Saved by the Rancher

chapter Sixteen


JACK LEFT JENNA sleeping in his house and went down to the barn to work, lighter after seeing her soft smile this morning. She’d actually teased him. A good sign after she broke down during the night, and it did his heart good.

He returned for lunch to check on her. She slept through the afternoon, and after he showered and changed into clean clothes he went in to wake her. Wrapped in the sheet, she sat in the chair he’d slept in for two nights, looking out the window, her mind a million miles away. He crossed the room and sat at the end of the chaise, his forearms braced on his thighs, his hands clasped together between his knees, so he wouldn’t reach out and touch her the way he desperately wanted to.

“Where did you go?” he asked. He ignored her instinctive flinch away when he sat, and held on to the way she settled at the sound of his voice.

“This is a beautiful room. I like the soft green walls and the cream carpet and the colorful oil paintings of roses. The antiques are so pretty.”

“I’m glad you like it. You can stay as long as you want.” In my bed would be better. He’d settle for her in the same house, for now.

“I liked the cabin, too. Did you decorate everything yourself?”

“I took an extended leave from the military about eight years ago for the summer and spent it building the cabin. I needed the time to sort some things out. I like working with my hands. It’s a good way to relieve stress.”

“Why did you go back to the military?”

“Because that’s where I needed to be at the time. Caleb and I were part of the Rangers. We thought we were doing some good in the world.”

“Why did you finally leave?”

Not one to open up, her genuine interest and openness in her eyes made the words fly out of his mouth. “That kind of life takes a toll on a person. A little over four years ago, I decided I had enough. Caleb and I were buddies. My parents wanted to go out and see the world, so he and I came back and took over the family ranch.

“He took one look at Summer, sparks flew, and all of a sudden my best friend is marrying my baby sister. Kind of strange at first, but you could see how much they loved each other. I couldn’t help but be happy for them. Of course, I had to punch him when he said he was marrying my sister.”

“You didn’t punch him. Your best friend.”

“I did. Then we shared a couple of beers.” She laughed and smiled with him. His belly tightened. “She’s my sister. No one’s good enough for her. Caleb comes close though. They got married four months after they met and had Lily nine months later. Besides my parents, I’ve never seen two people so right for each other.”

“So what about you? How come there’s no lady of the house?” Jenna asked, curious. An open expression on her face and in her eyes made it easy for him to open up and answer. He wanted to see her smile again. He liked being the reason she smiled.

“I dated a few women when I came back. Turns out my wallet appeals to them more than I do.”

“I find that hard to believe,” she said shyly.

“Startling, isn’t it?” With a grin, he went on. “They find out about the land, the cattle, the horses, the diner, all of a sudden they think I’m an ATM. Their eyes light up with dollar signs.”

“So you’re rich, huh?”

“I do okay.” Yeah, he did better than okay, but he downplayed it, afraid to see those dollar signs light up her eyes. He didn’t want to feel that pang of disappointment, like all the other times. “Why, you need a loan?” he asked, half kidding.

She laughed, making his belly do that strange jump. “No,” she scoffed. “So, I guess you’re looking for something more meaningful than bank statements and charge cards.”

Read his mind. “Let’s just say I envy my baby sister, and that’s a first for me.” He liked her laugh. He liked it even more that when she said she didn’t need a loan, it actually sounded like she meant it. She didn’t want his money.

“Why the diner? Seems like the ranch would be a lot of work on its own.”

“Don’t laugh, but the only thing Caleb and I can cook up is trouble. There aren’t a lot of fast food places around, if you didn’t notice. This far out of town, delivery is non-existent. Anyway, the old, rundown diner in town barely scraped by on a few loyal customers. The owners were about to give up and board it up for good. I bought it, renovated the old dive, and Caleb and I could eat something better than chewy spaghetti and scrambled eggs. As good as we are at the BBQ, even that got old after a while. The town appreciated the new place. It does a good business. I don’t have to do much. Mary, the waitress, runs things well enough.”

“But now you have Beth?”

“Well, Caleb married my sister and I got tired of barging in on them and watching them kiss over the dining room table. Driving into town all the time got old, fast. So, I hired Beth. Now the house is always clean, and she’s a kick ass cook.”

He gave her a huge grin. “See why I’m such a catch. I’ve got money and a housekeeper who cooks. What wife wouldn’t like that?” Half kidding, he wanted her to know that for the first time in a long time, he was open to a relationship. Her smile encouraged him even more.

“You’re funny, Jack. Those things aren’t important to me.”

“What is important to you?” Serious now, he really wanted to know how to make her happy.

“Kindness. You’ve shown me a lot of kindness, Jack. You’ll never know what that means to me. I’ve been on my own a long time. This is probably the longest conversation I’ve had with someone over the last two years other than Ben. That’s a long time to be without kindness.”

She broke his heart when she talked like this. The simplest things were missing from her life.

“I’d never hurt you. Never.”

“I know that. Please don’t mistake my skittishness with thinking I’m afraid of you.”

For the first time since he entered her room, he reached out to touch her, resting his hand over hers on the back of the chaise. She jumped when his warm skin touched hers, but immediately relaxed.

“I don’t think you’re afraid of anything, or anyone.”

“I am scared of him and what he wants to do to me.”

“You face him with courage despite that fear, like a soldier facing a battle.”

Sensing her need to change the subject, he asked, “Tell me something about you?”

Giddy, nervous, expectant . . . this felt like a first date and he wanted to know about her. She wanted to know everything about him, greedy and anxious to learn everything. “Well, I’m twenty-six. How old are you, by the way?”

“Thirty-four.”

“You don’t look it,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. All the sun-streaked blond hair, those blue eyes, the tan skin from being outside all the time. Nice.”

The cocky grin spread over his face, brightened his eyes, made him look mischievous.

“God, you’re cute. You’re flirting with me. You must be feeling better.”

Ignoring his wide smile and teasing, she changed the subject completely and hoped the butterflies in her stomach settled. Though if he kept brushing his fingers over the back of her hand like that, she’d melt into a puddle.

“I run my own business. I’m a computer graphics artist, and I do a lot of programming. I have a website, and I take jobs through the Internet and email. Obviously, it would be difficult to have an office with the way I move around. I like it, and I work when I want.”

“You must do well for yourself.”

All for the truth, sometimes she found it best to skirt full disclosure. “I do it because I like it. I don’t have to interact with a lot of people. So long as I have a laptop, I can run the business. Ben takes care of all my legal and money matters.”

“How did you meet Ben?”

“I never have in the normal sense. I’ve never seen him in person.”

“What do you mean? I thought you guys are really good friends.”

“After the divorce, well, there began the first of many incidents. That was the first time I went into hiding. It isn’t an easy thing. You leave a trail of records wherever you go. I needed help, so I went on the Internet and did my research. I found Ben. He had all the qualifications I needed.”

“What qualifications were those? How to hide someone 101?”

“No.” She smiled, but it died when thoughts of her past intruded. “As a lawyer, he had to keep my situation confidential. He runs his own private firm. While he has other lawyers working for him who specialize in a great many things, he also has people who are investment specialists and CPAs. All of which I needed, and Ben oversees everything. The clincher, though, I found a bunch of human-interest stories about, ‘Small town boy makes good and gives back,’ about him. Did you know he provides free legal services to women staying at battered women’s shelters in San Francisco?”

“I didn’t know. But he told me once that his father abused his mother.”

“That’s right, you guys went to college together.”

“Yeah. We were dorm mates freshman year. I dropped out and went into the military. Ben went on to law school and look at him now.”

“You haven’t done so bad for yourself. After all, women are chasing after you and your bank account.”

He couldn’t help laughing. “Now you’re making fun of me.” He shrugged his massive shoulders and added, “Looking back, I guess it is kind of funny. I wasn’t interested in marrying any of them,” he admitted. Their eyes locked, time spun out, stalled in the quiet room. “So, what else?”

“Well, Ben never worked for my ex-husband, nor have they ever met.”

“Tell me who he is?”

“Not tonight,” she said wearily. “I don’t want to speak his name. Once you find out, well, let’s just say you’ll be astounded.”

“Will you tell me soon? I can help you.”

“I’m tired, and it’s too much to get into tonight.”

“For now, I’ll accept that. But we will have this conversation soon. I can’t protect you and my family if I don’t know who I’m up against.”

“I didn’t lie when I said this is one of the longest conversations I’ve had with someone. I haven’t let anyone into my life. I haven’t even spoken to my mother in two years. Not directly, anyway. I need some time.”

“Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not letting you go anywhere either. You know what I need—food. Let’s have dinner.”

Jack glanced at his watch, his fingers brushing against her skin as he turned his hand. “I can’t believe we’ve been talking for so long. It’s almost eight. I’ll go down and get dinner and bring it up. We’ll eat, we’ll talk, and after you can rest.”

“I’m starving,” she admitted.

“Back in a minute.”

Sally and Jack went down to the kitchen. Jenna managed to get herself to the bathroom and freshen up. About to sit in the chair again, Jack carried in a huge tray of food.

“Are you ever going to bring me my clothes from the cabin? I can’t wear a sheet the rest of my life, you know.”

“Now, what would possess me to bring you clothes?” His eyes roamed over her body with lazy satisfaction, and a flush rose from her breasts to her cheeks. “I like you in only a sheet. Besides, honey, I’ve seen you naked. Every beautiful inch of you. Two days of pure torture touching you, but not touching you.” He paused, his blue eyes smoldering, he swept his gaze from her face, down her body to her bare feet. Her breasts tingled, she squeezed her thighs to stop the jolt of heat. It didn’t work, and his eyes moved up her legs, stopped on her squirming hips, slid up to her peaked breasts. His eyes met hers, she felt singed by the heat in his. “I really want to touch you.” He gave her his now-familiar wicked grin, enjoying her discomfort and diffusing the intense moment.

She clamped on to the lightness in his smile, unable to push past her fear that, despite his kindness, she’d read something wrong in him. Ridiculous, a voice scolded. He’s harmless.

“Payback’s a bitch, Jack. I’ll get you for this. I want my clothes.”

“Later. Maybe.” He cocked up one side of his mouth in an adorable grin. “Eat.”

She tucked the sheet closer around her aching breasts and looked at the plates of food Jack had brought up. A huge bowl of soup for her with fresh bread and melted butter. Jack’s plate disappeared under a huge steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

“You’re a real meat and potatoes man, huh?”

“Beth cooks, I eat. She makes all kinds of things. Besides, I’m a rancher. Tonight happens to be steak. She made the soup especially for you. How’s your stomach, any queasiness?”

“Not really. The soup is excellent. Now, give me a bite of that steak.”

“Bossy. You must be feeling better.” He handed over a forkful of succulent steak.

She closed her eyes and savored. “That’s good.”

His eyes on her mouth, he stared, shook himself out of his lusty thoughts about her mouth on him and ordered, “Eat your soup. It’s good for you and easy on your stomach.”

“Now who’s bossy?”

They ate and talked about their lives. They’d been talking for three hours, and Jack couldn’t remember any other time when he’d sat talking to a woman. Well read, she could talk about anything. She even liked sports. They shared a lot of the same interests. Best of all, she was a good listener. She asked him question after question, interested in everything about him. He couldn’t learn enough about her either and time got away from them. The heavy darkness outside the windows and the quiet of the house surrounded them.

They sat inches apart, yet Jack never touched her. Relaxed with him, he didn’t want to push. He enjoyed just being that near to her and knew with every passing minute of shared conversation—and a few intense, heat-filled moments—he gained her trust little by little. He wanted more than anything to touch her, but she asked for time. He’d give her what she needed and gain what he wanted most. Her complete trust and understanding that he’d never hurt her, no matter what.

Her eyes drooped and she yawned several times, completely worn out. He helped her walk to the bed and settled her in.

“You’re getting your strength back. Maybe tomorrow I’ll take you for a walk outside, get some fresh air. It’ll be good to work your muscles again.”

“I can’t wait to see the ranch. I didn’t really see anything when we drove in. Too sleepy. Like now.”

Jack prepared another needle with the antibiotics.

“You’re not sticking me with that.”

“Come on. It’ll only hurt for a second, and I’ll get to look under that sheet again.”

“Jack, I’m not kidding. I don’t like shots. Enough already.”

“You need the medicine. Now gimme your cheek.”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

She let him give her the shot and stuck her tongue out when he finished. He loved how easily she made him laugh.

“Smart ass.”

“Sore ass is more like it.”

He chuckled again. Even in her condition, she showed her playful side. Quite something, she trusted him enough to joke, play, and show him glimpses beneath the guard she kept up and reinforced when it slipped and she forgot and caught herself.

Sally lay curled next to Jenna sound asleep. “Looks like you aren’t the only sleepy one. Lucky dog. Good night, honey.”

“I like it when you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Call me sweet names.”

“I was talking to the dog.” He gazed down at her, trying his damndest not to smile or laugh.

She cracked up. “Ha. Ha.”

He leaned down and planted a smacking kiss on her forehead. “Sleep tight, baby.”

“Night, Jack.”

He trailed his fingers all the way down her uninjured leg as he walked the length of the bed toward the door. He’d slept in his bed alone for too long now. Having Jenna this close and not tucked beside him sent him through his dark, lonely room and straight into a cold shower.