Mountain Country Cowboy Read online

  But Grandma’s striking out on her own had involved marrying Rio’s grandfather and joining him in overseeing Hunter’s Hideaway. Not exactly the same thing as Rio’s desire to, as her brothers teased, “save the world.”

  “I don’t think Cash is the best we can do.”

  “So you’re willing to stick around indefinitely to give us more time to drum up and try out additional candidates?”

  “That hardly seems fair, does it?” She’d had everything worked out months ago with her cousin J.C., only to have his abrupt departure and her own looming one send her Grandma Jo scrambling to find someone to take over the management of a critical segment of the family operation. Grandma had nixed Rio’s suggestions of pulling Grady back in to oversee it. He’d moved on to other business-related responsibilities.

  “Well, then, there’s your answer. Cash is our man.”

  She wasn’t leaving her granddaughter grounds on which to further an argument, but Rio had to give it one final try. “Did you know he was bringing a kid, or did he just show up with one?”

  “I didn’t know initially, but he did call ahead to confirm that bringing his son was okay. I assured him it was. So, sweetheart—” Grandma Jo put her arm around Rio as she walked her to the office door “—even if you were willing to delay your departure, an offer has been made and accepted. Give Cash the benefit of the doubt and focus on getting him up to speed on our operation. Not only are we preparing for that events contractor’s visit, but in a week we’ll see a big uptick in guests coming from the Valley and elsewhere for a cool weather retreat.”

  “I know the drill, Grandma. I’ve lived and breathed it since I was old enough to sit on a horse.”

  “Then take care of business here and before you know it—” Grandma gave her a hug “—you’ll be free to take care of business elsewhere.”

  So this wasn’t a ploy to get her to stay after all. Could it be that the whole family was tickled pink to see her depart?

  When a disheartened Rio entered the lobby, her mother was manning the front desk. At sixty-one, Elaine Hunter looked amazing in jeans and a light, mint-green sweater. Nobody who didn’t know the shoulder-length sandy brown hair was a wig would ever guess she’d been battling breast cancer since early last fall.

  Rio’s heart swelled with love. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hi, honey.” Her mother’s face lit up at the sight of her. “I’m sorry I missed you when you got back this morning. Then I had lunch with your dad in town.”

  “Grady told you I needed to see Grandma, right?”

  She nodded, her gaze probing. “How did that go?”

  “As expected, I guess. I was basically instructed to forget the fact that her new hire has a past we don’t need in our present. Just keep my chin up and carry on.”

  “That’s how your grandmother’s dealt with life—the death of her parents when she was a teen, the loss of an infant child, your grandpa’s sudden death. It’s not a bad thing.”

  “I’m not saying it is. It’s just that...” If only someone understood. Understood why Cash wasn’t a good fit.

  “It’s that,” her mother echoed quietly, “you don’t want to look back on your departure with regrets.”

  Rio searched her mother’s eyes. Having come face-to-face with her own mortality this past year, did Mom look back over her life with regrets? Things she wished she’d done—or hadn’t done? Things she might not now have time to do?

  But far more than the fear of regret was now driving her daughter. Rather, it was a secret she’d never told anyone—that when Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last September, Rio had told God she’d make her own life count for Him in exchange for Him saving her mother. That she’d no longer ignore the earlier inner promptings to devote herself to counseling those who—like her—were victims of all-too-common dating violence.

  As much as she loved her family, the horses and the Hideaway, what she was doing here now fell far short of fulfilling the vow that kept her mother safe.

  “Rio!” One of her two sisters-in-law waddled—for want of a more flattering word—into the lobby, her arms filled with pillows and bedding. With a huff of breath from the exertion, she plopped them atop the front desk. “You’re exactly the person I need to see.”

  Rio eyed her warily. “What’s up?”

  Shaking back waves of long blond hair, a weary-looking Delaney Marks Hunter slipped her hand protectively over a well-rounded belly. Rio’s formerly widowed brother, Luke, was ridiculously proud of that upcoming addition soon to put in an appearance not even a year after he and his new bride tied the knot.

  “Someone needs to take these out to the new hire’s cabin. There’s a double bed, but Grandma Jo’s also having a single rollaway delivered for his boy.” She patted the stack. “That’s quite a hike for me and Junior here...so we’re looking for a volunteer. Any takers?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Very funny, but you don’t fool me, Rio. I caught a glimpse of that guy this morning when he was here to see your grandma. Whoa.” Delaney fanned her face with her hand. “I can’t imagine dropping this stuff off will be too much of a hardship.”

  Rio made a face. No doubt female guests at Hunter’s Hideaway would more than approve of Cash. Admittedly, there had been a time when she’d have been hyperventilating in the presence of a good-looking, well-built man like him. But she’d learned her lesson. God looked not at the outside of a man but at his heart, something she was learning to do, as well.

  And as far as she was concerned, any man who’d struck a woman had the darkest of hearts imaginable.

  But there was no point in going into that with Delaney. Rio lifted the bedding off the front desk and pulled it into her arms, noticing that her sis-in-law, mindful of the cool nighttime temperatures at this higher-than-Denver elevation, included light blankets. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Delaney’s eyes twinkled. “Cabin 10. Junior and I both thank you.”

  Once outside, Rio chose to walk rather than drive and followed the perimeter of the parking lot, diving off into the trees to pass by the barns and corralled horses that made up her world. The familiar scent of horses and hay, as well as a horse’s welcoming whinny as she strode by, tugged at her heart. She’d miss them. But God had more important plans for her life now.

  Branching off from the horse facilities, she entered a pine-lined, winding trail that led to bunkhouses and cabins sheltering employees of Hunter’s Hideaway. Overhead a raven squawked, and afternoon sun filtered through the pine boughs. She found her steps slowing as her mind wandered, trying to piece together what she knew of the grown-up Cash and his son.

  Cash wasn’t wearing a ring, for one thing. She’d checked that out immediately, much to her shame. So he was a single dad who’d once punched out his ex-wife. But how was a man with his background able to gain custody of Joey?

  Lost in thought as she continued past the cabins scattered along the trail, she was brought up short as someone behind her shouted her name. She spun to look back at one of the cabins, its door now standing open, and a hatless Cash on the porch staring in her direction.

  “Are you looking for us?”

  “I am.” Her face warmed as she backtracked, noting as she approached the number “10” prominently tagged on the porch railing that she’d obliviously strolled right by. “Has the rollaway been delivered yet?”

  “It has.” He stepped off the porch. “I’ve rearranged the furniture so Joey will have a corner to call his own.”

  She handed off the bedding, noticing a dusky, masculine shadow gracing Cash’s determined jaw. It gave him a rugged appearance and yet, without his hat, he looked surprisingly boyish. Even vulnerable.

  With effort, she shook off the beguiling impression. “Have you had a chance to talk to Anna about sitting Joey?”

 
“Yes, and she’s interested.” His forehead creased. “Unfortunately, she’s tied up this weekend with church youth group activities. And although Joey’s school has already dismissed for the summer, classes here don’t let out until Memorial Day weekend.”

  Great. A full week. She plopped her hands on her hips. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Anna doesn’t want to be passed over for the job, so she’s going to talk to her stepmom. See if maybe she’ll fill in until Anna’s available.”

  Rio shook her head. “Cash, her stepmother is almost eight months pregnant and looks and feels every day of it.”

  “Anna didn’t mention that.”

  “What were your plans for childcare when you applied for this position?” Surely he hadn’t thought a kid that young could be left on his own.

  Cash glanced back at the open cabin door, then lowered his voice. “Childcare wasn’t an issue at the time I applied.”

  They’d received his application a few weeks ago. So had he only recently gained custody?

  “Well, we’re going to have to figure something out.” Her gaze met his, and her face warmed as hope sparked in his expressive eyes. “I mean, you are.”

  He shifted the bedding in his arms. “I preferred the promise of assistance in that ‘we.’”

  White teeth flashed in contrast to his warm complexion, a smile that had probably broken more than a few female hearts. But if Cash thought he could walk in with nothing but a cowboy swagger and an engaging grin and have her eating out of his hand, he had another think coming.

  “Your kid, not mine,” she quipped, not caring for the way her heartbeat had ramped up a notch at that engaging smile. But the sooner she could get Cash brought up to speed the better, or she’d never get away from this place. Like it or not, it looked like this childcare problem would take a team effort after all.

  Suddenly feeling the need to put some distance between them, she moved a short way down the trail, then paused. “Let me check around. See what options I can turn up.”

  “I’d be much obliged.”

  He looked genuinely relieved, but despite Grandma Jo’s support, was bringing him on a good idea? Even aside from the looming events contractor’s visit and a child underfoot, was he the right man for the job? Could he be trusted?

  And yet...there was that business about not judging others so you wouldn’t be judged yourself. Grandma had pointed that out more than once in their postlunch tête-à-tête.

  “Cash?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s not my intention to revisit the past. But I know none of what happened with your dad when you were here before was your fault.”

  Chapter Three

  Cash tensed. Why was she bringing that up now?

  If nothing else, it was a continued reminder that while people didn’t blame him for his father’s sins, they wouldn’t be quick to forget where he’d come from. That they’d be on guard, watching for him to make a wrong move.

  He stepped back up onto the porch and carefully placed the bedding on one of the rockers, then approached a wary-looking Rio, who now stood a comfortable distance from the cabin and the possibly listening ears of his son.

  “No,” he said as he looked down at her, again noticing a slightly crooked nose, evidence that at some point the tough little tomboy must have taken a tumble. But it lent her pretty face a bit of whimsy. Whimsy. Not exactly a word found in his usual vocabulary, but it fit Rio. “No, none of it was my fault.”

  She darted a look at the cabin and further lowered her voice. “Nevertheless... I think I should warn you that Jeb Greer still works here. His son Eliot’s back for the summer, too. Jeb was, you know—”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  Greer. The man whose wife had an affair with Cash’s father. That discovery, along with a related fistfight provoked by the behavior of Cash’s dad, had Jeb’s wife fleeing the scandal and gotten the Herrera family thrown off the Hunter property.

  While his thirteen-year-old self had cringed with every blow as that fight played out, a reluctant admiration for his wiry-built old man had nevertheless swelled as Cash had watched him expertly duck, sway and dodge. Then a one-two punch sent blood gushing from the nose of his bigger, burlier opponent. Caught up in the unfolding spectacle, Cash had laughed, fist punching the air in triumph. That was, until he caught the hate-filled look on the face of the other man’s ten-year-old son.

  Their gazes had met and held, and in that moment Cash’s young heart knew he’d made an enemy for life. Justifiably, he was soon to learn, once he discovered the reason for the fight.

  Cash shook off the recollection, determining to do his best to steer clear of both father and son. No point in his presence dredging up bad memories for them. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

  She nodded and he turned toward the cabin, then paused to look back at her. “How’d that turn out? For the Greer couple, I mean. Did she come back?”

  “Divorced.”

  Not unexpected.

  “Sorry to hear it.” He knew well the wound Jeb lived with—despite the passage of time—when a woman he’d taken into his heart betrayed him. He’d ridden that trail himself. Wasn’t inclined to risk riding it again.

  Rio waited for him to continue, but that wasn’t a topic he intended to pursue. Instead, he raked his hand roughly through his hair. “Look, I apologize for this kidcare obstacle. I appreciate your offer of assistance. But do you think maybe, for the time being, Joey could come along with me? That way I can get started tomorrow. Not delay things.”

  She gave him a doubtful look. “You want a kid to tag along who isn’t sure he even likes horses?”

  He hadn’t figured out what was going on with that. Joey claimed he wasn’t afraid of them.

  “He may not be into horses—yet—but there’s nothing stopping him from sitting on a barrel and playing with his trucks. Or mucking out stalls and filling water tanks. At eight years old I was doing that and more. You were, too.”

  “I don’t know, Cash...”

  He watched with bated breath as she nibbled the corner of her lower lip in concentration. Princess Rio. Who would have imagined fourteen years ago that the little snip would blossom into such a head turner? But since he’d clued her in that at the time of his application childcare hadn’t been an issue, she was probably questioning how well he knew his son. Wondering if he could vouch that Joey would cooperate when accompanying him.

  In all honesty, he didn’t know.

  It might take some doing to roll the little guy out of bed before dawn, but although she hadn’t done the hiring, he sensed it would be to his long-term advantage to have Rio’s seal of approval. Starting tomorrow would be a point in his favor.

  “So what do you say?” he prompted. “I think we both want to make this transition work.”

  She slowly nodded, as if not yet convinced. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe we can try it tomorrow, anyway.”

  “That’s all I ask.”

  Her mouth curved. “Not asking much, are you?”

  With a sense of elation that he’d won her over, he couldn’t help but share her smile as they openly studied each other, her mind likely teeming with as many questions about their working relationship as filled his. If he guessed right, this spunky lady kept many a man—the deputy?—on his toes these days, and not because they were on guard for an ambush as he’d often been in his youth.

  Looking down at her, he caught the soft, quick intake of her breath before she abruptly spun away and started down the trail back to the heart of the Hideaway.

  “See you at sunrise,” she called over her shoulder with a sassy toss of that ponytail, and he shook his head. This might prove to be a long—and interesting—few months. But as he headed back to the cabin—his and Joey’s new home—a soul-deep gratefulness welled
up within him.

  Everything works for the good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

  Three years after he’d joined God’s team just prior to being released from jail, he was still trying to get his head around that biblical promise—a vow that God would bring good from the worst of situations.

  Wasn’t his friendship with Deputy Lamar proof of that? And the job he’d landed at the dude ranch shortly thereafter? Even working with horses as his dad dragged the family from job to job—from affair to affair—on ranches and at other horse facilities had come full circle. He’d acquired the experience to gain a foothold at Hunter’s Hideaway. And now, in time for Joey’s arrival, this job came with the added bonus of lodging that hands-down beat his bunkhouse quarters at the dude ranch where he’d previously worked.

  God was looking out for him. For them.

  Joey met him inside the door, his brown eyes anxious—an expression that regularly alternated with a pugnacious one. It had been good to see him laugh with the German shepherd earlier that day. But had the boy, in his father’s brief absence, thought his daddy had left him on his own like his mother had been known to do? Abandoned him as it might seem his grandma had done two days ago?

  “Hey, champ.” He placed a hand on Joey’s head, ruffling his hair. The child wasn’t much into hugs, and Cash tried to respect that. Wasn’t into saying “I love you, too,” either, no matter how many times his father told him he was loved. But at the moment it was hard not to pull him close to his heart. “What’s up?”

  The youngster’s jaw jutted, dark eyes uncertain. “I’m going to live with you forever now, Dad?”

  Is that what his boy wanted? Didn’t want? He hadn’t been overly talkative since his grandma dumped him off. Hadn’t spoken a word about his mother, either. Only occasionally did a betraying flash of temper surface to express an underlying anger and confusion he wasn’t yet ready to verbalize.