The Cowboy's Homecoming

“I hate to do this, but I’m desperate,” Maddie insisted. “So I’m calling in my favor...” And there it was. The favor her editor kept threatening to use when Abby had asked for all this time off. Abby knew she owed Maddie a lot, especially the past few months. When Abby first started, she hadn’t been completely straight up with Maddie, letting the editor think she knew more about feature writing than she did, but thankfully Maddie saw her potential. She’d been a patient and encouraging editor, pushing Abby to see situations differently. To think outside the box. To go beyond clichés, not only in her writing but her photography, as well. And during the past half year, as Abby felt the burnout of the work, she’d also extended a number of deadlines for Abby.

“Is it that piece on the Bannister ranch?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, it is. The one you turned down.”

And for a good reason, Abby thought, her heart dropping like a stone.

“Sorry, Maddie. I couldn’t do it then...and I can’t do it now.”

“You can’t back out on me, missy. You know you owe me.” Maddie built on her advantage. “I wouldn’t play this card if I didn’t have a reason, and right now I’m stuck.”

“And there’s no one else?” Abby asked, clinging to her last shred of hope.

“No. And I’m asking you because you know Montana. You’ll see things no one else would notice. You’ll have a unique take on the story.”

And wasn’t that the truth?

Abby pressed a finger to her temple as the too-familiar ache began making itself known. She wanted to say no. Wanted to protest that she couldn’t do this, but she had already said yes. And she owed her editor.

“Okay. Send me the particulars, and I’ll see what I can come up with.”

“Great. Consider it done. Email me an outline ASAP and we’ll take it from there.”

Abby ended the call, trying to calm her pounding heart.

“You look like someone just punched you in the stomach,” Louisa said as she slowed to make the turn into town. “You get fired?”

“No. I just got a job.”

“That’s good, I guess. Though you are technically on holiday.” She glanced over at her. “So, what’s the piece?”

“It’s on Refuge Ranch’s hundred and fiftieth anniversary.”

“You can’t be serious!” Louisa’s exclamation of dismay eerily echoed Abby’s own feelings. “Say no. You’ve got to say no.”

Abby squeezed her now-trembling hands between her knees to steady them. “I can’t. I owe my editor more than I can ever repay. Besides, it’s just a job.”

“It’s more than that and you know it. What will your mother think?”

“That I shouldn’t do this.” Abby laid her head back on the headrest, the weariness clinging to her the past few months growing stronger. She felt unsatisfied, unfulfilled. It seemed every day was a struggle to get through, and her extended hiatus hadn’t eased that feeling away. If anything, it had become worse.

“I don’t know. Maybe I should do this,” she said softly. “Like I said before, this whole thing with Lee and my dad has taken up too much of my thoughts. I think it’s because, before today, I hadn’t seen Lee since the sentencing, let alone talk with him. Maybe if I spend some time with him, on his ranch, it will help put things in perspective.”

“Can’t see how that’s a good idea,” Louisa warned. “I doubt your mother would appreciate you working with the enemy, so to speak.”

“She might not, but I don’t think I have much choice.” Abby sorted through her thoughts, trying to find the right motivation for what she had just agreed to. “For the past year I’ve been praying to find a way to get some closure on everything that happened. This might be my chance.”

“Maybe, but I hope this doesn’t make things worse for you,” Louisa replied.

Abby shrugged as the familiar buildings of the town she had grown up in slipped past the window, each one bringing back a myriad of memories. Some good. Some not.

She sincerely hoped taking on this assignment would help her finally put Lee Bannister and all that he had done in her life behind her.

Chapter Three

“I’m so blessed. All my children home at one time,” Ellen Bannister said, folding her hands, looking over at Lee, who was already sitting down at the dinner table. “And soon Tanner will be a part of this family.” She beamed at Tanner, Keira’s fiancé, and Heather and her fiancé, John, who were also seated with them.

As Lee caught her loving glance, he couldn’t help but agree. Though he’d been back to the ranch a few times since he left, either Heather or Keira had been gone when he’d been here and vice versa. Now, for the first time in years, they were all gathered together at once.

“The family is growing,” Lee mused.

“We’re doing our part,” Heather said, the rich scent of a roast beef wafting through the dining room as she set a large steaming platter of sliced meat on the table beside the salads.

“You need to catch up, mister,” John quipped, giving Heather a wink as she sat down beside him.

“I don’t know about that,” Lee said. “You guys are a tough act to follow.”

John with his blond hair and chiseled features was the perfect match for his sister, Heather, a stunning former model who was always looking picture-perfect.

“I know you’ll have a hard time finding someone as glamorous as my future wife,” John returned with a laugh as he let his arm rest across Heather’s shoulders. “But I have faith in you. You never seemed to have any trouble in high school getting the girls.”

Unbidden came a picture of Abby with her pretty auburn hair and her sprinkling of freckles.

He shook his head as if to rid himself of the notion, getting up to take one of the bowls his sister Keira was carrying into the dining room. He sniffed as he put it on the table. “Ginger-glazed carrots. You read my mind. These from the garden?”

“You bet,” Keira said, setting a bowl of baby potatoes beside it. “We might have been premature picking them, though. None of them are very big.”

“I’ll say,” Tanner put in, pulling a chair out for his future wife. His dark hair, brown eyes and dark eyebrows gave him a hard look, but Lee knew the former bronc rider was a softie when it came to his sister. He also knew Tanner was the complete opposite of his deceased brother, David Fortier, Lee’s former friend. “We had to dig up a quarter of a row of carrots and four potato plants before we got enough for supper.”

“It’ll be worth it,” Keira said, brushing her blond locks off her face. Her green eyes sparkled with humor as she sat down beside Tanner, flashing him a loving smile.

“I’ll say it was. This looks and smells amazing,” Lee raved, his stomach growling.

He hadn’t eaten since that single granola bar he’d grabbed at a gas station on his way up here. A combination of nerves and excitement at coming home had made it hard for him to eat. And after he’d met Abby Newton, any appetite he might have had faded away. Her veiled antagonism stuck in his throat, and he still cringed at the memory. He knew he would be facing the shadows of the past coming back to the ranch, but he didn’t think those shadows would take the form of actually encountering Abby so soon.

“So, where’s Adana?” he asked, finally realizing that John’s daughter wasn’t with them.

“She’s with Sandy’s parents,” John said. “They wanted to take her to put some flowers on Sandy’s grave.”

“That’s pretty heavy for a two-year-old to deal with,” Lee remarked.

John shrugged. “Sandy was their only daughter. They don’t want Adana to forget her.”

Silence followed that pronouncement. John had been married to Sandy for two years before she died giving birth to Adana. Sandy’s parents still lived in Saddlebank and, from what Lee understood, took care of Adana from time to time.

“And that’s only right,” Ellen said finally. “I like to think my children would remember me if something happened.”

“Something already did,” Monty said, referring to the break in her neck Ellen had suffered over half a year ago. “And thank the good Lord you made it through that.”

Guilt suffused Lee at the thought that his mother had gone through all that pain while he stayed away.

“And thank the good Lord that the brace came off in time for Keira’s wedding,” Ellen said brightly. “I would have a hard time finding a mother of the bride outfit wearing that silly thing.”

“You’d look good no matter what you wore,” Monty murmured, patting her on the arm.

Lee couldn’t stop a tinge of envy at his family’s obvious happiness. Though he knew both his sisters had had their trials in the past, they had overcome them and had found happiness and someone who loved and accepted them exactly as they were.

He hadn’t had the same experience. Abby had been the last woman he was serious about. Then it was prison and after that, trying to find work. He had tried dating but couldn’t seem to connect with anyone who he wanted to spend time with. Of course, once any decent woman heard about his prison term, she seemed to back off.

“I think we can get started,” Monty said. “Like you said, Ellen, we are richly blessed. A wedding coming up next week, the anniversary celebrations and all our children home.”

Then he bowed his head and thanked the Lord for the food, for their family and the many blessings they’d received over the years. He prayed for strength and for wisdom and thanked the Lord for his sacrificial love.

When he said amen, Lee kept his head bent a moment longer, letting the prayer soak into his weary soul. The offshore drilling rig work he’d been doing—camp jobs and being on the road for weeks at a time—didn’t allow for much faith community. And he truly missed being a part of a robust spiritual life.

He lifted his head to catch his father looking at him, a pensive expression on his face as if he guessed where Lee’s mind had been wandering. Then his sisters started chatting, people started passing bowls and plates and he was drawn into the give and take of family conversation and dinner around the Bannister table.

For the first few moments, Lee was more spectator than participant. Other than the two years she’d worked in Seattle, Keira had stayed at Refuge Ranch working with their father, Monty, at his leather-working business, expanding it and putting her own mark on it. Heather had returned this spring and was settling into her work, teaching barrel-racing clinics. John had bought in to the ranch, and he and Heather were making plans to build an arena so she could train horses right on the ranch. Their lives were entwined with the daily rhythm of ranch life.

Lee envied them the peace that suffused their lives. But he had grown up on the ranch as well, understood the language and the way of life, so he was soon drawn into the conversation as the topics moved to pasture management, maximizing profits and alternative feeding methods.

An hour later, after dessert and coffee, Lee sat back in his chair, replete.

“I haven’t been this stuffed in a long time,” he said, rubbing his stomach. “I’m sure I gained six pounds tonight.”

“Three helpings of apple pie probably didn’t help,” Keira teased.

“That’s the best apple pie I’ve had since I left here,” Lee said with a groan.

“Guess we’ll have to add apple pie to the wedding menu.” Tanner grinned at Keira. “Cheesecake and trifle might not be enough for your brother.”

Everyone laughed at that, and Lee was about to make a rebuttal when the phone rang.

Monty got up to answer and Heather started clearing the table. Lee stood to help her and as they passed Monty, who was still talking on the phone, his father shot Lee a troubled glance.

“Well, if that’s the way it’s gotta go, doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it,” Monty said, scratching his forehead with one finger. He said goodbye and then set the phone back in its cradle.

“What was that about?” Lee asked as he set the plates by the dishwasher.

“That was the editor of the magazine doing the piece on the ranch.” Monty crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the counter behind him. “Apparently the guy that was supposed to do the story on the ranch won’t be coming.”

“Oh no,” Heather said. “And you were so excited about having that feature done.”

“Does that mean I’m off the hook?” Lee asked. Since everyone else was tied up with preparations for the wedding, he had been volunteered to show the reporter around. Take him on a few rides up in the hills and show him as much of the ranch as he could. They had planned a cattle drive for the cows and calves they had to move to pasture, and had even talked about a campfire out in the hills like the way they used to do during fall roundup.

Monty settled his gaze on Lee, who felt a shiver of apprehension at the concern on his father’s face. “The editor, Maddie, found someone else to do the story.” He paused and the shiver became a chill. “Abby Newton will be coming tomorrow. She’s the reporter slash photographer who is replacing Burt.”

* * *

Abby took her foot off the accelerator as her car crested the hill leading down into Refuge Ranch, its many buildings clustered in the basin below her. The sprawling ranch house sat off to one side tucked into a copse of spruce. Its large stone chimney soaring skyward from the house was framed by large panes of glass overlooking mountains cradling the basin.

There was another smaller house to the left of that. From the information Maddie had forwarded her, she suspected that was John Argall’s house, the new partner in the ranch. A large shed housing some tractors and haying equipment dominated the rest of the yard. Beside that was another barn and various outbuildings, one of which sported a sign, swinging from a wrought-iron frame. Abby couldn’t read the writing from here, but she suspected the building was the leather-working shop where Keira Bannister toiled away. Large corrals took up a few more acres of space, and beyond that pastures rolled away for endless miles. Though it wasn’t operating at capacity—Monty had downsized after Lee left—it was still a large ranch. And the Bannister name was embedded in Saddlebank history.

Part of her wanted to turn, run back and tell Maddie she couldn’t do this.

How could she deliberately spend time with Lee? Or face the family she insisted pay for what had happened to her father?

But she had said yes, and Abby wasn’t someone who went back on her word.

Ever.

So she tamped down the anxiety, stepped on the gas and headed down to Refuge Ranch.

As she got closer to the ranch, she saw a tall, solitary figure leaving the house, head covered by a brown cowboy hat. He looked up when she pulled into the graveled parking pad by the main house. Dark eyes narrowed as he stared in her direction, his hands dropping on his hips, and she guessed Lee was as happy to see her as she was to see him.

No turning back now.

Abby parked her car and turned it off, whispering a quick prayer for strength and courage. Then she grabbed her knapsack and stepped out. She limped to the back door and pulled out a crutch, willing the flush that was even now heating her cheeks to go away. It was embarrassing to need a crutch, but the doctor she had seen last night recommended it for today. Just to make sure the cut healed properly.

“Good morning, Lee,” she said as she hobbled toward him.

“Morning.” He glanced from her crutch to her. “How’s the ankle?”

“Not as bad as yesterday but not as good as the day before. Thankfully the doctor said I could keep it.” Then to deflect the attention from herself, she glanced up at his forehead, still sporting a bandage. “How’s the head?”

He reached up and touched the bandage. “Oh yeah. It’s fine.”

“No permanent damage?” The saucy tone in her voice was a defense mechanism, but she could tell from his frown that he didn’t appreciate her attempt at levity.

“I think I’ll live,” he returned. “But that’s only my opinion. Head injury patients aren’t always reliable.”

His comeback surprised her. He was still frowning, but maybe that was his default expression.

“I might have to verify that statement with your other family members.” Seriously, quit already, she told herself. She always started joking when she was nervous.

He simply nodded and one of those now-too-familiar awkward silences fell between them.

“So, I heard you’re doing the piece for the Near and Far?” he said.

“Burt contracted some exotic bug and is stuck in a hospital in Bangkok.” Which, right about now, sounded more appealing than being stuck in Saddlebank, Montana. “My editor asked me to take over. I happened to be here, so it makes sense. Kind of.” She slipped her knapsack over one shoulder and grabbed her crutch. “So...maybe you can bring me to see your father? The sooner I get going, the sooner I can be done.”

And didn’t that sound enthusiastic.

“I mean, the sooner I can get out of your hair,” she amended. “I know you and your family must be busy with all the wedding and ranch celebrations.”

Lee sent her a bemused look. “I’m actually kind of useless with canapés and centerpieces. So I’m stuck on writer detail.”

“Excuse me...?” she stammered. “What...what do you mean?”

“Dad’s busy getting stuff sorted for the anniversary, John, Keira and Heather are all tied up with the wedding and our hired hand’s mother ended up in the hospital, so he’s had to drop everything to be with her. Which leaves me to show you around.”

Abby’s poor overworked heart dropped like a rock down a mine shaft.

“I may not have been around the ranch much the last few years, but I know its history,” Lee continued, obviously misreading her reaction.

As he talked Abby could only stare at him, feeling just this side of coherent as his words slowly registered. Lee. Would be her guide.

Lee Bannister the man—

She gave herself a mental shake, yanking her foolish thoughts from the past as she struggled to become the professional journalist she was getting paid to be.

“Okay... We’ll, uh, work through this.”

This bumbling confession netted her another scowl.

“So, I guess this is the home place?” she asked, gesturing toward the ranch house. She’d read the background notes that Maddie had sent her from Burt, but they were scattered bits and pieces of useless information. She was virtually starting from scratch.

“Yes, but it’s not the site of the first house,” Lee replied. “I can show you the original homestead. It was set closer to the road. Would you like to see it?”

“Of course.”

He lifted a dark eyebrow. “You going to be able to walk? It’s down the road a couple hundred feet.”

“I’ll manage,” she said, because she had no other choice. Maddie had warned her that she would be doing a lot of traipsing around, possibly even riding. Her ankle didn’t hurt as much as yesterday, but she didn’t want the cut to open up again. The last thing she needed was another painfully awkward first-aid situation.

“I have an idea of how to make this work. Just wait here,” he said, pointing to a wooden bench with pots of brightly colored flowers nestled up against it. “I’ll be right back.”

She was about to tell him that it didn’t matter, but he was already jogging away from her. He ducked into a large building beside the hip-roof barn. A few moments later, a large overhead door rattled open and Lee came putt-putting out of the garage, driving an all-terrain vehicle.

She had to chuckle at the sight of this large, strapping cowboy operating what her brother always referred to as a quad. It didn’t look right. Nevertheless, he drove the vehicle up to her and, leaving it running, climbed off.

“Not going to lie, I’m a little disillusioned,” she said. “I figured a cowboy like you wouldn’t go anywhere on the ranch but astride a horse.”

“Quicker to start a quad than head out into the horse pasture to get a horse for such a short trip,” he returned, not even cracking a smile. “I’ll help you on.”

He held out his hand, but she ignored him.

“I think I can manage,” she said. She had been on many modes of transportation in her travels, but this would be her first quad ride. The seat looked large enough for the two of them, but she guessed it would mean sitting astride, right behind Lee.

Deal with that later, she thought, trying to figure out how she was going to get on the thing with her injured ankle.

Slow it down and break it down, she told herself. She’d made a fool of herself plenty already in front of Lee because of her tendency toward impulsive behavior. No sense in carrying on the tradition.

First she shrugged off her backpack and set that in the box fixed to a rack across the back of the quad. Then, putting her weight on her good foot and using her crutch for balance, she managed to get her bandaged foot up and over the seat. She shifted her weight, pulled up her crutch and...voilà! She was on.

With no falling whatsoever. Always a good thing.

Lee dropped onto the seat, hit a button on the handlebar and the quad lurched ahead. She caught herself in time, but her grip on the seat was precarious.

“The field’s a bit rough, so brace yourself,” he cautioned as he flicked the quad into the next gear up.

Rough was an understatement, Abby thought as the quad jostled and bounced over ruts in the field that she suspected were from a tractor. But the worst part of all was that every rut they hit made the quad bounce, had her bumping up against Lee.

She wondered if he had done this on purpose, but when she saw him move forward on the seat, as if to avoid her, she guessed this was a decision he regretted, as well. A few more bounces later, he stopped and turned the quad off.

He quickly dismounted but stayed beside the vehicle while she got off. Then he grabbed her crutch and handed it to her, and while she fitted it under her arm, she forgot her earlier reminder to take her time and she stumbled. He caught her, steadying her, his hand warm on her upper arm.

Abby jerked back, but she almost lost her balance again. This time Lee caught her with both hands.

They stood that way a moment, Abby wishing, praying, she could stop the blush that she knew made her cheeks flame.

“Please let me go,” she whispered.

“I will if you promise not to act so jittery. You’re going to fall again.”

“I’m not jittery,” she retorted, tossing her hair back and lifting her chin as if to face him down.

His dark eyes held hers, his expression serious.

“I think you are,” he said quietly.

Abby suddenly found herself unable to speak as their gazes locked. The faintest whisper of a breeze rose, cooling her heated cheeks, toying with her hair.

Lee finally released her, then heaved out a sigh. “Look, I know things are weird between us. I get it. But right now I have to help you with this story. I don’t like the idea either, but we gotta find a way to work together without being uncomfortable. Put what happened behind us and move on.”

Annoyance flickered through her at the seeming control he had of his emotions. Behind that came anger. As if he could simply put behind them what had happened. He was talking about more than something as innocuous as hurt feelings. But on the one hand he was right. Better to address the unpleasantness and get it out of the way than dance around it.

“I’m sure we can do that,” she conceded.

He gave her a quick nod of acknowledgment, but when he turned away from her to retrieve her backpack, she also knew her feelings toward Lee wouldn’t disappear simply because she wished they would.

They were too complex and too deeply ingrained.

She just hoped she could maintain a semblance of civility with him and not let old memories of her silly schoolgirl crush supersede the reality of what he had done to her family.

Chapter Four

Who did he think he was fooling?

Lee clutched the padded backpack Abby had set on the back of the quad, taking a few seconds to contain himself. The tension between him and Abby was almost thick enough to see. So, obviously, his little speech about moving past what had happened between them wasn’t changing anything.