Redemption on Rivers Ranch

by Kathy Douglass

  “Will do.”

  Carson sat down as the trio walked away. Running into his former fiancée and her family hadn’t been on his to-do list, but he had to admit that it hadn’t been as horrible as he’d imagined.

  “Can we go to the sleepover?” Justin asked.

  “We’ll see,” Gabriella replied. “We need to find out when it is.”

  That answer satisfied Justin and he resumed eating.

  “Are you okay?” Gabriella asked, leaning close to him. Her soft hair brushed against his cheek and her sweet scent floated around him. Tempting him. When had he started reacting to Gabriella like this? They were friends. That’s all they’d ever been. And he wasn’t in the market for a relationship now. Or ever. So why did the possibility suddenly sound so enticing?

  It wasn’t just because Gabriella was so beautiful, although she was.

  His eyes had nearly popped out of his head that first day she’d brought the kids over for their riding lesson. No one had ever looked as sexy as Gabriella had in those shorts and the cropped T-shirt. Her shapely legs had gone on forever. It had taken every ounce of his self-control to focus on the kids instead of staring at her. But on more occasions than he cared to admit, his eyes had drifted over to where she sat, ankles crossed, on the top rail. When he’d become so distracted he couldn’t concentrate, he’d invited her to help. Her nearness had been more tempting than he’d expected, but he’d extend the invitation again in a heartbeat. Which just proved that he was a glutton for punishment.

  “Yes. I’m fine.” He wasn’t going to allow anything to ruin this perfect moment. True, he and Gabriella didn’t have a future as a romantic couple, but they were good friends. He was going to enjoy her presence as long as she was here. And when she and her kids left, and he was once more alone? He’d deal with that when the time came.

  Chapter Six

  Something was bothering Carson. Gabriella couldn’t put her finger on what exactly, but his mood had definitely changed. He laughed with the kids, but the mirth never reached his eyes. The children were too young to notice, and the shift was so subtle she might have missed it too if she didn’t know him as well as she did. But they’d been friends for years. True, time had passed since they’d seen each other, but that absence hadn’t changed the essence of their relationship. She knew him at his core, and she knew when something was wrong. Like now. He was masking his pain with jokes, but she wasn’t fooled.

  He’d been fine until the Corderos had come over to their table. She replayed the brief conversation in her mind. Nothing untoward had been said. Quite the contrary. They’d been very friendly. Over time, Gabriella had become a good judge of character—her ex-husband being the exception that made the rule. Raven and Donovan had seemed to sincerely like Carson. Their son had been delightful. But something about seeing the three of them had upset Carson. She just wished she knew what it was.

  “Mom,” Justin said, yanking Gabriella out of her musings. “Can we have dessert?”

  “You can’t possibly have room for dessert. You didn’t even finish your burgers and fries,” Carson said, grinning.

  “I have room,” Justin countered.

  “So do I,” Sophia chimed in.

  “Neither one of you ate all of your food,” Gabriella said.

  “That’s because we were saving room for dessert,” Justin shot back.

  Carson and Gabriella laughed. There was no arguing with that kind of logic. “Sure. What do you want?”

  The kids decided on brownies with a scoop of ice cream. Carson agreed that it sounded great, and he got the same with two scoops of ice cream. Gabriella passed on dessert. While the others had ordered colas with their meals, she’d gotten a large vanilla shake. That was enough ice cream for one day.

  When the waitress brought dessert, she also brought cardboard containers so Gabriella could pack up the kids’ leftovers. Although they hadn’t finished their lunches, they managed to eat all of their desserts.

  Carson pulled a few bills out of his wallet.

  “Just what do you think you’re doing?” Gabriella said.

  “Paying for lunch.”

  “You’re our guest. I’ll pay.”

  “Gabriella.”

  “Don’t make a fuss. You can pay next time.”

  He nodded and put the money back into his wallet.

  The ride home was much quieter than the one to town. Once they’d reached the highway, Gabriella glanced in the rearview mirror. The kids were dozing. They didn’t generally nap, but they’d been getting up earlier than usual. It was bound to catch up with them sooner or later. A short snooze in the car wouldn’t hurt anything, and it would give her a chance to talk to Carson without interruption.

  “So, what’s wrong?” she asked, getting right to the point.

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s something bothering you.”

  He blew out a breath, and for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Had she crossed a line? She hoped not.

  “Raven and I used to be engaged. But she was still in love with Donovan. He’d been gone for years, but he came back a few weeks before our scheduled wedding day. It was only a matter of time before things ended between us and they got married.”

  Wow. She didn’t know what she’d expected him to say, but it wasn’t that. Raven was exceptionally beautiful and friendly, so it was easy to see how Carson and Donovan had both fallen in love with her. And not to knock Donovan—he was handsome enough and probably had some great qualities—but Raven must have been out of her mind to choose him over Carson.

  Carson was not only gorgeous, he was one of the best people Gabriella had ever met. In addition to being kind and generous with his time, he was a great listener. Plus, he had a great sense of humor. Given the opportunity, Gabriella would choose Carson over any other man. But she wouldn’t be given the chance. Perhaps that was for the best. Their friendship was too valuable to risk. Now she needed to figure out how to control her attraction to him.

  “Oh,” she finally responded. It certainly explained the change in his mood.

  “Yeah. Oh.”

  Gabriella couldn’t decipher the emotion in his voice. Was it sorrow? Resignation? Something else entirely? He’d done a good job of camouflaging his feelings. Too good. Perhaps she didn’t know him as well as she’d believed.

  “Where’d Donovan go?” Gabriella asked.

  “Oh, that’s right. You’d stopped visiting by then, so you weren’t around.” He frowned. “It’s a long story and one I don’t feel like going into right now.”

  “Are you still in love with her?”

  Carson shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”

  She took that as a yes and her heart sank, which was foolish. They were friends. Carson’s feelings for Raven wouldn’t change that. In fact, they guaranteed that Gabriella wouldn’t let her attraction grow into something more when she knew he wouldn’t return those feelings. Been there. Done that. Still, she felt sorry for him. It hurt to be in love with someone whose heart belonged to another. But she knew that it was possible to get over it.

  There had been a time when she’d tried to convince herself that she’d stopped loving Reggie the moment he’d told her he wanted a divorce so he could marry the love of his life. But that hadn’t been true. She’d still loved him as much as ever and would have given anything for him to stay. Her heart had been ripped to shreds when he left. She’d been devastated when she signed the divorce papers. She’d known rationally that ending the marriage had been the right thing to do for her well-being. But even so, it had taken time and distance to kill the residual love in her heart. She didn’t know if Carson still loved Raven, but if he truly wanted to get over her, he could.

  “No, I guess not,” she agreed. Because if he didn’t want to get over Raven, then everything else was immaterial. That was th
e most compelling reason—as if she needed another—she and Carson could never be more than friends. She’d already had her heart incinerated by a man who’d been in love with another woman. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

  She turned onto the road that separated their properties, pulled into her driveway and shut off the engine.

  “The kids are still sleep. Do you need help carrying them into the house?” Carson asked.

  She shook her head. “I’m waking them up. Once the air hits them their sleepiness will pass. Thanks again for today. Are we still on for dinner?”

  He shook his head. “Can I get a rain check? I’m not all that hungry now.”

  “Sure. See you later.”

  Gabriella waited until Carson had hopped from her SUV and crossed the road before waking up the kids. They grumbled a bit, but eventually she got them into the house. She unpacked a large jigsaw puzzle and they worked on that for a while.

  The kids were happy to polish off the remains of their lunches for dinner, so Gabriella warmed their leftovers in the microwave and heated herself a can of soup. Once the kids were in bed, she sat on the front porch. She hoped Carson would come over again, but as it grew later, she knew she was going to be disappointed.

  It was for the best, she told herself as she put on her nightgown. The more she was around him the more she liked him. Keeping her distance would help her keep her feelings under control and thus protect her heart.

  She almost convinced herself that was true.

  * * *

  The next morning Gabriella found herself thinking more about Carson and his feelings for Raven. Just once she would like to be attracted to a man who wasn’t hung up on someone else. Not that she was convinced Carson was still in love with Raven. But there was definitely something between the two—or three of them if you included Raven’s husband—that had made Carson uncomfortable.

  Whatever it was, it had occurred after Gabriella had stopped coming to visit. Aunt Mildred had never been one to gossip, so if she’d known anything, she hadn’t told Gabriella. And, really, did it matter now? Whatever had happened was over now, and Raven and Donovan were married.

  After breakfast she sent the kids outside to play while she cleaned the kitchen. As she put a load of clothes in the washing machine, she realized that she no longer heard their voices. That could only mean one thing.

  They’d wandered over to Carson’s ranch.

  He hadn’t seemed bothered by the way her kids kept coming around, but she didn’t want them to wear out their welcome. She knew he had work to do, something the kids didn’t understand. Or perhaps they didn’t realize that training horses was actually his job. But she did.

  Sighing, she turned on the machine and went to get the children. She took a minute to run a comb through her hair and check her appearance before leaving. She and Carson might not have a future as anything other than friends, but it didn’t hurt to look her best.

  As expected, Justin and Sophia were sitting on the top rail, watching as Carson worked with a horse. Rather than pull them away, Gabriella leaned against the fence to watch.

  The horse bucked, and her breath caught in her throat when it looked like Carson would be tossed to the ground. With practiced ease, he adjusted himself in the saddle. The kids clapped and cheered, clearly not the least bit worried for Carson’s well-being.

  Justin glanced at Gabriella, his eyes lit up with admiration. “He’s really good. He never falls.” Gabriella doubted that was true, but she nodded anyway. Not that Justin noticed. He’d already turned back to the ring.

  Carson sitting on a horse was sight to behold. He was such a commanding presence. The horse bucked again and Carson leaned forward, murmuring to the animal and rubbing its neck. Gabriella had no idea what he’d said, but the bucking slowed, though it didn’t stop. Yet Carson was still kind and patient with the animal.

  That was Carson in a nutshell. Although he was bigger and stronger than most, he was endlessly kind. His body was perfection and his face was exceedingly handsome, but his attitude was the single sexiest thing about him. She’d choose a nice guy over a bad boy every time.

  He rubbed his hand down the horse’s mane, calming it, and Gabriella imagined him caressing her hair in the same manner. When she realized her thoughts had taken a turn for the forbidden, she ordered herself to snap out of it. Their relationship was strictly platonic. He wasn’t going to be running his hands over her hair or any part of her body.

  After a few more minutes, Carson dismounted and handed the reins to an employee who’d been watching from the sidelines.

  “Hey,” Carson called as he ambled closer to them.

  “Hey, Carson. I want to be a horse trainer like you. Can I help you next time?” Justin asked.

  “Not next time. Let’s stay focused on becoming a good rider first. Then you can become a trainer.”

  “I’m getting good, aren’t I?”

  “You sure are. Both of you are,” Carson said as if anticipating Sophia’s inevitable question.

  Gabriella loved the way he interacted with her kids, especially the way he listened to them. Encouraged them. Things their father should have done but couldn’t be bothered to do now. But she couldn’t let her appreciation lead her down the path she’d just decided she wasn’t going to take. She had to do better at keeping her imagination under control.

  “I hope you don’t mind us coming over uninvited,” Gabriella said.

  “Nope. I don’t mind at all. I enjoy the company.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Justin asked.

  Carson grinned. “I had planned to do some paperwork, but I can just as easily do that tonight. What do you say about taking the horses out for a short ride? That is, if you have the time.”

  He’d addressed that last comment to Gabriella, but Justin took it upon himself to answer. “We have plenty of time. Come on, Sophia. Let’s get our horses.”

  He climbed down from the fence and then held out his hand to help his sister. Sophia brushed his hand away and got down on her own. Chivalry might not be dead, but Sophia was an independent girl and wanted to do things on her own. When she was on the ground, she and Justin ran into the barn.

  “Thanks. I’m sorry about disrupting your day,” Gabriella said as they followed the kids.

  “No worries. I’m not a big fan of paperwork. Accounting is the worst. I’d rather be riding any day. My mother used to keep the books, but now she lives out of state. In a pinch, I know she’ll pitch in, but I don’t want to keep asking her.”

  “So why don’t you just hire an accountant to do it?”

  “I’m actually in the process of hiring someone. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that soon and I won’t have the headache for much longer. But in the meantime, I’m stuck with the chore.”

  They stepped inside the stable and the sweet scent of hay surrounded Gabriella, bringing back happy memories. How many days had she and Carson spent in this very place? How many hours had she spent sweeping floors and cleaning out stalls, helping Carson to complete his chores so they could spend the rest of the day together?

  The stable had appeared so much bigger back then, and it had taken what seemed like hours to clean tack and get the stable clean enough to satisfy Carson’s father. But once the job was done, they’d hopped on horses and raced away, the wind in their faces, the taste of freedom sweet in their mouths.

  Sophia and Justin had already saddled and mounted Angel and Peanut Butter. After Carson checked to make sure they’d done everything properly, he and Gabriella climbed on their horses and they headed out. Gabriella led them across the vast fields to one of her favorite spots on the ranch—a grassy hill overlooking a valley filled with wildflowers. A stream crisscrossed the valley and if you waited long enough and were quiet enough, you might spot deer coming to get a drink.

  It took about forty minutes
to reach her destination. She dismounted and looked around. It was just as breathtaking as she remembered. When the others joined her, she looked at the kids. “What do you think?”

  “It’s so pretty. I like all the flowers,” Sophia said.

  “And guess what? Sometimes deer come to get a drink.”

  “Really? Will some come today?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. But we need to be very quiet.”

  “We can do that,” Justin said. “What do we do?”

  “We just need to watch and wait.”

  Her kids were city kids, so seeing deer up close and personal would create a treasured memory they could share. They all sprawled out on their stomachs—Justin and Sophia lying between Gabriella and Carson—and watched, their anticipation growing with each passing minute.

  “Look, Mommy,” Sophia whispered after they’d been lying there for about ten minutes. “There are the deer.”

  “I see. We need to stay quiet so they don’t get scared and run away.”

  The four of them watched as the family drank from the stream. There were two large deer and two small deer. The smallest was a baby and absolutely adorable. He took his time sipping the water as if delighting in each swallow. When they were finished drinking, they walked around for a while as if enjoying their outing. But then Justin sneezed loudly, startling the deer, and they raced away, disappearing into the trees.

  “Sorry,” Justin said as they all sat up. “I didn’t mean to scare them away.”

  “They were probably going to leave anyway,” Gabriella said. “Just like we need to.”

  The kids groaned and then headed back to their horses. Carson caught Gabriella’s eye and smiled at her. Feeling happy, she reached out and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. They swung their hands back and forth as they walked, only releasing their hold in order to mount their rides.