The Rancher and the Event Planner

Chapter Sixteen



JC sat on the bench in Salvation Park and glanced around at the new landscaping. Flowers nodded their colorful heads in the hot breeze and sunlight sparkled on the branches of the trees and the water trickling in the fountain. She’d called Linc and asked him to bring Molly to the park to see her and tell her she was leaving.

“JC.”

She turned and watched Molly running toward her. She wore yellow shorts with a matching flowered top and white sandals on her feet. Her hair was in pig tails, a smile on her face and happiness in her eyes. And she was about to take her happiness away. But she had no choice. “Hi, sweetheart, how are you?”

Molly gave her a hug. JC squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back the threatening tears. “I’m fine. Uncle Linc said you wanted to see me.” JC looked at Linc who sat on a bench on the other side of the park to give them some privacy then back at Molly. “Yes, I have something to tell you.”

Molly beamed. “You’re moving to the ranch.”

JC shook her head. “No, sweet pea, I’m not moving to the ranch. I am moving though.”

Molly’s face fell and she frowned. “Where are you moving?”

JC attempted to make her voice sound cheerful. “Well, it’s kind of exciting actually. I’ve been offered a job in Dallas and I’ve decided to take it.” Her boss was opening up another location of Affairs to Remember and had asked her to take the helm.

“But you have a job working at the resort.”

“I know, sweetheart, but it’s best for me to take this one.”

Molly’s eyes filled with tears and her chin trembled. “Why? You don’t like it here?”

JC placed a hand on Molly’s upper arms. “No, I love it here. And I love you.”

“Then why?” Molly pleaded.

“Sometimes things happen and no matter how much a person loves someone or the place they’re living, they have to leave.”

“What things?”

JC pulled Molly into her arms for a hug. “Love, Molly. Love happens.” She pulled Molly from her arms and sat her on the bench beside her before taking a tissue from her purse and wiping away Molly’s tears. “Now, when I get to Dallas I’m planning to get a two bedroom apartment. And you know what that means?”

Molly shook her head.

“It means you can come to Dallas to visit me.”

A smile curved Molly’s mouth and a spark of happiness reappeared in her eyes. Relief washed through JC. “I can?”

“You bet. I’m counting on you coming to visit me as often as you can. I’ll even decorate the guest room extra special for you.”

“I love you, JC.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

JC walked Molly over to the bench where Linc was sitting. “Well, Molly and I have made plans for her to come and visit me as soon as I get settled.”

Linc grinned. “I’m glad to hear it. Call and let us know how you’re doing, okay?”

JC didn’t move until Linc and Molly’s car faded from sight.

* * *

Rafe worked on the payroll for several hours in the ranch office at the north end of the barn. He’d pored over time cards, configured days off, sick days, half days until his eyes were crossed. His shoulders were bunched with tension, his nerves were frayed to the breaking point and a headache pounded at his temples and he never got a headache.

Concentration had eluded him. Every time he clutched it in a firm grip, visions of Jennifer would float into his conscience. The little cow lick where she parted her hair, the way her mouth was slightly crooked when she smiled. Her soft, loving ways with Molly.

He curled the fingers of both hands into a hard fist on top of the desk then relaxed. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about Jennifer? He wondered how she was doing in Dallas, how her job was going, if she’d found a nice place to live, if she’d made new friends. If she was dating anyone and who the son-of-a-bitch was so he could beat the tar out of him.

It was for the best she had left Salvation because he wasn’t sure if he could stand seeing her around and not talking to her. So why did it bother him so much? Why did the idea of her living somewhere else gnaw at his guts? Why did it bother him that he wouldn’t be seeing her on a regular basis?

Because he knew why. He’d jumped off that cliff and banged against the rocks. She’d sucked him in. He’d been taken, whole and unprotected. His once broken, guilt-ridden heart had healed and Jennifer had healed it.

She checked in from time to time, but she spoke with Linc or Molly, not with him. Damn it, he wanted to hear her voice, her laughter, her sighs. He remembered the day she had come by the ranch to tell him goodbye.

He’d been finishing up repairs on one of the pasture fences when the sound of a car engine sliced through the afternoon quiet. He looked up to see Jennifer’s car barreling down the dirt road with a rooster tail of dust behind it. Inside he cowered and shook. Somehow he knew why she was coming. Despite the thick heat of the day, his skin turned cold and a hollow place like a steep arroyo opened up inside him. Would he ever fill it? She pulled her car to the side of the road, cut the engine and climbed out. He finished hammering in a nail, hitting it harder than necessary in his frustration, wishing she wasn’t here to say what he knew she was here to say. He didn’t want to hear goodbye, but he had to hear it. It was for her own good and for his.

Jennifer walked toward him, her loose hair blowing around her face. With the sun at her back, a nimbus of gold formed around her head. When she stepped close, he shaded his eyes and her face came into view. “Jennifer,” Rafe said as casual as possible. A horse stuck her head over the fence asking for a pet and she obliged her. He watched her fingers ruffling the horse’s mane. Why can’t she touch me like that? Because he wouldn’t let her.

“I came to say goodbye.”

Goodbye. The word echoed through his brain, his body, his heart. Damn it. Don’t leave he wanted to shout. Even if he asked her to stay and she stayed he knew in the end he would ruin everything. “What about the resort and your job?”

“I talked to Linc and he’s going to tell the city council that I’ve had another job offer.”

“Lucky you.”

She nodded. “Lucky me,” she said in a soft voice almost too quiet for him to hear.

“So you’re heading out, huh?”

“Yes, I wanted to get to Dallas a few days early to settle into my new apartment. My job starts next Monday.”

“You must be looking forward to it.”

Her eyes appeared overly bright. Could there be tears? “Yes, very. It’s a great job, with a higher salary, benefits…” Her voice trailed away.

Rafe dug another nail out of the pouch around his waist. “Guess you’ll be glad to get back to the city.”

She nodded. “A city does offer things smaller towns don’t—like tons of restaurants, theater, museums.”

Rafe hammered in another nail, as a mix of frustration and need formed a ball inside his gut. “True. We only have a half-a-dozen restaurants in town and one movie theater.”

“Never made it to the movies. Maybe next time. Salvation is a great town and I’m going to miss it.”

Then why are you leaving?

She gazed out over the ranch. “I’ll miss being here. When I look at the land, I see an abundance of life, but mostly love.”

And in a blink, love poured over him in a hard, hot wave, sucked him under, flipped him over, then flung him out into space. In the space of a second, the roller coaster ride of emotion yanked him back into his dizzy, elated and scared-out-of-his-mind world. He’d fallen in love with her.

She looked at him again, breathed in some air and sighed. “I’ll never forget the smell of the grass and that special something in the air.”

“Don’t tell me you like the mix of hay, manure and cattle?”

She laughed.

Just one simple thing, the sound of her laughter he would miss. He wanted to reach out, pull her into his arms and kiss her with everything inside him and beg her to stay. And he’d never begged for anything in his life. But he couldn’t. She was going and it was for the best. For him and for her.

“I will, believe it or not.” She shaded her eyes again. “Well, I’d better be going. I’ve already said good bye to Linc and Molly.” She started for her car then she stopped suddenly and faced him. “Give Molly a kiss for me, okay?”

“Will do.”

In a moment, she was headed for the highway. Rafe stood in the same spot with the hammer in one hand and a nail in the other. He watched her car until it climbed over a hill in the distance and disappeared. The horse nudged his arm and whickered.

“I know how you feel, girl. I know how you feel.”

* * *

The air conditioner clicked on bringing his mind back to the present. One of the vents clattered. Irritation prickled his spine and added to his headache. A fly kept buzzing his head and no matter how many times he swatted at the darn thing, it kept right on buzzing. The wind picked up and rattled one of the windows. The clock kept up a slow, tick, tick, tick and he found himself staring at it willing it to stop. The minutes seemed to stretch beyond sixty seconds, like taffy being pulled in the dead of winter.

The sound of the ranch hand’s voices echoed through the barn. Chatter and laughter mingled with the clang of feed buckets. Someone turned on the oat crimper setting up a steady racket that jangled his nerves. Suddenly, the noises and distractions he had been dealing with coalesced into a clashing stew. He threw down his pen, pushed his chair back, and shot up from the seat. He marched to the office door, flung it open and stomped onto the concrete alleyway. “What’s with the noise? I can’t even hear myself think. I’m trying to do the payroll,” he roared. “Do you guys want to get paid or what?”

The hands halted momentarily in their hustle to get the horses fed and stared at him.

“Yeah, boss, we want to get paid. What’s the big deal? We always make this much noise,” one of them said.

“Not today you don’t,” Rafe growled, marched back into the office and slammed the door. He balled his hands into fists and held them up in front of his eyes, wanting to scream his frustration when the office door opened. He spun to see Linc standing in the doorway, leaning against the door jamb, his propped on his hips. A cocky grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “Problem, little brother?”

Rafe frowned. “No. Everything’s fine. I’m just sick of the noise.” He set his mouth into a thin line and headed around the other side of the desk. Plopping hard into the chair, he pushed closer to the desk and picked up his pen.

Linc stepped into the office and closed the door at his back. “Could’ve fooled me. You have something stuck up your craw?”

“I don’t have anything stuck in my craw or anywhere else,” Rafe said in a grating, but clipped tone.

Linc moseyed around the desk, propped himself on the edge and crossed his feet at the ankles. He knew Linc stared at him but he refused to acknowledge his glare. Instead, he kept his focus on the payroll, despite the numbers blurring before his eyes.

“You know I’m headed for Dallas in a few days and I’m planning to get to know JC a bit better.”

Anger simmered inside Rafe’s veins.

“I’ll show her all the hot spots and maybe even some of the more private hot spots.”

Rafe’s blood jumped to a rolling boil.

“I told myself, Linc, here’s a gorgeous, sexy intelligent woman, all alone in a new city. Why not take her out? Rafe isn’t interested in her, although any addlepated fool could see she had fallen head over horse trough for him.” He nudged Rafe’s arm. “Who knows maybe she’ll become part of the family after all.”

Rafe’s fury spewed in a red, hot geyser. He leaped from the chair until he was nose to nose with Linc, his teeth clenched hard, his hands fisted, ready to pound his brother’s face to a pulp.

Linc grinned, his eyes dancing with glee. He rose from his position on the edge of the desk and doubled over in shrieks of laughter. With mirth still choking him, he walked to the door and opened it. The ranch hands were crowded outside the door. Linc looked at them and said, “I was right.” The hands exploded with applause and woops. “Thank God,” one of them said. “Now things can get back to normal around here.” They shuffled back to their duties talking and laughing.

Heat crawled Rafe’s face from the neck up. “What did you mean by that?”

Linc turned and shook his head. “You’re in love with JC. Go ahead. Admit it. I dare you.”

Rafe straightened his shoulders. He could never refuse a dare, especially from his older brother. “Okay, I admit it. So what?”

“So, if you had any sense, which you don’t, you’d jump on your horse and ride to Dallas, fall on your knees and beg her forgiveness for being a first class idiot, ask her to marry you and bring her back to Salvation where she belongs.”

After Linc left, Rafe sat at his desk with his heart hammering, his breath heaving and a sick feeling swirling through his stomach that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Any addlepated fool could see she had fallen head over horse trough for you.

Joy like a horse in full gallop, pounded through Rafe. Could she really be in love with him? Why hadn’t she said something? Why didn’t she tell him? Answers to his own questions swamped him and he held his head in his hands. He never gave her a chance to tell him, because he was too busy pushing her away.

The door to his office opened and he looked up. Molly walked in, her expression trouble free. “Hi, Daddy, I want to show you my picture.”

She climbed on his lap and laid it on top of the desk—a crayon drawing of the ranch house and barn. Stick figures stood in front of the house. “Who are all the people?” Rafe asked.

Molly pointed to each of the figures. “That’s you, Uncle Linc, me, JC, Dixie and Lucy.”

His heart suddenly leaped with happiness. He grinned at his wise daughter. A little girl of only six, but a whole lot smarter than her old man. “Why did you add Jennifer and Dixie?”

She looked up at him with her green eyes wide. “Because she loves me, Daddy and I love her too.”

Rafe stared at the picture. He was an addlepated fool. Jennifer fit not only in the picture as if she had always belonged there, but in his life as well. And in a sense, she had. He’d been so busy being a coward, being too stubborn to give himself another chance that he’d almost managed to lose her. He grabbed Molly in a bear hug. “I love Jennifer too, punkin. What do you say we head for Dallas and bring her home?”

Molly beamed, clapped her hands and said, “Yes!”

* * *

“I’m off to lunch. See you in an hour,” JC called to her new staff. She made her way out of the modern office space where her new job was located, and through the glass doors into the hallway. She’d rather be at the ranch, sharing her life with Rafe and Molly and enjoying a sunset.

A couple of people passed her in the hall and said hello. She’d made friends already since she arrived. A woman who lived in her apartment complex worked on the second floor of this office building. JC stepped on the elevator, pushed the button for the lobby floor and watched the floor numbers blink by. She’d gotten exactly what she wanted. Dallas was a great, livable city with everything to offer. She had a wonderful, spacious apartment, the biggest, nicest place she’d ever lived in, with a view. There was no reason to sink in gloom like a jilted bride.

She longed to see the tree-lined streets of Salvation, to share a chat with Grace at the Bluebonnet Café, to hear the latest gossip, but most of all to see, hear and touch Rafe, to hug Molly, to sit around the table at the ranch and share a meal. To experience a sense of belonging again. The whole town had welcomed her and made her a true part of the community. The bell on the elevator dinged, and she stepped into the marble and glass lobby. She shrugged. There was nothing she could do about it now. No, wait, there was.

Screw this.

She’d been gone for two weeks and in those fourteen days, Rafe hadn’t called her, not even once. She missed him terribly, but she was tired of moping around for a man who obviously didn’t return her affections. She stopped. Wait a minute. She’d never voiced them. You’re an idiot, JC Barrett. If she had to live without the man she loved, she at least wanted him to know how she felt. She wanted him to know she loved him.

She stepped through the lobby doors and out into the sunshine, with her shoulders back, her head up, pulled her cell phone from her purse and punched in his number. She’d drive to Salvation this weekend and tell him face to face she was in love with him. If he didn’t return her feelings, she could move on with her life without him in it. At least she’d try her damnedest. But she was determined to stay in touch with Molly.

“Hello.”

The sound of Rafe’s voice on the other end of her cell phone blazed through her like a fiery heat. Her pulse thudded in her ears and the rest of the world faded. “Rafe, I was wondering, would it be okay if I drove to Salvation this weekend? I need to talk to you.”

“No need, because I’m right in front of you.”

She looked up and halted in her tracks. Rafe, Molly and Linc stood next to the large fountain in front of the building and held a big poster. Tears sprang to her eyes, her pulse leapt happily in her veins and she tingled from head to toe. This could not be true. The poster was a crayon drawing of the ranch house and barn with Rafe, Linc, and Molly, but next to Rafe and Molly was a drawing of her in her cut off shorts and tank top, her hair in a ponytail and a white dog and pony standing by her side. With her heart in her throat, she wanted to say something but nothing would come out.

Rafe handed the poster to Linc and together he and Molly walked slowly toward her. Molly grinned from ear to ear and Rafe’s face held a loving, hopeful expression. Could it be? She held her breath until he and Molly stood in front of her. Molly let go of Rafe’s hand, and gripped JC around her legs then looked up and said, “I love you, JC. Will you be my mom?” She couldn’t believe her ears. She laid her hand on Molly’s head, the sun’s rays on her dark hair seeped into JC’s skin like the connection a real mother would feel touching her child. But in her mind, Molly was already hers.

Rafe stepped closer, raised a palm and stroked her cheek. “JC, I’ve been a complete idiot and I don’t deserve you. You were right, I was a coward. Please forgive me. I love you and I want you. You’re a McCord through and through and nothing has been the same since you left. Will you marry me?”

By this time JC’s heart had expanded in her chest until it pressed against her ribs threatening to burst. She stepped into Rafe’s arms. “I love you too. And yes, I’ll marry you,” she said in a voice choked with gleeful tears. Linc walked up and enfolded them in his arms, so they stood like a complete unit with JC at the center. She’d found her family, in a quaint Texas town, the home where she’d grown up, but searched for her whole life.