The Lonesome Rancher / Finding Happily-Ever-After: The Lonesome Rancher

By the time they’d gathered up their things, and mounted the horses the rain started coming down. Hard.

Sloan knew they couldn’t make it back to the house. “We need to find shelter. So we need to pick up the pace a little.”

“Okay, I’ll do my best,” she called to him as the rain penetrated her lightweight jacket and even her blouse.

“So hold on—tight. We’re making a run for it.” He instructed her to grip the saddle horn, then grabbed Cally’s reins. He kicked Amigo’s sides and took off over the rise.

Jade gasped, but managed to regain her balance as they cantered across the field. She soon found the rhythm and leaned forward on the horse. It wasn’t easy fighting against the wind and rain.

“That’s it,” he called as he turned toward her. “You’re doing great. Just a little farther.” They continued through the pasture until they came to an old house.

Sloan jumped off and hurried to help her down. “Go up on the porch while I take care of the horses.”

“I’ll help.” She took Cally’s reins and followed him as he led his horse up the one step to the shelter of the porch. She was surprised when Cally obeyed her commands. He tied the animals’ reins to the railing.

Just then lightning flashed across the sky, and rain sheeted off the porch roof. “Come on,” he told her. “Let’s get out of this.”

Sloan turned the knob on the front door, but had to push it with his shoulder to get it opened. Brushing away the cobwebs from the doorway, he went in ahead of her. Although the lighting was dim, he could see that the place was worse than he remembered.

Sparsely furnished, the room had a small table with two chairs in the center. Wooden cabinets lined one wall and a chipped sink stood alone in front of the window. A musty smell teased his nostrils. He reached for the light switch, and flicked it on.

“Oh, it’s … cozy,” Jade said as she followed him inside. She took off her hat and began to wipe the rain from her face.

“There are a lot of words for this place, but that’s not one of them.”

She shivered. “How about dry?”

“That’s a good one. It is dry.” He dropped his hat on the kitchen table. “But not very warm.” The temperature had dropped suddenly with the storm front. Another streak of lightning flashed.

He walked past the kitchen area into the main living space and the huge stone fireplace. There was wood stacked next to it. “Let’s see if I can warm up this place.”

He found some matches on the mantel. “I prefer a gas starter, but I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.” He spotted a stack of newspapers beside the wood and used that as kindling. He struck a match to the kindling and watched as it caught fire. After a few minutes the flames flared up. He put the screen back.

He glanced at Jade. She was shivering. “Take off your wet jacket.” He went down the hall and yanked a quilt off a bed. “It’s probably pretty dusty but it should help keep you warm.” He wrapped it around her, then rubbed his hands up and down her arms to help stimulate warmth. That wasn’t all it was doing.

When she began to sway, he reached out and caught her. “Whoa, cowgirl.”

Jade felt his arms around her waist, holding her backside against his hard body. Desire shot through her like wildfire. This wasn’t a good idea, but it felt so good.

“I’m sorry how things turned out,” he breathed against her ear. “This storm caught me off guard.”

Jade shivered and not only from the cold. “Just give me a minute, and I’ll be fine,” she lied. She doubted that. The man had kept her off balance since she’d arrived at the ranch.

Finding her footing, she stepped away. “I enjoyed the ride, even in the rain.”

The wood crackled in the fireplace. “Soon you’ll be warm.” He placed another log on the grate. “Come sit down.”

She sat on the hearth, feeling the instant warmth. “It does feel good.” She rubbed her hands along the legs of her pants. “Nothing worse than wet jeans.”

“You’re right.”

Jade sat beside the fire and glanced around the one story clapboard house. She was more than a little interested in this place. “Who lived here?”

“It once belonged to Otis and Sarah Merrick. It was built in 1905 when they settled here.” He looked around. “It’s a little neglected now.”

“I think it’s in great shape.”

“Otis built it.” Sloan stood and ran his fingers over the rough pine mantel. “Pretty much this entire place. Before he got into the cattle business, he was a carpenter by trade, and he made a lot of the furniture here, too.”

She huddled under the blanket. “Tell me more about Otis and Sarah.”

“Let’s see what I remember. They had four children. Otis Junior, Charles, Samuel and Elizabeth. Charles didn’t live past infancy. Otis Junior died when he was a teenager.”

Jade shook her head. “How terrible!”

“Life was tough back then. But you’re right, that would be awful.” Sloan sighed. “There aren’t many Merricks left and Clay only had one biological child, Alisa. His brother, Adam, never had children.”

Jade didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t have real proof that she was Clay’s daughter, only words in Kathryn’s journal. Of course a DNA test would take care of that.

“Jade?”

She heard her name and looked at Sloan. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m finally getting warm.”

“Good. This fireplace really puts the heat out.”

Feeling nervous she looked around the room. There was a lone sofa and an oval braided rug covering the dusty hardwood floors. A sideboard stood against the wall behind a small kitchen table. “A little work and this place could be livable.”

He frowned. “I guess it could be. It probably should be maintained better anyway, seing as it’s family history.” He stood. “Are you warm enough to take a look around?”

“Sure.”

He held out his hand to help her up. Jade took it, immediately feeling the warmth of his large, rough palm. That heat he generated quickly spread through her body as he tugged her down a hallway to the largest of the three bedrooms. He flipped on a switch, revealing the space. The focal point was a big bed with a massive carved headboard.

“Oh, Sloan. It’s beautiful.” She crossed the room and ran her fingertips over the intricate work. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s obvious that this took many hours.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You’re right, this place should be preserved.”

Rain pelted the windows as Sloan leaned against the doorjamb. He was surprised at her reaction, her enthusiasm over this house. Her eyes were so expressive, so filled with excitement. How long had it been since he’d seen someone get this much joy out of something so simple?

This woman distracted him, stirred a yearning in him. Damn, he wanted to deny it, tried to tell himself it was because he’d been too long without a woman.

“When was the last time anyone lived here?” she asked.

“From what I understand it hasn’t been used since Otis and Sarah passed away. Otis’s son, Samuel, married Alice Kerry, the daughter of the town’s founder, she didn’t want to live in this house. There was a falling out, so her daddy built the house on the hill. Soon after my father, Clayton Samuel, and his younger brother, Adam, were born. Kerry and Merrick merged their land into one large cattle operation and prospered even more. They named it River’s End.

“Not long after that Samuel became the town’s mayor. A few years later, he ran for state representative, then the senate.” Sloan nodded toward the main house. “So from childhood, Clay had been groomed for public service.”