The Rancher's Blessed Event

“Ever since Dad died, the Diamond D has been in Kenneth’s hands. That’s the way he wanted it,” he said quietly. “My brother would have never let it get in this condition without a reason.”

Lifting her eyes to the ceiling, Emily let out a long sigh. “A reason? Why not several reasons?”

“Okay. So there was more than one. Tell me.”

Her mind said she didn’t owe this man any explanations. He’d forfeited everything when he’d walked away. Yet when she looked at him, her heart interfered with her thinking. Kenneth had been his brother and this had been his home. It couldn’t be easy for him to find them both gone.

“Cooper, the ranch’s decline happened over years. Little by little Kenneth seemed to lose interest. And then all sorts of problems kept popping up, like broken-down vehicles, sick cows, bad weather. The list goes on. But I guess the plummeting price in the cattle market is what finally broke the place.”

His brows shot up. “The ranch is broke?”

She supposed that was hard for a man like him to imagine. Through the gossip grapevine and what little bit of sports news she caught on TV, she knew Cooper Dunn had made plenty of money these past ten years riding broncs in the PRCA. He was a champion, a celebrity figure in the world of rodeo. His finances had done nothing but grow.

“Let me put it this way. The ranch isn’t making money.”

“How many cattle are you running now?” he asked.

“A hundred and fifty head.”

The amount was so paltry she might as well as said none. He looked at her and the disgust on his face brought a flush of anger to her cheeks.

“I know it sounds and looks bad,” she told him, “but when you have a bad streak of luck—”

“You get up and fight back,” he interrupted hotly. “You don’t lose interest and you sure as hell don’t start drinking!”

“I didn’t do either of those things,” she retorted. “Nor do I plan to.”

But Kenneth had. She couldn’t have made it any plainer to him. But the ranch was still here. Barely. Cooper couldn’t let it die, too.

Rising from the chair, he went to stand beside her. She looked up at him as his shoulder came close to nudging hers and as Cooper searched her azure blue eyes he realized he’d forgotten nothing about this woman. Her honey pale skin, the length of her pert little nose, the curve of her full lips. Lips that he’d kissed whenever the urge had struck him. And the urge had struck him often. To his dismay, it still was.

“I was planning on leaving this evening. Along with the bronc riding, I’ve started competing in the team roping and I’m drawn in a rodeo in Arizona two days from now. But I’m not going.”

Aghast, she whispered, “Not going?”

Glancing away from her, he shook his head. Emily’s already jumpy stomach took a nosedive. “Why? I’m sure there’s several more rodeos for you to make between now and the National Finals in December.”

“Eight at least. But they’ll manage to go on without me.”

Maybe, Emily thought. But she wasn’t at all sure she could survive with him here. All she had to do was look at him and she remembered everything about him. The taste of his skin, the flash of his smile, the sweet bliss of his body next to hers. Oh God, it wasn’t right for her to think of such things with Kenneth barely gone. But she couldn’t stop herself. She’d never been able to stop herself.

Turning her gaze to the fire, she asked, “Why would you possibly want to stay? There’s nothing for you here.”

At one time Cooper had thought there was plenty for him here because she was here. He’d hoped and planned to eventually come back a rich man, a man worthy to be Emily’s husband. But she hadn’t waited. She’d married Kenneth instead. Even now, after all these years, the knowledge stabbed him deep and hard.

“Unless things have changed more than I know, I’m still part owner of this place,” Cooper stated coolly. “I have a right to see that my own property is taken care of. Or were you planning on selling it and moving into Ruidoso or somewhere else in this area?”

His question put a blank look on her face. “Sell?” she echoed. “I’d never do that. Besides, as you said, you’re half owner. I couldn’t sell without your consent.”

It really didn’t make any sort of sense, but it was a great relief to Cooper to hear her say she had no notions to sell the Diamond D. Selling would probably be the smart thing to do. She was a woman alone, without the funds to get the place going again. With what money they could get out of the property, she would have enough to start a new home somewhere and he could go on back to his rodeo life and not have the burden of the ranch on his mind.

But the Diamond D had always belonged to a Dunn. His father had been born here and he’d died here. So had his grandfather. The Dunn men had carved this ranch right out of Apache land. Back then, water had been as precious as gold and the Lincoln county range war had turned the desert plains into a bloody battlefield. It was even rumored that during those days of the 1870s, Cooper’s great-grandfather Dunn had rode with the great rancher, John Tunstall, and rubbed shoulders with Billy the Kid.

Whether that part of the family history was true or not, Cooper couldn’t really say. But he did know for more than a century, a Dunn had ranched this land. How could he walk away from that?

“Cooper, is that what you want? You want to sell the Diamond D?”

Her voice finally penetrated his deep thoughts. “I’m sorry,” he said, swiping a weary hand over his face. “Were you asking me something?”

She repeated her questions and he quickly shook his head.

“No. I don’t want to sell the ranch.”

Her mind spinning, Emily’s gaze clung to his hard face. “But you can’t want to stay here!”

His gray eyes cut down to hers and once again, memories swamped her. No man, including her husband, had gotten as close to her as Cooper had. When she’d been in his arms, the rest of the world had faded away. Nothing had mattered but him and having him close. If he stayed on the Diamond D she’d be so tempted...so crazy all over again.

“Why?”

“Because this isn’t the way you want to live! You’ve got a career. And anyway, I live here alone. It wouldn’t look...right if you were to stay in the house with me.”

His lips twisting with wry amusement, he went over to the window and glanced outside. “I don’t really see any neighbors out there watching us.”

“Don’t be flip. You know I have friends and family around here. They’ll all think it rather odd, don’t you think? A brother-in-law moving in with his freshly widowed sister-in-law.”

“Moving in,” he repeated with a snort. “You make it sound like we’re two lovers who can’t wait to set up housekeeping with each other.”

His sarcasm stung her and she shot him a disgusted look. “That’s exactly the way it will sound to everybody else, too!”

Turning his back on her, Cooper stared out the murky windowpanes. He could feel cold air seeping around the wooden window frames, but the draft did little to cool his thoughts. Why did she have to remind him of how it had been to love her? She was his brother’s widow and that’s the way it had to stay.

“I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks!” he said sharply. “This is between you and me. Like it or not, we own this ranch together. And I don’t want to see it go under.”

If anyone could get the Diamond D going, Emily thought reluctantly, it would be Cooper. He might have been riding in the spotlight for the past ten years, but he knew ranching backward and forward. And from the looks of him, he had the energy to follow his ideas through. But what about the mental commitment? How long would it be before he was bored and ready to head back to Cheyenne or Calgary or San Antonio?

No, Emily decided. She didn’t want him here. Especially with the baby coming. For so long she’d desperately wanted a child and now that she was finally pregnant she wanted to focus all her energy on carrying a healthy baby to full term. Cooper’s presence would dredge up memories too painful to bear.

“I won’t let the Diamond D go under. I promise you that,” she told him.

He turned and stared at her. “What do you mean, you won’t let it? It’s already on its way.”

She flushed. “Not totally. I still have a hundred and fifty head of cattle and ten head of horses.”

His eyes quickly narrowed. “What about the horse that caused Kenneth’s accident?”

She shook her head. “Daddy’s already sold him.”

He was visibly relieved. “Good. I didn’t relish the idea of putting a horse down, but I would have.”