His dreams were shattered as she chased her own.

Not this time.

One look at Emma Williams and rich rancher Caden Hale knows he hasn’t forgiven her for leaving Montana. She’s back with a baby—the family Caden thought would be theirs. Has Emma really changed? Maybe. But one thing hasn’t changed—the incredible heat between them! But after his trust was shattered, can they really pick up where they ended?

MAUREEN CHILD writes for the Mills & Boon Desire line and can’t imagine a better job. A seven-time finalist for a prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, Maureen is the author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on best-seller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism Award, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill Award. She is a native Californian but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah.

Also by Maureen Child

The Baby Inheritance

Maid Under the Mistletoe

The Tycoon’s Secret Child

A Texas-Sized Secret

Little Secrets: His Unexpected Heir

Rich Rancher’s Redemption

Billionaire’s Bargain

Tempt Me in Vegas

Bombshell for the Boss

Wild Ride Rancher

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Red Hot Rancher

Maureen Child

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09246-3

RED HOT RANCHER

© 2019 Maureen Child

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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To my kids,

Jason and Sarah,

who have added so much love

and laughter to our lives.

I wouldn’t have missed a minute of it.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

About the Publisher

One

“She’s back.”

“She who?” Caden Hale looked up at his foreman, Jack Franklin. No one knew him better than Jack, which was why Caden was surprised to see the man now.

Everyone on the ranch knew not to disturb Caden when he was engulfed by the dreaded paperwork needed to keep the Double H ranch running. Caden would much rather be out in the corral or riding fence-line, checking for breaks. Hell, to be honest, he’d rather be in the stables, mucking out stalls. But at least once a week, he was forced to sentence himself to hours behind the desk that had once been his father’s.

Jack stood opposite that desk now and the foreman’s expression was a weird mixture of dread and shock. Caden braced himself, leaning back in the chair, tapping one finger against the desktop.

Caden didn’t have a clue who could have put that look on his oldest friend’s face. He and Jack had been pals since grade school and when Caden took over the family ranch ten years ago, Jack had come on board, too. Usually, the man was unshakable. Not today.

“Come on, Jack. What’s going on? You look like somebody died.”

“Not yet,” his friend muttered, then swept off his Stetson, curled his fingers around the brim and tapped the hat against his upper thigh.

Caden straightened in the chair, leaned both forearms on the desk and stared at his friend. “Just spit it out. Who the hell are you talking about and why should I care?”

“You shouldn’t care,” Jack said. “But you will.”

“Enough. Just tell me.”

“It’s Emma, Caden,” Jack told him flatly. “Emma Williams is back.”

And just like that, the day went from annoying to a crap-fest. Caden’s chest was tight, and he didn’t even notice how hard he was clenching his teeth until his jaw ached in response. Deliberately, he took a long, deep breath and willed the sudden tension in his body to drain away.

Damned if he’d let a woman he hadn’t seen or spoken to in five long years get under his skin. And yet, he had to admit, just the mention of her name had done it. Caden closed his eyes briefly to fight the wave of tangled emotions rising up inside him. Anger and betrayal were tied for first place, but the rest weren’t far behind. Lust, the remnants of a love he thought would live forever and just enough pleasure to worry him.

Emma was back.

Why? For how long?

And damn it, why did he care? He hadn’t spoken to her in five years. She’d tried to call a few times, but he’d never answered. Why the hell should he?

“Did you see her?” he finally asked.

“No,” Jack said with a sharp shake of his head. “Gwen did. She was in town this morning, getting some groceries. Saw Emma wandering the aisles. Caden,” he added, “she had a baby with her.”

Another sucker punch and now breathing was becoming a hell of a lot harder than it should have been. A baby? She’d had a baby while she was gone? With who? Was the baby’s father here with them? “Damn it.”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “When Gwen told me I knew this wasn’t going to go well.”

“Good call.”

Caden exhaled roughly, hoping to ease the raging tide of conflicting emotions rising inside him. Yeah, he was still furious over how Emma had ended things between them, but through it all, there was a hot, thick wave of need he’d never been able to shake. Just thinking about Emma Williams was enough to make his body hard as stone and his mind an empty cavern. Which was why, he reminded himself, he’d tried to avoid all thought of her for the past five years. It was only in his dreams that she came back to haunt him. Every damn night.

“Did Gwen talk to her?” Jack’s wife knew everything that had happened between Caden and Emma. Hell, everyone for miles around knew the story. It’s what happened in a small town.

Cache, Montana, had a population that hovered around five thousand. If you needed a big city once in a while, Kalispell was only thirty miles away. But Cache was large enough for Caden. It had everything he needed. There were stores and schools and Main Street was dotted with buildings that were built more than a hundred years ago. It was small, but it was his. A tiny town, where everyone felt free to share their opinion on just about anything.

“Yeah.” Jack pushed one hand through his hair. “She says Emma got home last night. Didn’t tell anyone she was coming...”

Which explained why Emma’s sister Gracie hadn’t said anything about this to Caden when he saw her yesterday. And he was willing to bet that Gracie was no happier about this than he was.

“Says she’s home to stay. She’s done with Hollywood.”

“Is that right?” Teeth clenched, he thought about what this would mean for him. He’d have to see her all the damn time now. The town would resurrect old stories and he’d catch people watching him with mocking eyes—or worse yet, sympathy.

Still, she’d left once before. Why should he believe that she would stay now?

“Caden,” Jack advised, “just let it be.”

He shot a look at his oldest friend. Jack looked worried but he couldn’t help the man with that. If Emma was home, then he was going to face her and get a few things out in the open. “Not going to happen. She’s back and we’re going to talk. Set things straight right away.”

“What’s left to set straight? You guys ended it five years ago.”

“She ended it,” Caden reminded the other man. “Now it’s my turn.”

* * *

“What exactly is your problem, Gracie?” Emma Williams caught her younger sister’s arm to stop her before she could flounce out of the room Emma had just entered.

The living room was as it had always been. Wide windows overlooking the front yard and the long driveway leading up to the Williams’ ranch. Furniture chosen for its comfort rather than style and now threadbare rugs that her mother had hooked before Emma was born. Watery October sunlight pushed its way through the grime on the windows and spotlighted dust motes floating in the still air.

Gracie yanked her arm free. “You, Em. You’re my problem.”

Her sister had been avoiding her since the night before, when Emma had walked into the house as if she’d been gone an hour instead of five years.

“How?” Emma threw both hands high. “I just got home last night.”

“Exactly.” Gracie tossed her short, curly hair back from her face. “You’ve been gone a long time, Emma. Then you show up and we’re all supposed to act like you’ve been here all along? Like nothing’s changed? Like the ranch isn’t falling apart and Dad has hardly gotten out of bed in the last year?”

Gracie’s green eyes, so much like Emma’s own, were flashing with fury, and at least, Emma told herself, that was honest. Since the night before, Gracie had been shut down, refusing to speak to her. Well, angry shouts were at least communication of a sort.

And everything her sister was saying jabbed at her like hot needles. She’d had time to look around the ranch this morning and Gracie was right. The place looked as though it was struggling and their father was grayer and slower then she remembered. But even as she felt that quick jolt of guilt, she defended herself.

“You never told me Dad was sick,” she countered. And worry twisted with guilt inside her.

“He wasn’t,” her sister retorted. “Isn’t. He just gave up. Because you walked away.”

That hurt and she really hoped it wasn’t true. But it felt true and Emma’s pain rose up to choke her. She hadn’t meant to leave a trail of destruction in her wake when she left. Hadn’t meant a lot of things. And that changed nothing. “You should have told me.”

“In an email?” Gracie asked hotly. “Or one of your famous two-minute phone calls? Yeah, lots of time for a chat then, huh, Em?”

More guilt. Great.

“You can’t lay this all on me, Gracie,” Emma argued. “You were here. You knew what was happening.”

“And couldn’t change it,” her sister said as tears filled her eyes. She took a deep breath, blinked the tears away and when she spoke again, her voice was low, but controlled. “I was trying to hold the ranch together and all Dad could do was worry about you. ‘All alone in California.’ While I was all alone right here.”

Stung, Emma swayed at the impact of her sister’s words. It was true that she hadn’t thought about what would happen here at home when she left. Maybe she hadn’t allowed herself to think of it.

Five years ago, she’d seen her future laid out in front of her and something inside her had just snapped. She’d had to go. Had to try.

“Gracie...” She didn’t know what she might have said, but it didn’t matter when her sister cut her off.

“Don’t say you’re sorry. It doesn’t matter and besides, you’re really not.” She swiped away a solitary angry tear. “You did what you wanted to do. Just like you always have.”

For the first time in this conversation, Emma felt a quick blast of anger. She was willing to take a little bit of bitterness from her sister, but damned if she’d stand there and be a target for whatever Gracie wanted to throw at her.

“Seriously? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Emma moved in closer, kept her voice low so their father wouldn’t overhear them. “When Mom died, who was it who held this place together, taking care of you and Dad? Besides, you don’t do what you want? Since when? You stole Dad’s truck for a joyride, remember? And, you ditched school and hitched a ride to a concert in Billings—”

“When I was a kid,” Gracie cut her off. “Don’t have any new stories to tell, though, do you, Em? Because you weren’t here.”

This was getting old, fast. “A lot of people leave home, Gracie.”

“Most of them at least visit.”

“If they can afford it,” Emma argued.

“You were on TV,” Gracie shot back.

“For one season,” Emma reminded her and on one level, she couldn’t believe they were having this argument. God, she hadn’t even been home for twenty-four hours.

Apparently Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You could go home again, you just couldn’t make anyone happy to see you.

For some reason, Emma had expected it to be easier to slide back into her old life. While she was in Hollywood, this ranch, her family, had become her mental security blanket. When she was worried or scared or whatever, she’d close her eyes and let her memories soothe her.

This was home. It was the one place she’d told herself that was there, waiting for her if the world turned on her. She’d always told herself that she could go home if her dreams crashed and burned. But home wasn’t what it had been when she left five years ago. Now that she was back in Cache, she had to admit that it wasn’t what she’d remembered. What she’d hoped to find. But even as that thought settled in her mind, Emma wondered if that was true. Maybe it wasn’t home that had changed, after all. It was her.

But how could she not? So much had happened to her in California that Montana had begun to seem like a dream world to her. She’d written and emailed and video chatted, but the longer she was away, the bigger the chasm between her and her family had grown. And how could it have been different, when she wasn’t really telling them what her life was like in California? She didn’t want them worried about her making rent on that dumpy little apartment in Hollywood. Didn’t want them knowing that she was hungry often and anxious all the time. So she’d been bright and happy and brief in those calls that had become less and less frequent.

Her father, Frank, had always been happy to hear from her. But Gracie had slowly shut down, pulled away. And now her little sister could barely stand to be in the same room with her.

And maybe she had it coming. Emma’s world was now divided into two separate entities. Before she left Montana and now. She preferred the before because dealing with the now was harder than anything she’d ever done. Now meant she had a sick father, a sister who hated her and a baby who depended on her.

What felt like boulders dropped onto Emma’s shoulders and she almost sagged under the emotional weight of it all. But the truth was, none of those burdens were as crushing as the knowledge that she still had to see Caden again. And everything in her was torn.

It had been five years since she’d seen him and five minutes since she’d thought of him. He’d been in her mind forever. Since the moment they’d met in high school, Caden Hale was all she’d been able to see. All she’d wanted to see. Until the night he had laid out their future together. Marriage, kids, the ranch, everything they used to talk about. Everything that Emma had come to believe was somehow destined.

But that same night, it had become clear to her that if she stayed in Montana with him and never tried to chase down her own dreams, she’d end up resenting him and hating herself. So she’d left. Walked away. And she had the feeling he’d be even less happy to see her than Gracie was.

Since the evening before, when she’d walked in the door of her family home, Emma had been dreading and anticipating the moment when she’d face him again.

“Emma! Come on in here.” Her father’s voice splintered her thoughts and dragged her back to the moment.

“Coming, Dad!”

“Bring a bottle,” he shouted, “I think my granddaughter’s getting hungry!”

Emma frowned as one more weight settled on her shoulders, but she told herself that was a problem for another day. She looked at her sister and said, “We’ll finish this later.”

“Oh,” Gracie told her, “we’re finished.”

Taking a breath, hoping for patience, Emma headed to the kitchen.

* * *

The drive from the Double H ranch to the Williamses’ place only took about twenty minutes. Once upon a time, he and Emma had talked about one day cutting a road directly across their adjoining fields, to directly link the ranches. But that, like so many other things, had never happened.

At any other time, Caden might have noticed the fall colors erupting on the trees lining the wide road. But now, all he could see were the images replaying in his mind, of Emma’s eyes the night she said goodbye.

* * *

“I have to go, Caden,” she said plaintively, trying to make him understand. “I have to try. I can’t do what my mom did. She gave up on her dreams. You remember what a great singer she was, right?”

“I do, but—”

“She never did anything with it and before she died, she told me that was her one regret. That she’d never found out if she could make it or not.”

Panic was rising in his chest, but Caden fought it down. He and Emma had been together a long time. He’d always believed that they were working toward the same goals. This had come out of nowhere for him and he didn’t know what the hell to think. “What about the dream of building up my family ranch?”

“That’s your dream, Caden,” she said simply and tore a hole in his heart.

That was a slap. She’d had plenty of ideas, had jumped in enthusiastically with plans. “We’ve been talking about this for years,” he reminded her. “We were going to do it together. Create something special.”

“I know.” She touched him and her hand on his arm was like a fire that was bone chilling. “But this is important to me, too, Caden. I have to find out if I’m good enough.”

Couldn’t she see that she’d never be as important in Hollywood as she was right here? To him?

“So you’re just leaving.”

“You could come with me...”

He laughed at her. “I can’t leave.”

“And I can’t stay,” she said. “If I don’t go now, neither one of us will be happy.”

* * *

He cut off the memories and buried them under a layer of fury. She’d made it seem like she was doing him a favor by walking away. As if the dreams they’d forged together for years hadn’t been as important as the ones she’d nurtured all to herself.

Well, she’d ripped his heart out that night and he’d had to shut himself down to get through it. But he had. He’d made a damn good life without Emma and it was only going to get better. And once he’d faced her and had his say, he could get back to it.

When he steered his top-of-the-line, black Dodge Ram truck up the drive to her father’s ranch, he noted the peeling paint on the fence rails and the weeds choking out the front flower bed. The Williams place had been slowly going to hell since Emma left. Just another black mark against her.

Frank Williams had pretty much given up when his oldest girl had run off to Hollywood. He’d expected her to take over, to merge their ranch with Caden’s as they’d always planned.

Emma had torn up a lot of dreams when she left to find her own.

Still, Caden felt a pang of guilt. He should make more time to check in on Frank and do what he could to help out. Frowning to himself, he made a mental note to send a few of his ranch hands over in a day or two to paint the corral fence. Get it done before winter, he told himself, or the damn wood would rot and warp and the whole fence would have to be replaced.

“The perfect metaphor,” he muttered. When Emma left, they’d all had to rebuild. She’d taken off to chase a dream and left the rest of them wondering what the hell had happened. Now she was back.

With a baby.

He parked the truck, turned off the engine and just sat there for a minute, staring at the house where he’d spent so much of his life. It was old and sturdy, yellow, with white trim because that’s how Emma’s mother had liked it best. There was a big front porch and a second story where the bedrooms were. He knew this house as well as he knew his own.

He and Emma had been a couple since the year she was a freshman in high school. He’d been a “manly” junior and took substantial mocking from his friends for being interested in a “kid,” but he hadn’t cared.

Emma was all he’d been able to see back then and until the night she’d walked away, that hadn’t changed. But things were different now. Emma had left once before. Why should he believe she was here to stay now? No, what was between them had curled up and died five years ago.

Yet even as that thought rose up in his mind, his body was tightening at the prospect of being near her again.

While he sat there, watching the house, the front door flew open and Gracie, Emma’s younger sister, raced toward him. Caden got out of the truck in time to catch her when Gracie threw herself at him.

“I can’t believe this,” she muttered against his chest. “She just showed up last night like it was nothing and we’re supposed to be happy she’s here.” She pulled her head back and glared up at him. “I’m not. I’m furious.”

At twenty-five, Gracie was a beauty, with short, curly brown hair and green eyes a shade paler than her sister’s. He’d been a big brother to Gracie all their lives and he could see that there was pain as well as fury in her eyes.

He knew how she felt. “Gwen ran into her at the market this morning. Said she’s come back to stay.”

Gracie let him go, took a step back and swiped a solitary tear off her cheek. “That’s what she says, but why should we believe her? She left before, didn’t she?”

He didn’t know if it was good or bad that Gracie was pretty much echoing his own thoughts on the matter.

“Dad’s happy to see her anyway.” She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets and tossed her windblown hair off her forehead. “He actually got out of bed this morning.”

That was news. Frank had given up on life about a year after Emma left. Little by little, he’d withdrawn more and more from everyday life. He’d started out hoping Emma would see she’d made a mistake and come running home. But finally, the older man had realized that his girl was probably gone forever and all the life in him had just drained away. Not even Gracie had been able to coax him out of the depression he’d dropped into.

If Emma left again, it’d probably kill her father this time.

“She can’t be here, Caden,” Gracie was saying. “What if she finds out? She’ll tell Dad and then—”

“You should tell your dad,” Caden whispered. He was the only person Gracie had trusted with her secrets and he’d never betray her. But he did think she was handling them all wrong and didn’t mind saying so.

“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Especially not now.”

“Hello, Caden.”

Just like that, everything in him went still and cold. He hadn’t heard that low-pitched, sultry voice in too damn long, but it had the same effect on him it always had. He turned to look, saw Emma standing in the open doorway and his mouth went dry. His jeans were suddenly too tight and drawing a breath seemed near impossible.

The last time he’d seen her was on his television screen. Emma had been starring in a vapid, ridiculous sitcom, and as hard as it had been for Caden to admit, she had been really good in it. So good, he’d watched the show exactly once, got stinking drunk and never turned the damn TV on again. She’d left him for Hollywood and it burned his ass that she’d done well.

Now she was back, and why did she have to look so damn tempting?

Her dark brown hair was longer, falling well past her shoulders now, in the wild, thick curls she’d always hated. She wore a long-sleeved red flannel shirt and a pair of black jeans that hugged her hips and long, shapely legs. Her old boots completed the outfit and somehow it felt to Caden as if she’d donned a costume to fit in.

Maybe the Hollywood Emma was the real person now and this woman in front of him was the one acting out a part.

And as much as he wanted her, Caden braced himself against old emotions, desires and faced her now with the cold, empty memories flooding his mind. Her greenish-gold eyes were still as clear and beautiful as ever, but as he met her gaze, Caden saw secrets there. Something he’d never seen before.

He didn’t like it.

“You’re not going to say hello?” she asked.

The voice that had haunted his dreams. The woman who had haunted everything in his life. Caden felt a sharp stab of betrayal. She’d walked out on him five years ago and never looked back. Now she said hello like nothing had changed between them? Were they supposed to go have a drink? Catch up on old times? Maybe she’d ask him to babysit. Well, screw that.

Beside him, Gracie had a death grip on his arm, her fingers digging into his skin right through the fabric of his heavy brown coat. Reminding him where his loyalties lay now. Gracie had stayed. Had taken care of everything that Emma had walked away from. So he’d stand with her against the woman who had left them both.

“What’re you doing here, Emma?”

She lifted her chin, kept her gaze fixed on his and said simply, “This is my home.”

“Not for five years.”

She chewed at her bottom lip and that action tugged at something inside him, too. Heat bubbled in his gut but Caden ignored it.

“I’m back now,” Emma told him. “I’m not leaving again.”

“Is that right?” He didn’t believe her.

“It is. I’m done with Hollywood.” Her chin was still lifted in self-defense mode.

She’d had success, though he didn’t want to admit it. So what had changed her mind? What had chased her home? And why the hell did he still care after all this time?

“What changed?” he asked, before he could stop himself.

“I guess I did,” she said.

He nodded. “Right. You changed five years ago. And now you’ve changed again. When’s the next change coming?”

“There won’t be one.”

“Don’t believe her,” Gracie murmured.

“Oh, I don’t,” Caden assured her and had the satisfaction of seeing Emma’s eyes flash. Anger? Insult? Didn’t matter which. As long as she knew where he stood.

Even knowing he couldn’t trust her didn’t stop Caden from wanting her with a bone-deep desire that had never really left him. “Why don’t you go inside, Gracie? I want to talk to Emma.”

She gave him a long, speculative look, then did as he asked, skirting past her sister still standing in the doorway.

“Wow.” Emma’s gaze locked on him. “You and Gracie must be really close these days. She’s taking orders from you now?”

“It wasn’t an order,” he told her. “It was a request.”

“That she hopped to fulfill.” Tipping her head to one side, she kept her eyes on him. “What’s going on between you two?”

Caden stared right back, and folded his arms across his chest. He hadn’t missed the temper in her tone. “You don’t get to ask that question, Emma. It’s none of your business.”

“She’s my sister.”

He laughed shortly. “You’ve been gone for years, Emma. All of a sudden now, you’re sisters?”

“I didn’t leave the family, Caden,” she argued and her chin lifted a little higher. “I left Montana.”

“And me.”

She took a breath, nodded and said, “Yeah. And you. But I explained why I had to go.”

Anger whipped through him like a lightning bolt. “That makes it okay that you took off? As long as you ‘explained’?”

She took a breath, stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets and stared at him for a long moment before asking, “What is it you want from me, Caden?”

Well, now, that was the question, wasn’t it? He’d come here to have his say. To set things straight with Emma and let her know exactly where he stood. But being here, with her, was making it hard to think.

He looked her up and down, felt a stir of need and squashed it. When he held her gaze again, he leaned in and whispered, “Absolutely nothing.”

Two

Absolutely nothing.

For the next several days, those two words echoed in Emma’s brain. There was a lot to do around the ranch and yet she couldn’t shake Caden’s voice.

“No surprise there,” she muttered as she shuffled equipment around in the tack room. Caden had never been far from her mind. Yes, she’d walked away from him, but she’d had to follow her heart, right? Fight for her dream or end up an old woman, eaten by regret.

“You’d think he’d understand that,” she said tightly. “The man has a one-track mind when it comes to his dreams. What? I’m not allowed to chase mine? Is that it? I can only have the dreams that don’t inconvenience him?”

Absolutely nothing.

But it seemed he wanted something from Emma’s sister. Gracie had gone to Caden’s place nearly every day. Why? Jealousy bristled in her chest and twisted around her heart, giving it a hard squeeze. Was Gracie sleeping with him? Had he moved from one sister to another without missing a beat? Was Gracie the one sharing in Caden’s dreams now?

She had no way of knowing since her sister hadn’t really spoken to her since that first day. The two of them passed each other in the house locked in a strained silence that their father was either not noticing or actively ignoring.

Frank was completely in love with baby Molly, though, and every day, he seemed to return a bit more to the man that Emma remembered. His granddaughter had given him a new lease on life, he claimed, and that worried Emma, too. There was simply too much going on. Too many things to feel. To think. To be anxious over.

Why had she ever thought that coming home would be easy?

She grabbed two shovels and slammed them into the corner. This whole ranch was a mess. The barn, the stable, the house. Oh, it was all still standing, but it looked to Emma like no one had been paying attention to what needed doing. Except Caden, apparently. A couple of men from his ranch had been over two days ago, to repaint the corral fences, and when she had told them they didn’t need his help, they’d ignored her, too. Said that they took orders from Caden and if she had a problem with it, she should take it up with him.

As if she could.

So now the fences had been painted, but the grass was too high, and the railing on the wraparound porch was wobbly. And the tack room was in shambles. “There are shelves for God’s sake. Why aren’t they using them?”

Anger guided Emma as she picked up saddle soap, cloths and a million other little supplies that were tossed around. One by one, she straightened them out, lining them up on the shelves and giving it all a nod of satisfaction when she was finished. For a soul as organized as Emma, this place was torture.

“And why is there an old saddle on the desk?” she asked no one.

“It’s waiting to be repaired.”

Emma spun around to see her younger sister standing in the doorway. “How long’s it been waiting?”

Gracie shrugged. “A few months I guess.”

“Months?” Emma shook her head, exasperated at the mess and her sister’s nonchalant attitude. “Why hasn’t Buck fixed it?”

“Buck quit six months ago.”

“What?” Buck Simpson had worked for them since Emma was a girl. He was a master at saddlery and had kept the ranch equipment in tip-top shape. “Why?”

Gracie shrugged again and leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb. “He said he was getting too old to deal with ranching in winter. He went to live with his daughter and her husband on their ranch outside Billings. It still snows, but he doesn’t have to get out and work in it every day.”

Another change she hadn’t known about and she didn’t like it. “Why didn’t you tell me? You could’ve emailed or something.”

“Yeah, because we’ve been so close.”

Emma sighed, shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and looked at the little sister who used to follow her around like a puppy. “You know, I tried to stay close. I left the ranch, I didn’t leave the family. I wrote to you, Gracie. I called. You never did.”

“What was I supposed to say?” Gracie countered, pushing off the doorjamb. “Happy trails? Good luck with your perfect life while I’m here trying to hold a ranch together?”

God. She would have laughed at that if she hadn’t felt like screeching.

“Perfect? You think my life was perfect?” Emma actually felt her eyes roll. “Going to auditions and never getting the part? Being told that if you sleep with the producer, he’ll consider hiring you?

“Being on your feet for a twelve-hour shift at a restaurant because the landlord just jacked your rent higher? Again? Having your ass patted by an old man when you bring his lunch order?”

“Wait,” Gracie said, holding up one hand and looking around the room for effect. “Let me find a tissue.”

“God, you’re a bitch.”

“Said the queen bitch of the universe.”

Frustration rippled through her. She kept trying and kept getting shut down. Her life in Hollywood hadn’t been anyone’s idea of a dream and there was plenty more that she wasn’t telling Gracie. Dark, hard things that she’d never told anyone and wouldn’t use to get a glimmer of sympathy now.

“What the hell, Gracie?” Emma threw her hands up, faced her sister and demanded, “What is going on with you? This isn’t all about me moving to California. You can’t be this mad about me being gone for a few years. There’s something else going on.”

Gracie’s features tightened, then went deliberately blank. “You don’t know me, Emma. Not anymore. And just so you know? Everything else is fine. Just stop expecting me to be happy to have you home.”

“You didn’t want me leaving and now you don’t want me here.” Emma shook her head, then tossed her hair back behind her shoulders. “What the hell do you want?”

For just a split second, something flashed in Gracie’s eyes, but it was gone an instant later. Emma had the distinct feeling she’d almost reached the real Gracie. The little sister she’d missed for so long.

“Nothing,” Gracie said. “Look. I only came out here to tell you your daughter woke up. She’s crying.”

Emma drew her head back as if she’d been slapped. “And you couldn’t pick her up?”

For a second, her sister’s eyes shone with shame, but it didn’t last long. Defiant, she lifted her chin. “I’m not your babysitter, Em. And neither is Dad.”

Emma gave her a hard look. “I didn’t say you were. And Dad takes care of her because he wants to. I haven’t heard him complain about Molly.”

“Of course not.” Gracie took a breath and lifted one hand to push her hair back from her face. “He’d never say anything to you. You think he wants to risk you leaving again?”

“I told you. And him. I’m not leaving.”

“And we should believe you,” Gracie said wryly, quirking a brow.

“Damn it, Gracie, is it going to be like this between us all the time now?”

“I don’t know. If it is, will you leave?”

“No.”

“We’ll see, won’t we,” Gracie said, then turned away before Emma could speak. The anger and hurt in her sister’s eyes was impossible to miss.

“Wow. Welcome home, Emma.”

“Right. I’ll get the balloons.” Gracie turned on her heel, then looked back over her shoulder. “By the way, the vet’s coming over later. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave us alone.”

She was gone before Emma could respond and maybe it was just as well. These “conversations” with Gracie were exhausting and sort of circular. No matter which direction they went, it eventually returned to you left us. And there was no argument to that because Emma had left her old life behind to try for something else. Something she’d dreamed of doing since she was a kid. No one seemed to understand that and for the millionth time, Emma found herself wishing her mom were still alive. Maggie Williams would have understood.

Emma fumed for another minute or two. Just long enough to make sure she wouldn’t have to walk alongside Gracie back to the house. She’d had no idea when she left Montana that she would completely shatter the relationship she had with her sister. Emma was five years older than her sister and so she’d always looked after Gracie—especially since their mother died when Gracie was fourteen. And now it felt as if they were armed camps on opposite sides of a battle.

She blew out a breath, finished organizing the shelves and then swept the floor, focusing the burning energy inside toward getting something in her life straightened out. Coming home was turning into a big-scale drama. Her father was deteriorating, her sister was furious and her old boyfriend could barely stand to look at her. If she’d had the energy, Emma might have thrown herself a little pity party. But since she didn’t, she headed for the house and the baby girl who needed her instead.

Molly was nearly five months old and her personality was, thank God, happy. The tiny girl welcomed everyone with a toothless smile and only cried when she was hungry or wet. You just couldn’t ask for much more than that. Having Molly in her life had been a surprise, but Emma was determined to protect that baby girl. To give Molly the kind of life she’d had, growing up.

Which was the main reason she was back in Montana taking a mountain of crap from everyone.

She found her father and Molly in the living room. The baby was on his lap, laughing as Frank made silly faces. Was it her imagination, or did her dad look better today than he had when she’d arrived just a few days before? His eyes were brighter, his hair was combed and he’d shaved. All good signs that Gracie hadn’t bothered to mention. Plus, her little sister had made it sound as if Frank was aggrieved at taking care of the baby but it looked to Emma as if he was having a great time.

Gracie and she were going to have to have a long talk. Soon.

“Dad?”

He turned to grin at her. “Hello, honey, what’re you up to?”

“Oh, I was just...” She waved one hand toward the outside. “Straightening out the tack room.”

He chuckled. “You always did have your mother’s neat streak.”

Emma walked up to him and sat down on the chair closest to him. “Gracie told me Buck quit.”

He frowned. “He did, but couldn’t blame him any. He’s older than I am and damned if I’m out working the ranch every day.”

The baby slapped both of her little hands on top of his and then played with his fingers.

“Got to remember to watch my language now, don’t I?” He grinned down at Molly. “This little darling reminds me so much of you at her age.”

Emma felt a tiny pang that she refused to identify or acknowledge. “Does she?”

“Always happy, always looking for the next thing...” His smile faded a bit, but his eyes were still shining. “I’m glad to have you home, Emma, and that’s the truth.”

She leaned forward, reached out and squeezed his hand briefly. “I’m glad somebody is.” She blew out a breath in frustration. “Gracie sneers at me every time we pass by each other.”

He laughed. “Well, Gracie’s just put out. She’s done her best these last five years, but she doesn’t have your confidence. Never has. So she doubts everything she does.”

Emma didn’t like the sound of that. “Well, she shouldn’t. She’s always seemed so sure of herself to me. Even in school, she went her own way no matter what anyone else had to say.”

“All true,” he mused. “But at the heart of it, she questions herself.”

“She hates me now.” Emma picked at a fraying thread on the arm of the couch.

Frank laughed again. “No, she doesn’t. She’s just afraid to enjoy having you back. Probably thinking you’re not going to stay.”

Gracie wouldn’t be worried about that in the slightest if she knew what had been a huge motivating factor in driving Emma home in the first place. Oh, she had been planning on coming back to Montana, but she’d pushed her schedule up fast for one reason only. But that wasn’t something she could talk about. Not even with her family.

Watching her, Frank asked quietly, “Is she right? Are you just stopping by for a visit before you take off again?”

She couldn’t blame her father for the question. When she left, Emma had had big plans. She’d done her best, and put everything she had into making those plans a reality. None of it had worked out and by the end of her time in California she had been wondering why she’d ever left Montana in the first place. Now she’d come home to build different dreams. And this time, she would succeed.

But it wasn’t only her family and her home that had pulled her back to Montana. It was Caden. The cowboy she’d left behind. The man who could set her body ablaze with a look. The man who starred in her dreams nightly. The man she’d never been able to forget—not that she’d really tried.

“No, Dad,” she said, leaning forward to lay her hand on his forearm. She wanted him to see her resolve. To feel that she was really back for good. Her gaze locked with his and she willed him to believe her. “Molly and I are home to stay.”

He studied her for a long moment or two, then pleasure shone on his face. “Relieved to hear that, Em,” he said. “Don’t think I could stand watching you leave again and taking this little nugget with you.”

“You don’t have to worry,” she assured him.

“And Molly’s daddy?” Frank asked, sliding her a glance. “What’s he have to say about all of this? Doesn’t he mind you bringing his daughter to Montana?”

Emma went completely still, then forced her mouth to curve slightly. Molly’s father wasn’t someone she could talk about. This was dangerous territory. She hated lying to her own father, but there were some things she couldn’t tell him. At least not now.

“Molly’s father isn’t involved with her at all, Dad. He doesn’t know where we are and that’s the way I hope it stays.”

“Did he hurt you?” Instantly, her affable, loving dad went into grizzly mode.

Emma’s heart swelled, relishing the feeling of being loved so fiercely. She actually didn’t need protection, but it was lovely to have it offered so freely. And she was grateful that she could at least tell him the truth about this.

“No. He didn’t.” She got up, kissed his forehead and said, “Nothing like that. I swear.”

“All right, then.” He stroked one hand down Molly’s silky black hair. “As long as you two are here and safe. That’s all that’s important.”

“Just how I feel.” And as long as Molly was safe, Emma could deal with just about anything. Then her father spoke up and tested that thought.

“Caden called me this morning.”

Her gaze snapped to his. Warily, she asked, “What did he want?”

“Oh, just to tell me he was going to send some of his men over to mow the meadow behind the barn.”

Frowning, Emma thought about that. Every year, they mowed the meadow, to protect it. The fallen grasses acted as mulch and the clipped-off seedpods planted themselves for the following spring. But since when did her ex take care of that?

“Why?” She straightened up and looked down at her father in disbelief. “First his men come and paint our fence. Now they’re mowing our meadow?”

“Well,” Frank mused, barely hiding the curve of his lips, “let’s think about that. Could be, it’s just him being neighborly. Could be, he’s trying to impress you.”

A choked-off laugh shot from her throat as she remembered clearly the look on his face when he’d murmured, Absolutely nothing. “No, it’s not that, trust me.”

“Seem awful sure.”

“You didn’t see him when he was here.” She stalked over to the fireplace and idly noted that it had been turned into a gas hearth sometime while she was gone. Easier, probably. But she’d always loved the hiss and snap of real flames over real wood.

“No, but I saw him after you left for California.”

She closed her eyes briefly, then looked back over her shoulder at her father. “I know I hurt him.”

“Crushed him, more like.”

Guilt reared up and took a bite of her heart. She knew her father was right. She’d known it then. It hadn’t stopped her because she hadn’t allowed it to. If she’d let herself acknowledge what she was doing to Caden—heck, to herself—by leaving, she might not have gone. And if she’d stayed, she’d still be wondering. Still be dreaming. Maybe Hollywood wasn’t for her, but at least now, she knew that for herself. Still, she admitted silently, maybe she could have handled it better. “I had to go, Dad.”

“I know that,” Frank said, giving her an understanding smile. “Didn’t make it any easier to lose you. I know why you had to leave, too. You think I didn’t realize what your mother gave up to marry me and have our family?” He shook his head and sighed. “She had dreams, too, Emma, and she died not knowing if they could have come true. That still tears at me.”

Emma instantly felt guilty for the pain she saw in her father’s eyes. “Oh, Dad, Mom loved you. Loved us.”

He snorted. “Hell, I know that. Doesn’t mean a part of her wasn’t wishing that she’d gone to Nashville and tried her hand at singing professionally.” Frank smoothed the baby’s hair and wistfully said, “That’s why I was glad you tried, honey. As bad as it was with you gone, I was glad you were trying.”

Tears stung her eyes and Emma blinked them back. At least her dad was glad to have her home. In the quiet, the baby cooed and gurgled in Frank’s arms. Outside the windows, the October sky was leaden and a hard gust shook the turning leaves on the trees. A week ago, she’d been in Southern California, where the only sign of fall was the pumpkin spice lattes for sale on every corner. Here in Montana, the wind was cold, the trees golden and red and you could smell winter in the air.

It was good to be back. But, since she was here to stay, she would have to have a talk with Caden.

Absolutely nothing.

His voice repeated in Emma’s mind again and she scowled to herself. Coming home was never going to be easy. She hadn’t expected it to be. And she’d known that facing Caden again would be one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she hadn’t realized how hard it would be to not touch him. To not be touched by him. Seeing him again, hearing his voice had brought everything inside her back to life—only to be slapped down by his dismissal. She’d thought she was ready to see him again. Apparently, she’d been wrong.

“Things’ll get better,” her father said and she turned around to face him. He shifted the baby in his arms so that little Molly was looking directly at her. Emma’s heart squeezed in her chest. That tiny girl had become all-important and there was simply nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her. Bringing her here had assured that Molly would be cared for. Loved. It was up to Emma to see that she stayed that way.

“You’ll find your path, and you brought my granddaughter home, too,” Frank was saying and Emma’s heart gave another hard lurch. “Your sister will get past what she’s feeling. You two will work it out.”

Emma wasn’t so sure, but all right.

“As for me, though,” Frank said, pushing up out of his chair and cradling Molly against his chest, “I couldn’t be happier. Now I’m going to go give our girl here some lunch—”

“Dad,” she said, remembering some of what Gracie had said just a while ago, “I didn’t bring the baby here expecting you to babysit.”

Insult stamped itself on his features. “Spending time with my granddaughter isn’t ‘babysitting,’” he told her. “Besides, makes me remember when my own girls were little. Your mother and I were hopping every minute.”

A soft smile curved her mouth. “I still miss her.”

“So do I, darling. Every damn day.” Frank sighed a little, then grinned when Molly slapped her hands together. “She’d have loved this little one. So don’t you worry about me and Molly. We’re fine. You go and do something useful.”

Something useful. Was talking to Caden a waste of time? Or a chance to set them both on a different path?

She watched her father walk away and thought about it. She could go back and finish cleaning out the tack room. Or she could go over the ranch books and see exactly where they stood financially. Or maybe go and talk to the cowboys and hear their opinions.

But she wasn’t going to do any of that, Emma realized.

“Dad?”

He stopped and looked back at her, waiting.

Decision made, she said, “If it’s okay with you, I’m going over to Caden’s. Maybe settle a few things.”

Her father winked. “That’s a good idea, honey. You go ahead. Take your time.”

When he left, Emma walked across the room and grabbed her heavy brown jacket off the coat tree in the hall. Take her time. That was assuming that Caden would speak to her at all. But even as she considered that, she remembered that she’d always been able to talk her way around that stubborn cowboy. Today would be no different.

They would get everything out in the open and find a way to deal with each other. Or, she considered, this would blow up in her face and she’d be no further along than she was right now.

Pulling her coat on, Emma stepped out onto the wide porch. There was a lot to do around here and she’d barely made a dent in any of it in the past few days.

But facing Caden was more important. All of the work would still be here waiting for her when she got back, she reminded herself. Digging her car keys out of her jacket pocket, she headed for the old and cranky SUV that had brought her and Molly all the way from Los Angeles.

She climbed in, fired it up and threw it into gear. Out by the stable, she saw Gracie talking to a woman with long, braided red hair and a face full of freckles. Must be the vet, she thought, then waved when Gracie turned to fire a glare at her. If her sister was mad, she only had herself to blame. She’d actually told Emma to stay away. So she would.

Turning the car around, she headed down the drive to the road that would take her to Caden’s house. They were going to talk, damn it. And she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Dirt and gravel flew up in her wake like the tail of a dragon and she barely noticed Gracie, standing in the yard, staring after her.

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