Rescued by the Rancher (5 page)

As she approached Melanie, she noticed how tired she looked. Her skin was pale and she had faint dark circles under her eyes. “Are you feeling okay, Melly?”
Melanie quickly averted her gaze and glanced down at her phone. “Of course. I just had trouble sleeping last night. I predicted a bridal meltdown this morning,” she whispered. But she still wasn’t looking Meredith in the eye. “You know, we really need to get going. Have I told you lately how happy I am that you’re here with me?”

Just like at every other wedding Meredith helped her with, Melanie reached out to give her a hug. And the feeling of warmth and contentment swept through Meredith.

Melanie swung open the door and walked out, ready for the events of the day. Meredith was about to do the same when her phone vibrated in her purse. Her heart thumped painfully and her palms began to sweat. She hesitantly took out her phone and saw Ron’s number. Her fingers shook slightly as she pressed the ignore button and then decided that wasn’t good enough, so she turned her phone off.

What did he want with her? Why now?

Six long hours later, she and Melanie were walking to their parked cars outside the wedding venue. They still had about an hour’s drive to the ranch, and she was grateful that they’d had to take separate cars. She wouldn’t have to pretend that everything was fine in front of Melanie for the drive back. She could alternate her thoughts from Ron to Gage.

And the fact that she didn’t have a solution for either problem.

Chapter Six

“Are you sure I can’t help with dinner, Mrs. Harris?” Meredith was standing in front of the large windows inside the kitchen at Tall Pines. She was trying not to look as though she were dying for a glimpse of Gage. She had gone through Gage withdrawal this last week.

She crossed her arms and squinted against the setting sun. Two male forms in the distance were coming into focus and her heart squeezed, hoping one of them was Gage. They stopped close to the barn, still too far for her to make them out for sure.

“Of course not, my dear. Everything is done, just waiting for those boys to come inside.”

Meredith’s heart stopped and then did a little dance. “Oh, is Gage back then?”

“Yup. Cole went to pick him up. They should be back soon,” Melanie said, walking over to stand beside her. “Much quieter without Gage around here.”

Meredith didn’t turn to look at her. Mel was fishing.

“Well, the chocolate cake certainly lasts a lot longer when that man isn’t here,” Mrs. H said as she placed a large bowl of salad on the table.

“This week flew by. I barely noticed he wasn’t around,” Meredith said, lying.

Melanie laughed. “Merry, you’re still a bad liar.”

She ignored her sister’s comment. “So we’re all ready for tomorrow’s wedding?”

Melanie bumped her shoulder. “Uh, hello, I think I was fishing for info on what’s going on with you and Gage.”

“I know, and I believe I was avoiding and changing the subject.”

Luckily, Cole noticed his wife standing in the window and gave her a smile that even Meredith couldn’t deny was heart-stopping. She should thank Cole, because he’d successfully derailed Melanie’s interrogation.

Meredith swallowed down the lump in her throat when Gage made eye contact with her and gave her a long, slow look and then a grin. She wasn’t going to analyze why the sight of him, his smile, made her feel so happy that she wanted to burst. She felt alive, as though that one smile lit every inch of her body. She wanted to run outside and straight into his arms. Huh. Definitely not part of a one-night stand thing.

“Gage looks happy,” Meredith said. “I guess his trip was a success.”

“Gage always looks happy.” Immediately her mind went to Gage and their night together.

“Do you ever miss him, Merry?”

“Gage? He’s only been gone a few days.”

“No, I mean, Ron,” Melanie said softly.

Meredith turned away from the window to look at her sister. “I miss Ron like I’d miss a poisonous snake wrapped around my neck.”

Her sister laughed. Meredith gasped as she watched Cole shove Gage. And then Gage shoved Cole back.

“Tsk. Those boys. Honestly, sometimes it’s like they are still teenagers. Haven’t changed a bit,” Mrs. H said, hands perched on her wide hips. She said it with a fondness that was unmistakable. She knew Gage never spoke about his life before Tall Pines, and she’d asked Melanie about it, but her sister didn’t seem to know much more, and as much as Cole and Gage acted like family, she knew they weren’t.

The men were almost at the house now, and Meredith couldn’t ignore how striking they were. The sun was almost gone, and dusk settled in and blanketed the mountains and vast terrain in a wild sort of embrace that made Cole and Gage seem like they belonged there. Powerful, free, fearless. It was something she had admired about both men right from the start. It was in them, and it defined who they were, and she knew even if she could never achieve it, it was something she at least wanted to be around. That was the kind of confidence she wanted.

Deep male voices filled the corridor, and then they were both standing in the doorway. Cole was dirty and dusty with a wide grin on his face as Melanie walked over, not caring a bit that she was now going to be filthy, too, as he pulled her in for a long kiss.

“I’m going to wash up before dinner,” Cole said, taking off his hat, and he and Melanie disappeared.

“Better keep the food warm, Mrs. H,” Gage said with a smirk.

“Yes, I think you’re right. Nice to have you back, Gage.”

“Hi, Meredith,” Gage said, his gaze flickering over her. He looked at her as though they were still just friends, which they were. He was keeping his part of the one-night stand agreement.

Mrs. Harris covered the roast and put it back in the oven. “So your trip was a success, and news on—?”

“It was. Thanks. Good to be back. I’ve been dreaming about your food.”

With that compliment, Mrs. Harris inflated like a balloon ready to burst. She walked over and gave him a kiss and a pat on the arm. “I may have also baked a triple chocolate layer cake this afternoon. But right now I need to run to the dining room to get a fancy cake dish,” she called out over her shoulder, already out the door.

Thick silence filled the room after she left. Gage turned to Meredith, this time his eyes not leaving hers. Meredith clasped the back of a chair and fought the urge to run over to him. He leaned against the counter, his arms braced on either side, and she allowed herself a quick, admiring glance, because it was hard not to admire the man, especially since she’d been deprived of all Gage sightings for too long. Now she saw him as so much more than before their night together. Seeing him now made her think about all the words he’d whispered, the feel of his hot, hard flesh against her body.

“I missed you, too, Meredith.”

Her gaze flew up to his face, her cheeks feeling hot, and she tried to look nonchalant. A person who was nonchalant would probably flip their hair over their shoulder. Done. Flip. Small smile. “Oh, right. Yes, it is nice to see you again, Gage. Actually,” she said, pausing, “I barely even noticed you were gone.”
Liar, liar, your Target jeans are on fire.
She had counted every minute since the man left.

A slow, sexy grin broke out onto his face and he pushed himself off the counter. Tall, lean lines, a slight swagger, and he swallowed up the space between them in the kitchen. She tried keeping her serene expression intact as he stood in front of her, and she tilted her head back to look him in the eye. He was going to call her on it.

“You’re lying,” he said with a low, sexy laugh that seemed to strum through her core. His blue eyes twinkled and she crossed her arms defensively.

“I’m not.”

“I can say it. Here, listen. I missed you, Meredith. Every single night I was gone, you were the last image I saw in my mind before I fell asleep, and then when I slept, you were in my dreams. Sweet and sexy, just like the night in my house, and I spent the entire time cursing myself for ever agreeing to just one night with you.” He took a step into her and she forgot how to breathe. He raised his arms, eyes trained on her mouth, until his hands tangled in the hair at the nape of her neck and he leaned down and kissed her. Gage kissed her until she couldn’t think of anything but him, even when everyone else walked back into the room.

…

Gage pushed open the door to Cole’s office, located not too far from the main ranch house. Now that Cole was happily married, he usually didn’t spend all his Saturday nights holed up doing paperwork, so Gage had no idea what he was doing here at eight o’clock at night. He walked past the small reception area that was now dark and empty, and into the back office. Cole was sitting there, head bent, looking over some papers.

“Hey, Gage. Have a seat,” Cole said from behind his late father’s old desk. Gage dropped himself into one of the ancient leather chairs facing Cole. The office was worn and comfortable, filled with history and memories.

Every time he saw Cole behind the desk, he’d think of the first time he walked in this place. It had been Cole’s father behind the desk, and he’d been a scary son of a bitch with a heart of gold. Of course, Gage hadn’t known that at first. The only thing that had registered was the scary part.

Mr. Forrester had picked him up when he’d spotted Gage loitering around downtown Passion Creek, a teenager at the time. The first few times, he hadn’t said a thing, but Gage had felt his stare from inside the coffee shop. Then, the third day it had been raining, a miserable November rain that chilled him from the inside and made him wonder if he’d ever get warm again. Gage had been trying to look like he wasn’t freezing his ass off inside the bus shelter.

Mr. Forrester approached him, his large stature intimidating, authoritative. He asked Gage where he was from, why he wasn’t in school, and if he was a runaway. Gage answered as truthfully as he could, because Cole’s dad wasn’t a man you could lie to easily; his bullshit detector was always on red-alert level. Even from their very first meeting, Gage could sense that about the man.

He remembered being torn between wanting to cry like a baby that someone actually noticed him, and wanting to tell the man to screw off, that he could take care of himself. But as he stood inside the shelter, studying the man, watching the rain drip off his Stetson as he waited for Gage to answer, he decided to take a chance. He made it clear to Mr. Forrester that he had no father, his mother approved of his leaving home, and that
no
, he wasn’t wanted by the police. He wasn’t in school, because, well, he hadn’t settled long enough in a place to register.

Mr. Forrester’s gray brows turned downward into what Gage would learn was his pissed-off-but-worried expression. Then he asked Gage if he wanted to go to school. Gage shrugged, not knowing why this man was asking him more questions than even his mom or stepfather ever had. So Gage told him he was “finding himself” and was going to take the year off school. Mr. Forrester didn’t like that response. He told Gage that “finding yourself” was a lazy person’s justification for taking a significant period off work and not feeling guilty. He told him that Gage had until 5:00 p.m. the next day to figure out if he wanted a job as a ranch hand, room and board, with enough time to attend the local school. Gage watched him leave, thinking the man had a few screws loose.

At 4:59 p.m. the next day, because he was a shit-disturber and he didn’t want to come across as desperate, he strolled into the office at Tall Pines ranch. In reality he was shitting himself thinking that Mr. Forrester might have changed his mind. Instead, the man didn’t look up from his desk, just pointed to papers and a duffel bag. Told him to take them to the bunkhouse, look at them, and be eating breakfast by 4:00 a.m. the next day. And then, just as Gage was leaving, told him not to disappoint him.

Gage walked out of that office, dumbfounded, and was hit by the scene in front of him: the mountains in the distance, the wild terrain, the smell of horses and earth, and the movement, the men, the excitement. He made eye contact with a young man around his age who waved at him before taking off on a horse and disappearing into the terrain. Later, that young man became his best friend—his family.

He hadn’t disappointed Cole’s father. He’d worked his ass off. It was the hardest work he’d ever done in his entire life, and for the first time Gage felt hope, more and more every day, until it replaced most of the anger. Mr. Forrester was the first person to ever have any faith in him, and he was indebted to the man, grew to love him and the entire family as though they were his own. There were still secrets, parts of his past that he hadn’t revealed to any of the Forresters, but no one pressured him.

When Cole’s parents died a few years ago, Gage mourned their loss right along with the rest of the family. Mr. Forrester had been more of a father to him than anyone, and he knew that he’d have never amounted to anything without that man.

Gage stretched out his legs and settled in. “Surprised to see you here on a Saturday night.”

“Mel and Meredith are still at that wedding, so I thought I’d catch up on some paperwork.”

“You don’t know what to do with yourself if your wife isn’t home, do you?”

Cole didn’t even take the bait. Instead, he smiled at him. “This way I can spend all day with her tomorrow.”

A little over a year ago, he’d never imagined his best friend smiling like that. After Cole’s first wife died, he was sure he’d never get over it and would never want to find love again. But then when Cole’s younger sister, Cori, was getting married and hired Melanie to do the wedding planning, he’d fallen for Mel. Hard. Gage had to admit, even though he had to witness countless sappy grins from his friend throughout the day now that he was happily married, he was happy for him. Gage would do anything for Cole and Cori. He was indebted to the Forrester family, and they were the last two standing.

“Also, I needed to double-check everything will be ready for the annual USDA on-site inspection.”

“You know it is. You’ve never been denied. You’re a trusted brand.”

“I know, but it’s still disconcerting. Any little thing can go wrong and I could be denied certification for noncompliance. Soil samples, water, waste…I’ve seen good ranches get denied because of accidental contamination,” he said, running his hands through his hair and leaning back in the chair.

“Don’t worry about it, man. It’ll be fine.” Cole had been a helluva hard worker from the moment he met him. Even though he’d been born into this privileged, thriving ranching business that was generations old, the guy had always given it his all. Even as a teen, he was out there before school, after school, always by his father’s side. Gage felt honored to be let in. When his parents died, it had been Cole to want to take the ranch to the next level, going for the organic labeling.

Gage’s eyes focused on some familiar documents, land surveys, on Cole’s desk. “Is that what I think it is?”

Cole leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the paper-filled surface. “Yes. I know I gave you a hard time over leaving here and finding your own land, but I thought the least I owe you is my opinion on this place.”

Gage’s gut clenched. Cole was the only one who knew about his plans to leave Tall Pines and had been pissed as hell when he’d broached the subject. Last week, Gage dropped off the survey he’d received from the realtor for Cole to look at. It hadn’t been met with open arms. “So what do you think?”