It was such a warm tableau it made her stomach clench. If it weren’t for her own mother’s insistence that they needed some pictures of Hannah, their mantel would have been bare. And the photos that were displayed all looked as if they’d been taken under duress. Which, she supposed, they had. But this family? This was the real deal.
“The place was built by my great-grandfather,” Seth said, joining her at the fireplace. “But my granddad and my father added on to it. There’s enough room for half a dozen hands, and you should see the basement. We’ve got enough supplies to last an entire Montana winter.”
“Will Clint and Lila live here after they’re married?”
“They’re building a house about a mile from here.
“Well, I love it.”
“I’m glad,” he said, dropping his hat on an end table. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
The kitchen matched the rest of the house in scope, with double ovens and a huge six-burner stove with a vent the size of her walk-in closet at home. The island could easily handle four people all working at the same time.
“I can’t even believe this place. It reminds me a little of the Sundance—I mean, because of the modern additions. I guess it’s like this for a lot of the older ranches, since they go back so many generations.”
“They’re of a type,” Seth said, already staring at the contents of the refrigerator. “They all have to accommodate large groups for work and meals. A big ranch runs on its stomach.”
“So do I.” She joined him, not at all surprised by the bounty before her. “Is that a smoked turkey leg?”
“And a wing, and half a breast.” He pulled out a platter with the remains of what must’ve been a twenty-plus pounder. “My mom made coleslaw, which I highly recommend, and she always keeps vegetables ready to put together a salad.”
“Salad seems too complicated. But that coleslaw sounds great.”
“There might even be potato salad in there,” he said, putting the turkey on the big island.
“Is there anything we shouldn’t touch?”
“Nope. Go for it.”
Shamelessly, she rifled through the contents of the second shelf until she found the potato salad, and because this was her lucky day, she also found the remnants of what looked like peach cobbler.
She took both of her finds with her to the island. “Ah, that stuff’s great,” he said, nodding at the dessert.
“Plates?”
While he reached into an upper cabinet, she ripped off part of the turkey leg and moaned with her first bite.
Seth choked out a laugh. “What was that?”
Too busy chewing, she took another strip of the dark meat and brought it to Seth’s mouth when he joined her. He took it and sucked on the tip of her index finger. Setting down the plates, he put a hand on her waist.
“Soon,” she said. “I need to make sure my stomach isn’t the loudest part of us having sex.”
He almost spit out the turkey. He got them each a fork, and she portioned out the accompaniments, but they both tacitly agreed that feeding each other was much more fun than minding their manners.
His hip was pushed up against the island, and she mirrored him, not caring anymore about the décor when she had him to ogle.
Dammit, the man even looked hot while he ate.
“I’m going to have to stop soon,” she said.
“Why?”
“I don’t want to fall into a food coma when there’s something so much better to do.”
“Good point.” He leaned forward and kissed her with his juicy lips. The only problem with eating with their fingers was that messing around wouldn’t be pretty. She wasn’t sure she cared all that much.
What did make things come to a crashing halt was the knock on the kitchen door.
She sprang back from Seth as if they’d been caught stealing the family heirlooms.
His eyebrows dipped into a scowl. “Now what?”
He grabbed a napkin from the center of the island, wiped his mouth and went to open the door. Murray stood there with his hands in the pockets of his overalls.
“I told that boy not to bother you. Made it real plain. There ain’t nothing you can do.”
“What are you talking about?” Seth asked. “Told who not to bother me?”
“Paxton didn’t call you?”
“Not since he wanted the key.”
“Oh. I saw your truck and—” Murray leaned to the right. He looked at Hannah, then the food, then back at her.
“Hi, Murray.” She got rid of her napkin and wiggled her fingers in a small wave. “I was hoping you’d brought us more of that yummy cornbread.”
He wheezed a short laugh. But it was obvious even to her that something was wrong. “Never mind, it’s nothing,” he muttered to Seth, then he nodded at Hannah. “Sorry to disturb you.”
“Wait,” Seth said when he turned to leave. “What’s going on, Murray?”
Hannah could hear the old man’s sigh from halfway across the kitchen. “It’s Matilda. She ain’t doing so good. I’m keeping a close watch, though. If she don’t get more comfortable in the next hour or so, we’re gonna have to call Doc Yardley.”
“Well, shit. You haven’t seen any change?”
“Not as much as we expected. But you don’t need to worry none. I know what to do. This ain’t my first sick mare, son.”
Seth didn’t move for a few seconds, then he nodded. “Keep me posted, okay?”
“Will do.”
Seth closed the door, then turned to her before he’d cleared the worry from his expression. She knew right then he wasn’t going to be able to forget about the sick mare or his duty. But did she really expect anything less from him?
Damn, the man just kept doing things to steal another little piece of her heart.
Although his smile was valiant and his touch warm and gentle as he tugged her close, there was no getting past the facts of the matter.
“You know what?” she said, looking up at him.
“Hmm?”
“You should go.”
“What? We haven’t finished eating. And we haven’t even made it to my bedroom yet.”
“We’ve got a whole week, remember? And to tell you the truth, I’d rather we wait until the only thing on your mind is me.”
“It’s not my first sick mare, either,” he said, leaning in to give her a very persuasive kiss. But when he pulled back, the concern was still in his eyes.
“Nope,” she said. “Maybe you could run me back to the Sundance. Or someone else could, so you don’t have to leave.”
“Wait, wait. This is silly. Why don’t we just go to the stable, let me check out the situation, then we’ll decide what to do. For all I know, things are going to work themselves out in the next ten minutes.”
“Let me put away the food,” she said, knowing she wouldn’t be staying. “Then we’ll do just that.”
9
AT NINE THIRTY the next morning, Hannah sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed, glad she’d given in and brought her tablet with her. She didn’t consider herself a workaholic, but she did put in a lot of hours and she really meant for this week to be a vacation. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to find out all she could about this grazing permit business.
For going on three years her dad had been struggling with the ranch. Never enough grass or water or fattened heifers to send to market. Sure, the permits and transporting the herd would cost. But it seemed a lot of money was already going out with little coming in, and there was no relief in sight. It would be foolish not to check into a possible solution. And if she did find the answer, how could her old man do anything but stand up and take notice?
She heard her phone and leaned toward the nightstand to see the text. Just
as she thought, it was Seth. She’d heard from him an hour ago, letting her know the mare was on the mend. But poor Seth had stayed up with the horse most of the night and had only managed to grab a few hours’ sleep. He was trying for a couple more now and would call her later.
None of it surprised her. She’d known the moment Murray had told Seth about the mare that he would do everything he could to make the horse comfortable, if not well. Even if it meant cutting their date short. Because that’s the kind of man Seth was.
Granted, she barely knew him, but she’d learned if she paid attention, she could read a lot in a man’s eyes. The gift, ability, whatever one called it, made her very good at her job.
Of course she’d been disappointed; she was only human. But had he ignored the ailing horse just for sex—even damn sensational sex—Hannah would’ve taken that five times harder.
Anyway, they planned to see each other later. And right now, she had a lot of homework to do. Who knew grazing permits could be such a volatile and complicated issue? After what she’d learned in the last hour, and not knowing where Rachel stood on the matter, Hannah was reluctant to ask her questions.
But she’d been staring at the screen, hopping from one website to another until her eyes were blurry and her head was spinning. No wonder Jasper wanted Seth to do the talking. Some of the language regarding property rights was absurdly confusing.
Seth was really the person she should talk to, but that was out of the question. He’d made his intention to stay out of the argument quite clear. And, honestly, after some of the vile, online comments that she’d read, she didn’t blame him.
God. Had she managed to go even ten minutes without thinking of the man? Seth was very likely the best surprise she’d ever had in her whole life. Not counting her year-end bonus, given the fact it had provided most of the down payment on her new condo. But damn, Seth was a close second.
She reminded herself that she’d known him all of two days. Tomorrow he could do something annoying that she couldn’t stand. But he had a nice, easygoing vibe about him that made her feel comfortable—and so relaxed, she’d even let him see her freckles. That was a pretty big deal for her.
Holy crap, she’d actually gone skinny-dipping. She almost wanted to tell Rachel. It was just too funny.
And last, though hardly least, the sex had been ridiculously hot and incredible, and would likely haunt her long after she left Montana. However, she did have something to be grateful for. She’d met Seth the first day of her vacation instead of toward the end. That was super lucky.
Hannah reached for the mug she’d set on the nightstand and was bummed to find she’d finished her coffee. The big decision now was whether to sneak to the kitchen for more or see if she could go back to sleep. She drew up her knees and tugged her nightshirt over them. She wouldn’t hear from Seth for another couple of hours. And between thinking about him and her dad’s ranch problems, her night had been far from restful.
This was so damn hard. Was it worth going to the town meeting tomorrow night? Maybe it would enlighten her. Help her decide whether or not doing more research was worth the effort.
It pissed her off that here she was, on vacation, halfway across the country from dusty West Texas and she still worried about her dad’s problems. The stubborn jackass had probably created them himself.
Well, of course she knew he had nothing to do with the drought. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes. Why did she allow herself to be reduced to a twelve-year-old when it came to her dad? Trying to win him over was a losing proposition. He’d wanted a son, period. And since she didn’t plan on undergoing a sex change operation any time soon, she might as well throw in the towel. Again.
And she would. This time for good. Right after she got a handle on the dozen-plus stipulations from health inspections to leasing the right kind of land. At least she’d verified that trucking the cattle to Montana wasn’t over-the-top expensive.
Reaching for her coffee, she remembered the mug hadn’t magically been refilled. She grabbed her phone, instead. Even though she was still in the discovery phase of this Hail Mary pass to help her dad, it would probably be good to let her folks know there might be a ray of hope.
She hit speed dial, then closed her eyes.
* * *
THERE WASN’T ENOUGH coffee in the world to make four hours of sleep feel like anything but torture. Especially after spending most of last night worried that the mare might not make it. Matilda was his mom’s favorite horse.
Seth scrubbed a hand over his face. At least inside the stable it wasn’t so damn bright.
“Well, you look like shit.”
Seth eyed Clint, deciding whether he should comment or not. “Not” won.
“Hey, listen,” his brother went on, as if he didn’t know better. “I’m sorry I left you holding the bag. Matilda was fine before we left.”
“She’s okay now. Don’t worry about it.”
“It would’ve been hard for us to get home earlier, even if I’d known what was happening. We ended up going all the way to Butte looking for something Lila’s mom wants for the centerpieces.”
“It’s fine,” Seth said, amused and shaking his head.
“What?”
“That’s a word I never thought I’d hear coming out of your mouth.”
“What...centerpieces?” Clint couldn’t repeat it without laughing. “I can’t even get mad at Lila. She doesn’t want all this hoopla, either.”
“Oh, hell, you couldn’t get mad at her if she set a lit match to your jeans.”
“That’s probably true.”
“I still say you should elope.”
“The other thing, Mom’s having a good time doing some of the planning. With three boys she never thought she’d get a chance to do all this. I’m sorry it’s dumping more work on you, though.”
“No problem.” Seth took another swig of his coffee, wondering if he should have brought a Thermos with him. Probably. But while Clint was in such a penitent mood... “I wanted to talk to you before we get too busy. I, uh, met somebody. And I was hoping we could work it out for me to take a couple days off. She’s only here for a week, so, what do you think?”
Clint finished cinching his saddle, and turned to Seth. “You met somebody, huh?”
“Yeah. She’s a friend of Rachel’s, staying out at the Sundance.” He went into the tack room and brought out his saddle and blanket, only to find Clint with a smirk on his face that told Seth everything he needed to know. “Let me guess—Murray?”
“You let her drive your truck, bro.”
“Damn that old gossip. Did he tell you he almost killed her with his hot peppers?”
Clint chuckled. “Must’ve slipped his mind.”
“So, can you get along without me?”
“No problem. You think I didn’t take time off when I was getting to know Lila?”
Seth didn’t say anything, just went back to get the bridle. Clint could’ve spat in his face, told him he didn’t deserve any time off for the rest of his natural life. Not after the hell he’d put the family through. He owed them all so much, but Clint in particular. He’d carried most of the burden during Seth’s long absences, spent simmering in anger and hurt.
“Now that I’m thinking about it,” Clint said, “you taking some time off could work out well for me, too.”
“How so?”
“For one thing I’m running out of places to hide. If I’m covering your workload I won’t have time for wedding stuff. Hey, this girl, she know anything about wedding planning?”
“Her name’s Hannah, and no. I already asked.”
“Too bad. But still, you being gone is a great excuse. I know Lila wants to make her mom happy, but she still thinks I care about whether the bridesmaids wear lilac or purple. I don’t even know the difference.”
<
br /> Seth smiled. “Glad to be of service.”
“I also heard,” Clint said, “that Parsons came by yesterday.”
All Seth did was shake his head. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about that ass.
Clint got the message. “So here’s the deal. I’m gonna need you this afternoon and for a while early tomorrow, because Joe and Paxton won’t be done replacing fence posts, but after that, go ahead. Take a few days. Lila and I will be doing some painting at the house tonight, and the folks won’t be home from Missoula until tomorrow night, so go for it.”
“Thanks. I will. How’s the house coming along?”
“Should be finished before the big day.” Clint glanced toward the stalls. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Seth jerked a look to his right, then turned all the way around. The blanket and saddle were sitting on the rail where he’d left them. “Shit.”
He’d forgotten Orion.
The gelding whinnied from his stall way in the back, as if he’d run out of patience.
“Only staying a week, huh?” Clint said, grinning.
“Yep, just long enough,” Seth muttered, and headed toward Orion. Long enough for what, though, that was the question.
* * *
IT WAS A CLEAR, bright Monday afternoon at the Sundance, but over the vast stretch of foothills between the ranch and the Rockies, the sky looked iffy. Lots of gray clouds. Occasionally the sun peeked out, but Hannah had the feeling the clouds would win in the end.
Rachel had just finished saddling her horse, and she and Hannah stood on the sidelines as Josh and Kyle, a pair of Sundance men, flirted with the guests while they readied the women’s horses.
“What happens if it rains in the middle of the trail ride?” Hannah asked, glancing back to make sure she couldn’t be overheard. “I can’t imagine Kimberly and what’s-her-name being okay with wet hair and smeared makeup.”
“I doubt it’ll be a problem. Most of those rain clouds are much closer to the mountains than you think. After we ride for a while, I’ll decide if we should continue on or come back. But I always take ponchos and umbrellas, just in case.”
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