The Rancher's Return

He should have let his mother throw the party like she’d wanted. That way nobody would react as if they’d seen a ghost when they saw him. He’d told his mother she could tell whomever she wanted that he was back, but he didn’t know who she’d told so far. Not that it mattered now. Clearly the word hadn’t reached Raven.

Her hair had fallen over her face and he brushed it aside then watched, waiting for her to come around. After a minute her eyelashes fluttered and she began to stir. She opened her eyes and stared right at him then lifted her hand and touched his face. “It’s really you.”

“It’s really me.”

She pushed herself into a sitting position then scooted around and put her feet on the floor. She was still wobbly although her color was returning.

“Easy.”

Raven reached out and wrapped her arms around him. He inhaled her familiar scent. She smelled of outdoors and sunshine with a slight hint of lavender soap. He closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the feel of her. Although their bodies had changed and matured over the past decade, she still fit perfectly in his arms.

After a moment she pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. The joy he saw in her gaze was unmistakable. “When did you get back?”

“Yesterday. Dinnertime.”

She touched his face again as if trying to convince herself that he was real. “You came back yesterday?”

He nodded.

“Where have you been all this time?”

“Working on ranches in Texas.”

“But you never called. You never came back.” She sounded confused. Hurt.

He could imagine that she felt angry and betrayed, among other things. At least that’s what he would feel in her position. He’d known this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, but it was more difficult than he’d expected. The heartbroken expression on her face seared his soul.

“I’m back now.” He wished he had the words to take away her pain but he didn’t think they existed. He wanted to tell her the truth, but she was so shaky he didn’t think she could handle the shock of discovering her life had been threatened. He would tell her the truth when she was stronger.

She snorted. “That’s all you have to say? You’re back now?”

She pushed to her feet then stumbled. He immediately grabbed her elbow to steady her. Her weakness only steeled his resolve to protect her. A body could only take so much and obviously she couldn’t handle another emotional blow now.

“I guess. It’s good to see you.”

She jerked away. “You need to leave. Now.”

“Raven.”

“Do you have any idea how worried I was? How scared? The entire town searched for you day and night. Jericho, Tony and Billy drove back and forth to town for weeks looking for clues that would help us find you. Your parents put up fliers. The church held fund-raisers to raise money for a reward. They raised twenty-five-thousand dollars for information. Mr. Rivers contributed twenty-five-thousand dollars so we would have a fifty-thousand-dollar reward.”

Donovan stiffened at Karl Rivers’s name. That old hypocrite, pretending to care about Donovan. No doubt he thought it was best to keep track of what was being done to find him. Not to mention it made him look good. Having a good public image made it that much easier to do his dirt in the dark. That and owning politicians and controlling law enforcement.

“Do you know how many nights I couldn’t sleep because I was worrying about you? Praying for you? I cried for months. I had to force myself to eat because of... I was devastated. Everyone kept telling me that you were dead, but I didn’t believe it. I kept hoping you would come back to me. As time passed without a word, I figured you must have been hurt. That was the only reason I could think of that you wouldn’t return to me. I promised God that I would take care of you if he’d only bring you back. And all the time you’ve been fine. You could have come home if you’d wanted. You just didn’t want to.”

“That’s not true.” He hadn’t meant to justify his actions, but hearing her speak as if she hadn’t been his entire world was unbearable. He would have sacrificed his life to come back. He just hadn’t been willing to sacrifice hers.

“Were you in prison? In a coma? Held hostage?”

He’d been held hostage but not in the way Raven meant. His love for her and his family had made it impossible to return as long as Karl Rivers lived. But as soon as the news of the man’s death reached him, Donovan had been freed from his captivity. He’d barely stopped to sleep or eat on his race to get home.

“Well?” Raven pressed.

There would be no reasoning with her tonight. Not unless he was willing to shock her further by telling her about the threat to her life. He didn’t want to win the argument that badly.

“No. I was none of those things.”

* * *

Raven forced herself not to cry at Donovan’s words. She thought of all the years she’d spent hoping he would come home. She’d never believed he would leave her without a good reason, so she’d figured something had to be wrong with him. There just had to be a reason he hadn’t returned to her. She’d tried to put herself in his mind and come up with an explanation for his prolonged absence. As time went on, her reasons became more desperate.

Perhaps he’d been badly injured. Maybe he’d been disfigured or paralyzed and thought she wouldn’t love him any longer. But she’d love Donovan no matter what. She’d prayed that God could reach him wherever he was and help him to know that.

Other times she’d imagine he had amnesia and had forgotten who he was and where he belonged. She’d searched online for stories about young men found without identification and police looking for help from the public. Over the years she’d read about three or four such cases, but none had been the man she’d loved with her whole heart and soul. She’d been dying inside, and he’d been fine and dandy, living his life in Texas.

How could he do that to her? And his parents? The Corderos had been destroyed. With the passage of time, they’d become more distraught, barely able to care for themselves. After a while other people moved on with their lives, putting Donovan’s disappearance in the past as a mystery that might never be solved. Mr. and Mrs. Cordero had been the only ones who’d shared Raven’s belief that Donovan would one day return.

“Did your parents know where you were?” It would be awful to think that they’d betrayed her the way he had.

“No. No one knew where I was.”

“Well, at least I know you were just as cruel to them as you were to me.”

“Don’t cry, Raven. I didn’t come here to hurt you.”

She angrily wiped at tears she hadn’t realized were falling. “Then why did you come?”

He seemed to mull that over. That was different. The Donovan of her youth had been impulsive and fun. A daredevil, he’d act first and think later. He’d changed. And not just his personality.

He was physically different, too.

Ten years ago he’d been tall and lanky. Being a ranch kid, he’d been physically strong even if he hadn’t had the muscles as evidence. He was still the same height, probably six feet two or three, but his shoulders were broader and his chest was fuller, yet his stomach was just as flat, his waist as trim. If his muscular body was anything to go by, whatever he’d been doing had been physical. His brown skin glowed with good health and his eyes were clear and sharp as ever. From all appearances, he’d lived well this past decade.

That thought pierced her soul. He could have returned to her and had chosen not to. Instead he’d been living the good life in Texas. Not that she’d wanted him to have suffered. The thought of him in agony somewhere was more than her heart could take. But knowing that he’d left her in misery for ten long years when he hadn’t had to shred her heart. She would never forgive him.

And to think she’d dreamed of this moment for years. None of her imaginings had looked like this. And they certainly hadn’t hurt like this. Nothing could ever hurt this badly. “You need to leave. Now.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you. I hope we can become friends again.”

Friends? Not likely. She hated him. If she never saw him again, it would be too soon. As far as she was concerned he could disappear forever. He’d kept his existence a secret for years. If he wanted to keep secrets...well she could do the same. “No. We’re done.”

She heard the pounding of feet a second before she heard the voice. And then she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep her secret after all.

“Mom?”

Chapter Three (#ub1b7a1a1-5190-5079-b93f-591c63c7310f)

Mom? Donovan reeled at the word. Did Raven have a child? A husband? Although he’d told himself he wanted her to have moved on and made a happy life without him, the thought that she’d fallen in love with another man sucked the air from his lungs. He didn’t even try to reconcile the two opposing feelings. Emotions weren’t logical and it would be foolish to try to make sense of them.