Wearing the Rancher's Ring

“Yes. Land management. I worked out of the Shoshone district there. That’s where I started about seven years ago and I liked it. But this move to Carson City brought a small promotion with it. One that I’d worked hard to get.”

“So, what sort of things do you mainly look for when you’re seeing a piece of land for the first time?”

He appeared to be genuinely interested and that was something new for Olivia. The few men she’d dated in the past years never wanted to hear about her work. They mostly thought she just poked around in the dirt and looked at bugs and plants. None of them had understood or cared that nature had a rhyme and reason and her job was to make sure it stayed in balance. But Clancy made a living off the land. He understood.

“The watershed and whether there’s too much or not enough. Then we study the grasses, trees and other vegetation to see what sort of wildlife it’s capable of sustaining. Of course if it’s rangeland for livestock then other things are involved. But you’re a rancher, you already know all about that.”

He nodded and as her gaze swept over him, she wondered, as she had so many times, whether he’d ever married or if he had a special woman in his life now.

“Do you ever work with minerals?”

She asked, “You mean land that’s being mined?”

He nodded and she shook her head. “A little. Why? Is part of the Silver Horn land being mined?”

“No. But I’ve been getting calls from a lease hound. It seems odd to me. These days silver isn’t worth digging out of the ground.”

“Could be his connections are searching for the yellow stuff. Not silver.”

“Well, this is Nevada and I suppose there’s always someone out there who likes to take a gamble on finding a fortune,” he said.

“Yes. Finding it the easy way,” she agreed.

For the next few minutes, Clancy continued to focus their conversation on her job and then he changed it completely by suddenly asking, “What is your brother doing now? Is he still in the military?”

“He’s no longer in the army. But I couldn’t tell you what he’s doing now. The last time I talked with him he was in Oregon, working for a timber company.”

Glancing over at her, he picked up a tortilla and folded it in half. “So you two still aren’t close.”

“No. That will never happen. Todd is like our father. He doesn’t need or want to be close to anyone.”

“And what about your father? Do you ever see him?”

Her gaze fell to the food that was left on her plate. “A couple of years ago he showed up out of the blue. Said he was in the area and thought he should say hello. He didn’t even know that Mom was dead. When she passed, I had tried to locate him, but never had any luck. I honestly think he uses aliases just to keep the bill collectors and bookies off his back.”

“Learning that Arlene was gone must have been a shock for him.”

Shaking her head, she lifted her gaze back to him. “No. You can’t shock a person who doesn’t care, Clancy.”

“I’m sorry, Olivia.”

She gave him a brave smile. “See, I’m pretty much without a family. So I’d rather hear about yours. How are your brothers?”

“They’re all doing well. Evan is a detective for the sheriff’s department now. Rafe is foreman of the Horn and Finn manages our horse division. Bowie has been in the marines for close to seven years now. We thought he was getting out last year, but he re-upped for another stint. I think he’s still trying to decide what he wants to do with himself.”

Finished with her food, she laid her fork aside. “Do any of them have families?”

“Rafe. He married a nurse and has a baby daughter, Colleen. They live in the ranch house, too, so they’ve livened up the place.”

“That’s nice. But I’m surprised to hear that only one of your brothers has gotten married.” Her gaze wandered across his face until their eyes met. “Especially you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“When I thought of you these past years, I always pictured you with a wife and at least two children. What happened?”

He shrugged. “I never found the right person. And you? Do you ever think about trying marriage a second time?”

She hoped her smile didn’t reveal any of the sadness she was feeling. “Mark turned out to be the wrong person for me. But I still hope that someday I’ll find the right man.”

“I have no doubt you’ll find him, Olivia.”

* * *

A half hour later, after they finished dessert and coffee, the two of them left Bonito’s and Clancy headed the truck out of town, toward Olivia’s place.

The night had grown colder and bits of icy precipitation dotted the windshield. Throughout the drive, Olivia sat huddled in her coat, staring pensively ahead.

Spending the evening with him had been hard on her, Clancy decided. He’d not wanted or expected it to, but it had and that bothered him greatly. He’d not asked her to dinner in order to put her emotions through a meat grinder. Actually, if anyone had asked him why he’d invited Olivia to join him this evening, he wouldn’t have been able to give them a sensible answer. Except that seeing her that morning in the Grubstake hadn’t been enough. He’d wanted more time to talk with her, to make certain that the attraction he’d once felt for her was dead and gone.

What a damned fool notion that had been, he thought grimly. All through dinner, he’d hardly been able to keep his eyes off the woman. With a black dress hugging her curves and her dark hair waving upon her shoulders, she’d looked like a sultry vision. Time had matured her face into beautiful curves and angles and shadowed her eyes with smoky sensuality. Now all he could think about was taking her into his arms and making love to her.

When he pulled to a stop in front of her house and shut off the engine, she immediately unsnapped her seat belt and reached for the handbag resting on the floorboard near her feet.

“Thank you for the flowers and the delicious dinner,” she said somewhat stiffly. “It was very nice, Clancy.”

Her proper and polite response made him want to curse out loud. All during their evening, he’d felt her measuring her words, guarding her every reaction to him. The only time he’d seen a genuine emotion out of her was when she’d tearfully ran from the table. And she’d ended up apologizing for even that reaction.

“You’re welcome,” he told her.

He unbuckled his seat belt with the intentions of helping her out of the cab, but she quickly reached across the console and placed a deterring hand upon his forearm.

“There’s no need for you to walk me to the door. I know the way.”

Suddenly it was all too much and before he realized what he was doing, his hands were locked around both her wrists.

“Yes, the trail to your doorstep is easy to find. But do you know your way back into my arms?”

She drew in a sharp breath while her eyes grew wide with disbelief.

“Clancy.”

The moment she whispered his name, his gaze focused on the moist curve of her lips and he suddenly decided he couldn’t wait on her answer. He drew her forward until her upper body was pressed against his and his lips had covered hers.

He half expected her to draw back or try to resist him in some way. But he was wrong. She leaned into him and opened her mouth willingly beneath his, and as he deepened the kiss, his brain went haywire. The only commands it could follow were the urgings of his body telling him to keep kissing her over and over.

His senses were so lost, he didn’t know how much time had passed before one of her hands fluttered against his chest and she eased her lips away from his. The loss of their soft warmth was a shock to his senses and Clancy opened his eyes to see her face was a picture of astonishment.

“Olivia, I—”