The Wrangler's Bride

But then, with the manipulative, vindictive Sheila Fortune for a mother, that was hardly any surprise, Grant thought, thankful yet again for his own mother’s warmth and genuine goodness. It was amazing that Sheila’s children had managed any semblance of lives of their own, and with Kyle, Michael and Jane all married now, Sheila must be frothing at having lost so much control over her children. He didn’t envy his stepsiblings at all. In fact, there were times when he even felt sorry for his stepfather, but he usually got over that in a hurry.

He forced himself back to the matter at hand, wondering why he was finding it so difficult to simply talk to this woman, why his thoughts were rambling in crazy directions.

“I won’t have time to look out for you, once the snow flies,” he warned. “And neither will anybody else. You’ll be on your own.”

Something dark and painful flickered in her eyes, and Grant regretted using those words.

“I’ll be fine,” she said briskly.

Her tone belied what he’d seen in her eyes, but he guessed she was only hiding it well. Or had a lot of practice at suppressing such emotions. She reached for one of the soft-sided navy cases.

“Split them?” she suggested.

“Fine,” he said, and took the other.

She lifted the bag easily, although Grant knew it wasn’t light. He shouldn’t be surprised, he told himself. As a cop—especially a female one—she probably had to be more than just strong and fit to hold her own. And apparently she did hold her own; Kristina had told him she’d been on the force five years, graduating the academy and turning twenty-one, the minimum age to be sworn in, on the same day. It was what she’d always wanted, Kristina had said, and once Meredith Cecelia Brady set her eyes on a goal, there was nothing and no one who could stop her.

The admiration in his somewhat spoiled half sister’s tone had been genuine, and that was rare enough that Grant had paid attention. And had agreed to her request. Sometimes Kristina could be worse than annoying; only the fact that she was as smart and charming as she was spoiled made her bearable. Someday, he thought, she was going to run into some man she couldn’t control, some man who had no patience with her spoiled-princess act, and the sparks were going to fly.

But Mercy had been her truest friend, kept through the years, and when she needed help, Kristina had been there. And she hadn’t hesitated to use her half brother to get what she wanted. And since it was one of those rare times when Kristina asked for something not for herself, Grant hadn’t been able to turn her down.

Mercy.

She’d told him what to call her, but he kept thinking of her as Mercy, reverting to the old childhood nickname. He wasn’t sure why. A reminder, perhaps, of who she was? A friend of Kristina’s, and a woman in mourning. He would do well to remember that, and if using that name would do the trick, then he’d use it. He hadn’t forgotten that unexpected jolt, or the sudden revving of his heartbeat; inappropriate as it was, it had happened, and if using that childhood name would keep a bit of distance between them, then that was yet another reason to do it. He had no time to deal with that kind of response. He was sure of that.

Just as he was sure it had simply been the result of going too long without feminine companionship; hell, he’d barely seen a woman for a month, and hadn’t been on a date in three times that long. No wonder his libido had kicked to life at the sight of the lovely woman Mercy had become. He was sure that was all it was.

He just wasn’t sure he knew the first thing about providing sanctuary for a heart as wounded as Mercy’s seemed to be. He knew about the pain of loss, he’d known about it for a long time, ever since his mother had left his father and the ranch, when he was three years old. And he’d had it pounded home again when his father died, a long, slow death that had been agony to watch, a strong, vital man wasting away, with his last breath regretting that he’d lost the only woman he’d ever really loved to the city life he hated.

He’d found nothing to ease the pain he felt then. So how could he ever hope to provide it for someone else? He wouldn’t even know where to begin. Kristina had said Mercy wanted only a place to hide, to heal, to find peace. While, in time, he had found these things himself in the wild reaches of this Wyoming country, he had little hope that a city girl like Mercy would find the same kind of relief. Especially since she was dealing with such a brutal, unexpected death. The death of someone who, judging from that look in her eyes, she had loved very much.

He wasn’t sure there was any relief for that kind of pain.

Two

She might not see that white knight anymore when she looked at Grant McClure, Mercy thought, but he was certainly no less imposing or handsome or rugged than he had seemed to her all those years ago. Working on a ranch did wonderful things for the male physique, things that all the gym-bound men she knew in Minneapolis could only dream about.

And she liked the slight appearance of lines around his eyes, eyes that were clearly used to gazing over long distances, eyes that were even more vividly blue than she’d remembered against his tanned skin. His sandy brown hair was shorter than the long locks he’d worn as a teenager, now barely brushing his collar, but it looked good on him.

He looked good, period, she thought, proud of how coolly she could acknowledge the fact, with none of the flutter that used to seize her as a child every time she looked at him.

Well, almost none.

She stuffed a sweater into a drawer, closed it, then straightened to look around the room. Grant had told her Kristina used it on the rare occasions when she visited the ranch—“before the isolation and lack of parties gets to her and she hotfoots it back to the city.” But it seemed obvious that her friend had left little imprint on the place.

Or perhaps Grant had returned it to normal when she wasn’t there; the plain, utilitarian furnishings were hardly Kristina Fortune’s style. But Mercy felt comfortable with the large four-poster bed, the plain oak dresser and small desk, and the severely tailored curtains that still managed to be cheerful in a bright blue-and-white check. A comfortable-looking armchair, upholstered in the same bright blue and sitting next to a large window, completed the simple furnishings.

She walked over to the bed and lifted the small stack of long-sleeved T-shirts she’d brought. Layers, she’d thought as she packed. Kristina had had some choicely descriptive words for winters on her half brother’s ranch, even though she’d never weathered one herself. Mercy had smiled at the thought of anyone from Minneapolis finding someplace else colder, but had packed accordingly.

And wasn’t it just amazing, she thought as she put the shirts in another drawer, how quickly she’d slipped back into accepting that old nickname? At first, back then, she’d hated it, but she’d grown to like it when she realized that Grant was the only one who called her that, as if it were something special and private between them.

And now, she thought as she shut the drawer, it was obvious that he still thought of her as that child he’d teased. Which was just fine with her.

She turned back toward the last thing on the bed, the two silk nightgowns she’d brought. She might have to wear jeans and long johns and wool socks during the day, but at night she preferred the smoothness of silk. It was one of her few indulgences, so she refused to feel guilty or foolish about it.

She had just tucked them neatly into the last drawer and pushed it closed when an odd scrabbling sound turned her around.

“Well, hello,” she said, smiling at the knee-high dog with the mottled gray-and-black coat who sat politely just outside her door. He looked at her steadily, with a gaze that was rather disconcerting, since one of his eyes was brown and one a pale blue. She walked over and crouched before the animal. Something in his demeanor prevented her making any presumptuous overtures, such as patting his head; he didn’t seem the type of dog who would welcome instant familiarity.

“Come to check out the intruder, have you?” she asked.

The dog cocked his head, and looked at her so assessingly she nearly laughed.

“I’d recommend you leave him alone. He’s not the cuddly type.”

She looked up quickly, amazed at how quietly Grant had moved down the hall. She’d barely heard him before he spoke, and she was rarely taken by surprise like that.

“I can see that,” she said. “I’ve dealt with a dog or two in my time. I recognize the look-but-don’t-touch signals.”

“He’s a working dog, not a pet. He’s not looking for friends.”

For an instant, Mercy wondered if there was more to his words than simply a warning about the dog. Then she decided she was looking for things that weren’t there.

“Then far be it for me to trespass,” she said, standing up. The dog continued to look at her, somewhat quizzically now. “But should he change his mind, I trust you won’t have a problem if I don’t reject him?”

“Not likely,” Grant said shortly, leaving Mercy wondering if he was referring to the dog or himself. She smothered a sigh; she didn’t remember him being so prickly.

“Does he have a name?” she asked. “Or is he simply ‘Dog’?”

To her amazement, Grant flushed. “Er…well, he was just Dog for a while. Until he showed us who he was.”

Mercy smiled; what a wonderful way to think of it. “So what name did he earn?”

He seemed relieved, as if he’d expected her to find his answer silly. “Gambler.”

Mercy glanced at the dog, who sat motionless in the same spot she’d first seen him in. “Really? Why?”

Grant smiled then. “He’s a lazy slug when he’s not working. But when he is…he does the work of five hands. And he won’t let anything get in his way. You tell him to move cattle, he moves them. Over, under, around, he’s everywhere, and they keep moving, as if he were a field marshal ordering his troops. I’ve seen him move a small herd a quarter of a mile without ever touching the ground.”

Mercy blinked. “What?”

“He walks on ’em. Jumps. Steer to steer, cow to cow, whatever. Gambles his life on his own sure-footedness. He never stops moving. And neither do they.”

She looked back at the dock-tailed animal, who couldn’t weigh more than forty pounds, if that. “I can see why he has that patrician air, then. He’s earned it.”

“Yes, he has.”

He sounded pleased. And for some reason that made her unable to meet his gaze. She looked at the dog instead, until Grant spoke.

“I thought you might like to look around the place. Get oriented.”

She looked at him then, and wondered why she hadn’t been able to before; there was nothing intimidating about him now. At least, nothing more than his size and muscle, and she was used to that. And she’d handled bigger men than him in her five years on the force.

“I’d like that. And that way I won’t have to bother anyone later.” She gave him a sideways look. She wasn’t sure how much Kristina had told him, and she didn’t want to go into any more details than necessary. “And I promise this will only be for a while. As soon as…they call me, I’ll be on the next plane out, and out of your way.”

He looked at her for a moment. “I…didn’t mean to give you the impression you would be a bother.”

“Of course I will,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t live here, don’t know about life on a ranch, I can’t help but be somewhat of a bother. But I’ll try my best to keep it to a minimum.”

He raised one sandy brow. “You have changed.”

She laughed, realizing as she did so that it was the first time since Nick had died that she’d really, genuinely laughed. She quashed the instant welling of pain that seemed to always be there, ready to swamp her any time she let her guard down and thought of the man who had been so much more to her than just a partner.

“You mean I never used to care if I was a nuisance or not?” she managed to say lightly.

He smiled, as if her laugh had pleased him. “Something like that.”

“Only around you,” she said. “And probably only because it bugged you so much.”

His smiled turned wry. “I had a sneaking suspicion even back then that that was why you did it.”

“If you had really ignored me, I probably would have just gone away.”

“Now she tells me,” Grant said with mock sarcasm.

This time, they both laughed, and Mercy felt a slight lessening of the steady ache she felt as if she’d been carrying forever, although she knew it had been only since the grim night Nick had died in her arms, five weeks ago.

She grabbed up her shearling jacket and tugged it on as they walked down the stairs to the main part of the house. It was a story and a half, in a rambling floor plan which seemed bigger than it probably was, because of the steep pitch of the roof, which was designed for heavy snows. The three bedrooms were tucked up in that well-insulated roof area, to take advantage of the warm air generated by the wood stoves Grant had told her he preferred to rely on.

“We’ve got propane heat,” he’d said as they passed the big storage tank, “but I try not to use it if we don’t have to. Cooking and hot water takes enough.”

“Hot water?” she’d said teasingly. “Kristina told me this was roughing it.”

He’d given her a long look, as if gauging whether she was serious; she’d realized then that he must really think she was a pampered city girl. She hadn’t tried to tell him he was wrong; that wasn’t the kind of thing you proved with talk. She’d just keep out of his way and take care of herself.

“I like long showers,” he’d said, rather shortly, and Mercy had been disconcerted enough at the unexpected images his words caused to be unable to answer. She’d thought herself long past thinking about Grant McClure that way, but there was no denying that the thought of him standing naked in a steamy shower did strange things to her heart rate.

“Everybody keeps an eye on the fire in here during the winter,” he said now, gesturing toward the sizable wood stove that sat on a brick slab in a corner lined with the same brick. “It’s easier to keep the place above freezing than it is to get it warmed up from freezing.”

She shook off the lingering effects of the unwelcome and surprisingly erotic memory. “I’ll bet it is,” she said, noting the sizable stack of wood against the inside wall. “Where’s the woodpile?”

He nodded toward a closed door a few feet from the stove. “There’s a lean-to outside that door. We try to keep enough dry inside to get through a week. If we’re lucky, that’s the longest whiteout blizzard we have.”

She nodded. If he was expecting shock from her at the idea of such weather, he was going to be disappointed. Yes, she lived in the city, but that city was Minneapolis, and she was no stranger to harsh weather. Although as she looked up at the Rockies on the ride out here from Clear Springs, she’d felt a tiny shiver up her spine that made her think that perhaps those mountains had a thing or two to teach anyone about real weather.

“Chipper seems like a nice kid,” she said as she followed Grant out the front door.

“He is just that,” Grant said. “Nice, but a kid. He just signed on full-time after he graduated high school.”

Was there a warning somewhere in those words, Mercy wondered? Or was she again reading things that weren’t there into Grant’s words? She’d hardly been able to miss the boy’s reaction to her, the way he’d blushed and stammered the whole ride back to the ranch. But what did Grant think she was going to do, toy with the affections of an innocent kid? Suddenly the irony of it hit her, and she smiled wryly.

“Lord, did I look at you like that? All cow-eyed and red-faced?”

Grant stopped his long strides and looked at her sharply. Then, slowly, a smile curved his mouth. A smile that hadn’t lost any potency in the past twelve years.

“Sometimes,” he admitted.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was flattering, even when it was embarrassing.”

“I never meant to embarrass you. I promise,” she added solemnly, “it’ll never happen again.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. “Too bad. Now I might appreciate it more.”

He turned on his heel and walked on before she could respond to that. So Grant McClure still had a wicked sense of humor, she thought. Because he had been joking. He had to have been.

She trotted a few steps to catch up with him. He didn’t slow to accommodate her shorter strides, but she was used to that, and just walked faster to keep up. It helped keep her in shape, she reasoned, which was a good thing, no matter how annoying it might be.

“So Chipper just started working here?”

“Year-round, yes. He worked summers before, and used to come out on weekends, with his mother.”

His mother? Mercy thought. “Oh?” was all she said.

“Rita does some cooking for us.”

Rita. An image of a dark, flashing-eyed brunette passed thorough her mind, and she couldn’t stop herself doing the math. Chipper was eighteen; if his mother had married young, she could be as young as thirty-six now. Only six years older than Grant. Hardly a prohibitive difference.

She hoped Chipper’s father was big and burly and cranky, then chastised herself for the thought. What did it matter to her, anyway?

“She only cooks on weekends?” she said brightly.

“Yes, but she cooks up a storm. Enough for the whole week, and we freeze it. And she taught a couple of us enough to get through the winter when we run out of her stuff.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” she said.

“The cooking in advance, or teaching us to cook?”

“Both,” she said with a laugh. “I’m not much of a cook myself, as Kristina can tell you.”

“She already did. Right after she informed me of how politically incorrect it would be of me to assume that because you’re female, you would cook.”

“Well,” Mercy said in exaggerated relief, “I’m glad that’s out of the way.”

“I’m sure her warning saved me from a horrible fate.”

“Assuredly,” Mercy agreed in mock seriousness. “But I do a fine job washing dishes. Perhaps that talent might be of some use?”

“Take it up with the guys. They usually draw straws.”

“They? Not you?”

He grinned. “There are some perks to being the boss.”

She was still smiling back at him, and marveling at this unexpected lightheartedness that seemed to have overtaken her, when a trumpeting neigh snapped her head around. She turned to stare at the animal who stood in the large corral beside the biggest of the two barns she could see.

The phrase that popped into her head was flash and fire, because this animal certainly seemed to have both. He was spectacularly marked. His head, neck and forequarters—she thought that was the right term on a horse—were a glistening black. From the shoulders, or whatever they were—she knew that wasn’t right—back over his rump and halfway down his legs, he was a pristine white with scattered dark oval spots that ranged from speckles to almost four inches across.

Something tugged at the edges of her memory. When she was so infatuated with the teenage Grant McClure, and with all the industriousness of a young girl in the throes of her first crush, she’d determined to learn all about the things Grant was so enamored of and she knew nothing about. So she’d read, endlessly, it had seemed, about horses. And although she’d never gotten close to a real one before, beyond driving past some in a pasture somewhere, a lot of that had stuck in her mind. Not the word for shoulders, but a picture of a horse marked like this one, although brown and white, instead of black.

“An…Appaloosa?” she asked, trying the word out tentatively as she walked toward the fence.

“Yes,” Grant said, sounding surprised. “He’s an Appy.”

“I saw a picture of one once,” she said, keeping it vague; never would she have admitted the lengths the child she’d been had gone to to learn about what he cared about. “Only it was brown and white.”

“They come in all colors. And some are all white, with the spots. Leopard Appies, they call them. I’ve got a leopard mare who’s in foal to him,” he said, nodding toward the big horse.

She came to a halt, staring at the animal who towered over her. But she wasn’t afraid of him, especially when he cocked his head to look at her with every evidence of interest.

“He’s…beautiful.” The horse snorted as if he’d understood, tilting his big head as if preening. Mercy laughed.

“He’s a direct descendent of Chief of Four Mile, a premier Appaloosa stud in Texas thirty, forty years ago. But don’t let the fancy lineage fool you. He’s a clown,” Grant said dryly.

“I can see that,” she agreed. “And that spot over his eye makes him look like one.”

It was true, she thought, that odd-looking white patch over one eye gave the horse a slightly off-center look that was comical despite his size and obvious power.

“Careful,” Grant said as she leaned on the top rail of the fence. “He may look and act like a clown, but he’s a stallion, and they can be unpredictable.”

She backed up a half step. “You mean like biting and kicking? He does that?”

“Well…no. At least he hasn’t yet.”

“Oh. So you haven’t had him very long?”

“A little over a year and a half.”

She blinked. “He hasn’t kicked or bitten anyone in all that time, but you’re still worried?”

Grant looked a little sheepish. “I’m not worried, I’m…baffled. I’ve never known a stallion who didn’t have at least one bad habit.”

“And he doesn’t?”

“Not unless you count knocking my hat off every time I get close enough,” he said wryly.

Mercy chuckled, and the sound was quickly echoed by a soft whicker from the big horse. It was as if he’d had enough of being ignored. She glanced at Grant, who lifted a shoulder in a half shrug.

“You’ll be okay. He really does have excellent manners. Just don’t make sudden moves that might startle him. Or touch him before he invites it.”

He didn’t explain, so Mercy assumed it would be clear to her if and when that happened. She took back the half step she’d surrendered at Grant’s warning. The horse stretched his nose over the fence toward her, nostrils flaring as he sniffed. She let him. His breath stirred her hair, and then, amazingly, she felt the soft touch of his velvety muzzle as he snuffled her ponytail.

The horse whickered again. He nudged the side of her head with his nose, then drew back, as if expectant. He repeated the action after a moment when she didn’t move, and Mercy felt like a not-too-intelligent creature the big Appy was trying to train. Was this the invitation Grant had meant?

She glanced at him; he was watching intently, but his expression was unreadable, and he gave her no clue. Was he testing her somehow, for some reason of his own? And if she failed, would she be banished to the house for the duration of her stay?

You, she told herself, are paranoid.

And with a smile she reached up very slowly, very carefully, and patted the sleek black neck. The whicker came again, only this time Mercy would have sworn it held a note of pleasure—whether at her touch or at the fact that she’d finally figured it out, she wasn’t sure.

“Does he have a name?” she asked, marveling at the muscle and heat and glossiness of the animal.

“I call him Joker.”

She chuckled as she looked over her shoulder at Grant; she was almost getting used to laughing again. “I can see why,” she said. “But is that really his name? You said you call him Joker.”

“His registered name is Fortune’s Fire.”

Mercy’s eyes widened. “Fortune? As in the Fortunes?”

He nodded. “Kate left him to me.”

“Kristina’s grandmother? Who died in that plane crash?”

He nodded again. An odd expression came over his face as Mercy watched, one of bemusement, even bewilderment.

“He’s worth…more than this whole place, probably, when it comes down to it,” Grant said. “And I have no idea why she did it.”