Home On The Ranch

Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention. Ella Garcia hurried up the front steps of his grandparents’ house. Now that he had a plan for clearing out the house and surrounding buildings, it was as if a layer of distraction that had been blinding him to her physical appearance had been peeled away.

Damn if he didn’t feel his blood rush a little bit faster in his veins as he watched her fit legs carry her up the steps and toward the front door. As if they had a mind of their own, his eyes made a quick perusal up her legs and over her backside, all the way up to where she’d pulled her dark, curly hair into a pseudo ponytail on the back of her head. And his very male eyes liked what they saw, sending a message south to react accordingly.

Austin cursed under his breath. He already had about a dozen helpings too much on his plate. The last thing he needed was to be attracted to Ella. In a few days, his time in Blue Falls would be up and he’d be back in Dallas, where he wouldn’t feel as if the world was caving in on him.

Needing to fill his mind with anything other than Ella Garcia’s curves, he retraced his steps to the barn. While he didn’t want to walk inside, he needed a ladder if he was going to start work on the gutters. At least the barn wasn’t as bad as the house, he told himself as he stepped into the dim interior.

Luck was finally on his side when he spotted a ladder hanging on the wall about halfway down the alleyway. He started in that direction but paused when he reached Duke, his grandfather’s sorrel stock horse.

“Hey, fella,” he said as he scratched between Duke’s ears. He smiled when he thought about how the horse had gotten his name, after John Wayne.

Austin’s grandfather must have seen each of Wayne’s movies at least a hundred times. The old VCR tapes were likely buried under fifty pounds of other stuff inside the house. Despite the happy memory of watching those movies with his grandfather, he didn’t want the tapes. But he did sometimes find himself flipping channels at home or on a business trip and stopping to watch The Searchers or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

His heart squeezed at the fact that he’d never again be able to talk to his grandfather, the man who’d been so much more than a grandparent to him. Dale Bryant had been the only father he’d ever known.

As if Duke could read Austin’s thoughts, he lifted his head and bumped it against Austin’s hand.

“You miss him, too, don’t you?”

Duke let out a sad-sounding snort as if to give an affirmative answer.

Austin rubbed his hand along Duke’s neck. “We’ll go out for a ride tomorrow, boy.” He let his hand drop away and made his way down the narrow path between wooden crates and old ranch equipment to reach the ladder.

But when he reached it, the crumbling wooden rungs made it obvious that he wasn’t going to be using it to clean and fix the gutters. “Damn it.”

“Something wrong?”

He spun toward the entrance to see Ella’s petite form backlit by the strong sunlight outside.

“Useless ladder.” He pointed toward where it hung on an old metal hook.

“I have one you can borrow. No need to get another if you’re not keeping the place.”

His instinct was to decline. Though when he stopped to think about it, that didn’t make sense. What did make sense was not buying a ladder that he’d be using for only a few days, one that he couldn’t transport in his car anyway.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“No problem.” She held up something. “I found this and a bunch of other toys. I thought maybe they were yours when you were a kid and, well, you might want to keep them?”

It took him a moment to figure out that she was holding the engine to the wooden train set he’d had as a young boy. He hadn’t even seen that in probably twenty years. For a split second, he thought maybe... He shook his head. “No. Like I said, there’s nothing here I want. If you find things you can’t use, I’m happy to pay you to haul them away. Or leave them and I’ll have a trash crew come in and get the rest.”

She glanced at the toy in her hand, and he’d swear he saw a flicker of sadness in her expression. Maybe she was just one of those people who got attached to things. He wasn’t. Things had to be useful, a means to an end. There was no other reason to have them.

And yet there was some strange part of him that wanted to keep the train engine simply because she evidently wanted him to for some reason. Crazy.

“Okay,” Ella finally said. “I’ll bring the ladder with me tomorrow unless you need it sooner. I could take a small load of stuff home then come back with it.”

“No, that’s not necessary. There are plenty of other things I can do without it.” And he’d rather she make a fast dent in the piles before they decided to multiply when he had his back turned.

She gave a quick nod then headed out of the barn.

He sighed and realized the only thing that was going to give him any sort of relief from his frustration was a ride out across the ranch. He knew that from years of experience.

Well, that’s not all that could give you relief.

Jeez, the woman had been on his property only half an hour at most and he was already having sexual thoughts about her.

You’re only human. A man.

Yeah, but he wasn’t an animal. And Ella Garcia was definitely not the type of woman for him. Her excitement over getting to possess piles of junk, as if she’d won the kid lottery on Christmas morning, told him that much.

Needing a lot of fresh air and wide-open sky, preferably far away from the temptation of the woman currently carrying a big box out to her truck, he moved toward the tack room. Once he retrieved his grandfather’s saddle, he walked over to Duke’s stall. “Change of plans, boy.”

Maybe somewhere out on his grandparents’ acreage he’d find a sense of calm and his common sense.

* * *

ELLA SHOVED A box of vintage lace doilies into the back of her truck, already imagining the beautiful lampshades she could make from them. As she raised her hand to wipe sweat from her forehead for what had to be the thousandth time since she’d arrived at the Bryant ranch, the muscles in her arms screamed at her. She was sweaty, dirty, aching and needed a Coke approximately the size of the Blue Falls water tower, but she was going to cram as much stuff into her truck as possible. The quicker she emptied the house, the better. She didn’t want to risk Austin changing his mind, thinking it was taking her too long. It would be a crime for all these items to end up at the dump.

She just wished she could clone herself a couple of times to make the work go faster. So would having Austin’s help, but then that’s what he’d “hired” her for, right? Plus, he’d disappeared on his grandfather’s horse a few hours ago. The moment she’d seen him astride the horse, riding off across the pasture, she’d nearly tripped over her feet again. That certainly was a dangerous and annoying effect for a guy to have on a girl. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to face-plant in the driveway and not be able to tell him why. She’d have to claim supreme klutziness or something.

If she’d thought he looked like a movie star cowboy earlier, him astride a horse with the wide, blue sky as a backdrop had only increased that impression tenfold. If he’d been wearing a cowboy hat and boots, it was possible she would have just drooled herself into dehydration.

Despite the lack of traditional cowboy attire, there had been something so totally right about the sight of him astride that horse, like he belonged here in this place.

Why she thought that, she had no idea. After all, she didn’t have a lot of experience with deep connections to a place. Growing up in a military family came with a certain rootlessness. Only since moving to Blue Falls had she started to feel a real connection to a slice of the world. According to the friends she’d made here, it was one of those small towns where people enjoyed growing up and many liked to stay.

Except, evidently, Austin Bryant. When he’d shown her around the place and asked about how long it would take her to empty all the buildings, he’d been fighting a barely contained fidgetiness. It was as if he thought the place was going to cause him to break out in a rash if he stayed too long. And though Dale Bryant had been a nice guy, it seemed his grandson couldn’t be rid of anything that reminded him of his grandparents fast enough.

With another swipe at the sweat beading on her forehead, she headed back into the house.

By the time she was wedging the last possible thing—an old sewing box filled with lots of notions—into her truck, she was so tired and hot that if there were a flowing creek nearby she’d just lie down in it, clothes and all.

As if the universe were offering her the next best thing, she spotted a water spigot between the house and the barn. Like a desert traveler heading toward a mirage, she crossed to the spigot and turned it on. She stuck her entire head underneath the flow of water, and it felt so good that she had to resist the urge to stay underneath it until she ran the water source dry.

She did extend the top half of her body under the flow, soaking her T-shirt and bra. Good thing she was heading straight home because she no doubt looked like she’d been dragged behind a boat across Blue Falls Lake. When she got her truck unloaded, she was going to take the longest shower in the history of showers.

Though she didn’t want to, she turned off the spigot and wiped the water from her face as she stood. She opened her eyes to find a man standing a few feet away. An involuntary scream left her mouth before recognition hit. This time, she wasn’t able to prevent the tangled-feet phenomenon from dumping her flat on her butt in the mud she’d just created.

* * *

WHEN AUSTIN HAD headed out to ride the fence line earlier, he’d left behind a woman carrying away his grandparents’ things. As he stared down at Ella now, she looked more like she’d fallen in a stock tank filled with water.

He extended his hand to help her up. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

She made a dismissive gesture with a muddy hand. “Totally my fault.” Instead of taking his hand, she shoved herself to her feet.

He couldn’t help how his gaze shifted to her wet T-shirt, which was plastered to her perfectly rounded breasts. He barely managed to lift his eyes toward her face in time to prevent her from noticing his blatant staring.

Ella lifted her hands, palms out. “Didn’t want to get you muddy.” She nodded toward the spigot. “Sorry I used so much water, but I felt like a turkey roasting at Thanksgiving.”

“Don’t give yourself heatstroke.” He certainly didn’t need her passing out in the driveway, burying herself under mounds of clothing or magazines that hadn’t seen the light of day since the ’90s or before.

She waved away his concern. “Nothing a shower, a load of laundry and the biggest Coke I can find won’t cure.”

Don’t think of her in the shower. Don’t think of her in the shower.

He forced himself to look at her truck instead of her. “I can’t believe you got so much stuff in one load.” Not that it would likely look like much had been removed from the mountains the house contained.

“I’m a master at packing lots into a small space.”

His skin itched at the very idea. Were the boxes and bags and miscellaneous items simply relocating to take up residence for years more in some other space too small to adequately contain them?

Not his problem.

“I’ll be back in the morning, and I’ll bring you that ladder,” she said.

He glanced back at Ella to see her already moving toward the driver’s side of her truck.

“Okay.” Did his voice sound as dry as his throat felt?

When she opened the door on the truck, she pulled a plastic bag from behind the seat and placed it where she could sit her muddy bottom on it.

Thankfully, she slid into the truck and quickly shut the door, hiding the way her wet shorts were also cupping her hips. She started the engine then tossed him a wave before she headed down the driveway. He was reminded of the Clampett family’s truck on old reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies, piled high with all their possessions as they headed to California after striking it rich.

Only Ella Garcia hadn’t struck it rich, even if she sort of acted as though she had.

As she disappeared beyond the trees, he let out a slow breath, turned on the spigot and stuck his own head under the cool flow of water.

Chapter Three

Ella moaned as her alarm clock belted out beeps the next morning. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mumbled into her pillow. Hadn’t she fallen asleep about ninety seconds ago?

Honestly, if she had a baseball bat handy, the clock’s remaining seconds would be numbered in single digits.

Since mind control sadly didn’t work on the alarm, she rolled over and slapped it off. She stared up at the ceiling with every muscle in her body staging a coup. But today wasn’t going to be any easier. In fact, instead of a partial day of clearing out the Bryant house, she was going to be at it all day for multiple loads. Not for the first time she allowed herself to fantasize about her business growing so much that she could afford an employee or two to help out with the pickups, deliveries, all the miscellaneous stuff that ate into her design time.

But fantasizing about it wasn’t going to make it come true. Getting her tired butt out of bed just might. Eventually.

After a few minutes in the bathroom, she dressed and headed out to load the ladder in the truck. Once it was secured, she headed toward town. More specifically, the Mehlerhaus Bakery.

Keri Teague, the owner, looked up when Ella walked into the bakery. If heaven smelled any better than this place...well, Ella wasn’t sure that was possible.

“You look as if you could use some coffee.”

“You, my friend, are correct. And one of those cinnamon rolls that’s as big as my head.”

Keri slid the door on the back of the glass display case open and reached for one of the cinnamon rolls that was, no lie, the size of a salad plate.

“Actually, make it two rolls and two large coffees.”

“You really in need of sugar and caffeine or you buying some for Austin Bryant, too?”

“Can’t hurt to come bearing breakfast when I’m hoping to have time to get everything he’s offered.”

Keri lifted a brow. “And just what exactly has he offered?”

“Fine, twist the tired lady’s words.”

Keri laughed as she bagged up the rolls. “I haven’t seen Austin in a long time, but as I remember he wasn’t exactly hard to look at.”

“I’m too busy looking at all the raw materials I’m hauling out of his grandparents’ house.”

“Uh-huh.” Keri gave her a look that said she didn’t buy one word of what Ella had just said.

“Okay, fine. The guy is good-looking. He also couldn’t be more anxious to get the hell out of here and back to wherever he came from.”

“Dallas. He’s got some big job at an energy company, I think.”

Well, that explained the nice car. What it didn’t explain was how at home he looked on that horse, riding out toward a herd of cattle. Of course, that could just be remnants of his childhood still lingering.

Keri placed a couple of to-go coffees on the counter beside the cinnamon rolls. “Oh, and by the way, you might want to know that the person who pointed Austin in your direction was Verona.”

Oh, great. So far Ella had managed to not become the town matchmaker’s target, but she’d guessed it was only a matter of time.

“That woman has entirely too much time on her hands,” Ella said as she passed over the money for her breakfast. “Plus, I think there ought to be a rule that you should have to be a native of Blue Falls to be targeted by her.”

“No, no. You live here, you take the same chances as every other unattached person.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re happily married and don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Well, there is that.”

Ella laughed and grabbed her purchases. “At least I won’t have to worry about it long. I’m guessing Austin Bryant heads home before the week is over.”

“Oh, that’s plenty of time for Verona to work her magic. Plus, even if he leaves, she’ll just try to find you someone else.”

Ella stuck out her tongue at Keri before heading toward the door, which just made her friend laugh as if she hadn’t had so much fun in ages.

As Ella headed toward her truck, she thought about what Keri had said and tried to figure out who Verona might try to pair her up with should Austin pull a Houdini out of town. She couldn’t think of a single person who interested her.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The fact that she’d bought an extra coffee and monster cinnamon roll proved that, didn’t it?

She shook her head and made a sound of frustration at herself as she started the engine and headed off toward her long day of work. That’s what she needed to focus her attention on, not the long, tall Texan she’d be seeing again in about fifteen minutes.

As she pulled onto the road that led back to the ranch, her nerves started that annoying dancing thing again. Jeez, it was as if she’d never seen a handsome guy before. Heck, there were plenty traipsing through Blue Falls on a daily basis, locals and cowboys in town for the regular rodeos. Why did this particular owner of a Y chromosome set her insides to doing funny, not normal things?

Yes, he was hot as a firecracker, but he was also sort of grumpy. Granted, that could be chalked up to grief and too much to do in too short a time, but still. It wasn’t as if he was going to up and sweep her off her feet. Not that she wanted to be swept. Did she?

Crap, maybe she had suffered a heatstroke the day before.

When she pulled within view of the house, Austin’s car wasn’t there.

“Well, that was anticlimactic.” She glanced at the bag with the two cinnamon rolls and at the extra coffee container riding in her cup holder. “More for me, I guess.”

Not willing to go into the house even if it happened to be unlocked, she unloaded the ladder, leaning it against the side of the house, then retrieved her breakfast. She hopped up on the lowered tailgate and dug in. At the first bite, she closed her eyes and paid attention to nothing but the cinnamon and sugar tangoing across her tongue. No matter how many times she ate something from Keri’s bakery, she never ceased to be amazed at the woman’s magical ways with sweets.

Opening her eyes, she took a drink of coffee and looked out beyond the barn to the field stretching toward the horizon. It really was peaceful out here. She liked her little rental house fine, but it didn’t have this kind of view. One couldn’t call a highway and the back side of Blue Falls’ small industrial park particularly scenic.

The quiet of the morning gave way to the sound of a car engine heading toward her. She almost choked on the bite she’d just taken when she spotted Austin’s car.

Oh, get a grip. You’re here to work, not ogle and daydream.

“You’re here early,” he said as he got out of the car.

“Lots to do.” She lifted the white paper bag that contained the second cinnamon roll in one hand and the extra coffee in the other. “Breakfast?”

He gave her an odd look, as if he didn’t quite understand her one-word question. “You brought me food?”

“I was already at the bakery. Not hard to add an extra cinnamon roll. Plus, I didn’t know if you were staying out here without the kitchen being stocked.”

“I’m not staying on the ranch.” He said it quickly, with the same tone she could imagine him using if she’d accused him of sleeping in a pigsty.

“Okey-dokey,” she said.

Austin ran his hand back over his hair. The movement drew attention to his rather nice arm. She wondered what else was hiding underneath his navy blue T-shirt.

“Sorry,” he said as he closed the distance between them. “Didn’t mean to snap at you. Just got a lot on my mind.” He peeked inside the paper bag and whistled.

“Yeah, it’s big.”

He glanced over to where she’d made her way through about half of hers. “You can eat that whole thing?”

“Every delectable bite.” She smiled, and when he offered a bit of a smile back, she dang near melted and slid off the tailgate.

If that wasn’t bad enough, when he took a bite of his cinnamon roll then licked at some of the icing at the edge of his mouth, she was pretty sure she spontaneously got pregnant.

Before she embarrassed herself so much she’d have to move out of Texas, she hopped down to the ground and wrapped up the rest of her cinnamon roll for later, when Austin Bryant wasn’t standing in front of her making her want to take a bite out of him instead.

As she rounded the back of the truck to put the bag in the cab, she pointed toward the house. “You can now have fun cleaning the gutters.”

Austin glanced toward where she’d propped the ladder and nodded. “Thanks. I think.”

She laughed a little. “Not looking forward to it?”

“Have you ever known anyone who looked forward to cleaning gutters?”

“Excellent point.”

Not knowing what else to say to keep their limited conversation going, she grabbed her tablet from the glove compartment and nodded toward the front porch. “Well, I better get busy, too.”

As she walked toward the house, she thought how it was a good thing Verona Charles wasn’t anywhere nearby. Because one look at Ella’s face would be all the encouragement the older woman needed to go full-on matchmaker, no matter the fact that Austin was clearing out, not moving in.

She took another big swig of her coffee to fight off the fatigue brought on by too little sleep the night before. And, honestly, several nights before that. Tonight wasn’t looking as if it was going to be any different. But sacrifices had to be made if she wanted to build her business, move into a bigger space where she could store her finds, have an area to spread out and work, and eventually have a storefront.

Not wanting to get any more behind on her inventory tracking than she already was thanks to the load from the day before, she set up her tablet on the kitchen table and started listing everything as she went through it. Logging everything before she carried it out to the truck slowed her down, but she knew from experience that if she allowed herself to get too behind she ended up overwhelmed. She probably didn’t have the best tracking system in the world, but it worked for her.

She was in the midst of inputting a box of vintage sewing patterns, already imagining decoupaging them onto tables and chairs and old sewing machine cabinets, when the unholiest racket came from outside. Fearing Austin had fallen off the ladder, she jumped up and ran out the front door.

By the time she rounded the corner of the house, he was halfway down the ladder with his hand to his forehead. The gutter hung by only one end, the opposite end nearly scraping the ground as it swung like a pendulum on a grandfather clock. She spotted the telltale red of blood around the edge of Austin’s fingers.

“It hit you in the head?”

“Yeah.” He growled the response, sounding as if he’d love to add a few choice curses after his single-word answer.

“Here, let me see,” she said, taking a few steps toward him.

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t be stubborn.”

He glanced up at her, raising the eyebrow on the undamaged side of his face. “Little bossy, aren’t you?”

She waved away his description. “Just practical. Now come on.” She motioned for him to follow her, and was sort of surprised when he actually did.

But when she headed inside, he stopped halfway up the front steps. Not wanting his unwillingness to go inside to prevent her from tending his wound, she motioned for him to sit on the steps. “I’ll be right back.”

She made for the bathroom, which was cluttered but not as crammed full as the rest of the house. After locating a clean washcloth, some hydrogen peroxide and an assortment of other first-aid supplies, she hurried back outside to find Austin with his feet on the second step and lying back on the porch. For a moment, she thought maybe he’d passed out. But he turned his head toward her.