Second Chance Ranch (The Circle D series)

by Harders, Audra

  Jen pasted on a smile, conscious of Zac standing beside her and the happy couples in front of them. Her emotions of moments earlier had run her ragged. She didn’t know how to overcome the awkward feelings. “I can’t think of two more perfect couples around.”

  Distance opened between them as he took a step back. A chasm grew, one that deepened with each chance encounter.

  “And where exactly does that leave Bean? At the moment, she’s young enough not to be set in her ways as some of our more mature beauties.” He raised at brow at his mother. “Nor does she threaten to eat the community of Hawk Ridge out of house and home like the newest filly in the field.” He winked at Melanie as she pursed her lips in mock offense. “Jen here is pretty much the dark horse of this race. Don’t really know what to expect from her.”

  She hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, but she recognized a diss when she heard one, didn’t matter she didn’t understood his jab. “Seems to me the stallion of the herd stands alone in his majesty,” she bowed to Martin, “and the stalwart guard commands his post well.” She nodded to Gabe with a smile. “So I guess that leaves the young colt of the bunch to gallop here and there, packing too much buck for his own good. Heaven only knows what will become of him.”

  Gabe clapped and laughed, tipping his hat to her. “Well said, our dark horse. Looks like you pegged our wayward colt of the herd.”

  “Ahh, Gracie girl, what’s this world coming to?” Martin rubbed his nose along the neckline of Grace’s shirt and gave her a hug. “Goes to show how wisdom is wasted on the young.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Gabe moved behind Melanie and began kneading the muscles in her shoulders. “A lot more than wisdom was wasted on Zac. Surprised he turned out as well as he did for as ornery as he was.”

  Zac stepped up, hands on hips and shoulders squared. “Speak for yourself.” He pointed at his dad. “Who do you think I used as a role model?”

  Without skipping a beat, Grace, Martin and Gabe chimed in. “Great-grandpa Jeb.”

  “Who?” Melanie stretched her neck for Gabe to rub as she looked at Jen for answers.

  “Second generation Davidson to own the Circle D,” Jen filled in with a stage whisper.

  “I am not GG Jeb.” Zac scowled.

  “Course not, son. But if anyone followed in his footsteps, it would be you.” Martin shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that. It’s all in the family. You’ve got a great mind for numbers and all, and no one could count cards better than Jeb. Too bad he apparently lost count during that one game of poker, but otherwise, legend has it, he made enough off of his games of chance to pay off the Circle D.”

  “What game did he lose?” Melanie reached up and stilled Gabe’s working fingers.

  Gabe pulled out of her grip and cupped her shoulders until Melanie relaxed back against his chest. “The last hand of the poker game he and Efrain Eklund played at the High Spring Saloon in town. Rumor had it Jeb Davidson pushed in all his chips and the deed to the Trails’ End thinking he had the upper hand. When the dealer called the hand, Jeb laid down a full house, jacks high and nearly keeled over of apoplexy when ol’ Efrain fanned out a flush, aces high.”

  “No. You’re kidding right?” Apparently content after the massage, Melanie folded her hands across her bulging belly and looked around at the solemn faces. “But, you still own the Circle D.”

  Martin shrugged and showed four fingers. “When the Davidsons first homesteaded in Hawk Ridge, the Circle D was actually four different spreads - a ranch for each brother. After Jeb, the youngest brother, lost Trails’ End, he came to live with George, the oldest brother. All the brothers got together and decided to unite the remaining property so it wouldn’t be splintered apart. They consolidated so no one person could sell off any part of the acreage. The brothers named the one big spread the Circle D.”

  “So you’re saying Jeb was the youngest of the Davidson boys much like Zac is the youngest now?” Jen tapped her finger against her chin making a great show of pondering. “I’m beginning to see the correlation. I didn’t realize devil-may-care ran in the family genes.”

  “If there’s a part of me similar to GG Jeb,” Zac defended, his voice low. “It’s that neither of us are afraid to take chances. Yes, the chance he took cost him dearly, but look at it this way, if GG hadn’t lost the ranch, there wouldn’t be a Circle D now. Who knows if we’d be here at all? You call GG irresponsible, but as far as I’m concerned, he made the Circle D the ranch it is today.”

  “Well said, son. I don’t think I’ve heard Great-grandpa Jeb revered as an innovator, but you make a good case for it.” Martin laughed. “And you’ve done well with the investment assets of the Circle D, too. If Jeb were alive today, he’d be proud to be compared to you.”

  “I’m not finished yet, either.” Zac turned and looked Jen square in the eye. “Folks are always saying history repeats itself. How about history repairing itself? You never know how life will shake out.”

  Jen swallowed. Zac was bringing out the big guns now and she didn’t want to start World War Three right here in the middle of a mountain corral. “You never know—” her words faltered as Zac pulled out his cell phone and frowned. He looked up and squinted into the sky as he angled away from his family to answer the call. “—what life…has…in store,” she finished her sentence as Zac paced toward the corral gate.

  Melanie twisted around and watched him walk away. “Looks serious, doesn’t it?”

  “He’s been away from the office.” Martin tilted his head back and speculated with his arms crossed over his chest. “His assistant is good, but Diane can’t handle everything.”

  Gabe quirked his lips. “Maybe he forgot to file the quarterlies and the IRS is looking for him.”

  Grace waved him off. “That’s not funny, Gabriel. He works on the company accounts at night, and usually has something for me to mail off in the morning.”

  Zac leaned against the fence panel, his shirt stretched taut over his shoulders. Jen tried to swallow the ball of guilt lodged in her throat. He worked at the Trails’ End during the day and kept up with his financial responsibilities to Davidson Enterprises at night. No wonder he looked worn out…and all she’d done was add to his burdens. She shouldn’t have lashed out at him. He’d had every right to be skeptical the day she told him about Carli.

  The reality of the present interlaced with the past in her mind. Wasn’t that why she’d never told him about her pregnancy to begin with? She hadn’t wanted to burden him, to be the one responsible for stealing his dreams. Twelve years later, she’d managed to do it anyway.

  Zac hung his head as he stuffed his phone in his back pocket. Jen’s heart pounded as he turned on his heel and approached them, his swagger a bit slower, but still a hundred percent cowboy.

  “Issac, is something wrong?” A frown burrowed between her brows as Grace stared at her son.

  He practically angled Jen out of the conversation as he flashed his mother a quick grin. “Nothing I can’t handle. But it looks like I’ll have to drive to Denver in the morning to take care of a couple of things.”

  The creases at the corners of his eyes deepened and Jen knew something was up. She’d been stonewalled by that two-faced expression before. Unfortunately, he didn’t give her time to figure it out.

  “Let’s go look at that John Deere you were going to loan me,” Zac said to Gabe as he started off toward the equipment.

  Gabe sighed and kissed the top of Melanie’s head as he took off after his brother.

  Jen watched Zac trudge across the lot, his slow steps a dead giveaway that what he needed to “handle” was more than nothing.

  Tomorrow morning.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Fluorescent lights hummed overhead while Toby Keith sang a chipper ballad about a big, blue note through the speaker embedded in the ceiling one table over. At 3:30 in the morning, Jennifer sat in a window booth of The Wildflower diner and stared out at the night sky that looked as black as the cup of
coffee Sandy Kithcart set down in front of her, counting on the brew to keep her wits together. She flicked the laminated menu across her fingertips as her high school friend placed a hand towel on the table and swiped the surface clean.

  “Can’t say I expected anyone besides truckers to stop in this time of night, Jen.” Sandy sounded bubbly despite the hour. “What’s keeping you up?”

  “A hunch.” She took a sip of the coffee - freshly brewed and potent - before reaching for the creamer. “I’m hoping an old friend didn’t break too many of his habits.”

  Nodding as if she understood, Sandy tossed the towel into a nearby tub. “You’re secret’s safe with me. I know how hard it is to keep private matters quiet in this town. Word gets out and spreads like wildfire, especially if it’s juicy.”

  Jen almost choked as Sandy nudged her. She set down her coffee cup and wiped her mouth. “It’s nothing like that. I’ve been busy with the camp and Zac’s been, well, just busy. I wanted to catch him before he left to pick up some supplies this morning.”

  “You and Zac Davidson again, huh? I knew what you guys had in high school was real. Pam and Mary didn’t believe me when I told them I thought you guys would make it. See? Wait until they hear—”

  “Sandy,” Jen cut in, grabbing her friend’s arm like a lifeline. “You just promised you wouldn’t tell anyone I was here, remember?”

  “I’m not going to tell them now, silly goose. But I will eventually. Like at your wedding.” Sandy patted Jen on the back. “I’ll be right there reminding them I knew it all along.”

  “Well, don’t be too hasty.” Jen tried to sound calm as her heart pounded in her chest. After she and Zac had left the Circle D yesterday afternoon, they went to her house and called her friend at the lab. An opening was available, so they set up additional testing for today in Denver. She started talking about scheduling the tests and he’d made it plain he didn’t want her to tag along.

  “This isn’t what you think,” Jen blurted out before Sandy could embellish her imaginary situation more. “Zac and I aren’t the same people we were in high school. We’ve gone separate ways. I just want to catch up over coffee. We’re just friends.”

  “We’ll see.” She looked up as headlights pulled into the dimly lit parking lot. “Looks like your friend is here.”

  Jen drew a breath as she watched Zac get out of his truck and slam the door behind him. His black Carhartt jacket hugged his shoulders, the cuffs of his sleeves hanging loose as always. Dark jeans encased his long legs down to the extra length of denim at his boots. Zac Davidson turned heads when he casually walked down the street; when he dressed with purpose, the man was knock-down handsome. He opened the door to the diner and stepped into the lighted room, his dark hair curled out from under his ball cap giving him a boyish look that brought back high school all over again. He glanced up and down the counter and then around the room, his gaze stopped when he spotted her. Immediately the carefree look disappeared, replaced with a scowl.

  He didn’t wait for Sandy to seat him, he walked over and slid across from Jen in her booth.

  “Mighty early for breakfast, isn’t it?”

  “Not for you.” She searched his face for any sign of regret. All she saw was suspicion. “I was hoping you hadn’t changed your ways too much. I remember too many drives to Denver with you that had to start with breakfast at the ‘Flower.”

  “I’ll have to rethink my habits.” His long lashes brushed over his chilled cheeks in an extra long blink. “What are you doing here? I told you I could do this myself.”

  “I know you can, Zac. I just want to help.”

  He propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “If you really want to help me, stay here and cut Eklund’s fields. This dry weather isn’t going to hold forever. I don’t really have the time to be spending a day in Denver.” His voice was low as he linked his fingers together.

  That was no understatement. She had the Foundation coming for an inspection tomorrow and her reporting files were a mess. Patrick and Tina did their best to cover for her, but if she was going to be named director of the camp by the Foundation, she was going to have to make the presentation tomorrow, not her staff. If the good Lord smiled on her and gave them the best case scenario at the medical center, they’d be back in Hawk Ridge by early evening—plenty of time to prepare for a make-or-break meeting.

  “I know, the timing is pretty poor for me, too,” she said, trying to sound sympathetic, but all she got was a raised brow. “Look, I still know people at the Med Center. If I come with you, we might get more answers than the standard ‘the doctor will be in touch,’ line they’ll give you. I know you don’t want to spend more time with me than you have to, but try and put that aside right now. As soon as they collect your marrow, you’ll be through with me.”

  Sandy walked up to their table and slid a smothered breakfast burrito in front of Zac. “I assumed you wanted your usual.” She slid an empty plate in front of Jen. “And for you to snag just a little taste, right?”

  Zac shook his head. “I haven’t stepped foot in the diner in years. How can I be predictable?”

  The smell of green chili and cheese wafted around her. Jen grinned. “How about a side of toast?”

  Sandy stepped over to the counter and brought back another plate with buttered whole wheat toast. “Didn’t know if you really just wanted coffee, or not.”

  When Sandy left, Zac unrolled the silverware from the white paper napkin with the wildflower imprint in the corner. “Let it go, Jen. I’ll go through the tests and donate the marrow. You gave this child up for adoption, she’s no longer in your life. So many years have gone by, it’s not like we have an attachment to her or anything.”

  His tone slayed her. “Zac, Carli will always be our child. We made her, we created a human being. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but there wasn’t a good time.” She didn’t want to get into how abandoned she’d felt. That past was behind her. What she wanted was — she frowned at the toast before her — what did she want? Forgiveness? Absolution? “I want you to know I cherish that child because we made her together. I want to be there for her … and for you.”

  A strange look crossed his face. He drew a breath as if to say something, then expelled it. Focusing on his plate, Zac shifted in his seat. “I’m sure she appreciates your concern.”

  He held out his hand. “Let’s say grace and eat before it gets cold. We’ve got a few hours of driving ahead of us.”

  Jen settled her palm in his and as she listened to the simple thanks Zac offered for their food. He hadn’t sent her away.

  It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

  * * *

  “It’s highly unusual, but not impossible. Matching the four markers we anticipated, but matching them all? I’d say that’s a miracle.” The doctor frowned as he glanced over the papers in the folder.

  “What’s your concern, Dr. Prescott?” Jen sat beside him in a matching blue upholstered side chair, her elbows resting on the arms while she tugged at her fingers. “Is there a problem?”

  Zac rolled down his sleeves as he glanced around the physician’s office, counting the number of diplomas attached to the walls. The man had to have spent most of his life in school. Probably a good thing. The more prepared, the better. From what he’d been through today, he hoped someone knew what they were doing. The tests had taken up pretty much the whole day, most of the time waiting for rooms to open up and technicians stabbing him with needles and questions. With the tests finally behind them, Zac just wanted to salute his opinion of the whole procedure and drive home.

  The doctor sat back and tapped his pencil against Zac’s chart. Though the staff had been polite to him, Zac thanked the good Lord for the bop upside the head when he was about to tell Jen to hit the road earlier that morning. Like she’d promised, they had talked to a variety of medical staff that, had he come for the tests alone, wouldn’t have giving him the time of day.

  “For parents to be th
is closely "matched" with his or her child, both parents must by chance have some HLA genes in common with each other.” He glanced from Zac to Jen. “It’s very unlikely — really, we’re talking only about a one in a million chance for two unrelated individuals to have the same HLA genes in common — and then there’s only a one in 200 chance that a parent and child will be matched.”

  “I wouldn’t go buying a lottery ticket on those odds.” Jen nudged his foot with hers. He looked up as she gave a nod toward the doctor. Zac heard the numbers and had done the math in his head. Tired and hungry, he had little energy for excitement. “So we’re a miracle.”

  The doctor nodded. “As far as matches go, yes. But when we tested the original blood sample, we detected a virus.”

  “A virus?” That bit of information knocked the tired right out of Zac. Having gotten this far, he hadn’t thought a glitch in the road was possible. “What kind of virus? I don’t feel sick. ”

  “It’s called Cytomegalovirus, or CMV. It’s a common virus.” The doctor waved his hand as if considering the amount of information to disclose. “More than half the adults in the United States have it. When people first contract CMV, they develop symptoms similar to a cold, so it’s nothing they get alarmed about. The symptoms disappear, but the virus remains hidden in the body.”

  The muscles across his shoulders tensed. No, this couldn’t be happening. They’d come too far. “So, I can’t donate?”

  “We need to run some tests on Carli. Depending on her status, your virus might actually help build her immunity.” He looked over his glasses at Zac. “We’ll know more once the results come back.”

  “So what do we do now?” Jen had moved closer to the desk, the heel of her palm resting on the oak surface. “Can he take something for it?”

  “There’s nothing more you can do. The virus is something that lives in Zac’s body. No harm to him.” Dr. Prescott rose from his chair and met Zac’s gaze. “It’s all on our end now. We’ll check and double check all the results. When we decide whether you’re a safe match for her, we’ll call you back, and Carli can begin the chemotherapy to prepare her body for the new cells.”