Rancher's Dream Read online

  So what had changed?

  Nothing. Ethan was still the driven businessman who’d swept her off her feet leaving her breathless and off balance. She’d been taken by surprise by him. The extravagant lifestyle, the way he seemed to cruise through life as if master of his own destiny. Of course that had appealed to her.

  And he’d wanted her—and came after her like a man who knew his mind. As he said, when he saw something he wanted, he got it. He’d wanted her and now he had her.

  That thought struck her as he opened her door and offered her a hand out of the car. Her wedding dress made it hard to move—let alone get out of the sedan. She always thought she’d be married in a simple sheath wedding dress. Or maybe even jeans and boots, knowing Hawk.

  But Ethan had had other ideas. When she’d showed him the dress she’d liked in the bride magazine, he’d said it wouldn’t do. It was too plain for the kind of wedding he had planned for them. So here she was, her dress made of yards of billowing fabric that she’d had to fight into submission to even get into the car.

  She’d wanted to change after the reception, but Ethan had pointed out that they would be home in a matter of minutes. She’d relented, even though she was anxious to get out of the dress. Or maybe just anxious, she thought as she looked again at the house looming over them.

  “Watch this,” Ethan said and touched his phone. “All I have to do is activate this and from now on, whenever you drive up...” Lights in the house and surrounding landscape suddenly came on, making the property look like a landing strip.

  She had to admit, the house looked less scary with the lights on as he led her up the steps to the front door.

  “Your thumbprint works, as well,” Ethan reminded her. Back when he’d had a security expert come by the library to put her thumbprint into a small handheld device, she’d had no idea this is what it had been for. Even back then, Ethan had known they would be living in this house—and not in New York.

  She felt even more intimidated by the house as she looked at the massive carved wood door. How much of this house operated on her thumbprint? She stared at the carved face of a lion in the middle of the door for a moment as Ethan deactivated the door lock. Even the lion looked displeased to see her as if it knew she was going to fail. The thought made her want to laugh.

  This wasn’t like her. She was usually so self-assured and confident in her abilities. But that was before she’d gotten involved with Ethan and been thrown into his world.

  Still it worried her, this feeling that she couldn’t cope as if she already knew she was in over her head. What was she really afraid of, she wondered, as the door swung open.

  Drey hesitated for a moment, expecting Ethan to sweep her up in his arms and carry her inside. But he was complaining about something not working properly as he frowned down at his phone before rushing in, leaving her standing on the step outside. Earlier, before he’d opened her car door, he’d been looking at his phone, as well.

  She sighed. After a few moments, the night air chilling her, she stepped inside. The door closed behind her, leaving her standing on the marble floor of the foyer. Modern minimalist was what Ethan had called it. To her, it felt cold and unwelcoming, or maybe it was just the fact that she didn’t feel all that well. She felt a little dizzy. She’d hardly touched a bite at the reception so she didn’t think that was it. At least she hoped not.

  She could hear Ethan somewhere deeper in the house but knew better than to follow the sound. She wasn’t up for a tour. But she did peer in, taking in the opulence of Mountain Crest and at the same time, its starkness. The white walls climbed to dizzying heights, while the curtainless windows and dim sconce lighting gave her the feeling of being in a mausoleum.

  Polished steel railings led upstairs to the next level. Ethan had told her that there were six levels aboveground with an underground garage, wine cellar and storage area. Of course there was a helipad on one side of the house and a pond on the other. She glimpsed a glass elevator off to the left. She hated elevators and the idea of being trapped. That and drowning were her two greatest fears.

  Drey shivered and quickly chastised herself. Ethan had paid a small fortune for the place with all its expensive modern furniture and high-tech devices—not to mention the cost of the actual building. This was to be her home. She knew women who would have been starstruck by the place.

  What did she know about how the wealthy lived? Nothing. Her father had worked as a janitor at the high school. Her mother was a clerk at the local dime store until it closed. The two were now gone—her father from a car accident, her mother from a fast-acting cancer that had taken her years ago.

  They hadn’t lived long enough to see their daughter married. The thought brought tears to her eyes. You’re exhausted. No wonder you’re imagining such strange things. Once you’re rested, everything is going to be fine.

  * * *

  BACK AT THE RANCH, Hawk was unsaddling his horse when he heard someone approach from behind him. He turned, thinking it would be Cyrus. Since college, he and his brother had run the family ranch together. His sister, Lillie, had started calling them the cranky old bachelors. She hadn’t been far off on that.

  To his surprise it wasn’t Cyrus standing in the barn doorway. Silhouetted against the night was his little sister, who hadn’t talked to him since their last argument about Drey weeks ago.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, her voice small and sad.

  The sound of it struck him at heart level. This was exactly what he’d hoped to avoid today. While he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, he’d hoped to stable his horse, go inside and have a few beers and put Drey’s wedding day behind him.

  Lillie took a tentative step toward him as if worried about him, and yet she had to know that the last thing he wanted right now was her sympathy.

  He swore under his breath. He could tell his sister all day long that he didn’t care about Drey anymore, but it wouldn’t do any good. It was as if she could look into his heart and see the pain he tried so hard to hide.

  “I’m fine.” He hadn’t meant to bite off the words as if straining on a bit. He’d been telling himself the same thing all day and it was getting old.

  She took another step toward him.

  He saw there was no getting around it. Closing the distance between them, he let her hug him. He hugged her, not sure who had needed the hug more—him or her.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered against his chest.

  All he could do was nod and hug her back, wondering how long it would take her before her sympathy turned to anger at him for not riding into the wedding chapel on his horse, grabbing Drey and riding off into the sunset together.

  Lillie pulled back to look up into his face. She seemed to be making up her mind about something. Patting his chest, she stepped back.

  He could see her battling with her nature. She wanted to chew him out, knock him upside the head, stomp her feet and tell him it wasn’t too late. Hell, it was Drey’s wedding night. It was more than too late. What was Lillie going to suggest now? That maybe he could still ride up to that big mansion on the mountain, scale the walls of that ridiculous house and steal her away before the marriage was consummated?

  Too late for heroics. As if it hadn’t been too late a long time ago. The only way he could have stopped this was months ago when Drey had told him she was getting married. Except he couldn’t imagine himself begging her to reconsider—not when he had nothing to offer her and hadn’t since college. No, he hadn’t forgiven her and wasn’t sure he ever could. As if he didn’t know that stubbornness ran in his family?

  He watched his sister marshaling her emotions. She swallowed and seemed to brace herself, making him realize it was going to be worse than a tongue-lashing or a demand for him to stop Drey before it was too late.

  Instead, Lillie burst into tears.

  He swore as he pulled h
er back into his arms. He smoothed her long dark hair, the same color as all the Cahills’, and whispered, “It’s going to be all right. I’m okay. It’s going to be all right.”

  He let her cry it out before shaking out his dusty bandanna and handing it to her. She took it, blew her nose and tried to hand it back. He shook his head, smiling at her as she sniffed, blew her nose again and then stuffed the bandanna into the pocket of her jeans.

  He could see that she was still sad, but that she had come to accept that there was nothing more she could do, his sister, the romantic. He’d accepted the way things were a long time ago. Or at least he had told himself he had.

  Only a fool would have thought that Drey would never find someone, get married, have children. The thought made him grit his teeth. At least she would be living in New York City. He wouldn’t have to see her pregnant, see her pushing a baby stroller, see her in the children she would have with another man.

  “I just had to come by when I heard,” Lillie said, still sniffing a little.

  When she heard? He must have looked confused because she quickly added, “She’s going to be living here.”

  He felt as if she’d punched him in the stomach. “Here?”

  “In Gilt Edge.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know where you heard that but—”

  “I was there. Ethan announced it at the reception. I heard him say they would be living at Mountain Crest.”

  “Mountain Crest,” he mumbled under his breath. “That pretentious son of a—”

  “She isn’t leaving,” Lillie cried, as if he was missing the point.

  Oh, he’d gotten the point. His heart had dropped like a stone into a bottomless well. Now he understood why his little sister had braved his temper to come here. Why her heart was breaking for him. Drey marrying someone else was bad enough. But staying here? Living right under his nose with that other man?

  There was no way he would be able to avoid seeing her—not in a town the size of Gilt Edge. Unless he became a hermit on the ranch.

  He swore again, turning away from his sister. Drey had told him that she and her husband would be living in New York City. Why would she change her mind?

  “Drey looked shocked when he’d announced it,” Lillie said. “I don’t think she’s happy about it.”

  To make matters worse, a portion of the Baxter property bordered forest service land next to the Cahill Ranch land. He’d done his best not to ride over there. But after Drey told him she was marrying Ethan Baxter, he’d saddled up and checked out the house everyone was talking about.

  He hadn’t been able to imagine Drey in a house like that. They used to talk about the future and the house they would have once they were married. She loved old farmhouses with big wide front porches.

  “It has to have a porch swing, of course,” she’d said.

  He’d smiled. “And a tree swing for the kids, I assume?”

  “You know it.” She’d cuddled up against him as they talked about her large country kitchen where all their friends and family would gather on holidays, and all the children they would have.

  Remembering made it hurt so much worse. Now Drey was going to be living in some mansion on the side of the mountain overlooking Cahill Ranch? He thought he’d been through hell all those years ago. This was hell.

  “You should get home,” he said, turning to his sister. He needed to be alone. She looked so small, so young, so worried about him. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  She looked as if she might burst into tears again. “You can’t leave. Tell me you won’t leave the ranch like Tucker did,” she cried, grabbing his arm.

  He shook his head, smiling at her as he put his hand over hers. Their oldest brother, Tucker, had left years ago because of a woman and only recently returned. “I won’t leave the ranch. I’m not going anywhere,” he said as he squeezed her hand. “This isn’t the end of the world.”

  “Isn’t it?” Her gaze locked with his as she let go of him. Tears flooded her gray eyes again. “What if Drey was the one for you? The only one for you?”

  “You know I don’t believe in all that romantic stuff. Drey wasn’t my one and only.” She eyed him skeptically. “Now, get on home to your husband and son,” he said, turning her toward the barn door.

  “I just want you to be happy,” she said quietly as he walked her to the door.

  “I know.” He thought about telling her that he was happy. Well, as happy as he could be under the circumstances. But even that would have been a lie. He was dying inside.

  She hesitated for a moment at the door. Their gazes met. He gave her a smile and a nod and she turned and left, disappearing into the darkness outside.

  He stood for a long time staring into that blackness until he heard the sound of her SUV pulling away. He finished putting his tack away, then walked outside in time to see the red of his sister’s taillights going up the road.

  The night air was cool. A normal summer night in Montana in the mountains. He looked up at the stars for a moment. A sliver of moon hung in that big sky. He let his gaze shift to the mountain where Drey was spending her wedding night with her new husband.

  “Drey,” he whispered to the night. He felt his throat close with emotion. “Be happy.” He said it like a wish. If he couldn’t have her, then Ethan Baxter sure as hell had better be the man she needed.

  With that he turned toward the house, suddenly exhausted and praying for sleep. Once inside, he started for the refrigerator to get a beer, but opted for a stiff drink of whiskey before bed. He knew one wasn’t going to do it.

  Grabbing the bottle, he headed up. As he passed his brother on the stairs, he lifted his glass and gave him a nod.

  Cyrus was smart enough to merely nod back.

  * * *

  “THERE YOU ARE,” Ethan said when he found her still standing in the foyer. “I was afraid I’d lost you.” He moved to her and, taking her shoulders in his hands, drew her into a gentle kiss. When he pulled back, he seemed to study her face. “You are so beautiful.” He said it as if he’d only just realized it was true. “I love your hair.”

  She’d wanted to put it up for the wedding, but he’d insisted she leave it down. He loved to run his fingers through it. Now he raked a hand over the length of it, touching her bare shoulder and making her shiver. “I never can decide what color it is,” he said almost to himself. “Caramel.” He nodded as if reaching the definitive answer. “Warm dark caramel.”

  Drey began to relax a little. This was the Ethan who’d swept her off her feet. A tender, caring man who wanted only the best for her. And they did look great together, Ethan with his blue eyes and blond hair. “The all-American couple” it had said in his company’s glossy magazine-like employee newsletter.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t get to carry you over the threshold, a problem with the backup generator, but I’ll make it up to you. I promise,” he said and kissed her neck, making her shiver again.

  Everything was going to be all right, she told herself. Every woman got wedding jitters, right? Every woman felt a little nauseated at the thought of her first love on her wedding day. Every woman saw herself lying facedown, dead in a pond.

  She shivered and Ethan drew her closer—as close as he could because of the dress.

  He touched a screen on the wall and the door locked and the lights in the foyer dimmed. “It’s all about modern technology and safety. The whole house comes alive at the touch,” he said with obvious pleasure. “It works for you, as well. Here, try it.”

  Taking her hand, he drew her over to what she knew must be the light switch. “Just touch it with your thumb.”

  She pressed her thumb to the touch screen and the lights went off.

  He chuckled with obvious delight. “See why I needed your thumbprint? The whole house works on just our prints.” His phone made a sound. He frowned do
wn at the screen. “Something isn’t working right, though. Why don’t you go on up and change into something more comfortable. Top floor. The elevator is over there. I won’t be long,” he said.

  “Unzip me, please.”

  As he did, he trailed kisses down her spine. “Can you manage now?” he asked.

  “Don’t be long, okay?” She realized she needed reassurance. Maybe in his arms she could chase away these crazy thoughts.

  “I can’t wait to see you in that silk gown we bought in Paris,” he said, desire sparking in his gaze. “I’ll hurry. Open the wine and have a glass to relax,” he said, caressing her arm. “I’ll join you shortly.”

  She started to remind him that she didn’t drink but didn’t want to argue. She watched him take off down the hallway before she glanced at the elevator. Even though it was glass, she preferred the stairs. She’d never liked being closed in. At least the house, with its high ceilings and sparse decor, made her feel as if she could breathe a little easier.

  The stairs rose to a landing on each floor. She found a massive living room with a sunroom and balcony off to one side of the second floor. On the next floor was a restaurant-size kitchen and a dining room table that could serve fifty it appeared. Another balcony hung off to the side with a more normal-size table and chairs.

  She couldn’t imagine cooking in the huge kitchen let alone the two of them eating at that enormous table. Apparently Ethan planned to entertain a lot.

  On the next floor, she glimpsed a terraced sunroom and a half dozen bedrooms along with another balcony. Everywhere she looked there were windows. The next floor was just as spacious with another sunroom and what appeared to be conference rooms and a media center—and another balcony.

  She was wondering where the master suite was as she climbed yet another set of stairs to find wide double doors. Pushing them open, she almost gasped. Off to her right was another balcony. To the left was the largest master suite she’d ever seen.

  In a room with towering ceilings and even more windows, there was a gas fireplace and a huge wide-screen television. At the center of it all was a giant platform bed with matching end tables and lamps. On each side of the bed appeared to be his and her bathrooms. The remaining portion of the room held two matching chairs that sat in front of the fireplace and television.