Sunset Surrender

Logan looked at the keys in his hand. “No one has lived there since you left.”

Sophia’s brows gathered. “Are you saying that the cottage is exactly the same?”

He nodded. “My father wouldn’t allow anyone else to live there. Another victory for Louisa. You can bet that decision didn’t set well with my mother. I used to hear them fighting about it late at night.”

“That’s hardly my mother’s fault. Or mine, for that matter.”

“You’ll have to let the current manager at the lodge go.”

Sophia met his smug stare. “Go? What do you mean?”

“I mean, she’s out of a job now. The thing of it is, Sophia, you’re going to replace her as manager. Last I checked the place can’t have two full-time managers. Mrs. Polanski has to be notified.”

“You don’t honestly expect me to go in there and fire her, do you?”

“Well, if you don’t want to, she can stay on and I’ll buy you out. That’ll solve your problem.”

Sophia crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at him. “You go straight to hell.”

Logan grinned. He couldn’t help it. He’d succeeded in rankling her. Up until this point, she’d been a cool customer. But he’d be darned if the woman didn’t just get prettier with her face heating up and her eyes shooting sparks. “I’m just telling you like it is, Sophia. Mrs. Polanski has managed the place going on eight years now. She’s good and the guests like her.”

“And you left it up to me to fire her. How sweet of you.”

“Something has to give. It seems my father didn’t think of everything when he gave away our lodge.”

“I only have half ownership. He didn’t give it all away.”

“I bet you wish he had.”

She lifted her perfectly sculpted chin and replied without pause. “Yes, sure. I wish I had full ownership.”

Logan eyed her. He hadn’t expected her to admit it.

“Maybe then I wouldn’t have to deal with you … or fire an employee.”

Now, Logan’s blood boiled. “That lodge has been in the Slade family for generations. It was a little hole-in-the-wall inn for drifters and penniless soldiers after World War II, until my grandfather came along and built it into the fine establishment it is today. You tell me how you figure into that picture?”

Sophia raised her arms into the air, her temper flaring. “I don’t know why your father was so generous with me, Logan. I don’t know what you want me to say, but obviously your father had faith in me to do the job right. I’m here now and I am going to manage the lodge. If I have to let someone go, I’ll do it. But,” she said, pointing her finger at his chest, “I can assure you, I will not forget that you placed me in this position the very second I stepped onto the ranch.”

“That’s the way I want to be remembered, Sophia. As the guy who is going to test you, time and again. You don’t belong here, but I won’t stand in your way, either, if you do a good job. And don’t worry, I’m relinquishing my duties at the lodge to Luke. You’ll deal with him from now on.” He dropped the keys into her hand. “Starting tomorrow.”

She closed her hands around the keys. “I didn’t want to start out like this, Logan.”

He opened the car door for her and spoke with as much civility as he could muster. “Half a mile down the road. I’m sure you remember how to get there.”

“Yes, I do remember,” she said. As she squeezed past him to get into the car, her knockout breasts brushed his chest and the firm contact, along with the stirring scent of her erotic perfume, assaulted him like a blow to the gut.

He closed the car door, and watched her Camry vanish into the horizon as half a dozen curses slipped out of his mouth.

The second Logan was out of sight in her rearview mirror, Sophia slumped her shoulders and loosened the tight grip she had on the steering wheel. She eased her foot off the pedal a little and let the car amble along the road that led to Sunset Lodge. She simply would not think of Logan Slade again. He angered her, but he also thrilled her, and it was an emotion she didn’t welcome—and one she tried to will away. Her mother had once told her that matters of the heart could not be explained or understood. They just were. Sophia would not be a fool in regard to Logan Slade. He’d offered her a small fortune just to be rid of her. How could she feel anything for him but disdain?

Certainly, she could avoid him while living here. Nestled between the grand Sierra Nevadas and Carson City, Sunset Ranch was vast, spanning miles in a diamond-shaped perimeter. Tomorrow, when Luke arrived home, she’d renew their friendship and she’d deal with him on matters involving her lodge duties. At least she had one friend on Sunset Ranch she could count on.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, darlin’,” he’d said. “I’ll make sure you get a proper welcome home.”

Snow from winter storms capped the tallest peaks of the mountain range, reminding her of vanilla ice cream on a waffle cone. The image made her smile. She’d almost forgotten how peaceful and beautiful the landscape was on Sunset Ranch in the spring, the indigo skies dotted with white marshmallow clouds. It was so different from the crowded marquee-laden noisy streets of Las Vegas.

The lodge stables came into view first, and her heart squeezed tight that her mother couldn’t be here to see the grounds once again. Louisa had loved caring for the horses in her spare time. “So sorry, Mama.”

Sophia blinked away a tear, taking a deep breath.

As she drove a little farther, the lodge filled her vision. It wasn’t what one would expect to see on a Nevada ranch. The lodge was grand, made of natural, rounded gray stone mingled with cedar sidings in a glorious combination that spoke of elegance and grace. The surrounding land was fertile and filled with wispy wildflowers in bloom. And the immediate grounds were groomed impeccably.

It was considered a privilege by the employees to tend the property and work the stables. Not too many workers came and went at Sunset Lodge. The Slades had always maintained long-standing relationships with those on staff.

Sophia felt queasy about having to release Mrs. Polanski, and any thought she had of stopping in to see the lodge vanished in an instant. She couldn’t face that hurdle right now. She would settle into the cottage first and get organized. She would wait until tomorrow to speak to Luke about the woman.

The cottage was tucked behind and out of view of the lodge. It afforded a good amount of privacy, which Sophia wanted now above all else. The media splash her secret marriage had created, along with watching her mother lose her struggle with cancer, had taken a giant toll on her. She needed to regroup and dive into work she would enjoy. More than anything else, Sophia had to prove something to herself.

All her life, she had gotten by on her looks. She’d never had the chance to go to college, but she’d never regretted the time she’d spent with her mother, helping her manage small motels and inns on the outskirts of Las Vegas. When her mother became ill, Sophia had honed her natural dance abilities to land ensemble roles for big-time casinos in Las Vegas. She’d made enough money to support the two of them as a showgirl, not so much because of her brains or talent, but because she looked the way she did.

Now was her chance to dig in, to give it her all and to shine doing something she loved.

“Ms. Montrose, hello!”

A rider on a gorgeous bay mare sidled up next to the car. She didn’t realize how slowly she was actually driving. She rolled the window the rest of the way down.

“It’s Ward Halliday. Remember me?”

She glanced at the Slade’s head horse wrangler. “Oh, Mr. Halliday. Yes, I do recognize you. How have you been?”

He grinned crookedly. “Getting old and grouchy,” he said as he rode along beside her car. “But seeing you here sure brightened my day.”

“Well, thank you. It’s good be ho—here. I’ve missed it.”

His grin faded and he gave her a solemn nod. “Sure am sorry to hear about your mama, girl.”

She put her foot on the brake and the car rolled to a stop. “Thank you. It was a hard time.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that it was,” he said, pulling up on the mare’s reins. “She was a nice woman. She made cookies a time or two for my boy, Hunter. Gosh, he was a little cuss then.”

“I remember. I helped her, Mr. Ward.”

A sweet smile wrinkled his face. “Heck, you’re not fifteen anymore. You can call me Ward. Here comes Hunter now.”

He turned in his saddle just as a younger man approached on a horse. “He was just a kid when you left the ranch. He’s working here with me now and planning on going to Texas A & M in the fall.”

Sophia turned off the engine, and stepped out of the car. The sun beamed down with early afternoon intensity and she shielded her eyes as she gazed up to greet the young man. “So you’re little Hunter. It’s good to see you again.”