Книга - The Rancher’s Unexpected Family

The Rancher's Unexpected Family
Myrna Mackenzie


Since Holt Calhoun’s marriage ended, the town of Larkville knows that ‘no’ is pretty much the sum total of the taciturn cowboy’s vocabulary.But Kathryn Ellis won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. She needs Holt to save the local clinic before her baby arrives! Holt does his best to ignore his growing feelings, until an early arrival with Kathryn’s heart-melting smile makes it impossible to turn on his spurred heel and walk away…









THE LARKVILLE LEGACY


A secret letter … two families changed for ever

Welcome to the small town of Larkville, Texas, where the Calhoun family has been ranching for generations.

Meanwhile, in New York, the Patterson family rules America’s highest echelons of society.

Both families are totally unprepared for the news that they are linked by a shocking secret.

For hidden on the Calhoun ranch is a letter that’s been lying unopened and unread—until now!

Meet the two families in all eight books of this brand-new series:

THE COWBOY COMES HOME

by Patricia Thayer

SLOW DANCE WITH THE SHERIFF

by Nikki Logan

TAMING THE BROODING CATTLEMAN

by Marion Lennox

THE RANCHER’S UNEXPECTED FAMILY

by Myrna Mackenzie

HIS LARKVILLE CINDERELLA

by Melissa McClone

THE SECRET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

by Lucy Gordon

THE SOLDIER’S SWEETHEART

by Soraya Lane

THE BILLIONAIRE’S BABY SOS

by Susan Meier


Dear Reader,

There’s just something about a cowboy. And there’s also something about a man whose heart is so battered that he’s going to protect it at all costs. He’s going to say no to anything that might even imply love or romance. So when Holt Calhoun walked onto the page I knew he would be a man who knew a lot more about the words no and no way than he ever planned to know about yes. I just knew that he was going to be trouble.

And Kathryn is going to be the worst kind of woman for him. She’s very much a yes kind of woman. She’s a woman who takes on causes, a woman who just isn’t going to take no for an answer—at least not when it applies to a cause she believes in. Her heart, now … that’s another matter. She’s almost as protective of her heart as Holt is of his. Maybe more. Hmm, more trouble …

Then things get worse. Kathryn has a plan—a big plan. And, circumstances being what they turn out to be, there is just no help for this city girl and her cowboy. With Kathryn’s big plan in the works, she and Holt are just going to have to mix it up. It’s going to get messy. Hearts might be involved. The fact that Kathryn is pregnant and Holt has a secret that makes it difficult for him even to think about babies is absolutely going to come into play.

Too bad that Holt and Kathryn seem to sizzle every time they get near each other. Because—oh, yes—there’s going to be trouble. But it’s going to be the fun kind of trouble.

I just couldn’t wait to jump into writing this story. I hope you enjoy all the trouble, and the sizzle, and the fun.

Best wishes

Myrna Mackenzie




About the Author


MYRNA MACKENZIE spent her childhood being a good student, a reader and an avid daydreamer. She knew more about what she wasn’t qualified to be than what she actually wanted to be (no athletic skill, so pole vaulting was out; not a glib speaker, so not likely to become a politician; poor swimmer, so the door to marine biology was closed). Fortunately daydreaming turned out to be an absolutely perfect qualification for a writer, and today Myrna feels blessed that she gets to make her living writing down her daydreams about ranchers, princesses, billionaires and ordinary people whose lives are changed by love. It is an awesome job!

When she’s not writing Myrna spends her time reading, seeing the latest (or not so latest) movies, hiking, collecting recipes she seldom makes, trying to knit or crochet and writing a blog (which is so much fun!). Born in a small town in Dunklin County, Missouri, she now divides her time between two lakes in Chicago and Wisconsin. Visit her online at www.myrnamackenzie.com or write to her at PO Box 225, La Grange, IL 60525, USA.




The Rancher’s

Unexpected

Family


Myrna Mackenzie






www.millsandboon.co.uk




CHAPTER ONE


KATHRYN ELLIS closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What she was about to do, seeking out Holt Calhoun when he clearly didn’t want to be found …

She swallowed hard. It had been years since she’d seen him and she tried not to envision Holt with his dark good looks and those brown eyes flecked with gold that pinned a person to a wall. The fact that she had once wanted those eyes to pin her, anywhere, was beside the point. She’d been young and naive enough not to understand what she was asking for then. Now she was older, a bit battered and not nearly as naive. She’d learned that a forceful, controlling man was the worst kind of nightmare for a woman like her.

Yet she was voluntarily walking right into the lion’s den.

“So walk,” she whispered as she climbed from her barely-held-together car and started toward Holt’s family home on the Double Bar C Ranch. During the few years she’d lived here, she had driven past the ranch and seen the big white house in the distance but she’d never been inside … or even on the grounds. She’d wanted to be invited in back when she’d been a teenager and called Larkville home. Now she didn’t.

But she was going in anyway.

Her heartbeat thudding in her throat, she rang the doorbell and waited, willing herself to stay strong, stand tall, look professional.

But the baby kicked at that moment, and despite the fact that she should be used to such things by now, she splayed one hand over her abdomen and glanced down.

The door opened and she jumped. To her relief and regret, it wasn’t Holt but Nancy Griffith, his housekeeper. The woman had kind eyes, but right now she looked a bit concerned.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t call ahead, but—” Kathryn cleared her throat, trying not to sound nervous “—is Holt around?”

Nancy smiled at her. “I’m afraid he’s not. Since he returned from, well, I guess everybody knows where he was.”

I don’t, Kathryn thought. Because she had been determined not to be one bit curious about Holt’s personal life. No doubt a woman had been involved, Kathryn couldn’t help thinking. Holt had always had women trailing after him.

“But he’s home now, right?” she asked. “I’d heard that he’d returned.”

“He’s home, but he’s not here. Since he came back, he’s been so tied up in the office that today he declared he was getting out on the range and nothing was going to stop him.”

Including me, Kathryn thought. She’d tried to call Holt several times this week, even this morning. He hadn’t picked up. Nor had he replied to her requests for an appointment to see him. She was pretty sure that he knew what she wanted. Maybe he’d heard about it from the mayor. Clearly, he wasn’t enthused. She’d been warned not to expect much.

She didn’t expect anything, but she wanted—

No. Don’t go there, she ordered herself. Wanting wasn’t good enough. Another lesson she’d learned too well. If something was going to happen, she had to make it happen. She couldn’t rely on or trust anyone else.

“I really need to see him. If he’s on the range, could you point me in his direction?” she asked.

Nancy looked stunned. “I— You’ve been away a long time, Kathryn. I don’t know how much you knew of this place, but the Double Bar C is huge and pretty stark in places.” Nancy glanced pointedly at Kathryn’s car, down at her watermelon abdomen, then up at the sky. The day was sweltering, the sun relentless and blinding as a camera flash.

“I know, but I’ll be fine. I’m a runner and these days I keep my phone handy,” Kathryn said, ignoring her own misgivings. The ranch might have its stark areas, but the Calhouns had always run it like a well-oiled machine. Communication lines were kept open. “Or … I was a runner until recently. I’ll be okay.”

Nancy gave a curt nod. “Let me just call Holt.” She paused. “I have to be honest. He’s not going to like this.”

“I know. Besides the fact that he’s busy, I’ve already called six times. If you’re going to tell him anything, tell him that I’m—that I’m not giving up. I’ll do whatever it takes. Including wandering all over the ranch looking for him.”

That wasn’t exactly true. She was trying to keep her courage up, to appear determined. Still, she wasn’t stupid, and she didn’t plan to wander far from the road. But for now, let Nancy—and Holt—think she was a crazy pregnant woman if that was the only way she could get his attention. Frustration and fear were making her a bit desperate. She needed to get as much done as possible before the baby arrived.

“All right. I’ll see what I can do.” Nancy retreated to the other end of the room, speaking into the phone quietly. She appeared to be holding her hand over the receiver, too, but even so, Kathryn could still hear Holt’s curse when he realized what was happening.

“Just find out where he is.” She gave Nancy an apologetic look. “I’ll handle the rest. You shouldn’t have to deal with my problems.”

Instead, Nancy listened to whatever Holt was saying, then directed Kathryn to a seat in the living room. “He’s coming.”

And he clearly wasn’t happy about the situation. Kathryn could see it in the strain in Nancy’s eyes.

“Do you mind if I sit on the porch? I’d rather face him head-on. Outdoors. Just in case he throws anything at me.” She smiled slightly when she said it, trying to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn’t completely. She’d lived her whole life with people who were prone to sudden outbursts of anger. It was always good to have an exit plan.

Nancy gave her a stern look. “Suit yourself, but Holt would never throw anything at a woman. Especially a pregnant one.”

Kathryn nodded and marched to a rocking chair on the big low porch. She could tell by Nancy’s look that the woman wondered about whatever circumstances had led to Kathryn being alone and pregnant, but she wasn’t sharing that with anyone. Not Nancy. Certainly not Holt.

Not that the man would ask. He didn’t even want to see her. She was surprised he even remembered who she was.

Maybe he doesn’t, she thought. He’d always looked right past her when she was a skinny, lovesick teenager and he was a moody, broody football player who barely said a word to anyone and never even said hello to her.

She’d daydreamed about him being like her, kindred souls trapped in untenable circumstances with no one to confide in.

Of course, she’d been wrong. He’d simply been a guy who hadn’t noticed or cared. And clearly nothing had changed with him.

A lot had changed with her. Except for the fact that she still got tense just thinking of Holt coming down the road, exiting his car and stepping onto the porch.

Which was totally nuts. She didn’t have room or the inclination for a man in her world anymore. Especially not this man.

And anyway—a dust cloud in the distance heralded an oncoming vehicle—there was no time to do anything but brace herself. She and Holt were going to talk.

Finally.

Holt threw open the truck’s door. He started toward her, big and imposing with a granite jaw and dark eyes that told her she’d pushed him too far.

Kathryn swallowed hard. She reminded herself that she was a full-grown woman, almost ten years older than she’d been the last time she’d seen Holt. And determined to be what she hadn’t been then. Strong. Independent. Not affected even by a man as overwhelming as Holt.

“Hello, Holt,” she said, rising a bit more awkwardly than she wanted to and holding out her hand in as casual a gesture as she could muster. “Thank you for stopping by.” How stupid. This was his home. And she was acting like a queen expecting him to kiss her hand.

“Not an issue. I was headed in, anyway,” he said, putting her in her place. “Besides, this won’t take long.”

She blinked. “How do you know that?”

“I know it, because the answer is no,” he said, those dark caramel eyes smoldering. “I know why you’re here. I don’t know what the mayor said that led you to believe that I get involved in causes, but she was wrong. I do only one thing and that’s ranch. I’m sorry you wasted your time, but I believe it’s best to be honest.”

Kathryn sucked in a breath and hoped that her knees weren’t shaking. “I believe that, too. And the truth is that I don’t intend to stop being a pest. You’ll have to hear me out.”

“I already know what you want. There’s no point in discussing the details.”

“Whatever you’ve been told, it’s clearly not everything. And I intend to follow you around until you listen to the whole story.” It was all she could do to keep her voice from wobbling. Not just because Holt was so big, with such broad shoulders, but because he was so … male. The fact that he was also hostile … Kathryn fought to stay calm. To remain standing.

“Excuse me?” He frowned, those fierce dark eyes making her squirm inside. She wondered how many women had ever told Holt Calhoun no. Probably not many.

Probably none. The man looked like the definition of sex, all long legs, muscles and thick tousled, near-black hair. He looked like a man who knew how to do things. And not just ranching things. Things that involved getting naked with a woman.

Which was totally irrelevant … and terribly distracting. “I mean it,” Kathryn said. She frowned back at him, even if she was mostly upset at herself. Her Holt-crush years were long gone. She was going to be a mom. She needed to get her off-track life on track and do right by her baby, not get derailed by stupid, hormonally driven thoughts about a man who didn’t even want to talk to her and who reminded her of the bad places she’d been, not the good places she wanted to go.

“You plan to follow me around?” he finally said. “Lady, do you even know what you’re saying?”

No. “Yes. Mayor Hollis highly recommended you.”

Holt swore beneath his breath. “Johanna is sharp as they come, but she’s dead wrong about this.”

“I don’t think so. And you can’t make me leave. I’m … I’m persistent.” Which was such a lie. She’d never persisted with anything. And her ex-husband had loved to taunt her with that humiliating fact. Which might, she admitted, be a big part of why she had to persist with this now.

“This is a ranch,” Holt reminded her. “It’s big and dirty. There are animals that can break your foot if they step the wrong way or break your body if they fall on you. You are a pregnant woman.”

“Yes. I’ve noticed.”

He gave her a you-don’t-know-a-thing look. “No following.”

“Just give me a few minutes.”

He started to say no. She was sure of it, but she stuck out her hand and touched his arm. His blue chambray shirtsleeve was worn. His muscle was firm and warm beneath her palm. Kathryn didn’t know what the heck she was doing. She felt reckless and stupid and awkward, as she always had around him, but …

“We’ve already wasted several minutes arguing. Wouldn’t it be easier just to listen to me?”

“I have the feeling that nothing about this will be easy.”

So did she. “Just a few minutes,” she prompted.

“All right. Let’s get this over with. Sit. Talk.” He turned a chair backward, straddled it and looked at his watch. “You have ten minutes. No more.”

Kathryn swallowed hard and tried to find the right words. For the first time in her life she had Holt Calhoun’s attention and she couldn’t afford to waste the opportunity. There was too much at stake.

Holt felt like a volcano, bubbling hot and on the verge of blowing up everything around him. What in hell had the mayor been thinking when she’d recommended that he be the one to help Kathryn Ellis? And what was this about, anyway? Some nonsense about a clinic and donors, whatever that meant.

He wanted this conversation to be over, but he’d promised her ten minutes. And just look at her. Despite being heavily pregnant, which brought back terrible memories he didn’t even want to acknowledge, she was slender, bone-china fragile, and when she looked at him …

He noticed how her dark blond hair, streaked with a hundred shades of wheat, kissed her delicate jaw, how those big gray eyes looked so anxious. Despite her determined words, this woman looked as if a sharp wind could break her, both physically and emotionally. And then there was the fact that she was pregnant. That made her the last person in the world a man like him should be around. He’d seen her from a distance in town after the mayor had mentioned the situation, so he’d already decided that this wasn’t happening. And not just because he didn’t want to do what he’d heard she wanted him to do.

“Ms. Ellis,” he began.

“I’m Kathryn. You knew me when I was a teenager.”

He’d known who she was. Vaguely. A skinny, scared-looking little creature. That’s all he remembered. And by calling her by her last name he’d been trying to create distance, to make a point. “Ms. Ellis,” he said determinedly. “I’m afraid you’ve been led astray.”

“Johanna said you had business and political contacts that no one else in town has. Is that true?”

“It may be. But it’s irrelevant.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard why I’m here.”

He knew what he’d heard. The town already had a clinic, so …

“Why don’t you just spell it out?”

“I’m trying to get a new medical clinic built in Larkville. And lure a permanent doctor here. To do that, we may need the help of influential people.”

“Johanna’s the mayor. She has political contacts.”

“She’s the mayor of a town of less than two thousand. Her influence is limited. Your family name is known by people in high places.”

“I don’t suck up to them. I don’t ask favors. Ever.” He glared at her.

“I’m not asking you to—to prostitute yourself,” she said, all prim and librarian-like. Her eyelashes drifted down, just a bit before she righted them. Her slender hands were in tight fists. She was clearly nervous. Because she was determined to drag a yes from him or because he was out-and-out scaring her?

Holt wanted to let loose with a string of blue curses. He was rotten at situations like this, at dealing with women with expectations. He’d learned from his mother, his father, from his former fiancée, Lilith, that needing, caring, wanting too deeply, expecting too much, came with a hefty price tag. Emotion could cripple. He knew that. He’d paid that price before and was still paying it. So while he was used to doing all kinds of favors as the owner of the Double Bar C and he did them willingly, he kept things cut and dried, light, easy, uncomplicated by emotions. And he didn’t ask for favors himself. He was pretty sure based on what he’d heard that Kathryn Ellis was asking him to break several of his unbreakable rules. Be the giver, not the recipient. Remain in control of the situation at all times. Never let emotion enter into a deal.

“You’ll have to be more specific than that,” he told her. “Just what are you asking me to do?”

“I want you to help me get the clinic off the ground. I want you to help me get funding.”

“Which will most likely mean prostituting myself, as you put it.”

“Not necessarily. Some people will give out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“For a clinic that will only benefit one very small town.”

“It’s your hometown.”

“It’s not their hometown. You’re talking about people who have a million life-or-death causes pounding on their doors every day.”

Kathryn blinked. She bit her lip. “I suppose that’s true, but … you’re Holt Calhoun. You could convince them.”

The way she said that made it sound as if he could do anything. And no one knew better than he did how wrong that was. Pain sliced through him like a razor. Easy. Devastating. He slapped the flat of his hand against the porch post. “Dammit. Lady, I may not know much about you, but you obviously don’t know me at all.”

She looked to the side as if he’d embarrassed her. Maybe he had. Tact wasn’t his strong suit. And frankly, he didn’t care.

“We need a doctor,” she said. “I work part-time in Dr. Cooper’s office. He’s moving to California to be near his son, and then there’ll be no one. And the clinic, if you want to call a two-room building with an examination room the size of a closet a clinic, is crumbling.”

“I’ve heard that it’s slightly outdated.” But only in passing when Wes, his foreman, had gone in for some minor treatment.

“It’s more than outdated. It’s inadequate, and once Dr. Cooper leaves, we’re never going to be able to lure another doctor here to work in such a tumbledown facility.”

“I see. But Austin is only forty miles away and there are doctors there.”

She crossed her arms. It made her ample breasts more noticeable, and also emphasized her heavily rounded belly. She was a pretty woman, a delicate one, and her pregnancy only seemed to emphasize that delicate beauty. He could have slapped himself for noticing any of those things. “In an emergency, forty miles might as well be four hundred,” she pointed out.

“I see, Ms. Ellis. You’re concerned about the trip to the hospital.” He did his best not to think of another situation, another pregnant woman. Anger, dark and reckless, filled his soul.

“Stop that,” she said. “Stop pretending you don’t know my name. And this isn’t for me. I’m due to deliver in a matter of weeks. By the time the clinic is built … if it’s built,” she emphasized, turning those big, plaintive eyes on him, “I’ll be long gone.”

That got his attention. “Let me get this straight. You want to build a clinic in a town you don’t even intend to live in. Why?”

“I have my reasons. They don’t matter. They’re not the point.”

And she clearly wasn’t going to share them. That was okay. A man like him who never shared his innermost thoughts couldn’t blame someone else for holding back. Still, now that they’d slid past the topic of her pregnancy, he could deal with reality. He wasn’t the answer to anyone’s prayers and he never had been. Head down, he ran the ranch and he did it well. He did what was necessary. But he never strayed beyond that. He couldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he said. And a part of him meant that most sincerely. “But it’s not happening. I’ve been away from the ranch for too long.” For reasons he wasn’t prepared to discuss. “And despite the fact that I have a top-notch foreman and crew, there’s a truckload of work to be done. I’m not who you need, and I don’t have the time, the inclination or the ability to help you.”

“Not even if we’re talking life or death?” she asked, emphasizing that fact again. Something in her eyes told him that he’d disappointed her. Well, nothing new there. He was an excellent rancher, but he was also a master at disappointing people who expected him to care too much.

“You’ve been led astray if you were told to expect this kind of help from me,” he said. “I confine myself to small favors, to the doable. I’m no miracle worker.”

He stared coldly into her eyes, doing his best to ignore the fear and pain there, the slide of something—a tiny foot, a hand?—across her belly or how she automatically placed her palm over that place.

Her gray eyes pleaded with him, but she said nothing. A sudden, vague memory of a young girl looking at him as if she expected him to answer all her prayers flashed across his memory and was just as quickly gone.

His phone rang, and he deliberately put it on speakerphone. Anything to fill the silence. His foreman, Wes, said, “Holt, that cow with bloat needs seeing to or we’re going to lose her. The vet’s in the next county and you’re the best one to handle something this complicated.”

“I’ll be there in five.” Holt clicked off. He turned to Kathryn. “I have to go,” he said. Not I’m sorry, or Excuse me. The sudden defeat in her eyes made him want to say those words, but that might have given her hope for some-thing thatjust wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t the savior she had hoped he would be, and he wouldn’t pretend otherwise.

Her shoulders slumped. She turned toward her rusting car, then turned back. “Off to work a miracle, Holt?” she asked, throwing his “I’m no miracle worker” comment back at him.

“Off to do what I know how to do,” he said. “I don’t promise what I can’t deliver. Ever.”

And miracles of any kind were well outside his realm. As he had learned only too well.

Not waiting for her to leave, he strode to his truck. As he drove away in a cloud of dust, a pair of gray, hopeful eyes taunted him.

This time he didn’t hold back. He let loose with a string of blue language. Ms. Kathryn Ellis didn’t know how lucky she was. Women who got involved with an unbending, emotionally stingy man like him lived to regret it. As he’d been told before.




CHAPTER TWO


OKAY, dealing with Holt wasn’t going to be simple, Kathryn thought, back at home. If there was anyone else … But the mayor was adamant that he was the only one in a town this size who had the kind of influence she needed. The Double Bar C was known nationwide. The Calhouns had their fingers in many pies, and Holt was the one who oversaw all of that.

None of that would mean a thing, though, if the man didn’t agree to lend a hand. What to do? What to do? And why did it matter so much?

Because she was determined to turn her life completely around and this was the first step. I came back to my parents’ empty house despite the bad memories because I had no money or work, Kathryn reminded herself. Most of her life had been like that, running from one bad situation and one place to another. But with a baby on the way, she had to do more, to take a stand and become the kind of person a child could depend on. The next time she left somewhere she was going to do it the right way, having left something good behind her, because there was something good ahead of her.

Helping to build this clinic offered her a chance to leave this place on a positive note. On a more major note, it would allow her to use her heretofore useless deg in urban planning and beef up her skimpy résumé. Overseeing the project was the kind of thing that might put a gleam in an employer’s eye and finally help her provide a secure future for her and Baby Ellis.

But there was one more big reason. Despite her intent to slip quietly in and out of Larkville, she’d found that with her parents gone, the town was rather charming. She’d made a few friends, some of them her patients. She cared about them, worried about them and understood how scared they were at the prospect of losing their medical care. How could she not try to help? Still, even the best urban planner needed good people helping her. In this case, she had to get Holt’s help. How?

Butter him up, she thought. Flatter him. Play to his weaknesses. Everyone had weaknesses, didn’t they?

Kathryn splayed her hands across her belly as if communing with her child would help her focus her thoughts. “Play to Holt Calhoun’s weaknesses?” As if she knew what those were.

Well, maybe she did, a little. During the two years she’d lived here, she’d practically stalked Holt. Other than football, he’d spent most of his time on the ranch. Cows, horses, dogs would be high on his list, she assumed. She hated having to brave the ranch again, but she had no choice. Where else would he be?

“You can do this, Ellis.” Her words more bravado than fact. Still, she slipped on her maternity jeans, tennis shoes and a pink top and headed to the Double Bar C. When she arrived, she made a beeline for the stables. A bold move, because she was a little afraid of large animals. She might have lived in Texas, but her parents had been former city dwellers who hadn’t liked Larkville. Ranches hadn’t been part of her life. Too bad. She was on a mission to rewrite the future, and it all started here. She wasn’t running this time.

A snorting, snuffling sound came from her right where a white horse in the corral was tossing its head. It was a beautiful animal. A gigantic animal. And it didn’t seem to be too sure about her presence.

Kathryn tried to quiet her nerves. She’d come prepared, knowing that Holt’s animals would be a part of this. If she could make friends with this creature quickly, then when Holt finally showed up, he might think she was a natural cow woman, like her better, and he and she might bond over equine details. She had gone online just last night to find some interesting facts. She now knew that there were more than three hundred and fifty breeds of horses and ponies and she knew that horses could walk, trot, gallop and canter.

But none of that mattered right now. Holt’s horse was looking at her as if she had horns and a red forked tail. Reaching for what she hoped would be her secret weapon, Kathryn dug into her purse and pulled a carrot from a plastic bag.

“Here, boy.” She held out the carrot clutched between her thumb and forefinger. “Look what I have.”

The horse lurched toward her a bit, and she jerked back, then stuck her hand out again.

“Don’t. Do. That.” The deep voice was unmistakable. It came from the barn behind her. “Stop moving. Right now.”

Kathryn froze. Holt walked up behind her, and she felt very exposed even though she was fully dressed. Seriously, the man exuded something masculine. He got attention.

But, of course, she was supposed to be the one snagging his attention, not the other way around.

“He doesn’t like carrots?” she asked.

“He loves carrots.”

“I—I see. Or, actually, I don’t.” She forgot to freeze and waved her hand around as she spoke. The horse followed with his head. He moved closer. Quickly.

Kathryn jumped.

Just then Holt stepped forward, gave a command to the horse and reached out and took her hand, forcing her to drop the carrot in the dirt. She looked at it with dismay.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I assume you’d like to keep all your fingers. Horses have sharp teeth and massive heads. Daedalus is gentle, but he doesn’t know you or understand what you’re doing. He wants what you have, but the way you’re bobbing around, he’ll have to lunge for it, and his teeth might nip you. Or that big head of his might knock you on your rear.” Holt shook his head as if he’d had to explain to a child not to cross the street without looking.

“I—” Kathryn felt herself blushing. “Thank you. I didn’t realize. I didn’t think, I guess.”

“But you lived here in horse country.” His words were clipped. He looked as if he thought she was lying.

“I only lived here two years, and we didn’t have horses. My father came here following a job and he … well, he liked his privacy. He didn’t like me making friends, so I didn’t have any reason to learn about ranch life.”

“And yet here you are trying to feed my animal.”

She raised her chin. “Just because I didn’t have horses doesn’t mean I don’t want to know more about them. He’s a spectacular horse. And this is a … it’s a lovely ranch.”

“I like it.” He stared her down.

“I’d—I’d really like to know more about ranching.”

“Just out of the blue like that? Planning to move to a ranch, are you?” He looked mildly amused. As if he was trying to keep from laughing.

Oh, no. Did he think she was flirting with him, pursuing him?

“No. I’m looking for a job in a city, but odds are my baby will be born here, and I want to be able to tell her a bit about her birthplace.” As she said the words, Kathryn realized it was true. She did want her child to know something of her history. Because that kind of anchor had been missing from her own life. Her parents had moved constantly. They’d never discussed their lives before she’d been born. They’d never talked much at all without arguing or criticizing their only child for being a disappointment. Her ex-husband had continued the trend. Control by ignoring or criticizing her. Or making her feel that she was being unreasonable or demanding. It had been an effective system. Kathryn had always fallen into line. This time had to be different. She couldn’t let Holt’s opinion daunt her.

“So you want a history lesson and a tour. And you decided this when? This morning?”

She took a deep breath. “I—no—yes—no. I made that up about thirty seconds ago,” she admitted, in part because Holt made her far too self-aware, but also because she just didn’t want to get in the habit of lying. Good mothers didn’t lie. And, oh, she really wanted to be a good mother.

Holt shook his head again. “If you want a history lesson or information on how a ranch runs, I’ll point you in the direction of some books.”

“I want more than that.”

That had probably been the wrong thing to say. There was always the chance that he knew how big a crush she’d had on him when she was young. She hoped not, but the dark, fierce look in his eyes … the heat that rose within her …

Kathryn took a step backward. She caught her foot on something, a rock or … Suddenly she was slipping.

Just as suddenly, she wasn’t. Holt’s big hands were on her arms. He was pulling her upward, toward him. Her heart was thundering, her breath was erratic. And then she was free, standing on her own. Trying to act as if she was perfectly fine.

“I’m perfectly fine,” she said.

A look of something that might have been amusement flitted across his face and then was gone. “Good. I was going to ask that in a minute.” Even though he’d had no reason to ask. She hadn’t even gotten near to hitting the ground. His quick reflexes and strong arms had seen to that. But his tone—was the darn man teasing her?

“I—I assumed as much,” she said lamely, flustered, not happy that she was letting Holt get to her. But hadn’t she always? Had she ever seriously thought they could be a couple when she was a starstruck teenager? She must have been insane. He was the worst kind of man for someone like her. Too intimidating, entirely too physical. His very presence made her feel as if her brain had gone missing. And her plan to butter him up, to humor him? The one that had seemed so right his morning?

It wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t a man who craved adoration. If he had been, he would have scooped her up in high school and had all the adoration he could handle. She sighed.

“What?”

She forced herself to look straight into his eyes and not flinch. “I came here intending to schmooze you.”

“I see. And how exactly were you going to do that?”

She looked at Daedalus. “Nice horse,” she said weakly. “Nice hat.”

He almost looked as if he wanted to smile.

Kathryn sighed again. “I’m afraid I’m not very good at schmoozing,” she admitted. “I feel totally silly.”

“Well, I’ve been told that I don’t know how to accept a compliment, so …”

Yeah, it had been a bad, unworkable idea. “I should go.” Kathryn realized that she was still standing far too close to Holt. His sheer size, the breadth of his shoulders, was forbidding. He was quite possibly the most masculine male she could ever remember meeting.

Not that it mattered. Even if she hadn’t been extremely pregnant, she was never going to allow herself to think of a man that way again. Especially not a man like Holt. He was the type who could swallow her soul and mangle it, when she had barely escaped her mistake of a marriage with her soul intact. Still, with her retreat she felt her grand plans evaporating. Holt wasn’t going to help her. She would have no project to her name, nothing to put on her résumé, probably no means of supporting herself and her child once the clinic closed. And her friends she wanted to help … that wasn’t going to happen, either. She was going to fail at all of that. Just because of this stubborn man.

No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t him. She was the one who had to convince him to help her. Winning others’ cooperation would be a big part of her job if she ever managed to get a job in her field. This was her proving ground.

Kathryn forced herself to look straight into Holt’s eyes. “Don’t you care about the people of the town?”

He didn’t answer that, but his brows drew together in a scowl.

“I see them,” she said. “Every day. People who come to Dr. Cooper with serious, frightening problems.”

As if she’d said something offensive, his expression turned colder. Without thought, she shoved her hand out and blindly touched his shoulder. Instantly, his muscles flexed beneath the pads of her fingertips. Her hand tingl her heart took an extra beat. Kathryn jerked back as if she’d touched fire.

The look in his dark eyes was deadly. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m going to discuss my feelings.”

No, she could see that would be a mistake. “I won’t, but—”

He raised one dark, sexy brow, and Kathryn had to work to stay focused. “But what do you think will happen if people don’t have a clinic or a doctor in Larkville?” she continued.

“It’s not something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.”

“Of course not. You’re clearly an incredibly healthy man.”

He blinked, as if she’d said something shocking when all she’d said—did he think she was ogling him?

Most likely. Women would. She had in the past, and if her circumstances and her life and her entire world hadn’t turned out the way it had … No, no, no.

“I only meant that you’ve obviously not spent a lot of time in doctors’ offices,” she said a bit too quickly.

He didn’t respond.

“But there are people who need regular treatments or who need help quickly. If a doctor isn’t nearby, they may put off going at all. They might even die. Think about that.”

He frowned at her. “I’m thinking,” he said. And clearly what he was thinking wasn’t anything good. Why, oh, why was Holt the man she had to work with in order to get this thing done?

Holt felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. By something a lot bigger and more lethal than this fragile woman standing before him. Kathryn wasn’t just looking for a favor. He was used to doing small favors. Like it or not, they were part of the ranch’s role in the community. But Kathryn wanted more than a small favor. She wanted him to ask for favors, and that wasn’t his style. The thought of opening himself up that way, begging, burned him like fire. What’s more, for a minute he had thought she’d wanted him to discuss his feelings. And he definitely wasn’t that guy. He worked, he did his duty, but discussing what he felt—or did not feel—was for other men. Actually, indulging in those deeper emotions was for other men, too.

Still, he looked down into those pretty eyes and realized he could no longer ignore her request for a favor. His father, Clay, had died of pneumonia when he’d refused to see a doctor until it was too late. And his friend and former ranch hand, the one he’d been with these past few months … what if Hank had gone to the doctor and found his cancer sooner?

Holt swore beneath his breath.

Kathryn wrapped her arms around her abdomen as if those slender arms could protect the child inside. That single movement made him remember things, feel raw inside. He didn’t like that one bit.

But as if his swearing had unleashed something in her, she changed before his eyes. “Okay, I get it. You’re never going to help.” Her eyes flashed fire, and suddenly she didn’t look so fragile anymore. She looked a bit like a miffed tigress. “I hate to say this, Holt, but sometimes I don’t like men very much.” With an accusing look, she swung her head and turned to go, her blond hair catching on the pale pink collar of her blouse, exposing her long, slender neck. And whether it was her tigress ways or that beautiful neck, a jolt of physical awareness shot through him.

Don’t notice that, he told himself, trying to ignore the instant heat that her innocent manner and her movement had called forth in him. Don’t think of her that way. Kathryn was a woman on a mission, a woman dedicated to passionate causes, and a woman with a baby on the way. She wasn’t in the market for anything short-lived or based on physical chemistry alone, while he wasn’t open to anything more. He didn’t get involved with women who wanted too much from him. After Lilith, he especially didn’t get involved with pregnant women. The fact that Kathryn was both passionate and pregnant made her radioactive. A woman to steer around, not get close to.

And yet, here he was, thinking about the long, naked column of her neck and trying not to think about any more of her naked. Holt wanted to swear again. He held back.

At that moment, Blue, Holt’s German shepherd mix, wandered near. Blue was big and slobbery with a torn ear. He looked like a dog who could eat humans just for fun, and most people kept their distance when they first met him.

Kathryn bent over and held her hand out to him so he could sniff and make up his mind about her, then rubbed him behind his ears just as if he was a cute little puppy. Blue looked as if he was in ecstasy.

“He’s a killer,” Holt said, disgusted with Blue, but mostly with himself.

“I can see that. You trained him to go for the throat?”

Holt raised one brow. “I trained him for a lot of things. Right now he seems to have forgotten all of them. I guess you’re better at schmoozing than you thought.”

She glanced up quickly and evidently noticed him staring at her. A delicious pale pink climbed her throat, making him want to groan.

Kathryn quickly looked at Blue. “No, he just likes to be rubbed.”

“Who doesn’t?” Had he really said that? Oh, yeah, he had. The startled look in her eyes left no question. The woman was shocked. Just yesterday he would have been glad. But today she had made him think about things he couldn’t ignore. He was going to say yes. The truth was that he couldn’t have anyone else on his conscience. He already had a whole lot to answer for, things he struggled not to think about every day, and like it or not, he was going to have to get mixed up in Kathryn’s passionate project and do a bunch of things he didn’t like.

But two things he wouldn’t do. He wouldn’t expose his soul, his demons, that part of himself only he was privy to, by letting her know just how she’d talked him into this. And he wouldn’t let her be in control the way it had gone down with Lilith.

Time to do a little creative backpedaling. Somehow.

“I probably shouldn’t have made that last comment about Blue,” he began, not very smoothly.

At his name, Blue’s ears perked up a bit, but he was still looking like some lovesick fool, slobbering all over Kathryn’s hand. What was it with the woman?

“So you think I should help you get this clinic built?” he asked, stalling while he tried to think of some good idea. She was looking at him as if he’d been the one who’d slipped and maybe hit his head on a rock. And why not? The woman had been all but begging him to help her for days.

“I do. I really do.”

“How do I know you’re not just some Goody Two-shoes who gets fired up about causes and then drops them to move on to the next one? You just said that you weren’t staying.”

“I’m not. I’m an urban planner. The jobs I’m looking for will be in cities and I have a baby to support, but I assure you that I won’t run out on this project.”

“How do I know that you’re truly dedicated?”

She raised that pretty chin. “You could try taking my word on it.”

He shook his head slowly, almost sadly. “Kathryn, Kathryn, I’m a businessman. I can’t just take your word on things.” Even though he did that every day. But she couldn’t know that. And anyway, he didn’t really know her. There was a good chance she might bolt and he would be left with a mess on his hands.

“And this project will take time away from my ranching duties. I might have to set a few things aside. Like …”

He paused.

“Like …” she prompted.

“Well, like Blue here. He’s used to me having time to put him through his paces. What if I don’t have time for that stuff?”

She raised one pretty brow. “You’re telling me that the only thing holding you back is that you’re worried you won’t have time to exercise Blue?”

The dog moaned when she said his name as if he’d been waiting for her to do that all his life.

Holt gave him the evil eye. Which Blue ignored.

“A man’s dog is his best friend.”

“You have friends, then?” she asked, still in full tigress mode.

Holt looked taken aback. “That seems like a snotty thing to say to a man when you’ve asked him to do you a favor.”

She blushed that pretty pink that started somewhere beneath her clothing, and Holt swallowed hard. “You’re right. Of course,” she agreed. “What if—if you get bog down and can’t take care of Blue, I could, er, put him through his paces?”

“And you think it’s my duty to the town to take care of getting this clinic?”

“Just to help. I’ll be doing a lot of it, too.”

“Ah.”

“Are you trying to intimidate me?”

He shrugged. “Is it working?”

“No.”

“Good. Because I was really just testing you to see how dedicated you are. So you’ll do a lot of the work, you’ll walk my dog and you’ll—what?”

Kathryn raised herself up to her full height. Despite being shorter than him and very pregnant, she somehow managed to look down her nose at him. “I’ll make sure that your town has a first-rate clinic, Mr. Calhoun.”

He nodded, then turned to the dog. “What do you think, Blue?”

The dog turned sad eyes on Kathryn and nudged closer, obviously hoping for more of that rubbing. Then to Holt’s surprise, Blue gave a little woof. That wasn’t like him. He was well trained, and he didn’t bark unless there was a reason to bark.

Kathryn crossed her arms. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that Blue doesn’t think the clinic is a good idea.”

Holt wanted to smile, but he managed to refrain. Kathryn Ellis was pretty cute when she was miffed. Why had he never noticed that before?

“Not at all. Blue thinks I should sleep on what you’ve said and then I’ll give you my reply tomorrow.” If they were going to work together, he was going to call the shots. He wasn’t going to risk a repeat of Lilith.

“I see.”

She didn’t, of course, but he had to give her credit for being a good sport about the whole thing.

“This isn’t a joke,” she said quietly.

She was right. “No, ma’am, it isn’t. I’ll be in touch. Real soon. That’s a promise.” And for some reason he couldn’t fathom, he held out his hand. It was, possibly, the dumbest thing he’d done in a long time.

Kathryn placed her hand in his and he closed his big palm around her much smaller one. As her skin slid against his, he was more aware of her as a woman than he’d been when he was undressing other women.

Quickly, she pulled away. Good idea.

Not like this business of him and Kathryn working together, he thought after she’d gone. That had bad idea written all over it. Unfortunately, he was already in. Now all he had to do was tell her. For real this time. Maybe he’d be lucky and she would decide he was a crazy man and find someone else to ask her favors for her.

But he knew that that was a long shot. Kathryn was determined to get her clinic, even if she had to put up with a man like him to get it.

Still, he bet it would be a long time before she would let him shake her hand again. That was a shame. And a blessing. At least one of them was thinking straight. It sure wasn’t him. Or Blue.

A short time later his phone rang. It was his sister Jess. His other sister Meg and his brother, Nate, would probably have been in on the call, too, but Meg was living in California now and Nate was still overseas with the army.

“I heard that Kathryn Ellis went out to the ranch today,” Jess said. “What did she want?”

He hesitated. “Mostly I think she just wanted to pet my dog.”

“I doubt that,” Jess said, laughing. “Secretive as ever, Holt? Are you going to help her with that clinic?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“Did she give you her reasons for wanting to build it?”

Oh, no, he wasn’t going there. Jess didn’t know exactly how much their father had suffered or about the nightmares that kept him awake at night about their father’s last days. She certainly didn’t know the horrors that his friend Hank had faced and she knew nothing at all of what had gone on between himself and Lilith. “We discussed a few things,” he said.

Jess sighed loudly. “You are the most frustrating man. Some day someone is going to get you to open up and talk.”

“I talk.” They saw each other frequently. But he also kept things to himself, kept things from the rest of the family, as he always had. That was his duty and right as the eldest. He knew that, just as he knew that Kathryn Ellis was not a part of his destiny.

That didn’t mean he could keep her waiting forever. By tomorrow she would be pacing the floor and she wouldn’t care two hoots about why he was going to help her. She’d just be glad that he was finally saying yes. He hoped.




CHAPTER THREE


THE next day after work Kathryn returned to her house with the almost-peeled-away white paint and the tilting porch where some of the boards were rotted through. Her parents hadn’t been able to find a buyer for the house when they divorced so it had sat here neglected and forgotten. She supposed she should be grateful that neither of them was interested enough to object to her staying here. Otherwise, she’d be out on the streets.

She freelanced at the local newspaper and did odd jobs around the clinic a few afternoons a week, but this afternoon she had nothing. The inactivity unnerved her. Not having a full-time job or any solid plan for the future scared her to death, so after lunch she tried to dredge up a positive outlook, donning her I’m-planning-for-the-future attitude. She sent off a few résumés the way she did every day even though she hadn’t gotten any nibbles.

Still, she was determined to move forward. So after lunch, she moved out onto the rickety porch swing with a pen and paper and began work on her doctor/clinic list. She tried not to think about the fact that Holt had promised her an answer today and that the answer might be no. She also tried not to remember how it had felt when he’d held her hand. Sensation had ping-ponged through body. And it had been much hotter than anything she’d felt in high school.

“The man is impossible,” she muttered. He could have given her his answer yesterday. That made her think that the answer was going to be no and he was just trying to come up with a way to let her down easy. This was almost like a repeat of high school, with her wanting something from him she couldn’t have. The only difference was that this time she didn’t daydream about him bending her back over the hood of his car and kissing her with wild abandon.

I don’t, she insisted as a hot sizzle went through her. “Because that would be completely inappropriate for an about-to-burst pregnant woman.” Not to mention stupid and totally disastrous for someone like herself. She’d learned a lot of lessons during these past few years of being married to a man who was controlling, judgmental and inclined to bursts of cruelty, but the most important went something like this. Don’t get too close to imposing, hard-to-deal-with men like Holt. James was a larger-than-life, brooding type just like Holt. People admired him and told her that still waters ran deep, but what she’d found was that behind that tough, quiet facade was a man with no soul and a lot of pent-up anger. Faced with that kind of man again, she knew to run. A woman who had been naive enough to fall for a man who hurt her would have to be ten kinds of stupid and something not very admirable if she did it again. But she wouldn’t let that happen.

Maybe she could do the entire project herself.

A groan escaped her and she closed her eyes at the impossibility of it all. These kinds of opportunities didn’t drop in everyone’s lap. This was her ticket to security for her unborn baby, herself and the people of the town who needed good medical care—yet she was already flailing because, once again, she couldn’t win over Holt Calhoun.

The sound of boots on pavement made her open her eyes.

As if her thoughts had conjured him up, Holt was crossing the street, heading toward her house. Dressed in jeans slung low on his hips and a pristine white shirt open at the throat, he was like some bronzed cowboy god with that dark hair and chiseled jaw. Instantly and against her will, her body reacted. When his gaze met hers, Holt nodded hello. Without waiting for her to invite him onto the porch, he simply stepped up as if he was used to doing what he wanted and going where he wanted. He probably was.

She struggled to stand so that she would be at less of a disadvantage. Unfortunately, her unwieldy body defied her.

Holt held out a hand as if to stop her. “No need. I just came to tell you not—”

“Holt? Is that you?” A woman’s voice had them both looking toward the road. Kathryn peered around Holt to see Mrs. Best, a retired schoolteacher and one of Dr. Cooper’s regular patients staring up at Holt as if she adored him. “It is you.” She sounded delighted. “I haven’t seen you since you came home, but I’ve been meaning to call.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Best.” Holt’s voice was utterly polite, but after his atypical teasing bout with Blue yesterday he had retreated back to strong, silent cowboy mode.

“How nice to see two of my former students together in one place,” the woman said. “I don’t often, you know. Kathryn was from my last class just before I retired. I remember you had such a crush on Holt back then. It was so cute.”

Kathryn wanted to find a place to hide, a tall order at this stage of her pregnancy. She felt her face heating up. “I was very young,” she said. She wanted to add the words and stupid, but it probably wouldn’t do to antagonize Holt when he hadn’t given her an answer yet. After all, her goal was to build a clinic, not marry the man. And—fingers crossed—if he said yes, maybe the time spent together would clear away the last skeletal vestiges of his attraction for her. Because she now saw that he was a lot like James. Maybe she’d even been attracted to James because of her leftover crush on Holt. Sweeping him from her soul would be freeing. “I’m not a teenager anymore,” she told both Mrs. Best and Holt. “Not so naive.”

“Well. Things do change, don’t they?” Mrs. Best asked, apparently realizing that she’d committed a faux pas. “It’s good that you’ve grown up. If you hadn’t, becoming a mama would probably have done the trick. It’s a real responsibility. As a teacher, I saw my share of bad parents. Don’t you be one.”

If Kathryn hadn’t been so scared of messing up as a mother, she might have smiled. Mrs. Best clearly hadn’t given up teaching when she retired. Fortunately, she turned away from Kathryn and focused on Holt.

“Holt, I really did need to speak to you,” she said. “I hate to mention this, but my fence that Clay built got damaged in the storm and if it’s not fixed just right Bitsy gets out. While you were gone, I asked that idiot handyman, Donald, to take care of it, and the next thing you know, my little dog was chasing cars in the road. I’ve had to keep her in the house since then. I should have known not to trust it to anyone but you.” She looked up at Holt as if she expected him to not only do something about her fence, but to restore world peace.

Holt only hesitated half a second. “I’ll take care of it, Mrs. Best.”

With a smile, the woman turned to go. “He’s so good to all of us,” she told Kathryn. “Just like his father.” For a second she looked as if she might pat him on the cheek. Maybe Holt thought so, too. He had a wary look in his eyes.

Kathryn managed to contain her skepticism. When Mrs. Best walked away, she raised her chin. “So you’re not as immune to requests as you seem.”

“Fixing a fence is easy.”

Maybe. Kathryn wasn’t sure it would be easy for everyone. “What did she mean when she said that you’re good to everyone?”

He frowned and shook his head. “Not important. Long story.”

And one he clearly wasn’t going to share with her. The man was certainly living up to that cowboy reputation as a rugged man of few words. It was such a cliché that she almost wanted to laugh.

Almost. Not quite. Holt was rugged, and staring up at him from her perch on the chair, she had to look up the entire length of his long, lean body. Pregnant as she was, she was still a woman, and despite her mistakes as a teenager and in her marriage, apparently not immune to Holt’s physical charms. She pushed herself to her feet to break the spell and change the view to something less dangerous.

“But you do still consider requests for help,” she prodded softly. She tried not to hope too hard.

“Depends on the request. Mrs. Best’s is something I can do myself. Yours involved begging my friends for favors. I don’t beg well. I don’t ask for things. Even so, I came to tell you yes.”

She blinked. She’d been prepared to argue more, even to plead a little.

“Just like that.”

“No. Not just like that. I still don’t like this any better than I did, but I’ll do it.”

“Why?”

“Don’t push it, Kathryn. If you’ve decided you don’t need my help after all, I’m better than fine with that.”

“No. I want your help. I’ll take it. You can’t back out now.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t back out. Ever. Once I’ve given my word, it’s golden. Understand?” The look he gave her might have killed a man. But she’d faced worse.

“Do you look at Blue like that?”

He looked taken aback. Then he gave her that maddening, half-amused expression. “Blue and I understand each other. Without speaking.”

“My apologies. I’m not a wonderful and psychic dog but a decidedly human woman.”

“Yes, I noticed. That you’re not psychic. And that you’re a woman.”

He wasn’t really even looking at her body. His gaze didn’t drop, but she felt as if he could see through her clothing. Kathryn felt hot. And bothered.

“Okay,” she rushed on, irritated that she couldn’t seem to control her reaction to Holt. “I’ll draw up some plans, all the things we need to do, and I’ll give you a copy so that you know your part and I know mine.”

“Why are you doing that?”

She looked up, blinking wide. “I like organization. I make lists.”

“No. You’re rubbing your back. You’re—you’re real pregnant.”

“Yes. I noticed.”

He didn’t smile at her sarcastic tone. “You should sit down. You don’t need to stand.”

Now he was making her mad. “Mr. Calhoun, I don’t care to go into the details, but know this. I have been ordered around all my life and I’m done with that. I’ve thoroughly researched pregnancy, and Dr. Cooper and I have talked. I’m a healthy woman, and I’ll let you know if I need to sit down.”

He raised that sexy eyebrow that had always driven her mad. “I wasn’t giving you an order.” His voice was low and somewhat mocking.

“I— Yes,” she stammered. “I understand that. My apologies for jumping to conclusions. Of course, you were just being polite.”

He didn’t answer her. But she didn’t sit, either, even though right now her legs were beginning to feel as if they wouldn’t hold her up any longer. Her back was aching, and if Holt hadn’t been here, she would have sat down, but the man had always made her feel weak. She had a bad feeling about what might happen if he knew that she was susceptible to him. It was very important that they keep things on a business footing during the remainder of her time in Larkville.

“Thank you for agreeing to help.”

“I won’t be available a lot of the time,” he warned her. “Now that I’m back at the ranch, I have duties.”

“We can meet there.”

“I don’t think we need to meet.”

And she certainly didn’t want to meet any more than was necessary, but …

“Humor a pregnant woman,” she said, knowing that wasn’t fair.

“Just send me a list. I’ll do my part. And decide which parts I won’t do.”

With that, he walked away. For a few seconds, Kathryn wondered what she’d ever seen in him.

Other than that gorgeous body that could still make her squirm. When she woke in the middle of the night having the “Holt dream,” the one where he picked her up and carried her to his bed, the one where he came to her wearing nothing but an unzipped pair of jeans, the one where she finally got the chance to plunge her fingers into all that wonderful black hair, Kathryn knew she was going to have to be incredibly careful during her time here.

A man like Holt who could make a bloated, nearly-nine-months-pregnant woman feel desire was far too hot to handle. Good thing he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body.




CHAPTER FOUR


THE first place Holt went the next morning was to the hangar on the ranch where he kept his Cessna and his helicopter. There was really no reason to do this. Both were kept in pristine condition, and he wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t have any cows to herd out of remote locations. And he had no emergencies to tend to.

While he’d been away, his ranch hands had done their best to keep the place going, but the Double Bar C was big. He had plenty of tasks stacked up. Good. He needed some sweaty, backbreaking ranch work to clear his head and keep away any distracting thoughts of Kathryn. What was it about the woman that made her so tough to ignore? Was it the combination of delicate woman combined with that tigress determination? Or the fact that he could tell that he intimidated her but she still held her own with him?

He swore. Did it even matter? No, it didn’t. Because he didn’t want it to. They were going to have the equivalent of a “ten-minute business relationship.” They were fire and ice, not a good combination. Plus, ranching was all he cared about, all he knew. It was what he was good at, and he wasn’t good at relationships. At all. Not that it mattered.

Don’t lose track of what’s important, he could hear his father saying. You ‘re in charge of the Double Bar C, the family’s legacy. When you’re away from the ranch, remember who you are. You represent the biggest concern in the area, and people will look up to you. You have a responsibility to the ranch, and through the ranch a responsibility to the family and the town. The ranch is the one thing that will never fail you. Don’t let anything interfere with that. Don’t get sidetracked or weak and make foolish mistakes with a woman the way I once did, son. Wanting a woman too much can kill a man.

Holt knew that his father had been talking about someone other than his mother—possibly his first wife—because he saw how his mother suffered for loving his father too much. Sometimes she cried; he remembered her telling him how his father had never really loved her and now he, her son, was becoming another cold, closed-off Calhoun male. She clung to him when Clay was away. He felt sorry for her, but her unhappiness only reinforced what his father had said. Giving in to emotion was a mistake.

That wasn’t happening. He’d already made some pretty foolish mistakes. He’d already run into his own weaknesses, and he wasn’t doing it again. He’d lost too much. But he didn’t want to think about that now.

With a growl, he headed out. Riding across the land, he breathed in the scent of new-mown hay. This was his world, where he could forget his mistakes and just be himself.

So, he buried himself in work, and for the first time in weeks he felt good. Riding up to the house at the end of the day, he knew once again that he was where he needed to be. Just him, a few men, the animals and the land. That was all he wanted.

But when he opened the door, Nancy was waiting. “Kathryn Ellis called three times. I finally gave up and gave her your email address. You might want to check it. She seemed to think there were things you needed to know.”

Instantly a vision of soft gray eyes came to him. Pink lips. Luscious breasts.

He fought that image. He reminded himself of the reasons he had to ignore those eyes and lips and breasts. Instead, he marched to his computer and downloaded her message, and the list she’d sent him. And the revised, longer list she’d sent. And two more lists: her part, his part, a timeline. Everything was color-coded. There were links to articles on communities that had built clinics, links to suggested fundraisers.

When he was done reading, Holt had to blink, he’d been staring at the screen so long. He was tired. He was also glad. Kathryn might be pretty and soft, and he might feel the urge to touch her whenever she was near, but she was a finicky list maker.

Good. That made her easier to ignore.

He didn’t bother answering. He had his own way of doing things, and he’d already decided what he would and wouldn’t do. One thing he wasn’t going to do was follow his blasted instincts and kiss Kathryn’s pretty pink lips. The irritating woman was clearly emotional about all this stuff, but he wasn’t an emotional man. Never had been. Never would be.

And that was final.

Kathryn paced the floor of her house. She checked her email, which meant that she checked nothing. There were no messages from employers and no response from Holt.

For an entire week, she had called. She’d sent emails. She’d even mailed him a letter, just to be safe. Nancy had been unfailingly polite, but she was clearly a “Holt woman,” loyal to her boss. She didn’t want to discuss him, and Kathryn understood that. She wouldn’t have discussed Dr. Cooper if someone had been trying to glean information on him.





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