Grace felt her cheeks warm. She’d rather not hear about a stranger’s sex life.
Walk away, Grace. Just walk away.
Taking a step toward the door, placing her hand on the knob, a heaviness weighed on her shoulders. Dropping her bag, she turned back. “This is none of my business, but if this is really what you want, to leave, then why are you crying so hard?”
The young woman snapped her chin up. “At twenty-five, I need to live a little, right? Find myself. Aren’t I too young to settle down?” She sniffed loudly, pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and shook it.
“True.” Grace understood that need all too well. “You must love yourself first. We all need to get away on occasion.”
“But what if I don’t find love again? I believe he loves me. I just want…more.” She continued as if Grace hadn’t said anything.
“Do you love him?”
With a three-heartbeat hesitation, she finally nodded. “Yeah…I do. He makes me happy. I look forward to seeing him every day. He tells the lamest jokes, but I find them funny. He’s not the most handsome, but I think he’s sexy.” Her cheeks flushed. “By the way, I’m GraceAnn Lutz. I feel like since you know my story you should at least know my name so when you look back at this ridiculous moment, you’ll remember who this foolish girl was. I’m sorry I’m venting. You probably wish I’d shut up.”
“It’s okay. My sister once told me I have that face, you know, one that invites others to share their feelings. Why do you think you want to leave? Is it really to find yourself or are you scared?”
She blinked. “I never thought of it that way before. I guess I could be. Things are going too fast. Like a whirlwind. Have you ever been in a relationship that came along and swept you off your feet?”
Grace smiled. “Yes, once.”
“What did you do?”
“I married him.”
“Do you have kids?”
With that question came a blast of ice through her body. “Yes, a girl,” she answered softly.
The woman slid up the wall, swiped the remaining moisture off her face and the start of a smile appeared on her thin lips. “I can’t go. I love him! I really love him. If I go, I’ll always wonder what could have been.” She practically jumped across the bathroom tiles between her and Grace and dragged her in for a tight hug. When she pulled back her hazel eyes were twinkling. “I have to run and catch him. Thank you so much.” She grabbed her suitcase and tore open the door.
Grace looked at her reflection in the dirty mirror and laughed. “Now that you’ve solved a stranger’s problem, what about your own?”
Maybe she’d been impulsive to think she could leave and the memories wouldn’t follow her. The memories weren’t the problem. On lonely nights they were all she had to cling to, but the pain—the constant heartache—was getting to be too much. She blamed herself. There had to be something she could have done differently. Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let them fall.
Reaching for her bag, she saw the crumpled paper GraceAnn had taken from her pocket. She must have dropped it in her haste to catch her boyfriend. Picking it up, Grace hurried outside of the restroom, searching for the other woman.
She was long gone.
Looking down at the letter, she read…
“Dear Ms. Lutz,
Here is the address for Wilder Ranch. I feel you will be an asset. Your room and board will be provided as well as the salary we agreed upon. I look forward to you arriving.
Sincerely,
Ruger Wilde.”
Folding the letter, Grace passed through the glass doors and glanced up and down the sidewalk.
GraceAnn didn’t need the letter any longer anyway.
Looking for a trash can, Grace started to toss the paper when a feeling of hesitation swept over her. “Room and board paid for” “Salary”. How nice it would be to have a place, like this Wilder Ranch, to get away for a while. Grace hoped the other woman had made the right decision by leaving the opportunity behind.
What about this Ruger Wilde? If GraceAnn didn’t show up, would he be caught in a bind? As a business owner, Grace understood all too well how they depended on a new employee to show up when expected.
Would the woman call him to let him know she changed her mind?
Hopefully, she did.
Dropping the letter into the can, a strong wind swept up, carrying the paper out of the trash and onto the cement at Grace’s feet.
Picking it up, she stared for a moment then decided the least she could do was call him, after all, she’d helped convince GraceAnn to not leave her boyfriend.
Sitting on the bench, Grace tapped in the phone number from the letter and after the second ring voice mail picked up…
“Hello,” came a deep, husky voice. “You have reached Ruger Wilde. I’m out riding along the picturesque ranch or enjoying a mountain climb. After the beep, you know what to do. And by the way, have a happy life.”
Beep.
“Hi, uh, Mr. Wilde. This is—”
Click.
Looking down at her phone, a message flashed. “No service”. She stared at the screen as if she could find some answers there. Who was this Ruger Wilde with the most amazing voice? Riding along picturesque land sounded like a dream far away from New York.
Placing her phone back into her purse, she carried her things inside the station, deciding she’d leave the letter at the ticket desk in case GraceAnn decided to come back for it.
The gray-haired gentleman pulled out the CLOSED sign from the cubicle window and exchanged it for an OPEN one just as Grace walked up. He offered her a friendly smile as he waved her forward. “Hello, ma’am. Where is your destination?”
She looked from the man to the letter several swipes. She couldn’t seem to get her tongue to work.
“Your adventure is waiting,” he said with a wink.
Then she did something that most would consider crazy…
“Cooper’s Hawk,” she mumbled.
“Cooper’s Hawk? Is that Montana?”
Glancing down at the address on the letter, she nodded. “Yes,” she said an octave louder.
“Have you been there before? Montana?” He typed at the keyboard.
“No.” Her hands shook.
“You’re going to love it, Miss. The area has the best sunrises and sunsets in the country. The wife and I visited a few years back. Gorgeous countryside. Can I see your ID?”
It wasn’t too late to change her mind. She hadn’t paid for the ticket. She could turn and walk away and go back home. Or go to San Antonio like she’d told Emily.
“Ma’am?” the man urged kindly.
Taking her ID from her wallet, she handed it over. He quoted an amount and she paid. He slid her the ticket. “Thank you.”
“Ah, thank you, Miss. Enjoy your stay. While you’re there make sure you check out the mountains.”
CHAPTER TWO
“COULD YOU TURN the music down a notch or two, Ace? I came for a tattoo not for premature hearing aids.”
“Some people say the jams take away the sting of the needle.” The balding man with tattoo sleeves and multiple piercings pushed his swivel chair over to the stereo, switched down the hard metal beating through the speakers then spun back. “You sure you want to cover this up, Wilde?”
Ruger lifted his head up from where he was stretched out on the parlor table and glanced at the artist with a narrowed eye. “I don’t see the need in having a memory inked on my chest.”
“There must have been some reason why you had it done in the first place,” Ace pointed out, hiding his smile behind hoop lip rings.
“Three reasons. Youth. Stupidity. And a constant hard on.”
“Those are some damn good reasons if I ever did hear any. I married my ex for just one of those reasons.”
“Hard on?”
Ace smirked. “Stupidity.”
Ruger chuckled and laid his head back on the cushioned head rest. “Let’s ge
t this shit done. I should have years ago.” He closed his eyes and squinted as the first sting of the needle on his skin. It hurt like hell, worse than he remembered, but he’d rather endure the pain of a needle stabbing him than living with the second dumbest mistake of his life. The first had been marrying her. She’d stormed into his life like a legal drug and within days he’d been addicted. One night while he had her bent over the metal frame of her sister’s bed, he’d asked her to marry him. At the time, plunged deep in heaven and head in a fog, he believed they’d be together forever. Dumbass kid.
Hell, he’d married her three months later and the honeymoon bliss had lasted all of five minutes.
One day he came home and found his best buddy’s boots under the bed. He must have heard Ruger pull up and Mav took a dive out of the window so fast he forgot his clothes too. An hour later, Ruger’s loving wife, Bren, packed her shit and left for her new train wreck—another dumbass who believed her juicy lies.
Thanks to her, he’d learned a lesson.
Once bitten, twice shy.
A broken heart taught a man a lot. He should never, ever, trust a woman, no matter how beautiful or sweet she appeared. And no matter how good she felt. There was always a catch—always a downfall.
By the end of the hour, Bren would be erased in exchange for an intricate cross. He trusted Ace that he’d manage the challenge.
At his age—shooting close to thirty-five—he’d stay single. Preferred being single indeed. Liked that he had no responsibility outside of working and being a member of the Landing Search and Rescue. He’d been with the team for a little over two years now and the men had always been like brothers. In fact, they’d encouraged him to buy the foreclosed ranch and live out a few of his dreams. Ruger was currently neck deep in renovating Wilder Ranch.
“I heard you bought the old ranch out on Pinwell Road. That place has been abandoned for two, three years?” Ace dipped the needle into a pot then bent his head back over Ruger’s chest.
“Four years. Signed the paperwork last month and moved there the same day,” he said proudly. He’d been flipping houses since he came home from his military contract, and now he planned to fix up his own place. The idea made him proud.
“Damn, buddy. Does the house have running water? A roof?” Ace paused the needle.
“It does. Sort of. Hell, I’ve lived in worse conditions while in the Marines. That place is like heaven compared to a cot and squat overseas.” Just as soon as the divorce was final, at twenty-two, Ruger enlisted and was sent off to boot camp where he’d grown an unstated appreciation for rules and a stiff set of balls. By the time he’d returned to Cooper’s Hawk he was a new man and had left the pathetic nice guy behind in some enemy village in Kuwait. He was still a good guy because his ma and pa taught him right, but he kept his focus where it belonged…bettering his life.
“I hear you. You are running that place all alone?”
“I’ve hired a few hands and I have some lady showing up tomorrow morning who will be helping out with cooking, cleaning, and some improvements around the house. I’ll keep her on temporarily until I can find someone local.”
“Where she from?”
“New York City.” Hearing Ace’s derogatory scoff, Ruger opened his eyes and looked at his buddy. “What?”
“Let me get this straight. You managed to find a chick who’ll come all the way from New York to Cooper’s Hawk to cook, clean, and lift a tool? What magical powers do you have and where can I find some of my own?”
“I couldn’t find anyone local like I wanted to, so I had to put an ad on some app that matches jobs to potential employees.” He laid his head back down and stared at the textured ceiling.
“And what?”
“The next day I received a match. I hired her.”
Ace chuckled. “You were honest about the duties?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“That’s a bit old school, ain’t it? Most women wouldn’t want to come out here in the middle of nowhere and cook for a handful of cowboys in some decrepit house.” Hearing Ruger’s groan, Ace said, “Just sayin’. I can’t get Georgia to clean a damn thing around here,” he said in a lowered voice.
“I didn’t pick a ‘woman’. I didn’t give one whip about their gender. It just so happened she inquired and beggars can’t be choosers. It’s not like I have a lot of options. She worked at some kid’s camp for four years so cooking for a couple of cowboys should be easy peasy.”
“Is that all you know about her?”
“Pretty much. The company who matched us does all the leg work.”
Ace snorted. “Sounds like a dating site.”
“Fuck that. I’m single for a reason.”
“So, who is she? And what does she look like?” Ace wiped Ruger’s arm with a soft cloth.
“Her name is GraceAnn and I don’t have a clue what she looks like. Doesn’t matter either. This is strictly professional.”
“Hold on a sec, you’re telling me you’re going to have some lady living with you, just the two of you, and you don’t care if she’s hot or not? Buddy, you’re playing Russian Roulette.”
Opening one eye, Ruger gave Ace a disgruntled snort. “They have laws against that way of thinking, my friend. I’m looking for a damn good worker not a hot mess. Anyway, technically, she’ll be staying in the main house and I’ll be sleeping in the guest house. This way she’ll have her privacy and I’ll have mine.” Ruger would have gladly hired someone he knew, but when he’d looked around the pickings were slim. He felt like he’d hit the jackpot with this city woman. When he spoke to her on the phone, she seemed more than ready to leave New York and come to Montana.
“Seriously, what if she shows up and looks like a model and wears those Daisy Dukes and itty-bitty tops?” Ace continued.
“That’d be a good thing. I’m not into models.”
“Yeah, sure. I bet you never once jacked off to those girlie magazines with the naked women with huge—”
“Do I need to purchase a pair of ear plugs?” Georgia, Ace’s business partner, yelled from the next room. The place was divided in half. Tattoo shop on one side and dog grooming business on the other.
Ace laughed.
“I’m in complete control. I don’t even know why we’re wasting time talking about this. I have boundaries and she’s an employee. No crossing that boundary. You should know these rules yourself. You and Georgia have owned this place together for a few years and you have a platonic relationship. See, it’s possible.”
“Have you looked at Georgia?” Ace whispered.
“I heard that,” the sexy blonde, Reese Witherspoon look-a-like, stepped around the wall and gave Ace a roll of eyes. “I’d rather be eaten by a crocodile than be touched by you.”
“Go back to grooming your rat, Georgia,” Ace snarled.
“Don’t make fun of Pixie.” She cuddled the Yorkie she was holding before disappearing back into her side of the shop.
She and Ace were always roasting each other, and Ruger suspected this was their foreplay.
“One day she’s going to shoot you,” Ruger said. “And I won’t blame her.”
“Yeah, yeah. You should see the son of a bitch she went out with last night. Ugliest mug I’ve ever seen.”
“You thought about asking her on a date yourself?”
“She likes men with money. I’m afraid my bank account doesn’t live up to her standards.”
Ruger left it at that and closed his eyes again. The adrenaline of being in the chair came and went and the pain had diminished some. He wasn’t a pain junkie, but he didn’t mind having his skin inked, although it had been years since he’d had his last tattoo, a bull on his bicep.
The vibration of the needle was like a lullaby and he’d fallen asleep, until he felt a nudge on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and yawned.
“All done. Want a juice or water?” Ace offered.
“Nah, I’m fine.” He stood and felt a little dizzy. “What the
hell?” he muttered under his breath.
“Don’t take it personal. A lot of clients get a little woozy after a tat. Now how about that juice?” Ace was already dipping his head in the mini refrigerator to take out two drink boxes.
“Sure. I could use a drink.” He didn’t sit back down because the wooziness had quickly passed. Instead, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. The new cross tattoo looked good.
“Whatdya think, buddy?” Ace stepped up behind him.
“Better. Much better.”
“I need to put the ointment and bandage on.”
Taking a seat in the chair instead of the table, Ruger punched the straw into the hole on the box and slurped up the fruit punch. He hadn’t eaten anything. Big mistake. He’d been too busy working on renovations to take a break before coming into town. He rubbed his aching neck, cursing under his breath. He was far from old, but new body aches and pains showed up every day as a reminder that he wasn’t getting any younger.
Those were his thoughts when he left the tattoo parlor and climbed into his truck. A few times he’d wondered if he’d bitten off more than he could chew. The ranch needed a lot of work before it would be in shape to operate as a resort. The target opening date was in three months, but he’d only polished the surface so far. Wilder Ranch was his future. An investment. The money he’d managed to save over the years he’d dunked into the property and renovations. He’d placed a bet on the ranch and he needed the pay off. His future depended upon it—and his bank account.
Starting the engine, he pulled out of the parking space and headed for Hawke Landing. He and the team had an advanced certification training class.
Rolling down the window, he stopped at the last red light before turning left onto the country road. He liked the countryside. Enjoyed the backdrop of the mountains, the amazing views, and the peace and quiet. He wouldn’t want to call anywhere else on earth home.
Turning up the music, he sang along to the old country song, forgetting that his skin still stung from the tattoo. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and heard his phone buzz from the console. Picking it up, he saw the number and set it back down. He liked Flora but a man knew when it was time to move on and that time had long passed. She was hot—real hot—but he didn’t want a relationship.
Cowboy Wilde (Cooper's Hawke Landing Book 2) Page 2