The Taylor Ranch: Cade

Evernight
Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2014 Vanessa
Devereaux

 
ISBN: 978-1-77233-051-9

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor:
JC
Chute

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All
names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

For Jeff

THE TAYLOR RANCH: CADE

Big Sky
County, 2

Vanessa
Devereaux

Copyright © 2014

Chapter One

Cade
Mallory rarely paid attention to gossip, which most of the time fell into one
of two categories: either downright lies, or something that was in fact true,
but became embellished as it passed from one pair of lips to another. Current
tales circulating Pine Creek included Jacob Mead being in the Witness
Protection Program… Ida Smith and Henry Morgan thinking about running away
together…
Ellie Jones carrying a baby that wasn’t her
husband’s.
However, there was one that had to be true, because he had
proof of it in front of his very eyes.

The
love of his life, April Dubois, was really back in town.

Cade
sat in his truck, as spellbound as he’d been the first time he’d set eyes on
her five years ago.
 
He slipped on his
dark glasses, and was halfway to opening the truck door so he could say hello, when
he suddenly stopped. The last time they’d seen one another...well, it hadn’t
ended well.

He
shut the door and leaned on the steering wheel, watching her load bags of
groceries into a truck. Even from this distance he could tell that she’d gained
weight again, which was a good thing because she’d been obsessed with staying
slim since ‘he who should not be spoken of’ had walked into her life. No––Ben
Parker didn’t walk. He strolled. No sign of Ben now though, which was lucky, because
the green-eyed monster had never been entirely put to rest.

Maybe
the weight gain was due to a pregnancy, and she’d come home to have her baby in
Big Sky County where she’d grown up.
Where she truly belonged
.
No, she couldn’t be pregnant
because the rumor mill would have picked up on that one immediately. Either
that or the news hadn’t reached him yet.

He
watched as she shut the back of her truck and then walked into the drugstore next
to Pine Creek’s one and only grocery store. He had other things to do besides waiting
for her to come back out, but he wouldn’t think of leaving just yet. He shook
his head. She’d always had him under her magical spell, and he guessed the
passing of time hadn’t changed a thing.

Five
minutes later, she walked out of the drugstore and headed back to her vehicle.
He had his binoculars somewhere in the truck. He’d take a quick look at her up
close because for all her knew this might be the one and only time he’d see her
again. Cade pushed his extra pair of cowboy boots aside and reached out until
his fingertips met with the edge of the binocular’s strap. He pulled them toward
him and hoped she hadn’t gotten into her car just yet, because he wanted to see
her up close. He was in luck, as when he turned back she was chatting with some
lady on the sidewalk.

Putting
the binoculars up to his eyes, Cade realized he was spying on April and was
about to ogle some other man’s wife. However, it would be his little secret.

Crouching
lower in the seat, he refocused the lens, allowing him to zoom in on her. She
still spoke with her hands, which no doubt had been her French grandfather’s
influence. No ring on the third finger of the left hand. No wedding band, no
engagement ring, and that thing had been hard to miss. It had burned into his
brain night after night.

Slowly
aiming the binoculars up to her face, his heart skipped a beat. She was just as
pretty. No, that wasn’t true––now that she was older, she’d turned into a beautiful
woman. She still took his breath away. He was hooked all over again and he knew
how stupid it was. April was married to another man and she’d never be his.

She
looked his way. Looked directly at his truck, as if she knew she was being
spied upon and that Cade Mallory was the one doing the spying.

Shit.

He
threw the binoculars down on the passenger seat and ran his hand through his
hair.

She
was heading his way. Now what would he do? What did a man say to the woman who
had captured his heart and then broken it?

He
couldn’t think of a single thing, and for that reason, he turned on the
ignition, pressed his foot down on the gas pedal and took off, leaving smoke
billowing from both back wheels.

****

April
still couldn’t believe that it was Cade who she’d spotted while she’d been in
town running errands. He’d seen her too, she knew he had, but he’d taken off
like his truck was on fire before she could talk to him. Pretty damn rude of
him to cover her in dirty smoke, like he had.

Rude.
I shouldn’t be the one accusing him of that.
Cade, of all people.

If
she’d known he was back in Pine Creek…

She
glanced outside, seeing her father head into the stables. She needed to talk
with him. She hurried outside and across the courtyard, hoping to catch him
before he got on his horse and went out for a ride as he did every day about
this time. Old habits were hard to break. Well, at least they were in the
Dubois family.

Inside
the stables, her father was about to put the saddle on Toby, the same horse he’d
ridden since as far back as April could remember.

“Dad.”

“Geez,
you scared me for a minute. I didn’t hear you come in. I didn’t even know you
were back from running errands,” said her dad. He tightened the strap on the
saddle. “You want to come along with me and Toby? I can throw a saddle on Remy
real quick.”

“Sure,
that would be great.”

She
stroked Toby as her dad led Remy out of his stall and got another saddle down
from off the rack.

“So,
you find everything you needed at the store?” he asked her. “I know it’s going to
take some getting used to being back in a small community.”

“Got
most of the stuff on my list, and what I can’t find at Mulligan’s I can buy
online.”

He
walked Remy over to her and handed her the reins. She took them, stroked the
horse, and then climbed on, rubbing Remy’s neck. This would be her first time
riding one of the horses since she’d been back at the ranch. Until now, she
hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed it.

Her
father led the way out of the stables and she followed, close behind. Once they
got onto the path she brought Remy up beside him.

“Beautiful
day,” he said.

“Perfect.”

He
reached across and squeezed her hand. “I can’t tell you how good it is having
you around this place again.”

“I’m
very happy to be home.”

She
needed to ask him something, so she might as well get it over and done with.

“Why
didn’t you tell me that Cade was back in Pine Creek?”

Her
father swallowed, making his Adam’s apple bounce several times like he had
something caught in his throat. She didn’t want to make him feel any worse than
he obviously still did, but it wasn’t any secret how she’d felt about Cade.

“So
you know,” he finally said.

“I
saw him earlier today. Dad, I think you should have at least warned me.”

“I
know, honey, I know. And I’m sorry, but I thought you’d have more chance to
settle in if you didn’t know. I had no idea you’d see him so soon.
You
spoken
with him yet?”

She
shook her head. “I saw him parked down the street when I came out of the
drugstore. I tried to go talk to him but he took off, leaving just a puff of
smoke. Guess he’s still pissed with me, and he has every right to be.”

He
squeezed her hand again.

“So,
how long has he been back?” asked April.

“Oh,
it must be about three or four months now.”

They
guided the horses through a stream and went to the other side of the pasture.

“And
you never thought to mention it to me when I called or e-mailed you?”

“Would
it have made any difference if I had?”

She
shook her head. Nothing she could have done about it. She couldn’t have left
Ben and run home. They had a contract that hadn’t reached its conclusion yet.

“I
don’t suppose he tried to work for you again?”