The Rancher's Family--A Clean Romance

by Barbara White Daille

  “I doubt that.”

  “We’ll see.”

  * * *

  WES TOOK A LONG, deep breath to ease the band tightening his chest. It didn’t help. That tightness didn’t come from tension but from the weight of guilt and the confessions and apologies he needed to make.

  Above Cara’s eyes, clear and blue and trusting, her raised eyebrows showed a let’s-get-to-it impatience. He didn’t blame her. “You’ve waited long enough for some explanations. And you deserve ’em. I just hope I can deliver without also making a complete jackass of myself. Again.”

  She must have remembered the day he’d landed on his butt in the office, sending balls of yarn bouncing all around them, because she laughed softly. “Hang on to the railing, cowboy, and you should stay on your feet.”

  “I will if you promise to hang on to your hat. This will be a rough ride and it’s about to last a while.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she said again.

  Why couldn’t he have listened the first time she’d told him she didn’t want to leave?

  “I meant it when I said my priority has and always will be my kids. It’s been a hard year for us, and as I told you, all that concerned me was keeping them safe. You never know what can happen from one minute to the next. We found that out with Patty.”

  Now Cara’s eyes suddenly sparkled with tears, making his hand itch to reach out to her. Instead he gripped the railing. He’d barely started talking. If he stopped now, he might never finish what he needed to tell her.

  “That’s when I lost interest in going anywhere or being around anyone but Mark and Tracey. Not Garrett or Jed and his clan or any of my friends.

  “Jed’s right,” he blurted, “about thinking I need to get out more. So are you and Garrett. Heck, everybody in Cowboy Creek most likely has the right idea. Not for me, but for my kids.”

  “You brought Mark and Tracey to the cookout today. And a couple weeks ago.”

  “And it had been a while,” he confessed. “Except for a couple of trips here to the Hitching Post and a few stops for ice cream, they haven’t been anywhere much besides their sitter’s.”

  “That’s understandable. You’re busy.”

  “I could have made the time. Should have made the time. Instead, I’ve kept them home, cut off from family and any friends except those at Rhea’s. I didn’t understand that until that Saturday here at Jed’s when I saw Mark excited at being around his favorite pony again. And then Mark and Tracey playing with Robbie and Trey.”

  And in the Hitching Post’s kitchen when he’d felt the kick in his chest as his son hugged Cara.

  “I guess I thought keeping my kids near home would help me protect them.”

  “That’s understandable, too,” she said softly. “It’s like what you said that afternoon. Sometimes life throws more bad than good at us. You’ve had a lot of bad happen, and it takes time to get past it. Now you realize that, it means you’re on your way to seeing the good.”

  “Does it?”

  “Definitely,” she said. “You’ll find out soon enough. I have the advantage since I fell in love with you first.”

  “Don’t be too sure about that.” He smiled. “I started to see some good, too, the day you came ringing my doorbell. I didn’t recognize it as my good fortune at first. Having your help with clearing out all Patty’s things, then coming to the house to work on the crafts, brought up a lot of memories about Patty I didn’t want to think about.”

  He took another deep breath. That band around his chest held tight. “You were right about guilt I didn’t want to face, and it all involved Patty. Growing up, she was never happy at home with her folks, then she carried those same feelings over to me. I knew that but never realized how deep the unhappiness went. Since she’s been gone, I’ve spent a lot of time second-guessing myself for not understanding her needs.

  “She was a town girl, and I lived out on the ranch, taking the school bus back and forth. In high school, I fixed up an old car and we started dating, but as I once told you, I didn’t know her well.”

  She nodded. “I remember.”

  “Not long after graduation, we got married, and while I worked the ranch, she spent most of her time with her friends. Even then I didn’t know much about her, but once she got pregnant with Mark, I started to learn a lot from her. Having the baby seemed to stir up a lot of feelings for her, none of them good, and she wanted to make sure I knew every last one.”

  “She...she didn’t want the baby?”

  “No, it wasn’t that she didn’t want Mark, she just didn’t want anything interfering with what she liked to do. She hated being tied down, hated living on the ranch, resented me for not having enough money for us to go out and have fun.

  “If I had realized earlier, I would have tried to do something to change things, to make them better. Make her happier. But the truth is, I didn’t have any idea how she felt. And things got worse after Mark came along. She stayed home more but started buying all those clothes and craft supplies. We weren’t in bad financial trouble, but we were always riding on the edge. Once we had Tracey, I tried to talk to Patty about the money situation. She lost it, ranting about me having her on a financial leash so I could keep her tied to the ranch.”

  One more admission and he could be done with the past once and for all.

  “A few days before that trip to Santa Fe, she sucker punched me with another piece of news. She’d never loved me and only married me for an easy escape from her problems at home.”

  Cara raised her fingertips to her mouth as if she could block the cry of dismay he’d already heard. “You must have felt so betrayed.”

  “That’s a word for it. And I should have known you’d understand. Because you felt the same when your man wouldn’t compromise. And when he changed his mind about wanting kids.”

  Her eyes teared again. “Yes.”

  They reached out to each other at the same time. Again her small strong hand fit perfectly in his. “Cara, I’d never want to be that guy, the one who can’t compromise and meet you halfway.”

  She squeezed his fingers. “There’s a huge difference between you and Brad. You’ll never be like him. Not when you love your family so much.”

  “There’s a big difference between you and Patty, too. She didn’t make communication easy, like you tried to do with Brad. And with me. Patty didn’t talk to me upfront about how she felt and what she needed. All I heard were the complaints about what she didn’t like.”

  He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “You’re not like that. You’re a beautiful woman, inside and out. And though I could see that plainly, the minute I heard you were a city girl heading back home as soon as you could, all I could do was compare you to Patty. To make assumptions about you from the minute you walked into my living room, to figure you’d be like her—angry to be stuck on the ranch, unhappy with me, indifferent to the kids.

  “I was wrong to do that. Even my three-going-on-forty-year-old son seems to have more sense than I do.”

  “He’s a smart little boy. Adorable, too.”

  “Takes after his daddy in that respect.”

  She laughed.

  “You were right about something else,” he admitted. “After I accused you of confusing the kids, you hit the mark by turning it around on me, calling me just as guilty of doing the same to them and to you. This isn’t a defense, at least not a good one, but my only excuse is I’ve been confused myself for a long time. Too confused to think straight about much of anything.”

  He shook his head, recalling the belief he’d held about Cara early on. “Talk about confusion. I didn’t want anyone in my life. But once you got wrapped up in Andi’s project, I got the idea you needed the income, and I didn’t have the heart to change my mind about you working on the crafts. Even then, I knew you would turn my life upside down if I let you.<
br />
  “Not that I allowed myself to think about you that way. I tried not to think about you at all. I didn’t want you around the house but at the same time it felt comfortable having you there. And I didn’t want to get to know you, but, before too long, I’d done much more than that. And I fought every feeling for you as hard as I could.

  “Mark and Tracey need a new mother, and I know nobody could fill that role for them better than you. But I’d told myself I’d do anything for the kids—except let myself get involved with another woman. I’d done so much wrong when it came to Patty, I didn’t think I deserved a wife.”

  “Oh, Wes, that’s not true. I felt the same way when things didn’t work out with Brad. Does that mean I deserved to lose my baby?”

  The break in her voice and the pain in her eyes sent him to the top step beside her. He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “It doesn’t mean that at all.”

  “Then it’s not true for you, either.”

  He took a deep, satisfying, unrestricted breath, yet he had to stop and swallow hard before he could continue. “What’s true for me is this—I walked into the office last night and saw the room and the closet both empty, and it made me realize how empty our lives would be without you. Then my son showed me his family picture, and I knew our family wouldn’t be complete until you took your place in it.”

  With his free hand, Wes ran his thumb down her soft cheek. “Cara, I hope you can forgive me for all I said about you confusing the kids. You didn’t do anything wrong by trying to be there for Mark and Tracey. You were just being you—kind, loving and concerned. You’ll make a great mother for any child, and a wonderful wife for any man who can win your heart.”

  “Like you have.”

  “Like I have. Just as you’ve won mine. And in this long-winded, roundabout way, I’m saying I love you and I hope you’ll marry all three of us.”

  She rested her head against his shoulder. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  “But what’s your answer?”

  She pulled back to stare at him. “My answer is yes, of course!”

  EPILOGUE

  Two weeks later

  CARA LOOKED AROUND the Hitching Post’s banquet hall, a room transformed by thousands of white lights into the perfect setting for a fairy-tale wedding reception.

  “Andi and Tina and Jane really made this one special,” Cara said to Jed. “It’s just what Lizzie wanted. She hasn’t stopped smiling since she and Kyle made their entrance.”

  “I second that,” Wes said.

  The newlyweds had originally planned a small party at the community center. Thanks to Andi, Cara knew Jed had offered Lizzie and Kyle the banquet hall without charge, then surprised them by giving them the reception as a wedding gift.

  Andi had sworn her to secrecy about Jed’s arrangements, which turned out to be unnecessary since the bride had charmingly and publicly thanked Jed the minute the reception began.

  Every time Cara thought of his generosity, her eyes misted with tears.

  Every time she thought of his matchmaking skills, she gave thanks.

  She smiled at Jed. “You’ve made Lizzie’s day complete.”

  “Glad to hear it. But that girl needs to learn when to keep things private,” he pretended to grumble.

  “In this town?” she asked in mock surprise.

  They all laughed.

  With a smile of farewell, Jed wandered away.

  The deejay had started a slow song, and in Kyle’s arms, Lizzie nearly floated around the dance floor in her simple but elegant white gown.

  Cara sighed happily. “She looks like a princess, doesn’t she?”

  “Yeah.” One arm around her waist, Wes kissed her temple and gave her that half smile she loved. “The maid of honor’s not too bad, either.”

  “Well, thank you for the compliment, cowboy.”

  “You’re not sorry we’re waiting?”

  She shook her head. “Not a bit.”

  Wanting all the attention to go to Lizzie’s special day, she and Wes had decided to hold off on their own wedding. In the meantime, Cara worked at the store during the day, then spent every evening at the ranch with Wes and Mark and Tracey before returning to the Hitching Post for the night.

  Jed now sat at a table with Paz, Mo and Sugar.

  “I’ll bet they’re up to some matchmaking business again.” Wes leaned closer and murmured, “Don’t ever tell anyone I said this, but I don’t know what I’d have done without that man’s interference.”

  Cara smiled. “Same here.”

  After all, thanks to Jed, she had the family she’d always wanted.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Safe in His Arms by Anna J. Stewart.

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  Safe in His Arms

  by Anna J. Stewart

  CHAPTER ONE

  “WELL, PHOEBE?” HUNTER MACBRIDE stopped his decade-old motor home at the turnoff for the Liberty Lighthouse. “What do you think?”

  Hunter’s seven-year-old niece turned her doll-wide gaze out the bug-and grime-encrusted windshield to get her first glimpse of Butterfly Harbor and California’s historic lighthouse. He powered down the windows and let the roar of the ocean welcome them. The faint sound of rattling pebbles cascading beside the lapping waves and late-winter wind reminded him of the carefree summers he’d spent at his grandparents’ beach house growing up. For the first time in a long time, Hunter felt as if he could breathe.

  The coast had always brought him a sense of peace. In his experience, there wasn’t a problem that couldn’t be solved by the roar of the water and the sheer power of Mother Nature crashing against the rocks. He could only hope this place would do the same for Phoebe. It had to. He’d bet everything—including his career—on it.

  “I’ve always loved lighthouses,” Hunter said. “Used to explore them whenever I could.” He cast an eye on Phoebe. “Nothing better than climbing to the top, around and around that spiral staircase—”

  Phoebe looked at him and frowned, her brows knitting into a perfect V over her little nose.

  “That’s right, a spiral staircase.” He wound his finger in a circle and drew it up. “Your mom and I used to have races to see who’d make it to the top first. One time I went so fast I threw up on her.”

  Phoebe’s skeptical stare went blank at the mention of Juliana. It had been six months since her parents—Hunter’s sister and brother-in-law—had bee
n killed in a car accident. Six months since he’d become sole guardian to his niece.

  Six months since Phoebe had changed from a rambunctious, energetic chatterbox to a child of few words.

  Hunter’s heart constricted as he rubbed the back of Phoebe’s hand. Thick dark curls framed her face and tumbled around her shoulders. There were times he swore he was looking into Juliana’s face, but with far wiser and more guarded eyes. What he wouldn’t give to take away the trauma and pain his niece had been through. What he wouldn’t give to have his sister back.

  “You want to know a secret?” He leaned close and whispered, “I haven’t eaten a corn dog since.”

  Phoebe’s lips twitched.

  Hunter’s spirits soared. Earning a smile from Phoebe was tantamount to scaling Mount Everest. She was so guarded now. So controlled. It was all he could do not to jump out of the motor home and do a little dance of joy. Instead he gave her the warmest smile he could and continued his observations.

  “I used to call lighthouses soldiers on the hill.” Hunter pointed at the tower stretching toward the sky. “They always look like they’re standing guard. Which they are, in a way. There’s a light up there, in the lantern room just inside the catwalk. It would glow and shine its light into the ocean and guide ships safely to the shore.”

  Phoebe pointed to one of the smaller buildings surrounding the lighthouse. From a distance he could see the keeper’s cottage attached to the base with a roof in dire need of repair. Across the way, closer to the cliff line on its own rocky little hill, sat the carriage house that would serve as their home while Hunter researched and wrote the book—literally—on the Butterfly Harbor lighthouse and its restoration efforts to be used for publicity purposes.

  He kept a slow pace as he maneuvered his oversize motorized baby down the dirt road. His smile widened as the white cottage with empty, weathered window boxes came into sight. “Yup. That’s our house.”