The Rancher's City Girl

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Chapter One (#u80cb4700-1e9d-5a71-a204-7aad476cd731)

A knock on the front door echoed through the small house. Eloise Leblanc glanced quickly toward her patient. Robert Bessler lay on crisp, clean sheets, his papery eyelids closed in sleep. A fan oscillating in the corner shifted his white hair against his forehead, but he didn’t stir.

Eloise pushed herself up from the chair next to his bed and stepped into the hall, angling her steps toward the front door. She paused at the door, tucking a fiery curl back into the loose bun at the base of her neck, then stood on her tiptoes to peek through the peephole. A tall man looked down, his face obscured by a cowboy hat.

Eloise paused for a moment and sucked a deep breath.

This is it.

She opened the door and the man lifted his gaze to meet hers in frank evaluation. He pulled off his hat and held it across his chest. His hair hung in dark, disheveled waves across his forehead and his piercing dark eyes sparkled. A dusting of stubble softened his chiseled features, and he smiled hesitantly.

“Hi,” he said. “Is this the home of Robert Bessler?”

“It is.”

“You must be Eloise. We spoke on the phone.”

“Of course. Cory?”

He nodded and she stepped back, allowing him entrance. “Your father is sleeping right now. Would you like to have a seat and wait for a few minutes?”

“Thank you.”

Eloise performed a veiled inspection as Cory Stone stepped past her and into the small entryway. She’d only moved to the town of Haggerston six months earlier for the job with Mr. Bessler. She’d grown up in Billings, the largest city in Montana, and while she was well acquainted with cowboys—what Montana girl wasn’t?—she still felt a sense of admiration when she saw the real thing. He loomed head and shoulders taller than she was, and his cowboy boots clunked solidly against the hardwood floor. A hint of musk lingered near, and despite his wide shoulders and obvious strength, he moved with ease.

“Please sit down.” Eloise gestured into the sitting room, and the big man dwarfed the sofa as he sank into its depths.

“How is my father doing?” Cory asked.

“He doesn’t have much strength left, and he’s in a lot of pain,” she replied, perching on the edge of a chair opposite him. “It’s better to let him sleep when he’s able to. Sometimes the pain keeps him awake, so the more rest he can get, the better.”

Cory nodded. “It’s okay. I don’t want to wake him up.”

“He doesn’t know I called you.” Eloise blushed and cleared her throat. “So this will be a little delicate.”

A grin broke over the man’s face. “I’ll be a surprise, then.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“So, how did you find out about me?” he asked.

“From him.”

“My father told you about me?” Cory raised his eyebrows.

Eloise paused, unsure how much information to divulge. “He always said he had no family, so when he mentioned a son, I did an online search. I was a little surprised to find you as quickly as I did. I thought it best to tell you that there wasn’t much time left if you wanted to connect with him.”

Cory nodded slowly and fiddled with the edge of his hat. His hands were calloused and rough, nothing like Eloise’s ex-husband’s smooth fingers. She swatted back the memories, irritated with how quickly they seemed to rise lately. Philip had left her for another woman two years ago. He’d moved on with the woman, but obviously, if Eloise was comparing a rugged rancher to her lawyer ex-husband, she wasn’t as over him as she’d like to think.

“You didn’t say how much time he has when we spoke,” Cory said.

Eloise pulled her attention back to the task at hand. “I don’t know. His cancer is aggressive and he’s refused more treatment. So it won’t be very long.”

“How long have you worked for him?”

“For the past six months.” Eloise glanced in the direction of Mr. Bessler’s bedroom. “Your father is a very complicated man, but he has a softer side, too. I’m sure you know that.”

“I don’t know him at all,” Cory admitted. “I’ve never met him.”

“Never?” Eloise sucked in a breath. “You didn’t think to mention that on the phone?”

“I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

“He’ll be angrier than I thought.” She smiled wanly and tucked that stray curl behind her ear once more. “I’d just assumed that you would have seen him at some point from the way he talked about you.”

Cory looked uncomfortable. “No, ma’am. He was out of the picture before I was even born.”

“I suppose I should warn you, then. The medication doesn’t control the pain as well as it used to, so—”

“He’s cantankerous?”

Eloise nodded. “He doesn’t mince words.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

Eloise pushed the feeling of dread back down into her stomach. She’d gone through this scenario in her head a hundred times since their telephone conversation, but not once did she imagine she’d orchestrate the meeting between a son and father who had never laid eyes on each other.

This is so much worse than I thought...

A thin voice wavered from the bedroom, “Red?”

Eloise forced a smile and stood. “It looks like he’s awake now. I’ll be back.”

As she left the room, her heart hammered in her chest. A week ago, this seemed like the best course of action, but now she wasn’t so sure. Not that it mattered—the time of reckoning had come. She wished she could close her eyes and be anywhere else—a play, perhaps, or in a bustling little coffee shop in downtown Billings, a city big enough to swallow her up. Instead it was time to face the consequences of her phone call to Cory Stone.

Entering the bedroom, she found Mr. Bessler struggling to sit up, and he grunted with effort. Eloise hurried forward and helped him the rest of the way. He nodded his thanks, his breath coming in short gasps. Eloise put the breathing tubes in his nose and turned on the flow of oxygen-rich air.

“Where are my pills?” he muttered, and she pushed a paper cup of pills forward. He tipped them into his mouth with a shaky hand and slurped the water she offered him. He shut his eyes, inhaling through his nose.

“You slept for a few hours,” Eloise said quietly. “How do you feel now?”