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“Surely you could make other arrangements—”
“Not in Sunshine Gap, and this is my home. Besides, Jake’d want to take over running everything, and I’m not ready to give it all up just yet. It’s a good place. You want it or not?”
Oh, she did want it. The Double Circle was smaller than the Flying M but every bit as pretty. And she loved this old house. Redecorating it would be a pleasure. She’d do the kitchen in French provincial, the garden in English casual and completely redo the bathrooms. She’d have to study up on antique furniture and—
The thought of having her very own house that wasn’t on anybody’s tourist map… But, as Jake had so bluntly pointed out, her sense of style wouldn’t exactly be appreciated, much less accepted around Sunshine Gap.
“I don’t think I really belong here, George.”
“Hell, girl, didn’t you get a thing I told you about the settlement of the West? Anybody could belong here if they wanted to bad enough. That’s why so many different kinds of people came out here.”
“That was the old West.”
“Horsefeathers. Long as you’re honest, halfway decent and a good neighbor, you’ll belong just fine. Don’t listen to Jake. He’s the one who put that fool idea in your head, isn’t he?”
Hope nodded stiffly, feeling hurt all over again. But while she was still angry at Jake, she wasn’t vindictive enough to take away something he’d wanted—and undoubtedly worked for—for years. And there was a gleam in George’s eyes she didn’t entirely trust. He was up to something, all right, but he wasn’t going to tell her about it. Until he did, she didn’t intend to commit herself to anything.
“It’s a big decision, George,” she said. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“You do that,” he said, grinning again. “I want you to stay here while you’re thinkin’. Stay until you finish your book, anyway. What do you say?”
“I’d love to. May I use the room upstairs with the lovely view of the mountains?”
“You bet. By the way, do you cook?”
A week later Jake sat at his desk, studying his personal balance sheet with a critical eye. His cash flow would be awful tight if George Pierson accepted this new offer for the Double Circle, but Jake was getting so desperate for a place of his own, he didn’t give a rip. If he didn’t get away from the Flying M soon, he was bound to do or say something he might regret for years to come.
But it wouldn’t be without just cause.
Of course, being provoked by his big, complicated family was hardly anything new. His mother and Aunt Lucy were identical twins who had grown up in a village in Italy. His dad and Uncle Harry had met them while they were in Europe serving in the military.
After whirlwind courtships, the McBride brothers had married the twin sisters and brought them home to the Flying M. Between them, the two couples had produced seven children and raised them as siblings rather than cousins. As the oldest, Jake had been held responsible for keeping Zack, Dillon, Alexandra, Cal, Marsh and Grace out of trouble.
It hadn’t been easy. Since they’d all survived to adulthood, however, Jake figured he’d done a fine job of it. Not that it was doing him one bit of good now.
Though Hope hadn’t said a word about him in her goodbye note, Jake’s mother and Aunt Lucy were blaming him for Hope’s early departure. They’d loved having a famous author living in the guesthouse, and the idea that Hope preferred cranky old George Pierson’s company to the McBrides’ was, in their eyes, unthinkable. Every time the Mamas, as they were affectionately called, saw Jake, they glared at him, heaved sorrowful sighs and turned away, shoulders slumped, heads bowed as if in shame.
And they hadn’t cooked one blessed thing he liked since Hope had left.
It probably shouldn’t matter so much, but dammit, they’d always been proud of him before. It rankled that the two women he loved most would turn on him when he hadn’t done anything wrong. And all over some wacko woman from Hollywood.
His dad and Uncle Harry were driving him just as crazy, though for different reasons. They were supposed to be retired and leave the management of the Flying M to Jake. The arrangement had worked well while the four parents had been on an extended world tour for the past two years.
But now that they were home with nothing to divert their attention, neither Gage nor Harry McBride could resist the urge to “help” Jake tend to business. One or the other of them questioned every decision he made and griped over every innovation he’d instituted while they were gone. They were especially disgruntled to discover he’d put the ranch accounts onto a computer rather than using the old ledger system that “had been plenty good enough for three generations of McBrides.”
“If they’d just sit down and learn to use the computer, they could still see the books anytime they wanted,” Jake grumbled, knowing his dad and uncle weren’t going to touch that “dang machine” unless they absolutely had to. “And that’ll never happen as long as they’ve got me around to torture for information all the time.”
He loved his job. Loved the Flying M. Loved the Mamas and Papas. But he needed relief from the stress of living so close to them. Somebody was on his back all day, every day.
It wasn’t just the parents, either. Whenever he was in the ranch office, his brothers and sister felt entitled to ask him to do all kinds of things for them. It was time for all of them to grow up and handle their own problems.
Dammit, he needed a place where he could have some privacy. A place that was his and his alone to do with as he pleased. A place where he didn’t have to consult anyone or be responsible for anyone but himself. But he couldn’t be too far away in case of an emergency at the Flying M.
The only ranch close enough that might be for sale in the near future was George Pierson’s. Stashing his papers into their file folder, Jake grabbed his straw cowboy hat and hurried out to his pickup. He climbed in and drove off, intending to make that greedy, stubborn old coot an offer he couldn’t refuse.
And maybe, if Jake was real lucky, he could convince Hope to come back and stay in the Flying M’s guesthouse again. Then the Mamas would smile and cook his favorite meals again, and he could at least try to make up with Hope. Every time he remembered what he’d said to her the day of the wedding, he felt guilty all over again.
He hadn’t laid eyes on her since then, and the thought of seeing her now made him smile. He wouldn’t say he’d actually missed her. But without the possibility of Hope turning up with some flimsy excuse to see him, his days had seemed a little…flat.
Shaking his head at his own contrariness, Jake turned in at the Double Circle’s entrance. He drove around back and parked behind Hope’s little red car. Doofus ran across the yard to greet him. Jake leaned down and scratched the pup’s ears.
“Hey there, Doofus. You’d better stop growing or George might mistake you for a horse and throw a saddle on your back.” The possibility didn’t seem to worry Doofus much. He ran off when Jake pretended to throw a stick for him.
Chuckling, Jake climbed the steps to the back door and gave it a good, solid knock. George opened it a moment later, a surprisingly cheerful smile curving up the corners of his mouth. He stepped back out of the way and motioned for Jake to come in.
“Mornin’, Jake. What brings you out this way?”
Jake stepped over the threshold and took off his hat. “I want to talk to you if you’ve got time, George.”
“I reckon I can spare a few minutes.” Using his cane, George hobbled over to the round oak table and settled onto a straight-backed wooden chair.
Jake took the one adjacent to George’s and glanced around the kitchen. He saw new, colorful dishtowels hanging beside the sink in place of the dingy, ragged ones that usually hung there. A canning jar full of fresh flowers sat on top of a microwave oven that hadn’t been there the last time Jake visited the old man. Hope must be making herself at home.
“What can I do for ya?” George asked.
“Tell me what it’ll take to convince you to sell me the Double Circle,” Jake replied.
“Well, now, I’ve been thinkin’ a lot about that since the last time you tried to buy it.” George’s smile grew wider.
Jake’s heart swelled with hope until his chest hurt. This was the first time George had ever admitted he’d even considered selling the Double Circle. Jake had wanted this for so long, the desperation he’d felt earlier returned with a vengeance. Hardly daring to breathe, he said, “Yeah?”
George nodded. “Your offer was damn generous. But back then, I just couldn’t stand to let the place go.”
“What about now?” Jake asked, his voice tinged with the desperate agony of hope that had been dashed too many times before.
“I’d like to sell it to ya, Jake. I really would, but…”
His heart already plummeting, Jake read the refusal coming in George’s eyes. “But what?”
“But you better look for another place,” George said. “I’m gonna be usin’ this one myself for the foreseeable future.”
His stomach painfully clenching with disappointment, Jake stared at the old man. Then Jake’s temper got the best of him. “Dammit, George, what are you thinking?” he demanded. “You’re going to have to quit sometime. And you know good and well that even with a hired hand, you can’t handle this place anymore.”
“I won’t have to.” George’s eyes sparkled with an unholy glee Jake didn’t understand.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m tired of bein’ alone.” George ran one hand over the top of his head as if he still had hair up there to smooth down. “I’m thinkin’ about gettin’ married again. Maybe havin’ some kids this time.”
“Married?” Jake sputtered. “Kids?”
“Yeah. You know, babies. Heirs.”
Jake’s mouth fell open. Had the old boy finally gone completely senile? Jake doubted there was a woman of child-bearing age in a hundred-mile radius who’d even pretend to consider such a thing.
A soft, whispery sound distracted him. He glanced up in time to see Hope saunter into the kitchen, wearing a shiny purple robe that barely reached the middle of her thighs. Her hair was slicked back as if she’d just stepped out of the shower. He’d never seen it black before.
Hope’s gaze met his, her eyes widening as if he was the last person she’d expected—or wanted—to see in George’s house. She hesitated a fraction of a second, then turned toward the counter beside the sink and crossed the room without so much as another glance in Jake’s direction. Jake gritted his teeth and found himself watching the sway of her hips beneath that short robe and wondering what, if anything, she had on beneath it.
Her slender legs looked smooth and tanned, and when she went up on her tiptoes to take two coffee mugs from the cupboard, her calf muscles stood out in sharp relief. Jake held his breath while the back of her robe hiked up—but not quite high enough to satisfy his curiosity about her underwear. Or the lack of it.
Lowering her heels to the floor, she moved to her right, filled the mugs with coffee and carried them to the table. She set one mug in front of George, then affectionately patted his bony shoulder, took the chair on his other side and sipped from the second mug.
George glanced over at her, his eyebrows arched in query. “Aren’t you gonna offer Jake some coffee?”
“No,” she replied with a grin. “He might stay longer if I did.”
Jake refused to acknowledge her deliberate rudeness. His sister Alex used to start fights with outrageous remarks and he’d learned not to get suckered in by them. George opened his mouth as if he might protest, but Jake held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t worry about it, George. I don’t want coffee.”
“Don’t know what you’re missing, boy. Hope brews a mean cup.” George exchanged a warm smile with Hope that chilled Jake’s blood.
No. It couldn’t be. Hope wouldn’t take up with an old guy like George. Would she?
Jake gave his head a hard shake in denial, but the shocking idea remained. Hope wasn’t from Wyoming. He didn’t have a clue about what she would or wouldn’t do. Sure wouldn’t be the first time a young, pretty gal married an old man for his money. Happened all the time. Especially in a place like Hollywood.
She scowled at him. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
“What way?” Jake asked.
“As if you think I’m going to steal George’s silverware.”
George snorted with laughter. “It ain’t that, hon. I just told Jake I can’t sell him the Double Circle.”
“Yeah, he claims he’s thinking about getting married and having some kids.” Jake’s voice sounded harsh in his own ears, but he was too upset to care. “Any truth in what he says?”
Confused, Hope glanced at George, raising her eyebrows in a silent plea for a clue as to what was going on. Tilting his head ever so slightly toward Jake, George gave her a sly wink. Why, the old devil wanted her to play along with him, but what was he up to now?
Deciding to give him the benefit of her considerable doubt, she turned back to Jake with a shrug. “You know George. When he decides to be charming, almost anything’s possible.”
Jake’s tanned complexion flushed a dull red. His eyes glinting dangerously and a vein pulsing in the middle of his forehead, he ground out, “A week ago, you were all over me.”
“And you called me ‘a flaky little California floozy.’” Reminding herself of Rule Number Two—never let them see when words stung, Hope smiled at him. “I got over you in a hurry.”
“Obviously. But I didn’t realize you were so desperate. Are book sales that bad?”
“My book sales are just fine. Not that they’re any of your business.”
“Give it up, DuMaine. You’re not serious about George.”
This conversation was making less and less sense as it went on, but Hope bristled at the derision and the demand in Jake’s voice. She really hated it when somebody tried to tell her what she thought or felt. Whatever his problem was, she wasn’t going to allow Jake McBride to take it out on her or on George.
“Well, unlike some people, he’s always been extremely sweet to me,” she said.
Jake’s face turned an even darker red. His nostrils flared and his hands curled into fists. “That’s no reason to marry a man old enough to be your grandfather.”
“M-marry him?” Hope sputtered, looking from Jake to George and back to Jake. Good lord, what exactly had George said to him? She’d have to thrash it out with him later. “My plans are none of your business.”
Shaking his head, Jake grumbled something unintelligible, then stood up so fast his chair scraped the linoleum floor like a fingernail down a chalkboard. “I’ve gotta say, the two of you make quite a pair. I hope you’ll be damn happy together.”
With that, he left the room, slamming the back door behind him.
Hope turned on George. “What on earth was that all about?”
George cackled wickedly. “Aw, I was just havin’ a little fun with Jake. Sure gets pompous, don’t he?”
Her throat too tight to speak, Hope nodded.
“And imagine him thinkin’ you were after my money.” George chuckled and shook his head. “I’ll bet you could buy me a hundred times and not even feel a pinch in your pocketbook.”
“Why that…” Hope muttered as the truth of what George was saying sank into her brain. “He really thinks I’m a gold digger. Doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, that’s why he asked about your book sales,” George said. “Didn’t you get that?”
“No, it all happened so fast and I was too busy trying to figure what you were doing.” She smacked her palm against her forehead. “Oh, duh, DuMaine.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve got him runnin’ scared. Serves him right for thinkin’ so poorly of you.”
Hope’s heart contracted painfully, then filled with a burning, righteous anger she knew only too well. George was right. Only Jake deserved worse than to be running scared. For thinking such awful things about her, he deserved to lose the Double Circle.
“As long as I fulfill your conditions are you still willing to sell me the Double Circle for fair market value?” she asked.
“Hell, yes.” George stuck out his hand. “Deal?”
She took his hand and shook it. “Deal.”
She’d needed a major life change for a long time, and now she was going to make it. She was going to get out of L.A. and move to Sunshine Gap. She was going to take a pen name and write historical novels. She was going to live a simpler, more meaningful life at a slower, saner pace. She was going to make real friends, be a part of a real community and have a real home. Dammit, she was going to belong here if she had to give up her fake fingernails and hair dye to do it.
And Jake McBride could take his low opinion of her and sit on it.
Chapter Three
Hot, tired and sweaty after an afternoon of mending fences, Jake packed his tools into his saddlebags, mounted his quarter horse gelding, and turned back toward the house. Spotting a flash of red near the road, Jake reined in, then wheeled Rebel around in a circle for a better look.
A jogger. Coming from the direction of the Double Circle. Only one person crazy enough to be out here running in the middle of August when the heat and the dust were at their worst.
Hope DuMaine.
Wasn’t that convenient? During the past month he’d seen her driving on the county road and a couple of times in town, but he hadn’t talked to her. Certainly not when she was half-naked and glowing with perspiration. His mouth watered. Hell.
Avoiding her had been so easy since that morning at George’s house, he figured she was avoiding him, as well. Much as he’d like to go right on avoiding her, today he had things he needed to say to her.
If he didn’t strangle her with his bare hands first.
Man, she was really moving. She must run on a regular basis in order to go so fast. Even though he thought she was nuts to do it, he had to admire her self-discipline.
When he hadn’t heard even a whisper of gossip about an engagement or a wedding in a couple of weeks, Jake had told himself George must’ve come to his senses. Or maybe Hope had come to hers. Or maybe they’d just been giving him a bad time all along and hadn’t ever planned to get married in the first place.
And while Jake had been thinking he had plenty of time to change George’s mind about selling, Hope DuMaine had gone and bought the Double Circle right out from under him. Dammit, she’d bought his ranch. The sneaky, conniving little witch had even paid cash for it. He didn’t know which galled him worse.
According to his source in the real estate office, she’d bought everything—the land, buildings, equipment and animals, which meant she’d had a couple of million dollars handy. Okay, so now he knew she hadn’t needed to marry George for his money. She’d still bought the one thing Jake had ever wanted for himself—the Double Circle Ranch. His sanctuary.
He’d never forgive her for that. Or George.
Hell, he’d have bettered any offer she made for the Double Circle. Of course, he couldn’t lay out so much cash all at once, but what the heck did George need with that kind of money? Once the taxes were paid, he’d probably lose money doing it Hope’s way.
When Jake thought of all the hours he’d spent helping that cantankerous old man over the years, it hurt to know his friendship meant so little to George. But, business was business. Right?
Dammit, it never would’ve happened if Hope hadn’t butted her nose in where it didn’t belong. If she’d just gone back to California…
Insides clenched tight against a hot wave of fury, Jake turned Rebel toward the fence line and kicked him into a ground-eating lope. When she saw him coming, Hope hesitated but kept on running until they met on opposite sides of the barbed wire. She wore skimpy running shorts with a red sports bra and a green baseball cap.
Her skin glistened with perspiration; her body radiated a healthy energy Jake found incredibly sexy in spite of his anger.
Maybe she really was a witch. He’d never met another woman who made him mad enough to eat nails and turned him on at the same time. The inconsistency in his own behavior added fuel to his anger.
Chest heaving, she tipped up the brim of her cap and gave him a bland smile. “Hello, Jake. How are you?”
He glared down at her for all he was worth. “How the hell do you think I am?”
Big blue eyes calm as if she were sipping tea with a close friend, Hope raised and lowered one shoulder in an I-really-don’t-care shrug. “Taking a wild guess, I’d say you’re upset about something.”
“Upset?” Cutting loose with an ugly laugh, Jake dismounted. “Honey, upset doesn’t even start to cover it.” He dropped the reins, squeezed himself through the strands of barbed wire and stalked right up to her. “Why did you do it?”
Her chin came up and she held her ground, as if daring him even to try to intimidate her. He had to give her full credit for gutsiness. “Why did I buy the Double Circle?”
“That’s right. You knew damn well I wanted it.”
“Too bad, McBride,” she said, her voice holding no detectable sympathy. “So did I, and I learned a long time ago to go after what I want, not stand around—”
“Why did you want it?” he interrupted. “Just to get back at me for not jumping on your stupid flirting? One of those ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ things?”
Her eyes flashed, but her voice remained cool. “Don’t flatter yourself. I intend to live at the Double Circle.”
He snorted in disbelief. “For how long? Until you get bored with life in the slow lane?”
“Indefinitely.”
“Hell, you don’t belong in Sunshine Gap and you never will. Once the novelty wears off, the isolation will drive you nuts, and when winter sets in, you won’t believe how bleak and unforgiving this place can be. You’ll hate it.”
She spread her feet wider apart and propped her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed like a gunfighter’s. “I don’t think that’s any of your concern.”
“You’re dead wrong,” Jake said. “Everything that goes on at the Double Circle concerns me.”
“And you believe that because?”
Jake stepped closer, intentionally invading her personal space. “I’ve been running that place for George for the past ten years. I know every inch of it, every cow, calf, steer and bull on it and where they go whenever a section of fence goes down. I know where to find every irrigation gate, every pump, every piece of equipment and spare part on that ranch. I’ve earned the right to buy it. You haven’t.”
“Did you have an option to buy it from George?” she demanded. “Or any other sort of legal agreement?”
Jake wanted to lie, but knew if he did, she’d make him produce proof he didn’t have. Because he’d been a trusting fool, dammit. Time to change the subject.
“You don’t know the first thing about ranching,” he said.
Her smile told him she knew exactly what he was trying to do and she wasn’t going to fall for it. “George will teach me whatever I need to know.”
“It takes years to learn everything you’re gonna need to know. I doubt he’ll live that long.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Hope’s tone was as dry as the dust on her shoes. “George is in terrific shape for a man his age.”
“I won’t help you the way I’ve helped him,” Jake said.
“I’ll hire whatever help I need.”
“It’s not that easy—”
She cut him off with a huff. “Give me a break. Ranching’s a lot of hard work, but it’s not rocket science. It’s a business, and even us flaky Californians have to conduct business sometimes. I’m not a complete idiot.”
“I never said you were,” he grumbled.
“Close enough. For your information, I have two full-time employees in California, so I know how to be a boss. I also serve on the boards of directors for several multi-million-dollar charitable foundations.”
“It’s not the same thing.” Hearing his own voice rising to a near-shout, Jake inhaled a deep breath, consciously trying to calm down. He’d never won an argument by losing his temper.