Once and Always (Women of Character) (17 page)

"We're different. We're not
the same people we were back then."

"Even if we decided to start
seeing each other," her voice sounded cautious, "how will we able to
keep a personal relationship separate from business?"

Tyler looked at her with surprise.
"You'd want to keep our relationship a secret?"

"This ranch's livelihood is
important." Her voice held quiet acceptance. "We don't want to do
anything to jeopardize it."

Tyler studied her closely.
"You think if people know we're dating it would hurt your reputation? You
want to put the ranch before us?" It felt like a slap from the past.

She looked at him incredulously.
"No. All I'm saying is people might see a personal involvement between us
as unprofessional. Let's at least keep it quiet until after the open house.
I'll feel like I'm on display if people suspect we're involved."

"I'm not allowing anyone's
opinions to keep me from seeing you, nor will it be a secret."

"I don't want it to affect
your business," she said stubbornly. "Tyler, what drove you away is
what ultimately brought you back here. You've admitted yourself that it bothers
you how quickly everyone believed Martin and not you or Grant."

"My dad had an incident in
his past that the sheriff blew out of proportion and the rest of the department
just fell in line like sheep. I can't handle that narrow-minded thinking. I had
to come back to make things right. It's what I needed to do for my dad. Maybe I
need to prove to myself I can be a success here. I'll never leave with my tail
between my legs again."

He watched her unwaveringly,
reading the emotions that chased across her face; the lingering doubt she
couldn't hide. Finally, she gave a slight nod of her head.

"Okay, we can try it your
way."

"We'll keep things simple and
platonic until the time is right." Tyler placed a steak on each plate.

Anna pushed her utensils around,
hearing his voice almost from a distance. "Platonic?"

Tyler paused with his fork halfway
to his mouth, a piece of rare steak dangling from the fork. "It seems the
best solution, nothing to complicate the growing relationship."

She nodded. "Sounds logical.
How long do you think we should keep it simple?" she asked, trying to keep
her expression only mildly interested. "Six months. . . a year?" She
popped a piece of steak into her mouth, ignoring the consternation darkening
his face as she chewed the meat. "This steak is very good." Squirming
in her seat, she put her fork down. "We could set our sights on six
months."

"A hundred and eighty
days." His voice came out flat.

Anna lifted her glass and watched
him over the rim, doing her best to suppress a grin. She was enjoying herself,
her earlier hesitation for the moment forgotten. "Well yes, if you base it
on a thirty-day month. Technically, it's more. What do you think?"

He suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"I think you're having a laugh at my expense."

She grinned outright. "And if
I am?"

"I deserve it for coming up
with such an asinine idea." Standing, he leaned across the table and
dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. He sat back down and took a deep swallow of
his drink. "Even when we were kids there was nothing platonic about our
friendship."

"It is a noble idea,"
she assured him, suddenly feeling breathless, resisting the urge to touch her
scarred cheek. He'd kissed her so nonchalantly. Two weeks ago she couldn't have
imagined anyone touching it, much less putting their lips against the skin.

"Yeah," he said,
"I'm a noble kind of guy."

Anna ignored the underlying
sarcasm and smiled at him. "Yes, you are." She indicated the steak.
"We can add cook to the list of what I know about you. Did you learn how
to cook out there? What did you do in California?" It was more than idle
curiosity. "I feel like I need to fill in the empty years."

"Nothing spectacular. I
worked and took night classes for awhile but I had to drop out."

"You always dreamed of going
to school for computer engineering, but you weren't able to finish your
degree?"

"My dad needed me and it was
around that time I got this idea to start my own company. Everybody and his
brother is into internet marketing. Twenty-year-olds making hundreds of
thousands of dollars."

Anna stopped chewing and stared at
him, fascinated. She swallowed. "Is that what you did?"

He nodded. "I developed a
unique software application that scrambles credit card numbers."

"I'm completely computer
illiterate," she confessed, "So I'm easily impressed."

Tyler smiled at her. "I had
my own tech company in our shoebox size apartment. It was a pretty wild ride
for a while. I sold the company and I made a lot of money," he added, his
voice sounding quite deliberate. "I followed the circuit for awhile,
played at some rodeo and riding. Later on I invested in three properties in
Montana that Dad and I converted into dude ranches."

"So you've had a good measure
of success." Anna suddenly felt tense and uncertain. It was so different
from her life, which had taken a nosedive. "Were you happy?"

His eyes held a mocking light.
"I had a ton of money to spend, what do you think?"

"Were you happy?"

Tyler put down his knife and fork
with a clatter. "I worked my ass off and fell into bed at night so I
didn't have to think about this place. Is that what you want to hear?"

His harshness made Anna feel as if
she were under attack. "Only if it's true. I wondered so many times if you
missed being here." If you missed me.

Tyler looked away, his jaw
working. "Every day and every night, but I put that wanting out of my
mind." He looked back at her. "I put a lot of wants out of my mind. I
let my business take precedence and I had my dad to look after."

"You never really told me
what happened to Grant," she said softly, almost afraid to know. He'd died
too young.

"Annie." His voice held
a warning.

"I need to know."

"After we left he started
drinking. It's like no matter what was going on in our lives, whatever success
we had, he couldn't forget this place." Tyler put his head back and Anna
could see the strain on his face. "Near the end he begged me to bring him
back here, but before I could his liver gave out. He was buried here in Marsh
Plains like he wanted."

She bit her lips, shaking her head
over Tyler's loss. "And you still blame all of us," she added
quietly, seeing it in his face.

Tyler let out a deep breath.
"Annie, I honestly don't know where blames lies. Nobody but my dad lifted
that glass to his mouth, but what happened here ate at him." He stood and
walked over to the refrigerator. Opening the door, he pulled two sodas from the
shelf. "Something's bugging at me. I think Danny knows something," he
said abruptly. "He was waiting for me by the barn when I got back this
morning."

"I told him he should talk
with you about work. Why would you think he knows something? What's
wrong?" she asked, worried.

"I don't know." He
frowned and sat down again. "I get the feeling he's hiding
something."

Anna shook her head. "No, not
Danny." She reached for his hand and gripped it. "I know Danny. He'd
never deliberately hurt me. Since the fire he shows up every morning for work.
Some weeks I couldn't pay him, but he still worked. I know he cares about this
place."

"About you," Tyler said
with emphasis.

"Me, the ranch―it's all
the same."

"No, it's not, at least, not
to Danny." Tyler looked exasperated. "Annie, I didn't want to get
into six years ago, but let's look at the facts. I know it wasn't my dad, so it
had to be Martin or Danny. They were always here with the horses and they had
access. For whatever reason, something went wrong." He gave her a pointed
glance. "Danny's always been half in love with you. Maybe he figured out a
way to get rid of me."

"No!" Anna jumped to her
feet. "What you're suggesting is wrong, all wrong."

"It makes more sense than
anything else I can figure out."

"Leave Danny out of
this."

"Explain why the mare's owner
had a foal that he was certain wasn't sired by the Double B's top stallion, for
which he paid a heavy stud fee."

"Lucky Ace was a pure black
quarter horse stallion known for throwing black foals. Once in a while you'd
end up with a bay, but in his fifteen years standing here at stud, eighty
percent of his offspring were black."

"How was the mare's owner so
certain it wasn't Lucky Ace's foal? Was there testing done?"

"It wasn't necessary. The
foal was clearly a spotted Appaloosa." At his stunned look, Anna
exclaimed, "Didn't you know that?"

Tyler sat back in his chair.
"No. Back then during the so-called investigations the accusations were
flying and there was a lot of confusion. The sheriff wouldn't tell me anything
and I sure as hell couldn't afford a lawyer. It was never mentioned the foal
was spotted."

"We had an outside stallion
in at the time. He was a strawberry roan appaloosa."

"I remember. He was only here
a few days before Martin shipped him back. So someone bred that mare to the
App. Someone wanted to either hurt the Double B or my father's reputation as
breeding manager." Tyler looked at her and the deadly seriousness in his
eyes sent a chill up her back. "You know I have to find out the truth. I
can't let it rest."

Apprehension crept over Annie, and
her shoulders drooped. "I know." Tyler would dig until he found the
truth. It was the type of man he was. In the past she'd applauded his tenacity.
She pushed her plate away. "Do what you have to do, Tyler. Maybe it's past
time for all this to be resolved." Maybe then they could get on with their
lives. "That's what you came back here for, anyway."

He didn't deny it. "You
realize that whatever I find, it might drive us apart. Do you want to take that
chance?"

"Yes." She said it
quickly, bravely, before she changed her mind, knowing in that moment it was
what he needed to hear. He'd been unjustly accused and he needed to clear his
and Grant's name. Inside, she was afraid what he would find and how it would
affect them. But why be afraid when she knew Martin and Danny had to be
blameless?

Tyler pushed the steak platter
closer. "Would you like something else?"

"No, I've had enough."
She stood, moved to the sink and turned on the water. "I'll help you clean
up."

Tyler came to stand beside her,
his elbow brushing hers. "No, it's late. You go home, take a shower and
relax, I can handle this." Turning his head, Tyler kissed her lightly on
the mouth. Anna leaned into him, disappointed by the brevity of the kiss. As if
reading her thoughts, Tyler smiled and bent toward her again. Slowly, his mouth
touched hers, causing heat to build. It amazed her the effect his closeness had
on her.

Anna wanted to forget everything
they'd talked about and spend the night in his arms. It would be so easy to
slip into that pattern. She pulled back and looked into deep blue eyes framed
by dark lashes. She turned sideways. "I enjoyed our dinner, but I have to
leave."

She took two steps away from him,
and she thought he'd try to stop her as he followed her, but instead he lifted
her bag where she'd left it on the counter. "Don't forget this," he
said.

"My camouflage makeup."
She accepted the bag. Feeling somewhat awkward, Anna concentrated on a wooden
plaque hanging on the wall just beyond his shoulder. Home is where the heart
is. "Sara gets it through the shelter from a woman who specializes in
masking skin problems."

"That's great, Annie, if it
makes you feel better," he said, his voice quiet.

She looked at him with a frown.
"It's more than great. It's a lifesaver."

He didn't say anything and she
remembered what he'd said about the scars not being important to the man who
loved her. She searched his face, afraid he might have lied to make her feel
better. A lie of kindness from a man who no longer loved her. What did he feel
for her?

She murmured goodnight and Tyler
let her go this time.

As she walked back to the guesthouse, she pondered all that
had occurred today. She felt only a step away from caring deeply for Tyler once
more. When she'd fallen in love with Tyler six years ago, she'd thought her
life was perfect, but now she wondered if she'd discover her idea of perfect
was no longer the same. She and Tyler were no longer the same.

Anna and Tyler walked
toward the barn in the early morning, as they'd been doing all week. Tyler's
arm brushed hers casually and for Anna the contact was like a hot brand, the
effect resonating throughout her body. She'd become accustomed to working with
Tyler, but at times redefining their relationship had been exhausting.

"What's on the agenda for
today?" she asked, flexing her fingers. "I'm itching to get my hands
on that pretty little quarter mare that came in. She's got lots of spirit and
agility." She'd watched them unload her two days ago and she knew today
she'd have the opportunity to see Tyler interact with the mare.

He smiled. "I knew you'd like
her. I'll talk to the owner. I plan to work her into my reining schedule, but
we've both been around long enough to recognize that mare's as athletic as they
come." He looked at his watch. "I've got more steers arriving late
morning, so I'll have to miss our ride today," he said regretfully.

Anna had looked forward to their
morning rides all week. "That's okay," she said lightly, masking her
disappointment, "there's always tomorrow."

Tyler turned to look at her.
"You didn't forget Angela Mortimer and her daughter Carol will be here
this morning?"

Anna curled her fists and stuffed
them in her back jeans pockets. "Of course not." How could she? She'd
been running on nerves all morning, able to think of little else except the
upcoming meeting. She looked at her watch. "They should be here in about
forty minutes."