Discovering Dani (River's End Ranch Book 20)

by Cindy Caldwell

  “That one,” she said, pointing to a snowmobile the same as her own.

  “Mind following me over to the Main House with the second?” she asked, and Elf nodded without hesitation.

  “Thanks,” she said as they parked them to the side of the Main House. “Coffee inside if you want some.”

  “Gotta get back, but thanks,” Elf said as he looked around, seeming a little distracted before he smiled and waved over his shoulder, heading toward the bay.

  “Hey, those are niiiice,” Travis said as he rounded the corner of the Main House from the direction of the cafe. He had jeans and boots on, and his plaid, flannel collar peeked out from underneath a heavy duty jacket. He still wore his ball cap, but he’d have to take it off anyway to wear his helmet.

  Dani took a quick peek up at the sky, grateful that there were no clouds. She’d checked the weather earlier and no snow was expected until closer to the Christmas weekend—perfect. One of the races was at night, and it was always much better—and safer—with clear skies. None of the guests were professionals, and the last thing she wanted was an accident or injury. She got enough of that on the job.

  “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a black backpack that hung from Travis’s hand.

  “Oh, just some supplies. I imagine we’ll be out most of the day.”

  “Yep,” Dani answered as she tossed Travis a helmet and donned her own. “Follow me. I’ll go slow.”

  She pulled on her helmet but thought she heard Travis laugh before she buckled it up. She knew he was a novice, so why wouldn’t she go slow? All they needed to do was scout a track, which she could do on the first try, and then run it as many times as they could before it got dark. Having two of them would make it take half the time. Not much more to laying a track, but it would be nice to have it done.

  She turned over the engine on her snowmobile and clipped her walkie talkie to her belt, turning to see if Travis was set. He’d slipped his backpack over his shoulders and pulled on his gloves after he’d clipped his helmet on. He pulled down his visor, giving her a nod and a thumb’s up.

  She slowed to a stop at the traditional starting line for the races, just to the west of the Main House, and cut off her engine. Travis pulled up beside her and did the same.

  He pushed up his visor and asked, “Do you use the same course every year?”

  Dani pushed up her visor as well. “No, not possible. The snow’s different every year. I just have to feel my way through it. It’s pretty slow on the first run, then we just go over and over it. Kind of boring.”

  “Boring? No way. I go in circles all the time for a living. I love it.” He laced his fingers and straightened his arms, flexing his knuckles. “Let’s ride,” he said and Dani laughed as his eyes crinkled with his smile. There actually was something about his eyes that made her take notice, and she was surprised again at how that made her feel. Kind of silly.

  She shook it off and lowered her visor, leading Travis through the mounds of snow between the ranch proper and the lake, through a stand of trees and up onto a small knoll. She checked behind her several times, ensuring that he was keeping up and there were several occasions where he was actually almost right on her tail. Clearly, she hadn’t needed to worry about going too fast for him.

  “What do you think?” she asked as she cut the engine again after he’d pulled up behind her and done the same.

  He hopped off the snowmobile and took in the panorama, spinning slowly in a circle and eventually stopping and watching as Dani took off her helmet and ran her fingers through her hair.

  “Beautiful,” he said as he stared at her.

  She looked up at the sky and the surrounding mountains, the white snow sparkling in the morning sun. “Yes, it is.”

  “No, I meant you,” he said, and her breath hitched as she turned to look at him.

  “Oh. Um, nah. You must be thinking of someone else,” she said as her fingers instinctively ran through her hair again.

  “Nope. I’m not,” he said as he threw his leg back over the snowmobile. “So we head back and then just run the course as many times as we can, right?”

  All the air rushed out of her lungs and she paused for a moment, looking back over the course and avoiding eye contact with Travis. She pulled her helmet back on. Did he really mean what he’d said? Shoot, her hair was so short she practically looked like a boy—although it was relatively long for her at the moment, curling down to just below her collar.

  She eventually caught her breath and said, “Yep. Just over and over. It gets kind of boring for some people.”

  “Not me,” he said before he lowered his visor and gave her a thumb’s up again.

  They spent the next several hours taking runs around the course, stopping occasionally to chat. Once, Dani pulled over and cut her engine, Travis doing the same right behind her.

  “See that?” she whispered, although if the noise of the engine hadn’t scared the group of deer away, her voice likely wouldn’t. They were up on a ridge in some trees, and the deer were on the bigger side, the buck likely with antlers that would be highly prized by a hunter. She didn’t hunt, and hoped that they’d fade back into the forest and safety...right after Travis saw them.

  “Wow,” he whispered as they faded back into the trees. “They’re beautiful. And huge.”

  She smiled as she watched him, imagining that he’d possibly not ever seen any—and she’d seen hundreds, if she had to guess.

  “It’s fun seeing River’s End Ranch with you. Like I’m seeing it for the first time, in some ways,” she said as she hopped off the snowmobile and walked over to an exposed boulder. She sat in the sunlight and leaned back, the sun warming her face.

  “Probably seems funny to you that I’ve never seen a lot of these things. But hey, here’s a question. Have you seen an alligator? Up close, I mean?” he said as he laughed and set his backpack down beside them.

  Her eyes flew open. “No, I haven’t seen a real alligator, up close or otherwise. Have you?”

  “Of course,” he said. “They’re pretty common in parts of Florida.” He unzipped his backpack and looked up at her. “I guess there are interesting things to see wherever you go. You hungry?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am. I didn’t think about bringing food. Have plenty of water, though.”

  “Some survivalist you are.”

  She smiled. “I never said I was a survivalist and you can see the cafe from here in case of an emergency. We could walk that far.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But you might like this for now,” he said as he handed her a sandwich in a plastic bag.

  She looked up at him as she reached for it. “Thank you, Travis. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

  “Nah, I just like to eat. Remember I told you, it’s important. Feed the body and the soul.”

  “Yeah, you did say that,” she said as she reached into the bag and took a bite of the sandwich.

  “It’s true,” he said as he took a bite of his own sandwich and she noticed he was watching her. “Like it?”

  “Yeah, it’s great. Kelsi always makes my favorite when she knows I’m working hard. She sent me lunch all week. It’s nice,” she said as she took a sip of her water.

  Travis laughed as he reached for a bottle of water.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Oh, nothing. It’s interesting, your strange hot and cold relationship with your sister.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love Kelsi. We’re twins—twin bond and everything. We’re just different. She likes taking care of people and I—”

  “You don’t?” he cut in softly.

  “It’s not that I don’t. I don’t think I know how. When we were younger our parents dressed us alike, we spent every waking moment together. Even teachers just called us ‘twin’ when they wanted to get our attention. I think at some point I just wanted to be different. Or found things about myself that are different. I don’t know.”

  “Of course you kn
ow how. Everybody knows how.”

  “Maybe. I guess I just don’t see myself that way,” she said as she finished her sandwich and shoved the bag in her pocket.

  “You may not, but lots of other people do. Me included,” he said as he put the rest of the trash back in the backpack and zipped it up, sliding his helmet on. “You ready? I think we have quite a few more circles to run, don’t we?”

  “Yeah, we do,” Dani said as she turned the engine over. Lots more circles to run. As she set off down the snowmobile race track one more time, she hoped she wouldn’t be running in circles forever.

  Chapter 12

  Dani and Travis had spent an exhausting day driving pretty much in circles. He’d asked her to dinner, but they both were too tired to do much other than grab some soup at the restaurant. He’d asked her to come over to the cabin, but she’d declined, saying she was exhausted, and that she needed to be rested up for the snowmobile races tomorrow. He’d even asked her if she’d go through Old Town, to see the cookie decorating contest that was posted on the board and she’d hesitated, but smiled and asked if he wouldn’t mind going with someone else. He understood why—he thought he did, anyway—and hoped that it wasn’t him personally that she didn’t want to spend time with.

  Judging from the dark circles under her eyes, though, he didn’t think so. She’d been running herself ragged all week working for her brother and doing her own job, too, and was now heading right into coordinating a pretty major event. He decided to just let her have her alone time—he certainly understood needing that. He wanted that, too, sometimes, but tonight, after he’d fed Kitty and taken a shower, he decided to stroll over to the Old West town and at least check out the Christmas lights. And maybe get a Christmas cookie.

  He was halfway down the boardwalk when he heard someone calling him. He turned around and stopped as Wyatt strode over, his long legs making quick work of the wooden planks beneath them.

  “Hey, Travis,” he said as he shook his hand. “You look like maybe you’re warm enough tonight. Good we took you shopping.”

  Travis laughed as he pulled his scarf around him tightly. “I was informed by Daniella that it wasn’t called ‘shopping’ when men do it, but utility purchases. But thanks for setting me up, anyway.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like Dani. Everything’s utility with her,” he said. “Hey, I’m waiting for Belinda to meet me for the cookie-making contest. Care to get a coffee and keep me company?”

  “Sure,” Travis responded, following Wyatt after he smiled and nodded, turning into Sadie’s Saloon, which was actually the ranch’s coffee and ice cream shop.

  “So, how do you like it around here?” Wyatt asked as he thanked Sadie for the coffee and found a table.

  Travis set his scarf and hat on the seat beside him, placing his gloves on top. There sure were a lot of ‘utility’ clothes required when snow was involved.

  He blew on his coffee before he replied. “I love it. Just love it. It’s so different from anything I’ve ever seen. Daniella and I saw some deer today—can you believe it?”

  Wyatt laughed and tipped his cowboy hat back. “Yep, I can believe. Seen one or two myself.”

  Travis smiled, feeling a little foolish. “Of course you have. I guess it’s all new to me. I have seen alligators, though,” he said as he leaned back in his chair, watching the ranch guests stroll by and enjoying the colorful Christmas lights.

  “Well, that’s something I’ve never seen,” Wyatt said.

  “Daniella said the same. I wonder if she’d like to see that...” His voice trailed off as he thought of how fun it would be to show her an alligator, and the ocean, and the sunset over the water—and it surprised him. He’d had a great time with her all day, and she handled her snowmobile just like pro. Not many women wanted to do that.

  “I bet she might. She’s one of the most adventurous in the family. Takes after the parents, I guess,” Wyatt said as he watched out the window. He turned back to Travis and squinted. “You two have been spending a fair amount of time together?”

  “I wouldn’t say a lot. I’d like to see her more, but she’s pretty busy.”

  Wyatt leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Dani’s busy. Dani’s always busy. If she’s not working her butt off on the ranch, she’s flying in a helicopter to help some poor, foolish soul off a mountain he shouldn’t have been on in the first place.”

  Travis’s eyebrows rose. “That sounds a little personal. I’m sure sometimes they’re just accidents.”

  Wyatt chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right. I am speaking from personal experience. Belinda’s knucklehead brother, to be precise. But that’s all over now, thank goodness. Regardless, Dani risked her life to bring him and his friends to safety. Him and lots of other people over the years.”

  “Oh,” Travis said, and he could perfectly picture this tough but soft woman putting herself on the line like that.

  “I guess what I’m saying is that Dani’s always going to have something she has to do. And the man who somehow is able to get her to look away from that, or to add to that, I should say—that’ll be the man for her. Hope I’m not speaking out of turn, but I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

  Travis felt the blood leave his face. Had he been that obvious? Sure, he’d been taken with Daniella and was having a blast at the ranch—especially with her. But he had no idea how she felt about him, and he was just passing through, anyway. It wasn’t fair to start something he couldn’t finish.

  “Don’t mind me. I’m not the expert, but I see one coming,” Wyatt said as he smiled and stood, reaching out his hand toward an older lady—maybe the one Travis had seen earlier when he was in the cafe on that first day.

  “Hello, Jaclyn. You look lovely,” Wyatt said as he kissed the older woman’s cheek.

  “Aren’t you a charmer, Wyatt,” she said as she returned his embrace. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  Wyatt looked at her like she’d said something really funny and laughed. “Yeah, okay. Sure. This is Travis Montgomery.”

  “I know that already,” she said oddly before she stepped up and reached for Travis’s hand.

  “Of course you do,” Wyatt said, shaking his head. “Good luck, Travis. I’ll catch up with you about that trail ride. If you’ll excuse me, I see my lovely bride.” Wyatt tipped his hat and held out his seat for Jaclyn, who took it gladly, as far as Travis could tell. He had no idea who this woman was, but she was charming—and intriguing. How could she have known who he was?

  “Can I buy you a cup of coffee? Or tea?” he asked as she settled into the chair across from him.

  “No, thank you, young man. I need to be at the cookie-decorating contest shortly. I just wanted to meet you,” she said as she studied his face. “Although I feel like I already know you. And have for some time.”

  “Oh, I’ve only been here for a little over a week. I don’t know how that would be possible.”

  “Well, let me put it this way,” she said as she continued to squint and look him over. “I’ve known Daniella her entire life. So, therefore, I’ve known you, too. I just wanted to see you for myself.”

  He met her kind eyes. Her gray hair was swept up into a bun. She wore a lovely, colorful shawl over her coat and the sparkle he saw on her face was—well, she sort of glowed. He’d moved around so much, and met so many people that he kind of had an instinct for one of the good guys—the same way he’d felt when he’d met Mr. and Mrs. Weston.

  That said, he had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Please tell Dani that I need to see her as soon as possible. I’ve been leaving messages, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was avoiding me,” Jaclyn said as she stood and pulled her shawl tight. “Tell her she won’t get away with it. Or she shouldn’t, anyway.”

  “Why wouldn’t she want to see you? I don’t understand,” he said as he drained the last of his coffee.

  “Suffice it to say that
she’s trying to avoid her future. And by avoiding me, she just might miss out. The fairies have asked for her directly, and she knows better than to avoid them. And besides, the bunnies could use a visit, too.”

  He’d stood when she did, and he thought his chin just might be hanging low enough to hit the table as she pulled him in for a hug. She stood back and met his eyes. “Don’t give up on her, young man. She’s very special, and worth all the effort,” she said, and she nodded before she left the saloon and marched down the boardwalk.

  He sat slowly, his head a little fuzzy about what had just happened. Don’t give up? There was nothing to give up. He and Daniella were just friends. But after what Wyatt had said, and now this woman, Jaclyn—maybe it was time to see if they might be a little more.

  As he walked back toward his cabin alone, his breath freezing as soon as it hit the air, he remembered that he wasn’t going to be there long. He’d need to be back on the tour, soon. He even had an exhibition race on New Year’s Day, so he’d need to leave the day after Christmas. And that was only six more days that he had to be at this ranch. And with Daniella.

  Kitty pounced as soon as he opened the door, and he swept her into his arms. He cuddled her softly as he rolled over in his mind what he’d been told tonight, and decided that he’d just enjoy the rest of his stay, spend as much time with Daniella as he could and see what happened.

  Chapter 13

  Travis spent the day helping Dani, rolling over what he’d heard the night before between assignments. First thing in the morning, they rode the course a few times to make sure it was as they’d left it, and it was in fine shape.

  Someone named Elf dropped by a trailer full of torches, and Dani explained that some of the races were in the dark and they needed torches to light the course, so after lunch, they ran the course yet another time, setting torches at equal distances along the route. He didn’t mind, though—he could ride that course forever and not get tired of it. In fact, all day long, he’d been itching to do just that—race it at high speed, and he hoped he’d get a chance sometime. After he was done helping Dani.