Made for the Rancher

by Rebecca Winters

  Neither did he. “Tell me something. How did you get out of the plane? I took pictures, and your side was so dented the guys had to use a crowbar to pry it open.”

  “I was desperate to get Rob out of the plane and crawled out the broken windshield.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t cut yourself more or break your leg jumping down. Because of your bravery, both of you will live to see another day.”

  His admiration for her was as intense as his unwitting attraction. He hadn’t been this strongly drawn to a woman in years.

  * * *

  JASMINE COULDN’T HELP staring at the tall, fit, gorgeous cowboy dressed in a Western shirt sitting next to her. She’d seen him in the news recently, fighting to reintroduce grizzly bears to the area. Rob had been fighting against them, but this man had always been with a group of ranchers, and she’d never seen him up close before.

  Her breath caught when he took off his cowboy hat, revealing wavy black hair. Below black eyebrows, his light gray eyes were fringed with thick black lashes. With his chiseled jaw, the kind that didn’t seem real, he had to be the most attractive man she’d ever seen in her life!

  “Your hotshot pilot knew what to do to bring you home safely, Ms. Telford. He’s to be commended.”

  She blinked. For a minute she was so blown away by him, she lost the thread of their conversation.

  Rob wasn’t her hotshot pilot. But he was always in the news, and at this point she realized both men had come up against each other on more than one occasion. She could see why this man considered Rob a hotshot type. He flew his own plane and was an outspoken legislator on his way to the top.

  After having turned down Rob’s marriage proposal, she wasn’t sure how things were going to be between them once he’d recovered.

  “He definitely saved our lives by knowing where to put us down. I need to let his parents know what has happened.”

  “I’m positive the police have already informed his family. The news will go out over the airwaves soon enough.”

  One of the female technicians came in with some juice and checked Jasmine’s vital signs. “Are you hungry?”

  “Not yet, but this tastes good.”

  “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Do you know how Mr. Farnsworth is doing?”

  “They’re still running tests on him. I’ll tell the doctor to give you an update when he can.”

  “Thank you.”

  She noticed the other woman check out Wymon Clayton before she walked out. In truth, Jasmine had been doing the same thing and had observed that he didn’t wear any rings. She found herself wanting to know more about him.

  “How did you happen to be in the mountains this morning?”

  “I was on my way to meet up with some rangers on business, which reminds me I need to contact them and let them know why I didn’t make it. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

  She wanted to tell him she didn’t expect him to come back. He’d done more than enough for them, but he’d slipped behind the curtain before she could stop him. Once he’d gone, the doctor came back in and checked on her again.

  “You’re free to get up, use the bathroom, get dressed. Then you can go see Mr. Farnsworth if you like. If you’re still feeling well in another hour, I’ll release you.”

  “That’s good. I’m anxious to move around now.”

  When she came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Wymon Clayton was waiting for her. It shouldn’t have excited her, but it did. His glance took in the jeans and knit top she’d pulled from her suitcase to wear, sending a slow burn through her body.

  He stood there with his hat on. “The doctor told me you’re free to walk around. Why don’t you and I go to the cafeteria for a late lunch while we wait for Mr. Farnsworth to come back from his CAT scan?”

  It was an innocent invitation offered by the man who’d come along in time to help save their lives, but she felt guilty when she said, “That sounds good. I think I’m getting hungry at last.”

  All she took with her was her phone from the bedside table before leaving the ER with him. He seemed to know exactly where to go. She noticed that women young and old eyed him up as they made their way to the cafeteria at the other end of the building. Jasmine was five foot seven, but she felt small compared to Wymon. He had to be over six feet and was taller than Rob.

  She felt wrong comparing him with Rob, but she supposed it was natural that she’d notice the differences between the two men.

  Jasmine and Wymon each took a tray and went through the line picking out what they felt like eating. He paid for their food and led them to a table in the corner.

  “I’ll pay you back when we get back to the room,” she said.

  He helped her settle into her chair before sitting down opposite her. “I’m the one who asked you to eat with me.”

  So he had. He had a quiet air of authority when he spoke, which had come across on TV. Again she got the sensation that she was doing something wrong. The first time it had happened, she didn’t know why, but this time she knew exactly what was disturbing her.

  She felt an attraction to this man that was so much stronger than anything she’d ever felt before. Pure chemistry, hormones, whatever it was, it was powerful.

  Keep it casual, Jasmine. Just be grateful for his help, that’s all. Remember the man you’ve been dating is getting a CAT scan right now—the man who wants to marry you and is still waiting for the right answer you can’t give him.

  “Where were you headed when the hawk flew into you?”

  She’d just swallowed another bite of her grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich. “Seattle.”

  “That’s tough luck. At least insurance will pay for a new plane because it was an accident. Unfortunately, I’m sure that’s small comfort for him at the moment.”

  “You’re right. He just bought this plane.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.” Sorry she’d hurt Rob so terribly right before the accident happened. He had to be suffering for a myriad of reasons. Her greatest hope was that nothing truly serious had happened to him except the concussion. You could recover fully from a concussion.

  “More coffee?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Wymon poured her some from the carafe. “I know he’s an influential representative.”

  “A very dedicated one as I’m sure you’ve found out, being on the other side of the grizzly bear issue. How about you? Did you always want to be a rancher?”

  He finished the rest of his coffee. “It’s my life.”

  She felt the passion of that statement travel through her body, and then it dawned on her. “Toly Clayton. Your brother is the tie-roping state champion!”

  Something flickered in the depths of his gray eyes. “That’s right. Toly’s my baby brother.”

  “Philipsburg is on the pro rodeo circuit for July 2. I’m a big fan of his. Wouldn’t it be something if he wins the championship in December?”

  “That’s his dream.”

  “We’ll be rooting for him.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “My parents and I.”

  His half smile turned her heart over. “He’s the famous one in our family.”

  “How many siblings do you have?”

  “Three brothers.”

  “What are your other brothers’ names?”

  “Roce and Eli.”

  “Those are good English names.”

  He nodded. “Wymon and Elias Clayton, two brothers who were immigrants from Lancashire, England, came to Montana in the mid-1800s. The names got handed down.”

  “No girls in your family?”

  Another smile broke the corner of his compelling mouth. “My brother Eli got married recently. N
ow my mother has a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter. That helps.”

  So the other three brothers weren’t married. That included the gorgeous male seated across from her.

  He finished off another roll. “What about you? Do you have siblings?”

  “No. My parents had almost given up on having children when I came along. You’re lucky to have come from a big family.”

  “It has its moments, but I wouldn’t trade any one of them.” She heard love in his voice before he said, “If you’re through eating, I’ll walk you back. I know you’re anxious to find out how Mr. Farnsworth is doing.”

  Of course she was worried, but she’d also enjoyed talking to Wymon and suffered more guilt for admitting it to herself. “I hope they don’t find anything else wrong with him.”

  “He seemed to be all right, and the concussion will heal. As for you, from where I’m sitting, no one would guess that a few hours ago you barely escaped a plane crash.”

  “This whole day has been surreal.”

  “I can only imagine. After your experience, you’re going to feel aches and pains and need rest, even if you’re fighting it now.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.”

  They got up and went back to the ER. He entered the cubicle with her. “Why don’t you lie on top of the bed and relax? I’ll see what I can find out about Mr. Farnsworth.”

  She watched him disappear. The man had a way of being in charge without doing anything overt. He was intrinsically kind. Solid. She knew she could trust him. He was a person she imagined other people leaned on. And you’re thinking about him way too much.

  Suddenly exhausted, Jasmine got on the bed and lay down on her side. Poor Rob. This day had turned into a nightmare for him. The only kind of comfort he would want was to hear that she would marry him.

  Tears trickled from her eyes because she couldn’t tell him something she didn’t feel. Restless, she turned on her other side.

  If only she’d acted on her worry that he was getting way too serious. She should have found an excuse not to go away with him. The thought of hurting him at all was bad enough. But to hurt him right before their accident made everything so much worse. How was she going to get out of that rally she’d promised to attend with him?

  Tears of guilt overtaking her, she buried her face in the pillow.

  When Wymon returned to the cubicle, he could hear that Jasmine was crying. He stood outside the curtain until her sobs subsided. When he pulled it open, he could tell she’d fallen asleep. Good. It was what she needed. In fact, he was convinced she ought to be given a room for the night.

  Before he drove back to the ranch, he asked to speak to Dr. Turner and waited in the lounge outside the doors of the ER until he showed up ten minutes later.

  Wymon got to his feet. “I’m going home, but before leaving I wanted to suggest that Ms. Telford be given a room. She ate a good lunch, but went right back to her bed after. I have no idea if or when her parents are going to show up.”

  “I already planned to keep her overnight after I went in to check on her and found her asleep,” Dr. Turner told him.

  “Perfect. How is Mr. Farnsworth?”

  “I haven’t talked to the neurologist since the CAT scan, but I trust I’ll hear from him soon. You’ve done everything you can do here, Wymon, and you need some downtime to relax, too. Leave your name and cell phone number with the receptionist in triage so we can reach you if needed.”

  With a nod, he did as the doctor suggested before going out to his truck. Then he drove back to the ranch, passing the main ranch house and Eli’s. A little farther down the road was Luis and Solana’s home.

  Luis had come to work for Wymon’s father years earlier. With his dad’s death just a year and a half ago, Wymon and his brothers relied on Luis, who was the best ranch foreman of anyone around. Solana, the housekeeper at the main ranch house where his mother lived, had become a permanent fixture in the Clayton household.

  Wymon’s place was farthest up the road. After parking his truck next to the Audi at the side of his log cabin-style house, he headed for the kitchen. Once he’d pulled a cold beer from the fridge, he took the stairs two at a time to the loft.

  When he’d moved into the two-bedroom house six years ago at the age of twenty-two, it was only one story. Since then he’d slowly had renovations done and it was now a two-story house with a bedroom, bath and loft on the second floor.

  He loved sleeping upstairs in his modern bedroom where he could look out at the stars and the Sapphire Mountains while he lay in bed. The floor-to-ceiling windows made him feel as if he was sleeping outside.

  The scenery drew him like a magnet. He took the lid off the bottle and drank half of it while he looked out at the vista that now included one crumpled blue-and-white Cessna. The sight of Jasmine Telford courageously trying to pull the pilot out of the cockpit would never leave him. Neither would the picture of her lying on the hospital bed, looking so beautiful. Those green eyes of hers had mesmerized him.

  Over the last few hours he’d had time to put the pieces together. The two crash victims had been on their way to Seattle, no doubt in love and eager to get away for a vacation. With both of them coming from political backgrounds, they were well matched and well heeled. Particularly Robert Farnsworth, whose father and grandfather had made millions in oil.

  She’d make a gorgeous wife for the aggressive Montana Representative. Give the man another eight to ten years and Wymon figured he’d have aspirations for something bigger in the future.

  Was she as ambitious? Did she look forward to a life with him? Possibly in Washington, DC? Wining and dining with other One Percenters for the rest of their lives?

  Wymon wished he didn’t want to know the answer to that question. He had to think back to his bull-riding days in high school to remember what it was like to be this attracted to a woman on sight.

  Sheila Rogers, a popular, attractive girl from his high school, had been the daughter of a local rancher. Wymon had fallen hard for her. They’d planned to get married after college. But she’d enrolled in a study-abroad program in Italy and met a guy there who was on location making a Hollywood movie.

  When she returned home she had stars in her eyes. She wasn’t the same girl who’d sobbed in his arms before leaving for Europe and had promised to email him every day and send pictures.

  Sheila had broken up with Wymon, telling him she couldn’t imagine living on a ranch with him for the rest of her life. He knew she hadn’t intended to be cruel about it, just honest, but it had hurt him badly. Her honesty had broken his heart, but it also taught him a lesson. Before he knew it, Sheila had married the guy she met in Italy and moved to California, excited to embrace a brand-new way of life.

  Since then he’d dated his fair share of women. But he didn’t like it that after all this time he once again found himself attracted to a woman who’d purposely put herself in a position to embrace an exciting life far away from Montana with a man of prominence and means.

  Though Wymon didn’t have an idea of the perfect woman, he hoped one day to meet someone who wanted the same basic things from life that he did. So far she hadn’t come along. And if she never did?

  He wheeled around and bounded back down the stairs, setting the half-empty bottle on the kitchen counter before leaving the house. Needing to channel his frustration, he raced up to the barn and saddled his quarter horse.

  “Let’s get out of here, Titus. We both need a workout,” he said and headed off into the mountains to clear his head.

  Chapter Three

  By midafternoon Jasmine’s parents had arrived at the hospital. She told them everything that had happened, leaving out the part about Rob proposing to her. Dr. Turner had transferred her to a room on the second floor and ordered her to rest. Her folks would be coming back in the morning to pick h
er up and drive her back to Philipsburg.

  At six that evening, Rob’s parents showed up and asked her to walk with them to his room, which was four doors down the hall. Jasmine had met them on several occasions and was comfortable being in their company.

  While the three of them congregated around Rob, their dinners were brought in and they ate. His folks shed tears and were overjoyed that they’d both survived the crash. She doubted Rob had told them about what had happened in the cockpit before the hawk had flown into the propeller.

  They treated her as if she’d be a member of their family one day soon, adding to her consternation. Rob lay there with his head bandaged. A plastic surgeon had put in the three stitches needed. They’d given him pain medication after monitoring his condition all afternoon.

  Hard as it was, Jasmine had to pretend everything was all right between them in front of his parents. “Rob? How are you feeling?” she asked him.

  “Rocky—dizzy—” The way he stared at her between narrowed lids made it clear to her that he wanted to say, How the hell do you think I feel after you rejected me?

  Guilt stabbed at her. “I’m so sorry you were hurt. Just remember that you saved our lives because of the miraculous way you landed the plane. What will happen to it now?”

  “I’ll take care of it,” his father answered for him. “We just want him to get well and back on track as fast as possible for the big rally in three weeks.”

  You couldn’t keep a Farnsworth down. “I want that for you, too.”

  Rob grimaced at her remark. She knew how much emotional pain he was in. But she was in pain, too, because she knew in her heart she wouldn’t be changing her mind about him. He was a good man, but marriage to him wouldn’t work.

  His mother turned to her. “Tell us about Mr. Clayton—I hear he came to your rescue after the crash landing.”

  Jasmine didn’t dare look at Rob, knowing both men were political foes over the grizzly issue. “I undid the latch the way Rob told me to and tried to pull him out of the cockpit, but he was trapped. That’s when Mr. Clayton saw us. He carried me to the trees, then ran back to help Rob.”