“Honey?” Her mama’s voice startled her. She turned and found her mother peeking into the driver’s side window. Summer hadn’t even noticed her walking up the drive. “Your dad and I saw you pull up and we’ve been waiting for you to come inside. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine, Mom.”
Summer grabbed the cookie platter she had the mind to bring—not even shock could deter her from doing a good deed—and got out of the car. “Here, I brought these.”
“Thank you, dear. Mmm, chocolate chip this time. The children will love them.”
Her father held an informal children’s Bible study after church on Sundays at the house. It was something he’d done since she was a child, and it usually ended up with the kids playing ball in the backyard, having fun and laughing—her dad knew how to sway his congregation. Not with a firm hand, but with a loving one. She’d brought Tyler once and he’d sat there, listening, watching the kids partake in the verses and discussion, and afterward he’d been the first one to engage the kids in a game of tag football. He’d been at ease then, happy even. He’d called her father, “Sir”, and shook his hand when he’d left. Hope had filled her heart that day and she’d been the happiest she’d ever been.
“We’ve saved you some lunch, honey.”
“No, thanks, Mom. I’m not hungry.”
And ten minutes later, after chugging a glass of lemonade in the kitchen, Summer had relayed the information about Tyler’s return to both of her parents. “I won’t let Tyler stop me from keeping my promise to Owen,” she said. “That man lost all hope of having his son run the ranch and continue the Warren legacy.”
“Oh, honey, it’s a tall promise to keep. Owen’s place was let go when he had his first heart attack. He’d tried to hang on, but as you know, he just couldn’t do it, with being sick and all.”
“I know, Mom. But Owen gifted me half of the ranch, and I’m going to see this through. I’ve got Buddy, he’s working part-time, and the other boys listen to him.”
“No offense to him, honey, but what is he now, seventy-three?” her father asked.
“Yes, but he knows ranching and he’s still pretty good on a horse.”
“Won’t you miss nursing, honey? You’re a natural at it, and I know the hospital will take you back in a Montana minute.”
She smiled. Her mother was a proud Montanan. “I’ll be nursing the ranch back to health, Mama. I want this, for Owen and for myself. After Lee died, I sort of lost my heart, and now I have something to hold onto of my own. I think Owen knew that. He was my friend.”
Her mother reached for her hand across the table. “You took excellent care of him in his last months, honey. I’m sure he thought highly of you.”
“You should do what makes you happy, Summer,” her father said. “We want that for you, your mother and I.”
“I know, Dad.”
“What about Tyler? Are you up to having him underfoot?” her mother asked.
No, but what choice did she have? “I can manage it for a week. He’ll be gone after the rodeo.”
“You’re welcome to move in here,” her father said. “We’d love to have you. It’d be like old times.”
She smiled, but shook her head at the offer. “I can’t, Daddy. I refuse to let Tyler alter my life. I’m settled in at the Circle W now. I’ll be fine.”
Even though she’d have to put up with Tyler’s flavor of the month, she was willing to do it. She’d stand her ground. She wouldn’t allow him to push her out. Not again.
After all, what could possibly happen in a week?
*
It was dark by the time Summer entered the ranch house. She’d parked her car in the attached garage beside a black SUV with a license plate that read: 8 Sec Hell. And there went any hope she had of Tyler rethinking his plan to move in. She made her way through the door that led to the kitchen and immediately took to cleaning the bowls and cookie sheets she’d abandoned in the sink. She didn’t bother turning on the overhead light. There was enough moonlight streaming into the window for her to see to her task. It was sort of peaceful that way and she so loved a shining full moon.
Deep in thought, and scrubbing her pans, she didn’t hear Tyler walk into the room until he was behind her.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked, none too politely without turning around.
“Now, that’s a loaded question,” he said softly, his voice an uncanny mix of raw rasp and smooth velvet.
Hearing him speak had always done things to her and tonight was no exception. She stiffened her shoulders. As far as she could tell, he had no use for her. And she certainly had no use for him.
The refrigerator door opened and she caught him pulling out a beer. He must’ve stocked the fridge himself. She didn’t usually keep alcohol here. Owen couldn’t have it and she wouldn’t indulge in front of him.
“Want one?”
She shook her head. “No thanks.”
He sauntered over and leaned back against the counter, two feet away from her, taking a swig, all leisurely like.
She should let him be, but her curiosity got the better of her. “I guess your houseguest didn’t show?”
He finished off the beer in one huge gulp. Moonlight played over his sharp, incredibly manly features. The beginnings of a beard was growing, meeting with a well-groomed goatee and all that dark hair curling at his collar now, was enough to make a girl swoon. A swashbuckling pirate had nothing on him. Bells and whistles went off in her head. Warnings rang out, screaming for her to stay smart.
“You’d be wrong about that.”
“So where is she then?”
“Up in my bedroom.”
She swallowed and scrubbed at the pan with furious speed. He had no qualms about what he was doing.
That’d keep her smart if nothing else would. “Okay, then. It’s late. I should be heading to bed. Soon as I’m done here.”
“I’d like to introduce you to her. She’s really something.” His lips curled up at the corners. He pointed to the washed bowls and pans. “And it seems to me, you’d be scrubbing the shine right off those pans if they got any cleaner.”
Darn him, he was right. Calmly, she set the baking items to drying on a rack and wiped her hands across the dishtowel until they were more than dry. “I think I’ll wait until morning, if that’s okay with you?” To meet your latest hook-up.
“Probably not a good idea. She’s not a good sleeper,” he said. “She might wake up and make a bunch of noise. Wouldn’t want you bumping into our houseguest in the dead of night.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention. “I’m sure you’ll keep her entertained, Tyler.”
He laughed, a full-out, eyes gleaming, face spreading laugh that filled the silence of the house. That well-hidden dimple popped out and her breath caught.
“I thought I could, too, but that doesn’t always happen. She’s a handful sometimes. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
Summer sighed, her good manners giving her a swift kick in the behind. If it was inevitable that she meet the woman, it might as well be now. She’d exchange a few pleasantries, the way her folks taught her, and then go to bed. She could pretend she wasn’t a tiny bit jealous of Tyler bringing a woman into the house. It had been eleven years.
She and Tyler had nothing between them any longer. “Okay, why not?”
He nodded, a satisfied look in his eye. “Follow me.”
He climbed the stairs with meaningful strides, almost gleefully, and she hung back, watching the way his Wranglers hugged his waist and long legs. Lord, the man filled his jeans well.
There were four bedrooms upstairs and, lucky for her, she’d taken the one furthest from the staircase, set apart from the other rooms. She liked to wake up in the morning as the glow of a tangerine sunrise warmed the land. Owen had told her this room would bring her peace.
Tyler stopped by the door of his old room and waited for her. The light was dim inside and before she could q
uestion him about that, he said, “After you.”
She pulled a breath into her lungs and walked inside, aware Tyler was right behind her. Her gaze went to the empty queen-size bed and surroundings, not understanding any of it until she darted a glance to the far side of the room where a portable crib was set up. She took a few steps and halted, gasping when she found a pajama-clad little girl sleeping there. She couldn’t be more than a year old, her cherub face angelic and peaceful in slumber, her dark curls touching the base of her shoulders.
She slid a glance at Tyler, who was busy watching the child sleep, a glow of pride in his eyes she’d never witnessed before.
“Her name is Becca.”
It was obvious it was his daughter by the look on his face, but she had to ask. “Is she yours?”
He nodded. “I didn’t know about her, until last month. She’s fourteen months old.”
“Where’s her mother?”
“She hung around just long enough for the DNA tests to prove Becca was mine. And then she took off.”
Summer refrained from setting her hand on her stomach, thinking of the two, sweet babies she and Lee lost in those early years of their marriage. She’d wanted children so badly, but it seemed she couldn’t carry them to full term. Every time she heard a story like this, a mother abandoning her child, she cried inside for the loss and the unfairness. She was a nurturer by nature, she pined to be a mother, and she would’ve done anything to give Lee a child, for them to be a family. He would’ve been a great dad. And though he said over and over again, how much he loved her and she was his family, their lives were never the same. Miscarrying two babies had been heartbreaking, cutting out a major part of her soul.
“Took off? How does a mother just take off?”
“She met a guy who didn’t want a kid around. He’s some hot shot European entrepreneur.” Tyler’s teeth gnashed together. Sudden harshness strained in his eyes. “I met Lola after a rodeo in Wyoming, we had one night together. That was it. Took her over a year to tell me I fathered a child.”
A buckle bunny without a conscience? Not new news. Yet Summer couldn’t understand it. “You said you’ve only had her a month?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his forehead, squeezing the skin tight above his eyebrows. “It’s late, Summer. We should get some sleep. Becca sometimes cries out in the night. I wanted you to know she’s here, in case she wakes up and makes a racket.”
“I, uh, wouldn’t mind. Just call if you need anything…for her, I mean.”
He gave her a long, intense look. “Thanks. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
She nodded, took a peek at the sleeping angel once more, and walked out of the room.
Tyler Warren was back in Marietta, even if temporarily, with his beautiful daughter. He’d missed over a year of his baby’s life and he appeared to be a little lost at the moment. Man, oh man, this was the last thing she’d expected. Immediate nurturing thoughts wormed their way into her head. That sweet child had been abandoned by her mother. All she had now was a daddy who’d had no warning he’d fathered a child and was trying his best at winging it.
She gave herself a mental slap and reminded herself to stand firm. Tyler was only here for the rodeo. Then he’d take off, just like he had eleven years ago. She couldn’t soften to him, regardless of his situation. Entering her bedroom, she lowered down on the lavender and white floral quilt that cheered up the room and wondered if sleep would ever come tonight.
With Tyler sleeping only two rooms away, she had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn’t catch a wink.
Find out what happens next in Claim Me, Cowboy…
Buy Now!
The Bachelor Auction Returns
Bachelor for Hire by Charlene Sands
Falling for Her Bachelor by Robin Bielman
Seducing the Bachelor by Sinclair Jayne
Weekend with Her Bachelor by Jeannie Moon
About the Author
Charlene Sands is a USA Today Bestselling author writing sexy contemporary romances and stories set in the Old West. Her stories have been honored with the National Readers Choice Award, the Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice Award and she’s a double recipient of the Booksellers’ Best Award. She was recently honored with Romantic Times Magazine’s Best Harlequin Desire of 2014. Charlene is a member of the Orange County Chapter and Los Angeles Chapter of Romance Writers of America.
When not writing, she enjoys great coffee, spending time with her four “princesses”, bowling in a woman’s league, country music, reading books from her favorite authors and going on movie dates with her “hero” husband.
Sign up for her newsletter at www.charlenesands.com for new releases and special member giveaways. Charlene loves hearing from her readers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
*
For the latest news from Tule Publishing, visit our website at TulePublishing.com and sign up for our newsletter here!
Bachelor for Hire (Bachelor Auction #1) Page 16