The Rancher's Second Chance (12 page)

Melanie jumped and turned around to see Cole standing beside her. If she could have inhaled his face, she would have. Of course, that would have been highly inappropriate. But the man, after a long day’s work, was even more appealing than freshly shaven. His hair was all mussed up and dark stubble traced the strong lines of his face. Cole Forrester was more appetizing than a triple-layer chocolate cake infused with rum and dripping with icing.

“Hi.”

“So what was up with the big disappearing act the other morning?”

She squinted up at the lights in the trees, pretending to focus. She had totally bailed, leaving a lame note about how she needed to catch up on work, but there had been no choice. Just hearing her father’s name on Cole’s lips had made her ill. There was no solution to this problem other than avoiding him until the wedding was over. What could she have done? She couldn’t tell Cole anything about Anderson Food. He’d looked so…excited. No, she wasn’t about to ruin this for him; she had no right.

“Like I said in the note, I was behind on work. I had to call those brides and explain what happened because of the storm and then some details for Cori’s wedding this week.”

“Bull, Mel, I happen to think you got scared about us.”

“Us?”

He took a step closer, leaned down, and whispered in her ear. “And me being hotter than you ever thought.”

She closed her eyes, the image of her hands on his body taunting her. “I told you I would blame that on the vast quantities of alcohol I was served at this ranch.”

She crossed her arms and pulled her hat down lower on her head. “It’s freezing out here, too cold to stand here debating whether—”

“Then let’s go inside.”

“I can’t. I’m here to see how the lighting installation went. And I’m glad I did. This is horrible,” she said, pointing to the trees. On two of the trees, lights dangled in certain spots instead of hugging the branches tightly. Luckily, that distracted him.

“Can you call them out here to fix it?”

“Sure, but I was thinking I might just climb the tree and fix it myself. It can’t be that hard. It’s only two trees.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I have my riding boots on. I’ll be fine.”

He closed his eyes for a moment and his jaw clenched a few times. “You can’t climb a tree, Mel.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because you could barely walk up to the cabin without breaking your ankle. No way in hell will you be able to climb a tree, fix the lights, and then get back down without flipping onto the ground like a pancake.”

“Pancake? I don’t like that,” she said poking at his shoulder. Even through his coat she could feel the hard muscle underneath. And she remembered exactly how he looked, too. She focused on her reprimand. “You tripped on the same branch. Frankly, I could blame you for that entire ankle debacle. What kind of guy doesn’t warn—”

“A guy that was preoccupied by how good it felt to hold your hand.”

The man could charm the pants off her. Actually, he had almost done that.

“Oh, man, move over,” he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her over to the side of the driveway. Melanie squinted against the strong headlights beaming at them as a pickup tore up the driveway. She jumped as the horn blared twice before the truck disappeared around the corner of the ranch house.

“Idiot had his high beams on,” Cole muttered.

“Was that Gage?”

He nodded.

“Was that a woman in his truck?”

“Yeah, it’s Tuesday night.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s his Tuesday pickup.”

“Oh,” she said, dread pitting in her stomach. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “That sounds so premeditated. You don’t engage in these…Tuesday-night pickups, do you?”

“I’m trying to engage in one right now.”

She burst out laughing.

“That wasn’t supposed to elicit laughter.”

“Sorry.”

“Right. Why don’t you come inside, warm up, and then call the lighting guys?”

“No, no. I really want to get this done myself.” She knew exactly what was going to happen if she went inside with him. The closer she got to Cole, the harder it would be to walk away. And she would have to walk away, especially if was going to be working with her father in any sort of capacity.

“You’re not getting in that tree.”

“Someone has to. Don’t you have someone who could get up there for me? What about one of your guys? Surely a cowboy could.”

“No one on this ranch is going to risk their neck climbing up an icy tree, Mel. Not happening.”

…

Twenty minutes later, perched on a tree branch Cole was cursing loudly. Melanie put on her sweetest smile and waved when he looked down.

“That’s perfect, Cole! You can climb down now!”

“Thanks,” he muttered. Melanie held her breath as he slowly scaled down the massive tree trunk and then clapped when he landed on the ground soundly. She would never tell him how impressed she was that he’d done that. Or how good he’d looked. Nope.

“Your sister is going to be so happy.”

“All right, well, now you have to come inside,” he said, holding out his hand.

Her gaze darted to the house and then to his hand. Her heart missed a few beats. “Okay, but just for a bit. And no whiskey or hot chocolate,” she said, slipping her hand into his as they walked. The feel of his large hand wrapped around hers was electrifying and comforting at the same time.

“Mrs. H is in town, so no chance of that happening.”

“Good for her. Out with friends?”

“Uh, I don’t know. She was mumbling something about needing to buy some treats for a show she watches on Sunday nights.” Once they reached the porch, he opened the front door and waited for her to pass through.

“I just love her,” she said, walking inside. He took their coats and tossed them on the front bench. The house was quiet and the lighting dim. As happy as she was that Cole was interested in her, she knew this would lead to problems for the both of them. The other night needed to remain in the past. Now that her father was in the picture, she needed to tread very carefully.

“Why don’t I light a fire?”

She opened her mouth to say no, but when she looked into his brown eyes, found herself unable to. “Cole, I don’t know what we’re doing,” she whispered.

He frowned slightly and crossed the room to stand a few inches from her. His clean scent filled her, pulled at her. “We don’t have to figure things out. This doesn’t have to be complicated. We’re just enjoying each other’s company. How about that?”

He was looking at her in a way that made her think he understood her on some level. Maybe that was it. Maybe Cole did understand. After all, he was the one trying to get over losing his wife. “Okay,” she said finally. “Sounds good.”

“Then why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll get us something to eat?”

“Thanks, but I had dinner.”

“A snack,” he called out, already heading down the hallway.

“No alcohol,” she said to his retreating figure. She wandered over to the row of floor-to-ceiling bookcases, idly admiring the different ornaments and photographs. She’d always loved their family pictures. Everyone was smiling. All the time. Real smiles. She focused in on a picture of Cole standing with his father on the front porch. Father and son looked very much alike and they shared the same brown eyes. Her hand tightened around the black, wooden frame. How different their upbringing had been. She’d hated knowing that her eyes were the same color as her father’s. To Cole, it must have been a source of pride.

“Oh God, not the teenage pictures,” Cole said with a groan as he walked up to her.

She forced a smile and turned to him. He placed a platter of crackers, cheese, and fruit on a side table. “I’m impressed,” she said with a nod in the direction of the tray.

“Don’t be. Mrs. H left it for me in the fridge.” She passed him the picture in her hands and watched as a smile played on his lips. “This picture was taken right before I got my driver’s license. I almost didn’t get it because the night before I had taken one of the ranch pickups out for a spin without telling my father.”

“What did he do?”

“He was pissed as hell,” he said with a chuckle. “But he let me take the test and then didn’t let me drive for two weeks.”

Melanie forced her smile and the innocence of the comment to remain, even though it triggered memories of her adolescence and upbringing. She never would have even contemplated doing something like that. And the punishment would have been disastrous.

Cole put the picture back on the shelf. “Hey, you okay, Mel?”

Melanie tried to blink away the image of her father and focus on the handsome man beside her. This man was nothing like her father. She nodded. “I’m fine, just tired. Long day.”

He tugged her over to the sofa and she sat down beside him. “Did you manage to get through to your clients?”

“I did and was lucky. They both rescheduled.”

He handed her a plate with an assortment of food from the tray. “That’s great.”

“Thanks,” she said. Her father never would have prepared a plate of anything for her mother. He would have sat and waited, and then if her mother picked the wrong cheese or the wrong cracker would have chastised her.

“Why does it feel like you’re a million miles away tonight?”

She drew a deep breath and turned toward him. She didn’t know what to say, or why all these memories kept popping into her head. It must be the fact that she knew Cole was doing business with him, and she knew her father was either in town or coming to town this week. But how could she tell Cole any of this? She was saved having to give him a fake answer when his cell phone buzzed.

“Shoot. Hold on, I need to check if this is Adam or Cori.”

“Oh I hope it’s good news.”

“Dammit. Not them. But I need to take this. I’m sorry, it’ll be quick, okay?”

She nodded.

“Phillip? How are you? Absolutely. I can have my foreman available, and we’ll see you at the ranch at nine o’clock.”

Melanie spilled her plate of food and cursed herself.
Get it together. And get out of here.

“Here, let me help you, sweetheart.” The tenderness in his voice made tears sting the back of her eyes. How was it possible her father still had this hold on her life?

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Cole, I’m sorry I’m really out of it tonight. It’s been a long day, and I think I should just get back to town.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

He nodded, standing. “You want to go, Mel. I’m not going to force you to stay here. I’m also not going to let this end. I know what happened the other night is scaring the crap out of you for some reason and I’m not going to push you. But I’m not going to walk away from this either. I’ll wait for you.”

Chapter Nine

Melanie stared at the numbers on her spreadsheet, wishing somehow that numbers did lie. This was the year her business needed to make a big jump in profit. Year five was supposed to be an important year for a small business. If she didn’t have the business loans and student debt, she’d be turning a healthy profit. Realistically, it would take her at least two more years of serious scrimping and saving.

She leaned back in her chair, twirling her pen between her fingers. She could cut the part-time help, put in more hours herself. She leaned forward and adjusted her numbers again to see how much of a difference that would make. Not bad. Really what she needed was a partner. Someone who’d be willing to work for crappy pay with the promise that one day the business would be profitable. Not profitable—very successful. She needed to keep focused on that. Despite the lack of cash flow, her business was on its way to being a huge success.

She needed her sister. Meredith was the one with the head for numbers. Melanie had always been the more artistic, creative type. Together they would have been able to make this something huge. She glanced at the display on her phone again. She hadn’t heard back from Meredith. On her way to work she kept looking for any sign of her or their father, but so far nothing.

Her other problem, of course, was the handsome cowboy and his surprising connection to her father. What were the odds that Cole’s deal was with her father? Everything about him was perfect. And she was running away from it, because of her father. I’ll wait for you. Those words and his face had played in her dreams the entire night.

She looked up startled as the chime to her store rang.

The sound of feminine voices and laughter wafted through the quiet store, and Melanie remembered who it was. How could she have forgotten her meeting with her friends, Piper and Kira? Piper owned Silver Bells and Cockle Shells and Kira owned All Fired Up, a pottery studio, both in downtown Passion Creek. The three had first met for business, but friendships formed and they now got together whenever they could. Melanie was glad for the distraction.

“Hey, girls,” she said, rising to walk over to them. She forced an extra-chipper smile on her face, knowing how astute these two were at reading her expressions.

Once they were all settled in chairs, coffees in hand, she looked at the favors they’d brought for Cori’s wedding. Melanie inhaled sharply at the stunning silvered tea-light holders Piper had created. “These are so perfect. Just perfect. They’ll all go on the altar, between the silver buckets of roses and then at the reception.”

Piper leaned forward in her chair. “I’m thrilled you love them. Not that I’m complaining about the business, but kind of curious they’d want seashells for a winter wedding, isn’t it?”

“The groom proposed on the beach in the Caribbean, so it’s a sentimental addition to the decor,” she said with a smile.

Melanie poked her head into the bag Kira brought. “I’ve been dying to see these,” she whispered, carefully pulling out a small pot from Kira’s pottery studio.

“What do you think? Do you like them?”

Melanie took a deep breath as she held the pot in her hand. “Kira, this is exactly what I wanted.” She tried not to get choked up at the significance. Cole was going to be touched by the gesture. Cori planned on surprising him with it.