A Rancher To Love

The what-if game could drive her mad if she let it, so she gave herself a mental smack and looked in the rearview mirror. She smoothed her hair and made sure she didn’t look like death. She needed to convey “I’m a responsible adult who pays her rent on time.”

At least she hoped she could pay her rent on time. Thus, the need for getting her mind off what had happened and back on work. On finding her creative spirit again.

She paused with her hand clasping the keys in her ignition and took a slow, deep, calming breath before she ventured toward a new part of her life. On her way to her destination, she ran positive thoughts through her head. She would love this new place. She could afford it. She would feel safe and refreshed, inspired to create even more beautiful jewelry to sell in retail shops and online. It would feel like home.

When she reached the mailbox with the appropriate address, she turned off the highway onto a gravel drive that curved a couple of times before revealing a modest-sized house that had a few decades on it. Beyond it sat a barn and another structure that looked like a small wooden house with a low porch running the length of the front. That must be the bunkhouse, she guessed.

She talked down the part of her that wanted to turn around and retreat back to the safety of Conner’s presence. Common sense prevailed as she spotted a dark blue pickup truck parked in the shade, telling her that Tyler Lowe was most likely inside one of the buildings. When anxiety tried tying her insides in knots again, she reminded herself that Conner had told her Lowe was a good man. She had to trust that her cousin would never put her in harm’s way, especially not after she’d told him what had driven her to Blue Falls in the first place.

Of course, she hadn’t told him everything. She didn’t plan to ever share that with anyone she didn’t have to in order to make sure her attacker stayed in jail for as long as possible. Reliving those horrible minutes made her skin crawl.

Rallying the friendly personality that had been second nature to her before the attack, she slipped out of her car and went in search of Tyler Lowe. Her first instinct would be to approach the house, but a metallic banging drew her to the barn instead. As she crossed the space between where she’d parked and the barn entrance, the sound stopped. Her nerves started firing again, more so with each step she took toward the barn. What if Conner was wrong about Lowe?

Stop it!

Common sense told her that not all men were the type who’d attack a woman. After all, she’d gone more than twenty-nine years without being assaulted by any man whose path she crossed. She’d simply become the unlucky victim in the statistics game.

Leah approached the open barn door, determined to greet Tyler Lowe with her friendliest smile. She hadn’t counted on nearly colliding with a giant.

Her feet slipped on the gravel at the same time she gasped at the size of the man who’d stepped out of the barn. He reached toward her, probably to keep her from falling, but the gesture sent warning bells to clanging in her head and she managed to evade his touch. She took a couple of steps back as she righted herself.

“Sorry,” he said in a deep voice that matched his impressive height and solid build. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

After a couple of moments in which Leah fought hard against the visceral need to spin around and race toward her car, she somehow managed to wave off his concern. “It’s okay. I... I’m looking for Tyler Lowe.”

“You found him. Leah Murphy?”

She nodded, trying not to think about how the man in front of her was easily twice her size, maybe more, and could crush her without breaking a sweat.

He extended his hand and smiled. “Conner said you’d be coming by. Nice to meet you.”

Even though his smile seemed genuine, not the evil type her attacker had worn, it was all she could do to force her own hand toward his for a shake. The moment his big, undeniably strong hand wrapped around her much smaller one, panic exploded inside her. What if he didn’t let her go?

But after a quick shake, he thankfully released her. Judging by the curious look he gave her, she wouldn’t be surprised if he thought her a complete lunatic. She needed to pull herself together if she wanted to even have the choice of whether to rent this place.

“You, too,” she finally said.

“Come on,” he said with a nod to his right. “I’ll show you the place. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s in good physical shape. Has lots of space.”

When Lowe started walking along the gravel drive that led past the barn, her brain didn’t seem to want to send the appropriate message to her feet to follow him. Before he noticed her hesitation, she hurried to catch up. Of course, that was easier said than done considering his long legs easily outpaced hers without him even seeming to try.

As she tried to close the distance between them, she noticed just how wide his shoulders were, how solidly built he seemed to be. His tanned arms were no doubt strong if the cut of the muscles were any indication. His worn jeans clung to obviously muscled thighs and, she had to admit, a nicely made backside. Even with her nerves doing their best to overwhelm her, she still wasn’t blind to the fact that Tyler Lowe was a finely made man not much older than her, if she was guessing correctly. There was no hint of the older man she’d for some reason assumed him to be when Conner had told her he had a place for rent.

“This used to be the bunkhouse for the ranch hands when my father and grandfather had more acreage and ran a bigger herd,” he said as he stepped onto the long porch.

She imagined the inside as sparsely furnished and smelling like a locker room.

When Lowe opened the front door and motioned for her to precede him inside, her panic ratcheted up a notch. How could she possibly allow herself to be trapped inside by a man she didn’t know? But then she remembered the pepper spray in her purse and held on to the strap even tighter as she forced her foot across the threshold.

The main room into which she stepped wasn’t going to be featured on the cover of any home decorating magazines, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined it either. The room was filled with an older couch and chairs toward the front and a kitchen area on the back side. A long, wood, farm-style table and accompanying wood, ladder-back chairs divided the two areas. Off to the sides were doors leading to what appeared to be a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom.

“If you take it, feel free to spruce it up however you like. Doesn’t exactly have a feminine feel to it.”

No, it didn’t. But already she was imagining spreading out her work along that long table and having more space to store her supplies. That was a good sign considering she’d been completely unable to work since the attack.

Leah crossed the room and looked into the bedrooms and bath. Definitely an older feel, like it hadn’t been used in a while and needed a good airing out, but the space was nice and it was quiet. Still, she wondered if her mind and her fear would let her relax here, feel safe as she once had in her apartment.

She told herself she wouldn’t know the answer to those types of questions unless she took the leap. She had to live somewhere, and it wasn’t going to be Houston or her cousin’s couch. She turned to face the man who seemed to take up an inordinate amount of space in the room.

“You live there?” she asked as she gestured in the direction of the house down the drive.

He nodded. “I do. But you’ll have plenty of privacy. I do work on the ranch, but I’m gone a fair amount, too. I’m a farrier, so I’m called out to other ranches.”

Even so, would she be able to find any calm with him so close by? She considered telling him she’d think about it and then look for something in town, but a part of her just wanted to have the decision done.

“I’ll take it.”

Her answer seemed to surprise him for a moment before he nodded. “Good.”

They talked a bit about the rental agreement, and the fact that it was simply verbal without all the paperwork a place in the city required eased her concern some. The simplicity of life in a place like Blue Falls was just what she needed. She’d just have to get used to seeing Tyler Lowe and not imagining how easily he could hurt her.

* * *

TYLER HAD TO focus way harder than he should as Leah asked him how soon she could move in. But he really couldn’t be blamed for how difficult he was finding it to talk about mundane rental details when facing a woman as beautiful as Leah Murphy, could he?

Somehow he found the correct responses as his gaze roamed over her wavy, honey-blond hair and the pink tinge to her fair skin. He towered over her, and he wondered if it made her nervous. The way she eyed him and kept her distance made him think so. Which he supposed was understandable. He doubted he’d be comfortable around someone double his size and at least a foot taller than him either.

As they exited the bunkhouse, he wondered if he’d made a mistake renting it to the first person to express an interest. The last thing he needed right now was a distraction, and Leah Murphy was definitely that. He’d known Conner for years, so how in the world had he never met his stunning cousin?

Maybe he wouldn’t see her that often. Like he’d said, he was gone a good amount. And now he had Maddie to care for. Plus, Leah would have her own work. What did she do anyway? It had to be something that would allow her to move to a town as small as Blue Falls.

He glanced back at the bunkhouse as they walked away from it. He should be thankful he’d rented the place so quickly. The extra income would alleviate his concerns about providing for Maddie, and the bunkhouse had just been sitting there empty for a long time.

And he wasn’t exactly sure why he thought so, but something told him that Leah needed the place as much as he needed to rent it. Her reasons weren’t any of his business, but he couldn’t deny the curiosity. Conner had mentioned she’d lived in Houston. Moving to Blue Falls was a big change, and people usually had big reasons for that type of move.

As they reached her car, he noticed how she opened the door and placed it between them before she turned to speak to him.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

“It’s me should be thanking you.”

A hint of a smile tugged at the edge of her lips, enough that it had him wanting to know what she’d look like with a full smile.

Yeah, he was going to have to stay really busy.

Chapter Three

Leah jerked awake gasping for air, panic flooding her body. She scanned her surroundings, certain that Jason Garton was hiding in the unfamiliar shadows, on the verge of leaping out and finishing what he’d started. She lifted her hand to her neck, where she could still feel the tight grip of Garton’s large fingers pressing her down, preventing her from escaping.

Gradually, her heart rate slowed as she remembered where she was—her new home on Tyler Lowe’s ranch. After a couple of days at her parents’ house while she made arrangements for her move, she’d dared to hope the nightmares about her attack were past. All it took for them to return with a vengeance was a single night alone in the bunkhouse.

Knowing from experience that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again, she threw off the thin quilt and got out of bed. With her pulse still faster than normal, she made the round of doors and windows, making sure they were all locked. Then knowing she was being paranoid, she checked all the rooms, including the closets. No Jason Garton. No threats of any kind, unless she counted the threat of possibly stubbing her toe on one of the boxes containing her belongings.

Holding her breath, she eased to the window closest to the front door and peeked out through the blinds. The night was pitch-black except for the lone security light that hung on a post between the house and the barn. Even Tyler’s house was dark. No doubt he was sound asleep as she should be. But then he probably didn’t have nightmares about being attacked in his own home, his very life at risk.

She released the blind, allowing it to fall back into place, and turned back toward the pile of boxes Conner had helped her unload earlier in the day. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well make some progress on her unpacking before she convinced herself moving here had been a colossal mistake, solving nothing.

Tackling one box after another, she began to turn the bunkhouse into something resembling an actual home. Her clothes hanging in the closet, her dishes filling the kitchen cabinets, the patchwork quilt her grandmother had made for her draped over the back of the couch. When she reached the first of the boxes that held her jewelry-making supplies, she ran her hand across the plastic containers of colorful beads. The Swarovski crystals, pewter beads and Czech glass normally had her creativity tripping over itself with ideas. But that was before the night her life had been turned inside out, before the attack that had resulted in hundreds of her beads being catapulted in all directions as she’d tried desperately to reach something to free herself from Garton’s grip.

“No!”

She growled in frustration and pressed the heels of her hands against her temples, wishing she could banish memories of that night. Defying that core of fear that refused to leave her alone, she pulled out her supplies and filled the long dining table with boxes of beads, wire and assorted tools of her trade. She might not be ready to get back to work tonight, but she would not hide her supplies away anymore. They’d given her countless hours of enjoyment and the ability to make a living, much more than the one night they were tainted. She needed to remember that, remind herself as many times as necessary.

When she finally got everything unpacked, she noticed the windows didn’t look quite so dark anymore. A quick check through the blinds revealed the first pale light of day making its way across the ranch.

Leah considered collapsing back into bed. Maybe she’d become one of those people who slept during the day and kept night-owl hours for her work. But she’d always been someone who liked the early hours of the day when the world seemed to come alive again. Deciding to stay up and just call it an early night, she set a pot of coffee to brewing and took a quick shower. Maybe today was the day she’d really and truly reclaim her life and dive back into work.

Freshly showered and wearing clean clothes, she poured herself a cup of coffee and went out to sit in one of the old rocking chairs on her porch. She listened to the simple sounds of early morning, the birds chirping and a slight breeze stirring the tops of the trees on the opposite side of the gravel drive. She took a sip of her coffee and glanced to her right, noticing that the gravel ended a few yards beyond the bunkhouse but the drive continued on as a dirt surface until it reached a gate at the corner of the pasture. In the distance, she noticed a few head of cattle meandering out of the morning’s disappearing shadows.

Even though she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before, this slice of peacefulness was more than welcome. Maybe she just needed more time to adjust, to find her way back to some normalcy.

The sound of footsteps had her jerking her attention in the opposite direction. The source of the sound proved to be Tyler striding from the house toward the barn. He didn’t look in her direction, giving her the opportunity to observe him from a distance. Now that he wasn’t so close, he didn’t seem so huge or imposing. Truthfully, her impression of his size had more to do with her own. It didn’t take much to tower over someone who was only a couple of inches over five feet. If she could keep him this far away, maybe she’d be able to relax more and not suffer from the irrational fear that he posed a threat.

From the safety of her porch, she thought about how differently she would have viewed Tyler had they met before the attack. Well, pretty much the same in the looks department. Despite her nervousness around him, she wasn’t blind to how handsome he was with those long, powerful legs, broad shoulders, nicely muscled arms. His short blond hair was a couple of shades darker than her own. But it was those blue eyes of his that could stop a woman in her tracks. She’d always been a sucker for a beautiful pair of eyes on a man, and Tyler Lowe definitely had that.

Too bad she wasn’t sure she’d ever be comfortable around a man again. Not for the first time she wished she were taller, stronger, more able to protect herself.

Should she make an attempt to get to know Tyler? Befriend him? Would it help her past her fear or just compound it? She sighed as the parade of questions about her future picked up speed in her mind.

After leisurely enjoying her coffee, she faced the fact that she couldn’t simply sit on the porch all day. She had to be productive, take another step into her new life. When she realized she was waiting to catch another glimpse of Tyler, she forced herself inside the bunkhouse. Ready or not, she had to work. Though he seemed like a nice enough guy based on their limited interactions, she doubted Tyler would let her stay in her current accommodations for free.

She eyed the supplies on the table, hoping inspiration would strike. When her creative side stayed on hiatus, she instead started making a list of other tasks she could tackle in the meantime. Most important, she needed to arrange for internet access and go buy some groceries. What she’d brought from her apartment wouldn’t last more than a day or maybe two if she stretched it.

Wanting to keep her distance, she texted Tyler to ask if he had any issue with her getting internet access set up at the bunkhouse. She found herself staring at her phone, waiting for the answer. When none came, she set it aside and began writing out her grocery list. That was a normal activity, and hopefully it would be another step toward leaving the attack and the fear in the past.

The sound of what she assumed was Tyler’s voice drew her to the window. Maybe he was on the phone and that’s why he hadn’t texted her back yet.

But when she looked toward the house, she saw him walking toward his truck, a little blonde girl at his side. The child couldn’t be more than five or six years old.

Leah didn’t remember him saying anything about having a child, and now she wondered if Tyler was married. Was there a wife in the house whom she also hadn’t seen? That certainly made her feel bad about appreciating how good-looking Tyler was, but having another woman on the ranch might help Leah relax and grow more comfortable around her landlord.

Despite the fact he might very well be a married man, Leah couldn’t pull her gaze away from Tyler as he helped the little girl into the truck and fastened her in to her seat. Was there anything sexier than a handsome man caring for a small child?

Tyler shut the door and glanced toward the bunkhouse. Leah squeaked and stepped back from the window. Thank goodness she wasn’t still sitting on the porch staring at him. She didn’t need him or a potential wife seeing that, not if she didn’t want to be packing up to move out a day after moving in.

She waited until she heard Tyler’s truck start up and leave before she grabbed her grocery list, purse and keys and headed to her own vehicle. As she drove past the house, she glanced at the windows but saw no one. It struck her as strange that she didn’t know whether to be disappointed or grateful.

As she drove into Blue Falls a few minutes later, the tightness of her muscles relaxed. The combination of daylight, a good number of people going about their business, and the warmth she’d always felt this community generated allowed her to breathe more easily. It also made her wonder if she’d made a mistake moving out into the country alone.

Leah shook her head as she drove through the downtown area. She was “borrowing trouble,” as her mother was fond of saying. Neither Tyler nor her new home had truly given her any reason for concern. She was just allowing the dark parts of her imagination to run wild. Rather than working or settling into her new community, the top item on her to-do list was to stop imagining the worst was going to happen. She was allowing Jason Garton to continue to victimize her even though he was sitting in a jail cell more than two hundred miles away. And that made her angry more than anything else.

She parked at the grocery store and headed inside, determined to make today, her first as a full-time Blue Falls resident, a good one. In fact, she was in the mood to bake something sinfully delicious and headed straight for the baking aisle. She decided on caramel brownies and tossed the necessary ingredients in her cart then headed toward the next aisle.

“Leah!”

She jumped but then realized she recognized the female voice. India Parrish stood in between the end of the aisle Leah had just left and the meat counter along the back wall.

“Hey, India. How are you?”

“Great.” India glanced at Leah’s cart. “So it’s true? You’ve moved to Blue Falls?”

Leah nodded. “Yeah, brand-new resident as of yesterday.”

“That’s awesome, and just in time. I’m down to the last piece of your jewelry in my shop.”

“Glad to hear it’s selling.” Her bank account would be equally as happy. And speaking of, she supposed she needed to transfer that, as well.

“Like hotcakes. I tried placing another order a few days ago, but I hadn’t heard anything in response.”

“Oh, sorry about that. Been having some site issues.” As in she’d barely looked at it since the attack. “I’m actually in the process of getting reconnected here, so I’ll get your order to you as soon as I can.”

Which meant she had to work no matter if she felt inspired or not.

India waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “No worries. I’m sure you have lots to do to get settled. I heard you rented the old bunkhouse out at Tyler Lowe’s place.”

“Yeah.” Leah resisted the urge to ask India about Tyler, to get a second opinion on whether he was a good guy, safe to be around, whether he was married.

India waved at a blonde Leah didn’t know, and the other woman carried her hand basket over to where they stood.

“Gina, this is Leah Murphy. She’s the one who makes the beautiful jewelry I’ve had in the front display case at the shop. Leah, Gina Tolbert.”

Gina extended her hand for a shake. “You do lovely work. I had my eye on a lapis and pearl necklace of yours, but I waited too long and someone snapped it up. That’ll teach me to hesitate when I see something I want.”

“I’m sure you could convince Leah to make another for you,” India said with a smile that accentuated her natural beauty.

“Of course.” Maybe if she forced herself to start working again, it would actually take her mind off the things she didn’t want to think about in the first place.

“Leah has just moved here.” India met Leah’s eyes. “Gina has only been here a few months herself.”

“I’ve spent some time here over the years, though. My mom moved here when I was in my senior year of high school, when she got remarried. Though I stayed in Waco with my dad so I could finish school with my friends.”

“We’re lucky to have Gina here now, though,” India said. “She’s the new head of the tourist bureau, and she’s got so many great ideas to keep the local economy booming that she’s got all of our heads spinning.”

As the two women told Leah about the addition of photography classes by the local-wildflower tour company, the budding wedding industry, and how the rodeo crowds were growing and thus drawing bigger-name talent, Leah couldn’t help feeling their excitement.

India placed her hand atop Leah’s where it sat gripping the handle of the shopping cart. “And this will be perfect for you. We’re planning to have an arts and crafts trail soon where tourists can follow a map from one artist or craftsperson’s shop to the next. They can watch the artists at work and buy their wares. I can see you being really successful with that, as long as I still get some of your stuff for Yesterwear.”