True Love at Silver Creek Ranch

Chapter Fifteen

Sunday afternoon, Brooke drove into Valentine and parked in the alley behind Sugar and Spice. She knocked on the back door, and Emily let her up the rear staircase to her second-floor apartment. Brooke walked down the little hallway, past the two bedrooms and the galley kitchen into the long room that was part dining room, part living room. Monica sat folding boxes from flattened cardboard into usable containers.

A huge picture window overlooked Main Street. Emily had several fake candles in the windows, little ceramic Christmas decorations on the tables, and a Christmas tree in the front corner. The decorations actually looked handmade, to Brooke’s bemusement.

Emily sighed. “Guess I should have waited on the tree. But I like to have one the weekend after Thanksgiving.”

“You and Nate can cut down another one at the ranch,” Brooke said, putting her arm briefly around Emily’s shoulders. “Leave this one here. I imagine you’ll be up here occasionally during the workday, right?”

“Of course,” Emily said, obviously relieved. “Smart thinking.” Then she sat down on the couch beside Monica and let her shoulders slump.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Brooke demanded, coming to sit in the chair across the coffee table from them.

Monica put down the packing tape. “Spill it, girlfriend.”

“Poor Steph,” Emily began.

Brooke thought of the girl driving that horse trailer from one ranch to another, across town. “She didn’t get in an accident, did she?”

“Oh, no, no—it’s actually her . . . friend, Tyler.”

“They looked pretty close Friday night,” Monica said. “Like more than friends.”

“I know,” Emily said grimly. “And that’s what makes it worse. My father said he caught Tyler joyriding on one of his ATVs at the Sweet Ranch. He ran into a rock hidden under the snow and bent an axle. His ‘friends’ abandoned him on other ATVs, also stolen, but later found undamaged. Dad was pretty upset. He couldn’t just let him go—there was damage done.”

“Of course he couldn’t,” Brooke soothed. “Tyler has to learn the consequences of his actions.”

“So Dad called the sheriff, and a deputy took Tyler away. I didn’t want Steph to hear this as a rumor, so I went to her privately and told her what had happened. She started to cry, and begged me not to tell our father she’d been seeing Tyler. She believes he can come around and that she can help him, but if Dad forbids it . . .”

Brooke groaned and ran a hand down her face. “Oh, this is my fault. When she first told me about Tyler, I suggested she invite him to the Chess Club. I practically threw them together.”

“You couldn’t have known, Brooke,” Monica said with sincerity.

“It’s not like they’ve done more than hang out a few times,” Emily insisted. “But . . . Steph likes him and wants to help. I understand her—hell, don’t women always want to help? But I was so relieved she confided in me that I promised my silence without thinking things through. I did insist that the moment I thought Tyler could hurt her, the secret was done. And she agreed and hugged me and thanked me and said Tyler was trying to get away from a bad group of guys, and she wouldn’t go anywhere with him, only see him at school—” It was her turn to groan. “I’m a sucker. Who knows if he’s lying to her? How can I keep something from my dad when we’re only just getting to know each other?”

Brooke leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “Tyler could be lying to her—we all know that.”

Monica looked from Emily to Brooke. “And we all know someone who really was trying to get away from a bad crowd, and who stole a car, before getting his act together.”

“But as long as Steph doesn’t go hang out with this bad crowd of Tyler’s,” Brooke continued, “I don’t think it’ll hurt your dad too much for you to keep Steph’s confidence. If she trusts you, she’ll tell you things, right? If she’s mad at both you and your dad, she might be worse off.”

“Do you think so?” Emily asked with hope.

Brooke tried to infuse reassurance in her smile. “She’s a smart kid. I think you can give her the benefit of the doubt. She wasn’t joyriding, after all.”

“You’re both making me feel better,” Emily said. “All right, I’ll cut Steph a little slack. But I’ll keep an even closer eye on her.”

“From Nate’s cabin?” Monica asked innocently.

“Maybe Steph and I can have a sleepover!” Emily said, as if she hadn’t heard.

Brooke and Monica exchanged an amused glance.

Brooke woke up to a foot of powder up on the hills Monday morning. She and Josh had a long-standing deal, alternating who got to go skiing and enjoy the occasional powder day in Aspen. They took turns covering for each other, and today it was her day to take off.

Josh and Adam had already loaded down the retriever with enough hay for the first couple pastures, and they’d be dropping mineral pellets as well, later on. She felt a little guilty—but not that guilty.

Carrying her skis over her shoulder, she ran into Adam in the yard.

“Aren’t you the ski bunny?” he said.

He gave a slow, thorough examination of her body with half-lidded eyes. She was wearing pink ski pants and a blue shell.

“Those pants nicely accent your ass. I’ll be thinking about it all day.”

She felt a rush of heated memory, and they kept staring at each other. It had been a few days . . . She found herself wishing she could invite him to go along, but besides the fact that he was working, she had their “no dating” rule to remember. And maybe he didn’t even know how to ski—after all, it wasn’t like his family had had the money. She imagined how it must have felt to know so many of your friends were doing what you couldn’t. And here she was, rubbing his nose in it again.

But Adam was smiling at her, that cleft in his jaw so masculine, his eyes alight. She knew if she got closer, she could see the gold flecks in their centers . . . but no, she wasn’t getting closer.

“Hey, you should have told me in the feed store that Josh’s belts were for sale there,” he said. “I would have liked seeing the display. He told me all about it.”

“He’s getting so popular. Have you been in Monica’s Flowers and Gifts? He’s got a whole display all to himself. He’s even considering an offer from an Aspen boutique.”

Adam gave a low whistle. “Impressive. No wonder your dad hired me. Sounds like Josh could hit the big time.”

“I hope so!” She glanced down at Ranger, sitting patiently at Adam’s feet. “Your constant companion nowadays?”

He lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, you have first dibs on my bed.”

And then they were looking at each other again, yards apart, but the air between them seemed to smolder.

“Come to me tonight,” he whispered.

Almost breathless, she whispered back, “I promised I’d go out with Monica.”

“No problem,” Adam said, rubbing his hands together. He looked over his shoulder and saw Josh heading for the retriever. “Gotta go. Have a fun day.”

Brooke sighed and turned away, only to see Nate coming out of the truck shed.

He glanced at Adam, then her. “Everything okay?”

“Of course.”

“Is he going skiing?” Nate asked.

“And desert his post? Incur your wrath?” The she lowered her voice. “You know, he probably didn’t ski growing up.”

He nodded, then arched a brow. “All concerned for him, are you?”

To her surprise, she felt more excited than nervous as she protected her secret rebellion. She’d never really had one before, an actual experience her family didn’t share and couldn’t express an opinion on. And she liked it. “Look, he’s a friend who’s going through some tough times.”

Nate nodded. “You’re right. Have fun today.”

She almost let out a sigh of relief.

It was a strange day for Adam. He hadn’t realized how much he looked forward to spending part of each day with Brooke. Even if they didn’t feed cattle together, they had lunch as a boisterous group with her family, and more and more, he’d begun to feel at ease, even with her protective brothers. Yeah, he was keeping a secret, but they were all adults, and it was none of their business what their sister did.

He liked the different sides of Brooke he saw, from a woman unafraid as a bull charged her, to one who spent time on the household pursuits that her mother enjoyed, to the woman who enjoyed dressing up in pretty, figure-hugging clothes for an evening. He even appreciated her bossy side.

At lunch, Adam found out that Lou Webster, the ranch’s part-timer, had come down with the flu. Nate asked Adam to take over being “on call” for the tourists, and sure enough, every time he got involved in a chore, the bell would ring. He wasn’t too nervous about handling the team on his own because he’d been practicing. The worst was the trip he took with a couple newlyweds, so wrapped up in each other they barely listened as he pointed out features of the landscape, an ice waterfall down a mountainside cliff, several deer bounding through a far pasture. Instead, thinking he couldn’t hear them, they murmured together about their dreams of the future, the children they would have, the home they wanted to save up for.

Adam had spent the last six months without any dreams. People usually had the next goal they wanted to achieve, and he’d gotten in the habit of never thinking beyond today. He’d thought he was too damaged for a family life, but he remembered Zach’s rocks, and how he’d made sure to send them home to the boy from his father. That was a family connection he’d help make even when he was at his bleakest. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

Back at the house, the dreamy young couple strolled hand in hand to their car, and there was another parked alongside it. A man was getting out, as if waiting for his return.

“Adam Desantis? Is that you?” He came forward, hand outstretched.

Adam met him halfway to shake, knowing he looked familiar. He wore a bulky parka and jeans. His brown hair receding a bit above his temples might have made him look older but for his freckled, cheerful face.

And then the name clicked. “Deer, good to see you.”

Howie Deering Junior reddened, then glanced behind him as if to cover it up. “Haven’t heard that nickname in years. My wife will laugh. I’m not quite as fast as I used to be.”

A short, chubby woman with a toddler by her side was taking a baby out of a car seat.

Adam suddenly felt old. “Two kids, Deer? Has that much time passed?”

“I started young, I know,” Howie said. “While you were off being a macho soldier, I settled into the family real-estate business. Tame stuff, I know you’d say.”

“Tame sounds good to me.”

“Give me a sec.” Howie hustled to his wife’s side and took the toddler’s hand, then said to his wife, “Tara, I’d like you to meet an old classmate of mine, Adam Desantis. He just got out of the Marines.”

Adam didn’t bother to offer his hand to shake—hers were burdened with a wide-eyed baby who looked unable to walk yet. Tara had freckles like her husband, but bright red curly hair that the toddler had obviously inherited. His hat was falling off of his head, and he soon tossed his mittens, too.

“Howie!” Tara scolded the little boy.

Adam glanced at the older Howie, who spread his hands wide and grinned.

“My mom would have killed me if I didn’t use the family name.”

When Howie III had his hat and mittens on again, Tara smiled at Adam. “Nice to meet you. I heard you call Howie ‘Deer.’ So you were on the football team with him?”

Adam nodded. “We were both on offense, though he was much faster.”

Howie glanced at Adam ruefully. “I bet it’s the other way around now.”

Tara blushed. “With the kids, it’s so hard to find time to exercise. We both work and feel guilty for taking any time for ourselves.”

“That’s why we brought them for a sleigh ride today,” Howie added. “A nice family outing.”

“Then let’s get started,” Adam said.

Adam actually enjoyed the ride. Howie and his wife appreciated all the little tidbits he told them about the ranch and the town. They, in turn, explained it in simpler language to their son. The baby was so good, never making a peep, just staring wide-eyed. The toddler was thrilled when several deer bounded across their path.

When they arrived back in the yard, and Tara was putting the kids back in the car as it warmed up, Howie came back to Adam.

“You doing anything tonight?” Howie asked.

“Nope,” he said, glad to feel interested again.

“There’s a pool tournament I’ve entered at Tony’s Tavern. Very informal, nothing big. You’ll see lots of people you know. You could stop by. It starts at seven.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you there.”

After a day of skiing, Brooke stopped at Monica’s, who insisted she come to the pool tournament at Tony’s and look for men. How could Brooke say she had her own already? So after Monica put long ringlets of curls in her hair, she donned her evening makeup and a tight little dress with high leather boots.

Brooke quickly realized what was going on as Monica innocently introduced her to LeVar Kirk, a friend of her brother, who was in the family plumbing business in Carbondale. He was a tall, lanky black guy with good arms he showed off in a polo shirt even though it was almost winter.

Before she could even comment on his name, he said, “Yeah, my dad was into Star Trek, and I’m not so upset about it anymore.”

At least he made her laugh although she wasn’t laughing when Monica disappeared, leaving her alone with LeVar. Soon he began to tack “babe” on to the end of everything he said to her, like it was his pet name for her after one hour together. She should probably leave, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, and the music was good, and heck, she knew almost everyone in the pool tournament.

Since he was betting on the pool game in the back room, she offered to get him a beer. She was waiting for her order when she saw Adam walk right past her, eyes on her ass as she leaned on the bar.

He did a double take of recognition, then his gaze flew to hers. They collided, and the vivid awareness was more than any man had ever made her feel.

“Don’t say it,” she said in a low voice.

He gave a slow grin, and in his eyes she could read, I recognized you by your ass.

He elbowed his way to stand beside her. “Hey, boss.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you were hibernating in your cabin for the winter.”

He shrugged. “Met up with Deer Deering today when he brought his little family for a sleigh ride. He invited me to watch him play. Am I late?”

“They just started. I’m getting a beer for a friend, then heading in.”

“A friend?” he echoed, cocking his head, that sly smile playing on his mouth.

“A friend of Monica’s brother,” she explained patiently. “I have been set up, and Monica seems to have disappeared. I don’t want to be rude,” she quickly added. “We’re just watching the tournament with everyone else.”

“Guess I’ll leave you to it, boss.” Wearing a devilish grin, he tipped his cowboy hat and moved back out through the crowd.

“Boss,” “babe,” she had lots of names tonight, she thought, giving a reluctant smile. She glanced over her shoulder, where she could just see Adam saunter into the pool room. Damn, he looked good from behind. The evening had just gotten more interesting—and more dangerous, she reminded herself.

As she carried two bottles of beer into the back room, LeVar came up to her with a grateful, “Thanks, babe,” before slurping down some beer.

“So how’s the tournament?” She had to raise her voice to be heard.

“Some guy named Howie Junior is up next.”

“I know him.” She looked around the bar. “In fact, I know most people here—except you. So tell me about your family business.”

She dipped her lukewarm fries in ketchup and listened, but her gaze kept roaming to Adam. He stood with Chris Sweet and Howie Junior—she couldn’t imagine calling him Deer. Adam was listening with only an occasional laid-back comment, as expressive Howie talked about something and used his hands the whole time. Once Adam had to pull his beer back, or Howie would have knocked it to the floor. They both laughed.

Something inside Brooke eased at this evidence that Adam was trying to meet people again. She didn’t want to watch him stay hunkered down in his cabin every night, letting whatever was bothering him fester.

But it was a little harder to watch the women begin to gather, like they were seagulls, and he was the only snack food on the beach. Amber was a couple years older than Nate, divorced with three kids of her own, but she haunted the bar looking for the next guy. Nicole was a year or two younger than them, and had been in the 4-H club with Brooke, relentlessly cute and cheerful, and knew just how much cleavage to show to hook a man’s interest. Then darkly exotic Shannon, way too young for him, arrived to the women’s admiration party, moving sultrily to the music, as if she’d lure Adam to dance.

“Hey, babe, who you looking at?” LeVar asked, craning his neck to follow her line of vision.

“A guy who works as a hand for us. He’s just out of the Marines, and the ladies are welcoming him tonight.”

She thought about what it would be like if Adam were her date. Maybe he would have taken her dancing, and she’d let him lead her anywhere he wanted to go.

But it was Shannon who was pulling him into a corner to dance, and Brooke lost track of him in the crowd. A good thing, because she was worried her lustful look might give her away.

“Wow, this guy plays an impressive game of pool,” LeVar said excitedly.

It was her turn to follow where he pointed, and she saw a slim man playing pool with a prosthetic arm. He’d had a special piece made for the end to rest his pool cue on.

“Scott Huang,” she said. “We go to the same church. I wonder how good he is at pool.”

“I’ll let you know.”

LeVar walked away from her to get a closer look, without asking if she wanted to go. She had no problem with that.

And then she saw Adam standing alone, watching the disabled vet play pool. His expression was so impassive, it was a little scary.

She approached him and nudged his arm. “Scott’s pretty good, isn’t he?”

Adam nodded and glanced at her while taking another sip of beer.

“He works for Outdoor Tours here in town. They do everything from take guests on rugged cross-country ski weekends, where you camp outdoors, to fly-fishing weekends in the summer, where guests are catered to like royalty. His specialty was rock climbing.”

Adam studied her. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You looked interested. It took him a while after the Army, but he found himself again. He’s an incredible skier, and he still leads mountain-biking expeditions. There’s lots of stuff he can do. You know that veteran’s housing project I mentioned? He’s the next recipient.”

“Hey, babe!” LeVar suddenly called as he worked his way back across the room.

“Babe?” Adam whispered, amusement laced through his voice again.

Without glancing at him, she murmured, “Maybe a little sexier than ‘boss.’ ”

“So I should use ‘boss’ at more intimate moments, is what you’re saying.”

“Shh!” But she wanted to laugh.

When LeVar arrived, she introduced them, and they shook hands. For the next ten awkward minutes, the discussion ranged from the pool tournament, to the plumbing and ranching businesses, to the Denver Broncos. Not the Marines, of course.

LeVar finally glanced over his shoulder toward the pool table. “Next game’s up. You want to go watch, babe?”

He started away, and as Brooke politely moved to follow him, Adam whispered, “I think he forgot your name.”

She bit her lip as another bubble of laughter threatened to erupt.

Two hours later, when a winner had been declared and her feet were killing her, Brooke politely declined LeVar’s offer to walk her to her car—and his cell-phone number. As she was donning her coat beside the front door, she saw a poster she hadn’t noticed before. In bold colors it said, “Come to the December 8 town council meeting. Stand up for freedom in America. Stand up for Freedom of Choice, of Business.” And in little letters at the bottom, “sponsored by the Valentine Valley Preservation Fund committee.”

Great. She was going to have to attend.

After Brooke had gone, Adam thought how hot she’d looked, her dress hugging every curve, but no hotter than she looked first thing in the morning going out to feed cattle.

Guess he found her hot no matter what.

He extricated himself from the tavern without a woman on his arm and started to drive home. He passed the house being renovated for Scott Huang. And I thought I came home with scars.

Brooke’s jeep was already in the yard when he arrived, but she didn’t come to him. He missed her, and knew it wasn’t just about the sex. He was feeling more for Brooke than she wanted him to feel, but he didn’t regret it.