Dalton: Contemporary Western Romance (New Horizon Ranch: Mule Hollow Book 5)

by Debra Clopton

  It was Esther Mae who harrumphed this time. “Who says we can’t. We’ve done it plenty.”

  “But remember,” Adela cautioned them again, in a hushed voice. “Rae Anne has just had a baby and none of us know what she had going on in her life that sent her running with just a few suitcases packed in her car and no other belongings.”

  There was a collective sigh and both Norma Sue and Esther Mae agreed.

  Rae Anne couldn’t move. She’d been here trying to help out. Trying to fit in and not mope but it was hard. She wanted to confide in someone. But she had her secrets and Dalton had his secrets and she just couldn’t betray what he’d told her in confidentiality even if she longed for advice.

  She just seemed like she’d been struggling to find happiness all of her life and now that she could feel it so close to her and yet so far away it was hard.

  She had her children.

  She had this wonderful community.

  That was going to have to be enough right now. Maddie had said she and Cliff would have a baby in God’s timing…Rae Anne would have to be content knowing that she would have love in God’s timing.

  She just wanted it to be Dalton’s love.

  Feeling overwhelmed she hurried down the length of the hedge so she would come out on the far end away from where the “posse” as they were called wouldn’t realize she’d overheard them. She now understood why they were called that. She headed away from the protection of the hedge carrying the ball that she’d gone in search for.

  “Yoohoo,” Esther Mae called, waving wildly and Rae Anne couldn’t pretend she didn’t see the enthusiastic red head.

  Reluctantly Rae Anne walked down the hedges. “Hi y’all. Er-what are y’all up too?’ she asked despite already knowing they were plotting her love life. Which really she was grateful for but it scared her that too much meddling from them and Dalton might run forever.

  “We’re just enjoying the day.” Norma Sue said, smiling widely.

  “How are you doing?” Adela asked. “I see that sweet boy of yours is over there enjoying the bean bag toss with Maddie.”

  “I’m fine,” she quipped. “And he loves hanging out with Maddie. She’s wonderful with kids.” Her voice wobbled a bit with the nerves eating a hole in her stomach.

  “Oh she sure is,” Esther Mae gushed. “That Dalton is good with kids too,” she added smoothly with a cute, sly smile.

  He was magnificent with children, Rae Anne wanted blurt out. “Yes he is,” she said instead with great reserve.

  “You’re lookin’ a little down.” Norma Sue studied Rae Anne far too intently. “Is there something going on we can help you with?”

  “No ma’am. I’m fine.” Rae Ann’s gaze drifted longingly toward the parking lot and she wished for Dalton. Sadie called her name from where she and a group of kids were waiting on the ball. “Y’all are doing a great job with refreshments,” she said. “I better get this back.” She wasted no time jogging away from the far too perceptible scrutiny of the trio.

  And it wasn’t just them. Maddie had also told her that Dalton had been very distracted at work the last couple of days. But that didn’t make her feel any better. He was staying as far away from her as he could get.

  She dropped the ball and the kids raced to try and be the first to get to it. She was so lost in thought though that she didn’t move out of the way. Instead she was standing in the way as ten adolescent boys plowed toward the ball-and never saw her. She was caught in the fray as they battled for the ball. Her feet got knocked out from under her and she fell backwards. She yelped as she landed on her hip and pain radiated down her leg.

  She might have been trampled but suddenly a deep familiar voice said, “Whoa, hold on boys and let the lady up.”

  And just like that the boys parted like the Red Sea and she found herself looking up at Dalton. She was stunned more by the sight of him than the fall. He knelt down beside her, concern written all over his face.

  “Are you alright?” Behind him the boys were asking the same question in frantic unison as they’d just realized what they’d done.

  “I’m fine. I just wasn’t paying attention.”

  A crowd had gathered around them that included the posse, and Maddie who was holding Joey on her hip. And Rae Ann saw Mia and Sadie behind Maddie. Amber was with the smaller kids.

  Everyone was asking at once if she was okay. Joey was hollering “Are you okay mama!”

  It was chaos but though she was aware of everyone around her she was focused on Dalton. He was here.

  Not that that meant anything particularly special in terms of them…but she was just so glad to see him.

  “Can you get up?” He gently took her elbow. “I’ll help you.”

  He smelled so nice, freshly showered and a small hint of aftershave…in the middle of the day, “I thought you were working cattle today?” Was she crazy? The question was just there and she’d had no control in stopping it from escaping.

  He was still on bended knee and she was still sitting on the hard ground looking at him.

  “I did,” he said. “But then I realized I had important business to tend to that could not be put off any longer so I cleaned up and went to take care of it…but you weren’t home.”

  “What business?” she asked, feeling suddenly as if she were nose diving among butterflies. Her heart started pounding.

  He glanced around then back at her. “Well, I’d hoped to do this in private. But now’s good for me. I’m sorry I panicked the other day.” He took her face into his palms and oohs and ahhs drifted about them along with a few comments from the boys such as “Disgusting!” and “Yuck. No kissing”.

  “About what?” Esther Mae called, delight filling her voice.

  A faint smile flitted across his lips as he kissed the tip of her nose then held her gaze with his own. “I love you Rae Anne. And I know we have some obstacles to overcome but we can handle them together,” he said very softly for her ears only then more loudly he added. “Don’t you agree?”

  She nodded. She was incapable of doing anything else in that moment.

  He chuckled and brushed his lips across hers then took her hand in his. “Rae Ann, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Marry me?”

  Tears flooded her eyes. “I never expected to fall in love again, only I’ve realized since knowing you and loving you that I was never in love before and certainly never loved before. I love you Dalton. Yes a thousand times, yes.”

  Everyone started clapping and cheering and Maddie let Joey down and he raced to throw his arms around Dalton.

  “Are you going to be my daddy?” he asked.

  Dalton looked lovingly into his little eyes and nodded. “I sure am. Is that okay with you?”

  Rae Anne thought she would melt in a puddle of tears but she held herself together.

  Joey couldn’t even speak he could only smile as big as the sun shining down on them and nod his little head before he threw his arms around Dalton’s neck and hugged him with all his might. Dalton met her gaze over Joey’s head and tears glistened in his eyes. “I love you,” he whispered. “Let’s get Grace and go home.” He stood still holding Joey and helped her to her feet. Nothing hurt as they headed toward the church to get Grace from the nursery.

  Everyone was congratulating them and hugging them as they went.

  Rae Ann felt as if she were in a dream.

  Life, it turned out, had ups and downs and a mind of its own where plans were concerned. And she was very glad it did.

  —The End—

  Dear Readers:

  Thank you for reading Dalton! It is book 5 in my New Horizon Ranch of Mule Hollow Series. If you haven't read the series yet I hope you'll check out book 1, Her Mule Hollow Cowboy. It’s free and the excerpt is after this note. I hope you'll join my newsletter so you'll be one of the first to learn about the new books coming this year!

  Happy Reading,

  Debra

  Excerpt from

  HE
R MULE HOLLOW COWBOY

  New Horizon Ranch: Mule Hollow, Book One

  Chapter One

  "Get in there, you ornery hunk of steaks," Maddie Rose gritted out through clamped teeth while thrusting all of her weight into pushing the cattle trailer's rear gate closed. A hard task since her hundred twenty pounds didn't hold up against Buford's two thousand pound bulk. Needless to say, despite all of her shoving and pushing. Despite all of her exertion. Buford's big, hairy rump hadn't budged even an inch! Nope, there it was—hanging out over the back end of the trailer.

  Firmly in the way of the latch.

  "C'mon, only a few more inches," she coaxed, pushing, giving it everything she had. But the bull wasn't buying it. He didn't budge.

  "Arrrg," she growled, frustration nearly getting the better of her.

  This should have been a piece of cake—an easy load-up. Ha!

  Bull-headed Buford messed that up deciding he wanted off rather than on.

  Just Maddie's luck.

  And what was new about that? "Nothing," she grumbled.

  She wasn't a whiner, but there was no getting around the hard truth that most things in Maddie's life hadn't come easy. She'd been fighting for survival since the moment of her existence—a sickly baby only a few weeks old at best estimation, found alone, sitting in a carseat. Yup—just sitting on the steps of the post office like she belonged there.

  Obviously, she didn't belong anywhere.

  Maybe before that, but unlike most people Maddie had no recollection, no records, nothing...as far as her life record went she hadn't existed until that day in the post office when she was found.

  If she'd been a whiner she wouldn't have made it.

  No, Maddie was a survivor so she'd grown used to days like today. But it sure was getting old.

  Buford's attitude was a sharp reminder she'd better not get comfortable with the good fortune that had recently come her way.

  Owner.

  The thought dazzled her. Like a beautiful sparkly gift under the Christmas tree that she knew had to belong to someone else...and yet it was hers.

  She really was part owner of this magnificent New Horizon ranch. An amazing cattle ranch sitting on the outskirts of Mule Hollow, the most embracing little town she'd ever known. For a gal with her past, raised in an orphanage and then the foster care system this homey community was as close to family as she'd ever gotten.

  But she felt like an impostor.

  "What had C.C. been thinking when he'd made me an heir?" The question plagued her since the reading of the will two months ago. The day it was revealed that her boss, God rest his sweet soul, had left his ranch to five employees: four cowboys and her.

  She could understand why he'd leave her four amazing partners a share. After all, he had no children of his own and these men had been here on the ranch for years, despite not being much older than her. They were cowboys who'd had a bond and a dedication to C.C. and they loved the ranch. She'd noticed it from the first day she'd walked onto the premises two years ago. They deserved the gift.

  But why her? Had he felt sorry for her?

  It wasn't as if she went around telling everyone her past. She told no one. But intuitive C.C. had guessed some facts during a conversation once.

  Sympathy was the only valid reason she could come up with that she was here.

  The very thought soured her stomach as life-long insecurities ran rampant inside her head. Despite those insecurities she was still an owner and she was determined that she'd earn this gift if it was the last thing she did.

  Teeth grinding down hard she met the ill-tempered glare of the bull. Her palms went slick on the sun warmed metal of the trailer gate. Her insides tensed—but she'd had enough.

  Digging her boots into the dirt, Maddie refused to give up or to run away. Letting the bull get the better of her was not the way to prove herself.

  Working harder, accomplishing more, being competent and reliable...that was how she became deserving.

  For the first time in her life she'd been given a shot at something big—it didn't matter that she didn't deserve it—she was going to do her fair share to see that her former boss never looked down from heaven and regretted the faith he'd shown in giving her this opportunity. She'd already decided that any dream she'd had prior to the reading of that will was going on hold...there would be plenty of time for them later.

  Buford snorted sending Maddie instantly on alert. He never did anything he didn't want to do and Maddie knew the ornery bull could make mincemeat out of her if he chose.

  He chose—one powerful kick sent the gate slamming into Maddie. A scream ripped from her as the bone crunching impact knocked her off her feet. Flying backwards like a rag doll she slammed into the pipe fence. The hit was immediately followed by the heavy, steel gate. Pain exploded everywhere, glazing everything as it seared through her, dazing her.

  Got to stay on your feet.

  The gate swung away from her and instinct had Maddie clawing, grasping for its rungs.

  Stay off the ground or be trampled.

  Buford kicked the gate again, this time, all Maddie's breath whooshed from her, her lungs locked up—the impact so excruciating she hit the ground instantly.

  Right in Buford's pathway.

  She landed face first in the dirt and her mouth filled with foul tasting grit. Fighting for breath she couldn't help herself, she was helpless. A flashback to her childhood crowded her mind.

  Wheezing, she willed herself to move. To breathe.

  But, as she'd been unable to help herself all those years ago when she was a sickly abandoned baby, she was helpless now.

  Suddenly, boots attached to denim-clad legs thudded to the ground between her and Buford.

  "Yah," yelled the cowboy, planting himself directly in the line of danger as the bull bolted from the trailer like a runaway tank.

  Where the cowboy had come from, Maddie didn't know, but from her position he looked like a gift dropped straight from heaven.

  "Go on, now," he yelled then stomped and waved his arms—held his ground—Buford cut sharply to the right, away from Maddie.

  Though her lungs still burned with the need for air, relief surged through her watching the cowboy herd the bull away from her and into the holding pen. Within moments he returned and dropped to his knees beside her.

  "Here you go," he drawled, easing her to her side. "Try to relax. The breathing will get easier. Come on, now go easy."

  She struggled to relax. He was right, after a few more inhales the breaths did come easier, though there was a sharp edge to each breath if she inhaled too deeply. "Thank. You," she managed, giving him a weak smile.

  He didn't smile back, concern etched his rugged, handsome face. "Glad I was here. How are you feeling now?"

  Maddie's pulse fluttered, she was mesmerized by his penetrating indigo eyes. Flustered, she yanked her gaze off her gorgeous rescuer and rubbed her ribs, wincing. "Like I've been kicked by a two-thousand-pound bull."

  His soft chuckle sank over her like warm honey.

  "You may have broken some ribs," he said, kindly then demanded. "What were you doing out here by yourself in the first place?"

  "Loading a bull," she retorted, humiliated by the entire pitiful ordeal and the fact he'd witnessed it. This cowboy probably thought she was some greenhorn who didn't know beans about bulls or cattle.

  Needing more control she struggled to sit up without groaning. Honestly, she was feeling better—but who wouldn't? Her cowboy rescuer would make any woman forget she'd been almost stomped to a pulp by a bull—even her.

  And that those eyes of his were lethal weapons.

  The guy was gorgeous—even oxygen deprived and in pain as she'd been she'd realized that immediately. Touchable dark hair curled from beneath his straw hat and enhanced his firm, chiseled jaw. His high cheekbones underlined those penetrating, strength filled, blue eyes.

  He flashed an enticing crooked grin. "You're one tough lady, Maddie Rose."

&nbs
p; Maddie got hung-up on that smile—suddenly thinking about long, slow kisses... There was an understandable delay in her fogged brain relaying the message that he knew her name.

  And she'd never met him. She knew because she would have remembered him if she'd met him anytime in her entire life. And yet, she realized there was something slightly familiar about him.

  "Have we met?" she asked, as dawning hit her dazed brain and she saw the resemblance. "Wait, you're Cliff Masterson, Rafe's twin brother. The bull rider." Rafe was one of her ranch partners and a good friend.

  "Some nights. Some nights I eat more dirt than you just did." His expression was a mixture of humor and ire—one that made him look more like his brother than he had so far. Rafe had said they weren't identical by a long shot. He'd been right.

  They were both dark haired, good looking and with similar face shapes and body builds, but other than the occasional similarity of expressions a person would never mistake them for twins.

  She relaxed, some. "Rafe said you were coming but I thought it wasn't until next week."

  His left cheek twitched. "My plans changed."

  She'd caught the way his expression tightened and pain briefly dulled his eyes. "Oh—"

  "How about we get you up to the house?" he asked and before she could answer or even nod he'd moved behind her and in an instant his strong arms slipped around her, gently lifting her up.

  Momentarily all pain disappeared. His purely masculine scent wrapped around her, drawing her like a hummingbird to sugar water. She fought the overwhelming urge to lean into him.

  "Lean on me," he said, as if he could read her mind.

  Ha! Like she needed any encouragement. Even the sharp pains shooting from her ribs overrode the initial shock of his touch, Maddie's awareness of the man stunned her.

  She didn't let men get too close. Held them at bay and even though she got lonely and hoped one day she'd have the guts to change that...this kind of reaction had never been a problem.