Second Chance Ranch (6 page)

“Cauldwell Cattle Company is big. Maybe Kade’s holding out for a promotion. I know my brother Nick thinks the world of Mitch Cauldwell. . .and Nick doesn’t think well of most people.”

“Nick’s trying to win rodeos on Cauldwell bulls. He better chum up to the right people. If I remember correctly, Nick didn’t think too much of Jess Eklund’s riding abilities.”

“Jess didn’t have any bull riding ability. I believe my brother stated that blunt enough after one particularly ugly ride. Jess could care less about Nick’s opinion and Nick never could suffer fools. He told me to keep Jess in my prayers until the good Lord succeeded in pounding some sense into the kid.” Zac stretched his arms over his head, his shirt pulling tight across his chest. “Jess wasn’t much better at bronc riding, so I kept praying for him.”

Jen ignored the image of masculine perfection in front of her and turned her attention to the map tacked to the wall. “How can you still be friends with Jess Eklund?”

A slow laugh lifted his chest. “You still mad at him after all these years?”

“I’m not mad,” she defended. “I never was.”

“Right.” Zac cocked his head to the side. “You and Jess got along like oil and water all through school. You knew he was just a lot of hot air. You should have ignored him. At least forgiven and forgotten, by now.”

“He’s still making my life miserable. If it wasn’t for him, the bank never would have asked for this stupid business plan.”

“Of course they would’ve.” He leaned closer until she could see the hint of evening whiskers on his face. She stared at the pattern of black and gray lines etched within his brown eyes. Brown eyes that gleamed, appearing just as taken with staring at her.

“The bank needs to know you’re up to the job,” he coaxed, his voice low and rough. “Jess is protecting his family assets.”

Jen cleared her throat, a lump of unwelcome longing choking her voice. “He’s selling off the family assets. His dad wanted the ranch to go to kids who needed it most; Jess wants the money.”

“Jess and his dad never saw eye to eye but that doesn’t make him a bad guy.”

She struggled to subdue her irritation. “Don’t defend him to me, Zac. Don’t you remember all the times you stuck up for me and told him to leave me alone? He was nothing but a big bully then, and he’s not any better now.”

Zac drew closer. A hint of mint on his breath and the scent of pure male mingled with soap tangled about her. “He was my friend. You were my girl. You think I had an easy time of it back then?”

Her lips moved, but words escaped her. Dark waves brushed across his forehead, the tips of his hair lightened from the sun. Color brushed across his cheeks from the strong, mountain sun making the light in his dark eyes bright. Would she ever get be able to get Zac Davidson out of her system? A retort formed on her lips just as her cell phone rang. Snapped out of an all too familiar spell, she shook her head. No daydreams; no happily ever afters. Needing distance, Jen got up and walked out onto the porch.

“O’Reilly speaking.”

“Jennifer O’Reilly? This is Marcia from Nuberg Labs. Ray Fuentes from the Hawk Ridge Medical Clinic lab ask me to rush this through for you.” The woman exuded calm over the the miles. “We have your results.”

* * *

Jennifer O’Reilly was still one hot girl.

Zac watched her walk out the kitchen door and onto the back porch, her cell phone clamped tightly to her ear. He couldn’t help but smile. She used to get hopping mad at him when they were kids. He’d give her room and let her cool off, and before long, they’d be playing, or riding, or kissing…depending on their ages at the time.

Tracing the wood grain of the table top with his finger, he shook his head. He’d never known what to expect from Jen, and at the same time, he knew exactly what to expect. She needed her ducks in a row, the details worked out before she joined any of his adventures. She had to know what she was getting into, and if he didn’t have the answers, she’d pester him until he found them for her. Jess Eklund, his best friend? Jen obviously never had a clue. No matter what she thought about Jess Eklund or even her brother, Jen had always been his best friend.

And girlfriend.

The convergence point of all things sensible and solid.

Until she dumped him.

He never even knew why she disappeared from his life. She’d been sad they were going to different schools, even though he’d assured her nothing would change. They saw each other as they could, but after a couple of months, she stopped calling and accepting his phone calls. He even stopped by her apartment in Denver a couple of times only to be turned away by her roommate who adamantly assured him Jen wasn’t home and she had no idea when she’d be back.

Right. He recognized a brush off when he got one.

A couple of minutes had passed and he realized he hadn’t heard her voice. Out on the porch, Jen stood braced against the newel post at the edge of the steps. A breeze teased at the ends of her blonde hair making him want to twist the strands between his fingers just like he used to do. Funny, he never thought he’d say it, but he could get used to Jennifer O’Reilly back in his life. Their split was so far in the past, he barely remembered if he’d missed her at all at the time. His heart began to pound as caution signals pumped up to his brain.

Liar.

The hole in his heart had never mended, but Zac was a firm believer in what happened in the past, stayed in the past. They were both older and wiser now. Why not? Especially since he planned to offer her a deal she couldn’t refuse. And since she’d not be able to refuse him, their close proximity alone would work in his favor for maybe picking up where they’d left off all those years ago.

For now, he had to quit grinning. After she conceded to his wisdom,
then
he could grin all he wanted.

Jen continued to slump beside the post. Maybe she enjoyed the breeze after sitting in the stuffy kitchen all morning.

Standing, he headed out to the porch. She didn’t move a muscle as the door slammed behind him. “Hey, we were working remember?”

She didn’t look up. She leaned her elbow on the rail, her phone clasped in her palm. “I need a minute, okay?”

Warning alarms rang through his head. When Jen pulled away, it usually meant bad news. He didn’t want to push it, or push her. He hadn’t been back in her life long enough to even assume she wanted to share anything with him. Still, seeing her in obvious distress didn’t set well with him. “Can I help?”

She didn’t answer. If anything, her shoulders slumped a bit more.

“I’m sorry for whatever bad news you just got, but maybe my news can raise your spirits a bit. I studied the layout of the Trails’ End. You want the house, barn and the outbuildings for your camp. I want the fields and crops. We can work through this and figure out how to make both our dreams come true. Especially for the camp.”

She tilted her chin and looked up at him, her eyes dull and mouth straight. It wasn’t much, but at least he got her attention. He ran with that little crumb of encouragement. “How does this sound -- I’ll buy the ranch and draw up a lease giving you and the camp perpetual access to the agreed upon acreage. I’ll even work in improvements over the course of your lease as the camp grows.”

Jen straightened from the railing, her back propped against the support post. Her gaze darted around everywhere but meeting his. Zac didn’t know if this was a good move, but at least he’d gotten a reaction. When she opened her mouth to speak, he rushed in and cut her off.

“Don’t make a decision right now. I know it sounds sketchy at best, but believe me, we can make this happen. You’re still trying to find funding and from the looks of the crop rotations you’re working on, there is a lot of gray area in your knowledge to secure any loans. I can help you, if you just let me.”

Her fingers curled around the phone as the heel of her boot stomped on the porch boards. She finally met his gaze, her blue eyes bright with moisture. “Zac--”

“It will work, Jen.” He interrupted again, expectant, yet afraid of her response. “We were a great team once. Together we can build this place, make it the best working ranch camp it can be. It’ll be fun.”

Moistening her lips, her mouth returned to the same grim line. She held up the hand and waved her phone at him. “No preparation in the world will help me get these words right, so I’m not even going to try.” Tears brimmed, but none spilled over. “You’ve got a daughter, Zac, and she’s going to die unless we can help her.”

A daughter? No way he’d heard that right. Her chin trembled making the hairs on his forearms rise. Jen never cried, not even when she had good reason. “What?”

Her fingers curled tightly around her phone as her fist pumped up and down. “You…you and I…we had a daughter,” she said softly. “A long time ago. She has cancer. She needs a bone marrow transplant.”

Daughter? Cancer? Acid spiked the middle of his gut as memories busted out of the depths of his heart. The dreams - and the love - they’d shared. Whispered commitments to each other that hadn’t amounted to more than passion for the moment.

Jen squared him with a steady gaze despite the moisture making her blue eyes sharp and brilliant. Apprehension grew and he tamped it down into oblivion, giving it a spin out of pure self-preservation. “One of your camp kids needs help? How can I help?”

The slow shake of her head made it impossible to misconstrue the truth. Bitterness rose in his throat. “How? When?”

Pushing away from the post, she squared her stance and swiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her capable, nurse persona slipped into place. “A long time ago.” She crossed her arms, her fingers locked into her elbows giving the appearance of an immovable force. “I gave her up for adoption. To a very good family.”

“Our baby?” Giving voice to his fears only shocked him more.

Silence.

His mind spawned dozens of scenarios to justify the information given him. Some viable; some ridiculous. Some simply outrageous.

“Is this some sick way of getting back at me?” Her lack of response made his anger burn hotter. “Your life was always lined up. Every piece in place. Have I messed up your plans? Broken a link in your tidy chain?” Even as the cruel words poured out of his mouth, he knew the truth and it did not set him free.

The color drained from her face. “No.”

He barely heard her as the enormity of the situation crashed around him. Talons of betrayal ripped through his heart. She’d had a child…their child…a child he’d never known about. The realization made him sway as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

And their child had cancer.

* * *

Her life had never lined up. Zac had been the only constant in her life. After her mother had died, Jen had counted on him to be there for her…and then he wasn’t. A whole new world had opened up to him and he’d embraced it with gusto. “No.”

“No, what? You hate me, or I messed up your plans?”

“Neither.” Thoughts and feelings long subdued shot to the surface and she didn’t know how to stop them. She motioned to the wicker furniture arranged beneath the window. “Zac, can we sit down?”

“I’d rather stand as my world explodes around me.”

Jen hiked a hip onto the porch railing and prayed for the right words to explain, to make him understand. “
We
messed up our plans.
We
were invincible the summer before college, remember? Plans, dreams, freedom all lay before us - before both of us, Zac. You were leaving for Colorado State and I was packed for DU.” She pushed away from the railing and began to pace. “Had a great apartment lined up just off campus with a roommate chosen for me like something out of an Internet dating site.”

She took a breath, undaunted by the uncompromising jut of his chin. “
That’s
having your life all lined up. Classes, books, friends all waiting for you to walk in and begin a new life. The only thing missing in the whole picture was familiarity and heart.” She stopped back at the newel post by the steps and looked out over the hillside covered in pine trees backed up to her house. Vast and serene, a slice of mountainside she could only appreciate now that the past was behind her. The whole ranch became a fortress for her when she finally realized God’s plan for her life, that she’d never been alone. She squinted along the ridge line, following a trail of cone studded pines until she returned back down to the porch and met Zac’s wary brown eyes. She dropped her gaze. “Yeah, I was excited to begin my nursing degree, but nothing was
lined up
in my life.”

“Are you telling me you were homesick? After all the plans we’d made? You wanted back home?”

“That was the last thing I wanted.” Recognizing his disgusted tone, she dug her fingertips into the railing. “You found your new life.” The cruel memory of walking into the lobby of his dorm wisped through her brain. She shook it away before the details played out. “I got what I wanted, and so did you.”

“What did I get?”

A creak of the porch board warned her he’d stepped closer. He stood beside her now, a lifetime too late for everything she'd wanted to say to him. And everything she wanted him to say to her.

“Neither one of us was ready to raise a child, Zac.” A breeze blew her hair across her cheek. “I made a decision I thought was best.”