RESCUED BY THE RANCHER (4 page)

“Mommy?”

The sight of her little man sitting up in bed with
his hair sticking up on end and a scared expression on his face made her shove
away any thoughts about her own problems. She had her son and they were both
safe. Right now, that was all that mattered.

She didn’t have any control over the other
stuff, not right now, anyway. And she didn’t know Jake well enough to help him
out.
Yet.

He stood in his bedroom and stared at the
closet – the one he hadn’t opened in way too long. Everything in there was
zipped into plastic covers, a handful of things that he’d never managed to send
to the charity store, but it was time. It wasn’t so much that he couldn’t deal
with her things, because he was past the grief stage, had been for a long time.
His problem was that getting rid of Rachel’s clothes meant finally admitting
that he needed to move on with his life.

Jake heard a shuffle of feet downstairs,
followed by muffled laughter. He was certain his dog was part of the reason for
the cheerful sounds, which meant that he probably needed to go check on him…
or maybe he wanted to check on his guests.
It
didn’t matter how much he wanted to bury his head in the sand – there was a
woman in his house, sleeping under his roof, who was making him think all kinds
of things that he hadn’t even considered in years.
And that scared him. It scared him so fucking bad that he wanted to get
in his truck and drive away… and not come back until they were gone.

But that wasn’t an option and he knew it.

Jake opened the closet instead, having a look
through the things. They were old and probably a little out of fashion, but he
doubted Faith would care right now. She was in a stranger’s house wearing pajamas,
so anything had to be better than that.

He grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt, then a
sweater in case she was cold. She was probably the same size as Rachel had
been, or
close
enough to it. Jake shut the doors,
shook his head and marched back out to the kitchen.
Moving on
.
That’s what he was
doing. It wasn’t supposed to be easy, and it wasn’t. But he was doing it, and
that was a heap better than what he’d been doing the past four years.

“Faith?” he called out as he walked downstairs.

Oh.
They were still in the hall, with Tom lying on
the floor. His dog was virtually on top of him, close to squashing the kid.

“Sa—”
 

Faith spun around and laughed, eyes shining in
a way he hadn’t seen them sparkle before. “It’s fine,” she told him. “Tom’s
been begging me for a dog so
he’s loving
this.”

Jake glared at his dog, and got the same
response he’d received the night before when Sam had been asleep on the kid’s
bed. So much for the obedient canine he’d mistakenly thought he owned.

Tom was giggling, play-fighting hard to Sam’s
gentle tussling.

“I get the feeling I don’t give him enough
attention,” Jake muttered.

Faith met his gaze, smiling. “I get the feeling
that Tom’s missing getting to be all rough and tumble.”

He didn’t ask the obvious question – whether or
not the kid had a dad in his life. Instead he held out the clothes. “These are
for you.”

The question in her gaze was clear, but she
reached for them anyway. “Thanks. Are you sure…”

“I’m sure,” he interrupted, not ready to have
that
particular conversation with her
just yet. “My keys are on the counter and I’ll leave some cash there, too. Get
whatever you need.”

“Thanks, Jake,” she said, nodding her head like
she didn’t know what else to say, humbled by someone offering to help her. “I
might head into town after breakfast, and I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

He kept his eyes trained on the kid, still
tumbling with his dog, not knowing which was worse – staring at Faith or her
son.

“You’re off to work?”

“Yep.
I’m starting three horses under saddle right
now, and I’ve got a field full of pregnant mares.”

She laughed. “Don’t tell me they’re being
demanding?”

Jake shook his head. “They can smell carrots
from a mile off, which means I’m down there pampering them every damn day.”

“So long as you’re not
rubbing their backs and whispering sweet nothings in their ears.”

He laughed. It had been a long time since he’d
joked around with a woman, and it was nice.
Better than nice, it was damn good.
“If only you knew the half of what I do
for them.”

“Hey, Jake?”

He turned back to look at her, pushed his hands
into his jean pockets for something to do.

“
You’re trusting
me
with your money and your car. Why?” Faith asked, eyes searching his.

Jake looked into her eyes – big and blue –
knowing how easy it would be to get used to having a woman in his home again,
being part of his life. “Same reason you trusted me enough to stay here last
night.”

They were both silent, but neither of them
broke the contact.

“Besides, that boy is never going to let you
get away with leaving yet. He’ll be begging to see Sam again as soon as you
head for town.”

“Maybe we’ll take the dog, too,” she teased.

“Yeah?”
Jake looked from her to Sam. “I’d like to say
he wouldn’t leave my side, but he’s already proved he’s a traitor.”

Jake left his guests in the hall and headed for
the back door. He whistled out, paused, and shook his head again before pulling
on his boots. His dog
was
a goddamn
traitor… and so was he. Because the only thing he could think about was a woman
with long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, and how nice it would be to
finish work for the day and walk in the door to her smile.

The last thing Faith wanted to do was go into
town.
Town
was where her burned out
shell of a home was; the place she should never have come back to no matter how
tempting it had been. She’d seen enough of the house in the dark as it blazed
to know there was no point going back there. All of her possessions were long
gone, which meant she had no other option
but
to head in and get some things to see her through the next few days.

It was still early, so all she could hope for
was that she could get in and out as quick as possible.

“Come on, Tommy,” she said. “Leave that poor
dog in peace and come have some breakfast.”

Her little man gave the dog a look that said
his mom was the biggest pain in the butt ever, but he followed.
And so did Sam
. It made her smile
because she and Tom had been on their own for his entire life. Now, having a
faithful dog trotting along beside them like there was no place else in the
world he’d rather be made her feel…
wanted
.
And it had been a long time since Faith had felt wanted by anyone other than
her son.

“Mom, how long will we be here for?”

She looked down at Tom, hoisting her boy up
into her arms as they walked into the kitchen. She spied the keys and a decent
chunk of cash sitting on the counter where Jake had said it would be.

“I don’t know, honey. As long as we need to be,
I guess.”

Faith had no idea why he’d taken them in, why
he was being so kind to them, but she knew she had to do something to repay
him. There weren’t many people who did things like that out of the kindness of
their hearts, and she intended on thanking him properly.
And she needed to find out exactly why he had women’s clothing in his
closest in her size, and why his eyes sometimes flashed with such obvious pain
she wanted to reach out and touch him, just to let him know he wasn’t alone.

Being alone was a feeling she knew only too
well and a man like Jake didn’t deserve it.

But there was more to it than just wanting to
comfort him. After so long without a man in her life, of never letting anyone get
close, Jake had made her feel something that she hadn’t experienced even once
in her life. With this handsome stranger she felt protected and she had no idea
why, other than the fact that her heart skipped like an overactive child every
time he came near.

Which meant she couldn’t stay here for long
.
Faith had survived on her own because she never trusted anyone, never
let anyone too close. The moment she did, she knew she’d be vulnerable, and she
wasn’t ever going to be a victim again. Her dad kicking her out and leaving her
with no one in the world to turn to had made her too strong to let anyone stand
in her way.

She’d come back to Fairview to finish her
family affairs for good, to move forward in a way that meant she’d never have
to look back again.
So as nice as Jake was?
As much as
he made her feel things she’d often longed for and never experienced? She had
to make plans to leave.
Fast.

The
last thing she needed was to be tempted by a black eyed, dark haired cowboy…

Faith looked out the window and caught sight of
Jake crossing the closest field, rope slung over his shoulder.

Who
was she kidding? Being tempted was exactly what she needed. So long as she
didn’t let herself fall in love.

JAKE paused in the doorway. He kicked off his
boots and inhaled. If had been a long time since he’d walked into his own home
and smelled dinner cooking, without having to have prepared it himself.

He followed his nose, heading down the hall and
into the kitchen. Jake stopped again, took a deep breath and watched a scene
he’d never expected to experience.

The boy was lying on his stomach watching
television, legs in the air and crossed at the ankles, His dog had already
snuck back inside for the day and was stretched out beside him, and Faith had
her back to him as she stood at the range.

Jake clenched then unclenched his fists, took a
deep breath before making his presence known. He’d be lying if he said he was
comfortable, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make an effort.

He cleared his throat.

“Hey.” Faith spun around, eyes bright as she
smiled. She had an apron on, her hands messy from whatever it was she was
making. “I was hoping to have this finished before you came back inside.”

He moved forward, held on to the back of one of
the dining chairs as he watched her. “You manage to get everything you needed?”

She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt he didn’t
recognize, so he was guessing she did fine. Plus, her hair was tied up in a
high ponytail now and he could see she was wearing a few touches of make-up,
not that she really needed any.

“I hope you don’t mind but I got a few things
for myself, just the basics, and I picked up some groceries. You didn’t have a
lot in the cupboards, so I got enough for the next couple of days.”

Jake shrugged. He didn’t care that she’d spent
his money, or the fact that she’d restocked his kitchen, but a couple of days?
Hell, he was struggling with just tonight. But then he’d asked her to stay and where
the hell was she going to go if he changed his mind?
 

“You mind if I go wash up?” Jake needed to get
out of the kitchen. A shower was what he needed – long and hot enough to wash
both dirt and memories away.

Faith wasn’t even watching him any longer.

“Sure, go for it. I’m just going to pop this in
the oven.”

Jake smiled at her son when he realized the kid
had been watching them all this time. He was a nice boy, quiet but friendly,
and his dog didn’t usually take a liking to anyone who wasn’t worthy. So why
did it scare the hell out of him that there was a child sitting in his living
room?

He marched down the hall and walked straight
into the bathroom. Jake stripped, kicking his jeans and boxers off, and
throwing his shirt on top of them. He reached in, turned on the faucet, and
walked under the water. Shit! It was freezing cold, but it did what it needed
to – stripped him of all thoughts of the buxom blonde out there in his kitchen
who seemed very much like she’d just moved in and taken over the role of being
his wife. He’d been the one who’d invited her to
stay,
he just hadn’t expected such a simple domestic act like her cooking him dinner
to affect him so much.

He held Rachel’s hand, looked into her eyes,
sitting across the table from her.

“You’re pregnant?” He laughed. “I’m going to be
a dad?”

Jake let out a whoop and ran around to her
chair.

“You’re going to be an amazing dad, you know
that?”

He touched his hand to her belly, spread his
palm over it and looked into her eyes. “You realize this kid will be riding
horses as a toddler, right?”

Rachel laughed. “I love you.”

“Baby, I love you too.”

Jake stifled the groan – the roar – that was
fighting to be heard in his throat. It wasn’t fair. Just when he thought he’d
moved on, when he hadn’t had the dreams or the thoughts about her, his mind
slammed him with a memory like a kick to the gut.