Chance For Love (Colorado Blues)

by Harrison, Ann B

  She nodded her head and wavered on her feet. Chance dropped her hand and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her the support he thought she needed. Elvis cleared his throat and began. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”

  ***

  She rested her head against the cool glass of the window in the big black truck. They had shared a glass of champagne with Elvis and the two witnesses he’d supplied before signing all the legal paperwork. It was only then that they managed to speak to each other.

  “Let’s get going. It’s a long drive back home to the ranch.” Chance had taken her hand and the old bag she’d left in the limousine when she’d arrived and hurried her out to the car park and into his truck. It wasn’t until they were on the road and away from the hustle and bustle of the town that he had spoken to her again.

  “You okay? Anything I can get you?”

  Callie watched his strong hands gripping the steering wheel and glanced at his face. The scar was more prominent than she thought it had been in his photograph. Mind you, she hadn’t been very interested in scars when the picture had come through. Why a man as handsome as Chance was would have to advertise for a bride had triggered her interest. She’d fired up the old computer at home and Googled him. Nothing came up and she’d wondered why. Now Callie knew it was because he didn’t go by his real name, at least not the name he’d given her when they were sorting out paperwork. Mitchell Roger Chance Watson. And she’d thought it was because she didn’t really know what she was doing. Being computer savvy was her sister’s thing, not hers. Callie preferred to be oblivious to the outside world.

  “No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

  “Now might be the time to ask me some more questions since you didn’t seem too interested when we were online. Don’t you want to know more about me?”

  She sighed and looked across the short distance between them. “Fine. You said you were a cripple but you only use a cane. Seems you’re still quite mobile to me. What happened that you needed to go and find a wife with an advertisement?”

  His mouth twisted and he kept his gaze on the road ahead. “Well now.” His American drawl prickled her skin sending a shiver up her spine. “I had an accident. Bull by the name of Terror tried his best to kill me. Didn’t work but busted my hip up pretty good and left me with a cane and this deadly scar down my face.”

  Callie smiled to herself. The scar gave him a sinister look she quite liked. Mysterious and intriguing. “I’m sure someone with your attributes would have plenty of women after you, and that scar isn’t enough in my mind to deter anyone.”

  “The cane is. I don’t want a sympathy bride.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “So why did you mention it in the ad then?” She picked at the broken nail on her hand, rubbing it against her lip before chewing it loose. It all seemed just a little bit dramatic to her. There had to be more to this story than he was telling her.

  “I wanted to see if it would put you off. You see, I’m used to people pandering to me because of who I am. I figured if I said I was a crippled rancher who needed hard working help, it might get me someone who really was interested in me and not my money or my fame.”

  A mix of emotions rolled around in her stomach. Money and fame. Two things she knew nothing about. “Gee, thanks for telling me that now.”

  “Why, would you have come if I’d said I was rich?” He smirked in her direction before looking back at the road.

  “Who knows? I have experience with neither so it’s all new territory to me. But I don’t understand it, why you would want a bride from Australia who now sounds like she won’t fit in with your lifestyle? Seems like you could have anyone you wanted if you could get past that chip on our shoulder.” She looked at him trying to figure out what he was hiding from her. “You know why I took the job—I have no money which I desperately needed and no prospects, but I’m a hard worker.”

  “I don’t have a chip on my shoulder.”

  “Just telling it how I see it.” She looked out the window at the desert. No point pulling punches with this guy. She wasn’t used to saying things just to make people feel better. Callie couldn’t see the point of sugar coating anything when the truth did just fine.

  “Now see, that’s exactly why I chose you; your attitude to life. And it’s not like you’re not easy on the eye. You obviously don’t have expensive tastes and high expectations like most of the women I know. You were keen to marry to get security, but don’t mind working for it too.” He tapped his long fingers on the steering wheel. “I checked you out, Callie. You seem like a nice person and I want a normal life. I’m sick of the circus being in the public eye is and now my career is over thanks to Terror, who you will meet tomorrow. I want someone who is prepared to work on a marriage and a life. I don’t know any women who would be prepared to take that on with me unable to do as much as I’m expecting from you.”

  She glanced at him. “What did you do?”

  “I was a bull rider on the rodeo circuit. Did really well for myself too, but the last accident was the one that ended that career for good.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Surely you must have friends who could help you out though, or family. Seems kind of extreme to me to marry someone just for that.”

  “My brothers have their own lives. I don’t expect them to drop everything to help me while letting their own places slide backwards. Besides, I have breeding program worked out and I need to be there to oversee it. I need you to be my legs until I can cope on my own if that will ever happen.” He took a deep breath. “And in return, you get a handsome payout for every year we’re together.”

  Callie swallowed. It was too late for pride to rear its ugly head. She’d already banked the first check and paid out most of the family’s urgent debts. The bank would come after her for more sooner or later, but for now they were happy with what she’d given them. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  The sun started to disappear behind a cloud and she rubbed her arms. The dress wasn’t warm enough for the cool of the day as it got closer to late afternoon.

  “Here,” Chance hooked his jacket from over the back of his seat and pushed it toward her. “Put this on, it gets pretty cool out here from midafternoon on. Do you have anything warm in your bag? You didn’t bring many clothes with you.”

  “I don’t have much. Never saw the point of it really. Just a couple pairs of jeans, and shirts, and my work boots. Never had reason for a pretty dress like this one.”

  “We’ll drive until its dark and then find a motel on the highway. Once we get closer to the ranch I’ll stop and you can get some more clothes. No point freezing your butt off out here. Snow’s already on the hills.”

  She smiled whipping her head around to look at him. “Snow. Really? I’ve never seen it, apart from on the television.”

  “It can be beautiful, but then again it can be deadly out here. Not much fun getting caught out in a blizzard so you need to be careful. Then again, damndest things always happen around then too. A cow will go and calf right when the worst hits so we gotta go bring them in or risk losing the calf.”

  “Don’t you bring them closer to the home paddock when they’re about to calf? It’s what we do.” She looked out over the hills and the wide open spaces and sighed at the amount of rich green grass she saw. What they wouldn’t give to have this in Australia instead of being permanently stuck in a drought.

  “Yes we do, but it doesn’t always work out. Seems at least once a season there will be some old girl who just slips away to do her own thing when she thinks nobody is looking. Truth be told, she’s usually right. I’ve had different people looking after the place while I’ve been out on the circuit with good and bad results. Now I’m not able to anymore”—he gestured to his bad leg—“it’s up to you and me to do the best we can with the place.”

  “Right. So is that leg going to get any better or is that what you’re left with?” She looked at the cane wondering if it was going to be a permanent fixt
ure in their lives.

  “Would it worry you if it was?” His dark eyes bored into hers.

  “No. Just asking. I mean if you need to have me do physio or anything like that, I think you’re out of luck. Never was that good at massaging or anything like that.” She thought over her words and blushed. Idiot! Callie turned back to the window, hiding her flaming cheeks from Chance. She could hear his soft laugh and wanted to crawl under the seat.

  “I have to go back into hospital in a few weeks to get the pins out of my hip, but Doc doesn’t see me getting much more mobile than I am right now.” He paused for a moment. “I’m sure when the cold sets in a massage would probably be just what I need to keep the movement up. It tends to get sore when it’s cold.”

  “That’s a shame, for you I mean. Must be hard to take after the life you’ve led.” She ignored the massage reference, preferring not to think of him half naked and under her hands. Not a blushing virgin, Callie still hadn’t had many lovers and the thought of seeing this hunky cowboy in the nude was tempting and enough to make her girly bits stand up and take notice.

  “It wasn’t pleasant to wake up to.” He kept his eyes on the road and Callie settled down to a quiet ride. She had just nodded off when the truck pulled into a motel and she jolted awake. The neon red lights on the roof flashed off and on. She tried to wake herself up but when Chance put his hand on her shoulder and told her to stay where she was, she closed her eyes again and let herself drift off to another place.

  The cool air startled her and she woke up as Chance opened the door of the truck. “Wake up, Callie. Time for bed.”

  Bed? No, not yet please. I’m not ready. I had hoped I could get to know you first before we did that. She struggled to wake up and slid down out of the truck. She held his jacket closer to her body and looked at the partially open door of the hotel room in front of them. Slowly she followed her new husband inside. The large bed was in the center of the room with a couple of armchairs to one side with a large television screen stuck in the middle of the wall. A tiny fridge was under a counter top where Chance placed her bag.

  When he turned away and walked back out, she glanced around, poking her nose into the small en-suite they would have to share.

  “You go first if you want. I’m going to sit down and put my leg up for a bit. Maybe have a beer.” He threw his bag beside hers and rubbed his hip before ambling over to an armchair. “I ordered room service so we don’t have to go out in public. I doubt you would be happy with being swarmed by a bunch of unruly women.”

  “No. Thanks. Um, do you want me to do anything for you, get you some pain killers or something?”

  “No, but thanks for the offer. I’ve got it covered.”

  She hurried over to her hold all and took out her bathroom bag along with a set of clean clothing she could sleep in. Slamming the door shut behind her, Callie sagged against it. This was all a very bad idea. Moving to another country to marry a man she’d never met was bordering on pathologically unsafe and insane. But at the time she saw his ad, there had been no other option and she couldn’t bear to tell her grandparents how bad things really were.

  Connecting with her maternal grandparents wasn’t really an option either, no matter what she’d told her grandfather. She had no idea who they were and if they were even still alive. Not that she would go begging for money from them anyway. They’d never shown a scrap of interest in her or her sisters from what she could understand, so why would they help out now when their daughter was dead and buried in another country?

  She looked at her reflection in the mirror over the white porcelain sink. Her eyes had shadows underneath them and her skin was pasty white under the fluorescent lights. Callie was tired and hungry, but the main problem was her nerves. This was her wedding night and whether she liked it or not, she had to consummate the marriage sooner or later. It was in the contract she signed before Chance bought her ticket and paid money into her bank account. She twirled the ring around on her finger, looking at the wide platinum band studded with diamonds. It looked out of place on her finger. Her hands were tanned and strong, but it was the chewed and broken nails that she focused on now. Cattle and horses never cared if she had a manicure or not. Her husband had brought home a farming girl from the outback, where as she would have thought he would be more suited to someone that moved in the same circles he did. One that was used to flashy hotel rooms and butler service.

  She unzipped her bathroom bag and took out a toothbrush and toothpaste, squirting a long line on the bristles. Callie put it in her mouth and mindlessly brushed away, wondering how she was going to get out of having sex tonight.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The look of panic in her eyes told Chance his new wife was not looking forward to sharing his bed this evening even though on paper it was part of the agreement. She’d made a deal and he was going to make her stick to it eventually. Besides, he was intrigued with her. He still couldn’t believe she’d gone through with the deal. Hell, he couldn’t quite believe he’d advertised for a wife either. But for the last week he’d been sure she would renege on the agreement and he would be out of pocket for her expenses plus the wallop of cash he’d deposited in her bank account.

  The search he’d done on her had brought up more than he had expected. Left with no parents and twin sisters to raise after her parents had been killed in an automobile accident, it seemed as though Callie had no option but to take a risk on him. The debt recovery notices out on her family home were enough to make him worry she would take the money and run, but she hadn’t. She’d arrived at the hotel and settled in for a night.

  Bronson, the butler from the hotel, had called him to let him know she was well and he would have her at the chapel the following day at the correct time. It paid to have friends amongst the places he frequented often. Sadly now that wouldn’t happen but he didn’t regret his decision to put all of his energies into getting the ranch working to full capacity and saying goodbye to the life of a playboy.

  Having the farming experience she had, Callie would be very handy to have around. She wasn’t after him for his status or money. His money—well yes, to an extent, but he’d gone into that deal willingly once he’d seen her profile picture and read her story. And he would have offered the same deal to anyone who took his fancy and kept the deal a secret from the public. But he wanted someone honest and down to earth, and what better way than to place an ad for a hard worker.

  He rubbed at his hip, wishing the long drive was over. A good night’s sleep in his own bed was calling to him, but the thought of flying in and out of Las Vegas to save time made his skin crawl. Once one of his favorite haunts, being there today had shown him how much he had changed in the last few months knowing his time in the public eye was over. It was like shutting a door on his other life and not having any qualms about doing it which he was finding hard to believe. Getting back home and showing Callie around, introducing her to his brothers, and exploring the ranch with her was foremost in his mind now. After a good night’s sleep and some pain relief that was.

  It seemed she spent a long time in the bathroom and their dinner was here and there was still no sign of her. Chance had to go and knock on the door and let her know the food was waiting to get her out. She emerged with a pair of track pants and an old T-shirt on. Her hair was damp and pulled up into a messy knot on the back of her head, and her face was drawn and pale. He wanted to scrape back the missed strands of hair and tuck them behind her ear.

  “Dinner’s here. Eat up and then we can get an early night. It’s still a fairly big drive tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, but I’m not really that hungry.” She hugged her arms around her body and Chance noticed the perky nipples under the thin cotton of her threadbare shirt.

  “You have to eat. You’re supposed to look after me, remember? How can you do that if you don’t eat enough to feed a prairie dog?” She blushed under his scrutiny. “Sit down and dig in.”

  A small table had been moved to
between the armchairs and covered trays were place on either side of it. He watched Callie sit down and lift the cover. She sniffed as the steam from the fried chicken and gravy wafted from the plate. “Smells pretty good.”

  “Tastes good too. Can’t beat a plate of fried chicken and gravy. Unless it’s a good steak that is.” He sat down and lifted the cover from his plate and picked up his knife and fork. The first mouthful was heaven on his tongue. Crispy fried chicken and mashed potatoes drenched in rich brown gravy had the ability to make his taste buds stand up and pay attention every single time.

  Chance watched her devour the plate of food from the corner of his eye and smiled to himself. He hated a woman who denied herself a decent meal to garner the look of a half-starved waif because she thought it was the in thing. Callie was muscled but still managed to look stick thin. He figured a good bout of sickness would have her fading away to nothing. Fattening her up a little just became top priority for him. It would be nice to see her curves fill out and the paleness leave her face.

  “Good wasn’t it?” He smiled as she wiped the final dregs of gravy from her plate with the small dinner roll. She put it in her mouth and leaned back in the chair, her eyes closed in pleasure as she chewed on the final bite. As she swallowed, Chance glanced at her from under his lashes, mesmerized by how her throat worked, and heat simmered in his gut. She was gorgeous. The most natural woman he had seen in a long time. No vestige of makeup marred her skin on their wedding day and she had no airs and graces. A simple down to earth girl who would fit in at the ranch with him to make the place something to be proud of.

  “Very. You were right, I needed that.” Callie glanced in his direction and he watched the heat race up her cheeks.

  “Go to bed, Callie. I’m not an animal so don’t worry that I’m going to force you tonight.”

  He saw the relief as a long breath shuddered from her body and her shoulders slumped. A quick sheen of tears filled her eyes and she lifted a hand to her mouth, biting down on the skin. Chance twisted in his chair as far as his bad hip would allow and reached over to take her hand.