Wearing the Rancher's Ring

“Why are we here together? Pretending we can start over?”

His hands urged her even closer, and Olivia suddenly hated the thickness of her coat. She wanted to shove away the puffy fabric separating their bodies and crush herself against him.

“Pretending?” he countered. “What makes you think we can’t start over?”

A tiny groan sounded in her throat before she glanced away. “Because I don’t think we ever really ended.”

His head moved from one side to the other in disbelief. “Livvy. Livvy.”

The shortened name was whispered with a longing that tore right through her heart, and before she could ponder or wonder about being safe or sorry, she rose up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

* * *

Wearing the Rancher’s Ring

Stella Bagwell

www.millsandboon.co.uk

STELLA BAGWELL has written more than seventy novels for Mills & Boon. She credits her loyal readers and hopes her stories have brightened their lives in some small way. A cowgirl through and through, she loves to watch old Westerns, and has recently learned how to rope a steer. Her days begin and end helping her husband care for a beloved herd of horses on their little ranch located on the south Texas coast. When she’s not ropin’ and ridin’, you’ll find her at her desk, creating her next tale of love. The couple has a son, who is a high school math teacher and athletic coach. Stella loves to hear from readers and invites them to contact her at [e-mail].

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To my sister-in-law, Dorothy Sutmiller, with much love.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Clancy Calhoun paused among the crowded tables of the Grubstake Café and stared at the woman sitting near the back of the crowded room. Could it possibly be her? From where he was standing, he could only see a small portion of her face. But the faint tilt of her head, the nearly black hair that glistened with fiery lights, the way her left hand was subtly punctuating each word, seemed all too familiar.

Why would she be here in Carson City, Nevada?

“Clancy, there’s an empty table at the back.”

The female voice had him glancing away from the woman in question and over to Jessi, a young waitress, who was using a paper menu to direct him to follow her through the throng of breakfast eaters.

When they reached the vacated table, Jessi wiped it clean while Clancy tried to snatch a better view of the woman with the dark hair. Her table was now only a few steps away, but with her back still toward Clancy it was impossible for him to get a clear view.

“Are you eating breakfast this morning, Clancy, or just drinking coffee?” Jessi asked. “Huevos rancheros are the special today and Juanita is cooking, so I promise they’re delicious.”

“That’ll be fine, Jessi. And put some green sauce on them, will you? It’s only the first of September. We have some whacky weather going on. It’s not supposed to be this damned cold outside this morning, so I need something to warm me up.”

“I’ll have the cook put on an extra helping of chili,” the waitress assured him.

Jessi hurried away and Clancy started to take his seat when, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the mystery woman turning her head in his direction.

Dear God, it was her!

Olivia Parsons. She’d dwelt in his heart and mind for the past ten years and though he’d tried to drive her out, she’d remained stuck there, like a painful splinter, gouging him each time he tried to take a step away from her memory.

Recognition flashed across her face and she stared for only a moment before turning back to the man who was sharing her table.

Still on his feet, Clancy gripped the back of the chair, while he tried to decide whether to cross the small space to greet her. But he was suddenly relieved of making that decision when she said something to her breakfast partner, then quickly rose to her feet. As she maneuvered herself through the tables to reach him, Clancy felt his heart pumping like a jackhammer.

He’d often wondered how it would feel to see her again and what he might possibly say to her. But now that it was actually happening, he was practically paralyzed, his mind nothing more than a whirl of memories. Even though it had been years since he’d last laid eyes on her, she looked almost the same, except that her features were more mature, her curves more womanly.

“Hello, Clancy. It is you, isn’t it?” she asked.

Her voice was still rich and melodic and the sound shimmered through him like a welcome sun ray.

“Yes, it’s me.” He reached for her hand and she didn’t hesitate to curl her fingers firmly around his. “Hello, Olivia. This is quite a surprise to see you here.”

Surprise? Hell, he thought, it was more like a violent earthquake.

A faint smile crossed her face and it dawned on Clancy that he couldn’t decide what his gaze wanted to concentrate on the most. Her dark hair and tanned skin were a rich, vibrant color, her eyes like a shimmering gray sea. He’d forgotten just how pretty, how downright sexy she’d been, but now that she was standing so close, everything about her was rushing back to him, jolting him with erotic memories.

“I moved here to Carson City a couple of weeks ago,” she explained. “A job transfer.”

His mind whirling with questions, he forced himself to release his hold on her hand. “Job? Here in Carson City?”

“For the Bureau of Land Management. Rangeland—you might remember. I work the Sierra Front field out of the district office here in Carson City.”

She gave him another smile, the polite sort of expression that was a display of manners rather than genuine pleasure. Clancy could only wonder what she was really feeling about seeing him again.

“Yes. I remember your classes revolved around land management,” he said stiffly. They’d met in college while he’d been working to finish his degree in ranch management and she’d been working toward a degree in land management. Apparently, at some point after she’d left him, she’d gone back to college and acquired the degree she’d needed to go to work for the BLM.

“So how have you been?” she asked.

He started to answer but was interrupted as Jessi suddenly showed up with his coffee. As the waitress placed the cup and saucer onto the square wooden table, Clancy gestured to one of the chairs. “I was just about to sit. Would you like to join me?”

She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the big man she’d been dining with. “Well, for a couple of minutes. Wes is nearly finished with his breakfast.”

Clancy quickly helped her into a chair, then settled in the one kitty-corner to her left.

“Would you like more coffee?” the waitress asked her.

Olivia quickly waved off her offer. “No thanks, I’m all done.”

Jessi shot a speculative glance at Clancy, then moved away to wait on a table full of hungry construction workers.

Trying not to stare at Olivia, he reached for his coffee cup and took a long swig. His mind must have short-circuited, he thought. He shouldn’t have asked her to join him. Anything he could possibly say to her would only rake up things that were best left in the past. Even so, a ton of questions were already forming on his tongue, begging to be released.

“So you don’t live in Idaho anymore,” he stated the obvious. “What about your mother?”

Dark shadows flickered in her gray eyes before her gaze fell to the tabletop. “She fought a long hard battle, but she passed on about eight years ago.”

Arlene Parsons had been the main reason Olivia had left him and her studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Once she’d learned her mother had been diagnosed with cancer and needed her care, she’d quickly gone back home to Idaho. Clancy had wanted to wait for Olivia until the issue with her mother was resolved. He’d desperately wanted to keep their romance alive, in spite of the distance between them. But she wouldn’t listen to any of his suggestions. She’d cut her ties and told him it would be best for him to forget her and get on with his life. Now, ten years later, he was still trying to do just that.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I lost my mother, too, about seven years ago. It’s rough.”

Her gaze lifted back to his face and Clancy could see that the news of his mother’s demise had taken her aback somewhat.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Did she go through a long illness, too?”

“No. She suffered a fall. An accident at home.” He tried to smile, but painful memories kept getting in the way. “So what do you think about Carson City?”

“It’s very different from Twin Falls. But I’ll get used to it. Anyway, I’m happy to go wherever my job sends me.”

So the BLM moved her around from time to time, he thought. The idea sent his gaze on a search of her left hand. No ring. But that hardly meant she was unattached. Could be the big guy she’d been having breakfast with was her husband.

And why would you care one way or the other? The woman turned her back on you. She’d found it easy to move on and forget the precious time the two of you had spent together.

Trying to ignore the bitter voice in his head, he asked, “What does your family think about the move?”

Her pink lips pressed together. “I don’t have a family.”

Clancy had never expected to hear that from her. All these years he’d imagined her with a husband and children. “Oh. I figured you probably had a husband and kids by now.”

Something stark and resentful appeared in the depths of her eyes.

“I’ve already tried marriage. It didn’t work.” She suddenly smiled, but the display was just as phony as the one she’d given him moments earlier. “I’ve not been near your family ranch yet, but I’ll be in that area with a field supervisor soon. Do you Calhouns lease any government land? Or do you own it all?”

“We lease a few thousand acres of government land. If you do happen to go over ours, I think you’ll find that we’ve taken extremely good care of it.”

“I’m sure we will.”

The man she’d been sitting with earlier suddenly walked up and stood next to Olivia’s chair. She immediately rose to her feet to join him.

“Wes, do you know Clancy Calhoun?” she asked him.

The man, who appeared to be around Clancy’s age, regarded him closely. “Calhoun? Are you one of the Silver Horn Calhouns?”

Clancy nodded. “Yes. That’s my family’s ranch. I’m the manager.”

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet one of you. I hear a lot of good things about your cattle and horses. I’m Wes Wagoner, I work with Olivia for the BLM,” he explained with a friendly smile. “Since she’s new around town, I’m trying to show her the best places to eat.”

Immediately rising to his feet, Clancy reached to shake the man’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Wes. And you didn’t steer her wrong by coming here to the Grubstake. The food is always good.”

As if on cue, Jessi arrived with a platter filled with enough huevo rancheros and hash browns to feed a crew of men. While the young waitress refilled Clancy’s cup, the other man gestured to his food.

“Don’t let your breakfast get cold,” Wes told him. “We’ve got to be going anyway.”

“Yes. Work is waiting,” Olivia chimed in. “It was nice seeing you again, Clancy.”

Feeling as if the air had suddenly been knocked out of him, he said, “Yeah. You two take care.”

They moved on and Clancy sank into his seat. But instead of picking up his fork and digging into the scrumptious breakfast, he sat there, stupefied and wondering why this morning, of all mornings, he’d had to be here at the Grubstake.

Normally Clancy had breakfast with the rest of his family on the Silver Horn. By now he would’ve already been snug in his office, drinking a second or third cup of coffee and listening to the morning farm and market report. But this morning, he’d agreed to meet a fence contractor here at the Grubstake to talk over a project to rebuild some of the ranch’s cross fences. Never in his wildest imaginings would he have figured on running into Olivia in this busy café. And to learn she was living and working right here in the Carson City area had thrown him for a complete loop.

Did that mean he might see her again? Dear God, he hoped not. He couldn’t go through another five minutes like that. His insides were still trembling and his stomach was clenched into a tight fist. And yet the idea of never seeing her again made him just as sick. Either way, he was equally damned, he thought.

“Is something wrong with the food, Clancy? If it doesn’t taste good, I’ll have Juanita do it over.”

He looked up to see that Jessi had returned to his table and he tried to gather his senses as she tilted a glass coffee carafe over his cup and filled it almost to the brim.

“Nothing is wrong with the food,” he assured her. “It’ll be fine.”

“I’ve seen the big guy in here before,” Jessi commented. “I think his name is Wes. But I don’t remember seeing the woman. Mighty pretty. I noticed she came over and said hello.”

“And I’ve noticed you noticing,” he told the waitress.

She scowled at him. “Well, what’s wrong with that? When I see something out of the ordinary I take a second glance. And it isn’t like you to have a lady at your table.”

“She’s just an old acquaintance, Jessi. Nothing more.”

“Oh. Well, I almost made the mistake of thinking you were human,” she said with a shake of her head.

He shot her a tired look.

Laughing, she touched his shoulder. “Okay, okay. I’ll let up on you. Besides, that darned Ben Harper is motioning for me. Why can’t I have just one morning where I don’t have to see that silly grin of his?”

“Don’t complain, Jessi. He’s clearly human.”

With a good-natured groan, the waitress left and Clancy tried to concentrate on his meal. But instead of seeing the sauce-covered eggs on his plate, he was seeing Olivia’s pretty face.

I’ve already tried marriage. It didn’t work.

Her revelation shouldn’t have surprised him. After all, years had passed since she’d left him during his final year of college. A lot could happen to a person in that length of time. But hearing her say that she’d been married had been like an axe to his back. During their time together, he’d asked her to marry him and she’d accepted. He’d put a diamond on her finger and they’d started to make all sorts of plans for their future together. Then she’d learned about her mother’s illness and suddenly everything that Clancy had hoped and dreamed for was over and finished. She’d gone back to Idaho and clearly forgotten he’d ever meant anything to her.

And that’s what he needed to do now, Clancy thought. Once and for all, he had to forget Olivia Parsons.

* * *

Clancy Calhoun. From the moment Olivia had learned she was being transferred to Carson City, the idea of running into him again had hung like an ominous cloud over her head. She’d tried to convince herself that the probability of it happening was slim to none. But deep down she’d known it was inevitable that someday, somewhere, she’d meet up with him.

From the moment she’d stepped foot in this town more than two weeks ago, she’d found herself looking at faces, searching for a tawny head of hair and a pair of long, strong legs. Yet this morning, of all mornings, she’d not searched the Grubstake Café. Instead, she’d heard a voice behind her. A voice so familiar that her heart had practically stopped.

Oh, Lord, just thinking about the way he’d looked was still making her insides shake. Ten long years had honed his lean features and long body into one rough, tough specimen of a man. Thick, tawny hair had curled around the back of his collar, while beneath the brim of his gray cowboy hat his green eyes had traveled over her with a raw sensuality that had practically taken her breath away.

She’d not dared to ask him if he was married, but a glance at his left hand had shown no evidence of a wedding band. Did that mean he didn’t have a wife now? Had he ever had one?

Damn it, that fact was none of her business, Olivia thought crossly. She’d given up her chance to become Clancy’s wife long ago. Her time with him had been over and done with for ten long years. There wasn’t a glimmer of a chance that a fire could be rekindled from those dead ashes. And she didn’t want to try to start one. Her job was enough to keep her happy.

Through the open door of the office she shared with Wes, she could hear her coworker talking in the outer room with Beatrice, the secretary who kept things in order for Olivia and Wes.

“I got to meet ranching royalty this morning, Bea. And it just so happens that Olivia already knew the man.”

“Oh. Who was that?” Beatrice asked, her voice clearly indicating that she was preoccupied with something on her desk.

“Clancy Calhoun. You know—the Silver Horn ranch. Seems this guy is the manager.”

“A Calhoun! Olivia is acquainted with the Calhoun family? I don’t believe it! She’s only been in town a couple of weeks.”

Olivia cringed as she heard Beatrice’s chair squeak and then the woman’s heels tapping across the tile until they reached the open doorway.

“Olivia, is Wes telling me the truth? You actually know the Calhouns?”

Stifling a groan, Olivia swiveled her chair toward the young secretary. Beatrice wasn’t exactly a gossiper, but Olivia would rather talk about anything besides Clancy.

“Clancy and I were in a few college classes together down at UNLV. That’s all. I hadn’t seen him in years.” She wasn’t about to tell the secretary or Wes that she’d once worn Clancy’s engagement ring. The two would never quit hounding her with questions.

Resting her shoulder against the door frame, the perky blonde smiled impishly. “Hmm. I’ll bet he thought you looked pretty hot.”

“I seriously doubt it.” Even though she was trying to sound bored, she could feel a tinge of heat on her cheeks. “The years have changed both of us.”

“Well, from what I hear only one of the Calhoun boys is married now. Rafe, the foreman. That means Clancy is still eligible.”

Beatrice was only having a bit of fun. The other woman had no idea that Olivia had once loved Clancy very deeply. Leaving him had nearly torn her heart out. And this morning, when she’d spotted him in the busy café, the loss had whammed her so hard she’d hardly been able to think.

“Thanks for the information, Bea. But I’m not interested in finding a husband. I’ve had one of those before. And I sure as heck don’t want another one.”

The pretty secretary shook her head in a disapproving way. “You sound like you’ve been eating green persimmons.”

Olivia tried to laugh, but she wasn’t quite in the mood to make it sound believable. “Wrong. I’ve been eating brain food—you know, like blueberries, salmon and nuts. That’s how I know to avoid men.”

Beatrice laughed, while Wes suddenly appeared in the doorway behind the secretary’s shoulder. “Hey. I don’t think I like the sound of working with a man hater. In case you can’t tell, I happen to be a man.”

Olivia waved a dismissive hand at him. “You’re different. You’re like a pestering brother.” Which was true, she thought. From the moment she’d met her coworker, the two had bonded like brother and sister, which made working together very easy for the both of them.

He said, “Well, little sister, put that paperwork away and grab your backpack. We’ve got to do some work in the field.”

And it couldn’t have come at a better time, she thought. She needed something—anything—to get her mind off of the only man she’d ever really loved.

* * *

That same evening at the Silver Horn ranch, Clancy splashed a measurable amount of brandy into his coffee cup, then carried it across the family room. Sinking down on a long couch, he noticed his brother Rafe studying him over the edge of the latest issue of the Reno Gazette.

“What’s the matter?” Clancy asked him. “You’re looking at me like I’ve got the measles or something.”

Rafe inclined his head toward Clancy’s coffee cup. “The brandy.”

Leaning back against the cushions, he crossed his boots out in front of him. “I’m cold. That’s all. I’ve been cold all day.”

His younger brother rolled his eyes. “Hell, the weather today was pleasant. What are you going to do when it really gets cold? Hang around the fire and wait for spring to come?”

Clancy took a long bracing swig of the laced coffee. He’d always envied the fact that Rafe’s days were never confined to four walls, a phone or computer. As foreman of the Silver Horn, Rafe spent most of his time in the saddle, roaming the endless ranges of Horn land, tending the thousands of cattle that bore the C/C brand. He truly lived the cowboy life. And now there was even more reason for Clancy to wish his life could be more like his brother’s. Rafe had a wife, Lilly, and baby daughter, Colleen, to fill his days with love.

“Spring is months away,” Clancy said. “I’ll just drag out a heavier coat.”

Rafe lay the paper aside and turned his full attention to Clancy. “Did you and the fence contractor come to some sort of deal today?”

“We did. He’ll be starting next week. I told him the area down by Antelope Creek needed first attention.”

“Good. That stretch of fence is definitely in the worst shape. Are my men supposed to help with the fencing or does he have a big enough crew to handle the job?”

“Leave it up to his crew. We’re paying him plenty enough. That will give your men a chance to rebuild some of the corrals down at the ranch yard before you get too busy with the winter feeding.”

Rafe smirked. “They’re sure as heck not going to like doing carpentry work. But it’s got to be done.”

“They can’t play on horseback every day,” Clancy muttered, downing more coffee as he turned his gaze to the wide wall of glass that looked over the backyard of the ranch house. During the daylight hours, the view would stretch for miles beyond the yard to where the distant mountains created a ridge between the ranch and the state of California.

“You have something on your mind, Clancy?”

He glanced at his brother. “Why do you ask that?”

Rafe shrugged. “I’m not sure. You just seem different tonight.”

Clancy released a heavy breath. There wasn’t any point in keeping it a secret, he thought. Sooner or later his family would hear about Olivia being in Carson City anyway.

“I saw Olivia this morning.”

Scooting to the edge of the couch, Rafe stared at him. “You mean the Olivia—as in your ex? You saw her in person?”