that Jill had her work cut out for her if she hoped to win over Elliott’s daughter. In fact, the situation was even worse than Jill had imagined. Caroline wasn’t just wary or reserving her opinion of Jill until she’d had a chance to get to know her. It was obvious she considered Jill an enemy.
She hates me.
Jill bit her lip. She knew Elliott would say she was attaching far too much importance to Caroline’s actions today, but she didn’t think so.
Maybe I should have let Elliott ask her to move. Because unless I can win her over quickly, I’m not sure the two of us can survive here together, even for the summer.
By now Jill and Elliott and Jordan had piled back into the truck and Elliott drove around to the back of the house where Jill saw another house—this one a small frame cottage sitting about sixty feet away, close to the bank of the river. The cottage was painted pale yellow, with red shutters. It even had a front porch with a swing. It was utterly charming.
“Oh,” Jill said. “Elliott, it’s so pretty.” She was delighted, and when Elliott unlocked the front door and they walked inside, she was even more delighted.
They entered a kitchen/living room combination. Branching off from this main room were two bedrooms, a good-size bathroom with both tub and walk-in shower, and a sunporch that faced the river. The entire house was warm and hospitable, filled with solid maple furniture, lots of chintz, hardwood floors, and bright area rugs.
“This is the main bedroom,” Elliott said, opening the door to an inviting room with a queen-size bed, a rocking chair, a small desk, and a matching walnut dresser and chest of drawers.
“And this will be Jordan’s room.” Grinning, Elliott opened the other door.
“Oh, Elliott,” Jill said when she saw the maple bunk beds, the matching chest of drawers and desk, the laptop computer, the TV set, and the bookcases with books.
“Cool!” Jordan said. He immediately plopped down at the desk and opened the computer. “Is this mine?” he asked excitedly.
“It certainly is.”
“Awesome!”
Jill rolled her eyes. The words cool and awesome seemed to be the only ones in Jordan’s vocabulary right now. “Elliott,” she murmured. “You shouldn’t have.” She tried to quash the guilt she felt over his generosity, and she was only partially successful.
“Except for the TV and computer, most of this stuff came from the room Stephen used as a boy.”
The half brother. “Does he live on the ranch, too?”
“Not anymore. A few months ago he bought a place in town. This used to be his house, you know.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize…” Then a thought struck her. “He didn’t move because of me, did he?”
“No, of course not. He doesn’t even know about you yet.” He smiled. “You’ll meet him tomorrow.”
Another hurdle to face, Jill thought in trepidation. If Elliott’s brother hated her, too, life here at the ranch really would be unbearable for her.
I’ve got to win them over. I’ve simply got to. Because if I don’t, I won’t have a choice. Marriage to Elliott will be impossible.
Stephen’s pre-flight routine was set. Carefully following a checklist, he went over the interior of the plane to make sure all switches were off and the parking brake was set. From there, he examined both sides of the airplane to make sure there was no external damage. In the back, he looked at the hinges, nuts and bolts, then studied the general condition of the rudder, the elevator and the stabilizer. Next came the flaps and ailerons, then the tires and wheels, the landing gear and the brake lines.
When he reached the fuel tank, he took off the cap and checked the fuel level. After that, he opened the cowling, checked the oil level and all the hoses and wires. He carefully examined the engine, the throttles, the spark plugs. As he checked each item, he marked it off his list.
The first time Elliott had watched Stephen do all this he’d said, “Do you think something’s wrong?” His inference was that something must be wrong if Stephen had to inspect so many things.
Stephen had just smiled. “No, but thorough checks of everything before you get up in the air prevents problems. It’s the main reason flying is so safe.”
Elliott had nodded, reassured.
Today Stephen found everything in order, and after loading his gear and receiving the okay from the tower, he taxied to the lone runway of the small county airport and was soon in the air. It was a gorgeous summer afternoon, with clear skies—perfect flying weather.
After climbing at fifty-five knots to his cruising altitude of ten thousand feet, Stephen kept his air speed at a hundred knots and settled back to enjoy the flight. He figured he’d get to McPherson’s, the private airport where he kept his plane, in less than an hour and a half, which would put him at the ranch about five.
He wondered if he should have called Elliott to tell him he’d be back earlier than planned. Then again, what did it matter? Elliott wouldn’t care.
For the rest of the uneventful flight, Stephen thought about Elliott and how much he owed him. Stephen had been only five years old when his parents—his and Elliott’s mother, Felicia, and her second husband, Stephen Alexander Wells, for whom Stephen had been named—had been killed in an automobile accident while on vacation in England where they’d been visiting friends. Elliott and Adele had taken Stephen in, and made him feel loved and secure.
Caroline had even been happy; she’d been six, and although she was spoiled, she liked having Stephen to boss around and play with. It had only been later, when she decided her father was spending too much time with Stephen, that he might even prefer Stephen over her, that she’d become so possessive and contentious.
Most of the time, Stephen ignored her. He let her comments roll right off him. Sticks and stones, he’d told himself. Besides, going into battle with her would only have upset Elliott and wouldn’t have changed a thing.
But today, thinking about the past twenty-eight years, Stephen made a vow. If he saw that this new intended wife of Elliott’s was the real deal and that his brother was truly happy, he would do everything possible to make sure Caroline didn’t spoil things. If, on the other hand, Caroline was right and the fiancée really was a gold digger, then he might have to join forces with Caroline to drive the woman off.
It was almost four-thirty before he landed, a half hour later than he’d hoped to arrive. Torn between going to his house first so he could have a quick shower and a change of clothes before dinner, and seeing Elliott first, he decided he’d go home and simply give Elliott a call telling him he was there.
“Stephen!” Elliott said. “I thought you weren’t coming back till tomorrow.”
“I finished up early.” Stephen gave his brother a quick rundown on his trip, then said, “Caroline told me your news.”
“I’m sure she did.” Then Elliott’s voice lightened. “I can’t wait for you to meet Jill. Were you planning to come out for dinner?”
“If
