell and turned to find a saddle on a sawhorse.

  He groaned as she leaned over and her tempting backside wiggled in front of him. He leaned in and pulled her hips against his. He put his hands on her rounded breasts. She collapsed against him for a moment. Then she stiffened.

  “We’ve got to stop,” she said, holding very still.

  He turned her in his arms and kissed her ears and her eyebrows while his hands roamed her breasts. Her eyes were somnolent. She was near to yielding. He put one leg between hers and pulled her tighter against him.

  She gave a shuddering sigh. “We must stop.” she repeated. “Please. No more.”

  “Why not?”

  “Your sister will come looking for you. Or Hoot will wander in.”

  He muttered a heartfelt curse. He took a deep breath, fighting every atom of his body. Finally, common sense returned. He hefted the saddle and walked toward a stall.

  “This one’s a mare. You’ll like her.”

  They made quick work of saddling up and riding out of the main compound.

  ***

  Addie suspected Baron planned to find a more private place and persuade her to make love. He had a look of determination in his eyes. This manly man saw no barriers between them, despite his role as her captor. He’d have his way with her, or at least give it another try.

  Her traitorous body was eager, but right now, she needed a break. She wanted to think things over. “Show me where those recalcitrant ranch hands live,” she said.

  He led them over the rise, where they had a good view of the bunkhouse, two small homes, three small house trailers, and a building with a large wraparound porch. He pointed to it.

  Not a soul was visible anywhere. “Where is everybody?” she asked.

  “At roundup.”

  “Why aren’t you?”

  “They don’t need me. I put in an appearance a couple of times a day, and then let them get on with it.”

  Something in his voice made her cock her head and study his face. “I thought roundup was this intense, hands-on experience, like the grape harvest if you own a vineyard.”

  “Could be.” His eyes showed no eagerness.

  “You’re not deeply engaged in ranching, are you?” she asked.

  “I’m a geologist. I was called back from a promising shale deposit to run the ranch. Ever since J.D. came home wounded.”

  “But you’re still here. How long has it been?”

  “A year.”

  The bleakness in his tone told her everything she needed to know about Baron’s real attitude toward ranching.

  He made a visible effort to shut away his emotions. He looked over at her. “If you want to be part of a classic cattle roundup, tomorrow we’re all doing the last bit of it together, for fun. It’s cattle ranching lite.”

  As their horses continued their slow pace, he pointed out the purpose of each building, and answered her questions about the ranch employees. “I’ll pay you for training Whitey.”

  She shook her head. “Not necessary. Anyway, I have to return to Jackson Hole in a few days.”

  “You could stay.” There was unspoken promise in his suggestion.

  Would he still want her once he knew who she was? She sighed. The tabloids would paint her with a dirty brush from now on. Because Baron’s past experience with Hollywood was seedy and tragic, wouldn’t he believe the worst about her past in tinsel town? He’d believed the worst about her bad reaction to the allergy pill.

  Their mounts ambled along a well-marked path that took them behind the workers’ homes and around the airplane hangar and landing strip. She’d never been in a small plane, not even during her acting career. For years, her job had been to enter the sitcom kitchen in every episode, carrying school books and talking about some kid problem. She wished she could talk to Baron about voluntarily giving up her first career for something very different. In a twisted kind of way, they had something in common.

  “Why do you still want to leave?” he suddenly asked.

  “I can’t stay here right now,” she said. She suppressed her desire to say how much she wanted to spend more time with Baron, to get to know him, to learn if she could trust him.

  “Why not?”

  “I—”

  “Why won’t you tell me? What dark secret are you hiding?”

  “What makes you so sure I have a dark secret?”

  “Because you’re so determined not to tell me,” he said.

  They traveled many more yards before she spoke again. “You may be right. I am not a particularly trusting person. I have my reasons.”

  “What can I do to make you trust me?” he asked. He put a hand on her pommel, stopping both horses. He looked deep into her eyes.

  “Who I am is all around you.” He gestured at the desert land that surrounded them. “I’m a man who thinks family is important. I try to do the right thing.”

  “By making me a captive?”

  He winced and withdrew his hand. “Sorry you feel that way.”

  She waved her free hand at the buildings that represented his family duty. “I’m not part of your responsibility. How do you feel about giving up your geology career? About taking on all this?”

  Baron’s mouth tightened. “My kid brother almost died in service to our country. What I’ve been asked to do is far less.”

  “But you don’t ha
ve a passion for ranching,” she said.

  “It wasn’t my first choice,” he acknowledged.

  “Will you ever get back to geology?”

  Baron stared off into the scrubby desert. “I don’t know. That depends on my father and my brother.”

  “You had to take over because of your brother’s immediate health crisis, but isn’t there a plan now?”

  “More like my father’s emotional crisis. He’s the one who abandoned the ranch. He’s the one who called me up and ordered me to come home immediately.”

  “And you came.”

  “I’m the eldest son. Bad enough I’d disappointed him by not wanting to run the ranch.”

  She cocked her head. “Your father put a heavy guilt trip on you, didn’t he?”

  He said nothing.

  “You should have some fellow feeling about my need to escape.” She smiled, willing him to do the same.

  Baron’s expression didn’t lighten. “Why don’t you trust me with your story? I want to help,” he said.

  “I’m fighting my own bad past experiences.”

  “Men?” he asked in a rough voice.

  “Yes, men have been a problem in my life.”

  At his frown she continued quickly. “Not how you might think.”

  “Tell me,” he ground out.

  “I don’t know if I can, without revealing everything about me. I can’t right now. It doesn’t feel right.”

  “Then tell me what you can.”

  Their horses paced slowly along a stream shaded by a few ash trees with widespread branches. Trees in this landscape were rare.

  “You’re lucky to have so much water in this desert area,” she said.

  “Tell me why men have been a problem in your life.”

  She sighed. “They want things from me that I am not prepared to give.”

  “Most men would.” He nodded. “Go on.”

  “I moved to Jackson Hole to reduce the number of men who pursued me.”

  “It worked?”

  She nodded.