The Rancher's Second Chance (16 page)

“Are you planning on telling me what this test was?”

Her cheeks turned pink, and she darted her eyes away from him, looking like she was nervous. He settled himself back into the cushions, laced his fingers together, and put his hands behind his head. This was going to be good.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he raised his index finger. There was something he needed to know. “Wait. Can you tell me if you gave Tiny Tim the test? And if so, whether or not he passed?”

She huffed and crossed her arms. “No.”

He smiled. “He failed, huh?”

“No, I didn’t give him the test.”

He frowned. “Why not?”

She looked up at the ceiling, arms still crossed, but now she was tapping a foot. “Because I knew he would pass. Tim got an automatic A.”

He rolled his eyes. “Did I uh…?” He ran his hand over his mouth. “Did I pass?”

She nodded, but it almost looked like she wasn’t pleased he passed. He ignored the feeling of relief that coursed through him. “So what was the test?”

“It was to measure your reaction.”

He frowned. “To what?”

“To
me
royally pissing
you
off.”

“Was this an ongoing test? Like from the day you arrived at the ranch?”

Her mouth dropped open. “What? No!”

He nodded. “Oh, so when you refused to get on a horse, or decided to take up exotic dancing, those weren’t part of the test?”

She was frowning at him again. “No.”

“Okay. So just the Tiny Tim thing.”

She nodded. “When Meredith and I were younger we’d dream up the perfect man. Looks, profession, personality. Anyway, we decided that any man worthy of our lo—affection would have to perform and pass one simple test.”

“So, you taking me to the Happy Cow was your attempt to make me angry.”

She nodded.

“And what did you think I was going to do?”

She shrugged slightly and ducked her head into the wineglass. “I didn’t know.”

The humor of the situation was rapidly dying and a sick feeling was trickling down his spine. “Why would you have ever thought to come up with a test like that?”

She clasped her hands together, put down her wineglass, and focused her eyes on the window behind him. “Because of our father,” she said in a cold voice. It wasn’t one he’d heard from her, but he noticed her stiff posture, the way her arms were tightly folded in front of her.

When she didn’t say anything he probed. “He wasn’t the easy going type?” He hoped to God it was that, that the man was just not approachable. Or stiff.

She shrugged. “It was a little more than that.”

He wanted to walk over to her, or pull her onto his lap, anything that would make her feel safe enough to tell him whatever it was she’d been holding back. “Like what, sweetheart?”

Tears flooded her eyes the second he said sweetheart, and he knew all of this, Melanie, meant a hell of a lot more to him than he ever would have thought, because his body ached at the sight of her tears. He ached with the need to make everything right for her. “You can tell me anything.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment and then took a deep breath. “He was always someone we feared. You learn at a young age who the safe people are. He wasn’t one of them. When he was upset about even the slightest thing he would go into this tyrannical rage. He had everyone in the house so tightly wound that even the possibility of being one minute late would send my mother in full-on panic mode. He was obsessed with keeping up appearances. Everything he did was some obsessive attempt to be the best. He controlled everything. There were no hugs; kisses were a formality. We were cast aside, really. We were probably the only kids at that boarding school who were ecstatic to be away from home.”

She turned to smile at him, a feeble attempt at making it look like this story wasn’t as god-awful as it sounded. He remembered her coming over to spend the weekend with Cori. She always seemed so at peace at their house, following Mrs. Harris around the kitchen. No wonder.

“Anyway, there was this really important invitation my family had. It was to spend the weekend at some resort with a few other families. The host was the owner of some huge corporate restaurant chain and my father really needed to impress them. He would hound us about everything. If we were up to date on current events, pop culture, how to respond to certain questions, how to greet people, if we knew the whose-who. The list went on and on. Sounds crazy, right?” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shot him a sad smile.

“It sounds horrible,” he said, his voice rough. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and make them both feel better. He had no idea her family had been like this. “So what happened at the resort?”

She looked away and stared at the window, but when she turned back to him, something changed in her expression. “It wasn’t that bad. You know, I don’t want to spend the night talking about my dysfunctional family. You got us this great takeout; why don’t we just enjoy it?”

Cole dragged his hands through his hair. He felt as though she’d just chucked a bottle of ice water on him. He had thought they were getting somewhere, that all the little pieces of Mel that didn’t quite add up would finally be sorted. He turned, watching silently as she sat down, yanked the plate of cold food onto her lap, and began cutting her steak. “You’re kidding me, Mel?”

She shoved a forkful of meat into her mouth. “You are right; tempeh burgers aren’t even in the same realm as this.”

He took the plate off her lap and placed it on the table. “Don’t do this.”

She ignored him and reached for the plate. “I’m hungry.”

“No, you’re hiding.”

She lifted her wineglass and finished the contents. “Tell me about Sarah.”

He stared at her, wondering what the hell was going on. He thought he knew women. He thought he understood them, so why she’d bring up Sarah, now, was beyond him. “Why do you want to know about Sarah now?”

She shrugged. “Okay, why don’t you tell me more about this deal you’re negotiating?”

He frowned. The last thing he wanted to discuss was business, no matter how happy he was about the deal he’d put together. “I know you think you’re clever because of the whole test thing, but you’re not fooling me.” His attempt at gentle teasing earned him a slight smile that only made him more certain she was holding onto something big.

His iPhone vibrated loudly on the wooden coffee table. Melanie looked relieved at the interruption. The display lit up and from where he was sitting he could see Cori’s picture. “It’s Cori,” he whispered, tapping the screen to answer her call. Relief coursed through him as his sister’s voice filled the other end of the line. He ended the call a moment later.

“Cori’s at the airport. Want to come back to the ranch with me?”

She nodded, jumping off the sofa. “Absolutely.—”

He stood and gently grasped her wrist. She stopped and turned to him. “This conversation isn’t over. Tomorrow or the next day or however long it takes. You’re going to let me in, Melanie.”

Chapter Twelve

“That’s Cori,” Cole said, his gaze darting from hers to the window. They were in the great room at the ranch. Cole had been pacing for the last ten minutes. He ran down the hallway and whipped open the front door, pausing to wait for her to go through. They both ran down the porch steps as Adam emerged from the car. Seconds later Cori slowly came out, Adam helping her. Cole ran out to the car. He wrapped Cori in his arms and Melanie smiled. There was no doubt he was the doting older brother. She rubbed her arms, feeling cold. How she missed her time with Meredith. The hugs, the familial ties, the memories that could only come from growing up together.

She walked over and Cori made eye contact with her, withdrawing from Cole’s arms. Adam was busy retrieving the luggage from the trunk.

“How are you, sweetie?” she asked, giving her friend a big hug. Cori looked pale and fragile. “Wiped. I can’t believe I’m getting married in two days,” she whispered. Melanie heard the exhaustion in her voice, and she hoped that was all.

“You should get inside and rest,” Cole said, putting his arm around her.

“That sounds great,” she whispered. “So, you two manage to get along okay for all the last-minute wedding details?”

Melanie knew her face was bright red, and she couldn’t even look at Cole. She hoped to God he’d answer on her behalf.

“Absolutely. Don’t you worry about a thing. Mrs. H has soup simmering on the stove for you and fresh biscuits.”

Mrs. H’s squeal cut him off, and they looked up to see her in the doorway of the house. Cori gave her a little wave. “So good to be home,” she said and Cole helped her up the steps. Seconds later Mrs. H was fussing over and enveloping her in a motherly embrace.

“My poor child. You are to sit on the couch. I’ll put a nice warm blanket around you, and then I’m going to feed you. You are not to move until you go up to bed,” she said, wrapping an arm around Cori and ushering her into the house.

They followed along with Adam who set the luggage down on the front rug.

“Adam, I’ll get you some food as well—”

“Thanks, Mrs. Harris, but I’ll just bring our stuff upstairs and return a few phone calls while you all fuss over Cori. Cori, darling, you okay?”

Cori smiled at him and nodded while Cole stood in the doorway frowning.

“I can help you with those, Adam,” Cole said. Melanie watched the two men leave the room and tried not to laugh at Cole’s attempt at being nice. Melanie followed Mrs. H and Cori into the great room. “I’ll help her get settled, Mrs. H. Why don’t you get her the soup?”

Mrs. Harris nodded in agreement and bustled out of the room. Melanie helped her friend settle on the couch and placed a wool throw around her legs. She sat down beside her. This was one of those times that she realized how different her life had been. How cold her parents had been compared to other families. The way everyone was fussing and doting over Cori was the way family should be. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Melanie said, sitting next to her.

Cori turned to smile at her, but it looked strained. “Thanks for everything. I know my brother isn’t the easiest to work with.”

A gush of heat infused her face and she tried to look normal. “Oh it was fine. Not a problem. Everything is ready to go. All you have to do is show up, honey.”

Seconds later Mrs. Harris was appearing with a bed tray filled with steaming soup and warm biscuits. “Here you go, my dear,” she said, settling the tray on Cori’s lap.

“I’ve had this simmering all day,” she said, fussing until she was sure everything was perfect. She stood until Cori took the first spoonful and sighed.

“This is heaven,” she said after swallowing. “Thank you, Mrs. H.”

The elderly woman rushed out of the room after hanging around to make sure Cori took more than a few spoons of the soup. Once she was gone, Melanie turned to Cori.

“So everything went okay with the surgery?”

Cori’s spoonful of soup stopped halfway to her mouth. “It went as good as can be expected for a ruptured appendix.” She said it so matter-of-factly that it took a moment for the problem to register.

“Oh no, they couldn’t remove it in time?”

Cori took another spoonful of soup and shook her head. “No, it was too late.”

Melanie frowned, worried as her friend slowly stopped eating. “But that’s fine, right? I mean, you hear about this all the time, right?”

“It is. I am making a great recovery. But, um, the doctor told us when there’s a ruptured appendix, it can affect your fertility.”

Melanie took a deep breath. “You don’t know that. It doesn’t happen to everyone, right?”

“Right. You’re right,” she said, nodding.

Melanie watched her friend closely. “And Adam? What did he say?”

Cori sighed. “He was great. My rock. He said whatever happens, happens, and we’ll face it together.”

Melanie didn’t say anything, but she knew that Cori had the look of a woman who was thoroughly loved. Very different from Meredith’s expression the other night when she spoke of her fiancée.

“So let’s talk about you. When I called the house to tell Mrs. H I was arriving home, she said something about Cole being out with you?”

Melanie nodded slowly, trying to come up with a reason she would be out with Cole. She and Cole had never discussed saying anything to his family about them, not that there even was a them. What was she thinking? That was it. She was probably overthinking. She was the first woman since Sarah. A man like that didn’t just settle for the first woman who came his way.

“He had to help me out with some of the wedding planning.”

She curled her legs under her, and Melanie helped her settle back against the cushions. “My brother?”

Melanie’s heartbeat quickened. “Yes, he was really quite accommodating.”

Cori frowned. “Again, just to be clear, we’re talking about Cole?”

Melanie nodded rapidly and then forced a smile on her face. “Enough about that. We need to get you strong. We’ve got a wedding the day after tomorrow.” She jumped to her feet. “I should really place a few calls to make sure everyone is good to go. Did you notice the lights on the trees outside?”

“No, but I know everything will be gorgeous, Mel.”

“I wish all my clients were like you,” she said with a laugh, turning around to look at her friend again. “Why don’t I help you upstairs so you can rest? Do you think you can sleep?”

Cori nodded. “I feel like I could sleep for days actually.”

“You poor thing,” Melanie said, taking her friend’s tray and resting it on the coffee table. She bent down and helped Cori off the sofa and the two of them slowly made their way up the stairs. “I think Mrs. H or Cole would have my head if they knew I was transporting you without their help,” she whispered.

Cori smiled. “I know. And I didn’t finish all the soup, which would be a lecture for sure.”

Melanie opened her friend’s bedroom door and smiled. Mrs. Harris had already drawn the bedcovers and fresh flowers and a glass of water were waiting on the bedside table. “Oh, is Mrs. H the best or what?”

Cori climbed into bed with a groan. “I know. She’s a lifesaver.”