In fact, at the moment she’d take everything about Clarksport over this horse ranch, Primrose Inn and Burton, South Dakota.
Her mind conjured up Clarksport, Maine, her home, with the ocean dashing up against the rocky beach. She closed her eyes and summoned up Wharf Street, the little cobblestone road that started at the tiny whaling museum and Clarksport Historical Society and ran right down to the faded wooden planks of the wharf. It would be crowded with foot traffic, tourists who took a turn off I95 or Route 1 on their way to Acadia National Park or points north to take a look at a quaint little fishing village. Hayden could almost smell the salty air, hear the cry of the gulls, especially when Verde LaPointe brought the “Lena May” in, full of lobster, for the little restaurant his wife ran at the end of Wharf Street.
Ben burst through the door, sending a shockwave through Hayden’s already taut nerves and blowing her happy thoughts away like a tornado. Time evidently hadn’t eased his mood any. He slammed the door and glared down at her.
He glared better than Mr. Hanson ever did.
Hayden glowered back up at him.
“I never figured one of Lu Gardner’s relatives to be so careless. I thought about giving you the benefit of the doubt because you’re not from here, but that only makes what you did even more reckless,” Ben launched, his fists tight and perched just below the dark leather belt around his narrow waist.
“I’ll say I’m sorry you had to ride out to get me, because I am, but I don’t think I deserve this.” Hayden looked straight into his eyes. When he was angry like this, it was much easier to deal with this lust issue she’d had ever since she was first introduced to him a few weeks before.
Ben pulled his Stetson off and ran a hand through his hair, rumpling the short dark cut. He tossed the hat on his desk and leaned his hip against the dark wooden surface. Hayden watched him draw a long breath, and turn his eyes toward the ceiling as if the answers to all his woes were up there. Maybe he was just counting to ten. Or praying.
Ben stood, took hold of her arm, drew her from the couch and led her out the door. With a firm grip, he escorted her back out to the horse stalls. Halfway down the wide aisle, Hayden pulled herself free and stalked after him, stopping at one of the stalls. Bugs stood, head low and turned to the far corner of one of the big box stalls, looking sorry and dejected. A man Hayden didn’t recognize squatted down next to the horse’s right rear leg. He looked as grim as Ben.
Hayden’s heart dug a hole and plunged lower into her chest.
“This is Doc Gunnersen. Doc, this is Hayden Merrick. Lu’s granddaughter.”
Doc Gunnersen glanced up and fixed a steely eye on her. His mouth pulled tight with disapproval. He simply nodded then turned his attention back to Bugs’ leg.
“What’s wrong with him?” Hayden asked breathlessly.
Oh Lord, what have I done now?
“What’s wrong with him?” Anger grew in Ben’s voice again. “He’s a horse you had no business riding. He’s been retired for five years because he’s lame. Who told you that it was all right to ride him? I’m betting it wasn’t Lu.”
“No, it was Sally,” Hayden sputtered, still shocked. She might not understand horses as much as he did, but she’d never knowingly put one at risk. All her previous animosity toward the horse evaporated.
“Sally knows as much about horses as I do about nursing.” Ben regarded her skeptically. “I can’t see her advising you about riding.”
Hayden crossed her arms tightly over chest and frowned. “Well, maybe she knows more than she lets on. Who do you think saddled him? Wasn’t me. Besides, I’ve taken some lessons before. I’m not completely clueless.”
The ire on his face lessened a few degrees, but he still looked highly annoyed. Hayden caught a glimpse of the vet from the corner of her eye, shaking his head. She thought she heard the word “tenderfoot” slip out.
“Can I go now?” she asked, looking back at Ben.
Ben looked away from her and shook his head. “‘Fraid you’re going to have to sit tight for a while. We’re not going anywhere.” Ben pointed toward the big door at the end of the barn. The entrance resembled a waterfall. Hayden hadn’t seen such a heavy rain since Hurricane Bob whipped up the Maine coast in the early nineties.
“Okay, so I can’t walk,” she conceded. “Can you spare someone to drive me?”
“You’re not going anywhere but up to the house. You’re lucky I don’t have any out of town guests, otherwise you’d have to sleep on the couch in the study.”
“Excuse me?” For a moment his meaning was lost on her, but it slowly dawned and as she looked into Ben’s ice-blue eyes, a swell of panic rose inside her belly, reaching up to her heart.
For the first time since he swept her into his arms and onto his horse, Ben bestowed his heart-stopping smile, the one that made her toes melt and her knees go weak.
“Welcome to The Painted Horse Ranch, ma’am. I’ll be your host for the night.”
****
By the time Ben turned Hayden over to his housekeeper’s capable hands, the storm had just about given up the ghost. Lightning still sputtered to the west and a low rumble of thunder echoed across the roof of the barn. A steady beat of water dripped down into the broad puddle that’d formed just outside the big barn door, but it decreased in tempo quickly.
Joseph Gunnersen was locking up the stall occupied by Lu’s gelding.
“How’s Bugs?” Ben asked before the sandy-haired man left the barn.
“That old cuss? Hell, it’d take a lot more than a sore ankle to stop him. But he’s not going to be able to be moved for a few weeks. I’m surprised Lu’s granddaughter got him out the gate. What the hell goes through a woman’s mind?”
“Hayden’s or Sally’s?” Ben asked with a grin. “I think I can forgive Hayden’s ignorance, but Sally isn’t so innocent.”
Joseph laughed, his heavy moustache dancing over his grinning mouth. “That Sally is plain trouble. Maybe you oughta marry her just to stop her mischief.”
Ben didn’t share the vet’s humor. “You’ve cracked, Doc,” he grumbled. “A husband isn’t going to stop that woman. A ring is going to have to come from another man. I know her too well.”
Joseph continued to laugh as he left the barn, heading to the bunkhouse, where a spare bed waited for him. The storm had forced him to stay put as well, but he was just as comfortable bedded down with the other guys as anywhere. He was a confirmed bachelor so he didn’t have anyone to rush home to, and he’d admitted on many occasions that he preferred the company of his customers over his own and only second to the animals he tended.
Ben looked in at the old horse from Primrose. Bugs had his nose thrust in a hay net, chewing on some of the sweet smelling stuff. His ears tilted back and he didn’t look happy, but that was the general personality of the old boy. He’d be fine and Ben would tell Hayden that when he got back up to the house, set the woman’s mind at ease. He thought about his earlier conversation with Sally and her remark about the cold welcome Hayden was receiving during her stay in Burton. He didn’t want to be a part of that crowd, but he sure botched that up. She certainly deserved an apology.
He stalked off to his office to get some work done first. It was a fight to keep his mind on business. Thinking of Hayden Merrick, despite the complications of her arrival in Burton, proved a lot more enjoyable than work. He’d been doing it far too often over the past few weeks, however.
The fact that there was a better than fair chance she’d be the owner of a piece of property he coveted didn’t change the attraction that’d been brewing ever since he’d found her on Lu’s front porch swing, one leg tucked under her, an old Burton High School yearbook on her lap. She made a pretty picture nibbling her bottom lip as she studied the page. She’d only been there for two days, but speculation already ran rampant around town and seeing her, he knew why. Not only was she the daughter of the banished Rosalyn, she was also the spitting image of Jesse Ball, Ben’s godfather. It was like
a double whammy, and played havoc on his brain with twice the ferocity he’d expected.
He tried not to let either fact bother him. The main thing was that Hayden made Lu happy.
“She’s made me the most beautiful painting of the town she’s from,” Lu had told him, and she fairly beamed when she showed him the canvas with the depiction of a wild Maine coast. The lighthouse with its beam of light stretching like an arm into the moonlit fog captivated him, as much as the moon reflecting on the waves did.
What Hayden lacked in horsemanship, she made up with artistic ability. The painting made him want to see Maine in person.
“That’s where Rosalyn ended up,” Lu had told him. He didn’t miss the way her lips tightened. Ben had comforted her the best he could, wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders.
“Del and I were damned fools, Ben. I missed her so much but we were too proud to take her back.”
Well, for better or worse, Lu’s grandchild was now here and he had the feeling that whatever turmoil she’d thrown him into was only a pale comparison to how Jesse and the rest of his family were handling her arrival.
Ben reached for the phone to call over to Primrose Inn. Lu needed to know that Hayden would be spending the night.
Of course Sally answered. An invisible hand closed around his heart in an unpleasant grip when her voice transformed from business to sweet as soon as he said hello.
“Let me talk to Lu,” he said shortly.
“She’s sleeping. Let me pass a message along.”
“No, I think you’ve done plenty for one day. What the hell went through your head when you told Hayden to ride that horse?”
“Bugs? Why, what’s wrong with him?”
Play dumb, Sally, that’s right.
“The horse is lame. He hasn’t been ridden for the past five years. You mean that fact escaped your notice?”
“I never would’ve let her ride him if I’d thought he was hurt. Oh Ben, I feel dreadful.”
“Not to mention letting someone who’s unfamiliar with the land out here to go off on her own. It was damned irresponsible, Sally.”
“She planned on walking,” Sally claimed defensively. “I couldn’t let her do that either. She was very insistent. Had to paint the butte. Guess she’s tired of lighthouses.”
“And you could’ve mentioned that she was out on the prairie when you were whining about her earlier. Let me talk to Lu,” Ben said again.
“She’s sleeping. Really,” Sally insisted.
“Then tell her that Hayden is spending the night. We’ve got a washout and can’t get out.”
“All right, I’ll tell her.” Sally sounded distinctly disappointed.
Ben hung up without saying goodbye.
Chapter Two
At six o’ clock sharp, Ben entered the dining room and took his seat at the long table. During most of the summer and well into the last days of autumn, the ranch would have hosted at least a handful of guests, but this time it was only him, his housekeeper, and Hayden.
Hayden took the seat to his left, looking contrite and like she wanted to be a million miles away. Her lips tipped down in a little frown, and her russet brown eyes held a mixture of defiance and contrition.
Sometime while he’d finished up down at the barn, she’d taken a shower and dressed in a red scoop-necked tee shirt and black slacks that looked distinctly like his sister’s. Jaycie wouldn’t mind. Currently she was taking a break from South Dakota, traveling with friends in Europe before returning for her senior year at the University of South Dakota.
Hayden’s damp hair had begun to dry, dark tendrils curling around the gentle curve of her cheek. Her skin glowed with a soft rosy warmth under the light that hung over the table. The sun had done its work, but it looked like she was used to the elements and no doubt the light burn would subside into a tan within a few days.
Amelia cleared her throat. “That was some storm,” she commented.
Ben nodded, turning his gaze from Hayden to the housekeeper.
“Should be able to get out tomorrow, as long as we don’t get another storm.”
“What? Another storm? You’re going to be able to get me home, aren’t you?” Hayden shifted her gaze away from her food. The look she gave Ben didn’t display pleasant shock, but more of a cornered wild animal expression.
“Never know in these parts. I could always take you over land, but I wouldn’t recommend it,” he conceded. “The stream will be pretty swollen for days. An expert rider wouldn’t have a problem, but a—”
“Don’t you dare call me a tenderfoot,” Hayden warned, her brown eyes flashing.
Ben laughed. “I was going to say inexperienced, but I guess that would mean the same thing. You aren’t in any rush to get back to Primrose, are you?”
Hayden frowned. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience,” she stated with a shrug.
“I entertain guests all the time, Hayden. We can manage.” Ben smiled at her, trying to put her at ease somewhat, but he figured, given his earlier treatment of her, she wouldn’t be too eager to relax in his company. Especially since he and Amelia, the only two current residents of the house, were little more than strangers.
Hayden stabbed her fork into the crust of the chicken pie in front of her. “But I’m not a paying guest.”
“You’re a relative of Lu’s. I wouldn’t expect any kind of payment from you.”
The young woman looked back up and met his gaze levelly, her eyes wide, but a tiny smile turned up the corner of her lips. Did he spot gratitude in her expression? Relief?
Again her resemblance to Jesse rocked him. The only exception was her eye color. Jesse had blue eyes. He thought of Jesse’s daughter, Libby. She and Hayden could have been sisters. There was just one thing that kept Ben fighting against the idea that he could be Hayden’s father, and that was the fact that he knew the man so well, had known Jesse all his life and it would’ve been totally uncharacteristic of him to have an affair.
He’d never been privy to the whole Gardner family history, and why Hayden’s mother, Rosalyn, had left so suddenly and hadn’t returned. Why her parents had disowned her. The town had its rumors, but Ben hadn’t been more than five at the time and scandals didn’t hold much interest for him.
But one couldn’t help but hear people talk. And when Hayden showed up unexpectedly, tongues wagged. In a small town like Burton, where everyone knew everyone else’s business, gossip was bound to reach The Painted Horse Ranch.
Of course the aftershocks of her arrival were only starting to become apparent. Hayden had a good enough reason to come to town and he was inclined to believe that letting Lu know about Rosalyn’s death was the only reason for Hayden’s visit. There were plenty of others, though, who didn’t buy for one second that she didn’t know who her father was before she came, and that she was out for Jesse’s money along with a piece of Lu Gardner’s property.
So far as he knew, Hayden hadn’t met Jesse, and quite honestly, Ben hoped that she wouldn’t.
He’d done the mental math as soon as he noted the resemblance between the two. If Jesse were Hayden’s father then he would’ve been just about twenty-five at the time of conception. And a married man. Rosalyn Gardner had only been seventeen when she left town. The whole thing added up to a mess that Ben hoped wouldn’t get splattered all over people he cared about.
The only other problem was that he liked Hayden. More than he cared to admit.
Hayden smiled at him again, bringing his thoughts away from the scandal that brewed.
“Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality.” Her eyes locked with his with a force similar to some strange magnetic hold he couldn’t break. A silence fell over the room and Ben struggled for a way to fill it.
Beating him to it, Amelia cleared her throat and stood, picking up her plate and cup. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got dishes to do.”
Hayden got to her feet as well and began to gather her own dishes.
“Don’t you dare,�
� warned the older woman. “You just set yourself down. No one does dishes but me, and I won’t hear any arguments.”
Hayden opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again and sank back into her chair.
“I wouldn’t go against her,” Ben advised with a smile, handing his own plate off to the housekeeper. “She’s a tyrant in her kitchen. Mercy on the soul of anyone who tries to help out without a specific invitation to do so.”
The little housekeeper rewarded his comments with a good-natured cuff to the back of his head, but he laughed anyway. He and Amelia had a closer relationship than he’d had with his own mother. Maybe it was because his mother had always been too busy trying to run the paper side of the ranch and that left Amelia to fill in the more maternal areas in his life.
“Do you take coffee or tea?” Amelia inquired before leaving the room.
“Coffee, please,” Hayden replied, hiding a smirk.
Ben winked at her.
Amelia nodded in approval then left the two alone.
****
After coffee and the best strawberry cheesecake she’d ever had, Hayden followed Ben into the living room. Being alone in his presence was more than a little awkward, but she put it down to the day’s mishaps that placed her as an uninvited guest in Ben’s home. With luck Amelia would join them and cut through the tension in the room. Maybe Ben had already forgotten about her ignorance of Bugs’ condition. She sure hadn’t. And any former confidence in her ability on a horse was long gone.
How could she have been such a fool as to think she could take a horse out by herself in such a wild landscape? It was dangerous and she was damned lucky to have escaped with only her wounded pride and several sore muscles. Thus far her face didn’t feel too burnt, but tomorrow might it could be different. Ben had every right to be ticked at her. But admitting that to him was a whole other thing entirely. She still wasn’t ready to give him that satisfaction, not just yet.
Hayden forced her mind away from her discomfort to admire her surroundings. The large living room was so much more appropriate for a cowboy’s ranch than Ben’s office. It had been designed to impress anyone who entered it. The wraparound sofa was a butter-soft leather the color of pale coffee. A low glass-topped table sat in front of it, with legs made of what Hayden figured to be elk antler.
Summer on Main Street Page 105