Discovering Dani (River's End Ranch Book 20)

by Cindy Caldwell

  “And you survived. Huh,” Wyatt said. He dropped the bags he’d carried in on the kitchen counter and opened the refrigerator—empty, Travis noticed, and he was glad he’d run to get some groceries before they’d headed to the cabin.

  “You guys don’t call her that?” He’d spent the day with Wyatt and they hadn’t even brought up Dani—he supposed he should call her Dani to protect himself—or any of the other Westons, for that matter. Wyatt had given him a run-down on the history of the ranch, what each facility did and Travis had been amazed at the size of the operation.

  “Heck, no. We like to keep the peace around here.” Wyatt finished unloading the groceries and looked around, his hands on his hips. “I guess she must like us a little bit,” he said as he picked up the lone picture in the cabin—his parents and all his siblings. None of them had been married then—and so much had changed. He and Kelsi both had little ones on the way, and their parents had missed it all. He shook his head slowly and placed the picture in one of the drawers.

  “Your parents didn’t mention that,” Travis said as he pulled some things back out of the cupboard. The kitchen seemed pretty well stocked with pots and pans and spices, and he hadn’t eaten much since breakfast. “They did talk about the ranch a lot, and how much they love it.”

  “Huh. Couldn’t tell that right about now. They’ve been gone for almost a year.”

  Travis didn’t know Wyatt well enough read his voice, but he sounded a little—not miffed. Maybe sad?

  “Do you know how long they plan to be gone?” Travis asked as he reached for a pan under the stove. “They didn’t mention it to me.”

  “No, I don’t. All I know is I hope they’re planning to be back for Kelsi’s baby, or I wouldn’t want to be them. But I stay out of it. I know what’s good for me.”

  Travis laughed and hung his coat on the rack by the door. “I guess. I wouldn’t know. No family on my end.”

  Wyatt pushed his hat back up on his forehead and looked Travis in the eye. “I might make some swipes here and there, but I can’t even imagine what it would be like not to have family. And a ton of family, at that.” He glanced at his watch and rubbed his hands together. “Speaking of family, Belinda’ll be waiting for me, so I’ll say goodbye. You okay on your own tonight? I can set you up with some things to do for a few days. And you’re always welcome to jump in over at the stables or the mechanics’ barn.

  “No, I’ll be fine. Long day—not sure how you do that. My job’s a lot easier.”

  “Driving race cars? I don’t know about easy, but it sure sounds fun. You’ll have to tell me more about it tomorrow,” Wyatt said and tipped his hat at Travis. “Nice to meet you, Travis. Look forward to seeing you again.”

  “Same here, Wyatt. Thanks, and the ranch sure didn’t need to pick up the tab for my clothes. I could have done that.”

  Wyatt waved him off. “Least we could do since you drove across the country with a truck for us. Happy to do it.”

  “Well, thanks very much,” Travis said as he unbuttoned one of the new plaid flannel shirts and put it on over his t-shirt. He’d been freezing all day and the fuzzy fabric actually felt great—and warm.

  “Ha, you look like you’ve lived here all your life, except for the creases where it was folded,” Wyatt said with a laugh as he reached for the door.

  Travis looked down and smiled. Guess he was going to look like an outsider for a while yet, and it made sense—he was completely out of his element at the moment. But it was fun so far, and Wyatt and the other Westons he’d met today—Wes and Will—were all great guys, each offering to show him around during his stay and he looked forward to taking them up on it.

  He cut up the meat he’d gotten at the store and dredged it in the flour he found in the cupboard. He got the stew together and set it to simmer—sounded like the perfect thing to make in the snow—and he sat down on the coach just as the final rays of the sun disappeared behind the massive mountains that surrounded the valley. He stood mesmerized at the plate glass window as the mountains turned pink, then purple and the sky changed with them.

  He leaned back and looked around his cabin—not much to it, but it was clean and comfortable, the walls lined with knotty pine. No pictures, nothing at all that would lead him to believe that Dani lived here. Or anybody, for that matter.

  He leaned back on the couch and reached for the TV remote. It had to be there somewhere, as there was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite. He wasn’t much of a TV watcher, but he’d had a long day and he might be able to find a race or a re-run of one to check out his competition.

  There was nothing on the coffee table, and he lifted up one of the couch cushions to check. Nothing.

  He reached for the fuzzy throw at the end of the couch and lifted it up, blinking several times as a pair of green eyes blinked up at him, and a kitten yawned before settling its head back on its paws.

  “Hey, there,” he said as he pushed the blanket back from the gray cat, small stripes running down to its white, furry feet.

  The cat—more likely a kitten, he thought—stood and stretched, walking across the couch and plopping itself down in his lap. He stared at it for a moment before he tentatively brushed his hand across its head and was rewarded with a loud purr.

  “Huh,” he said, surprised. He’d moved around most of his adult life—and his childhood, for that matter—and was never in one place long enough to have a pet. Dog or cat. So this was a new experience, and he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. He couldn’t imagine Dani hadn’t taken the cat with her.

  He rubbed his finger under the cat’s chin, hoping to find a collar so he’d at least know its name. The cat yawned again and stood, and he winced as it stretched his claws that went right through his thin, cotton pants and eyed the sturdier ones across the room.

  The cat jumped on the floor and headed toward the small kitchen, sniffing at an empty bowl next to a bowl of water.

  “Oh, you’re probably hungry,” he said and he was pretty sure that he hadn’t seen any cat food but thought he should look again. Worst case, he could give it some milk...or maybe a little of the tuna he’d bought.

  He didn’t find any cat food, so reached for the tuna. He rummaged through the drawers looking for a can opener. In the third drawer he checked, his fingers rested on an upside down picture frame and he pulled it out, setting it on the counter and reaching back in the drawer for the can opener that was behind it.

  He’d barely opened the can when the cat brushed between his legs and purred even louder, doing a figure eight as he spooned a little of the fish into a small bowl and set it on the floor.

  He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, watching as the cat licked the bowl clean. His gaze drifted from the cat as it settled back on its blanket to the framed picture.

  Westons—all of them. He looked from one Weston to another—four men and the twins, Kelsi and Dani, all with kind, friendly ice blue eyes. In the middle of them all, he recognized Mr. and Mrs. Weston immediately, and he smiled and silently thanked them for sharing their family with him—even if it was only for a little while.

  Chapter 8

  Dani plopped into Wade’s office chair and rubbed the back of her neck. They’d met with Wade earlier and made a plan that they were all happy with. The day had been hectic, but they’d all gotten their bearings and completed their assignments, and she reached for a pen to start a list for what they needed to do the following day.

  “How are you holding up?” Bernie asked as she stood in the doorway, notepad in hand. “You’ve done a great job, and Wade would be proud.”

  The leather chair creaked as Dani leaned back, resting her head on its high back. “Couldn’t have done it without you, Bernie. Team effort, and we’ve still got a week to go. Did any of those Santas pan out?”

  “Yep, got it covered.”

  Dani whistled under her breath. “Thank goodness. That would have been a disaster, and I don’t think it’s so
mething I could have pulled off on my own. And I talked to Wade—he’s all set and had his first session with Maddie.”

  “Oh, that’s a relief.” Bernie leaned against the door jamb. “We could have come up with something for Santa, but it all worked out. How’s Erica doing?”

  Dani had barely given a second thought to her assistant. They’d only been working together for a few weeks, and Dani had been out and about so much that she hadn’t had a chance to get to know her well. What she did know was that she was very competent, got along well with everyone and took a huge load off her shoulders, so for now, that was enough.

  “Great—I think. I should go check on her, actually. I think she got everything sorted with my stuff.”

  “Oh, right. You’re moving back over to the main house—Kelsi’s room? That should be interesting.”

  “Definitely,” Dani said as she stood and stretched.

  “Who’s the guy?”

  “The guy?”

  Bernie laughed. “Yes, the guy that precipitated the move back into Kelsi’s pink room. I’m pretty positive you wouldn’t have done it unless you’d had no choice.”

  “Ah. Yeah. Mom and Dad sent him with a big truck. They were trying to help. They even sent Fred to help. That kind of help, I don’t need.”

  Bernie smiled and looked up at the mistletoe. “Yes, I see he was trying to help—trying to help himself, though, I think.”

  Dani reached for her coat and glanced up at the mistletoe. “I did notice that this morning. I think he was hoping you’d get in while he was still standing under it.”

  Bernie shook her head and tossed her pen on her desk. She turned toward Dani, her hands on her hips. “Seriously? That mistletoe isn’t for me. Everybody knows who it’s for.”

  “What? Who?” Dani asked as she threw her coat over her arms and tucked her gloves in the pockets. She wouldn’t need them if she was staying in the main house now.

  “Well, apparently everybody knows but you.” Bernie tugged her scarf around her neck. “He only has eyes for you, Dani.”

  Dani stopped mid-step and turned around, her eyes wide as she looked from Bernie up to the mistletoe. “What? No way. Fred’s...well, Fred’s Fred. He—he’s never...”

  “Just because he hasn’t doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to. You just don’t notice those things like a normal person.”

  “No, you are completely off base with this one. Nobody thinks of me like that, especially Fred,” Dani said as she took one last look up at the mistletoe.

  “Okay, whatever you say,” Bernie said as Dani said good night and they agreed to meet early the next morning to plan the day.

  She frowned as she passed through the small section of offices and stopped as she saw a light on in her own office.

  “Hey, Erica. How are you holding up?” she asked as she leaned against the doorway.

  “Oh, hi. Great on the job front. All going well. I had to wrestle with Bob a little bit about the onions. He didn’t like the kind they sent. Wants shallots. I tried to tell him the red onions would do, but he wasn’t having it.”

  Dani shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans, grateful that someone else had to deal with Bob’s onion mania today. She had bigger fish to fry.

  “Better you than me,” she said as Erica pulled her blonde hair back into a tighter ponytail.

  “I can handle Bob, no problem,” she said. “But I was just coming to look for you, actually. The switchboard passed a call through to me. Somebody was looking for you. I haven’t called him back to see what he needs, but was going to offer to help. Somebody named Travis Montgomery.”

  She handed the pink message slip to Dani, whose heart thudded as she read the message. “Oh, my gosh. The cat!”

  “Cat? What cat?”

  “My cat,” she said as she shrugged on her coat and pulled on her gloves.

  Erica stared at her, her eyes wide. “You have a cat? I never would have guessed.”

  “Oh, come on. Yes, it’s a kitten I rescued, and I forgot all about it.

  “That I could have guessed,” Erica said with a laugh as Dani spun on her heel and headed out the door.

  She clapped her hands together to keep warm as she jogged to her cabin. Deena hadn’t mentioned anything about the cat, either. It must have been under that blanket at the end of the couch—its favorite place.

  As she passed the Old West town, Christmas lights blazing, she felt a curious, unfamiliar tightness in her chest that somehow spurred her to jog a little faster toward her cabin.

  She reached for the key as she approached and threw the door open as soon as she got there and stepped inside before she’d realized that somebody else was staying there. She stopped short as Travis stood from the couch, the cat in his arms, and an aroma of stew swirled around her.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said as she shifted from one foot to the other. “I forgot you were here, I guess. I should have knocked.”

  Travis smiled, and stroked the cat. Dani could hear her purring from the doorway—the traitor. Since she’d rescued the kitten, she’d never sat on Dani’s lap—even once.

  Travis walked over to the kitchen counter. “I wasn’t sure if you left her for me to take care of, but I wanted to make sure I fed her the right things, if you did.”

  “No, I—I honestly forgot.”

  “You forgot your cat?” he asked, his eyes wide.

  “Well, sort of. I mean, I haven’t had her that long. She was an abandoned kitten and I took her in and fed her milk. She kind of just lives here.”

  “Oh,” he said as he lifted the kitten’s face to his and rubbed her cheek. “What’s her name?”

  Oh, good grief. Not only had Dani forgotten the cat but now she had to admit that the cat didn’t even have a name. She hadn’t gotten around to that. She was so busy that it didn’t really seem to matter. When she fed her, she’d just said, “Here, kitty, kitty,” like they did on TV.

  “Her name’s Kitty,” she said definitively.

  “Kitty. That’s remarkably inventive,” Travis said and laughed, and Dani was grateful. His laugh seemed to make it a little better—or at least let her off the hook. Kelsi would have had a field day with her.

  “Thank you. I tried,” she said, relieved that she’d dodged that bullet. He held the kitten out to her and she took it—took Kitty—who promptly jumped out of her arms and pranced back to her blanket.

  “I guess she’s had enough cuddling for one night,” Travis said as he lifted the lid from the pot of stew. “Thanks for letting me have the cabin. I really hate having to put you out of your place,” he said as he gave the stew a stir. “I could have stayed wherever it is you ended up.”

  Dani leaned forward and looked into the pot—the stew looked delicious. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and she’d need to hurry back to the restaurant to get dinner before it closed if she wanted to eat at all.

  Dani laughed at the thought of Travis in Kelsi’s room. She wouldn’t wish that on anybody. “No problem,” she said. “You wouldn’t like it. And besides, I actually did realize that I had a cat somewhere along the line, and she couldn’t be in the Main House that close to the kitchen. It worked out fine.”

  “If you say so,” he said as he set the lid back on the pot and reached up into the cupboard. He took out two bowls and turned to Dani. “Least I can do is feed you. The biscuits are just about done. You hungry?”

  “No,” she said as her stomach betrayed her with a loud rumble. Her cheeks flushed, but she was grateful again for his laugh.

  “Um, either you’re fibbing or your stomach is. I’m betting your stomach’s right. Please, just stay and eat.”

  Dani frowned. Nobody ever called her on what she said or did—they wouldn’t dare. But this guy didn’t know that, didn’t know her, and she realized he was just trying to be nice. She glanced at Kitty purring on the sofa and inhaled deeply once again, her mouth watering. What could it hurt just to eat with this guy. He’d done them all such a favor, like Kelsi said
, and it might be rude not to. And besides, she’d get a good meal out of it.

  She looked up at him and smiled. Their eyes met and he smiled in return, and there was something about his eyes and made Dani’s shoulders relax, and her eyes soften. She’d had a long, hard day and as she listened to the cat purr and inhaled the delicious aroma of stew again, she reached for the bowl he held out to her.

  Chapter 9

  “Thanks for feeding me,” Dani said as she finished the last of her stew and plopped the end of a biscuit in her mouth—the best one she’d ever had, if she was honest. Wouldn’t hurt to tell him that, would it? “The stew was fantastic. Hit the spot.”

  “My pleasure. I like to cook,” Travis said as he set the dishes in the sink and ran some water on them. “But I rarely get to cook for anybody else. It was fun. Nice to have the company.” He sat back down on the stool and smiled at her. He leaned his elbows on the counter as the coffee he’d set up brewed.

  “I got the truck over to your brother, Wyatt. Man, what a great guy he is. He even took me shopping since I was freezing to death most of the day, and slipping and sliding on the ice.”

  Dani’s eyebrows rose. “Shopping?”

  He coughed. “Not like girl shopping. Utility shopping. Warmth shopping,” he said as he smoothed his plaid flannel shirt and smiled at her.

  “Ah, yes. A new shirt. Creases and all.” Utility, warmth shopping she understood. Girl shopping—never. “It looks nice on you,” she said, and she meant it. Deep blue and gray, and it made his eyes stand out. She couldn’t remember ever noticing that about anybody.

  “It was really nice of him to help me out. Oh, and I met your other brothers, Will and Wes. I guess the only one I haven’t met is Wade.”

  Dani sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “And if I’m lucky you won’t meet him. At least not for a week or so.” She gave Travis a brief run-down of the previous day’s events, and the impact it would have on the ranch. And her.