GABE COULD HAVE bypassed Redstone and taken the back road out to the Crested-C, but he chose instead to drive through the center of his hometown. To Gabe’s way of thinking, the sooner people got a good look at his new family, the sooner the gossip would die down and they could get on with starting a new life.
As much as he loved Smitty, Gabe had no doubt the old gossip had made a beeline to the country store directly after he’d called with the news. Gabe also knew Smitty would have wasted no time venting his frustration that Gabe had gone against his advice and had been foolish enough to marry the boy’s mother in order to bring his nephew home.
Privacy in a small town was nonexistent. Especially in a town as small as Redstone, where the biggest news of the day was usually whether the old Dalmatian at the fire hall made it all the way down Redstone Boulevard and back. Gabe knew any attempt to conceal his new family would be treated as cowardice.
And he was no coward.
By driving through the center of town on a busy Saturday afternoon, Gabe knew he was making an unfaltering statement. He was telling everyone in Redstone that he was confident in his decision whether anyone liked it or not.
He threw his hand up for an occasional wave, and accepted the nods and greetings from the people who stopped what they were doing long enough to gawk at his two passengers. But it wasn’t until they were nearing the end of town that Gabe chanced another glance at Sara.
She’d been sitting ramrod straight in her seat since he first drove into town. Her eyes were still focused straight ahead, but Gabe suspected as intuitive as she’d been about Smitty and any possible love interest in his life, the new Mrs. Coulter was more than aware why he’d purposely taken her on his little tour.
As if she’d read his mind, she suddenly looked over at him and said, “Well? Do you think we passed inspection?”
Gabe knew better than to insult her by pretending he hadn’t put them on display. “Folks in Redstone are nosy, Sara, but they’re also practical. We’re legally married and they’ll accept you and Ben without question.”
Her expression said she was doubtful.
But Gabe had told her the truth.
Redstone would accept Sara.
Would Sara, however, decide to accept Redstone?
As he took the gravel road that would finally lead his new family home, Gabe suddenly realized that getting Sara to agree to come to Colorado had been the easy part.
Keeping Sara in Colorado would be the challenge.
SARA HELD her breath as they passed under two towering gate posts supporting a large sign with the Crested-C logo carved deep into the stained cedar. The setting was definitely rustic, but something about entering through the massive gate actually had a royal feel to it.
A fairy tale Sara loved as a child flashed through her mind. In the story, a handsome prince from a faraway kingdom had ridden into a modest village searching for a young maiden to become his princess bride. Though complete strangers, the maiden had eagerly accepted his proposal. They’d ridden away together on his gallant white stallion, headed for his kingdom so the new princess could give the prince the one thing he wanted most of all: an heir to his throne.
Sara suppressed a sigh.
A handsome stranger was taking her off to his kingdom. And Ben even represented an heir to the Crested-C Ranch. Unfortunately, the white pickup truck was no gallant stallion; she was no longer a young maiden, and there would be no fairy-tale romance waiting at the end of her journey.
Her heart might have believed that if Gabe hadn’t suddenly looked over at her and smiled.
“We’re almost there,” he said, prompting Ben to squirm in his booster seat, trying his best to see out the windshield.
Sara was doing a bit of squirming herself. They were now traveling up the mountain on a narrow gravel road that seemed to be etched out of the hillside. She squeezed her eyes shut when the truck inched dangerously close to the edge of the steep ravine.
Her eyes snapped back open when Ben squealed.
“Mom! Horses!”
A magnificent herd of horses was grazing unconcernedly on plush green grass in the meadow up ahead. At the sound of the approaching truck, several of the horses shied away from the fence and bolted across the meadow, delighting Ben even more. Even Sara had to admit she’d never seen a more spectacular setting. With the snowcapped mountains above them, the entire scene looked like something from a postcard at a souvenir shop.
“The house is just ahead,” Gabe told them, and seconds later Sara saw the outline of a log-and-rock structure that was large enough to double as a small hotel.
Ben gave his usual response. “Wow.”
And Sara marveled. “The house is enormous.”
But when she glanced over at Gabe, his brow was furrowed and a scowl had settled on his handsome face. Sara followed his gaze back to the house. Two figures were standing on the front porch. And when the truck got closer, Sara felt her own breath catch in her throat.
One of the figures was definitely female.
Sara knew without question that the curvaceous figure, standing on the porch beside a stooped older man she presumed to be Smitty, had to match Gabe’s flippant definition of “no one I’m concerned about.”
“This should be interesting,” Sara said out loud.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE LAST PERSON Gabe wanted to find on his front porch when he brought his new family home was Veronica Kincaid. But there she was. As big as life, and obviously itching for a fight.
He’d known, of course, he’d have to face Ronnie sooner or later. But Gabe had assumed it would be later, and on his own terms.
He stole another look at Sara and immediately regretted his decision to sidestep the issue when she’d pointedly asked him about anyone being unhappy with his decision. But Gabe could come closer to explaining Einstein’s theory of relativity than he could to explaining his misguided relationship with Ronnie Kincaid.
For years, everyone had assumed he and Ronnie would end up together. Mainly because Ronnie’s ranch, the Flying-K, bordered Gabe’s own property. And next to the Crested-C, the Flying-K was the largest ranch in Pitkin County.
But Gabe knew people also took their relationship for granted because Ronnie spent most of her time telling anyone who would listen that she intended to marry him come hell or high water. The feeling, however, had never been mutual.
And not because the lady wasn’t pleasing to the eye.
Ronnie was downright beautiful. They’d even had a few lust-filled moments over the years—after all, he was only human. But lust was one thing. And settling down with any woman on a permanent basis wasn’t going to happen.
Especially not Ronnie.
Gabe would sooner cuddle up with a timber rattler than he would his pushy neighbor. Ronnie was cold, she was ruthless, and she was willing to bulldoze over anything or anyone in her path to get what she wanted. If she hadn’t been so stubborn, Gabe suspected she would have moved on and found some other guy to badger and harass. But the more he’d ignored her, the more determined Ronnie had become to reel him in. She’d even gone as far as bragging that she’d have him at the altar by Christmas this year.
And that’s why Ronnie was standing on his porch now. Her own bragging had made her a laughingstock.
And no one laughed at Ronnie Kincaid.
Gabe reluctantly brought the truck to a stop several yards away, fully aware of the fury that awaited him. “If you don’t mind,” he told Sara, “I’d rather you and Ben wait here for a few minutes.”
When Sara nodded in agreement, Gabe headed toward the two surly figures who were now glaring at him.
“IS UNCLE GABE in trouble, Mom? Those people sound really mad.”
“Your uncle can take care of himself,” Sara told her son, handing Ben a coloring book to distract him from the angry voices that reached them.
Ben taken care of, Sara looked back at the porch.
The woman was strikingly beautiful.
; And the way Gabe took her firmly by the arm and led her around the side of the house, Sara knew this woman had a past with Gabe—an intimate past. One he’d tossed aside for Ben. It was all Sara could do to keep from opening the door and throwing up out of pure guilt.
She’d been so busy feeling sorry for herself she hadn’t stopped to realize the person making the ultimate sacrifice wasn’t her at all—it was Gabe. It was Gabe’s world they were intruding upon. Gabe’s plans they were ruining. Gabe’s life they were changing.
The old man was still glued to the spot on the porch, leaning on a cane and holding a suitcase in his free hand. When he frowned in Sara’s direction, another wave of guilt swept over her.
“Stay in the truck, Ben,” Sara ordered.
She made her way steadily to where the old man was standing. And when she reached the bottom step, Sara shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand and met the man’s angry regard.
“I’m Sara,” she offered, “and you must be Smitty.”
“That’s what my friends call me.” The old man grunted, dismissing her coldly.
Sara refused to be put off by his rudeness.
“I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re leaving,” Sara told him. “If you’re leaving because of me and my son, I’m truly sorry.”
He glanced in her direction briefly, but remained unyielding. “Ain’t it a little late to be sorry? You got what you wanted. Gabe married you.”
Sara dropped her hand and pretended to stare out over the ranch the same way Smitty was pretending to do. “Yes, Gabe and I did get married,” Sara said. “And we’ve agreed if things aren’t working after six months, Ben and I will leave. But I’ll leave right now before I run you out of your own home. And I mean that sincerely.”
Smitty still refused to look at her. “Don’t you worry about me, missy,” he said. “I’ve made my own arrangements. Ronnie Kincaid’s been trying to steal me away from Gabe for years. She’s here to pick me up now. I’m her new foreman over at the Flying-K.”
The fact that the woman was a rancher, too, had little to do with the situation, and Sara knew it. Sara hadn’t missed her “How could you do this to me?” screech at Gabe. If anything, Sara suspected the woman’s attempt to hire Smitty had been nothing more than a ruse to put her on the scene when Gabe drove up with his new family in tow.
Sara said, “Then I guess there’s been a big misunderstanding.”
He glanced in her direction, but Sara knew he was too proud to ask what she meant.
“I was under the impression Gabe really needed you on the ranch. He told me you knew more about ranching than he would ever know.”
The old man stood a little straighter and actually puffed his chest out a bit. “Gabe said that, did he?”
Sara nodded innocently. “He also said you were the backbone of this ranch, and that he was glad I could take over the house and the cooking so you could get back to running the ranch the way it should be run.”
She was stretching the truth, but her words seemed to be working. Smitty lowered his suitcase slowly, then shifted his weight back to his cane. “Well, I guess I could stay on at least a week or two,” he grumbled, meeting her eyes fully for the first time. “Just until you get settled in, that is,” he added. “Gabe can’t do everything around here. He’ll need someone to show you what needs to be done in the house.”
“I’d really appreciate that,” Sara said, but she noticed his gaze had suddenly drifted past her. When Sara turned, Ben was standing only a few feet away, accepting lavish kisses from a large black-and-white dog.
“Could you show me how to rope one of those horses so I could ride him, mister?” Ben asked, petting the dog’s head with one hand while pointing to the pasture at the side of the house with the other.
When Sara glanced back at Smitty, the old man’s face crumpled right before her eyes. By the time Ben and the big dog bounded up the steps, Smitty was wiping his eyes with a red and white bandanna he’d pulled from the back pocket of his overalls. He didn’t object when Ben reached out and took his hand.
“Gabe said Ben looks exactly like Billy did when he was that age,” Sara mentioned.
“Spittin’ image,” Smitty managed to say in a slightly choked voice. “And that’s a fact.”
“Well, can you, mister?” Ben asked, oblivious to the emotion he had stirred. “Can you get me one of those horses to ride? Uncle Gabe said I can’t go near the horses unless a grown-up goes with me.”
“You can call me Smitty, son,” the old man said, then started down the steps with Ben leading the way. “But the first thing any good horseman learns is that you have to make friends with a horse before you can ride him.”
“Will you show me how?”
“Making friends with a horse takes time,” Smitty said with authority. “Now take that big roan stallion over there by the side of the fence,” he said, pointing to the horse with his cane. “Old Bruiser can be real friendly, or he can be real mean. You see, it’s all in the way you handle a horse, Ben….”
Sara couldn’t suppress a smile as she watched the twosome stroll off in the direction of the pasture with the big dog following closely at their heels. But her smile evaporated when movement from the corner of her eye warned Sara she was no longer alone. Turning around, Sara found herself face-to-face with the woman Smitty had identified as Ronnie Kincaid.
Her jet-black hair was cut short like a man’s, but it suited her. And her skin was as smooth and tanned as the expensive leather boots she wore. She was tall and she was lean. Her tight-fitting jeans showed off every inch of her long, perfect legs.
Sara immediately felt drab in this woman’s presence.
She gave Sara a quick look up and down and dismissed her just as rapidly. But when she saw Smitty holding Ben up on the fence so he could rub a big chestnut horse between the ears, she stomped off in a huff toward a black Suburban that was parked at the far end of the porch. Within seconds, Sara found herself fanning away the dust left in the wake of the irate Miss Kincaid.
“Sorry about the interruption,” Gabe said nonchalantly as he walked up beside her. He smiled when he looked toward the pasture. “Looks like Smitty’s decided to stay on. What did you say to make him stay?”
Determined to act every bit as nonchalant as Gabe, Sara shrugged. “I told Smitty the truth. That Ben and I would leave before we ran him out of his own home.”
Gabe frowned. “You aren’t having second thoughts are you, Sara?”
Shouldn’t I be having second thoughts after the scene I witnessed? Sara wanted to scream. His girlfriend had thrown a full-blown hissy fit right in the middle of the yard. And Gabe had the nerve to stroll up acting like the welcome committee had paid them all a social call.
But Sara took a deep breath and said, “It’s obvious us being here is causing you major problems, Gabe. We can still call this whole thing off, you know. Whether you believe it or not, you don’t owe Ben a thing.”
His frown deepened at her last comment.
He pointed to the pasture where Ben and Smitty now had several horses vying for their attention. “I want you to look out there right now and tell me you can’t already see that Ben belongs here.”
Sara refused to admit any such thing.
“I can take care of my own problems, Sara. All you have to do is take care of Ben.”
Then he was gone.
Leaving Sara standing in the yard, still shivering from Ronnie Kincaid’s icy glare, and trying to convince herself she wouldn’t care if the man she’d married ended up in another woman’s bed when the sun went down.
GABE COULD FEEL the weight of Sara’s stare as he walked toward the pasture, but he never looked back. She hadn’t questioned him about the scene with Ronnie, but Gabe felt guilty for not trying to explain. At the moment, however, Gabe’s belly was full of trying to talk logically to any member of the opposite sex.
He’d let Ronnie vent her anger, reminding her that he’d never led her on as she accused, and th
at she’d always known nothing serious was ever going to develop between them. He’d also pointed out that she knew full well the two of them had never discussed a wedding date—ever—and certainly not for December. And he’d told her that despite what she thought of his decision to marry his nephew’s mother, the case was closed and his decision was final.
He’d managed to keep his composure through her screams and insults. He’d even taken the hard slap in the face she’d given him when they first rounded the corner of the house. It wasn’t until Ronnie threatened Ben and Sara that Gabe lost control.
He’d ordered Ronnie off his property.
And in doing so, Gabe knew he’d made a bitter enemy.
Anyone would testify that Ronnie Kincaid was not someone you wanted for an enemy. And Gabe knew he’d have his hands full over the next few months trying to run interference and protect Ben and Sara from the woman’s unfounded wrath.
When he reached the pasture, Gabe propped himself casually against a fence post directly beside Smitty. “Looks like your new boss left without you, old man,” Gabe said. “If you need transportation over to the Flying-K, you can take the flatbed and I’ll send one of the hands after it later.”
Smitty adjusted his grip on Ben, who was now leaning over the fence to pet a colt. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Smitty snapped. “It would be just like you to spread it all over town that I walked off the Crested-C after forty years without giving notice.”
Gabe shrugged, perfectly comfortable with the bantering that had always gone on between them. “Well, it would be pretty low-down of a foreman to walk off the job without giving any notice.”
“If you think you’re gonna ruin my reputation, sonny boy, then you’re badly mistaken,” Smitty said.
“You’re staying on, then?” Gabe egged things on a little further.
Smitty reached out to shove Bruiser’s nose away when the big horse pushed his muzzle a little too close to Ben for Smitty’s liking. “I’ll stay a while,” Smitty said. “That gal you brought home will have to be shown what needs to be done around here.”
A Ranch Called Home Page 6