by Zoe Matthews
“This isn’t a one week job!”
“I know that.” Hunter held his hand up to stop her next response. “Look, Sadie. I know you’re hurt and angry, and you have every right to be both of those things, but I’ve changed over the last year. Give me a chance to prove that to you. Give me a chance to get to know my daughter.”
Sadie shook her head. “I don’t want her to get hurt when you leave, and you will leave. You’re incapable of staying in one place for very long.”
“That would have been true of the old Hunter, but I told you, I’m a changed man. Give me three months. If you still want me to leave after that, I will. I won’t try to contact you again unless it’s to see Brooklyn.”
Sadie wanted so badly to refuse. She’d never truly recovered from the last time he’d left, and this time there was more to lose. Her daughter.
“Sadie?” Hunter queried once again, searching her eyes for some sign that she was starting to cave.
Sighing, she muttered beneath her breath, I’m going to regret this! Looking daggers at him, she nodded once. “Fine. Three months. But you can’t tell Brooklyn who you are.”
“But…fine. Whatever you say. Sadie, thank you.”
Sadie couldn’t meet his eyes any longer and let her head turn away. “Yeah. I need to go…”
She walked around the desk, stopping when Hunter placed a gentle hand on her arm. She looked at his hand and then at his face. “Don’t touch me.” She steadfastly ignored the way her body tingled at the slight touch. I am not going down that road again. Never!
“When can I see her?” Hunter asked as he dropped his hand at her request.
“I don’t know. I’ll send Sheridan back in here and you two can work out the rest of the details. I’m sure you’ll see Brooklyn around. She’s into everything on a continual basis.”
With that said, she slipped out of the office door and went in search of Sheridan. He was sitting at the kitchen counter with Brooklyn, feeding her the last bites of her pancakes as he pretended the fork was an airplane.
She looked at him. “Three months trial. He’s waiting for you.” She murmured to Kathy, “I need a few moments alone.”
Kathy and Sheridan both watched her as she left the kitchen and made her way back up to her room. She managed to keep her tears at bay until the door was closed, but then gave way to them. Tears of anger and frustration, and a renewal of the hurt Hunter’s abandonment had caused.
She cried for a short time and then lectured herself until she stopped and found her resolve again. She’d thought she was over the hurts of the past, but it seemed some wounds never quite healed all the way.
Chapter 6
Hunter clenched his fists to keep from going after her as she left the office. He’d been dealing with a ton of regret where Sadie was concerned for over a year now, and he’d thought coming here would help rid himself of it.
There were so many things he’d never told his too young wife. Like the fact that he’d come from old money. Lots of money, with social and political connections he’d come to take for granted.
He’d never shared anything about his family with Sadie, just like she’d never shared about hers. Theirs had been a whirlwind romance. They’d been in college and found common ground with their love for the outdoors. While Sadie wasn’t quite the extreme sports fanatic he’d been, she loved hiking and climbing with him.
They had forged a bond of friendship that had quickly spiraled into a physical relationship, the intensity of which had left them both reeling. Getting married quickly had seemed the right thing to do at the time, but Hunter had been very narcissistic back then, only thinking about himself and his next thrill. One of the main reasons he had married her was so he could have a partner who was always available to participate in the activities he enjoyed, although he knew that he also loved her. Sadie hadn’t participated in all the extreme sports activities that Hunter liked to do, but she had always been willing to be a support.
Things had been fine as long as Sadie was able to participate with him, but finding out that she’d gotten pregnant had rocked his world. Hunter hadn’t been ready to settle down, and he’d accused her of getting pregnant on purpose. Her veiled attempt to stifle his activities. He had done everything in his power to prevent a pregnancy.
Hunter had waited for several weeks after they got married before he told his parents. They were furious! He was a trust fund baby who didn’t need to ever work another day in his life. But his parents were adamant he marry a worthy girl. Someone from their same social class.
His mother had actually started to cry when he told his parents about Sadie because he’d married someone she didn’t know and hadn’t approved of. They had already chosen the perfect girl from him to marry, the oldest daughter of their dear friends. Another trust fund baby and someone Hunter had always detested. It was a way to keep their money in the family.
They had put immense pressure upon him, and when his father had finally threatened to cut him off financially and remove him from his will, he’d felt helpless to fight them. In his self-centered lifestyle, the thought of losing all of his money had scared him, and he’d acted the coward and given in to their demands.
After seeing his parents’ true colors, he’d consoled himself that Sadie would be better off without them interfering in her life. She would find someone else to love and move on.
Her unplanned pregnancy just happened to be a convenient catalyst for their break up. He’d been horrible to her, accusing her of things he knew weren’t true, and driving her away from him as fast as he could.
He’d left her when she was only three months pregnant, and had the divorce papers sent to her in the mail. He’d not even seen her again after he left.
He did keep track of her though over the years. He knew that she had moved back to her family’s ranch in Colorado and that she’d continued with her art.
He’d only glimpsed a few of her watercolors when they’d still been married, but once she started hanging them in galleries, he’d been very impressed with her skill. He’d anonymously purchased several of them, needing to do something to help her out financially, without her knowing where the money was coming from.
He justified his actions as doing enough for Sadie and his daughter, and continued to push himself to the next thrill. Extreme sports had become like an addiction to him, and he needed the adrenaline rush almost as much as he needed his next breath of air.
That all ended one day a year ago when he pushed himself too close to the edge and wrecked the car he was driving at a high rate of speed. He was severely injured in the crash. The paramedics first to arrive on the scene were amazed that anyone had survived such a horrific crash.
He almost lost the use of his right leg due to the severity of the breaks in it. He underwent numerous surgeries to correct the damage he’d done, and months of therapy to even begin to walk normally once again.
His days of participating in extreme sports were over in the space of ten seconds. His entire life up till then had been focused on the next thrill; the next jump, or free climb, or cave diving expedition. All of that was gone. Instead, he found himself struggling just to walk from one side of the therapy room to the other without falling flat on his face.
It was life changing, in many ways. The most important being, Hunter was forced to take a good look at how he lived. What was important to him and why. He spent hours sitting in his bed, thinking about his life, and it became very obvious that he’d done a number of things wrong that he needed to make right, the most important being Sadie. It became his goal and the reason for his recovery. He needed to make things right with her and his daughter.
Based upon his first two meetings with Sadie, that was going to require much more than a heartfelt “I’m sorry.” Sadie was angry, and rightfully so, but he sensed her anger had turned into bitterness. The type that kept people from ever finding joy or happiness again. He couldn’t allow that to continue. Sadie had once been the life of e
very party, and he’d loved listening to her laugh.
The Sadie he’d just watched walk out the office door didn’t look like she’d smiled or laughed in a very long time. Hunter made a decision that he would try to help her with that. He had a great sense of humor and didn’t mind working to earn his forgiveness. She could try to stonewall him, but he was going to make Sadie smile. And then he’d work on making her laugh.
Hunter waited for Sheridan to return and began to make plans where Sadie was concerned. The fact that she’d given him three months was a start, but he had no doubt in his mind that as far as she was concerned, in ninety days he was history!
He heard the doorknob turn and took a deep breath. The next few minutes should be very interesting, especially considering her older brother hadn’t known who he was. He only hoped that the oldest Collingsworth sibling was not too overly protective.
Chapter 7
Sheridan entered his office and took a seat behind his desk, measuring the man sitting before him carefully before he said anything. Finally, he broke the tension in the room. “So, Sadie tells me she has given you a three month trial. I have to tell you that your experience alone leads me to offer you the job without a trial period. However, your past with my sister is an issue and while I would like to think we can keep our business and personal lives separate, in this situation, they are too closely intertwined.
“The plan we have in mind for the dude ranch is going to require all of us to work with the guests, and each other, very intimately. I guess what I’m trying to ask, is if you can honor my sister’s wishes along the way.”
Hunter nodded his head and then sat back in his chair. “I appreciate your concern for Sadie. I’m correct in assuming that she hadn’t told any of you about me until now?”
Sheridan sighed and shook his head. “No. She’s been pretty closed mouth about you up until today.”
“I take the blame for that. When I met Sadie, I was a very self-centered college boy with a love for extreme sports. The more dangerous, the better. We immediately fell madly in love, and the fact that she loved being outdoors and didn’t mind going hiking instead of to some uptight concert was perfect.”
Hunter broke off for a moment as memories swamped him and then he sobered. “We got married in a hurry. Everything was fine for the first few months, but then she came home one day and told me she was pregnant. I acted very immature and accused her of getting pregnant on purpose to ruin my life. I didn’t want to be tied down to a wife and kid, and in my mind, having a kid meant the end of my thrill seeking ways.”
Shame flooded him as his mind turned to the other reason he’d so easily discarded Sadie and his marriage. He flushed and then looked Sheridan in the eye. “There is another reason that even Sadie doesn’t know.”
Sheridan leveled a look at him. “Then do yourself a favor and tell her before you share it with anyone else in the family. If you truly want to try and mend things with her, don’t start by keeping things from her. Be honest with her and show her you’ve changed.”
Hunter’s respect for Sheridan Collingsworth grew in that moment and he hoped that over the next three months he’d get a chance to become friends with the man who was once his unknowing brother-in-law.
“Thank you for the advice. I know it’s not going to be easy, but I have to try.”
Sheridan nodded his head. “No, you’re right. Nothing about Sadie has been easy for a while now. She’s changed, become more pessimistic and angry at the world.”
“I blame myself for that.” Hunter swallowed and then took a deep breath. “Now, when would you like me to start?”
Sheridan smiled at him. “I assume you brought your gear with you?”
“I did.”
“Good, then there’s no time like the present. Why don’t I take you over and introduce you to Jed and he can help you get settled into one of the original cabins. They’ve just finished the renovations on them and there are still several vacant. It’s been first come, first serve around here, so take your pick.”
“Thanks.” Hunter stood up and shook hands with Sheridan before he said, “For what it’s worth - if I could go back and change how things went down three years ago, I would in a heartbeat. I was in a car accident a year ago that really made me take a look at how I was living my life and I realize I was failing myself and those around me. It’s funny how in those moments, when everything you thought you had figured out becomes impossible, a whole new set of priorities becomes clear.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Sheridan asked him, thinking about his siblings and how many of them had gone through similar life changing situations in the last few years.
“Yeah. I realized that I was living only for myself, and that there was more to life than the next adrenaline rush. I needed to do something with my life so that when I was gone, I would have left my mark upon the world. Then I realized that I’d already done that, but thrown it away.”
“Brooklyn.”
“Yes, Brooklyn. I realized that I’d never even seen a picture of her. My own flesh and blood, and if I had to identify her among a group of three-year-olds, I wouldn’t be able to.”
Sheridan smiled at that and then came around his desk and slapped Hunter on the shoulder. “That’s where you’re wrong. She’s the spitting image of Sadie. Her eyes give her away.”
“Really?” Hunter asked, anticipation making him want to rush to Sadie and demand she introduce him to his daughter. Now. Today.
“Come on. We’ll find her and you can see for yourself.”
Hunter shook his head. “I don’t know. Sadie didn’t say when she was going…”
“Forget that. You’re going to be working here, and that means you’re going to be seeing everyone’s kids running around here. Brooklyn seems to be everywhere, all the time.”
“If you don’t think it will upset Sadie too much, I’d love to get a glimpse of her.”
Sheridan led the way out of the office and then headed towards the back patio doors. Kathy had mentioned taking Brooklyn out to the garden with her, and from the patio, Hunter should be able to get a good glimpse of his daughter without disturbing anyone. Least of all, Sadie.
Chapter 8
“Thanks, Jed. This is perfect and more than suitable for my needs.” Hunter walked to the front door of his new cabin and headed for his truck.
“Want some help unloading your stuff?” Jed asked, watching him step back onto the porch with two duffel bags in his hands.
“Nah. I wouldn’t mind a map of the ranch though, if such a thing exists.”
“You’ll have to see Sadie about that. She’s had the crews working on so many upgrades and new trails and such. The old map I have pinned up in the barn probably isn’t even close to accurate now.”
“I’ll see that you get an updated copy when I speak with her,” Hunter offered.
“Thanks. Never know when it’ll be needed. Well, if you need anything, I’ll be around. And there’s almost always someone in the barn or over in the new lodge,” Jed told him.
“It looks almost finished,” Hunter commented.
“Getting closer every day. See you at dinner.”
“Yeah, see you.”
Hunter unpacked his clothing and toiletries and then he headed out to find Sadie. A map of the property seemed the perfect excuse to talk with her again. He stepped off the porch quickly and felt the muscles in his leg twinge in warning.
He ignored it for the most part, but slowed his steps, making sure he planted his foot securely with each step as he waited for the cramp in his calf to release. His leg had been broken in several places, requiring multiple pins and screws to put it back together. The muscles and tendons had suffered greatly, leaving him struggling just to walk.
He’d spent hours, days, and weeks in therapy after each surgery; the end result being that he could hike and climb today, as long as he didn’t take certain and extreme risks.
He didn’t see Sadie in any of the out buildings
, so he headed for the back porch, hoping the housekeeper and cook might know where she had gone to.
“Excuse me?” he asked the older lady when he found her.
Kathy looked up from where she was working at an outdoor grill and then smiled. “You must be Hunter. Sheridan said he hired a new man to help Miss Sadie out. I can tell you that I’ll feel better knowing she isn’t traipsing around these mountains with a bunch of strangers on her own.”
Hunter hadn’t really thought much about that aspect of this job and suddenly he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Sadie taking a bunch of strangers out into the wild by herself. He made a mental note to discuss some sort of communication system with her and Sheridan if need be. They needed a way to contact the main house in case of an emergency – be it with the guests, the livestock, or themselves.
“I am. I was looking for Sadie.”
Kathy smiled and pointed around the side of the house. “She’s playing in the garden with Miss Brooklyn.”
Hunter nodded and then headed in the direction she’d pointed. “Thanks.”
“You’re very welcome. See you at dinner.”
Hunter slowed his steps as he rounded the corner of the large house and then he came to a complete stop. Sitting in the middle of an array of vegetables and children of various ages, was Sadie. She seemed to be the center of the children’s attention as they danced and laughed around her.
She had flowers in her hair, as did the two little girls that looked to be twins. He watched as the youngest little girl stopped next to Sadie and wrapped her little arms around her neck, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Sadie smiled and kissed her back and Hunter remembered why he’d fallen in love with her back in college.
When Sadie lifted her head, searching in his direction, their eyes locked and he watched as her smile faded and she locked her expression away. She stood up, brushing the flowers from her hair and taking Brooklyn’s hand when the little girl started to follow the older children as they headed off to a new adventure.