“If things worked out that way, I’ve got a little money put away and would take less of a salary so it wouldn’t hurt the business.”
Carson studied him for a minute. “Just so you guys know, I’ve been looking over the books, and I say we keep the dude ranch open over the winter and see what happens. We’ve already had guests call us about doing some hunting in the winter months and have booked a couple of the cabins.”
“That’s the kind of news I’ve been hoping for.” He knew Ross felt the same way.
“Heaven knows the staff needs the work in this economy. Any one of them would help run the desk. As for Alex, it’s your life we’re talking about here. I don’t need to think about it. Do you, Ross?”
He shook his head. “I gave him my seal of approval last night.”
“Johnny’s is a given,” Carson added with an infectious grin.
Buck’s throat clogged up. “Thanks. It was my lucky day when I was sent to that hospital and got you two for roommates.” He finished off his coffee and rose to his feet. “See you guys later.” Now that he had the all-clear, he could choose the moment to feel her out. Maybe tomorrow night under the stars.
He made a detour to the kitchen and chatted with the cook while he put some bottles of water and apples in a bag. With that accomplished, he went out to the truck and swung by the barn where they stored the hay on pallets for the winter. Buck threw half a dozen of the smaller bales into the back of his truck. The kids could sit on a couple of them during the drive. As for the rest, the hands working the herd could spread it around.
After wishing Alex would come back every day for the past month, he found it difficult to believe it was really her and Jenny waiting in front of the ranch house with Johnny and Tracy. He jumped down from the cab and lowered the tailgate so he could lift the children inside.
“Do you need a ride back home, Tracy?” he asked as he closed the gate.
“No, thanks. I brought the car.” She looked up at Johnny. “Be sure to mind Buck and Alex. I’ll meet you back here at lunch.”
Buck heard Johnny say okay, but the kids were already trying to choose which bale to sit on and weren’t paying attention.
“Hey, guys. You need to sit where you can hold on to the side of the truck. All we need is for one of you to flip out and break another ankle.”
“I’ll be careful,” Jenny promised him.
“I know you will, Red.”
“So will I,” Johnny assured him.
“I can always count on you, sport. If you get thirsty or hungry, there are snacks in that plastic bag.”
“Thanks!”
He waved Tracy off and climbed back in the driver’s seat. Alex smelled delicious, like a fresh wild strawberry warmed by the sun. The day was heating up, and the most beautiful woman he’d ever met was strapped in next to him. A sage-scented breeze wafted through the windows. Carson wanted to keep the ranch open year round, for this year at least. What more could a man ask for, he thought to himself, as they reached the forest and headed up the mountain.
Unfortunately, the answer that came back was a lot more.
The possibility that Alex wouldn’t be interested in his proposition was enough for him to keep his boots planted on the ground. While he was experiencing alternating feelings of euphoria and fear, he heard her cell phone ring.
“That’s probably my parents.” She reached in her purse and checked the caller ID, and then put the phone back.
“Frank?”
She nodded. “He called earlier, but I didn’t pick up. One of these days he’ll have to give up, but I hate hurting him.”
“It would have been worse to marry him and then discover it was a mistake.”
“You’re so right.”
“I’ve learned the hard way that when something’s truly over, it can’t be resurrected, and you have to move on for your own sanity.”
“Agreed.”
They could hear the kids’ talking in the back, mostly Johnny’s. “By the time we reach the herd, Jenny’s going to be a living encyclopedia of knowledge.”
Alex had a warm laugh he loved. “I have to say, the boy’s an original and a constant source of fascination.”
They drove deeper into the forest. “While we’re alone to talk, have you given any more thought to what you’d like to do for a living?”
“It’s on my mind constantly,” she said. “If we moved, I’d still need hours that coincided with Jenny’s school day, and I’d want to live close by. If I could do it all over again, I would have gone into teaching.”
“You still could.” He said it without enthusiasm.
She sighed. “Yes, but that would mean several more years of college to get a teaching certificate. I’ll worry about it after we get home. It’s not your problem.”
The hell it wasn’t! “What about a job in a different bank?” he persisted. They had banks in Jackson.
“Buck...” She chuckled. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
“Yes, but you’ve got all that schooling in finance that shouldn’t go to waste.”
“True, but I’d want part-time work until Jenny’s out of high school. To my knowledge, it’s the rare bank manager who would hire anyone part-time regardless of their years of experience.”
He didn’t doubt that she was right, but it wouldn’t hurt to inquire. The guys did all their business at the Moran Bank of Wyoming. Buck knew the bank manager well and could find out if they hired part-time employees. It was worth a shot.
“I’m going to make sure I know what’s going on in Jenny’s life so I can guide her. It’s a promise I made to Christy before she died. I want to sign her up for piano lessons, dance, art lessons, all of it, so she gets exposed to lots of different things.
“By the time she’s in high school, I’d like to see her involved in working on the school newspaper. Or I’d love to see Jenny on the debate team. She’s smart and could work toward a scholarship. Maybe the third time’s the charm for the females in our family and Jenny will wait till she’s in her twenties before she wants to get married.”
“I’m afraid she’s already cursed with that Wilson-Forrester beauty, so I wouldn’t hold my breath.” Johnny had fallen under her spell. When he darted her a glance, he saw that color had crept into her cheeks. “Do you have a picture of your daughter?”
As she pulled a wallet out of her purse, he stopped for a minute. She handed him two photos. “That’s Christy at seventeen. The other one shows her with Daniel, holding Jenny after she was born.”
Buck heard the love in her voice. “She’s lovely, just like you and your granddaughter.”
“Hey—” Johnny cried out. “What’s wrong?”
“We’re just looking at a picture of Jenny when she was born,” Buck called back.
“I have a baby monkey face in that picture,” Jenny said.
“A monkey?” Johnny laughed. “I want to see it, Uncle Buck.”
“Later, guys.” He handed Alex the photos and started driving again.
It was clear to Buck that Jenny was Alex’s raison d’être. That promise to her daughter was sacrosanct. Jackson was a small community. No doubt the schools offered some of the opportunities she’d mentioned, but not on the larger scale available in a city like Sacramento. The winters could be brutal here. Both she and Jenny would hate the isolation. Neighbors might be next door, but they were separated by acres of ranch land. The front-desk job would never satisfy a woman with her curiosity and education.
No matter how much he wanted her in his life, he had nothing to offer her at the moment, only the good will of Carson and Ross. A year from now, he hoped to be in a different place financially, but no one could predict the future.
Last week his father had phoned, urging him to come home at the end of the summer and join th
e family business. There was more behind the call. Buck knew his father needed to slow down. The conversation had come at the precise moment when Buck had been missing Alex like crazy and was at a low point. He’d told his dad that if it appeared the dude ranch project was losing too much money, he would have to end the partnership and return to Colorado.
When they emerged from the trees and came to the pasture, Buck was asking himself what in the hell he’d been thinking, imagining that he and Alex could have a good life living together at the ranch.
In a different mood than when they’d started out, he lowered himself from the truck and helped the children down. Johnny led Jenny around to look at the new calves. Alex followed and acted interested, but Buck wasn’t an idiot. One trip up here to see the herd was more than enough. By Monday, she would have seen all the sights the dude ranch had to offer and be glad she was flying home to civilization.
Chapter Nine
The difference in Buck from last night to right now was palpable. She’d been breathless when he’d walked in the dining room this morning and had sat next to her. The smoldering look in his eyes had sent a wave of heat through her she could still feel.
So what had happened on the drive over to make him withdraw from her?
Alex walked through a section of the herd with him and the children, but that feeling of emotional intimacy was gone. Vanished! She kept running their conversation through her mind, trying to pinpoint the moment everything changed.
It had to have been the photographs.
They were a graphic reminder that she’d been a mother and was now a grandmother. Buck was a red-blooded, virile bachelor who last night in the dark had succumbed to the novelty of indulging himself with an older woman until Ross had interrupted them. But in the light of day, reality had asserted itself and it was back to the business of being the congenial host until she and Jenny left the ranch.
That was how gorgeous bachelors like Buck and Ross survived to live another day. They were the opposite of Frank who should have known better than to go after a woman years younger, but at least he’d wanted to get married. She couldn’t fault him for that. In Buck’s case, a serious relationship wasn’t a priority and hadn’t been, not since the woman he’d loved had married his brother.
“Have you guys seen enough?” he asked.
“Yes,” Johnny said. “But Jenny wishes we could take a calf home with us.”
“The calf’s mother wouldn’t let us. She loves her too much.”
“Oh,” Jenny murmured.
“Can we go riding now, Uncle Buck?”
“We’ll do whatever you guys want.” They started back to the truck.
“Nana? Can I ride in front with Buck on the way home?”
He had to be relieved to hear that. “If it’s all right with him.”
“I was just going to tell you to hop in, Red.”
There was her answer.
“Johnny and I will sit in back and see who can spot the most animals,” Alex said. “How about the winner has to give the other one a treat.”
“Yippee!” Johnny cried. The boy was always up for a competition. Buck lowered the tailgate and gave Alex an impersonal leg-up before lifting Johnny into the truck bed. In a few seconds they were off.
By the time they’d driven through the forest and reached the sagebrush, they’d counted a total of twenty-three animals, with Johnny spotting the most. He’d spotted a rabbit in the underbrush she hadn’t seen.
She smiled at him. “What kind of a treat would you like?”
“Could I have another roll of caps for my gun? Or do they cost too much?”
“That’s an easy request to grant.”
“Thanks.”
Unbeknownst to him she’d already bought a box of caps for him for the belated birthday party. He stared at her for a second. “Hey, Alex?”
Uh-oh. His tone had a serious inflection. “Yes?”
“Do you like it here?”
“I love it.” I love it more than you can imagine.
“Jenny wants to live here.”
“I know.”
“Could you move here? My mom and I did.”
Oh, boy. The children had been doing a lot of talking. But this was Buck’s territory, with a no-trespassing sign he’d erected on the drive over.
“I’m afraid we can’t. Remember, I’ll be getting a job pretty soon. But maybe you and your parents could come down to Disneyland before Christmas and we could meet you there. Jenny would love that.”
Before she could get an answer out of him, they’d pulled to a stop in the parking area outside the ranch house. Buck came around to lower the tailgate. “Time for lunch before we do anything else.”
“Yum! I’m hungry.” Johnny was such a character, it killed her. “Thanks for taking us, Uncle Buck.”
Alex added her voice to his. “We had a wonderful time.”
“So did I,” Johnny said.
While Buck lifted him to the ground, Alex jumped down so he wouldn’t be forced to help her. She started walking around the front of the ranch house with Jenny. “After playing with those calves, we need to wash our hands.”
“They were so cute.”
“Not as cute as you,” Buck said loud enough for her to hear.
“Thanks.” Her granddaughter loved his attention. Who wouldn’t?
Alex led her to the rear of the ranch house.
“I’ve never been in here before.”
“Carson and his family lived back here before they moved. This is Johnny’s old room. Buck moved us out of the motel so we could sleep in here until we have to leave. Go ahead and use the bathroom first, then we’ll eat.”
In a few minutes they went back to the dining room to join Buck and Johnny. “We’re staying in your bedroom,” Jenny announced. “Which bed was yours?”
“I slept in both of them!”
Johnny’s answer was so unexpected that the adults broke out laughing.
“No, you didn’t.” She giggled.
“Actually he did, but not at the same time, of course,” Buck explained after a cough.
Jenny’s eyes widened. “Why?”
“’Cause it’s fun.”
More laughter ensued while they ate lunch. Afterward, they walked to the barn and went riding. When everyone was good and hot, they decided to go swimming. Tracy brought Johnny’s suit over and swam with them, while Buck disappeared.
Alex had been trying to ignore the change in him, but it was impossible. After last night, she was devastated to think he could shut off his feelings so quickly. He probably thought, now that she was free of Frank, she’d turned to Buck on a rebound. It was too embarrassing.
Having a baby at seventeen and the challenging years that followed had prevented her from enjoying a normal social life. She didn’t know how to act around Buck. It sickened her to think she was giving off needy vibes that he’d picked up on without her realizing it. The way she’d clung to him last night must’ve made her seem desperate.
She’d prided herself on being mature and in charge of her life, but in that one area where she’d made her first mistake by getting involved with a guy way too early, she still hadn’t learned anything. A smart woman would have recognized what was going on with Frank and wouldn’t have allowed things to progress as far as they did. She could have saved all of them a lot of grief.
An even smarter woman would have said “No thank you” to Buck when he’d suggested they leave the motel and go get a drink. He was a t
ypical single guy who went through women like water. It wouldn’t have bothered him if she’d said she was too tired. But you wanted to be with him any way you could. In the end he’d gotten what he wanted and it was enough for him. To her humiliation, it wasn’t enough for her, but today he’d made it clear it had to be.
She swam over to Jenny. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s after three. We need to shower and wash our hair. After we’re ready, we’ll drive over to Funorama to set everything up for the party.” Alex was glad she had the rental car and they could leave on their own without asking Buck for a ride.
On the night they’d flown in, they’d done a few errands that had included buying some extra balloons to be blown up. She’d also ordered a birthday cake from the Millhouse Bakery that needed to be picked up. She’d gone to the extra trouble because she and Jenny were crazy about Johnny. It was also her way of thanking Carson and his partners for inviting them to the ranch in the first place.
Jenny was excited and looked around for Johnny. “I have to go in now!” she shouted. “See ya at Funorama.”
“Okay! See ya later!” Tracy waved in acknowledgment.
* * *
FUNORAMA WAS A noisy place with rides and slides and games for kids. The party rooms were down the corridor. A teenager at the front counter showed Buck where to go. He’d come into town early to buy Johnny another gift and figured a water gun would be fun for him to have at the lake tomorrow. He’d bought one for Jenny, too, but was saving it until they got up there.
Once the party was over, he assumed Jenny would ride back to the ranch with Carson’s family and spend another night in the loft. That would give Buck time to follow Alex to the car-rental place and return her vehicle. Then he’d get her alone and they’d have a serious talk. All day he’d gone back and forth about her and needed to speak his mind to her tonight. As Carson had said, Buck’s whole life was at stake here. To put it off until tomorrow night would be pure torture.
When he entered, everyone else was already there. The room had been decorated to the hilt with balloons. He put his gift for Johnny on the table with the others, and then looked over at Alex, who’d changed into a yellow pullover and jeans. She’d washed her hair and tied it back at the nape. Another stunning look for her.
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