by Hope Navarre
“I’ll handle this part,” he said, wrapping the chain around the post in a loop and then placing the other end of the loop over the nose of the jack. Steadying the jack with one hand, he started slowly pumping the handle. The chain tightened and the post inched upward until it started to topple. At that point Ryan released the jack, letting the chain go limp, and laid it on the ground.
“And this will be your job next time,” he said, taking the post in a bear hug and wrestling it out of the ground.
“Why don’t I do the jacking part?” Ellie asked drily as he let the post fall with a heavy thunk. In reply he held up his crooked left thumb. “A jacking accident?”
“The ratchet slipped and the handle smashed my hand. Hurt like a son of a bitch.” Thankfully it hadn’t been his roping hand. “Walt broke a tooth once.”
Ellie eyed the jack with new respect. “Fine. You can handle the jack and I think we both know who’s going to take the post out of the ground.”
Ryan smiled as he hefted the handyman and walked on to the next post.
Ellie followed, saying, “I had no idea that a jack could be dangerous.”
“They’re not if you’re paying attention. I was seventeen, stuck in a bog, worried about getting the truck back to the ranch in one piece—” worried about Walt taking a strip off him “—I got distracted.”
Just as he was getting distracted now. By her.
Ryan pulled out the last post just as the sun hit the tops of the steep mountains to the west. He eyed the long line of posts lying on the ground next to the holes they had come from, then turned to Ellie. “Can you drive a stick?” he asked, fairly certain of the reply.
“Of course,” she replied offhandedly, having no idea how glad he was to hear her unexpected answer. The rest of his workday had just gotten a whole lot easier.
“Great. You drive, I’ll load.”
“All right,” Ellie said in businesslike way. She opened the driver’s-side door and got inside, moving carefully as if afraid of stirring up dust. It was a valid concern. It took her a few seconds to shift the stubborn seat forward, and then she adjusted the mirror, making him smile. Yeah. A lot of traffic coming up from the rear out here.
She started the truck, tested the gearshift then swung the rig smoothly past him in a circle and came to a stop next to the first post. Ryan followed, hefted the wooden post into the bed with a loud clatter, then waved for Ellie to move on to the next one as he walked behind.
Once the truck was loaded, he went around to the passenger seat and got in. Ellie shot him a quick glance, then put the truck back in gear and started driving down the rutted road leading back to the ranch. When she stopped at the first gate, Ryan got out and opened it, and from her expression as she drove through, he got the feeling that she rather liked being the driver. Or maybe she just liked being the boss. The one in control. Ellie parked the truck behind the barn and pulled out the key.
“Just leave it in the ignition,” Ryan said.
Ellie shrugged and put the key back before gathering up her borrowed gloves from the seat beside her. “This was an interesting day,” she said, reaching for the door handle. “And you didn’t make a case for Walt once. I kind of thought you would.”
“I will. When the time comes.”
“You’d best be eloquent in your argument,” she said as she pushed the door open.
Ryan got out on his side and walked around to meet her at the back of the truck. She held out the gloves, but he shook his head since she’d need those tomorrow. “What if the consultant recommends Walt be kept on?” he asked. As if George would recommend keeping Walt. But maybe if someone threatened him...
“He’d still have to develop a better style of communication.” Ellie took hold of the gloves with both hands, working the leather with her fingers. “Whether he likes it or not, he’s employed by Milo and Angela now. They’ll never put up with the kind of behavior he’s shown me. They’re kind of used to special treatment.”
“How about you?” he asked.
“Am I used to special treatment?” Her eyebrows lifted in a way that told him she was patently insulted. “Why? Do you think I’m spoiled or something?”
Ryan sucked in a breath and went for damage control. “Not spoiled so much as I don’t think you’ve had to rough it a lot.”
“Maybe you don’t know as much as you think you do,” she said abruptly.
“How so?” Ryan asked, more interested in her reply than he wanted to be.
Ellie simply shook her head. “Same time tomorrow?” she asked in the reserved voice she used when her guard was up.
“Same time,” he said. She started toward the house without another word, and he watched her go before heading for the barn to feed the calves. If she ever asked him about her butt, he wouldn’t have to lie to her. He pulled the door open and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.
The day had gone better than he’d expected—much better. He’d thought there’d be more questions and complaints. More prima-donna attitude. Oh, Ellie had attitude, but he was beginning to suspect it was a means of protection, not a manifestation of privilege, and her last statement about roughing it had reinforced that. More to Ellie and her life than he had first supposed.
So why was she so guarded? And why was she here on the ranch, where she seemed uncomfortable? And lonely. Was she here because she was between jobs as she had indicated, or was there more to the situation?
And was it really any of his business?
Nope, but he was interested all the same.
Once in his house, he pulled off his dusty work boots before checking his phone. One missed call, one voice message. Automatically he clicked the voice mail icon and brought the phone up to his ear to hear, “Mr. Madison, this is the office of Benson, Harding and Myers calling to discuss of a matter of some importance. Please contact us at your earliest convenience...”
Instantly, Ryan’s stomach knotted. Why in the hell would lawyers be contacting him? Ignoring the fact that he was going to be late for roping practice, he turned on his computer and plugged the names into a search engine. A law firm in Billings. That made no sense at all, since he knew no one in Billings, and if the caller hadn’t mentioned him by name, he would have thought it was a wrong number.
And now he was late. He jammed his feet into his cowboy boots and grabbed his hat as he headed out the door to load his practice horse. He wouldn’t be able to get cell service in the pasture tomorrow, so that meant he either had to go out late or come in early—neither great options while trying to demonstrate to Ellie that he wasn’t cheating the ranch out of hours.
* * *
ELLIE HADN’T THOUGHT she was out of shape. Before coming to Montana, she’d done her fair share of gym time, but apparently working out hadn’t prepared her for one day of standing in the sun, prying staples out of fence posts. Her face was sunburned and her body ached from using muscles that were not involved in treadmill running or biceps curls. She absently rubbed her upper arms as she headed for the shower.
Her mother would have died had she seen her daughter wielding fencing pliers.
Her mother, whom she needed to call.
She wasn’t certain what kept her from picking up the phone now that she’d eased out of the land of denial and accepted that she was pregnant. It wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation, but Ellie wasn’t afraid of Mavis or her judgments. Heaven knew she’d had practice enough deflecting them.
Resentment, maybe? Ellie was going to be a mother in a matter of months, and she had no idea how to do that. Instinct was good, but modeled behavior from her mother would have been nice, too.
Ellie cranked on the shower and water obligingly flowed out of the spigot—something she’d never take for granted again. She stepped under the spray, letting the water beat on her tight muscles unti
l she decided they were never going to loosen up and turned it back off again. After twisting her hair up into a towel and slipping on a robe, she headed into the kitchen, where she poured a bowl of cereal and sliced a banana on top. A movement outside the kitchen window caught her eye and she glanced over in time to see Ryan’s truck and trailer drive past.
Really? She was ready to collapse and Ryan was heading out with his horse?
Okay, so he had more stamina than she did. Big deal. He wasn’t pregnant.
Secretly pregnant.
Ellie set her spoon back into the bowl. The time for secrets and avoiding her mother were over. Before she could talk herself out of it, she picked up her cell phone and punched in her mother’s number. The call went straight to voice mail and Ellie ended the call, realizing as she set the phone down with a shaky hand that her heart was racing. She was afraid to tell Mavis...or maybe she didn’t want to hear that her mother wasn’t all that interested.
Yeah, that was what was twisting her stomach into a hard knot. A knee-jerk reaction with its roots in her childhood; the recurring reminders that she really didn’t matter that much.
Ellie settled back in front of her cereal bowl, her hands folded in her lap as she regarded the banana slices and cornflakes floating in milk. She was thirty and still hadn’t come to terms with her mother issues—no matter how many times she convinced herself that she had. The child in her still hurt.
Her child wasn’t going to hurt like this.
Ellie let out a breath and reached for the phone again, this time dialing Kate’s number.
Kate picked up on the second ring. “Ellie!”
“Don’t make it sound like you never thought you’d hear from me again,” Ellie said, wishing she’d come clean with her friend days, or maybe even weeks, ago. She could have used the support and Kate didn’t judge. At least she hoped she didn’t judge.
“How are you?” Kate asked, her voice edged with concern. “Where are you?”
“Still in Montana, and to be honest...I’m not sure how I am.” Ellie hesitated for the briefest of moments before confessing, “I’m pregnant.”
“I thought so.”
“You did not!”
“Yeah, I did. Along with about twenty other possible reasons for you to quit your job and disappear. It’s someone at work, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Ellie said as she sank into the leather chair and curled her feet up under her. She told Kate the story of how she’d indulged herself with a hot guy and then how her world had pretty much fallen apart when she—one, got pregnant; two, found out he was newly married; and three, he got promoted to district manager.
“The lying asshole,” Kate muttered.
“I could have dealt with the lying,” Ellie said, leaning her head back against the leather. “I would have been pissed, but I could have worked with him.”
“But you got pregnant.”
“Yeah,” Ellie said, her voice growing husky as she thought of how he’d tried to buy her off—pay for either an abortion or silence. “I don’t want him anywhere near me or my baby.” She felt the phone pressing into her cheek as she said, “I can’t believe he’s the father.”
“He’s out of the picture, El.”
“And I’m out of a job.”
“Now I understand why you went to Montana.”
“I needed a place that was cheap to stay where I could think. Plot. Plan.”
“So the story about helping your uncle was bogus?”
“No. I’m actually helping him out.” She rubbed her fingertips between her eyebrows, soothing the frown that had formed there. “It gives me something to focus on.”
“Seems to me you have a lot to focus on.”
“Something else,” Ellie amended. “I need something to occupy my brain so I don’t spend all my time worrying about the future.”
“I’ve never known you not to have a carved-in-stone plan,” Kate said, and again Ellie could hear the concern in her voice.
“Amen,” she said softly. Everything in her life had fallen into place because she’d always had a plan. “I can’t stay here forever.”
“Of course not,” Kate said.
“I’ll have to find a job, a new place to live until my sublet contract expires.”
“You can move in with me.”
“I’d like to be able to pay my part of the rent,” she said drily.
“You’ll be able to get a job.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“You can’t be refused employment because of that.”
“Not officially,” Ellie said. She knew of people who had landed jobs while pregnant, but in a tight job market it wasn’t exactly a point in her favor. She could keep it secret if she interviewed before she ballooned up, but that was no way to start a positive working relationship with a new employer. “I have a lot to figure out, but I’m feeling better about it than I was only a week ago. Plus I’m getting a lot of fresh air. How are you doing?”
“Well, after that bombshell, the stuff in my life seems pretty mundane....” Kate sighed. “I just wish you were closer so I could help you out.” There was real warmth in her voice and not for the first time, Ellie counted the one blessing that was the direct result of being dumped at boarding school. Having a real mother would have been cool, but a friend like Kate was the next best thing.
* * *
ELLIE BARELY SLEPT after she’d confessed her pregnancy—probably because now that she’d told her best friend, she had to tell her mother. Finally, around 4:00 a.m., she picked up her phone from the nightstand, knowing that with the time difference on the east coast Mavis would be out of bed.
“Ellie,” Mavis said upon answering, “why on earth are you calling at 6:00 a.m.? You know this is my yoga time.”
“I’m calling because I knew I could catch you now,” Ellie said. And because the thought of making this call was eating a hole in her stomach.
“Is there a problem?”
“There’s news,” Ellie said. “I’m pregnant.”
The long silence she’d anticipated followed her blunt announcement. Ellie heard the sound of her own breathing as she waited for a reaction.
“Well,” Mavis finally said. “That is news.”
“There’s more. I have no relationship with the father and don’t intend on having one. He wants nothing to do with the baby.”
She heard her mother inhale deeply before proclaiming, “This is not what I expected of you, Ellie, but it’s your life.”
“I made a mistake, Mom.”
“Obviously.”
Ellie waited, but when Mavis said nothing more, she added, “I quit my job and I’m staying on Angela and Milo’s Montana property.” She realized then that she was trying to push her mother’s buttons with this recitation of blunt facts, trying to get some kind of a reaction. An explosion. An indication that she was concerned. Something, for Pete’s sake.
“I see.”
Ellie could almost see her mother staring off into the distance, brushing her hair back with one hand as she did when she was anxious to get on with her own affairs. “Don’t you even want to know how far along I am? When the baby will be born?”
“How far along are you, Ellie? When will the baby be born?”
Tears stung Ellie’s eyes. This was useless. “The baby will be born in February.”
“February.” Mavis cleared her throat and for a moment Ellie thought she was going to say something important. Instead she said, “That should give you time to get a new job. I’m sure you’ll do fine in that regard, but if you need any financial help, I’ll be happy to assist.”
“Thank you, Mom,” Ellie said, wishing she could reach out and shake her mother a few times, get her full attention.
“I take it Angela has known
for some time?”
Ellie sucked in a breath and then confessed, “She was easier to call than you.”
“Of course she was,” Mavis said briskly. “Well, if you need anything, please call.”
“I will.”
“Goodbye, Ellison.”
“Goodbye.”
Ellie leaned back against the pillows, still holding the phone loosely in one hand. The conversation had gone exactly as she’d thought it would, so it shouldn’t have hurt.
Shouldn’t have, but it did.
* * *
RYAN COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time he’d had such a rotten practice. Yes, he was dealing with out-of-the-blue complicated shit he didn’t need right now, but he’d always been able to push issues aside and focus on his craft. He thought he’d been doing that last night, but his times had sucked.
It was on the drive home that he’d realized roping felt different now that his brother was no longer in the picture. He’d lost his past two rodeos, and while it bothered him, it didn’t eat at him the way losing had when Matt was competing. He didn’t feel like a failure. For as long as he could remember, he’d competed against Matt. It was what he did. He beat his brother...or his brother beat him. And now the game had changed. So was it just the shock of discovering how fast things could change that made things feel off? Or had his only motivation been beating his brother, which seemed pretty damned shallow?
It was something to think about...something besides the freaking lawyer’s mystery call.
Ellie wasn’t waiting at the truck the next morning as promised when Ryan came out of his house, so he tried the law offices, once again getting the voice mail giving their hours. What happened to the eighty-hour attorney workweeks he’d heard about? He did not want to spend the day wondering why these guys wanted to speak to him, but it looked as if he had no choice.
As he pocketed his phone, Ellie came out of the house wearing close-fitting jeans and the same hooded sweatshirt as the day before. She shoved her hands into the pockets as she walked across the flagstones, head down. She looked exhausted. Her gaze came up as she stepped onto the gravel, meeting his as if she’d been well aware he’d been studying her.