The Cowboy's Homecoming

“Good morning, Lee,” she said as she hobbled toward him.

“Morning.” He glanced from her crutch to her. “How’s the ankle?”

“Not as bad as yesterday but not as good as the day before. Thankfully the doctor said I could keep it.” Then to deflect the attention from herself, she glanced up at his forehead, still sporting a bandage. “How’s the head?”

He reached up and touched the bandage. “Oh yeah. It’s fine.”

“No permanent damage?” The saucy tone in her voice was a defense mechanism, but she could tell from his frown that he didn’t appreciate her attempt at levity.

“I think I’ll live,” he returned. “But that’s only my opinion. Head injury patients aren’t always reliable.”

His comeback surprised her. He was still frowning, but maybe that was his default expression.

“I might have to verify that statement with your other family members.” Seriously, quit already, she told herself. She always started joking when she was nervous.

He simply nodded and one of those now-too-familiar awkward silences fell between them.

“So, I heard you’re doing the piece for the Near and Far?” he said.

“Burt contracted some exotic bug and is stuck in a hospital in Bangkok.” Which, right about now, sounded more appealing than being stuck in Saddlebank, Montana. “My editor asked me to take over. I happened to be here, so it makes sense. Kind of.” She slipped her knapsack over one shoulder and grabbed her crutch. “So...maybe you can bring me to see your father? The sooner I get going, the sooner I can be done.”

And didn’t that sound enthusiastic.

“I mean, the sooner I can get out of your hair,” she amended. “I know you and your family must be busy with all the wedding and ranch celebrations.”

Lee sent her a bemused look. “I’m actually kind of useless with canapés and centerpieces. So I’m stuck on writer detail.”

“Excuse me...?” she stammered. “What...what do you mean?”

“Dad’s busy getting stuff sorted for the anniversary, John, Keira and Heather are all tied up with the wedding and our hired hand’s mother ended up in the hospital, so he’s had to drop everything to be with her. Which leaves me to show you around.”

Abby’s poor overworked heart dropped like a rock down a mine shaft.

“I may not have been around the ranch much the last few years, but I know its history,” Lee continued, obviously misreading her reaction.

As he talked Abby could only stare at him, feeling just this side of coherent as his words slowly registered. Lee. Would be her guide.

Lee Bannister the man—

She gave herself a mental shake, yanking her foolish thoughts from the past as she struggled to become the professional journalist she was getting paid to be.

“Okay... We’ll, uh, work through this.”

This bumbling confession netted her another scowl.

“So, I guess this is the home place?” she asked, gesturing toward the ranch house. She’d read the background notes that Maddie had sent her from Burt, but they were scattered bits and pieces of useless information. She was virtually starting from scratch.

“Yes, but it’s not the site of the first house,” Lee replied. “I can show you the original homestead. It was set closer to the road. Would you like to see it?”

“Of course.”

He lifted a dark eyebrow. “You going to be able to walk? It’s down the road a couple hundred feet.”

“I’ll manage,” she said, because she had no other choice. Maddie had warned her that she would be doing a lot of traipsing around, possibly even riding. Her ankle didn’t hurt as much as yesterday, but she didn’t want the cut to open up again. The last thing she needed was another painfully awkward first-aid situation.

“I have an idea of how to make this work. Just wait here,” he said, pointing to a wooden bench with pots of brightly colored flowers nestled up against it. “I’ll be right back.”

She was about to tell him that it didn’t matter, but he was already jogging away from her. He ducked into a large building beside the hip-roof barn. A few moments later, a large overhead door rattled open and Lee came putt-putting out of the garage, driving an all-terrain vehicle.

She had to chuckle at the sight of this large, strapping cowboy operating what her brother always referred to as a quad. It didn’t look right. Nevertheless, he drove the vehicle up to her and, leaving it running, climbed off.

“Not going to lie, I’m a little disillusioned,” she said. “I figured a cowboy like you wouldn’t go anywhere on the ranch but astride a horse.”

“Quicker to start a quad than head out into the horse pasture to get a horse for such a short trip,” he returned, not even cracking a smile. “I’ll help you on.”

He held out his hand, but she ignored him.

“I think I can manage,” she said. She had been on many modes of transportation in her travels, but this would be her first quad ride. The seat looked large enough for the two of them, but she guessed it would mean sitting astride, right behind Lee.

Deal with that later, she thought, trying to figure out how she was going to get on the thing with her injured ankle.

Slow it down and break it down, she told herself. She’d made a fool of herself plenty already in front of Lee because of her tendency toward impulsive behavior. No sense in carrying on the tradition.

First she shrugged off her backpack and set that in the box fixed to a rack across the back of the quad. Then, putting her weight on her good foot and using her crutch for balance, she managed to get her bandaged foot up and over the seat. She shifted her weight, pulled up her crutch and...voilà! She was on.

With no falling whatsoever. Always a good thing.

Lee dropped onto the seat, hit a button on the handlebar and the quad lurched ahead. She caught herself in time, but her grip on the seat was precarious.

“The field’s a bit rough, so brace yourself,” he cautioned as he flicked the quad into the next gear up.

Rough was an understatement, Abby thought as the quad jostled and bounced over ruts in the field that she suspected were from a tractor. But the worst part of all was that every rut they hit made the quad bounce, had her bumping up against Lee.

She wondered if he had done this on purpose, but when she saw him move forward on the seat, as if to avoid her, she guessed this was a decision he regretted, as well. A few more bounces later, he stopped and turned the quad off.

He quickly dismounted but stayed beside the vehicle while she got off. Then he grabbed her crutch and handed it to her, and while she fitted it under her arm, she forgot her earlier reminder to take her time and she stumbled. He caught her, steadying her, his hand warm on her upper arm.

Abby jerked back, but she almost lost her balance again. This time Lee caught her with both hands.

They stood that way a moment, Abby wishing, praying, she could stop the blush that she knew made her cheeks flame.

“Please let me go,” she whispered.

“I will if you promise not to act so jittery. You’re going to fall again.”

“I’m not jittery,” she retorted, tossing her hair back and lifting her chin as if to face him down.

His dark eyes held hers, his expression serious.