Redeeming the Rancher

“At my service? Really? I was under the impression you were helping yourself to breakfast.” She ignored his outstretched hand and crossed her arms, not caring if the gesture looked defensive. Why should she care what he thought?

“I brought my own food.” He gestured to a canvas bag tipped flat on the counter, spilling a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread.

“How reassuring.”

He frowned. “Obviously there’s been a misunderstanding here.”

“Oh, I believe I understand just fine, or at least I can take a good stab at it. If I don’t miss my guess, you’re making yourself at home in my house because of something my ditzy sister said or did. What’s lacking here is communication, a fact I’m going to rectify at my earliest convenience. I have a few words to exchange with my dear sister. I’m assuming she loaned you the key to our house?”

He scoffed and shook his head. “I’m glad you seem to think you’ve got a handle on what’s happening, because I certainly don’t. Yes, your sister gave me the key to the house, but in my defense, I was given to understand it would be empty. And for the record, I thought Vivian’s sibling was a guy.”

“I’m not, obviously.”

“Obviously,” he agreed wryly, his gaze altering as he swept a glance over her that made her skin prickle. She was relieved when he shifted his attention back to the stove and the bacon, which had burned down to shriveled, blackened crisps. Smoke was billowing from the pan. Griff snapped the knob on the burner off with a grunt.

“I’m surprised the fire alarm didn’t go off,” she said with a chuckle. Not that she’d noticed the food smoking any more than he had. She’d been too intent on Griff’s presence to pay attention to anything else. Her house could have blazed down around them and she would have been oblivious.

“Sure, just rub it in,” he muttered crossly as he wrapped a towel around the handle and removed the skillet from the burner. “There goes my breakfast, and after I drove half the night to get here in the first place,” he added in disgust. “Oh, well. It is what it is. Where do you keep the trash can?”

Alexis leaned her hip against the table. Now it was her turn to be amused. “Under the sink. But there’s no sense throwing perfectly good meat away, even if it’s burned to a crisp.” She couldn’t help but rub it in a little bit. “I’ve got a few dogs out back that’ll be happy to chow down on that bacon. If you hand me the skillet I’ll take care of it.”

“Dogs, huh?” he said, gingerly transferring the pan to her, towel and all. “Good thing I didn’t run into them. They probably would have believed I was an intruder, as well.”

“Good thing,” she agreed, opening the back door and depositing the contents of the skillet into one of the dog dishes just to the right of the door. Good thing for him, anyway. In her mind, he was an intruder of sorts, even if he had no intention of making off with her flat-screen television. He was lucky she wasn’t the type of woman to sic her dogs on him.

“Coffee cups?” Griff asked when she returned. “Once I’ve got some caffeine in me, I’ll explain what I know and maybe you can fill in the rest. After that, I guess we’ll decide what we’re going to do about this…situation.”

She pointed to the cabinet above the microwave. What did he mean, decide what they were going to do? He was going to leave, thank you very much, and the sooner, the better—like, as soon as he had coffee in his system.

“It’s hazelnut coffee. Cream or sugar?”

“Black, thank you.”

He retrieved two mugs and poured the steaming coffee, then offered her one and gestured her to a seat on the bench side of the small breakfast nook table she kept in one corner. The larger table, where she usually took meals with her kids from the ranch, was located in the dining room. Her house was usually brimming with troubled teenagers, but this was the weekend between Mission Months and all was uncharacteristically quiet.

He waited until Alexis was seated before sliding into the chair opposite her and capturing her gaze with his.

“So let me get this straight,” Alexis began, diving straight to the point. “Vivian loaned you her key and led you to believe the house was vacant.” She cupped her mug in both hands and breathed in the rich hazelnut scent. “And you’re looking for—what? A vacation? Some time away from the hustle and bustle of Houston?”

The left side of his lips twitched. “It’s a little more complicated than that.” He threaded his fingers through the tips of his dark salt-and-pepper hair, spiking the ends even more than they already were. “I’m looking to settle down, take a permanent vacation from the rat race, so to speak. Buy a ranch. Raise some horses.”

He was a little too young to be thinking of retiring. In fact, he was a lot too young. Yet the sheer determination on his face gave Alexis no room for doubt that he meant what he said. If he was looking for peace and quiet, Serendipity was the perfect town for it—but really, what could this city boy possibly know about ranching? He would crash and burn in a week on a working ranch.

Wait. He wanted to buy a ranch?

Her heart sank. Oh, no. What had Vivian done?

“You’re not thinking of buying Redemption Ranch, are you?” Alexis’s voice squeaked out an octave higher than usual. With the financial troubles she’d been facing recently, losing her childhood home was at the forefront of her mind. Unless she could find a new source of capital, there was a very great possibility her worst case scenario was about to become a reality and she wouldn’t be able to afford to keep the place running. But she wasn’t ready to sell yet—or ever, if she could avoid it. Ugly knots formed in her gut. Surely her sister hadn’t suggested that their land might be for sale. Yes, the land belonged to both of them but Alexis was the one who was actually doing something with it. Vivian was self-absorbed, but not so much that she didn’t understand what the ranch meant to Alexis.

No ranch, no ministry.

Alexis had done everything in her power to see that Vivian could follow her dreams. She’d sacrificed everything—possibly even her own hopes and plans. It looked that way right now, in any case.

Griff chuckled and held up a hand, bringing Alexis’s attention back to the present. “As I assured you earlier, I’m not here to swipe anything, and I’m not the least bit interested in your home, stealing or buying. Vivian told me all about the area, and it sounded like the perfect place to settle down. I’m looking for something in or around Serendipity. Vivian kindly offered to allow me to stay at the ranch while I searched for a place of my own.”

“I see,” Alexis murmured, chewing on her bottom lip as her thoughts flew in several directions. While it was typical of her flighty sister to offer help without really thinking through the consequences, it seemed a little extreme for Viv to lead Griff to believe the house was vacant. She knew perfectly well that Alexis lived on the premises—not to mention that the ranch was generally overrun with teenagers. And then there was the odd addition of Vivian referring to her as Alex. That just wasn’t right. She had never called her Alex before in her life.

What possible reason could Vivian have for such a deception? Something wasn’t adding up. Unfortunately, Alexis never had been all that proficient with math, even the emotional kind. She was flummoxed.

What a mess.

The worst of it was the preposterous tug of guilt she was feeling for the way Viv had put the poor man out. Alexis almost felt as if she owed Griff something to make up for her sister’s lack of foresight. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to clean up her ditzy twin’s messes.

She glanced at the clock on the stove. She had a phone call to make—from an irate sister to an imprudent one. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now.

But first she had to decide what she was going to do with Griff. He was definitely the most immediate problem. Vivian had given him some impossible promises, and it wasn’t Griff’s fault he’d been duped into believing her when she’d said he could stay at the supposedly vacant ranch house.

Then again, it wasn’t exactly Alexis’s responsibility, either. Why should she suffer for her sister’s lack of common sense and be forced to try to find a place for this city slicker to stay?

And yet here she and Griff were, both in a pickle, and Vivian was, as usual, nowhere in sight.

One thing was certain. Griff couldn’t stay at the Grainger house.

“What’s the frown for?” he asked, intently studying her face.

“Just trying to figure out how to keep everybody happy here.”

He chuckled. “Good luck with that. Talk about a sticky situation.”

“No kidding.” Alexis ran a hand down her face. How was she supposed to tell him he’d come all this way for nothing?

“You’re trying to figure out how to send me packing,” he guessed, though he made the statement with a smile.

She hesitated. “Well—yes. Politely,” she admitted. “I’m sorry, but Vivian’s put me in an impossible situation here. Not to mention what she’s done to you. The way I see it, you have two options—go back to Houston or find somewhere else to stay in the area. And, quite frankly, there aren’t a lot of choices here in Serendipity.”

“Cut to the chase, why don’t you?”

Alexis cringed. “Sorry. I know I’m blunt. I’ve never been the type to beat around the bush when I have something to say.”

“You call it like it is. Nothing wrong with that.”

Unless you’re trashing a man’s plans.

Alexis gulped at her coffee and struggled to regain her equilibrium.

“Hotel?” he suggested, tipping his chair back onto two legs and threading his fingers behind his neck.

“Sorry, no such thing in Serendipity. We don’t have enough visitors in town to warrant such an extravagance. You won’t find one within an hour’s drive. However, the Howells have a nice bed-and-breakfast located across town. It’s still a little early in the day, but I’m guessing they’re up for church by now. Would you like me to give them a call?”