Once Tempted (5 page)

She refused to ogle his butt as it bunched and relaxed with every slow step. But, boy, it was tempting.

The hysterical note in her voice must have penetrated for he paused and looked at her. Of course, he’d put his cowboy hat back on and pulled the brim down low.

“Well, now, it can’t stay here in the middle of the
drive, can it? I was just going to move it to a more appropriate spot. Our manure pile is a bit far but that would be the best place for this piece of—”

“My car is not! It brought me all the way from New York.”

“A miracle. I guess I’ll just have to push it to the parking lot then. Adele’s in her office. I’ll leave your keys at the front desk. If Adele says she has a meeting, tell her Ward can’t make it. He’s doing his good deed of the day.”

“And so that would make you Ward?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Ooh, she thought, her eyes narrowing to angry slits. How had he guessed she would hate being addressed as “ma’am” as if she had blue-rinsed hair? She’d noticed the crow’s-feet fanning out from the corners of his eyes. He was easily thirty. Older than she.

“I’d say it’s a pleasure but then I’d be lying. Oh, and don’t touch any of my stuff.”

The interview was going better than Tess would have expected for someone who was jinxed, plagued by handsome men who wandered into her life and caused total chaos. That she’d managed to push the specter of Ward Whatshisname and her smoking car to the far recesses of her mind as she shook Adele Knowles’s hand was quite an accomplishment.

Much of the credit had to go to Adele Knowles. The older woman was like a breath of fresh air. Chic in a pair of light beige trousers and a belted cardigan of a deep evergreen that made her blue eyes that much brighter, she’d greeted Tess politely, asking how she might help her. When Tess told her that she’d come to inquire about any open positions and dutifully relayed Ward’s message about his not being able to meet with
her, those eyes widened with surprise. Unwilling to trust her fate to a rude cowboy, Tess had hurriedly added that Ava Day had suggested she try her luck at Silver Creek.

Adele had brought Tess to an airy office and invited her to sit on a pretty indigo-and-cream-patterned upholstered chair. Before settling on the matching one, she asked if Tess might like a cup of tea.

Tess thanked her and declined. “I’ve been driving for the past six days and have consumed more caffeine than I ever thought physically possible.”

“Six days? Quite a journey.”

And so the interview began. Adele listened without interruption to the explanation she’d asked for of how Tess, who’d lived all her life in New York City, had come to be job hunting in Acacia, even though it must have been obvious to her that the story Tess told—of needing a change after her husband’s death—had been carefully edited.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Adele offered when she’d finished.

“Thank you. My husband and I were estranged when I learned of his illness.”

“Nonetheless, he’d been someone you loved.”

“Yes.” That was the simple truth. But though she had the strong impression that Mrs. Knowles was a deeply sympathetic person, Tess couldn’t bring herself to say any more than that.

Tess felt a wave of gratitude wash over her when Adele Knowles nodded and moved on to a new topic.

“Why Acacia, may I ask? Our town is somewhat off the beaten track.”

The understatement of the century.

With a trace of embarrassment Tess told her about Anna and her grandmother’s scarf. “And so that’s how I got to Acacia. Anna was convinced I had to go as close to where my finger landed as I could. She had complete
faith in the luck the choice would bring. I did look for jobs in Acacia first, though, because honestly it didn’t occur to me that the blob of green on the map contained anything other than trees. Unfortunately nobody’s hiring in town.”

For a second Adele studied her. “What an extraordinary story. And you actually went through with your friend Anna’s plan?”

Tess attempted a smile. “I may not have been thinking too clearly, and Anna can be very persuasive. And she is my best and oldest friend.”

“And you say you’ve worked at an events planning company called La Dolce Vita? What job did you hold there?”

“Jobs, really. Giorgio Bissi, the owner, was willing to let me try my hand at everything, from waitressing to basic line cook duties, to organizing parties and events. Giorgio hired me knowing that my hope was someday to open my own events planning company. His favorite joke was that I should forgo raises since he was giving me such great on-the-job training.”

Adele smiled but remained silent.

To avoid appearing too nervous or desperate, Tess fixed her gaze on a large painting that hung behind Adele’s desk. Rolling meadows tinted a summer green and spotted with round woolly clumps of sheep grazing contentedly led to a dark green slope of a forest-covered mountain. A brilliant azure blue sky met the mountain’s jagged range. Though the color scheme was different, as January now marked the world with grays and browns, Tess knew she’d seen this same landscape while her car had rattled its way up the long private road. Then, as now, its vast openness intimidated.

Adele’s voice drew her attention away from the painting. “Unfortunately at the moment we don’t have any full-time openings, either. Unless you also happen to
know how to rope steer or have experience in animal husbandry.”

She couldn’t manage even a sickly smile as her hopes plummeted like lead.

Great, she thought. She was stuck in Nowheresville, California, and the only place to work that seemed remotely viable wanted applicants who knew about animal husbandry. What a joke. She hadn’t even been able to make her human husband happy.

When she got back to Acacia, she’d return to the organic grocery store on West Street or perhaps Spillin’ the Beans, the coffee shop located a couple doors down from Ava Day’s salon, and throw herself on the owners’ mercy.

But the truth was, she’d gotten her hopes up as soon as the ranch’s main lodge with its stone and timber façade had come into view. Her spirits had risen even higher once she’d stepped into the lobby and seen the wood and reddish tan upholstered chairs and sofas scattered around the lounge to the right of the main entry, and noticed the enormous urn filled with a combination of fresh flowers and twisted dried branches. She’d begun to think the unthinkable had happened—that she’d lucked out. But no.

And now she was going to have to ask for a tow truck. Mortified, she started to rise from the chair when Adele spoke again. “If, however, your references check out, and you pass a background check, I’ll take you on as my assistant.”

Surprise had her sinking back onto the cushion to babble her thanks.

Adele brushed them aside with a smile. “I’ll be honest with you. I hadn’t planned on hiring a new assistant until June or even the fall. But I’m impressed that you’re willing to honor your friend’s rules to the letter and make an effort to live and work as close to the point on
the map where your finger landed. That kind of resolve is special. It is,” she insisted when Tess protested. “And we appreciate that sort of attitude here. Who knows, maybe your arrival at Silver Creek Ranch is a sign for us as well. I wouldn’t want to contemplate the bad karma I might invite by turning you away. So let’s see where this fateful decision leads us.”

This time Tess managed to offer her thanks. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am or how lucky I feel right now.”

“You’re welcome. Though you may come to question your luck after a few days with me. I put in long hours.”

“I like working hard.” That was true. And, besides, what else was there to do in a place like this?

“So, have you found a place to stay?”

“No, not yet.”

“We have a cabin you can use if you’d like. It’s one of the original ones my husband, Daniel, and I built when we opened the ranch to guests. A few years back, we remodeled and expanded the number of guest quarters, but we decided to keep a few of the older cabins for the staff’s use. It’s pretty basic, with just a bedroom, a small sitting area, a kitchenette, and a bath. Perhaps you’d prefer to live in town—”

“It sounds about the size of my New York apartment, so I should feel right at home. If I may, I’d love to stay here, especially as my car seems to have met an untimely end at the hand of a cowboy.”

Adele’s eyes widened. “Really? What happened?”

“That guy Ward? He may be excellent at cowboy stuff, but I wouldn’t let him anywhere near your car. Mine was running until he came along.” Recalling his high-handed manner, she frowned and added in a low mutter, “His people skills could use a little work, too.”

The amused smile on Adele’s face told Tess she’d heard this last bit, too. She was going to have to break
the habit of talking to herself, which she’d gotten into while driving across the country. At least it didn’t seem as if she had offended Adele, she thought with relief.

“Well, Ward can be difficult at times. He was always a very opinionated little boy.”

“So you’ve known him a long time?”

Adele’s blue eyes twinkled. “Since birth. He’s my son.”

Oh, crap.

I
T WAS
F
EBRUARY
14, and Ward Knowles didn’t do Valentine’s Day. Been there, done that, got the broken engagement to prove it. But it seemed he was pretty much a lone fish swimming against the tide. Everyone else was busy celebrating with all the heart-shaped gooey-centered sentiment the holiday invoked. It certainly was all around him at Silver Creek Ranch. As the holiday fell on a Saturday this year, the guest ranch was booked solid.

Since Friday, the corks had been popping from the bottles of a Mendocino sparkling wine that his younger brother, Reid, had selected for the weekend’s wine list, and the bubbly was flowing freely. In the main lodge’s gleaming stainless steel kitchen, Roo Rodgers, their pastry chef, had been creating chocolate fantasies to delight their guests’ taste buds. Not to be outdone, Jeff Sullivan, the chef, was offering specials to appeal to every palate: duck à l’orange; pepper-encrusted filet mignon; seared scallops with roasted Meyer lemons and capers on a bed of Israeli couscous; and, for the vegetarians and vegans, a warm orzo salad with roasted beets and greens and a mung bean and butternut squash stew.

His mother, romantic to the core, had worked with
her new assistant to create the large floral arrangements in the lounge area as well as the centerpieces for the tables in the bar and dining room. The hushed oohs and aahs of appreciation when the guests entered the public rooms and beheld the gorgeous compositions was music to a hotelier’s ears.

“Luv” was good for business so Ward supposed he shouldn’t grouse. Nor should he be irritated by the fact that his mother’s new assistant continued to treat him with polite hostility. New York brunettes with attitudes sorely tried his generally charming demeanor.

He and his kid sister, Quinn, were doing their part to make the holiday weekend special for their guests by guiding them on a trail ride that would take them over the ranch’s sprawling acreage and into the neighboring state forest preserve’s miles of trails. The two-hour ride would allow the guests to work off the indulgences of the night before and whet their appetites for the delicacies ahead. Ward would make sure he set a pace just challenging enough so that the guests who’d booked the hour-long full-body massage would be groaning in bliss when their muscles were kneaded and stretched.

The February weather made it too cold for the guests to enjoy the swimming pool, but his mother and Tess Casari, the snippy beauty with eyes as dark as espresso, had made up for any lack of physical recreation by arranging for extra yoga classes throughout the weekend so that guests could stretch their muscles and find calm equilibrium in the light-filled exercise studio. This way, everyone—horseback riders and those less actively inclined—would be in a proper frame of mind and body to enjoy the afternoon’s high tea.

The Valentine’s weekend special and all the accompanying pampering required extra work on everyone’s part, both staff and family members, but the payoff—the glowing reviews posted on Internet travel sites and
the bookings from new and returning guests—would be sweet. The businessman in Ward couldn’t ignore the financial boon the holiday presented to his family’s ranch.

So he tamped down on his desire to saddle his gelding Rio and head out for a soul-cleansing solitary gallop.

Like everyone in his family, Ward was fully committed to making Silver Creek Ranch the best guest ranch in Northern California. Today that meant spending several hours acting the genial trail guide to couples celebrating romance. He’d stifle his cynicism and ignore thoughts of irritating New Yorkers. After all, he’d been doing a pretty good job of it for five long weeks, ever since the afternoon she’d rolled up to Silver Creek looking lost and lonely and out of her depths.

The dawn air nipped the band of skin at the back of Ward’s neck where he’d gotten a trim at Joe’s barbershop in town. He shrugged his shoulders and with one hand raised the collar of his jacket while he currycombed Santiago’s liver-colored flank. He’d selected Santiago and twenty other horses for the trail ride later in the morning.