The Rancher Meets His Match

by Kate Pearce

  “No one dies from getting a clock in the head when they’re being stupid, Son.” Jeff chewed vigorously. “I didn’t have time to consider whether I was hurting your feelings when a steer was running you down.”

  “You didn’t even consider we had feelings.” Kaiden took a huge portion of the creamy mashed potatoes and the rich chicken and red wine sauce. “Danny’s degree will help keep this ranch in business. He’s learning all new kinds of stuff that we’ve never even considered before.”

  Jeff made a face before continuing to eat. “Waste of money.”

  “He’s paying his own way with what he makes here and working for me,” Kaiden pointed out. “I think he’s smart to do it. I wish I’d had the opportunity.”

  “You went to college, Son,” Jeff pointed out. “I didn’t like that, either, but at least you learned something practical, which saves me money.”

  “I learned a trade. That’s different.” Kaiden turned to Adam. “This food is awesome, by the way.”

  “Thanks.” Adam nodded. “There’s plenty more, so keep going.”

  By the time they got to dessert, even Kaiden was full, and decided to stick with coffee. While Jeff was busy trying to argue with Evan about something to do with the calves, Kaiden turned to Adam.

  “Dr. Tio asked me to go out to the Garcia Ranch to see Juan tomorrow.”

  “Yeah? What for?” Adam frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving to manage the ranch for him—although it could do with all the help it can get right now.”

  “The house needs adapting so that Juan can get around in his wheelchair.”

  “That sucks.” Adam sipped his own coffee. “He’s got multiple sclerosis, right?”

  “Yeah. I said I’d check out what needs to be done—bathrooms, ramps, doorways, that kind of thing.”

  “Who’s paying for that? I don’t think Juan has taken any cattle to market the last two years, and the ranch is a mess.”

  “Dr. Tio said the family would take care of it.” Kaiden shrugged. “Maybe Mr. Garcia got some kind of disability grant, or something. He’s retired military.”

  “Maybe one of his kids is coughing up the cash. Miguel’s in the military, right?”

  “As far as I know.” Kaiden kept his tone neutral.

  “What about Julia?”

  “I have no idea.” Kaiden finished his coffee. “I guess I’ll find out the answers tomorrow.”

  * * *

  Julia Garcia turned a slow circle around her father’s kitchen. Nothing had changed since she’d left ten years ago to attend college and never really come back. The coffeepot on the ancient stove was the same, as was the plastic covering on the table, and the loudly humming refrigerator. It was like time had stood still.

  She pressed her hand over her heart and forced herself to take a deep breath as memories overwhelmed her. Miguel grinning and pulling her hair, her mom cooking at the stove, and her dad coming in the back door smelling like leather and cow shit.

  “You okay in there?”

  Her father’s voice echoed down the hallway. She’d left him settled in his recliner in front of the TV and offered to make some coffee.

  “Yup! Do you have a coffee maker, Dad?” she called out.

  “I thought that was you.”

  She smiled despite herself. “I mean like an electric one or a pod dispenser.”

  “Nope. Cowboy coffee made on the stove or over the fire is good enough for me.”

  Julia mentally added a coffee maker to her ever-increasing list of things she needed to survive in the boonies. “Right.”

  She approached the coffeepot like it was about to burst into flames and cast her mind back to how to make it. “Coffee in the bottom, add water, bring to the boil, easy,” she murmured to herself as she opened the cupboard, found the scratched tin marked COFFEE, and added what she hoped was the appropriate amount before setting it on the stove.

  She’d arrived last night when it was dark, greeted her father, fallen into her old bed, and slept for eight hours, which was unheard of. She’d forgotten how powerful the silence around the ranch could be. It felt like she was constantly holding her breath. She checked the refrigerator for cream and set out a couple of mugs. But wasn’t that why she’d left in the first place? That silence? That sense that nothing would ever change if she didn’t make it happen?

  She went back to speak to her father. “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “There’s oatmeal. I like that.” He smiled up at her.

  “Do you have a microwave to make it?” Before he even answered her, Julia held up her hand. “Scratch that. Of course you don’t. I’ll make you some.”

  “I don’t want to put you to too much trouble, my love.” Juan frowned. “I’m quite capable of feeding myself.”

  “I know that, but how about you let me pamper you my first morning back?” Julia kissed his cheek. “Just stay there, Dad, and enjoy your show. I’ll be back.”

  The kitchen window still had the drapes she’d made with her mom about fifteen years ago. The lemon pattern looked like it hadn’t been washed for years and was stiff with dirt and grease. For a horrible second, Julia wanted to rip the curtains down and scream at the unfairness of it all. But she was a different person now, a more controlled one, and she certainly wasn’t going to let her current sense of helplessness beat her.

  Even as she talked herself strong again, her gaze was caught by the endless vista through the smeared window, the vastness of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance, the rolling green foothills, and grasslands topped by a startlingly blue sky. Home: where you could run for miles without seeing another human being or hearing the sound of a car. Nothing like the city she lived in now with its endless sirens, people, and traffic.

  She paused at the unexpected sound of a truck coming up the driveway. Did her dad still employ hands? She hadn’t seen any sign of activity at the barn, and she’d been up since dawn. She watched as the truck drew up, and a cowboy got out and strolled toward the house.

  Even though she couldn’t see his face, she immediately knew who it was, and flew to open the front door.

  When he saw her, he stopped as if surprised and angled his head to one side.

  “Julia?”

  “Who else?” She raised her chin. “What the hell are you doing here, Kaiden Miller?”

  Chapter Two

  Kaiden blinked at the accusatory tone and stared like a dumbass at Julia Garcia. She wore a skirt suit in blue with one of those soft, white lacy shirts underneath and heels that put her at his eye level. Her black hair was tied back in a high ponytail exposing the exquisite angles of her face. She was beautiful. She always had been.

  The hackles on the back of his neck rose. “Nice to see you too, darlin’. How’s it hanging?”

  “Don’t you darlin’ me, Miller.” She glared right back at him. “I asked you what you were doing here.”

  He raised an eyebrow, which had always infuriated her, and was glad to see it still worked. “I came to see your dad.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “He didn’t mention anything about that to me.”

  Kaiden rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and sighed. “Look. Could you just go and check? If he’s busy I’ll come back another time.”

  “I’ll go and talk to him.”

  “Great.” He took a step toward the house and she shut the door in his face. “Really great.”

  Why couldn’t it have been Miguel who’d come back? That would have been difficult in another way, but not the same. They might have settled things the old-fashioned way, but he’d almost welcome that. Why did it have to be Julia who had always rubbed him up the wrong way? Not that she’d ever let him actually touch her. She’d probably barf at the very idea.

  She’d been one of the popular, brainiac kids at school, held a 4.2 GPA, and been a cheerleader, and class valedictorian. She’d wiped the dust from Morgantown off her feet, rode off to Stanford in a blaze of glory to study law, and hardly ever
came back.

  Even as he considered bolting for his truck, some part of him refused to budge. This wasn’t high school anymore. He’d done okay at life and he wasn’t afraid of anything, or anybody.

  The door opened. “You can come in now.”

  “Thanks.” He removed his Stetson as he went into the hallway and smoothed down his hair.

  “Dad’s through there.” She pointed imperiously to the right. “I’m just making him some breakfast so don’t be too long.”

  “Awesome, throw on a couple of eggs for me, will you, sweetheart?”

  He walked away from her, his shoulders tensing as he anticipated a cast-iron pan being thrown at his head. Juan was watching one of the morning shows where all the women wore bright colors and everyone laughed a lot.

  “Hey, Mr. Garcia.” Kaiden crouched down beside the chair and offered his hand. “Dr. Tio asked me to call and see what we could do to adapt your house.”

  “Kaiden.” Juan shook his hand. “That would be great.” He sighed. “When my MS is bad, I just can’t do some things myself anymore.”

  “So Dr. Tio said. He gave me a general idea of what you need, but we can talk more after I’ve had a look around.” Kaiden paused. “You okay if I do that while I’m here so I can get a sense of what needs doing?”

  “That’s fine by me.” Juan’s smile warmed Kaiden’s heart. “I’ve got Julia home keeping an eye on me for a few days, so I’m good.”

  “That’s awesome.” Kaiden got to his feet and retrieved his phone from the back pocket of his jeans. “I’ll take some pictures as I go.”

  “Isn’t technology great? Miguel bought me one of those phones last time I talked to him.” Juan grinned. “It’s still in the box because I haven’t worked out how to use it yet, but I will one day.”

  “Maybe Julia can help you with that. If not, you know our Daisy is a whiz with technical stuff.” Kaiden took out his notebook. “I’ll get started, then.”

  “Take your time, son, there’s no rush.”

  Kaiden’s smile faded as he left the room. Juan looked so damn frail. He remembered coming over to see Miguel when the ranch was thriving. Juan had been a much kinder, gentler father than Jeff had ever been.

  “What are you doing now?”

  He turned and looked back at Julia, who had stepped out of the kitchen, her hands on her hips.

  “Just casing the joint.” He retrieved his pencil from behind his ear. “How’s my breakfast coming?”

  Her indrawn breath was so extreme, he was surprised she didn’t faint.

  “I see that you haven’t changed a bit.”

  “Oh, I have.” He flexed his muscles. “Bigger, faster, leaner, and definitely harder.” He finished with a wink, which made her press her lips together. He nodded at the door to the sitting room. “Maybe you should check in with your dad before you start making all these assumptions.”

  “I will.”

  She stalked past him, releasing a hint of starch and citrus perfume, and he continued on down the central hallway that led to the master bedroom. He paused at the door to appreciate the handmade quilt on the bed. Beneath the picture of the Sacred Heart sat a candle and a well-worn rosary. A collection of photos covered every other surface, military pictures of the three generations of Garcia men who had served their country, Miguel and Julia at every age smiling into the camera. Kaiden edged closer to the chest of drawers. There was even one of him when he and Miguel had played football together.

  He swung around as Julia came into the bedroom.

  “Okay, I understand you’re the person Dr. Tio asked to look into making the ranch more accessible for my dad’s needs.”

  “That’s right.” He nodded at the bathroom. “I’m going to start in there—if that’s okay with you.” He turned to the door, his nose wrinkling. “Is something burning?”

  “Crap!” She rushed out, and he followed her down to the kitchen, where the smell of burned coffee was stinking up the space.

  She went to grab the coffeepot and Kaiden thrust his arm in front of her outstretched hand.

  “No.”

  “Don’t tell me what to—”

  He picked up the dishcloth and handed it to her. “Use this, or you’ll burn your hands.”

  She did as he suggested, and he helpfully opened the back door as she went outside to dump the burned coffee. When she came back in, he had already gotten the coffee tin out and turned the faucet on.

  “Rinse out the pot, check it’s not leaking, and leave the coffee making to me.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “You need smoke alarms in here.”

  * * *

  Julia’s cheeks were so hot she knew Kaiden must have noticed, but he didn’t do anything more threatening than point out that they needed smoke alarms, which was the absolute truth. Although, not having one shrieking in her ear right now was something of a blessing.

  She set the pot in the sink and cooled it down with the water. It didn’t appear to be damaged so she meekly handed it over to Kaiden.

  “You probably didn’t put enough water in there. Easy to do.”

  She watched his large, capable hands add the scoops of coffee to the pot and fill it up with water, before setting it on a low heat. He glanced over his shoulder at her as he worked.

  “Why don’t you finish with your dad’s breakfast? I’ll keep an eye on the coffee.”

  Julia’s legs were still shaking. For a moment, she wanted to sink down on one of the hard chairs and just bawl her eyes out. But doing that in front of Kaiden Miller would open her up to a lifetime of his so-called humor because he never forgot anything.

  “Thank you.” She at least managed to say that.

  He had the nerve to grin. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? Next time you see me maybe you’ll just say hi instead of treating me like a criminal.”

  “I doubt it.” So, she’d recovered to her sass. Good.

  “So do I.” He placed the dish towel on the counter. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. I was just kidding about the breakfast.”

  Like she hadn’t known that. Julia took a deep breath and tried to remember what her yoga instructor recommended for the stressful moments of a modern woman’s life when running away wasn’t an option. She’d added the last bit, but she really did need to get a grip. She was an accomplished and well-paid lawyer, for goodness’ sake. This should be easy.

  She checked the cupboards, found the instant oatmeal, and made it on the stove with milk rather than water, just as her dad had always liked it. When they’d been kids he’d kept a dairy cow for the milk, cheese, and butter her mother had loved to make.

  There wasn’t any fresh fruit, something she’d have to remedy, so she took the oatmeal through with a small bowl of brown sugar and a jug of cream on the side, just in case her father wanted it.

  “Thank you, my love.” Her father brought his recliner upright as she put the tray on his lap. “Isn’t it nice to see Kaiden again?”

  “Sure, although we were never really friends.” Julia offered him a napkin.

  “That’s right, he hung out more with Miguel.”

  Until they’d had that big fight and never spoken to each other again, but Julia certainly wasn’t going to bring that up. When Miguel had shared Kaiden’s real opinion of her it had hurt so much she’d decided never to speak to Kaiden again. Yet, here she was, having to listen to him anyway . . .

  “I’ll go and check on the coffee.”

  She went back to the kitchen only to find that Kaiden had beaten her to it. She paused to assess his back view. He wasn’t as tall and broad as his two older brothers but he certainly had muscles in all the right places and, if she was going to be completely honest, a very fine ass indeed.

  “Like what you see?”

  Julia glared at the back of his head. “Yes, until you open your big mouth and spoil it all.”

  He turned around. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “You would.” She met his amused stare. “I . . . really d
o appreciate what you’re doing here.”

  He pressed his hand to his heart. “Wow, I’m kind of touched. The great Julia Garcia is being nice to me.”

  “I want my dad to be comfortable in his own house, that’s it.” Her cell buzzed and she ignored it even as her stomach tightened. “Are you like some kind of a construction manager now?”

  “No, I’m just the odd jobs guy.” He dealt with the coffee, pouring it into the two mugs. “Do you take sugar with yours?”

  “Of course not.” She gestured stiffly at the pot. “Please help yourself while I take Dad’s through.”

  “Thanks.” He reached for another mug. “Seeing as I made it at least I know it’s not poisoned.”

  Julia took her father’s mug and went down the hall. Why did Kaiden have to make a joke about everything? Was he really that shallow? Maybe he was. He was still living in Morgan Valley with his family, and, according to him, hadn’t picked up any more education. Not that education was for everyone. Her dad had left school at sixteen to help his father and grandfather run the ranch, before going into the military, and he was as shrewd as anyone she’d ever met in the city.

  Was she turning into the kind of snob she’d always secretly despised when she’d first gone to live in the affluent suburbs around Stanford? If Kaiden was happy and content with his life, and he sure looked happy, what he did had nothing to do with her. As she returned to the kitchen with her father’s empty bowl she could hear Kaiden whistling as he walked around the house.

  He’d always done that even as a kid.

  She rinsed out the bowl and set it to dry, her gaze again distracted by the stupendous view. She shook her head.

  “This could be so much better.”

  She took one of the kitchen chairs, climbed up on it, and then onto the worktop where she grabbed hold of the yellow drapes, sneezing as dust exploded in her face. To her annoyance the fabric clung stubbornly to the rail.

  “Hold up there, Ms. Impatient.”

  Still sneezing, she glanced over her shoulder to see that Kaiden had reentered the kitchen. He drew up a second chair alongside hers and hopped up beside her.