A Rancher to Trust Read online

  Well, sure. He had thought that. Kind of. “I’m not saying I blame you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’d better not be saying that, because it’s not true! I was never ashamed to be married to you. I was humiliated that you dumped me, sure. Any bride who gets jilted before the ink on the marriage certificate is dry is going to feel pretty embarrassed. And it was even worse for me. I’d stood up for you to my parents and to everybody else in town. I believed in you, Dan, and then you dropped me after one fight. I felt like such a fool. When I finally got back home, I was too humiliated to admit what had happened, so I just...didn’t.”

  There was something in Bailey’s expression as she spoke, something vulnerable and sad that made his breath hitch in his chest. He felt an overwhelming urge to punch the man who’d put that pain on her face.

  Which was a little unfortunate, given the circumstances.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered raggedly. “I’m so sorry, Bailey. I honestly never thought about that side of it.”

  Bailey laughed shortly. “Right.”

  “I didn’t. You were so beautiful. So smart and funny, and so special. Everybody said you were way out of my league, and down deep I knew it was true. I knew you’d be upset that I left the way I did. But later on, after your parents got the marriage annulled and you’d had time to think things over, I figured you’d be relieved.”

  There was a short silence, punctuated by the quiet crackling of the fire. Dan was very aware of Bailey’s slim, strong hands resting in his. He should probably let them go, but he didn’t want to. So far she wasn’t pulling away, so he stayed still.

  “I loved you back then, Dan, with all my heart. I had to deal with a lot of feelings after you left me, but I promise you, I never once felt relieved.”

  Dan’s heart had expanded to the point that he could barely take a breath. She’d loved him. Back then. He felt both the joy and the sadness of that all the way to the toes of his boots. “Bailey,” he said gruffly.

  Something of what he was feeling must have come out in his voice, because she gently slipped her fingers free from his and scooted a few inches away. When she spoke, she kept her eyes fixed on the fire.

  “Maybe it would have been easier for me if I’d understood why we even had that argument in the first place. All I wanted was for us to come back here and face up to my parents as a married couple. I didn’t agree with them about you, Dan. But I still loved them, and I was their only child. I needed them in my life. I was eighteen, Dan.”

  “I know.” He swallowed.

  “But you wouldn’t listen to reason. You told me we were going out west, period, and we were never coming back. When I argued with you, you yelled at me and stormed out.”

  He remembered.

  “I’m sorry. I was scared, Bailey. I was sure if we came back to Pine Valley your parents would manage to break us apart. They’d been trying the whole time we’d been dating, and I knew they’d never forgive me for talking you into eloping. I was terrified they’d talk to you, and you’d wise up and realize what a mistake you’d made. Then I’d lose you for good.”

  She studied him for a minute. “You should have told me that.”

  “No man worth his salt wants his brand new wife to know he’s a coward, Bailey. Maybe I should have told you. But the truth is, even if I had, I don’t know that it could have worked out any better for us, not back then. You loved your parents, so you needed to come back. But my situation was totally different. If I hadn’t gotten away from this place, I probably would’ve turned into the man everybody around here expected me to be. I needed the fresh start. But now—”

  “Now you’ve turned that fresh start into a whole new life out in Wyoming. And I’ve sunk my roots even deeper into Pine Valley.” Bailey shook her head slowly. “Nothing’s different, Dan.”

  “I’m different, Bailey. You want to stay here in Pine Valley? Then I’ll stay here with you. Forever, if you want me to.”

  He saw the hope dawning in her expression, and his heart sped up. But there was doubt there, too. He held her eyes with his, willing her to believe him.

  Yes, Bailey. I’m dead serious.

  She pulled her gaze away, and he saw her throat pulse as she swallowed.

  “What about the ranch? Your phone’s been buzzing ever since we left Goosefeather Farm. You love that place, and you have friends there who obviously need you.”

  “Colt likes to run things by me, that’s all. He doesn’t really need me. And how I feel about the ranch is nothing compared to how I feel about you. If you tell me I have a chance with you, any chance at all, I’ll call him this minute and put in my notice.” He paused, his heart lodged so tightly in his throat he could barely breathe. “Are you going to give me that chance, Bailey?”

  “Dan, I honestly don’t know...”

  “I’m not asking you for any promises, Bailey. Not yet. But I’m making you one. If you tell me I have any hope of winning you back, I’ll put Wyoming in my rearview mirror for good. You have my word on it.” He waited, watching her face. “So do I make that call or not?”

  She chewed on her lip. Finally, she sucked in a quick, broken breath and nodded. “Make the call.”

  The breath he’d been holding whooshed out of his lungs in a huge sigh of relief. He wanted to kiss her, hug her, pick her up and spin her around.

  But he also didn’t want to spook her into changing her mind, so he just took his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen.

  He’d missed half a dozen calls from the ranch. Colt probably had some new scheme about buying into the Shadow Lady bloodline he was so excited about. Well, whatever it was, he was going to have to pull it off without Dan.

  Leaving Bailey sitting on the sofa, Dan started for the bedroom. Colt might not need him, but his boss wasn’t going to let him go without an explanation, and he didn’t want Bailey to hear that. He’d made it to the doorway when he heard the line connect. He hurried to speak before Colt could. “Hey, Colt. Listen, man. I’ve got something to—”

  It wasn’t Colt.

  Dan stopped short, listening to the frantic ranch hand on the other end of the line. “I’m on my way,” he said finally.

  He turned. Bailey was watching him from the couch. “Dan? What’s wrong?”

  “There’s been an accident. Colt...my boss...my friend...he’s in the hospital. They don’t know if he’s going to make it.” The awful words sounded like they were coming from someplace far away. “His wife is hurt bad, too. I have to go back to the ranch right now. Tonight.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m sorry, Bailey. I just told you I’d stay...and now...”

  “It’s all right.” She stood up and crossed the room. And for the first time in years, she put her arms around him and hugged him tight.

  The embrace was brief, but somehow it cut through the swirling confusion in his brain and steadied him.

  She stepped back and looked up at him. “Now go. No,” she added when he started to speak, “please don’t worry about me. You go help your friends.”

  “I don’t know how long this is going to take, but once it’s over with, I’ll be back. And this time I’m coming back to stay.” She nodded so quickly that if he hadn’t been looking for it, he’d have missed the flicker of doubt in her eyes. “You have my word on that, Bailey.”

  She didn’t answer. She only nodded again and pressed her lips together into a sad attempt at a smile. “Take care of yourself, Danny” was all she said.

  Danny. She hadn’t called him by his old nickname since he’d come back, not once. It had been Dan.

  And that’s when he knew.

  For Bailey, history was repeating itself. He was leaving her behind, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever see him again.

  And no matter how many promises he made right now, nothing was going to make her believe any different. />
  * * *

  Three weeks later, as she drove home from the store after work, Bailey listened to Jillian Marshall’s voice coming over the Bluetooth speaker she’d mounted on the dash of her truck.

  “What are you going to do, Bailey?”

  Bailey lifted one hand from the steering wheel and massaged her throbbing temples. The headache was no surprise. Neither was Jillian’s question. Ever since she’d outed her marriage at that dinner, her life had been nothing but one big pain.

  The backlash of that little bombshell, coupled with Dan’s abrupt departure, had caused a gossip storm of hurricane proportions. Her store had been mobbed on a daily basis, but nobody really wanted to buy anything. They just wanted to hear all the juicy details firsthand.

  They also wanted to express their opinions. Bailey had bitten her tongue so often it was sore. And as much as she liked Jillian, she suspected that this phone call was just more of the same. Jillian was more interested in getting the scoop on what was going on than she was about the status of Bailey’s foster parent plans.

  Well, she couldn’t really blame Jillian—or anybody else. Bailey had lived in a small town her whole life, and she knew how folks reacted to things like this. Naturally people were going to be curious.

  It was her own fault for blurting out her long-kept secret like she had. She should have remembered—impulsive decisions didn’t usually work out all that well for her.

  Especially not when they involved Dan Whitlock.

  “Bailey?” Jillian’s voice came over the speaker. “Do you really believe he’ll come back? I mean, I know he’s supposedly dealing with some emergency, but if he hasn’t even called you...”

  Supposedly. Lois Gordon had done her work well. Apart from Abel’s staunch belief that Danny would be back as soon as he could, that was the common theme Bailey kept hearing. Dan Whitlock had proved once again that he couldn’t be trusted.

  And poor Bailey Quinn had been taken in for a second time.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t have a whole lot of evidence to contradict either of those things. It wasn’t the first time she’d found herself clinging too long to promises Dan had made.

  Well, there was no point beating around the bush. Jillian was right. Dan hadn’t been in touch since the day he’d left town, and that really left only one reasonable option. “The lawyer finished with the divorce paperwork last week. It just needs our signatures. If I don’t hear from him by tomorrow, I’ll forward it to Wyoming. Hopefully he’ll sign, and that’ll be the end of it.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  “According to the lawyer, there are some other options. But we have to try this one first.”

  “I’m sorry, Bailey. But don’t you think this is for the best, really?”

  She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “I’ve got to go, Jillian. I’ll be back in touch once I’ve got the divorce papers signed, and we’ll get the foster care process started.”

  She disconnected the call with a firm tap. She’d had enough of nosy people for one day. Now she was going to go back to her tiny little farm, love on Lucy Ball and get her animals all settled in for the night. She’d brew herself a nice cup of chamomile tea and spend the evening cuddled up with some seed catalogs.

  Maybe she’d even pull out that informational packet she’d picked up at the foster care seminar. She’d take another look at those cute faces and try to rekindle the dream she’d been all too willing to set aside the minute Dan had looked into her eyes and asked her for a second chance.

  If he’d really meant all those things he’d said, why hadn’t he called? At first, she’d assumed he was busy seeing about his friends. He’d call when he could. But now that Dan’s silence had stretched into weeks, that excuse had worn thin.

  She wasn’t going to make the same mistake she’d made last time. She was older and wiser now, and she knew better. She was going to accept the reality of her situation and deal with it. Tomorrow she’d sign the divorce papers and overnight them to Wyoming. And she’d close out the Dan Whitlock chapter of her life once and for all.

  “Better late than never,” she said aloud as she turned into her driveway.

  And then she saw his truck.

  Her heart pounded as she parked, her eyes fixed on the figure slumped over the steering wheel. Dan’s truck was still running, and he seemed to be asleep, his forehead resting on his hands. For once the cowboy hat was nowhere in evidence.

  She walked slowly across the yard, battling her emotions at every step. Relief, joy, aggravation.

  Hurt.

  Well, he’d come back, just like he’d promised. But why on earth hadn’t he called in all this time?

  She was close enough to touch the door handle before he lifted his head. And when he did, she drew in a quick, hard breath.

  The raw pain in his face made all the doubts she’d been fighting fall to the side. She yanked open the truck door and put one hand on his shoulder.

  “Dan, what is it? What’s happened?”

  At the sound of her voice, a thin wail came from the back of the cab, joined almost immediately by a second one. Stunned, Bailey tiptoed and saw two rear-facing infant car seats installed in the back seat. One had a pink blanket trailing out of it, the other a blue one. Both blankets were wiggling.

  She turned her astonished gaze back to Dan, her heart melting at the anguish in his eyes. “Dan?”

  It took him a minute to answer her. When he did, his voice was hoarse and broken. “The accident was bad, Bailey. They’re gone. Both of them. First Angie. Then Colt.”

  “Oh no.” She tightened her grip on his shoulder. “Oh, Dan. I’m so sorry. Are these...are these their babies?”

  He nodded slowly. He drew in a ragged breath and covered her hand with one of his. “Yeah. Their twins. Finn and Josie McAllister.”

  “But I don’t understand. Why...why did you bring them here?”

  “I had to. They’re mine now, Bailey. Colt wrote it all down in his will. I don’t know why. Well, I mean, he left a letter. The lawyer showed me. It said I was like a...a brother to him. Closest thing to family he had. And he knew I’d take care of the twins, make sure they grew up understanding what it meant to be McAllisters. He never thought this would really happen, you know? He and Angie were young and healthy. He just needed a name, I guess. So he put mine down. He left me everything, Bailey. The ranch. All of it.”

  He pulled his hand away from hers and covered his eyes. It took her a minute to realize what was going on.

  Dan Whitlock had always taken life’s blows with a set jaw and an uptilted chin. He wasn’t the kind of man who cried. He never had been, not even as a gangly teen, not even when his dad had beaten the daylights out of him.

  But he was crying now.

  Chapter Eight

  Dan sat on Bailey’s sofa, holding Josie, who was sound asleep. Bailey was sitting cross-legged on the floor, sorting through the suitcases of baby supplies he’d hauled in. She had Finn in her arms, so she sorted one-handed as the exhausted baby slept against her.

  The babies ought to be worn out, the both of them. He sure was. The twins had cried off and on through most of the long drive. He’d stopped frequently, done everything he could think of to make them comfortable, but they’d still seemed miserable. He’d hated the feeling of helplessness that had given him, and he’d had to fight the urge to press the gas pedal all the way to the floor in order to get back here faster.

  For the last couple of weeks, it had been all he could think about. Getting back to Bailey.

  “You did a good job, Dan.” Bailey surveyed the huge array of formula cans, baby medicines, diapers and bottles spread across her living room floor. “I think you have everything here they could possibly need.”

  “Angie’s friends packed it up for me,” Dan admitted. “Angie didn’t have any family to speak of. It was
something she and Colt had in common. But she had some really good friends.”

  “So did Colt,” Bailey spoke softly. “You must have been an awfully good friend to him, Dan. I don’t think there’s a higher compliment one man could pay another one than to trust him with something as precious as these two.”

  The knife that had been resting in Dan’s heart shifted deeper, and pain that had just started to scab over broke through again. “Like I said before, he didn’t know anything like this really was going to happen, Bailey.”

  “But he knew that if it did, he wanted you to take care of what he loved best in the world. That says a lot, Dan. In fact, that says everything.” She looked down at the tiny boy sleeping in her arms, and her face softened. “What a mercy that the babies weren’t hurt in the accident.”

  “They weren’t in the car.” Dan swallowed hard. “Angie and Colt hadn’t been out anywhere just the two of them since the twins came along, and it was their anniversary. So they left the babies with Angie’s best friend, Mallory, so they could go out to dinner. Mallory took care of the twins for me while I was at the hospital. And later, while I was dealing with the funerals. It was nice of her because she has a two-year-old of her own to look after. She tried to teach me how to take care of them, too.” He still remembered Mallory’s worried, tearstained face as she showed him how to change a diaper, how to burp a wiggling baby midbottle.

  She’d been as nice and helpful as she could possibly be, but Dan had seen the alarm in her eyes when he’d told her he’d be taking the twins to Georgia for a while. Not that he blamed her. The only thing he knew about babies was that he really didn’t know anything about babies.

  That reminded him. He fished in his shirt pocket and brought out a folded sheet of notebook paper. “She wrote down for me what to do, when to feed them. How much, and all that. I’ve been trying to do what she said.” Exactly what she said, measuring formula powder out three times before he was satisfied he had it right, checking the temperature of the special sterilized water he’d bought so carefully that more than once he’d had to reheat it.