The Rancher Who Took Her In (The Bachelors of Blackwater Lake) Read online

  “You mean running out on your wedding wasn’t statement enough?” Caroline asked.

  “You know why I did it. And there are lots of reasons for running. That doesn’t make me like his ex-wife.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.” She winced at the words that she would have said if she hadn’t run out on the wedding.

  Kate would love to know what Cabot had said to this woman about her. If she had to guess, there was some comparison between her and the woman who’d done him wrong. Some judgment that lumped her in the same, unsympathetic group of females who were selfish and irresponsible.

  “Look, Caroline, I did run out on my wedding. In hindsight, probably I should have faced everyone at the church and announced the wedding wasn’t going to happen and explained why I was backing out of it. At the very least I’m guilty of avoiding the public humiliation, but I’m not a liar.”

  “I believe you, Kate.”

  “Then I hope you’ll accept as fact that I like the anonymity here in Blackwater Lake and the chance to work with kids for the summer. It’s something I never really considered doing, but I think it will be challenging and fun. I’m grateful for the chance.”

  “No matter what your circumstances are, that’s Cabot’s goal. The stray cabin is his way of giving someone a chance.”

  Kate nodded and continued slicing potatoes. Her goal in the conversation had been to extract information, but now she had more questions than answers. It wasn’t clear whether she was more bothered about being put in the same category as the woman who’d upended his life or that he was treating her as if she needed a handout.

  Still the most persistent question of all was why she even cared what he thought.

  Chapter Four

  Kate hadn’t known what to expect from this job, but after her first full day and most of her second, she was pleased with her showing. More important, she was enthusiastic about doing it again tomorrow.

  She was there as backup for the other experienced counselors, an extra pair of hands during games, crafts and competitions. Another pair of eyes to watch over the kids and make sure all went smoothly didn’t hurt, either. If one of the adults got sick or needed help, she could fill in. The kids were funny, energetic, exasperating and so much fun to be around.

  With school out, Ty was participating in camp activities. Caroline had explained this was child care for him so that his father could work. The boy had joined in on some of the events and had hung back on others. Swimming was his strongest skill; he was like a fish. He was not a shining star at basketball, football or baseball, and his lack of confidence showed in his facial expressions and body language. Tyler Dixon simply tugged at her heart.

  It was now late afternoon. Everyone was taking a little breather before dinner. She’d checked with Caroline to make sure no help was needed for the evening meal. After getting the all clear, she’d decided to take a walk by the lake.

  Even though she saw it every day, the beauty of Blackwater Lake still astounded her. It would never happen in a million years, but she wondered whether or not she would take the view for granted if she lived here.

  She stopped at an outcropping of rocks at the water’s edge, breathed in the pine-and flower-scented air and watched the sunlight turn the gently moving surface of the lake into a sparkling blue carpet. If not for her pesky attraction to Cabot Dixon, her soul would be at peace for probably the first time ever.

  She hadn’t talked to him for a couple of days, since that night he’d explained he walked ranch inspection every night. From the window of her tiny cabin she’d seen him pass by, but he didn’t look over, obviously not even tempted to drop in and see her. She wasn’t accustomed to serenity, but she also wasn’t used to being ignored. Or being considered a “stray.” It had been so hectic she hadn’t had time to process what Caroline had told her about the cabin being available to Cabot’s charity cases. She wasn’t a three-legged dog or blind cat. Or an abused woman. It rankled some that he’d pegged her that way.

  “As a rule a man’s a fool. When it’s hot he wants it cool. When it’s cool he wants it hot. Always wanting what is not.” She shook her head at the silliness of the ode to human nature that her mother had taught her.

  “Kate—”

  She whirled around, startled because she hadn’t heard footsteps behind her. Ty stood there. “Hi. Wow, you were really quiet.”

  “You weren’t.” His freckled face was solemn. “Do you have an imaginary friend?”

  “No. I was just talking to myself.” She studied him. “Do you?”

  “I used to. Then C. J. Beck—I mean, Stone—and me got to be best friends.”

  She was no shrink, but it wasn’t much of a stretch to assume that this little boy was lonely. His father was busy running a business and his mother was somewhere in Montana but made no effort to see her son. No two ways about it. The situation just totally sucked.

  “Do you want to walk back with me?” she asked.

  He looked up hopefully. “Would it be okay?”

  “I’d like that very much.” She pointed to the way she’d come. “It’ll be time for dinner pretty soon.”

  Ty fell into step beside her. “Can you have dinner with me and my dad again?”

  “I’d like that,” she said cautiously. “But you’d have to ask your dad if it’s okay first.”

  He kicked a rock on the lakeshore. “I just know he’ll say no.”

  Kate figured the only reason Cabot had allowed her to dinner that one time was because she’d just pushed ahead and didn’t give him a tactful out. “Does your friend C.J. come to dinner?”

  The boy thought for a minute. “Not very often. I usually go to his house.”

  “I’m sure your dad has his reasons.”

  “He works all the time,” Ty agreed. “And C.J. has a mom and dad now. When there’s school I go to his house a lot and either his mom or dad brings me home.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Yeah.” He picked up a rock and threw it into the lake. “He got adopted.”

  “Oh?” Did C.J. have different biological parents? Her response was designed to elicit more information if Ty wanted to tell her.

  “Yeah. Dr. Stone—Adam—got married to his mom and then adopted him.”

  “I see. Does he like Adam?”

  “Yeah. But he calls him Dad now.”

  “That’s really nice.” She looked down, and it was impossible to overlook the brooding expression and longing on the small face.

  “He’s got a mom and dad.”

  “Do you miss your mom?”

  He thought about that. “I was a baby, so I don’t remember her.”

  If she read between the lines, he was saying you couldn’t miss what you never had. But you could certainly envy what someone else had. “I always had a mom and dad around, so I don’t really know what you’re going through. Guess it’s hard to only have one parent, huh?”

  “Most of the kids at school have two parents,” he said. “I wish my dad would get married so I’d have a mom.”

  Uh-oh. She was afraid there was an ulterior, matchmaking motive to another dinner with them. Oh, God, what to do? She didn’t want to reject him, but wasn’t it more cruel to let him hope that she and his father would ever become romantically involved?

  “Ty, are you hinting about me and your dad getting—close?”

  He looked up. “Maybe. I think he likes you.”

  Kate wasn’t so sure about that. “Why do you say that?”

  He shrugged. “Prob’ly ’cause he looks at you funny.”

  Prob’ly he did that ’cause he wished he’d never laid eyes on her or offered her the “stray” cabin, she thought. “I’m flattered that you believe he’s attracted to me. But you know it takes two people to like each other f
or anyone to even think about marriage.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He kicked a well-worn sneaker into the wet dirt at the lake’s edge. “Do you like my dad?”

  She’d walked right into that one. No way could she answer honestly, that she thought Cabot Dixon was the hottest cowboy she’d ever seen and one look into that handsome face made her heart beat way too fast. But there were too many stumbling blocks. He needed someone who would love the ranch and stay there. She thought it was the most beautiful place she’d ever seen, but she had to go back to her regularly scheduled life and numerous commitments. Letting this child go on hoping for a relationship felt heartless, and she couldn’t let him continue.

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “Ty, your dad is a great guy. He’s a wonderful father and works very hard to take care of the ranch and you. But—”

  “What? You like him.”

  “I do. But my stay here is temporary and you’re talking about forever.”

  “Do you have to go?” His voice was wistful.

  “Yes. I’m just taking a break here.” She squeezed his thin shoulder. “Do you understand?”

  “Yeah.”

  The tone said quite clearly that he didn’t like it, though.

  They were just passing the archery range, an open field where targets were secured on bales of hay. In the summer-camp compound, bows and arrows were stored in an equipment shed. Kate had dabbled in the sport because almost every shooting range where she practiced hitting clay targets also had an archery section. And she’d become friendly with some of the members of the Olympic team. Her roommate had come close to a gold medal but had to settle for silver. Today Kate had given some of the kids pointers to improve their form and accuracy. It had felt good to make a difference.

  Ty glanced over at the field and frowned. “I’m no good at that.”

  “It’s a difficult skill to learn and takes a lot of practice to master it.”

  “Dustin and Maddie are really good.”

  “They’re older and have been to camp for the past several years,” she said. One of the other counselors had filled her in on them.

  “I’ll never be as good as them.”

  Kate looked down at the boy’s expression and recognized it from looking in the mirror twenty years ago. Because of all the moves her family made, she used to be him, on the outside looking in. The loneliness was consuming. Her parents had noticed and that was when her father started including her on his outings to the skeet-shooting complex. She’d wanted to try it and then amazed everyone with her raw ability. The rest was history.

  But her parents were a team. Cabot was a single father and couldn’t be faulted for not noticing his son’s isolation. She suspected Ty wouldn’t say anything because on some level he knew his dad was juggling so many things and didn’t want to be a burden. Or risk that another parent would think he was too much trouble.

  Unlike her, he was growing up in the place where he’d been born, but he still battled loneliness. This boy got to her, and suddenly the words were coming out of her mouth. “I could help you with archery. Privately.”

  “Really?” Excitement shone in his eyes when his gaze jumped to hers.

  “I’d be happy to. Although you should know it’s not my best event.”

  “Horseback riding is my best event,” he said, clearly engaged now.

  “Good for you. I’m afraid of horses.”

  “Really? They’re easy compared to archery,” he said, more carefree and a little cocky now. “I could help you get over it.”

  “I bet you could.” And it would boost his self-confidence. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll teach you about archery and you help me with horses.”

  Tyler took the hand she held out and said, “Deal.”

  Would Cabot’s average charity case be able to do that?

  * * *

  Cabot made sure Ty was sound asleep before starting his nightly inspection of the ranch buildings. It hadn’t taken his son long to be out like a light; camp activities kept him busy and wore him out. Caroline had texted him that everything was fine before she went home for the day. As he walked down the hill all seemed quiet.

  The program was a good one because he hired the best people to run it. His son was busy in a positive way and well supervised during the summer off from school. That meant Cabot could take care of business without worrying about him getting into trouble.

  Earlier Ty had come in happy and excited after having dinner with the campers and said this year he was going to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow really good. That was a direct quote. And Kate was going to teach him. Why the heck would she know how? Maybe she’d had a class in college, but that would have been a while ago. Just showed Cabot how little he knew about the runaway bride.

  He walked past the camp cabins, where he could see dim lights and hear quiet talking from inside. The crickets were louder than the kids, which told him the situation was normal. Moving on, he passed the cabin where Kate was staying and felt the same knot in his gut that he had every night when he forced himself not to look over and see if she was on the porch.

  If he did and she was, the temptation to talk to her could be too much to resist. And if he didn’t resist, there was a better-than-even chance he would make a move on that spectacular mouth of hers and live to regret it.

  No, ignoring her was the smartest play and that was what he did.

  Cabot came to the end of the dirt path, where a patch of grass bordered the lake. The moon was nearly full tonight, and he spotted a lone, slender female figure at the water’s edge. Because the counselors were with kids and Caroline had gone home, he knew whom that body silhouetted against the moonlight belonged to.

  Kate Scott.

  Fate was putting another temptation in his path, but her back was to him. She didn’t know he was there, which meant slipping away quietly was an option. He started to turn and his boot scraped a rock, a small sound that echoed loudly in the quiet night.

  She looked over her shoulder. “Cabot?”

  So much for slipping away quietly.

  “Evening, Kate.” He walked across the grass to stand beside her.

  The sun had gone down. How was it possible that her lips looked even more appealing? Moonlight was sneaky that way.

  “You’re on routine inspection?” No greeting and her tone was cool, clipped, as if there was a chip on her shoulder about something.

  “Yeah. Everything’s quiet.”

  “No three-legged dogs creating havoc or blind cats bumping into trees?”

  “Not that I’ve seen.” Definitely a chip on her shoulder, and he had no idea what was on her mind.

  “That’s a relief.”

  He wasn’t going to bite. Staying neutral and unengaged. “Nice night.”

  “Beautiful,” she said, glancing up at the stars. “The sky is like diamonds on black velvet.”

  He followed her gaze. “Never thought about it like that, but could be.”

  “Tell me something.”

  “Okay,” he said, bracing himself.

  “I can’t imagine ever taking all of this for granted. But I can’t help wondering. Does it ever get old?”

  “What? The scenery?”

  “It’s not just scenery. The lake. The mountains. Trees and flowers. Meadows. Everything.”

  “It never gets old, but I guess you get used to it. Every once in a while it’s good to have a reminder of what’s around you. See it all through someone else’s eyes.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  Why did he have the feeling that he’d somehow let her down? And why should it matter if he did? He could see that she was brooding, and this time he couldn’t stop himself.

  “You okay?”

  “Peachy.”

  Yeah, he could t
ell. But if she didn’t want to talk about it... “Ty tells me you’re going to give him pointers on using the bow and arrow.”

  “Yes. We have a bargain.”

  “Oh?” He couldn’t wait to hear the terms of this deal.

  “I’m going to work with him to improve his archery skills and he’s going to teach me about horses.”

  There was a clue about her. “So, you’ve never been around horses?”

  “No.” Eyes narrowed, she met his gaze. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Why should I? Lots of people don’t know the first thing about horses.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She huffed out a breath. “I was talking about the bargain with your son. Do you mind if I work with Ty? It seems important to him.”

  “I have no objection.” He paused a moment, then said, “Where did you pick up archery skills?”

  She stared at him for several moments, looking injured and insulted at the same time. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what he’d done to tick her off.

  Finally she said, “I’m not who you think I am.”

  “And who do you think I think you are?”

  “A stray.”

  The light was beginning to dawn. “So you heard you’re in what everyone calls the ‘stray cabin.’”

  “Yes. And it has to be said that I’m not some down-on-her-luck loser. Unless you’re talking about my choice in men.”

  “Okay. But from my perspective, you showed up in a wedding dress, driving a truck that’s seen better days and jumped at that Help Wanted sign in the diner window. Seems like a no-brainer that you needed a job.”

  “You ever heard the saying about judging a book by its cover?” She faced him squarely, hands on hips, agitation making her eyes shine and a muscle jerk in her delicate jaw.

  His fingers itched to cup her cheek in his hand, turn her face up to his and smooth out the tension in her jaw. He’d known talking to her was a bad idea, and there was no satisfaction in being right.

  “Yeah. I’ve heard the saying. And I’ll take your word for it that what you’re telling me is true.” He started to turn away. “Night, Kate.”