Finally Home

Finally ~ Home

Dawn Michele Werner

ISBN 978-1448691067

Finally Home

Copyright © 2009 by Dawn Michele Werner

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

Printed in the U.S.A.

To my husband, Trace~

Thank you for your endless encouragement and support.

And to my son, Joshua~

Your energy and enthusiasm keeps me moving!

CHAPTER ~ ONE

Amanda Brookfield jumped from her chair … her concentration pierced by a sharp crack coming from outside. The web page she was designing for a client was quickly abandoned as she bolted out the front door. “What’s going on here?” she demanded.

Placing both hands on her slender hips, she glowered at the two Chestnut mares that were galloping in wild unison across the front yard of her house.

“
Sorry ma’am, they got loose from the corral,” a young man on horseback replied bashfully, as he tried to capture one of the mares. But the animals were too quick for him and raced further along the fence that divided Amanda’s cottage from the ranch they escaped from.

She squinted, noticing a section of the fence where the boards were splintered. The horses must have collided into the fence after fleeing from the gangly cowpoke. The break in the fence had been the sharp cracking noise that had startled her earlier.

Her blue eyes abruptly darted from the disobedient mares to the young cowpoke. When he awkwardly attempted to use a lasso and almost slipped off his mount, she began to worry. “I’ll phone the ranch to send you some help,” she shouted to him and dashed back inside. Unfortunately, this hurried sprint caused her to trip over one of the unpacked boxes scattered around the house. Catching her breath for a moment, Amanda rubbed the ankle that was hit by her stumble. “What a crazy week,” she murmured in exhausted reflection.

She still couldn’t believe that she had packed up and left Chicago just a few days ago, only a couple of weeks after a surprising phone call from her grandfather. “Grandma and I are retiring to Florida,” he had chuckled, “and we want you to have our house.”

The invitation couldn’t have come at a better time for Amanda. She desperately needed a change of scenery. She had lived in Chicago all of her twenty-eight years, and was eager to move away from the city’s fast-paced lifestyle. Besides, her web design business was primarily over the internet, allowing her to live wherever she wanted. So, thankfully she accepted her grandparent’s offer right away. And now she was in Sage, Texas … living in a house that she had loved since childhood... a house that her grandparents had lived in for thirty years, while working for the wonderful people who owned the ranch next door.

Amanda had spent most of her summers at Moonlight Ranch when she was younger and the owners, Thomas and Barbara West, had given her access to all activities. She had attended summer parties, mingled with ranch guests and developed a serious crush on the West’s son, Noah, who was four years older than her. After all these years, Amanda still felt a shiver when she thought about him!

Breaking from her thoughts, before she became lost in the past, Amanda combed her fingers through her long hair and shuffled to the telephone. On her way, she stopped at the kitchen window and noticed another rider approaching the runaway horses and clumsy ranch hand. She stood on tiptoe and leaned over the sink to get closer to the window, her nose almost touching the glass. The new rider casually trotted his Palomino up to one Chestnut mare and grabbed the loose reins dangling from the bridle. The mare resisted but then seemed to calm down as the man hopped from his mount and brushed his hand across the mare’s neck.

Amanda, wanting a closer view and becoming totally intrigued by this man’s soothing ability, walked to the front door. She stepped onto the front porch in a daze, watching the man tie the first mare to the fence. For a brief moment, her heartbeat quickened when he lifted his head and stared directly at her. She could clearly see his face now. Could it be possible? It had been thirteen years! But her reaction to him was the same as when she had been fifteen. She felt a tingling sensation all over her skin. “Noah...” she whispered, a bit confused.

When she had moved in, Thomas West had told her that his son had left the ranch six years ago--after Barbara passed away. He didn’t go into great detail, but said Noah was not happy at the ranch and probably wouldn’t be back.

But obviously, Thomas didn’t know his son too well. Because here was Noah West in the flesh, gazing at her pensively as he finished up securing the first mare. When he flashed her a wide smile, Amanda felt heat rise to her cheeks. She looked away from him, silently chastising herself for letting him get to her. How could one look from him still make her insides twist into knots? She was a grown woman now, not a teenager!

Slowly, she glanced back at him, feeling a bit more composed. She watched him stroll toward the second mare, his movement still smooth and collected. Fortunately, the nervous cowpoke had successfully blocked the remaining mare into a fence corner. With ease, Noah began to rub the mare’s spotted back. Grabbing the reins carefully, he handed them to the skinny cowpoke and told him to lead the mare back to the ranch and he would bring the second mare back with him, later. Then, Noah turned his full attention to Amanda.

She grinned and made her way across the front yard to the fence, where Noah was waiting for her. He removed his tattered cowboy hat and opened the gate as she approached. “What a sight! Miss Amanda Brookfield,” his hazel eyes moved over her figure, “all grown up and looking gorgeous.”

Before she could reply, Noah pulled her into his arms. Stunned, she ignored the butterflies in her stomach and wrapped her arms around his slim waist. She could feel the taut muscles of his chest as he held her tighter. His musky scent tickled her nose, making her a little dizzy with excitement. Abruptly, she broke the embrace, “H-how have you been? I’m so sorry about your mother.” She stood at arm’s length and looked up into his handsome face. A breeze was playing with his thick black hair, causing strands to fall across his tanned forehead.

“
I’ve been fine,” he looked away from her. “Make sure I don’t forget to send someone up here to fix this fence,” he ran a hand across the splintered wood.

She nodded, concerned at the flicker of pain she caught in his voice. “Your father seems to be doing well. He told me he was very happy that I moved into my grandparent’s house, but would miss them terribly. When I asked him about you, he said you had left years ago and didn’t think you would be back. Imagine my surprise when I saw you today.”

Noah’s gaze focused somewhere beyond the trees. “I had my reasons for leaving,” he finally looked at her again. “And my reasons for coming back.”

She couldn’t understand his vagueness, but decided not to push the conversation. Obviously, Noah did not want to talk about his departure from the ranch or why he returned. So, she wrapped her sweater tighter around herself to warm her body and promptly changed the subject. “Texas weather,” she joked. “It’s the only state I know of that can be forty degrees at night and seventy during the day. In November!”

He laughed softly. “Still have that sense of humor, I see.”

“
Humor is important in life. I learned that when I was very young,” she hinted.

By the sparkle in his eye, Amanda knew he understood. “Oh, yes,” he slipped his hands into roomy jacket pockets. “I seem to remember one night when you placed a frog in my date’s purse...were you tryin' to get my attention with your humor then?”

“
Of course! However, my plan backfired. I was hoping you would take me to your parent’s dinner party that night after your date ran away screaming! But when she opened her purse, the frog jumped into a bowl of dip and then on you. So, she stayed and helped wipe the onion dip off your face!”

His husky laugh tickled Amanda’s ears. “How old were you then?”

She thought for a moment, “Twelve, I think.” Holding her breath, she wondered if he would mention the summer when she was fifteen...and the night he kissed her. Her young heart had been so happy. But as quickly as it had soared, it was just as quickly shattered later that evening when she saw Noah holding hands with another girl.

Noah wondered why her beautiful face was suddenly so intent. His gaze caressed her long blond hair, lingering on her smiling lips, then continued over her clothing and the nice figure beneath. She was wearing black pants and a blue shirt with a matching sweater. She had come a long way from the tomboy that used to follow him around! “So tell me, what made you leave the city for a boring life in the country?”

Amanda was a bit disappointed he had steered away from their trip down memory lane. Sighing, she leaned against the fence and spread her arms wide, motioning to the landscape around them. “All of
this
is not boring!” she stared at him in disbelief. “Is that how you feel about the ranch?”

He crossed his arms, propping himself against the fence beside her. “To tell you the truth, I was always dying to leave this place.”

“
And I was always begging to
stay
at summer’s end,” she cocked her head to one side and peered at him curiously. “If you couldn’t wait to leave, then why did you come back?”

He shifted away from her uncomfortably. “I have a proposition for my father. One that I offered him before I left six years ago. He turned me down then, but I hope he’ll reconsider my plan now.”

“
Is this a secret plan or one you can reveal to others?” she teased.

Noah leaned toward her and placed his lips close to her ear. “It
is
a secret, but one I could be persuaded to tell, if you have dinner with me tonight.”

Her knees went weak when Noah’s whisper brushed against her ear and then lingered there before he pulled away. She closed her eyes and forced herself to remain calm. This was not going to happen. She didn’t move to the ranch to start a roller-coaster romance with a man that she wasn’t quite sure she could trust. For a brief moment, she almost wished she was back in Chicago.
But only for a moment
. The ranch was where she belonged, and she wasn’t going to let anything drive her away. Not even old feelings that still burned in her heart for a man she wanted so long ago.

“
I have a lot of work to do tonight, Noah. But thanks,” she took a breath and moved away from him, hoping he didn’t hear the nervous quiver in her voice.