Expecting A Lone Star Heir

* * *

Mike stepped back and watched the foal stand on its wobbly legs. “She’s a little beauty,” he said.

“She is,” Slade agreed. “Her mama’s one of our best mares. The foal is perfect and you did a good, efficient delivery job here, Mike, but I knew you would. Thane really had faith in you.”

Mike smiled. “I’m beginning to think Thane laid it on a little thick when he told all of you about me. And I think the mama gets credit for her baby coming easily into the world.”

Slade shook his head. “Nope. Thane wouldn’t exaggerate. I don’t worry about leaving here now.” He regarded the newborn foal more closely then turned to Mike. “You know, I worked for Thane’s grandfather actually, so I’ve been here a long time and I can tell you, you’ll like it here. This is a good place and you’ll get to run it like it’s your own ranch, at least until she marries again or sells the place. The hermit life she leads isn’t going to get her married, though. She’s had a rough time over losing Thane.”

“That part about running this place the way I want sounds good,” Mike said. “But in my experience, there’s always something you didn’t count on happening and it throws you.”

“That’s life, but I’m relieved you’re here to handle it so I can get out of here a little sooner. I’ve worked hard all my life. Mike, I’m seventy-eight and I’m ready to retire and I’ve got a back problem that driving a pickup over rough ground or sitting in a saddle or a thousand other things around here aggravates. I want to sit under the shade of a tree with a cold beer and enjoy my grandkids.”

Mike clapped the man on his shoulder. “I hope you get to do that for a long time, Slade. This is a good ranch and I’m glad to have a job here.” He bent down to pick up his delivery instruments from the hay-covered floor. “Mrs. Warner doesn’t seem to take much interest in it, though.”

“She doesn’t know anything about ranching and I don’t think she cares. I doubt she’ll stay. She liked it out here fine enough when her husband was alive but now... Well, I think she stays because it’s peaceful for her and she can paint and she goes to Santa Fe and Houston and other places with her art. She won’t interfere with you. As far as daily living, this ranch might as well belong to me and it might as well belong to you when I leave. You’ll have free rein to run it the way you want. There are good weeks like this past one and then there are times when you think everything has gone to hell. Fires, bad weather, drought, but you’ve been in worse situations where men around you died, so this probably looks pretty good.”

Mike stood up. “It looks damn good.”

Slade nodded. “I figured since you were buddies with Thane and he thought you were such a great rancher that you might be more likely to want your own spread.”

“Nope. I don’t come from money,” Mike said. “Far from it. This job is better than what I expected to begin with when I got home. If Mrs. Warner sells the place and I don’t like the new boss, I can move on to another job.”

“Frankly, I was glad to hear you weren’t getting your own place. I was surprised, though, because I wondered how long you’d work for someone else. I thought maybe you were doing this to get some experience.”

Mike shook his head. “I’m doing it because I get paid to do it.” He didn’t tell Slade about his promise to Thane.

“I can relate to that,” Slade said, pushing off from the stall gate. “Best be going now, son. Mrs. Warner told me she asked you to take her out because of that damn Woodson. I think that will run him off fast. You go get cleaned up. This little baby looks fine and dandy.” They both looked at the foal, its spindly long legs already steadier.

“She’s beautiful,” Mike said. “So is her mama.” He finished gathering up his things and placed them in the box in the back of his pickup.

Mike climbed into the truck, waved and drove away, heading back to the guesthouse to get ready for his first date with Vivian Warner.

He only wished he was looking forward to it as much as Slade seemed to be. Mike hoped one date would be enough to divert Clint Woodson’s attention from the beautiful widow.

Not to mention his own.

* * *

An hour later, Mike left the guesthouse and drove his pickup down the road to the main house. A white limo was parked in the carport at the side of the house.

He was with Slade every day and Slade sent reports to Vivian, but other than a text Monday morning and their chat last Friday afternoon, Mike hadn’t talked to her since he was hired on. She seemed to have an even smaller part in the ranch than Thane had led him to believe. Slade hadn’t said yet when he would hand in his resignation and Mike didn’t ask questions. He liked it here, liked the work, the feel of the dirt under his boots, the people. If Thane had been able to come home, the job would have been perfect.

Mike wondered what the evening ahead would be like. Whether it’d be as awkward as he predicted, his being in a fancy club among rich folk. Mike never forgot his status in life and Vivian’s: a cowboy and a billionaire heiress.

He wondered if Clint Woodson would accept that Vivian was going out with her future foreman. Mike hoped he did so this charade would end quickly.

Vivian didn’t seem bothered by the monetary difference in their lives, but she knew full well that he worked for her and she was worth billions more than he was. Heck, she was buying his dinner tonight and it bothered him slightly. Even though they were a low income family, his dad had instilled a strong sense that a man should pay. He had always said to Mike and his brothers, “Never take money from a woman. It’s a man’s place to pay, not the woman. It doesn’t work out well if a man marries a woman with way more money than he has. Look at your uncle.” Mike’s uncle had had a messy divorce from a wealthy woman with lots of ill feelings between the families afterward.

Growing up, Mike had heard plenty about the man paying the woman’s way and it was ingrained into him to the point it didn’t matter what Vivian thought. He had always agreed with his dad on the topic. It seemed right for the man to pay. He had known some low-life guys in college who let the woman always pay and that hadn’t impressed him, Even when his dad died and times got really tough, he still grew up following his dad’s teachings. In high school there were times he went hungry before he’d let a woman pay. There was an older teacher who knew his circumstances at home the year his dad died, and she would try to buy his lunch occasionally, He always turned her down even if it meant going hungry. When he rang the bell at the mansion, Henry opened the door. The butler/bodyguard was in a white shirt, a tan sports jacket and dark brown slacks. His collar was unbuttoned.

“Come in, Mike,” Henry said, stepping back to hold the door and then closed it behind Mike. “Vivian is waiting. She told me she asked you to take her out. I’m glad. I’ve never trusted Clint.” He held out a small slip of paper, which Mike took. “Here’s my cell phone number. My wife and I are going to dinner in Dallas with your driver Ben and his wife.” He explained that after Ben dropped them off at the charity ball he was meeting them at a restaurant in town. “But we won’t be far should you need the limo or us for any reason,” he added.

“Have you ever had trouble with Clint Woodson?”

Henry shook his head. “No, I haven’t. He doesn’t look the type to cause real trouble, but I promised Thane I’d watch out for Vivian and I’m keeping that promise even though you’re with her.”

“Thanks.” Mike looked down at Henry’s cell phone number and memorized it. Then he put the paper in his jacket pocket. “We won’t be out late.”

“Do what you want. I figure you can take care of yourself. We shouldn’t have any trouble, but I’m not taking a chance. This guy has been obnoxious when he thought she was alone, but I think he’ll stop trying to see her now that you’re here. Slade couldn’t deal with him. You can, and he’ll know it the minute he sees you. And if he thinks Vivian wants to go out with you, the man should be smart enough to leave you alone. Every guy on this ranch knows you were a US Army Ranger and that means everyone in the county that has any interest in this ranch knows you were a ranger. Just like they all know I was a marine. That includes Clint. He isn’t going to aggravate you.”

“I don’t think he will, either.”

“I just want to be around if we’re needed.” He motioned Mike down the hall. “Vivian is in the study. I’ll show you where.”

“No need. I remember,” Mike said, moving past Henry. He walked down the hall, turned a corner into the main hall and walked to the open study door. Knocking on the open door, he glanced around the room and saw Vivian by a window. He inhaled deeply, his gaze riveted on her as she turned and smiled at him.

She wore a sleeveless red gown of some soft material that clung to her curvy body and revealed her slender figure and tiny waist. In the low-cut V-neckline, the diamond pendant from Thane sparkled. With that one glance, all Mike’s peace of mind over the past few days shattered. He thought he would remember how she looked in this moment for the rest of his life.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said as she walked up. He realized what he had said to her and hurried to correct himself. “I’m sorry, I know we should keep this evening impersonal.”

Her melodic laugh eased the tension he felt. “Don’t worry, Mike. Thane is gone and he wouldn’t be angry if you complimented me, anyway. A compliment is welcome, especially from a good-looking guy, so don’t apologize. We’re friends, or I hope we will be, because right now we barely know each other. A compliment between friends is always welcome.”

He relaxed a fraction, relieved that she had taken his admiration lightly and could laugh about it. Laughter, however, wasn’t what he was feeling. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was so stunning that his heart was racing. He didn’t want that kind of reaction when looking at his friend’s wife. He felt an obligation to Thane to keep a distance from Vivian. It didn’t matter that much that she was a widow. He felt honor bound to keep his distance. Thane didn’t hire him to come home and seduce his wife.

All evening he would be with Thane’s gorgeous, breathtaking wife who made his pulse pound and heated the room another ten degrees by being there. And he would have to relax and look as if he was enjoying himself or Clint Woodson would never be fooled.

Could he do that?

Before he could answer, Vivian’s question broke into his thoughts. “The limo is ready, so shall we go?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, walking beside her, but taking care to leave space between them. “Your necklace is beautiful. Thane chose well,” he said, thinking more about her than the necklace.

She touched it with perfectly manicured red fingernails. “I will always treasure this. I don’t expect to ever marry again. Thane was the love of my life even though we didn’t have much time together.”

“You’ll marry again,” Mike said, unable to keep from smiling at her.

“I’m not going to argue that point tonight. I’m happy to go out, and I think this will stop Clint from pestering me and that’s an enormous relief.”

“You could have found some cowboy on the ranch to do what I’m doing.”

She shook her head. “Clint would never have believed that I was doing anything except trying to avoid him. It wouldn’t have stopped him. This, however, most likely will stop him. You’re an unknown factor and you’re good-looking and—”

“Thank you,” he said, nodding at her.

“Well, that’s a fact. But you have something about you that says ‘don’t mess with me.’”

Mike couldn’t help the slight chuckle that rose from his chest. “This is going to be an interesting evening. I feel as if I’m going to get my fortune told.”