The Reluctant Rancher

A brief sense of calm settled over her. Yes, the Circle H provided a good place to hide, and for a moment today Logan had seemed to care about her, which might just be the most frightening thing of all. She wouldn’t trust him. Yet his very strength, that hard edge that let him shout at a bison baby—he’d corrected her about the proper term—might ironically protect her, if it came to that.

If Ken found her here before she could run.

* * *

BLOSSOM WAS CLEARING the breakfast dishes from the table the next morning when she glanced out the window and felt her heart stop. A sleek silver pickup was pulling up near the back door. It didn’t look familiar, which shouldn’t surprise her. She didn’t know anyone here, and the only vehicles she recognized belonged to Logan or the half-dozen ranch hands the Circle H employed. But could it be a rental?

Her legs went weak. Her pulse thudded. Had Ken found her already? A door slammed. A second later she heard footsteps coming up onto the porch. It couldn’t be, yet...

She hadn’t seen Logan since breakfast. They’d said only a few words to each other since yesterday. Except for Sam upstairs in bed now, she was alone in the house. Helpless. Her sedan was parked out front. Where were her keys? Blossom fumbled through her pockets—and with a cry of relief found them. Could she reach her car in time?

Before she could think to run in that direction, the back door flew open, and a small blond boy in jeans and cowboy boots burst into the kitchen.

Blossom sagged against the nearest counter. The truck didn’t belong to Ken. Besides, he’d likely rent a flashy sedan. Still, she tensed again at the deep voice that came from behind the boy.

“Nicholas Hunter, slow down.” A man whose hair was a shade darker than the child’s had obviously tried to make his voice sound scolding but he couldn’t hide a grin. “Sorry,” he told Blossom with a tip of his straw cowboy hat. “He gets a bit excited about the Circle H.” He held out a hand. “I’m Grey Wilson, a neighbor.”

“Blossom.” Without adding her last name, she glanced at the little boy, who was scaling the counter to reach a high cupboard. “Is he...?”

“Safe?” Grey snagged an arm around the boy’s waist. “Never. At least to hear his mama tell it. Nick, get down.”

He wriggled but Grey held fast.

“Be careful now—you’ll fall and break something. Like Grandpa Sam.”

“My arm?” Nick landed on the floor with a giggle. “A kid at school fell out of a tree. He has a cool cast and everybody drew on it. It’s really green.”

The back door opened again. A smile tugging at his mouth, his eyes alight, Logan stepped inside. He must have recognized Grey’s truck. But then Logan saw Nick and stiffened. He pulled off his Stetson and eyed Grey with a familiar, less than welcoming expression.

“Uh-oh,” Grey murmured. “Looks like somebody got up on the wrong side of the bunk.” He added, “We can’t stay long but I brought you a present.”

“You mean me?” With a hopeful look, Nick glanced at Logan. “I’m a present?” He took a step then stopped, and his gaze fell. “Hi, Daddy,” he said.

Logan cleared his throat before he reached out a hand to ruffle Nick’s hair. “Hi, buddy.” He frowned at Grey over Nick’s head. “This’ll make his mother real happy.”

So this was Logan’s son, the great-grandchild Sam had referenced yesterday, confusing her with Olivia. Not that anyone would readily see a strong family resemblance, except for their eyes, between father and son. Logan’s hair was dark; Nick’s was lighter. She imagined Olivia, who must be Logan’s ex-wife, was blond, too.

“Mommy doesn’t know we’re here,” Nick said.

Grey groaned. “Nick, I thought you and I agreed that sometimes we men have to stick together. Little secrets don’t harm anyone.”

His mouth tight, Logan strode over to the coffeemaker. “Don’t tell him that.” The dark brew had been sitting in the pot for hours while he fed horses and did other morning chores, but its bitterness and acidity didn’t seem to bother him. He gulped down half a mugful in one long swallow.

“What?” Grey looked wounded. “I bring your kid to see you and all I get’s a lesson in manners?”

“No, in ethics.”

Nick’s sunny smile had dimmed. He sent Blossom a shy look then rummaged through a fruit bowl on the counter for a banana. She tensed even more. She didn’t expect to be noticed—she was just one of the hired help here—but no wonder poor Nick looked more than uncomfortable. Logan’s reaction had unsettled her, too. He was all but standing at attention now. Avoiding another glance at Nick.

This was no surprise, in a way, to Blossom. Her father had never been one to fold her in a warm embrace or to make her laugh at some silly joke. She’d been grateful whenever he simply ignored her. A best-case scenario for Blossom. But she’d seen the quick flash of joy in Nick’s eyes then the way he’d retreated, as if knowing his hug wouldn’t be welcome. And that his daddy wouldn’t respond except for that light pass of a hand over Nick’s hair.

Logan turned to Blossom. “My ex-brother-in-law,” he said with a gesture at Grey. “Blossom’s taking care of Sam.”

“Howdy, ma’am.”

“I’m learning on the job,” she said.

After that, there was an awkward silence. Blossom didn’t think about herself, but she couldn’t take another second of Nick’s disappointment or Logan’s coolness. She’d had enough of that in her time. And at Nick’s age, she had still craved her father’s love.

She held out a hand. “Nick, would you like to come with me? I need to gather some eggs.”

With a whoop of delight, Nick grasped her fingers then pulled her out the back door away from the two men in the kitchen. Blossom could understand that. How many times had her father rejected her, or hastened to correct something she’d done wrong? Ken had taken that to another level.

This was not a happy situation either. Apparently, she and the bison baby weren’t the only ones who irritated Logan.

Why feel drawn to a man she couldn’t trust and might easily fear? A man who didn’t seem to connect with his own son?

* * *

“WHAT THE HELL’S wrong with you?” Grey asked as soon as the back door had closed behind Blossom and Nicky.

Frowning, Logan didn’t answer. His throat felt too tight to speak, and what could he say? He wanted to be angry with Grey because he’d had no warning of this visit—a rare thing these days. Instead of a heads-up, he’d walked from the barn to the house and into this kitchen, and there was Nicky. Right where he’d belonged until a few years ago.

As a baby in his high chair, a toddler running around under Libby’s feet, a chattering three-year-old who’d let everyone in the house know his opinions, he’d giggled and cried in this very room and even thrown temper tantrums, kicking his legs on the floor as if he were determined to be in charge of all the adults. He’d banged a spoon against his tray at the end of this table, flinging oatmeal everywhere.

Logan was still in shock. He watched Grey pull out a chair at the table. He’d been blindsided, yet at the same time...he didn’t often get to see Nicky. Grey sat, eyeing him with disapproval, which Logan supposed he deserved.

“I thought you’d be happy to see him without Olivia riding herd on him.”

Logan couldn’t fault her for trying to coddle Nicky or to keep him safe, even keep him away from Logan, after what had happened. In her view he hadn’t been much of a father, and Logan couldn’t disagree.

“I am happy to see him.” Except it hurts more each time I do. Logan was missing out on Nicky’s growing up. His son changed by the day, it seemed, and a few minutes ago a real kid, not the newborn baby or toddler imp he remembered, had walked into the house. “But Olivia—Libby’s—gonna be madder than a bull in a rodeo ring when she finds out you shanghaied Nicky and brought him over here. You know how she feels about the Circle H.” About me.

But what if she hadn’t come to hate the ranch, and him? To blame him? Maybe they’d still be rubbing along, raising their son in Wichita together as they’d planned. Instead, Logan’s time with Nicky had become increasingly rare. He’d tried to tell himself maybe that was for the best. For now. He didn’t want to confuse Nicky any more than he must already be after the divorce.

Grey stretched out his legs and stared down at his boots. “It’s time she changed her mind. But I’m the first to admit, my sister can be as stubborn as a too-big calf trying to get born.”

As stubborn as me. That had been one problem between them.

“She won’t change her mind.”

“Then you’ll have to change yours. Logan, the divorce papers got signed, what, three years ago? Nick’s not a baby anymore. He needs his daddy, too.”

“Libby got custody,” he said. And because of the reason she’d left him, Logan hadn’t given her much of a fight. He’d regretted that ever since. Once his promotion came through—which meant getting back to Wichita as soon as possible—he’d be able to afford a lawyer, sue for joint custody this time. Settle the matter at last.

“You have visitation rights. Why don’t you use ’em more often?”

He looked away. “Well, she doesn’t make that easy. If Nicky doesn’t have a school event, a kids’ party, anywhere else he has to be, then he’s sick or it’s a school night or something else. He hasn’t been to my place in Wichita in almost a year. Besides, I won’t be here long this time.”