Convincing the Rancher

by Claire McEwen

  “Well, that’s where we’re stuck, then,” Tess said regretfully.

  “Why not give it a try? I promise I won’t do that weird dating ritual where I ask you a hundred personal questions right off the bat.”

  “Good, because that sounds miserable.”

  “I’ll do my best to talk only about myself if that’ll make you more comfortable.” He laughed. “Hell, most guys probably do that anyway. Doubt I’ll have to try that hard.”

  Tess laughed, but she knew better. He wasn’t the type of guy to go on about himself, and he was the type to want to know all about the woman he was involved with. He’d just told her as much. But she also knew that if he said he would try not to ask personal questions he would keep his word.

  She stared into the fire. She remembered the happiness she’d seen between Samantha and Jack earlier. The wistful feeling inside when she’d watched the way that Sandro looked at Jenna. For the first time, she caught herself wanting something like that.

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

  He’d been leaning back, staring into the flames, one long leg crossed over the other. “Yeah?” He glanced over and a grin spread across his face, revealing that dimple she liked.

  “I’ll try it,” she qualified. “One date. Then I’ll see.”

  “How about Thursday night? Dinner. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Okay.”

  If he kept looking down at her like that, with that big old smile and sexy dimple, she was going to kiss him. “Don’t get too cocky, Mayor Jacobs.”

  “So it’s mayor now, is it?”

  “I like a man with a little authority.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her suggestive comment. “Okay, then. My first mayoral edict between us is, let’s settle back and enjoy these stars.” He put his arm around her, pulling her close so she could lean her head on his shoulder, lean her body into his warmth and strength. “Is this okay?” he asked.

  “Mmm...” Tess murmured. “It’s good.” She wished it wasn’t quite so good.

  Slaid kissed the top of her head. “See? Good old-fashioned dating. Not so scary. Now take a look up in the sky. I’m going to show you a few of our local constellations.”

  He was all farm-boy eager, and she couldn’t help teasing him. “Ooh, you sure know how to show a girl a good time, Mr. Mayor.”

  He laughed. “I’m only just getting started, Ms. Cole.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  TESS KNEW THEIR date was a terrible idea the moment they stepped into the steak house on Thursday night. It was packed, and everyone was thrilled to see the mayor. Slaid backslapped and hand shook his way through the restaurant on the way to their table. He inquired about the Johnsons’ sick cattle, and Mr. Elliot’s tractor that apparently had been on the fritz. Somehow he knew that seven-year-old Ariel, out dining with her proud parents, had had a book report due yesterday.

  She stood next to him, feeling awkward as he introduced her to what felt like half the town of Benson. It hadn’t occurred to her that not only was she going on the first date she’d been on in a decade, but that it would be a very public event.

  Once they got to the table, Slaid’s politician joviality faded. “Sorry about that. In a small town you get to know folks pretty well.”

  Tess glanced around the room and saw several pairs of eyes dart hastily away. “How do you live in a fishbowl like this? Everyone’s watching us.”

  Slaid turned to the gossiping room and gave a big grin and a little wave. Several people caught it and started laughing. “You get used to it. You just gotta laugh about it.”

  “I don’t think I could ever get used to it.”

  “Well, you’re here working on what could be a pretty controversial project, so you might need to try.”

  “I don’t mind the work stuff. I can speak in front of any group, talk to the press, it’s no problem.” It was the personal stuff that had her stomach churning. There was no way to explain to Slaid how during her childhood, her private life had been so public, so completely without privacy. Committees of social workers, teachers and foster parents hashing out the details of her care in meetings, asking so many personal questions.

  And then the most public event of all—her pregnancy at sixteen.

  All that was behind her now. She knew that. But it was why she kept her private life so very private now. Tess’s heart pounded, and she felt sweat breaking out on her back. A wave of dizziness washed through her, and with it came panic.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” She stood up, grabbed her purse and coat and rushed for the door, weaving in and out of tables filled with surprised faces. She needed to be gone, to be alone. Needed to breathe.

  Luckily, in a small town there was no need to stand around hailing a cab. Tess pulled on her coat and turned toward her cottage, taking in huge gulps of the night air as she walked. She could almost feel the buzz of gossip that must be following her and knew that her hasty public abandonment of the beloved mayor wouldn’t help her sell the project she’d been sent here to represent. Going on a date with Slaid had been a mistake.

  “Tess!”

  She stopped but didn’t turn around, and Slaid fell into step beside her. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

  Hot tears spilled from her eyes, much to her horror. She mopped angrily at them with her sleeve and kept walking.

  Slaid’s voice was gentle. “Tess, I feel terrible. I didn’t mean to put you in a situation where you’d be uncomfortable. It never occurred to me. You always seem so poised, so confident.”

  She whirled to face him. Anger, her old friend, came to her aid. “Well, I’m not, okay? So just stop being so nice. Stop trying to get to know me, because that person you met in Phoenix? That woman you think you want to get to know? She doesn’t exist. Not in her off-hours, at least.”

  “I think that night in Phoenix was your off-hours. At least, I hope it was. Otherwise I might be a little confused about your profession.”

  “Really? You’re going to make another joke about that night? Only this time I’ve graduated from sleeping around to full-on prostitution? Great, Slaid.”

  “That is not what I meant. Jeez, Tess, I was trying to make you smile.”

  “News flash. That is not how to make your date smile.” She swiped another traitor of a tear off her cheek and picked up the pace.

  “Yeah, I got that. I’m sorry. Again.” He softened his tone. “I guess I just get really confused. You act so worldly, making these sexy jokes, acting as though you don’t care what anyone thinks of you. But you obviously do.”

  She didn’t know what she cared about anymore. It all just felt too complicated. So she said what was easy. “Tonight was a mistake.”

  “How do you know that? Every time we have a chance to really get to know each other, you storm off. I’m starting to wonder if that’s easier for you than facing whatever fears are keeping you from having real relationships!”

  He was way too close to the truth. “What do you know about my fears? All you know is who you think you know—a woman you slept with one night. A night you’re ashamed of, and you’re taking that shame out on me with insults and a morally superior attitude instead of dealing with the fact that you aren’t the perfect small-town family-values guy you pretend to be!”

  “I have values because I have relationships, with my town, my community and most important, my son. I might not be perfect, but I want to be a good example. I don’t see anything wrong with that. But apparently you exist in a vacuum, Tess, where you can do whatever you want because you keep everyone who cares about you at such a great distance that no one could possibly be affected by your actions!”

  And he’d summed it up. The lonely dead-end dilemma that was her life. Scalding tears streamed down her face as she stared in him in shock. “I can’t let people get close,” she blurted out. “And I can’t explain why I am this way.”

  It was his turn to look shocked. He reached for her hand, took it gently
in his own. “What the hell happened to you, Tess?”

  And there it was. The pity in his eyes. She wouldn’t have it. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Look, you have your way of living, Slaid. I have mine. Can’t you just accept that?”

  “I dunno, Tess. I guess my way is all I know. What my parents had. What I was taught to expect. A traditional relationship. A marriage.”

  “You think you want that,” she corrected him. “But you had a taste of something different in Phoenix, and you’ve been asking for more of it ever since I got to town!”

  “Not more of it. More of you. I can’t explain it, Tess. I’m like a moth drawn toward a damn flame. I know you’re likely to incinerate me, but I just keep coming around anyway.”

  She started laughing. How could she not? His image was just too perfect. The tears still ran down her face and her mascara was probably all the way to her chin and she was standing in the freezing Benson street laughing so hard her stomach ached.

  He stared at her for a moment, and then he was laughing, too. He pulled her in and hugged her close. “Damn, Tess, we are a fine pair.”

  “A complete mess.” She felt his chest shaking with laughter, and it made her giggle harder. “I’m crying and laughing. I think I’m hysterical. You might need to slap me.”

  He looked down at her, serious now. “How about this instead.” His fingers were under her chin, tipping her head back. He brushed his thumbs, featherlight, under her eyes, wiping away the tears and makeup. And then he brought his mouth to hers, warm, strong and reassuring and she kissed him back with all the hysteria that had welled up inside.

  His lips lingered over hers before he pulled back. “Give me a chance to spend time with you. I promise, nothing public. No restaurants. Just you and me and all this.” He waved his hand to encompass the mountains, the stars, the vast space around the town.

  “Slaid—” She started to protest again but he interrupted her.

  “And if we need to eat, we’ll cook something at one of our houses. My place is away from town and very, very private.”

  She stared at him, in awe of his persistence, wondering what it was he saw in her that made him willing to keep trying. “If I say yes, will you kiss me again?”

  “Say it,” he challenged, his voice low and rough.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  And his mouth was on hers again, his hands coiling in her hair to pull her up to him as he leaned down, and she kissed him ravenously, wanting to taste that mixture of goodness and flaws and strength that seemed to make him what he was, make him able to stand up to what she was. And then he was lifting her, kissing her as they walked, kissing her all the way to her doorstep, where he set her down, breathless and laughing.

  “See?” he said. “Reputation be damned. Half the town saw that and I don’t care.”

  She laughed. “Well, I might care when I have to get up in front of them and answer all their questions at my next public meeting, but I appreciate the gesture.”

  “So will you meet me Saturday morning?”

  “Far away from town?”

  “I’ve got just the place. And I’ll bring a picnic. We can hide behind a rock to eat, somewhere no one can see us.”

  “A very large rock?” she asked.

  “I’ll find you the biggest one I can.” He paused, and then that smile was back. “Can I see your phone for a minute?”

  “You need to make a call?”

  “Just hand it over.”

  So she pulled it out of her purse and gave it to him. He opened it to the notes page and typed something. Then he handed it back.

  His phone number was there, and a note that read “Saturday, 10:00 a.m.” along with directions for a trailhead south of town on Highway 395. “We’re going hiking?”

  “Not exactly. But wear your walking shoes.” He glanced down at her feet and his eyebrows came up. “Though I do like those.”

  Tess looked down at her burgundy boots with a four-inch heel. “Me, too.” She smiled up at him. “But I won’t bring them on Saturday.”

  He looked genuinely regretful. “Another time, maybe.”

  Tess felt a twinge of guilt. There probably wouldn’t be another time. She’d promised him one date and she’d go, but her panic tonight was proof that she couldn’t let this go any further. Just this one mystery date, where she’d eat lunch with him behind a rock. That was all she could give him. Hopefully it would be enough for both of them.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  TESS TOOK A deep breath of the pine-scented air. After a busy few days, it felt good to be away from town and the controversy over the windmills—and the frustration. Fewer people were attending her informational events. She hoped it was because everyone had the information they needed, and not because they all simply opposed the project. Either way, she’d been running herself ragged trying to improve attendance, and she was tired.

  She was early for her rendezvous with Slaid, but even though she was alone by the side of the remote highway, she didn’t feel nearly as intimidated as she had when she’d first arrived in Benson. Was it possible she was getting used to the place just a little bit? She occasionally caught herself appreciating the beauty and the quiet.

  Though not always quiet. She turned as she heard the roar of a truck engine.

  “Hey, stranger, want a ride?” Slaid jumped down from the truck and came around the front to open the cab door for her.

  “Sure.” He looked amazing in his faded jeans and straw cowboy hat. She climbed into his truck, trying to contain what she was pretty sure was a smile of pure lust, and he slammed the door behind her. When he got back into the driver’s seat he leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

  “Great to see you, Tess. You look beautiful. Thanks for meeting me. Sneaking around is kind of fun.”

  “Of course it is,” she said. “Glad you’re finally seeing my point.”

  He laughed. “We may be sneaking, but we’re still dating. See? Compromise. It’s all part of a successful relationship.”

  “We’re not having a relationship...” Tess protested. Then cut herself off when she saw that he was laughing. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

  Slaid swung the truck back onto Highway 395 heading south. “I knew you’d get all huffy if I used the R word.”

  She laughed. “That’s because it’s a bad word. So where are we going, Mr. Mayor?”

  “That would be Slaid to you. I’m off duty right now. And we’re going to Bodie.”

  “Where?”

  “Did you not read one book, article or website about this area before you came?”

  “I read a lot—about wind power.”

  “But nothing about a perfectly preserved ghost town?” A brown sign for Bodie State Park came into view on their left, and Slaid swung onto the road next to it.

  “Nope.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing you ran into me during this exile of yours. You’re in for a treat.”

  The narrow road that wound down through dry hills quickly became dirt. Tess held tightly to the handhold above her window as the truck bumped along the treacherous track. “Are you sure we’ll make it to this place in one piece?”

  “Yep.” Slaid kept his attention on the road. “I checked the weather and there’s only sun ahead. That’s the main thing. This road gets closed in bad weather, and once the snow comes your only hope of getting to Bodie is by snowmobile or skis.”

  Finally they were on flat ground, and they pulled to a stop in an empty unpaved parking lot. “The tourist office closed for the season a couple days ago,” Slaid told her as she stared at the weathered wooden buildings scattered over the high desert. “I figured this would be the perfect date for someone who doesn’t want to be seen.”

  Tess laughed. “You’re right. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place that feels more empty.”

  “It was a mining town back in the late 1800s. After gold was discovered nearby it grew from just a few people to a populati
on of over ten thousand in just a few years.”

  “I can’t imagine that many people living out here!”

  “They say at one point it was a Wild West boomtown. I guess most of it burned down. This is just the little bit of town that survived.”

  They crossed the deserted parking lot to the small trail that led to the buildings. Tess thought she’d seen a lot of lonely on this trip, but this had to be one of the loneliest sites she’d come across. Unpainted wooden buildings, many leaning, scattered across the dry soil. It was silent in a way that Tess wasn’t used to. They couldn’t hear the highway from here, just the desert wind whistling faintly as it blew through the buildings and the crunch of their footsteps on the rocky soil.

  Slaid pointed to the closest house. “Take a look in the window.” Tess walked gingerly up onto the rickety planks that served as a front porch and peeked inside. She pulled away with a gasp. “It’s furnished!” Not just furnished. She looked back in. An ancient wooden table stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs arranged haphazardly, as if people had just stood up after breakfast, pushed them back and left forever. A plate was still on the table and some silverware. Dishes were stacked on a cabinet; a dish towel hung on the knob. Everything was covered under a good inch of dust. “It looks as if they simply got up and left.”

  Slaid came up next to her and peered in. “I’ve heard that’s true. That it’s just as its owners left it. I guess it was too much trouble to carry their stuff out of the valley.”

  They walked from building to building. There was an old store with shelves still stocked with ancient goods, and even a rickety church. Each structure was filled with furniture and various items its owners hadn’t been able to take with them.

  “Why did they all leave?” Tess asked as they stood at the cemetery fence looking at the weathered graves.

  “The gold was gone,” Slaid answered. “Or not so easily available. People moved on to other gold rush towns or to cities, or they took up farming and ranching. Some folks stayed on. My dad was born and raised in Benson, and he says there were still people living out here when he was a kid. Just a few, though.”