A Montana Cowboy

The minute she stepped in the kitchen, the first thing she noticed was the smell of tuna fish mingled with the jam aroma. Looking around she discovered Trace over in the corner at the breakfast table eating sandwiches. He’d already drunk half a quart of milk without the aid of a glass.

He flashed her a smile that gave her an odd, fluttery sensation. “You’ve caught me.”

Troubled that his smile had any effect on her at all, she put the basket of berries on the counter. “It’s your house. You’re entitled to do whatever you want.”

“I didn’t know you were still living here.”

Uh oh. “After Logan died, I didn’t plan to stay on, but your father insisted because he wanted the house kept up while no one was living here. Now that you’re home, I plan to leave tonight after I’ve served you two dinner.”

Though she hadn’t told Sam yet, she’d already made arrangements with her cousin Avery to stay with her and her husband, Zane, until she found another place to live and work.

He shook his dark head. “Since I just arrived and don’t know my own plans yet, I wouldn’t dream of asking you to move out.”

“But—”

“No buts. You were hired to take care of the house. From what I’ve already seen, you’ve done a fantastic job.”

“Thank you.” She checked on the roast, then started to leave the kitchen, almost faint with relief that she didn’t have to give up this job quite yet.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m taking the horses for their daily exercise.”

Trace emptied the milk bottle. His eyes played over her. “How do you manage that?”

She couldn’t help but smile at the remark. “I ride Buttercup and string Masala along. He goes where she goes.”

“So he has a crush on her?”

A chuckle escaped her. “No. But he has no choice if he wants to leave the paddock. He’s a wild mustang my cousin Connor tamed and gave to us. Besides Connor and your father, my husband was the only other man to ride him.”

He continued to study her. “All you Bannocks are expert horse people. I’m surprised you haven’t won that horse over yet.”

She averted her eyes. “Masala preferred Logan.”

Since when did that matter when according to Trace’s father she was an expert horsewoman? He got up from the table. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to come with you and take a look around the property. Maybe Masala will let me ride him. If not, I’ll hold the rope and lead him around as we walk. After my flight, I need to stretch my legs.”

Cassie preferred to be alone, but she didn’t see how she could turn down Trace’s offer. “Won’t your father be here before long?”

“I don’t know. Clive Masters said he’d gone out on an emergency. I’ll text him to let him know we’ll be back soon. If he’s hungry, I made enough tuna fish for him to have some, too.”

“He’ll like that,” she said. It seemed Trace had made up his mind. He had the confidence and authority of a man who was comfortable in any setting. “I’ll meet you at the barn in a few minutes.”

After she left the kitchen, Trace cleaned up the mess he’d made and went back to his bedroom to put on jeans and a T-shirt. His room was exactly as he’d left it. The framed pictures of him, a couple with his dog, some with his parents and some with Jarod and Connor out horseback riding, still hung on the wall.

He found his old pair of cowboy boots and put them on. With the exception of the last time he’d been home, he and his father had always gone riding after chores were done.

His ancient black cowboy hat sat on the closet shelf. He dusted it off and shoved it on his head. Once he’d sent his father a text, he headed for the barn. Cassie was already out in the paddock astride her horse.

Buttercup was well named. Between Cassie’s hair and the palomino’s golden color that included a white mane and tail, they made quite a sight in the sun. He rubbed her horse’s forelock. “You’re a real beauty, aren’t you Buttercup,” he said, struggling not to look at Cassie. Her coloring was the complete opposite from the Italians he’d spent time with over the past eighteen months.

Nicoletta Tornielli, the olive-skinned woman he’d been planning to marry, had long black hair and large black-brown eyes. After being around her family, Cassie’s fairness with that peaches-and-cream complexion was in complete contrast.

While he was deep in thought over the change in his circumstances, her horse pushed against his chest, causing both of them to laugh. She smiled down at him. “Buttercup likes you. When one of the older ranchers in the area told Connor he needed to sell a couple of his horses, Connor took me with him and I ended up buying Buttercup. She’s been a wonderful horse so far. Friendly.”

“Your cousin has a great eye for horseflesh. One horse down, one to go.” Still feeling her smile, he walked into the barn. The smell of the barn brought back memories of getting up early in the morning. He’d repair the fencing bordering the Bannock property with his father, or make certain the planted forage wasn’t flooded by the numerous springs. Then he’d ride to the pasture. His job was to look for heifers in trouble while his dad checked on the rest of the herd.

In one of the stalls he found a blue roan with transverse stripes across the withers, marking him a wild mustang. “Hey, big fella.” Trace started talking to the horse, touching him, using all the tricks his horse-loving father had taught him years ago. The gentleness paid off. Soon the horse was nickering. Trace went into the tack room for a bridle and brought it out.

At first Masala shied away from it, but Trace continued to talk to him in soothing tones until the horse allowed the bridle to be put on. “It’s now or never,” he muttered before mounting him. Trace had always preferred riding bareback on his favorite mount, Prince. That seemed a century ago. If this horse didn’t like the weight, it was too late now.

Masala tossed his head several times and backed up, but when he realized he wasn’t in charge, Trace made a clicking sound and rode him out of the barn.

Cassie’s eyes flashed like green gemstones. “I don’t believe it! I didn’t think he’d let anyone else ride him.”

“My father taught me a few techniques.” They left the paddock and headed for the deep forest that made the Rafferty property so desirable to Trace.

“You learned them well. He must sense the take-charge pilot in you.”

“You think?” he teased.

“I know.”

They rode side by side, following a faint trail that wound through the trees. With the temperature at eighty-one degrees, he welcomed the cool of the forest. When the fall hunting season was on, the abundance of wildlife made the property a big game hunter’s paradise—elk, moose, mule deer, bison, white-tailed deer, bear and bighorn sheep roamed this part of the state. This ranch had it all. Someone would pay a lot of money for the property. Trace was determined that money would go right into his father’s bank account.

He glanced over at Cassie. “Tell me something. Who did the work and staining on the exterior of the cabin? When I first drove in, I thought I’d come to the wrong house. It’s so changed I hardly recognized it.”

“That was Logan’s doing.”

“The artwork on the shutters, too?”

“No. That was my contribution.”

Trace marveled at her skill. He took a deep breath of the pine-scented air. “And the garden?”

“We both worked on it at the end of last summer to get it ready for spring.”

A spring Logan never saw...

It meant Cassie had done all the planting. “You’ve made the place beautiful.”

“Thank you. Your father asked me to pick out some porch furniture so it would look more attractive. When I was young I read all the books in the Little House series. I loved them and envied Laura Ingalls Wilder her life.”

He wondered where she was going with this. “I remember watching a few TV shows based on those books.”

Cassie flicked him a glance. “Do you know, when I first saw this place, I found myself thinking of it as Little House in the Big Woods. You know, it’s isolated here. The forest is so pristine and untouched. Anyway, it gave me the same feeling as those books. I was really delighted when your father hired us to live and work here. It’s an adorable house in the perfect setting.”

Trace was charmed by her. “Well, with what you’ve done to it, it is now. Tell me—do you plan on writing a series of books about this house, too?”