A Rancher To Love

“Just because it’s a small town doesn’t mean everyone here is a yokel.”

“I know. I just thought... Never mind. I’m glad you like it. I really do look forward to visiting you there.”

“Well, for now I think you just need to take care of yourself and those babies.” Leah shook her head. “Wow, two. That’s kind of wild.”

“Tell me about it. Though it does explain why I’m the size of a football stadium.”

They talked for a few more minutes before Reina said she had to go. Leah hated to end the call but understood. She’d just tapped the end button when knocking at the door caused her to yelp and fumble her phone so much she dropped it. She picked it up then crept toward the window, her heart beating so hard she felt the pulse against her eardrums, and looked out.

Tyler stood outside with another man. When she looked closer, she realized the second man wore a uniform. Then she remembered about the internet installation. Trying to slow her heartbeat, she crossed to the door and opened it.

She managed to meet Tyler’s eyes, his lovely blue eyes, and her breath caught. Then he took a step closer and the fear that was her constant companion shot up like a puck in a strong-man game at a fair. She gripped the edge of the door, ready to slam it in their faces.

But Tyler stopped moving, and his eyes narrowed a fraction as if he’d noticed her reaction and wondered at its cause. Her concern shifted directions, now causing her to worry that she’d offended the man who provided a roof over her head and a place to start over.

He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “Cameron is here to hook up your internet service.”

Leah mustered a smile and forced her fingers to relax on the door, though she didn’t release it entirely. “It’s nice to meet you. Please come in.” She hoped she sounded hospitable even if she felt as if she might pass out from the overload of fear coursing through her.

Cameron came inside and asked her questions about what she’d be using the service for and told her something about download speeds. They made sense in the moment he said the words but disappeared in the next. She’d thought Tyler would leave once he’d introduced Cameron, but he didn’t. Instead, he stood in the corner next to the front door, not saying anything but just...being.

Nerves of a different sort started dancing inside her. She honestly wasn’t sure if she was glad he’d stayed or not. On the one hand, his presence seemed reassuring, able to easily protect her should the need arise. The height and breadth of the man were truly impressive, and a flicker of attraction tried to assert itself inside her. Honestly, it did more than try. Tyler Lowe was an attractive man. Really attractive. But he also made her feel so incredibly small and breakable.

But she was intensely aware that she was alone with two men she really didn’t know, in a place where she could cry out for help in her loudest voice and never be heard.

Common sense nudged its way into her thoughts, asking how likely it was that Tyler would attack her when he had a small daughter not far away. He’d seemed to take care with the child, so that indicated he was a decent human being, right?

The cacophony of questions and concerns competing for primacy in her head made her want to scream for them all to shut up and just leave her alone.

“You okay?”

The sound of Tyler’s deep voice drew her out of her thoughts.

“Uh, yeah. Just have a bit of a headache.” Not exactly a lie.

Tyler’s gaze left her and scanned the room. “Looks like you got settled quickly.”

“Yeah, the positive side of insomnia.”

“Takes a while to get used to a new place, I guess.”

“Have you lived here your whole life?” What happened to keeping her distance? But it would be rude to not try to converse with him, instead standing there not even acknowledging his presence.

“Yep.”

She searched frantically for an appropriate response, made more difficult by the simple fact he seemed to take up so much space. “You’re lucky. It’s a beautiful area.”

“Yeah, it is.”

They fell into a silence so awkward that she had to concentrate on not fidgeting.

“Well, I’ve got work to do,” he said. “Let me know if you need anything.”

She glanced toward him, meeting his eyes for a moment before he stepped out the door. After a few thuds of her heart, she moved to the window and watched Tyler’s retreating form. As his final words before leaving replayed in her head, a crazy response coalesced in her mind. In those couple of seconds when their gazes had met, a part of her mind whispered that she wanted him to be her protector, to banish all the darkness that haunted her.

But that was weakness talking, and she needed to be strong. If she was to move beyond what happened, she had to find a way to banish the darkness and fear all on her own.

Chapter Five (#ulink_42d36c4f-1383-5e85-99d5-de55dfd996c6)

Tyler walked into the cooler interior of the barn, intent on trimming the hooves on his horse, Comet. He spent so much time caring for other people’s horses that he had to carve out time for the care of his own. But when he reached Comet’s stall, he stopped outside and gripped the top of the stall door.

His insides were still rattled from his encounter with Leah, and he wasn’t even sure why. Yes, she was pretty, but seeing a pretty woman wasn’t so rare an occurrence that he should feel as if all the cells in his body were swimming around in confusion, unable to find their rightful place.

Add to that the powerful urge to protect her, and he had the crazy thought that maybe all this was an intense dream and he’d wake up and not even have a tenant in the bunkhouse.

He shook his head and scratched Comet’s forehead along the white, comet-shaped blaze that had inspired the horse’s name. The feeling of warm, living horse beneath his fingers told him this wasn’t a dream. He really was having unexplainable reactions every time he was near Leah.

Tyler reasoned that any decent man would have had the protective feelings when faced with the look in Leah’s eyes. She’d been scared, but he couldn’t figure out why. Did he scare her? Or was it Cameron? What reason had they given her to feel that way? Or was she just the nervous type, especially around men? He supposed that made sense considering how small she was, how difficult it would be to fight off unwanted advances.

He certainly hoped she didn’t think he’d take advantage of her. Steering clear of any unnecessary interaction seemed more important than ever when faced with that possibility.

He retrieved his tools and got to work. Because he’d done it so many times, trimming more hooves than he could possibly remember, his thoughts drifted back to the way Greg had teased him. That was the main drawback of a small town: how people felt free to comment on or tried to steer your life the way they thought it should go. Not that Greg cared one way or the other, but there were those who did, those who would assume that a single man his age living in close proximity to a woman who looked like Leah would naturally lead to romantic involvement. He had to make sure those types of rumors didn’t get started or were quashed quickly if they did. He wasn’t sure what his legal status would be with Maddie if someone decided to question how fit he was to be her unofficial guardian. He didn’t need anyone asking where her mother was, when she was coming back, because he had no idea. Part of him wondered if he’d ever see Kendra again.

He knew he should be sad at the possibility of never seeing his sister again, but more than anything he was angry. What kind of person abandoned her child, especially one as young and vulnerable as Maddie?

The sound of an engine starting, followed by the crunching of gravel, told him that Cameron must be finished with the internet installation. Only a few minutes went by before another engine started, indicating that Leah was leaving, as well. He couldn’t help wondering where she was going. Did she get a job?

He glanced up as she drove past the entrance to the barn, and he sighed. It didn’t matter where she was going. The only thing he needed to wonder about Leah Murphy was whether she would pay her rent on time. Not where she was going. Not how she spent her time at home. And not whether she was involved with anyone.

* * *

“LEAH, HONEY, CAN you help me in the kitchen?”

Leah sighed inwardly, knowing that her aunt’s request probably had very little to do with her need for an extra set of hands to carry food to the table.

Why hadn’t she put this gathering off a while longer? She could have claimed she was still busy getting unpacked, or too tired, or trying to finish filling an order for jewelry. As she followed her aunt into the kitchen through the French doors that led out to the patio where her uncle was grilling, she told herself she might as well get this conversation over with instead of continuing to dread it.

In fact, maybe it would be better to bring it up herself instead of letting Charlotte direct things.

“I know that Mom has probably told you what happened despite the fact that I asked her not to,” Leah said as she stepped up to the marble-topped kitchen island.

“She’s worried about you, dear.”

“I know. And before you ask, I’m fine.”

“So fine you picked up and moved.”

Leah met her aunt’s gaze. “I’m not going to stand here and lie to you by saying that what happened hasn’t affected me, because it did. And my way of getting past it is to make some changes in my life. But I didn’t move to somewhere sight unseen. You know I’ve always liked Blue Falls.”