Wrangling the Redhead (16 page)

“Nope, the air is coming up through the floor,” Emma retorted, then latched onto Karen’s arm. “Stand here. Is that air or not?”

Karen stood silently where she’d been directed, then nodded. “It’s definitely air.” She turned to Lauren. “Sorry. I cannot lie to a member of the legal profession.”

Lauren shrugged off the problem. “I don’t care. I want it. It’s the best piece of property available.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I called the real estate agent first thing this morning and asked about all the listings in the area before I arranged to pick up the keys to see this one,” she said. “Trust me, if I want a ranch nearby, this is the cream of the crop.”

“It’s a knockdown,” Cassie said, her expression dire. “You’d have to start from scratch. Do you want to spend that much time and money on this?”

Since Lauren had no firm idea where Wade was or when Grady might hear from him, she had all the time in the world. “Yes,” she said very firmly, then one by one looked each of them squarely in the eye to emphasize the point. “And I’m not tearing it down. I’ll renovate it. It’ll be the first good use I’ve had for my money in a long time.”

“Okay, then,” Emma said briskly. “I’ll do the negotiating. Otis Junior is slime. It will be a pleasure taking him to the cleaners.”

“The money goes to Otis Senior,” Lauren reminded her. “He’s up in years and not all that well. He might need it for his care.”

“Good point,” Cassie chimed in.

“Then I’ll have to insist it be put in a trust for just that, so that Otis Junior can’t touch it while his daddy’s alive,” Emma said, pulling her cell phone from her purse to call the real estate agent.

While Emma and the agent negotiated, the others kept on wandering around making notes on all that needed to be done. They came back eventually and handed several sheets of paper to Lauren.

“Just a few starting points,” Gina said with a grin. “I put the kitchen on top. I can’t be expected to cook dinners for all of us in the state it’s in now.”

Lauren gave her an impulsive hug. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For seeing the potential.”

“Oh, I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Gina said. “But there’s nothing I like better than designing the way a kitchen ought to look so that it functions efficiently.”

Lauren glanced at the sketch she’d drawn. “Isn’t this a little big?”

“I figure you won’t really want a formal dining room. I think having a big, friendly kitchen where all your friends and family can gather is much cozier, don’t you?”

Lauren chuckled. “Why do I get the feeling this is your dream kitchen, not mine?”

“There’s no reason it can’t be yours,” Gina retorted. “Besides, Rafe says I have a perfectly good kitchen at Tony’s. He doesn’t see why I need another one at home since we never eat there. So, here you go, this is the one I’d have if he weren’t so mule-headed. It’s all yours. Consider it your housewarming present.”

“There’s just one thing you’re not taking into account,” Lauren pointed out. “I can’t cook, nothing beyond the basics, anyway.”

Gina stared at her, clearly horrified. “How did I let that happen? We’ll start with cooking lessons tomorrow. You can’t expect the man to marry you if you can’t even put an interesting meal on the table.”

“Believe me, my problems with Wade run far deeper than whether I can make a decent casserole,” Lauren said.

“Well, we have to start somewhere,” Gina told her just as Emma hung up, her expression triumphant.

“It’s yours,” she said. “We got a good deal and
protected Otis Senior. All in all, a terrific negotiation, if I do say so myself.”

“Emma, you’re magnificent,” Lauren praised.

“Well, of course she is,” Cassie said, grinning at her. “She’s one of us.”

“Look what I found,” Gina said, emerging from another foray into the kitchen with five paper cups filled with tap water. “We can have a toast to your new home.”

They lifted the cups into the air and Karen said, “To Lauren. May she find the same kind of happiness here that the rest of us have found, and may it last forever.”

“To Lauren,” the others chorused.

Tears welled up in Lauren’s eyes as she looked around her. She had a house. She had her friends. Now if only she could get Wade to come back, she would have everything any woman could possibly want.

“Oh, no,” Cassie murmured. “She’s crying.”

“I am not,” Lauren said.

“She’s just realized what she’s done,” Emma said. “I can always call and say the deal’s off.”

“Don’t you dare. This is exactly what I want.”

“A falling-down house?” Emma said skeptically. “It’s not too late. I can get you out of it. There’s a grace period for buyer’s remorse.”

“Absolutely not. I want a home where I can build a family, and this is it.” Her voice quivered slightly. “There’s just one thing missing.”

“If Wade Owens has an ounce of sense in his head, he’ll be back,” Karen assured her. “In the meantime, there is a lot of work to be done if this place is going to be ready to welcome him.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” Gina pointed out. “I can
spare a few hours in the morning. So can Rafe. What about the rest of you?”

“Cole and I will be here,” Cassie promised.

“And Grady and I,” Karen added. “Though he’ll probably insist I sit in a corner and watch all the activity.”

“I’ll be here, but I’m not sure I trust Ford on any ladders,” Emma said. “It’s not that he’s clumsy, but he gets some idea in his head for a story and he gets distracted.”

Funny, Lauren thought as she fought off more tears. Compared to her place in California, this place truly was a disaster. It didn’t even have any real charm on its side. But despite that, it still felt more like a home than any place she’d ever lived.

Or it would once Wade stepped through the door and declared that he was back in her life to stay.

W
ade hadn’t intended to go back to Winding River, not ever. The memories there were too painful. The prospect of bumping into Lauren was even worse. When he thought of how she had deceived him, it made him physically ill. When he thought of how desperately he loved her just the same, it made him curse the day they’d crossed paths.

For the first couple of months after he’d left, he bummed around the rodeo circuit, caring for stock, looking for…something. Work, maybe. A stud he could build his ranch around one day, one with half the spirit and bloodlines of Midnight. A pair of green eyes that could dazzle him or a soft body that would fit his as perfectly as the one he’d left behind.

He found none of that. In fact, his head was filled with memories of Winding River and a woman who’d
given him something he’d never expected to find, then ruined it all by betraying him.

When the memory of her face began to dim, he found himself in a video store, searching for all her old movies. He wanted to see for himself the woman she’d kept from him. Watching her face light up the screen, listening to her voice, he’d been as captivated as he’d once been by the real woman. It was little wonder that she had legions of fans, little wonder that she hadn’t been able to turn her back on all of that for the life he could have offered her.

Not that he’d given her a chance to say no, he admitted grudgingly. Because he’d known what the answer would be. No way could what he was offering stack up to the millions she was making in Hollywood or the adoration of thousands of fans. He had a hard time admitting it was pride that had made him leave town without confronting her, but that was the truth of the matter. The pitiful fact was that he would have forgiven her betrayal in a heartbeat if he’d thought for one single second that they stood even a small chance of making it.

When the phone in his cheap motel room rang, he stared at it. “What the hell?” No one knew where he was. No one who mattered, anyway. With the kind of pickup work he was doing these days, he answered to no one. Nobody kept track of his whereabouts.

His mental dismissal didn’t seem to stop the ringing. It went on and on until he finally yanked up the receiver just to stop the noise.

“Yeah, what?”

“Gracious as ever, I see,” Grady Blackhawk said.

Wade was stunned. He’d deliberately not gotten in touch with Grady because he’d feared the other man
would reveal his location to Lauren. Stubborn as she was, she might come after him out of some sense of obligation, and he knew that he didn’t have the strength to resist her if she did. Maybe in a few months he would, but not yet.

“What the hell do you want?” he asked curtly.

“I want you to come back.”

“Not an option,” Wade said.

“Lauren’s gone.”

“So what?” he asked, though for some reason his heart ached at the news. She had gone back to Hollywood, after all, just as he’d predicted.

It didn’t surprise him. That sudden trip she’d taken to Los Angeles had clearly been the handwriting on the wall. The lark was over. Once she was back in the spotlight, evidently she’d decided it suited her better than a ranch in Wyoming.

“Thought it might make it easier for you to say yes, if you knew that,” Grady said, as if he’d been dangling a tasty carrot in front of Midnight.

“It doesn’t matter,” Wade lied.

“Can’t face the memories?” Grady inquired, hitting the nail on the head. “Maybe that should tell you something.”

“All it tells me is that I made the worst mistake of my life when I thought I’d be enough for her. In fact, she’s probably enjoying herself back in Hollywood now, laughing over her brief romance with a small-town cowboy. It’ll make a great anecdote for her next TV interview.”

He’d caught one of those interviews on the night he’d first left town. She’d looked so gorgeous, so composed and glamorous, he’d simply stared at the screen, fascinated and sick at heart.

“Lauren would never demean what the two of you shared that way,” Grady chided. “And if you weren’t being an idiot, you’d know that. She loved you.”

“Let’s not even go there,” Wade warned. “If I’m even going to consider what you’re asking, we have to agree that the topic of Lauren is off limits.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Grady retorted. “Just don’t let your damn stubbornness and pride keep you from doing what you know you want to do. I’ve got a job with your name on it. Come back, Wade.”

Then the sneaky, conniving, son of a bitch added, “The baby’s due soon. We really need all the extra help around here we can get.”

Wade felt the knot in his stomach ease. He’d been looking forward to the baby’s arrival almost as much as Grady and his grandfather, Thomas Blackhawk, had. The news had been a turning point for Wade. It had kicked off the start of his own dreams for the future.

“Your grandfather must be over the moon by now. Is he driving you crazy?” he asked.

“He’s been hovering the last couple of weeks. He thinks the whole thing was all his idea. I might have to fight him to get to be in the delivery room,” Grady confirmed. “So, anyway, you can see that Karen’s going to be out of commission for a while. Help me out.”

Grady was right, Wade thought. Why shouldn’t he go back if Lauren wasn’t there? She probably wouldn’t show her face until the next class reunion in another eight or nine years, and by then surely his heart would be completely healed. Working for Grady had been the best setup he’d ever had even before Lauren had set foot on the ranch. Why should he sacrifice that just because the fool woman had broken his heart?

“Will Karen be able to keep her nose out of this? I don’t want her pestering me about Lauren.”

“She won’t say a word,” Grady promised.

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Wade uttered a little sigh of resignation. “I’ll be there as soon as I can get there.” He paused, suddenly thoughtful. “How did you find me, anyway?”

“Does it matter?” Grady asked, sounding evasive. “All that counts is the fact that you’re coming back where you belong.”

Yeah, maybe. But it remained to be seen if he could bear being there without Lauren.

Wade had been back for two weeks now, and aside from enduring speculative looks from both Grady and Karen, it hadn’t been so bad. Images of Lauren only popped into his head every hour or so.

He’d been stunned to discover that Grady had sold Midnight and their other horses, but he’d explained that the new owner had made him an offer too good to turn down. And without Wade or Lauren there to train the still-fractious stallion, Grady had seen no point in holding out. He’d handed Wade a sizable check for his share and assured him they could start looking for a new stallion and some broodmares whenever Wade was ready.

“It could be a while,” Wade told him. He just didn’t have the heart for it right now. That dream and marrying Lauren had gotten all twisted up together in his head. It was too soon to consider following through with one without having the other.

Grady frowned at the response. “Why wait? At least take a ride over to the Grigsby place this morning,” he suggested over breakfast. “There’s a horse over
there I’d like you to take a look at. He sounds too good to pass up.”

“What’s the rush?” Wade asked, regarding him with puzzlement. “You obviously weren’t that anxious to have a horse operation, or you wouldn’t have sold off our stock. You know perfectly well you could have found another wrangler to replace me.”

“Didn’t see much point to keeping it without you around to manage things. I’ve got enough irons in the fire,” Grady insisted. “Now that you’re back, things are different. Besides, from what I hear, they won’t have that horse long. Somebody’s going to come along and snap it up. You’ll be kicking yourself if it’s not you.”

“I don’t see why you’re pushing so hard, but I’ll drive over later and check him out,” Wade promised, then glanced curiously at Karen. It had almost sounded as if she’d uttered a sigh of relief. Or maybe it had just been a plain old sigh. She was pretty far along in the pregnancy now, and all her movements seemed to be a struggle. That must have been it, he concluded, then turned back to Grady.

“I thought that ranch was up for sale back when we bought that stock. Did Otis or that son of his decide against it?”

“No, it sold,” Grady told him. “The new owner’s starting up a horse ranch. There’s some fine stock over there already. Now that you’ve got that check in hand, I thought you ought to go over and take a look, just see what’s available.”

“Okay, okay, I said I would.” Caving in to the pressure, Wade grabbed his hat and headed for the door, then glanced back at Karen, who was watching him
intently. “You’re not going to deliver that baby today, are you?”

She looked startled by the question. “No, why?”

“You seem a little jumpy, and I heard that sigh a bit ago. If you were having pains or anything, you’d tell Grady, right?”

“Of course I would,” she insisted.

“She’d better,” Grady said, his expression dire.

“Okay then,” Wade said. “I’ll head on over to the Grigsby place. Do you know the new owner’s name?”

“No,” they chorused so emphatically that it stirred his suspicions at once.

“Haven’t met ’em yet,” Karen said, then patted her swollen belly. “I haven’t been getting out and about the last few weeks. I’ll be anxious to hear all about them and what they’ve done with the place.”

Wade grinned at her. “Then I’ll be sure to take notes on the paint and the curtains. Anything else in particular you’d like to know?”

“Oh, just what you think of them,” she said.

He nodded. “I’ll report in the minute I get back,” he promised, chuckling over her blatant curiosity. Nosy as she was, he could imagine how frustrating it must be for her not to have been over to check things out for herself.

An hour later Wade pulled into the winding driveway of the newly named L&W Ranch. He could see a few of the improvements right off. New fences had gone up. The pasture was greener. And there were indeed some fine-looking horses.

The house itself had been painted, yellow with white shutters and white trim on the porch. A couple of comfortable-looking rockers sat side by side with a good
view of the pastures. Whoever had bought the place had put some money into it, no doubt about it. It would be a fine place for a family. A part of him regretted that he wouldn’t be the one living there. The potential he’d seen back a few months when he and Lauren had come for the horse auction had been fulfilled.

When he rounded the house, parked and stepped out of his truck, the first thing he noticed was that the horse in the corral was Midnight. There was no mistaking the sleek animal. Nor was there any mistake about the woman who was about to get into the saddle on his back. His heart leaped into his throat, quickly followed by panic. The latter overrode his dismay.

He was about to bolt in their direction, but Midnight stood perfectly still, clearly unfazed by his rider. Lauren leaned down to whisper in the horse’s ear. As if he understood her perfectly, he whinnied a response. Lauren laughed and caressed his neck. Just as he had months ago, Wade shuddered with envy at that touch. What kind of fool did that make him? He was still jealous of a horse, and all over a woman who’d betrayed him and no doubt hadn’t given him a second thought since.

Lauren glanced over at him then, her expression solemn. “Welcome home.”

He had the distinct impression that she was referring to more than his return to Winding River.

“Care to go for a ride?” she asked.

Wade didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to make of her presence here, of her attitude, of the sneaky way Grady had gotten him over here…of anything. This Lauren wasn’t the superstar he’d seen weeks ago in that tabloid or on the color TV in his motel room. This was the down-to-earth woman he
loved with everything in him. What was the use of trying to deny it? If the depth of that love hadn’t changed in all this time, it wasn’t going to.

But because he wasn’t going to risk his heart a second time, he settled for asking, “Why are you here?”

“I own the place. Well, I’m half owner of it, actually. The other owner’s been away.”

His gaze narrowed and his heart began its own little two-step. “Is that so?”

“I’m hoping he might be back to stay now,” she said, her gaze on his, her expression uncertain. “Is he?”

His hands bunched into fists. He jammed them into his pockets to keep from reaching for her. “What are you saying, Lauren?”

“That this ranch is half yours,” she said as casually as if she were announcing that she’d bought him a new CD by his favorite country singer.

“Why?”

“Because it seems to me a deed ought to be in the names of both the husband and the wife, so there’s no mistaking that it’s jointly owned.” She frowned. “You did see the gate, didn’t you? It’s the L&W Ranch now.”

As the absurd scope of the gesture sank in, he simply stared at her. “You bought me a ranch?” he repeated incredulously.

“I bought
us
a ranch,” she corrected, grinning. “What do you think?”

“If this is some sort of act, you’re very convincing.”

“I’ve been told that before, but maybe we ought to leave my acting skills out of this. That’s what got us into trouble before.” She dismounted and walked over
to him. “So, what do you say, cowboy? Will you marry me?”

“Hold it. I’m having a hard time putting this all together. You intend to stay right here?”

“Yep.”

“What about your career?”

“This is my career now. It’s the only one I want.”

She sounded very convincing, but he was still afraid to believe his good fortune, terrified to believe that she would choose him over her career. “You’ll be content to be a rancher’s wife?” he asked doubtfully.

“Absolutely,” she said without hesitation. “I’d already made that choice before you and I ever met. I wasn’t here on some lark back then, Wade. I’d come home. You made me certain I’d done the right thing.”

“But the excitement, the glamour, the money,” he said. “How can you turn your back on all of that?”

“It was a fluke,” she said. “I’ll tell you all about it if you want to know, but for now you just need to understand that I never wanted any of it. Oh, it was fun for a while and I got caught up in it, but
this
life is
real.
The people here are real.” Her gaze clashed with his. “And the man I love is here…and he’s real.”