Back From Hell (Marine For You Book 2) (Contemporary Military Veteran Romance) (7 page)

He wasn’t sure what he would have said to that but his phone vibrated before he had to come up with a reply. “I should get that.”

“I guess I should shower. Then breakfast and the hospital.”

He hated for her warm body to leave his side but he suspected this was the phone call he had been waiting for. “I’ll order breakfast once I’ve dealt with this.” He slipped his arm from around her and reached over to grab his cell phone off the nightstand. As his hand wrapped around the phone, he realized it wasn’t a call but a text message.
Sale fell through this morning. If interested call…
The phone number for Mr. Cline followed.

“Everything okay?” She slipped off the other side of the bed and went to the suitcase.

“Better than okay.” He grabbed the hotel stationery and jotted down the number. “I’ve got to return this call.”

She nodded and headed toward the bathroom to shower and get ready. When he heard the water running, he quickly dialed the number. It was early but he didn’t want to miss the opportunity. If the sale had fallen through, there might be another buyer waiting in the woodwork ready to place an offer.

On the third ring, a rough voice answered. “Cline residence.”

“Good morning, Mr. Cline. I’d like to talk to you about buying your ranch.”

T
he next two
days were spent going back and forth from the hospital to the hotel. In the midst of it all, Kyle still managed to work out the details with Mr. Cline. Nearly everything was in order. The only thing that stood in the way of the closing in three weeks was a visit to tour the land and sign the remaining paperwork. That had to happen tomorrow or the deal was off. This would give the Clines the retirement they wanted and Staci the ranch she had dreamed about since she was a child. It made him slightly nervous that he hadn’t told her anything about the deal, but he wanted this to be a surprise—his way of giving something back to her for all she had done for him.

The days had also given him a different perspective on her. While she loved her mother, she was stressed out more when they were together. The two women were so different, they clashed in nearly every way. Even with Colin and him there to act as buffers, the hours spent at the hospital had some sticky moments where the women had drawn their claws.

Whatever had happened after her heart surgery, Mrs. Pence and Colin seemed to have a newly developed tension between them. Had they not worked out the issue of marriage or was it something else? Either way, it wasn’t his business and Staci didn’t seem too interested in digging further.

“What’s on your mind?” Staci sat across from him, picking at her grilled chicken salad.

“I’ve got something to tell you…something I wanted to keep as a surprise until things were final, but I can’t figure out how to make tomorrow work otherwise.”

“What’s tomorrow?” She sat her fork aside.

He had wanted to plan a nice romantic dinner to tell her what he had done but that idea had been tossed out when her mother spiked a fever that morning. “I’m meeting Mr. Cline…”

“Cline as in Cline ranch?” Her eyes widened.

He nodded. “I’m purchasing the place.”

“What?” She scooted her chair back from the table in anger. “You don’t want that ranch. What do you know about horses? Or running a ranch?”

“Just calm down for a moment and let me explain.” He reached across to her and took her hand in his. “I’m purchasing the ranch for you.”

She blinked as if she tried to wrap her thoughts around what he just said. “Wait. Colin said that Mr. Cline had someone purchasing it.”

“It fell through and now I’m buying it.”

“But why?”

He smirked at the very idea of him owning the farm himself. “It’s for you as a token of my appreciation for all you’ve done. You saved my life and for that I owe you a lot more than this ranch.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“I want to do this.” He squeezed her hand. “Mr. Cline needs to sell. He didn’t call you because he knew you were still in college. He didn’t want you to give it up just to come back to the ranch. He thought your father would roll over in his grave if he were the reason you quit school. That’s the reason he didn’t contact you, not because he didn’t want you to own the place.”

“Needs to retire.” The surprise made her voice rise a notch.

“His wife has been ill for some time and the cold weather is too much for her. They want to move to Florida where their daughter lives.” He paused because this was the part he hadn’t been sure he wanted to tell her or if he wanted to leave things be. “Colin pressured him into selling.”

“He what?” She interrupted and started to slide from the booth. She shouldn’t have been surprised after Colin’s comments before but she was. She had tried to live in denial because it wouldn’t have just been him but also her mother.

“Wait.” He squeezed her hand a little tighter so she couldn’t get away.

“I’m not sure how it all happened, but they were acquaintances from years in the horse industry and Colin mentioned that he might know someone who was interested. At first, Mr. Cline thought he meant you…” He trailed off at the pain in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter how, but you should know the reasoning behind it. Colin thought if that ranch was no longer a possibility, you and your mother would move on and forget about that place and your father. He had hoped it would finally bring the possibility of them getting married to the forefront.”

“That swine!” The surprise that had been in her voice was now replaced with anger and sadness.

“Come here.” He tugged her hand until she got up and came around the table to sit on his side of the bench. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and cuddled her against him. “I know you’re upset about what he did, but tomorrow we’ll go tour the ranch, look over the books and ranch commitments. In three weeks, we will close and the place will be yours.”

“No, it will be yours.”

“I thought it was clear I’m not buying the ranch for me but for you.”

“Why? I was supposed to work for this. I’ve been saving every dime I could to buy that place.”

“Trust me, there’s plenty of work for you to do,” he teased. “No, seriously, I know how much this place means to you and how devastated you were when you thought you’d lost your chance to purchase it. I didn’t want to see that happen again.”

“How did you even know the deal fell through?” She tipped her head up to look at him.

“After Colin’s announcement about snatching the ranch out from under you, I called a friend of mine. He did some research and contacted Mr. Cline. That’s what the text message I received the other morning was about. Immediately, I called and placed a bid on it, so we didn’t miss our chance.” He lifted his hand from her shoulder and tangled it in her hair. “I know you wanted to buy it but weren’t in the position yet. If it bothers you I purchased it for you, then consider me a business partner and when you’re ready, buy me out.”

“Why would you want to get involved in a horse ranch? You’ve even admitted you’ve never even been on a horse before.”

“I did it for you. I know how much that place means to you. I couldn’t stand by and let someone else own it.” No, he couldn’t, especially without knowing if they’d have the same devotion for it as she had. She loved that place and the memories that surrounded it and he loved
her
. As strange as it was, the ranch completed things.

“I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. For days I’ve thought that my chance of owning it was done and now…” The first tear rolled down her face. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sugar. Thank you for strolling into my life and saving me.”

“We saved each other.” She tipped her head to rest against his chest. “I wasn’t living before you. I’d go to class, work, and the hospital, but that was it. Since Heather graduated and moved back to Kentucky, I’ve just been going through the motions of living. I never thought what is happening between us could…well, happen, but I’m glad it did.”

“Me too.”

“There’s no polite way to ask this so I’ll take a page from your book and just come out with it. Cline’s ranch isn’t just some dinky little place. I’ve been saving for years and still don’t have the money. How can a Lance Corporal afford to drop the money needed on this ranch? Especially when it’s not your dream but you’re doing it for me.”

“You know I was a foster care child without a dime to my name when I turned eighteen but it was a few months before I deployed that things changed.” He stared off and thought about the person that he didn’t even know. “My biological mother’s family had money, so much that my grandmother was able to bribe people to report to her as my life progressed. When she died, she left the money to me. The lady that gave birth to me tried to fight it but the suit was dropped while I was in the hospital. Honestly, I never cared about the money, never even touched it, but now it seems like it had a purpose after all.”

“What about your mother? Have you had any contact with her?”

“No, and as far as I’m concerned, she’s not my mother, just the woman who gave birth to me. There’s no relationship beyond that. You have to do more for a child than that to be considered a parent.” He let out a light chuckle. “Funny thing is, the family made their money racing horses.”

“Maybe it’s in your blood.”

“Maybe.” He kissed the top of her head. “I was intrigued a little and learned my father was a jockey that my mother was having an affair with. She kept the pregnancy a secret, hiding away in the house when it became obvious and her husband made excuses she was traveling. After she gave birth, I was whisked away.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It brought us a new adventure. Tomorrow…I know it’s bad timing with your mother’s condition and this new infection so I understand if you don’t wish to go with me, but I promised to meet with him.”

“I’ll go.”

“Good, because like you already pointed out, what do I know about a horse ranch? I need you there to go over things with me, to check the books, and the commitments we’ll be held to. I need you.” Mentally he added,
in more ways than you know.

He held her tight against him and enjoyed the moment. Tomorrow, they’d start a new journey together as ranch owners and he would have to begin learning what it took to run a place like that. Yet, just then, he only wanted to focus on Staci and the knowledge that lurked inside of him waiting for him to acknowledge it.

He wasn’t simply falling in love with her; he was head over heels
in
love with her.

T
he next day came
, as they always do, but not fast enough for Staci. Even as they sat in the rental car on their way to the ranch, she wanted to tell him to step on the gas pedal. It seemed like he was driving too slowly, and it was taking too long to get there. It had been years since she had been back to the area where she grew up and even longer since she had been at the ranch. Now, she was finally on her way and, while the place wasn’t actually yet hers, the fulfillment of her dream loomed closer than ever.

The guilt from what she thought when Colin had told her the ranch was being sold still made her stomach turn. She had been so upset and unable to get that ranch out of her thoughts and during that time, she had thought some rather nasty things about Mr. Cline. His word had always been good, but when he didn’t call to let her know he wanted to sell the ranch, that seemed to change her opinion about him. Now here she was about to own the place with Kyle.

Kyle had refused to discuss their business partner arrangements until after they saw the place, but she was determined to pay him back every cent. The ranch meant everything to her and he was doing this for her. She didn’t want his act to be out of some misguided sense of indebtedness because he didn’t owe her anything. This was her dream and somehow she had tugged him into it.

They made the turn onto the road that would lead them to the ranch and she sat up straighter, her heart beat faster. As they drove through the small town, she noticed everything looked different, but that was nothing compared to what the entrance into the ranch looked like. Beautiful big trees lined the road, with their bright green leaves, and brought back so many memories. Happy memories.

She refused to think of the winter when her mother had left the ranch and the area to move them to Nashville. Or how bare the trees had been with a light dusting of snow on the branches. That memory was too close to the day of her father’s funeral. Winter held sadder memories—like the world was trying to do away with the old to make room for the new. Only her father wasn’t the old and shouldn’t have been taken from her on that cold winter’s day.

“Your mood sure changed.” He glanced over at her before returning his attention to the road.

“I was thinking of yesteryear and winter. The death of the land can bring the death of other things.”

“Your father.”

She reached across the space toward him and placed her hand on his leg. “I lost him in the winter and the following year, Mom forced us to move to Nashville. Said we couldn’t live here any longer with his memories haunting us at every turn. It had been just over a year since his death and that move felt almost like losing him all over again. That was the last winter I lived here. I came back in the summers and when Mom needed a break, because the Clines were like grandparents to me, but it was never the same.”

“This winter the place will be ours and we can make happy memories.”

“I still can’t believe it.” She glanced back out the window. “My emotions are all mixed up at the moment. I’m happy to be here, thrilled with our new adventure, saddened by the negative memories this brings back of my father’s death, and feeling ill at the thought of telling my mother.”

“This is your life and you need to live it on your terms. You’ve done that with your degree, this ranch, and, well…me.”

“You?”

“Mrs. Pence has never once tried to hide the fact that she’s unhappy with
us
. She doesn’t want you with some sorry excuse for a man.”

“Kyle!” She slapped his leg. “I won’t sit here while you use such a degrading term to refer to yourself. You’re an amazing man.”

“You see what you want to see and not the outer shell that everyone else can’t get past. The point still is she isn’t happy about this. Especially since she thinks I’m to be her son-in-law soon.”

“I don’t care what she thinks. I’m happy being with you.”

“Wow. Look at this place.”

She turned back to the road and noticed the white fences that marked the horse areas had disappeared and they were heading up the incline to the main house. The log ranch home stretched out wide so that every room had a view of the land. It was set up in such a way that two of the four bedrooms had views of both sides of the ranch. She remembered waking up on the mornings when she was visiting and looking out over the grounds. The master bedroom had more stunning views, not just on the front and back but also the side. The back end of the property overlooked the lake. Mr. Cline worked around the lake because his wife had refused to let him fill it in.

“Wait until you see inside.” She smiled and let the memories wash over her. “On the other side of that barn you’ll find the workers’ quarters. He’s never had a large staff, only one or two, but it’s set up for six workers, each with their own living quarters and a shared kitchen. At least it was so last time I was here.”