Dalton's Undoing

The few times she had met with Wade Dalton and his wife, Caroline, at various school functions and when having discussions about Tanner’s behavior, she’d been struck by the deep vein of happiness she sensed running through the family.

She didn’t like to admit she felt envy and regret when she saw two people so obviously in love.

Wade caught sight of them now and smiled, dropping the bale and tipping his hat in a way she still hadn’t become accustomed to here in cowboy country.

He didn’t look at all surprised to see them as he crossed the yard to her SUV. Seth must have told him the whole story about Cole stealing his brother’s car. What must he think of her and her delinquent son? she wondered, her face warming.

He only smiled in welcome. “Ms. Boyer. Kids,” he said in that slow drawl she’d noticed before. “Welcome to the Cold Creek.”

She couldn’t help but smile back. “Thank you. We were supposed to be meeting your brother Seth this morning.”

“Right. He mentioned your boy would be coming by to help him. He’s up at the horse barn. Just follow the gravel road there another half mile or so and you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” she said, wondering how big the ranch must be if the horse barn was a half mile from the main ranch house. The road took them up a slight grade, through a heavy stand of spruce and pines and aspen and then the view opened up and she caught sight of the horse operation.

Two dozen horses grazed in the vast pasture, their coats gleaming in the cool morning sunlight.

Barn seemed a vast understatement for the imposing white-painted structure that dominated the view. It was massive, at least twice as large as the barn they had passed closer to the ranch house, and more horses were in individual corrals off it.

As she pulled up and parked, she caught sight of a small two-story log home behind it. Situated to face the Tetons, the house had one steep gable with a balcony protruding from a window in the center and a wide porch looking out over the view.

She wasn’t sure how she knew—maybe the tiny saplings out front that looked like they hadn’t been there long—but the house looked new. Everything did, she thought. From the corrals to the vast gleaming barn to the pickup truck parked outside, everything gleamed with prosperity.

She had barely turned off the engine when Seth Dalton walked out of the barn and she had to catch her breath at the picture he made. He was wearing a worn denim jacket and a black cowboy hat. As he moved with that unconscious grace she’d noticed the night before, she saw he also wore figure-hugging jeans that suddenly made her feel jittery and weak-kneed.

The man was entirely too good-looking. She wasn’t sure why that observation made her so irritable, but she found herself fighting the urge to shut the SUV door with a little more force than necessary, especially when he aimed that killer grin in her direction.

“Morning. It’s a gorgeous one, isn’t it?”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. Clouds hung low over the Tetons and the cold wind felt heavy with the promise of snow.

“If you say so.”

He laughed, a low, throaty sound that made her insides flutter, then he turned his attention to Cole, who had climbed out the other side of the vehicle to slouch against the door.

“You ready to work?”

Cole glowered at his benefactor, much to Jenny’s chagrin. “Do I have a choice?”

In answer, Dalton just gave him a long, slow look and Jenny was amazed to watch Cole be the first to back down, shifting his gaze to the work boots he’d borrowed from his grandfather.

Before she could say anything, Seth’s attention shifted to Morgan, who had climbed out of the backseat to join them.

“And who are you?”

“I’m Morgan Jeanette Boyer.” She spoke with formal precision and held out her hand exactly like a nine-year-old princess greeting her favorite courtier.

A muscle twitched in Seth’s cheek but he hid any sign of amusement as he took her hand and shook it. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Boyer. I’m Seth Dalton.”

Morgan smiled. “I know. You’re my friend Natalie’s uncle. She says you have more girlfriends than Colin Farrell.”

“Morgan!” Jenny exclaimed hotly, her cheeks fiery.

“What?” her daughter asked, all innocence.

Seth grinned, though Jenny thought she saw a hint of embarrassment behind it.

“Are all those horses your very own?” Morgan asked.

“Actually, most of them aren’t. I have six or seven of my own but the rest I guess you could say I share with my family. Plus I’m training a few for other people.”

He studied the avid interest in her eyes. “I don’t suppose you’d want to have a look around, would you?”

Morgan gave a little jump of excitement. “Yeah! Can I, Mom?”

How could she say no? “I suppose. As long as you’re sure we won’t be in the way.”

“Not at all. I have to show Cole around, anyway. No reason you two can’t tag along.”

They made a peculiar tour group, she thought as Seth led them inside the barn. It was more arena than stable, she realized. Though stalls ran around the perimeter, most of the space was taken up by a vast, open dirt floor. Handy for year-round training during the Idaho winters, she thought.

As he pointed out various features of the facility, Cole slouched along behind, Morgan asked a million questions and Jenny mainly focused on trying to keep her gaze away from Seth Dalton, difficult though it was.

“Everything looks so new,” Jenny commented while Morgan was busy patting a horse and Cole slumped against the fence ringing the arena, looking as though he’d rather be anywhere else on the planet.

“The Cold Creek has been here for five generations, but the horse operation is pretty new. My brother and I decided a few years ago to diversify. We’ve always raised and trained our own horses on a limited scale and only for ourselves. We decided a few years ago to expand that part of our operations and try the open market.”

“How has it been going?”

“I’ve got more work than I can handle right now.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Better than I ever dreamed.” His smile was slow and sexy and seemed to suck all the oxygen molecules from the vast structure.

She didn’t realize she was staring at it for several seconds, then she quickly shifted her gaze away from his mouth to find him watching her, an odd, glittery look in his blue eyes.

“What’s that room?” Morgan asked, shattering the sudden painfully awkward silence.

Seth shifted his attention to her. “That’s my office. Come on, I’ll show you.”

He opened the door to a small room several degrees warmer than the rest of the barn. When he opened the door, an oddly colored puppy blinked at them then jumped up from a blanket on the floor and started yipping a frantic greeting.

“You’re finally waking up, sleepyhead?” Seth smiled at the pup. “Come and meet our company.”

The puppy sniffed all their shoes in turn and made it as far as Morgan before the girl scooped him up and hugged him tightly. “He’s so cute! What’s his name?”

“He’s a she and her name is Lucy.”