A Ranch Called Home

And thoughts like those were ones he couldn’t afford.

That’s why he’d laid all his cards right out on the table when he’d taken Sara and Ben to dinner the previous evening. He’d made sure Sara knew a friendship was all he’d ever want between them.

She’d agreed so fast, it actually bruised his ego.

But Gabe knew being realistic about their new living arrangement was a key factor if the family they’d created was going to be a success. He’d wanted to make sure Sara had no unattainable expectations from him, just as he had no unattainable expectations from Sara.

Their only focus would be Ben.

Just as it should be.

Sara had surprised him, however, by stating that she had no intention of being anyone’s charity case. Unless he needed her help on the ranch she planned to find employment in Redstone so she could pay for her own room and board.

He’d nixed her idea of getting a job.

And he’d assured Sara she’d have her work cut out for her on the ranch. Taking care of the house and cooking three meals a day for him and his six full-time ranch hands wasn’t going to be an easy task.

She hadn’t even batted an eye. And that gave Gabe hope things might work out.

He and Sara would both be too busy to worry about some silly piece of paper that legally pronounced them husband and wife. He’d tend to the ranch. She’d tend to the house and the cooking. And they’d both tend to Ben.

No problem, Gabe thought with confidence.

Sara picked that exact moment to glance over her shoulder at him. It was only one look. And an innocent one at that. But Gabe suddenly got the feeling he could be in trouble.

“YOU TAKE good care of Ben and Sara,” Dessie told Gabe as she and Sheriff Dillard escorted the new family to the diner’s door after the reception. “In Texas we can still round up a posse in the blink of an eye.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Gabe said.

Sara reached out and gave Dessie one last hug. “I can never thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

“Oh, stop, before you make me cry,” Dessie fussed. “Just remember. If things don’t work out in Colorado, you always have a home waiting for you here in Conrad.”

“I won’t forget that,” Sara promised.

Ben ran ahead to the white extended-cab pickup parked directly out front. On his tiptoes, Ben reached up and touched the fancy gold shield stenciled on the door. The words Crested-C Ranch were written in bold black letters inside the gold emblem.

“Can this C belong to me, Uncle Gabe?” Ben asked.

Ben pointed to the first letter of the word Crested and Sara knew her son was referring to the conversation he’d had with his uncle at dinner the previous evening. It still amazed her at how well Gabe had been able to explain things in terms simple enough for a five-year-old to understand.

“Your dad’s in heaven now,” he’d told Ben, “but he sent me to find you and your mom and bring you home.”

Gabe had also told Ben his last name was going to be Coulter—a change Sara agreed to allow only after Gabe assured her he wasn’t talking adoption, just the legal formality of changing Ben’s last name. “The C will stand for you and me,” Gabe had explained to Ben. “Gabe Coulter and Ben Coulter. The two owners of the Crested-C Ranch.”

That conversation was the reason behind her son’s question now. Ben obviously wanted to pick his own C.

“You can have either C you want, Ben,” Gabe said, ruffling her son’s blond hair. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

“I want the first C,” Ben said with a big grin.

“Okay, Mr. First C—” Gabe tickled Ben “—up and into the truck now. We’re burning daylight, and we have a long way to go.”

Ben was still giggling when Gabe opened the truck door and helped him climb into his booster seat in the backseat of the truck. Sara had headed for the passenger side when Ben asked his uncle another question.

“Are we going home to Col-dorado now, Uncle Gabe?”

“Yes,” Gabe said. “We’re going home to Colorado now.”

Reality smacked Sara square in the face. She’d been lulled into a false security over the past few days with everyone assuring her she’d made the right decision. Even the ceremony and the reception had seemed surreal—as if she were only a bystander in someone else’s life.

But this was her life.

This was her future for the next six months.

Oh. My. God! What have I done?

Her answer came when her new husband suddenly appeared at her side, extending his hand to help her step onto the running board and into the truck. Then they were on their way to the Crested-C Ranch. A ranch where the C stood for Coulter. And where her son would be part owner of land that had been in the Coulter family for three generations.

Sara bit down hard on her lower lip to stop the trembling as she swallowed past the lump in her throat. She averted her gaze to the scenery beyond the passenger window. But if Gabe noticed she was in the middle of a major panic attack, he didn’t let on. Instead, he fielded the questions Ben fired from the backseat.

She soon learned that there were 15,000 acres to the Crested-C Ranch. And that part of the property ran along the Crystal River, named such because the melting snow from the high mountain ranges left the water so clear you could see all the way to the bottom.

She learned that Redstone was nicknamed “The Ruby of the Rockies” and was founded in 1901 by a wealthy coal baron who built a forty-two-room castle for his wife, who was actually a real Swedish countess. When Gabe said touring Redstone Castle was the town’s main tourist attraction and that you could take sleigh rides around the property in the winter, the idea of a sleigh ride had Ben clapping with glee.

But when Ben asked if he could ride a horse as soon as he got to the ranch, Gabe showed Ben the deep scar on his right hand that was the result of an argument he’d had with a strong-willed stallion when he wasn’t much older than Ben was now. “And that’s why you won’t be permitted to go near the horses unless an adult is with you,” Gabe had told Ben.

Although Sara fully approved of that rule, she remained silent on the issue. Just as she remained silent when Gabe informed Ben a border collie named Bess had a new litter of puppies. A puppy was something Ben had always wanted, and something Sara had never been able to give him. She’d had enough trouble trying to feed the two of them, much less a pet. Gabe also warned Ben that the barn cats were wild and would scratch you if you tried to pet them.

“I’ve never liked cats much,” Ben said.

In fact, Gabe had answered each of Ben’s questions without once giving the impression he was bothered by Ben’s persistence. Whether Sara wanted to admit it or not, the fact that Gabe had the ability to be so patient with her son won him big points in her favor.

She chanced a glance in his direction.

He looked over at her and said, “I think Ben finally wore himself out.”

Sara glanced behind her. Ben was fast asleep, both arms clutched tightly around Thunder, a touch of icing she’d missed with her napkin still clinging to his left cheek.

“Thanks for being so patient with him,” Sara said. “Ben’s nonstop questions can get rather annoying.”

“Not to me,” he said. “I’m glad he’s interested in life on the ranch.”

Sara didn’t answer.

He glanced over at her again. “And what about you? How are you holding up?”

His question caught her completely off guard.

“I’m fine,” Sara lied.

His expression said he didn’t believe her but he changed the subject.

“It’s a twelve-hour trip to Redstone. I thought we’d drive to just north of Albuquerque then stop for the night. That will put us halfway and break up the trip for Ben.”

Again, Sara was surprised by his insight. Keeping Ben strapped in his booster seat for twelve hours would have been a real challenge.

“I called ahead and made reservations,” he said. “Separate rooms, of course,” he added for clarity.

“Of course,” Sara was quick to answer.

The silence hung between them for a second.

Gabe turned his attention back to the highway.

Sara pretended to look out the window again.

But her thoughts kept going back to the conversation they’d had the previous evening. Gabe had assured her the only relationship he ever hoped to foster between them was a friendship. Knowing he had no personal interest in her should have been a huge relief.

But it wasn’t.

Not really.

Gabe’s firm declaration that he wasn’t interested in her personally had dragged up old feelings. Feelings of the way she’d always felt with each new foster family. They’d taken her in, sure. And they’d provided for her adequately. But not one of her foster families had ever been truly interested in her personally.

She’d often wondered if that’s why she’d been such an easy target for Billy. He had been the first person to ever seem genuinely interested in her. Of course, that, too, had been a lie. Just like the lie Billy had fed her about taking her with him when he left Houston.

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