Also by Irene Vartanoff
Selkirk Family Ranch Series:
Captive of the Cattle Baron
Saving the Soldier
Temporary Superheroine Series:
Temporary Superheroine
Crisis at Comicon
Women's Fiction:
Summer in the City
A Daughter's a Daughter
Romance:
Second Chance Reunion
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Irene Vartanoff
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, organizations, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, or to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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Formatting by Polgarus Studio
Copyright © 2017 by Irene Vartanoff All rights reserved.
Published by Irene Vartanoff
www.irenevartanoff.com
P.O. Box 27
Gerrardstown, WV 25420
ISBN 978-0-9968403-6-1 ebook
ISBN 978-0-9968403-7-8 print
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
A Note from the Author
Also by Irene Vartanoff
Chapter 1
“Tess! Turn this way, sweetie! Tess! How do you feel about getting arrested? Tess! Is this your first DUI?”
Tess Selkirk tossed her long dark hair, trying to look confident and together. The police had given her back her purse, with her hairbrush inside. She didn’t look disheveled, exactly. More like rode hard and put away wet. Dang it.
As she walked toward the lawyer’s car, the paparazzi cameras flashed in her eyes. So many of them. They probably staked out the Hollywood police stations every night, just waiting for someone to screw up.
Like her.
She wanted to put up an arm and cover her face, but the lawyer, Marty, had warned her not to. “Don’t act guilty or ashamed.”
Nice of him not to add, “Even if you feel that way.”
He also warned her not to respond in any way to the coaxing cries of the gossip-mongering horde. In what he must have thought an inspiration, Marty suggested, “Act like they’re your cows mooing.”
Cows. The family ranch was not a dairy farm, but what was the point explaining? People in California didn’t know about Wyoming ranches. She was a long way from home tonight.
She kept her head level and let Marty lead her to his limo. Didn’t everybody exiting a Los Angeles police station after being arrested for drunk driving have a lawyer and a limo to take them away?
She hoped Paula wouldn’t see this, but if Paula was at the ranch right now, she’d be sure to. The housekeeper, Miss Betty, kept the television on all day and would surely blast this piece of news. Dang again.
Now she’d done it.
The fumes had dissipated an hour ago. They liked to drag things out at police stations. It was three a.m. and she was still legally drunk, but she could think again. She wanted to bury her head in her hands and wail, but what was the point?
Her head hurt. Why did she drink? She knew better. She knew it never solved her problems. How dare she even have any problems, anyway? She was a huge success in Hollywood. She’d leapt ahead of thousands of other girls, girls who’d gone to acting schools and even gotten MFAs, girls who’d been acting since they were tots. Girls who deserved to be successful because they’d worked so hard to get here. Not like Tess Selkirk.
Acting in a few school plays was the sum total of her experience before she came out here almost three years ago. She’d never even taken an acting class. She’d wanted it, wanted it desperately.
The lights of the city spun past her window. She might be a little dizzy still.
Marty, a frankly balding, comfortably chunky man who must be pushing forty, said, “You’ll get off easy this first time. We’ll do our best to suppress the street racing part of the incident, and focus on telling the judge this is your first DUI.”
“Isn’t there any way to get them to just forget it?”
His facial muscles tensed before he said, “I hope you didn’t offer the police officer who picked you up a bribe. That won’t sit well.”
“Didn’t think of that. Would it have worked?”
He shook his head. “The LAPD prefers to arrest showbiz types who try to get around the law. Takes them down a peg.”
“I’m not a big star or anything.”
“From the number of tabloid reporters we saw at the station, you’re interesting enough. Young and pretty. You make a good story.”
She didn’t feel young or pretty at the moment, but who did with a hangover coming on?
Marty said, “The judge will fine you and put you on probation. If you keep your nose clean, that’ll be the end of it. Next time will be tougher.”
She stirred. “Next time?”
Marty shrugged and leaned back in his corner so she couldn’t see his expression clearly. “My clients usually find themselves in trouble a few times before they deal with whatever’s making them…ah…get into trouble.”
“That’s cynical.”
“Your friend Caz is an exception, but many of my actor clients are repeat offenders.”
“I’m glad you took Caz’s call tonight. Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
“I’m happy to help a friend of Caz’s. He’s a good guy.”
“He got me my first role. He’s best friends with my sister-in-law, Addie Jelleff.”
“I know Addie. She helped us when Caz got in trouble with the law in Jackson Hole.”
After a minute of silence, she asked, “Any idea what this DUI will do to my career?”
“Nothing, if you don’t do it again.”
She thought about that. “But I like to go to bars and have a good time.”
His answer came quickly, still in that calm, everyday voice. “Simple solution. Hire a limo service or get a private driver. Then drinking doesn’t involve you with the law. For right now, damage control.”
He described what she should wear to her hearing, which was scheduled for two days later.
What could she say? What was there to say? She’d screwed up. She couldn’t be dropped from any acting gigs right now because she was between them, waiting on no less than five television pilots to be picked up. Or not. But she’d smeared her reputation, and some movie directors and TV showrunners might pass by her name instead of considering her for roles she didn’t even know about yet. Triple dang.
<
br /> She’d been so angry. That was why. Angry at her brother, JD, for holding roundup on the ranch early this year and not telling her. Which she’d just found out tonight. Better not go there, or she’d be demanding that Marty pull over at the nearest liquor store.
She was lonely here in California. Lonely for Wyoming, and for the ranch, and for her family. There wasn’t enough to do, though she tried to keep busy. Too many of her new friends weren’t the athletic type. Gordon Moldoff, a sweetie from the design side, only wanted to bar hop. He was still looking for his true love in every gayborhood in the city. Chloe Cole, another designer, was kind of snarky and fun, but she was seldom around. Tess had met them when Caz invited her to his movie set. His big break. He’d made the leap from being a television star in a cop show to acting in a superhero movie. He was perfect for a superhero, all golden hair and sculpted muscles. Hollywood buff. Of course he got his muscles at the gym, not chasing criminals or using superpowers.
Or riding horses and chasing down cattle. When would she ever get a chance to do that again? JD hadn’t bothered inviting her to roundup the last three years, despite it being a family tradition to get together and help the ranch hands round up all the cattle. She’d thought she’d gotten through to him three months ago, at their elder brother Baron’s wedding. But no.
When Paula had let drop that roundup this year had already happened, Tess knew. JD must have rescheduled deliberately so she’d missed it again. After she got off the phone with her best friend and sister-in-law, Tess had headed out in her car, looking for trouble. She knew herself all too well. Openly confronting JD, with his sarcastic nastiness, was beyond her. As for Rolf Pedersen, the ranch manager who claimed he cared for her, he didn’t support her against JD. He and JD had been close army buddies in Iraq. Rolf ran the day-to-day at the ranch while JD took care of the business end. Without consulting her, like, ever.
She shifted in her corner of the limo. Thinking about how JD had cut her out of having a say on the ranch riled her. Their father always ignored her opinions, too. Now Dad was retired and with a bad heart, living in Mobile, Alabama, far from Wyoming. It was up to the three of them, Baron, JD, and Tess, to run the ranch. But JD wouldn’t let her in.
Why did she even think about these things, when no one in her family wanted her involved? They didn’t want a girl running a ranch, although lots of women did.
The car reached her gated community at last. Back in Wyoming, they had gates, but those were to keep the cattle in. From their first gate to the main ranch house was five miles, and strangers didn’t drive in without an invite. Here, the paparazzi had to be kept out, so the guards were really strict. Even if somebody from inside went for a run outside, they had to show ID when they tried to re-enter. When she first moved here, she’d gotten stopped numerous times, until she remembered to always carry her ID. Not the way it was in Wyoming, where everybody knew her.
The driver pulled up in front of her townhouse. She and Marty got out. He made sure she had her keys, and even unlocked her house door for her. She thanked him again.
“This will blow over, Tess. You’ll see.” He tipped a salute and walked back to the limo. The black car smoothly accelerated.
The car moved off. She was alone again. Tess turned around and went inside, carefully locking the door behind her. They never had to lock doors at the ranch. She sank to the floor, sobbing.
Chapter 2
Rolf Pedersen couldn’t help overhearing the loud family confrontation in the Selkirk ranch kitchen. He was down the hall in the business office with the door closed when Baron’s shouts jolted him into running. For a change, running toward the sounds, not away.
“Damn them all! Hollywood kills women! I won’t let that happen to my baby sister!” Baron’s deep voice resounded through the ranch house. Rolf reached the doorway and saw Baron, the eldest Selkirk brother, Addie Jelleff, his wife, and the housekeeper, Miss Betty, ranged around the wall-mounted television. Baron was a big man. Slender, blond Addie appeared unmoved by his violent outburst. She was always the calm one.
The scrawny old lady was standing close to the stove, wearing an apron, holding a long wooden spoon in her hand. “Now calm down, boy. It’s just a DUI. Not the end of the earth.”
They’d been watching one of Miss Betty’s endless gossip programs, looked like. The voice from the television droned on unheeded, but a photo of Tess Selkirk, looking very worse for the wear, obviously a mugshot, was on screen, alternating between shots of Tess in her acting roles.
Addie frowned at the television. “The tabloids will nose out all the DUIs Tess had in Cheyenne.”
“What?” Baron shouted. “What DUIs?”
The wooden spoon slipped from Miss Betty’s hand and fell on the counter, splattering tomato sauce. “What are you talkin’ about? All’s I heard was the child drank a bit too much while she was waitin’ on her brother to recover from his war wounds.”
Addie looked from one to the other. “When I first was a…guest on this ranch,” she raised a significant eyebrow at Baron, who flushed, “Tess came visiting. She was drunk when she arrived. She drank the rest of that first day.”
“She promised she’d straighten up,” Baron shouted.
Addie said, “She drank until JD left the VA hospital.”
“And Paula covered it up?” Baron paced the kitchen like a caged animal. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because running your sister’s life is not your job,” Addie said, exasperation in her tone.
Miss Betty offered, “Miss Paula’s a fine woman. Done a world o’ good for JD. He’s back in the saddle and happier than ever.”
Baron gestured with his hand to shove that aside. “What happened with the DUIs?”
Addie stared at her husband, obviously gauging how much of the truth to tell him while he was still yelling. He was supposedly in anger management therapy but it didn’t look to be working today.
Baron visibly restrained himself. In a far calmer voice he said, “Please, sweetheart, tell me.”
Addie eyed his changed demeanor approvingly. “I don’t know all the details, but Paula let drop that she’d used her influence—or maybe the Selkirk family influence—to erase several incidents.”
“Mom and Dad never noticed anything, that’s for sure,” he muttered.
“Nor did you,” Addie said. “You were too busy hating carrying the ranch on your shoulders alone.”
“Great, now everything here is okay, and Tess is screwing up in Hollywood,” he said, his voice angry again. “I won’t let California kill her.” Baron slammed his hand flat on a counter for emphasis. “I’m going out there and dragging her back.”
“No, you won’t,” Addie said. She had her hands on her hips, telling off her man despite the inches he had on her. “Tess is a grown woman, not a little kid.”
“She’s my little sister,” Baron said in a pained tone of voice. “I have to save her.”
“It’s one DUI. One,” Addie said. “Give her a chance to straighten up.”
“Could she get dropped from her television show for this?” Miss Betty asked anxiously.
“I’m not sure,” Addie said, turning her head to address the older woman. “I think she’s between contracts.”
“Why do women want to go to Hollywood, anyway?” Baron asked. His expression showed angry bafflement.
“Don’t look at me,” Addie said with a wry grin. “I was a kid when my parents signed me up. I had no idea what I was getting into.”
Baron caressed the side of her face with one large hand. “But somehow you grew up with your head on straight.”
Addie appeared caught in his gaze. The chemistry between them was that potent. But not enough to divert Baron for long. He dropped his hand, reverting to his angry mood. “I’ve got to save Tess. I’ll go to California and get her.”
Addie shook her head emphatically. “Tess has had her life interfered with too much already.”
It was Baron’s turn to wince.
Addie had reminded him of the family’s many difficulties since JD was wounded in Iraq.
“She was happy for the first couple of years,” Miss Betty said.
“I don’t know what the problem is,” Addie said. “She’d probably only tell Paula.”
“Then we’ll get Paula to call her,” Baron said.
“No, ya don’t,” Miss Betty said, shaking her head. “Miss Paula’s got to think of the baby she’s carryin’. No stress. No worries.”
“She loves Tess. She’d want to rescue her.” Addie said.
“Guess that leaves me,” Rolf said. Everyone turned to look at him. He had the grace to look abashed. “You were shouting. I couldn’t help overhearing.”
“This is family business,” Baron said, stiffly.
Addie put a hand on his upper arm, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Rolf. “You and Tess were dancing really close at our wedding reception, I remember.”
He felt his cheeks heating, the curse of being a Nordic blond. He hoped his tan covered the hot blood surging in his veins at the remembrance of that dance. Close dancing with Tess Selkirk had led to the best night of his life. Maybe the worst one for Tess. He couldn’t be sure.
“I, uh, I’m concerned about your sister,” he addressed Baron. “Soon as JD returns, I’ll go out to Los Angeles and see if I can’t bring her back here, help straighten her out if she needs straightening.”
Baron’s frown lightened. “Good man. You do that.” He turned to Addie. “Okay, solved. Let’s go home.”
Addie gave her husband a look as if to say he wasn’t fooling her. She put an arm around him. Somehow the slender former actress seemed in that moment bigger and taller than Baron’s muscular bulk.
With JD gone again, Baron had come over here to talk business with Rolf. Rolf wasn’t the man in charge. The Selkirk ranch was a huge operation, much more than a normal man could handle. JD was busy carving it into smaller pieces, with Baron’s help. What did Tess make of that? What could Rolf do to convince Tess to come back to the ranch?
Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3) Page 1