Made For The Rancher

When he’d moved into the two-bedroom house six years ago at the age of twenty-two, it was only one story. Since then he’d slowly had renovations done and it was now a two-story house with a bedroom, bath and loft on the second floor.

He loved sleeping upstairs in his modern bedroom where he could look out at the stars and the Sapphire Mountains while he lay in bed. The floor-to-ceiling windows made him feel as if he was sleeping outside.

The scenery drew him like a magnet. He took the lid off the bottle and drank half of it while he looked out at the vista that now included one crumpled blue-and-white Cessna. The sight of Jasmine Telford courageously trying to pull the pilot out of the cockpit would never leave him. Neither would the picture of her lying on the hospital bed, looking so beautiful. Those green eyes of hers had mesmerized him.

Over the last few hours he’d had time to put the pieces together. The two crash victims had been on their way to Seattle, no doubt in love and eager to get away for a vacation. With both of them coming from political backgrounds, they were well matched and well heeled. Particularly Robert Farnsworth, whose father and grandfather had made millions in oil.

She’d make a gorgeous wife for the aggressive Montana Representative. Give the man another eight to ten years and Wymon figured he’d have aspirations for something bigger in the future.

Was she as ambitious? Did she look forward to a life with him? Possibly in Washington, DC? Wining and dining with other One Percenters for the rest of their lives?

Wymon wished he didn’t want to know the answer to that question. He had to think back to his bull-riding days in high school to remember what it was like to be this attracted to a woman on sight.

Sheila Rogers, a popular, attractive girl from his high school, had been the daughter of a local rancher. Wymon had fallen hard for her. They’d planned to get married after college. But she’d enrolled in a study-abroad program in Italy and met a guy there who was on location making a Hollywood movie.

When she returned home she had stars in her eyes. She wasn’t the same girl who’d sobbed in his arms before leaving for Europe and had promised to email him every day and send pictures.

Sheila had broken up with Wymon, telling him she couldn’t imagine living on a ranch with him for the rest of her life. He knew she hadn’t intended to be cruel about it, just honest, but it had hurt him badly. Her honesty had broken his heart, but it also taught him a lesson. Before he knew it, Sheila had married the guy she met in Italy and moved to California, excited to embrace a brand-new way of life.

Since then he’d dated his fair share of women. But he didn’t like it that after all this time he once again found himself attracted to a woman who’d purposely put herself in a position to embrace an exciting life far away from Montana with a man of prominence and means.

Though Wymon didn’t have an idea of the perfect woman, he hoped one day to meet someone who wanted the same basic things from life that he did. So far she hadn’t come along. And if she never did?

He wheeled around and bounded back down the stairs, setting the half-empty bottle on the kitchen counter before leaving the house. Needing to channel his frustration, he raced up to the barn and saddled his quarter horse.

“Let’s get out of here, Titus. We both need a workout,” he said and headed off into the mountains to clear his head.

Chapter Three (#u57b58a45-0e9d-5f9b-9799-8129b32f7527)

By midafternoon Jasmine’s parents had arrived at the hospital. She told them everything that had happened, leaving out the part about Rob proposing to her. Dr. Turner had transferred her to a room on the second floor and ordered her to rest. Her folks would be coming back in the morning to pick her up and drive her back to Philipsburg.

At six that evening, Rob’s parents showed up and asked her to walk with them to his room, which was four doors down the hall. Jasmine had met them on several occasions and was comfortable being in their company.

While the three of them congregated around Rob, their dinners were brought in and they ate. His folks shed tears and were overjoyed that they’d both survived the crash. She doubted Rob had told them about what had happened in the cockpit before the hawk had flown into the propeller.

They treated her as if she’d be a member of their family one day soon, adding to her consternation. Rob lay there with his head bandaged. A plastic surgeon had put in the three stitches needed. They’d given him pain medication after monitoring his condition all afternoon.

Hard as it was, Jasmine had to pretend everything was all right between them in front of his parents. “Rob? How are you feeling?” she asked him.

“Rocky—dizzy—” The way he stared at her between narrowed lids made it clear to her that he wanted to say, How the hell do you think I feel after you rejected me?

Guilt stabbed at her. “I’m so sorry you were hurt. Just remember that you saved our lives because of the miraculous way you landed the plane. What will happen to it now?”

“I’ll take care of it,” his father answered for him. “We just want him to get well and back on track as fast as possible for the big rally in three weeks.”

You couldn’t keep a Farnsworth down. “I want that for you, too.”

Rob grimaced at her remark. She knew how much emotional pain he was in. But she was in pain, too, because she knew in her heart she wouldn’t be changing her mind about him. He was a good man, but marriage to him wouldn’t work.

His mother turned to her. “Tell us about Mr. Clayton—I hear he came to your rescue after the crash landing.”

Jasmine didn’t dare look at Rob, knowing both men were political foes over the grizzly issue. “I undid the latch the way Rob told me to and tried to pull him out of the cockpit, but he was trapped. That’s when Mr. Clayton saw us. He carried me to the trees, then ran back to help Rob.”

“What an amazing coincidence that he would be there at that precise moment,” Rob’s mother murmured.

“I know. It was like he appeared out of the blue. Apparently he’d seen the plane go down and called 911. After he lifted Rob from the wreckage, he brought him over by me and gave him CPR. He was amazing. While I was sitting there in a daze, he brought me a cola and covered us with blankets. It wasn’t long after that that the paramedics arrived.”

Mr. Farnsworth cleared his throat. “We’ll have to thank him for helping save your lives.”

Jasmine noticed Rob didn’t say anything. She decided to leave it to his parents to ask the doctor how to get in touch with Wymon Clayton. Just the thought of him made her heart race, followed by more guilt that she would still be thinking about him.

She didn’t want to be reminded of the way it felt when he’d placed the blanket around her shoulders at the crash site. When his chin had brushed her hair and she’d smelled the soap he used in the shower, she’d felt his presence in every atom of her body.

Fearing this conversation was bothering Rob, she didn’t dare volunteer any more information about the man who’d rescued them. Their son didn’t need to know that they’d eaten lunch together in the hospital cafeteria and had talked about their families. Already, she was thinking ahead to the rodeo next weekend in Philipsburg, wondering if he’d be there. Forbidden thoughts she shouldn’t be having continued to bombard her.

A nurse came in the room to check Rob’s vital signs. She told them visiting hours were over and that Jasmine needed to get back to her room to be checked. Jasmine was so relieved for the interruption, she could have cried. This was one time Rob couldn’t object.

She said good-night to his parents and squeezed Rob’s hand. “Get a good sleep. I’ll call you on the phone tomorrow after my parents drive me home.” He gave her a wounded stare before she left the room and hurried down the hall.

After getting ready for bed, Jasmine lay there with the TV on, not watching anything. Because she’d slept all afternoon, she was wide-awake now. At ten o’clock the news came on.

Their accident was the lead story. To her relief there were no pictures, just the statement that Representative Robert Farnsworth and a companion had survived a crash in the Sapphires, with Mr. Farnsworth suffering a concussion. More news to come later.

She imagined Rob’s campaign manager, Buzz Hendricks, had made certain to keep the details to a minimum. If news had leaked out that it was Wymon Clayton of all people who’d come to the rescue, that wouldn’t have been the kind of information Rob would care to have taking the spotlight away from him.

With her thoughts less than charitable, she turned off the TV, refusing to think any more about it tonight. Every time someone came in her room, she secretly hoped it might be the charismatic rancher just wanting to check up on her. But why would he do that when he knew she’d been on her way to Seattle with Rob? She was delusional to think he’d be interested in her.

What a pathetic fool she was to wish that he might want to see her again. Wymon was so attractive, he could have any woman he wanted and was probably living with one right now. During their conversation earlier, neither of them had talked about their personal lives. Those feelings of hers were all one-sided, and she needed to put them away.

Before she finally went to sleep, she came to a conclusion. In a few days when Rob was well, she would tell him emphatically that she couldn’t envision a life with him. They had different temperaments, and it was better that they stop seeing each other.

She couldn’t possibly go to the rally with him feeling the way she did. Even if she’d promised him several weeks ago, surely he couldn’t want her there now that she’d turned down his proposal.

Jasmine did like him for many reasons, but it wasn’t love. He deserved to find a woman who adored him heart and soul, who was compatible with him and wanted everything he had to offer.

In the morning, Dr. Turner did his rounds and released her, pronouncing her fit and ready to go home. Before he left the room she had a question to ask him.

“Would you by any chance know the directions to the Clayton ranch business office? Since I’m here in Stevensville, now would be the perfect time to drive there and thank Mr. Clayton in person for all he did for me and Rob yesterday.”

“That’s easy. Travel five miles out on Highway 93. The ranch is clearly marked on the right. You’ll find the main ranch house about a mile up the road.”

“Thank you so much.”

“You bet.”

“I have one more question. Do you know of a store here that carries Western gear and blankets, that sort of thing?”

“Sure. Frost’s Western Saddlery on Main Street.”