Right Here Waiting

by Tarra Young

  Passions Ink Press Presents

  RIGHT HERE WAITING

  TARRA YOUNG

  Copyright © 2012 Tarra Young

  All Rights Reserved.

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my fiancé for always encouraging me to follow my dreams and never holding me back. I love you, David – Always and forever.

  CHAPTER ONE

  She stood looking out the same parlor window she spent many of her childhood days peering out. She daydreamed about how her life would be once she was able to escape this town, this ranch she once called home. She vowed she would never return, but here she was back where she started. The news of the death of her parents left her no choice but to return, no matter how badly she wished she could turn and run in the opposite direction.

  A voice from the open doorway startled her out of her thoughts. “Megan Marie Nelson, is that really you? I can’t believe my eyes!”

  She turned from the window to see the housekeeper, Martha, an indispensable member of the staff who had been with the family since she was small. Martha was always the first one awake in the morning and the last one asleep at night. If she were tired, it never showed in the perfect way she managed to keep the large ranch house in spotless condition or the way she always kept the family and the ranch hands fed with her amazing cooking. Of all the memories Megan had of this place, Martha was the best. She knew she should try to be happy, even though Martha was sure to understand if she was anything less.

  “In the flesh,” she said, trying to manage a smile.

  “Well welcome home girl. Now come over here and let me get a good look at you. Oh my, you have grown since the last time I saw you.”

  She walked over to Martha and embraced her. “It sure is nice to see you again, Martha. I just wish it could have been under better circumstances than these.”

  Martha held her back at arm’s length, her brown eyes wide with delight. “You sure have blossomed into a beautiful young lady. Your mother and father would have been proud of you, I’m sure.”

  “I just wish I could have seen them again before they died. Why did I have to just up and leave the way I did?”

  “Come child, don’t fret. I just finished baking up a batch of peanut butter cookies. Why don’t we go into the kitchen and get you some with a tall glass of milk? I remember how much you loved them as a child.”

  She was trying to go low carb for the millionth time, but how could she say no to Martha’s homemade cookies? In addition, she couldn’t think of a better way to gain a couple of pounds.

  Other children had their grandmothers to spoil them growing up. She had Martha and she couldn’t have asked for better.

  “You know I can’t resist an offer like that,” she said as she followed the older woman into the kitchen.

  As she entered, she noticed Martha’s hair, which only had a few touches of gray when she left five years ago, was completely gray, though it was still pulled up tightly in a bun on her head. The only other changes she could see was Martha put on a few extra pounds and she acquired more wrinkles. Other than those minor alterations to her appearance, Martha was still the dear sweet woman she remembered from her childhood.

  The smell of the fresh baked cookies overpowered her senses as they entered the kitchen. Memories came flooding back to her of when a boy first asked her out on a date. She had been so overcome with fear and excitement, all rolled into a jumble of emotions, and she’d felt a sting of disappointment when she remembered how her mother was out of town at the time, nursing an ailing aunt. The only other person she trusted enough with her deepest emotions was Martha.

  On that day long ago, she and Martha sat at this very kitchen table with a plate of freshly baked peanut butter cookies between them and tall glasses of milk. By the time she finished telling Martha about the boy, the date, and all the emotions she was feeling, she felt much better. Martha’s kind and very wise advice settled her nerves and put her at ease with the situation. In some ways, telling Martha was the best decision she could have made.

  “Did you have a nice trip here?” Martha asked, startling her out of her thoughts and back to the present.

  “It wasn’t too bad,” she said as she sank down onto a chair at the kitchen table. “There were a couple of times on the way here my car started giving me fits and I wasn’t too sure I was going to make it.”

  “I’ll have one of the guys take a look at your car. If they can’t fix it, I’m sure one of them can take it into Boise to be fixed by a mechanic.” Martha set a plate of cookies in front of her, followed by a large glass of milk.

  But she didn’t hear Martha, nor did she notice the spread before her. Peanut butter cookies or not, her full attention was fixed on the man who suddenly filled the doorway to the kitchen, cowboy hat in hand. The man responsible for her hasty exit from Hidden Oaks, Idaho, all those years ago.

  Blade Thorne was the first man she ever had a crush on. He was also the first man to break her heart. As she reached those teenage years, she followed Blade around the ranch, pretending to be interested in learning everything she could about ranching, just to spend as much time with him as possible.

  Her daydreams were filled with Blade. He would fall in love with her. In those endless daydreams, she thought about the day when she would become Mrs. Blade Thorne. She would often wonder how it would feel to have him sweep her up in his arms and hold her in a passion filled embrace while his lips sought and claimed her own in a hungry, needy kiss.

  That was until the day when she was seventeen and Blade’s harsh, cold words put an end to all those foolish, adolescent fantasies. She had been in the barn that morning watching him milk their cow, Millicent, before breakfast. He turned to her, anger flashing in his steel gray eyes. “Why do you follow me around all the time? I have a job to do and the last thing I need is to be babysitting you. You’re nothing more than a child, so scram!” His words echoed in her mind as loud as they did back then.

  Without a word, she fled the barn in tears. She vowed to leave and get away from Idaho as soon as she possibly could. Three months later on her eighteenth birthday, she packed her bags and moved to New York City, eager to put those childish daydreams of Blade, and the words that broke her heart, behind her. Her family tried to talk her out of it, but there was nothing they could have said or done to stop her. Her mind was made up.

  Now five years later as she watched him standing in the doorway, the words he shouted long ago rang in her ears. Tears began to form in her eyes, but she fought them off. The last thing she wanted to do was let Blade know how much his words hurt her. She was stronger now, a grown woman. He wasn’t going to affect her anymore.

  “Mmmm, cookies,” Blade said as he sauntered over to the table and reached out a hand to take one.

  “Where are your manners?” Martha admonished as she slapped his hand away from the plate. “You haven’t even said hello to Megan before you tried to steal one of her cookies.”

  Blade looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.

  “Well I’ll be – “ He looked her up and down appreciatively, those steel gray eyes giving her a scrutiny designed to melt any woman into a puddle at his feet. “You sure have grown into quite a woman.”

  She turned her head, looking away before he saw the blush on her cheeks. She tried to gain her composure. There was a time when Blade’s words would have made her swoon, but not now. His words came too little, too late.

  “Have you gotten shy with age, Megan? The young girl I remember was outgoing and so full of energy.”

  Something that felt like a mixture of anger and annoyance crept over her. She turned to look at him, anger encompassing her to the point she couldn’t hold back any longer. “And as you recall,
the Megan you knew was just a little child, someone you couldn’t be bothered with.”

  Blade gave a loud whoop. “Now there’s the girl I remember. Can I have a cookie?”

  It was nice to see some things stayed as they were. He was still the same arrogant man she knew when she left home. He hadn’t aged much, either. He still possessed the muscular build she remembered. At the age of forty one, there was a little gray on the sides, but the rest of his hair was still a shade of dark brown, almost black. She could see why she developed such an attraction to him in her teenage years. He should have been balding and overweight by now. Maybe she wouldn’t be feeling a hint of attraction to him now. Feelings like those were precisely why she needed to get done what she came here to do and then get back to New York City.

  She would contact a realtor in Boise first thing in the morning. The sooner the place was on the market, the sooner she would go back home, get on with her life, and go back to forgetting Blade ever existed.

  She looked at him and was treated to a smug expression. Oh, how she’d love to wipe it off his face.

  “How much longer do you plan to keep living here?” By the way his expression changed so quickly, she knew she’d caught him off guard. Score one for her.

  “W – what?” he stammered. “I have no plans of ever leaving this ranch.”

  She eyed him coldly. “We’ll see when this place is sold. The new owners may not want you around.”

  “You can’t really mean it,” Martha said coming up behind her, placing one hand on her shoulder. “This is your home. Why would you want to sell it?”

  “Don’t worry,” Blade said, reaching for a file folder on the counter and waving it in her direction. “I picked this up from the lawyer’s office earlier this afternoon. She can’t sell the ranch, at least not for another year.”

  Now it was her turn to be caught off guard. Now the score was tied. “What do you mean I can’t sell it? I’m an only child. Now that my parents have passed away, it’s rightfully mine to do what I want. I want to sell it.”

  “You’re right, the ranch is yours, but you can’t sell it.”

  “Why not?”

  He pulled several sheets of paper out of the folder. “Because I have here, in my hands, your parents’ will. There’s a clause in it. That’s why you can’t sell it.”

  “What sort of clause?”

  “You and I have to run this ranch together for at least a year before you can decide to sell it or do anything else with it.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said, her voice raising an octave. Her parents wouldn’t be this cruel to her, would they? She hoped this was some sort of joke. It had to be.

  “Read it for yourself,” he said, handing the papers to her. “It’s the section highlighted in yellow.”

  Her heart sank as she read the words for herself. It was all true. How was she going to explain this to her boss? Would he even allow her to take a year off from her work at the ad agency to fulfill her parents’ will? Her boss could be understanding at times, but she didn’t think he would be that understanding.

  “If for any reason you can’t fulfill your end of the deal, the ranch will automatically be turned over to me,” Blade explained.

  That was it. Her mind was made up. There was no way she would allow this place to be turned over to this arrogant man. She would fulfill her end of the will and tough it out on the ranch for a whole year, even if it meant she lost her job.

  After the year was up, she would sell this place and be through with it. No more ranch. No more Blade Thorne. And definitely no more memories of his harsh words or the way they still affected her. She would be through with this place, and she could always go back to New York and find another job. She was a hardworking, intelligent, successful young woman, and she would thrive. For her own sake, she needed to. This year would come and go so quickly, it would be over before she knew it.

  “Not on your life. I’m staying.”

  “Will you be staying in your parents’ old bedroom or one of the guest cabins?” Blade asked.

  “Cabins?” There were no cabins five years ago.

  “Yes, cabins. We have about twenty five guests staying with us currently. You will need to come up with a list of activities to keep them entertained in the days to come.”

  “Activities?” What did she get herself into? She didn’t know the first thing about running a ranch. Let alone a guest ranch.

  “Unless you don’t feel up to the task,” he taunted.

  “Did I say that?”

  “I just thought – “

  “Well you thought wrong,” she snapped.

  The screen door opened and then slammed shut as a man entered the house. She nearly fell off her chair and quickly braced herself. The man was the spitting image of Blade, minus the gray in his hair.

  “Megan, I’d like you to meet my cousin, Rex Thorne. He works here on the ranch. He can take over my duties this evening while I help you get settled in and teach you some of the ropes of ranching.”

  It’s going to be a long year after all, she thought as his words sank in. How was she ever going to survive it? With a Blade look-a-like running around on top of the original, she needed to put all her personal feelings aside and focus on the ranch. She needed to survive this. That’s all there was to it.

  Rex eyed her with open interest. “I think I’d much rather help Megan get settled in. I’d hate to take you away from your duties.”

  “If anyone helps her get settled in, it will be me,” Blade snapped at Rex, startling everyone in the room. “Do I make myself clear?”

  She jumped in before Rex could reply. “If there’s a problem, I can get myself situated.”

  “It won’t be a problem,” Blade said, lowering his voice. There was something new in his tone she couldn’t quite place. “In fact, it would be a pleasure,” he added.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It was finally agreed. Blade would help her get settled in after supper. Since Martha was living in one of the cabins and no one slept in the ranch house anymore except Blade, she would be sleeping in one of the empty guest cabins.

  She was happy to learn the one she would be staying in for the next year was not only equipped with a phone, but all the other modern amenities such as a bathroom with working plumbing and access to the internet.

  Blade put his cowboy hat back on his head. He followed his cousin Rex out of the house, but not before both men grabbed a handful of cookies from the tray Martha placed on the counter.

  “I do believe it is impossible to keep those men well fed and satisfied,” Martha declared as she pulled up a chair at the table across from her and sat down. “At mealtimes I make enough to feed a small army and they still come back demanding food between meals.”

  “Why do you do it?” She was just now realizing once the ranch was sold, Martha would have to leave. What would Martha do? Would she ever see her again? “Was there ever anything else you wanted to do with your life, besides work on this ranch?”

  “I do it because I love it. Besides, who else would be able to keep Blade and the rest of these men in line?”

  Martha made a point she couldn’t argue with. She witnessed on many occasions as a teen how Martha had Blade practically eating out of her hand. She knew it wasn’t an easy feat. “So there’s really nothing else you would rather be doing with your life?”

  “Of course not. You, Blade and the rest of these men on this ranch are the only family I’ve got. I’m happy right here. I don’t think I’d be happy living anywhere else. I can’t even imagine doing anything else with my life other than what I’m doing now.”

  She could relate. She thought of Martha as family. Heck, she even thought of Blade as family to a certain extent, especially now since her parents died.

  She couldn’t believe both her parents wanted to be cremated. There would be no funeral. Only a small memorial service day after tomorrow at the Good Shepard Baptist Church, a few miles away from the ranch they called
home since the day they’d gotten married over twenty years ago. “What’s with the sad expression?” Martha asked. Her concerned voice brought back even more memories from her youth.

  “I was just thinking. It’s not important. Why don’t you have a cookie or two with me? It’ll be like old times.”

  “No thank you. I’m on a diet to rid myself of a few extra pounds I have been packing around for the past couple of years or so.”

  “I sure wish I had your willpower,” she said as she pulled the plate of cookies back in front of her. “I’ve been trying to lose fifteen pounds or so myself, but I just can’t stick to a diet long enough to lose them.”

  As if to prove her point, she picked up a peanut butter cookie and took a bite out of it.

  “Why on God’s green earth would you want to lose any weight? You have a body most women would die for, including me.”

  “I’m fat.”

  “Says who? You saw how Blade and Rex were eying you. They both liked what they saw.” Martha smiled.

  She blushed. The truth was, her last lover, Anton Charbonneau said she was fat. Every time they made love, he made it a point to tell her exactly where she could lose a pound or two. She couldn’t tell Martha about Anton’s comments.

  She changed the subject. “So what other changes have been made around here?”

  “There’s more staff working here than the day you left.”

  “Really? Rex isn’t the only person hired on?”

  “When your parents decided to turn this ranch into a guest ranch, they needed to hire on a few extra workers, including an assistant cook to assist me, and even a whole office team.”

  “An office team? You mean there are offices here on the ranch now?”

  “I’m sure you noticed the red brick building when you first entered the gates and started up the drive.”

  She noticed it. She also noticed the sign, which hung above the gates when she entered. It read, ‘Happy Meadow Ranch’. “What possessed my parents to turn this into a guest ranch?”