“Dude ranch singles mingles weekend.”
“Here?”
“Where else? We can redo the empty bunk house. Bring men and women for a three- or four-day weekend. Match-make them. Get them out on the land, camping, trail riding even, camp cooking. Down and dirty.”
“No, no way. It’s another business venture with an outlay of capital.”
“Cassie would be in charge. Her travel contacts, marketing and promotion skills, added to her ranch skills…” His grandmother brushed her hands together as if it were a done deal. “Perfect match. And we’ll find the man for her.”
“Gran, you’re not kidding, are you?”
Her wide grin said it all.
His heart dropped.
She’d stop at nothing.
When the time came, what lengths would she go to in order to find him a wife?
Chapter 3
Cassandra (Cassie)
Cassandra Callahan threw a handful of clothes in her already stuffed suitcase.
“You can’t go,” he whispered, coming up behind her and hugging until she stopped.
His warm, strong arms felt so good. He nuzzled her cheek. Cassie sighed, giving in to the yearning sensation. “I have to.” Her body contradicted her words. Turning her face, she met his lips.
Gentle pressure turned quickly into a hungry, desperate need. She reached out, cupping his face and then slipped around in his arms. Cassie allowed him to gather her close against his bare chest and deepen the kiss.
“I…can’t help myself when it comes to you.” The scrape of his five o’clock shadow sent a surge of desire through her. She wanted him again.
He moaned, taking and giving at the same time. His lips, warm and firm, slid along hers.
“My flight. I’m late.” She gasped as she broke away.
“Be later.” He stopped, pulling back until she met his warm brown gaze.
Cassie’s breath hitched. She licked her swollen lips.
“Better yet. Don’t go,” he said softly, hope shining in his dark eyes.
She memorized his features, allowing herself to take in every nuance. Strong, wide face with the small dimple in his chin… Her nerves tingled. “If only…”
Leaning close, he kissed the tip of her nose, her forehead, and then her eyelids. “Tears, Cassie? You?” He licked them up and then kissed her again.
The taste of her salty tears shook her. She did not cry, not at the little things, sometimes not even at the big things.
She recalled the day the principal had knocked on her sophomore classroom door, the brief intense exchange between him and her English teacher followed.
They found out. It wasn’t hard in a small ranching community. News like that spread like wildfire. But, in the early morning hours, she snuck away from the ranch, wanting to take her English exam, and longing to have one last sense of normalcy in her life before the world discovered and pitied her and her brothers.
Her teacher and principal looked back over their shoulders at her. The shattered look in her favorite teacher’s eyes when she’d called her in to the hall to tell Cassie her parents had died in a tragic plane crash seared in her memory.
I know. I wanted to forget. For just a moment.
Her numb mind went on autopilot. Hushed words came: an offer to help, and permission to cry. But tears hadn’t come then.
So why now? Why with him?
“One more night?”
A fresh curl of heat tugged at her. She bit back on a moan. “And then?” Will that be enough?
“We meet again.”
A wistful smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “Bits and pieces? Is that all we have?” With everything in her screaming in protest, Cassie dropped her hands to his arms, her fingers wrapping around his thick, muscular biceps. She swallowed hard and shoved away.
He released her, stepping back. “That’s your choice.”
“My family comes first. You know that. You’ve known that for years.”
“At the exclusion of all else.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. He dragged his hands through his dark, wet hair.
A groan bubbled up inside her. He could be on one of those calendars. Hot. Chiseled.
“Cass, you’re throwing us away.”
She avoided his direct stare. Gulping hard, she nodded. Turning away, she finished packing, shoving and jamming clothes and shoes in the nooks and crannies of her check-in suitcase.
Aware of the yawning silence, she glanced over her shoulder. He was gone. She twirled around to see his broad, stiff back as he walked out of the room.
There would be no intimate goodbyes this time.
Her heart clutched.
***
The packed flight dragged on, uneventful and tedious. Five hours later, the wheels touched down on the tarmac and Cassie itched to depart.
Back in Texas now, she ached to see Gran and brothers and then head to the horses on the ranch. She’d been gone too long this trip.
He’d played a role in her tardiness by two days. His West Coast flight delays in getting to meet with her in New York made her want to see him even more. Their brief meetings scattered all over the country weren’t enough any longer, for either one of them.
She craved him.
That frightened her.
A few minutes later, Cassie crossed the noisy Austin Bergstrom Airport, snagged a ride on the escalator, and, looking down, she smiled widely when she saw her oldest brother waiting near the luggage carousel for her.
“Travis,” she squealed, rushing to him.
Turning to her, she caught his flash of a smile. Several women nearby stopped, turned, and murmured. Yes, her big brother caught the attention of many, but none were returned.
Cassie threw her arms around him. “I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I’ve seen you.”
He scooped her up in a hug, lifting her off her feet. “Little sister, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Lowering her back to the floor, he asked, “You all right?” He flicked a finger under her eye. “Not sleeping?”
That was Travis for you. Always seeing too much, like the things she wanted to hide. “Long trip, boring flight…” She shrugged, not wanting to tell him she’d walked away from this incredible guy she’d been secretly seeing for ten months.
The long distance and not meeting families was a bone of contention between them, so much so it had become a very sore subject and they’d skirt around it until they couldn’t any longer.
Looking away, she spotted her suitcase coming around the conveyor belt. “That one’s mine.”
Travis shouldered his way through the bustling crowd and easily snatched it up in one hand. Coming toward her, he grinned. “What did you do, pack everything you own in this thing?” He lifted it up, making it seem light as a feather. “Rocks? Bricks?”
She jabbed him in the arm. “Funny. I did buy some shoes.” Wincing inwardly, she did not want to look at that receipt again.
“Ah, shoes.” He shook his head. “Was it worth it?”
Recalling her shopping trip reveal to him in nothing but her ridiculously high glittery silver heels and his reaction, she’d say yes indeed. Warmth bathed her cheeks and she looked away. “Worth every penny.”
But would she ever be able to look at them again or even wear them now after the amazing love-making that came next and she’d never have again?
***
With Travis behind the wheel of his truck and Cassie settled in the passenger seat, she clutched the handle.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be out of this traffic soon enough,” he soothed. “With all your traveling, you’d think you’d be used to the horns honking, cars nearly cutting you off, fingers flipping—” He slammed on the brake as some fool in a Smart car wasn’t acting so smart.
Her knuckles turned white. “Most places I hire a driving service and try to ignore it.” She glanced down at a little car beside her. “Eww! I don’t think that old guy has pants on.” She shuddered at the sight of his scrawny legs
and even scrawnier…uh…you-know-what. “In this big thing, I can see way too much of everything.”
He chuckled. “We’ve got another thirty minutes before we’re out of the city, off the highway, and headed on the back roads to home. Give me ten seconds and your mind will be off this mess.”
Snapping her head around to look at him, she glanced at his profile. “What is she up to now?”
“Ah, you know Gran so well.” His quick smile appeared to soften the blow. “Her sights are on you.”
“Me? What have I done?” Her heart skipped a beat. Had Gran guessed at her love affair? Even two thousand miles away, she was sure to find out if only she was concentrating on her granddaughter. Her grandmother’s focus was legendary. “She’s got me in her crosshairs! Oh crud!”
“Wants you off the road.”
Now why did it seem as if he wasn’t telling her everything? “She’s been after me for the last year to ditch it and hire someone to take over for me.” So what’s new?
“She’s got a business venture she wants you in charge of.”
“Existing? Or new?”
“Brand spanking new, kiddo.”
Inwardly, she smiled at the nickname her big brother had given her. But she frowned at the thought of a new business. “You are going to tell me, aren’t you? You’re not going to make me wait for Gran to tell me, are you?”
“Dude ranch.”
“Huh?”
“You will run a dude ranch. With your marketing skills and connections, you can get it up and running and booked in no time. Four months should do it. Just in time for spring.”
Cassie peppered him with questions, but he held up his hand and said he’d save the details for Gran to explain.
Curiosity poked at her. “Why?”
“Brings you back home.”
It sunk in. She’d be off the road. No more traveling. No more weeks away. No more him.
She sucked in a sharp breath. It nearly cut her in two. If she were alone, she’d have doubled over from the pain. But she blinked the tears smarting her eyes and let out a slow, steady breath.
Somehow they’d both known they couldn’t go on like this any longer. She wouldn’t budge to his suggestion. And she wouldn’t compromise her ideals.
But this was real. This was a definite, clear-cut ending. There would be no more chance or engineered meetings on the road, in airports, or in hotel rooms.
How was she going to live without him in her life?
***
“My sweet Cassandra!” Gran cried as she rushed to her, hugging her close.
Cassie held on tight. Her grandmother may be in her seventies, but her strength could match anyone half her age. “Gran,” she whispered, fighting back tears. Again? She was never like this before. “I missed you.” The one person she needed right now with the no-nonsense, straight to the heart of the matter talk didn’t even know what she’d been hiding all these months.
Inhaling, she caught the combination of rose water and cinnamon. She giggled. “You’ve been baking again.”
Pulling back, Gran cupped her cheeks in her hands, saying, “Your favorite.” She kissed her on the cheek. “Now come on and tell your Gran about all your adventures.”
She turned to look at Travis coming around the truck with her suitcase in hand and then looked at her grandmother. “Oh, I hear you’re the one cooking up a new venture for me.”
“Travis Callahan, why did you go and spill the beans?”
“Just some. Not all. That’s up to you.” He ushered them in to the kitchen door.
A few minutes later, as Cassie sipped the warm honey lemon tea, she gazed at her grandmother with raised eyebrows.
The woman must have turned five shades of pink and nudged a big cinnamon roll in her direction. “Here, take a bite. I swear I outdid myself on this batch.”
Her oldest brother came back in the room from taking her suitcase upstairs and pulled out the chair at the head of the table. The legs scrapped along the wide planked gleaming wood floors. He plunked down and accepted the treat his grandmother handed to him.
“Spill it, you two.” Cassie’s nerves jumped, assuming there was even more to it than Travis had hinted at. “A dude ranch?”
“You told,” Gran accused Travis, turning sharply to him.
“Just that part.”
The look they exchanged made her hairs stand on end. “Gran, what’s this all about?”
The older woman hmmphed. “Well, if you must know, you’ll be in charge, of course.”
“Of?” She narrowed her eyes as her gran looked down at the table and straightened the nonexistent wrinkles from the napkin.
“It’s progress. It’s perfect for you.” She gulped down her tea and nearly sputtered.
Travis reached over and thumped her on the back.
She wheezed and coughed.
“Gran?”
“No need to worry, dear,” she whispered, taking a sip this time. “It’s just so exciting.”
“Annie Callahan, what in the world do you have up your sleeve this time?”
Her weak smile should have made her sympathetic, but the gleam in her gran’s eyes put her on notice. “Just a little get-together, on weekends, here at our new dude ranch.”
Frowning, she asked, “Get-together?” Why didn’t this sound so simple?
“Matchmaking,” Travis said, sitting back and smiling.
“Singles mingles,” Gran corrected. “What better way for two people to get to know each other but in nature? Horseback riding, camping under the stars, singing around the campfire…”
Shaking her head, she said, “No. No way. A singles weekend? Me? You want me to be a part of fixing up couples on our ‘dude ranch’ experience?”
The last thing in the world Cassie needed was to be around a bunch of smitten, horny people trying to get it on in front of her when she was trying to get over a broken heart.
“Gran, what have you done to me?”
Chapter 4
Colt
Colt Callahan rode his paint horse along the ridge of the property. He took pride in the great stretch of land, dotted with oak and cedar trees his family owned. If he had his druthers, he’d be riding, roping, and training the horses all day, every day.
But business was business. And he had to do his part for his family.
“Yo,” Nolan, his foreman, called to him as he guided his horse toward him. “Got a fence post down on the north side.”
“Send the twins out to fix it. They ride the fastest and they’ll get it done by nightfall.”
“Yep. Will do.” He swung his horse around and Colt nudged his to match the other one’s strides as they headed back. “New filly in town. You up for a night out with the other ranch hands or does the boss got standards now?”
He couldn’t imagine who it was. Hardly any new folks moved to this little ranching town in Texas. Not single females anyway. “There’s a story there, I’m sure.”
“Ripe for the picking.”
“Not interested.”
“What with you being a married man and all,” Nolan baited.
Ex married, formerly married, or whatever people called it. “Divorced.” That one word snapped out of him like a whip hitting the hard ground. It still stung.
By now, he and Molly should be married with a couple of kids and right on track. He wanted a family, longed for one.
But she decided otherwise.
It felt like someone punched him in the belly every time he thought of what he could have had.
Married a day after high school graduation, Molly and he were love-struck teenagers hell-bent on proving they could make it work in spite of the dire predictions of her parents. Six years later, she’d raced out to him on horseback, confronting him.
Their marriage was over.
Just like that.
He’d never seen it coming.
There was no other man. They’d married too young. She wanted more than to be a housewife and a ranch wife.
He breathed in sharply through his nose and reared back, like a threatened horse.
In a matter of hours, she was hightailing it out of his life.
“Maybe she’ll like you best of all,” his friend joked. “They seem to go for the hard to get ones. The challenge, I guess.”
Colt grunted. This had been a longstanding up-for-debate conversation between them. “I’m not playing that game, Nolan. You want her, you go get her. Leave me out of it.”
“Come on. What are friends for anyway?”
“I’m nobody’s bait. Got that?” It had taken some time before he realized some of his single guy friends dragged him along to put him on display. Quietly drinking a brew and with his head down, the ladies flocked to his side. He’d gently decline and then his friends would swoop in for the dance and more if they got lucky.
“Geez, what the hell is eating you?”
“Not a thing.” He tipped his hat, tugged on the reins, and then guided his horse toward the barn. When Nolan kept complaining and then calling out, Colt nudged his horse into a saunter, easily putting distance between them.
It took him another hour before he brushed his horse, fed him, and then cleaned himself up in the little cabin he’d built for him and his wife years ago.
“Molly.” He whispered her name. The echoing silence seemed to throb in the cabin, like it, too, missed her.
“Stop talking to yourself, Callahan.” Looking in the mirror, he combed his fingers through his wet sandy brown hair and then allowed himself to meet his own gaze in the reflection.
Lonely. Achingly lonely.
He pulled back, not realizing until this moment that it resided so deep.
Surrounded by four brothers, a sister, a grandmother, and beloved ranch workers, cattle, horses, and all sorts of animals all his life, Colt should be the least alone person on the planet.
But he wasn’t.
All he longed for was his wife back, a couple of rug rats running around making god-awful noise, and the life he dreamed he’d have with Molly. A life filled with love and happiness.
But he had none of that and only work and more work. Work he cared about. Work he excelled at and had made a huge name for himself in the breeding and training arena.
The accolades seemed hollow now.
An ache a mile wide shot through him.
“Maybe after Cassie’s homecoming dinner, I will head on out to the bar.” A smile flickered across his lips. “Life’s too short. Time to start living again, Callahan. Hard and fast.”