Healing a Cowboy's Heart (Cowboy Dreamin' 2) (20 page)

As
the bell dinged over the door, she glanced up. Nina Young strolled in and took
a seat across from her.

“What’s
this I hear you’re leaving for home today? You still have a good few days left
at the ranch.”

“Hello
to you too, Nina.”
She laughed.

“I’m
not into niceties when my eldest son’s heart is involved.”

Terri
shook her head and glanced over at Ann. “She works fast.”

“Yes,
she does. Good thing I was already in town at the bank and courthouse dealing
with Jeff’s ex this morning when she called.”

Ann
placed a cup of coffee in front of Nina and Terri’s plate in front of her. The
food look fabulous as her stomach rumbled in earnest.

“Go
ahead and eat while we talk.”

“You
mean while you talk?”

“Yes.”
Nina smiled. “I like you, Terri. I like what you do for Jeff. He needs someone
like you in his life.”

“He
doesn’t want me in his life. He’s told me as much.”

“He
doesn’t know what he needs or wants.”

“And
you do?”

“Yes.
Ann told me what you did for us. I want to tell Jeff.”

“Please
don’t.”

“He
needs to know he can trust you. You saved our ranch.”

“He
can’t trust me. He knew all along what I was doing and he chose to believe the
worst in me…in all women.”

“Damn
his ex-wife.”

“She
did a number on him, yes, but it doesn’t explain everything.”

“You’ve
heard she left him on their wedding night to party with her friends and didn’t
return for two days?”

Terri
nodded as she took another bite of her omelet.

“Well
the part most people don’t know except me and his father is that he found her
with another man.”

“Seriously?”

“Two
days into their marriage, she cheated on him. In fact, at first we didn’t know
whether Ben was Jeff’s or someone else’s. Why he didn’t leave her ass the
minute he caught her cheating, I don’t know except he was in love with her.”

“He’s
a lot more patient and loving than any man I’ve known.”

“You
know he loves you, right?”

Her
stomach flipped over. “No he doesn’t.”

“He’s
been nothing but a bear this morning.
Slamming things.
Cussing up a storm.
When I asked him what was wrong,
he told me you were gone and you weren’t coming back.” She shook her head. “The
sadness in his eyes tore at my heart. Yes, he’s angry because he feels like you
betrayed him and us, but we both know you didn’t. He needs to know the details
of what happened so he can realize his feelings for you are genuine.”

“I
don’t want him to know.”

“You
don’t care about him?”

“I
care too much for him.”

“I
don’t think anyone can care too much.”

Terri
shook her head and glanced down at her plate. “Please, Nina. Let it go.”

“All
right.
I will because you’ve asked me to, but I think
you’re making a big mistake.”

“It
wouldn’t be the first time.” She finished her meal and pushed the plate out of
the way. “I’ll be leaving for home in a couple of hours. I’ll be back to the
ranch to get my stuff.”

“I
wish you would talk to Jeff.”

“I
know, but it’s not meant to be.”

The
bell tinkled as another couple came in. “Hey, Ma!”

“Oh
my.
I didn’t realize you two were coming back today!”
Nina stood and hugged them both before she turned around to face Terri again.
“Terri, this is my son Joel and his new bride Mesa. They just returned from
their honeymoon.”

“It’s
nice to meet you.” She noticed immediately the blue eyes and identical features
to Jason and Joshua. “So you’re the third in the triplets.”

“Yeah.”
Joel laughed before he put his arm around the cute woman next to him. The love
they shared shone bright in both their gazes.

“I’ve
met everyone on the ranch but you.”

“You’re
staying on the ranch?”

“Only
until this afternoon.
I’m headed home to Houston.”

“Too
bad.
I would have like to get to know you,” Mesa added.

Ann
walked up and kissed both of them on the cheek. “Aren’t they so cute together?”

“Stop,
Ann.”
The crimson coloring staining Joel’s cheeks made Terri
laugh.

“I’m
trying to convince her to stay longer. She’s been seeing Jeff.”

“What?”
Joel’s face registered his shock with wide eyes and an open mouth. “Jeff? I
didn’t think he liked women anymore.”

“Well
he likes Terri or did until last night. They had a fight.”

“It
wasn’t really a fight, Nina.”

“A
misunderstanding then.”

“You
should stick around and try to work things out,” Mesa said. “He’s really not a
bad guy once you get to know him.”

“I
think she knows him pretty well.”

“Ah.”
Mesa smiled a knowing little grin.

Heat
rose in Terri’s cheeks.

“Well,
we’re heading home.” Joel took Mesa’s hand. “We just happened to see the ranch
truck here on our way back from the airport.”

“I’ll
see you at home then.” Nina stood and grabbed Terri’s check as Mesa and Joel
waved goodbye. “Breakfast is on me.”

“No,
it’s not. I’ve got it.”

“Nonsense.
I ruined your breakfast with talk so I’ll pay for it. Ann, is that her total?”
She shoved a twenty dollar bill at Ann along with the ticket.

“Thank
you. You really didn’t have to buy my meal.”

“It’s
the least I can do. I’ll see you back at the ranch too.” She hugged Terri.
“Think about what I said, honey. He does love you and I think you love him too,
but you two have some talking to do.”

“I
will.”

Nina
left with a wave of her hand as the bell tinkled on the door.

Terri
felt lost. She’d become such a part of the family and life on the ranch in the
several days she’d spent there, she didn’t want to leave. She finished her
coffee and stood. No time like the present. Getting her stuff and hitting the
road sounded like a great idea, although the possibility of running into Jeff
soured her stomach. She didn’t want to deal with him and the hateful looks he’d
be giving her, but it wasn’t to be helped. Hopefully he’d be busy and wouldn’t
even know she’d been there and gone.

“Thanks
for everything, Ann. You’ve been a great help.”

“You’re
welcome, sweetie. I hope you and Jeff work things out.”

“I
don’t think we will, but thank you for the sentiment.”

Terri
grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Might as well get this over with.

Chapter
Twelve

Terri
inhaled on a sigh as she drove through the gate of the ranch. Longhorns grazed
in the distance to the left in the open area. Birds flocked from one of the
juniper trees as she drove by, clouding the sky with their mass. Gravel
crunched under the tires of her car. The sunlight filtered through the puffy
white clouds overhead. The main lodge house came into view along with the small
cabins to the right, which included hers.
Her little home
away from home.
She closed her eyes for a moment hoping the burn of
tears would go away before she had to face packing her stuff for the trip back
to Houston. The big city didn’t feel like home anymore. The slow pace of life
here on the ranch felt more like family than anything she’d ever experienced.

When
she opened her eyes she caught movement by the barn. A cowboy stood leaning
against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and a black cowboy
hat shading his eyes. Jeff.
Damn
. She’d
really hoped she wouldn’t see him, but it was almost as if he’d been waiting
for her to show up, watching for her car or something.

The
ache in her chest made her rub the spot over her sternum. She hoped she wasn’t
having a heart attack or something.
Yeah,
more like heartache.

He
didn’t move. Just stood there watching with lips firmed in a straight line. She
couldn’t see his eyes, but the slash of his lips told her he wasn’t happy.

She
stepped from her car, slamming the door behind her firmly. This wouldn’t take
long, she hoped, and she’d be on her way back to her life.

With
her back ramrod straight, she headed for the front of the cabin, keeping an eye
on the man in her peripheral vision. He never moved. She couldn’t even tell if
he blinked. The concentration on his face never changed.

She
opened the door to her cabin to glance inside. Nothing had changed. Her clothes
still hung in the small closet. Her suitcase still sat open on the dresser
waiting for her to put her clothes in it. Her computer sat on the desk right
where she’d left it when she’d sent the report off to the wildlife committee
the day before.

Jeff
had changed her life irrevocably, but still life went on. How she would move on
without him, she wasn’t sure, but she had to. He didn’t want her. The trust was
gone and if she learned one thing about Jeffery Young, when you lost his trust,
you lost everything.

She
exhaled sharply as she shut the door. Tears formed, burning her eyelids as they
trickled down her face. She would miss this place. Maybe someday she would come
back for a visit, but then again no. Seeing him again would tear out her heart.

A
knock sounded on the door. Did she dare answer it? Jeff? She hoped not. She
didn’t think she could face him right now. She bit her lip as the knock sounded
again.

“I
know you’re in there, Terri. Open the door.”

It
was him.

“Leave
me alone, Jeff. Haven’t you done enough?”

“I
want to talk to you.”

“You
made it perfectly clear we were done last night.”

“Open
the door or I’ll bust it down.”

“Fine.”
She grumbled under her breath about stubborn-ass men as she opened the door.
Damn it
. He looked almost good enough to
eat in his cowboy finery. He made even dirty boots and jeans look damn good.
“What do you want?”

He
pushed his way inside the room and closed the door. “You’re leaving?”

She
looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Of course, I’m leaving. You told me to.
My work here is done. The developers got their report.”

“And?”

“And
what?”

“What
are they planning to do with it?”

Apparently
Nina hadn’t told him…yet. Terri paced the room, hoping for something, but she
didn’t know what. Did he want her to stay? Did he really love her like Nina
suggested? His words sounded clipped and fraught with anger. “I don’t know.
They weren’t happy with my results. I’m sure they plan on getting another
opinion, but it won’t matter. Things won’t change.”

“What
did you tell them?”

“I
can’t divulge my findings.”

“So
this is it?”

“This
is what, Jeff? What are you asking me? Last night you said you wanted me gone.
I’m going. What else is there?”

“Nothin’
I guess.”

“Exactly.
There’s nothing between us. There’s nothing left to say.”

“I
guess this is goodbye then.”

“Yeah.”
She wiped her face, not realizing tears still streaked her cheeks until his
eyes narrowed. “Tell Ben goodbye for me.”

“I
will.”

“He’s
a great kid, Jeff. Take care of him.”

“I
will.”

“I
hope things work out with Misha. It would be great if she would disappear from
his life, but I have a feeling you’ll be dealing with her for the rest of
yours.”

“You
didn’t hear?”

“Hear
what?”

“The
paramedics found her dead in her house this morning. The initial diagnosis was
cardiac arrest from overdose.”

“Wow,
really?”

“Yeah.
I haven’t told Ben yet. I’m not sure how to tell him.”

“Just
be up front with him. I’m sure he’ll miss her.”

“Yeah.
I never wished her dead even though she was a pain in my ass.”

Terri
stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She needed to feel his
heat one more time before she walked out of his life forever. Jeff returned the
hug. They stood that way for several minutes as she fought the return of her
tears. “Give him a hug for me,” she whispered.