William Z. Slater. Other than the last name bein’ the same, why would I have any reason to think for one minute that he might have anything in common with Zack Slater, the no-good drifter who caused Star Valley’s biggest scandal in years?”
Thank you so much for bringing that up again. Cassie pounded out more of her emotional uproar on the hapless ball of dough for the next morning’s sweet rolls. At this rate, the poor things would be as tough and stringy as cowhide.
“It’s not your fault,” she assured her friend and employer slowly. “I’m sure he concealed his identity on purpose.”
But why? That was the question that had been racing through her head all afternoon. If this whole thing wasn’t a scam—and apparently it wasn’t—why would Zack put himself to so much trouble to buy a small guest ranch that would probably never be more than moderately successful? It didn’t seem like the kind of savvy investment a fast-track company like Maverick Enterprises would make.
The ranch was geared toward families, with plenty of activities for all ages. Jean had the philosophy that children needed to be exposed to the history of the West, to what life was like on a real working cattle ranch, in order to preserve appreciation for the old ways.
To that end she tried to keep her rates affordable, well within range of the average family’s vacation budget.
Cassie would hate to see Zack come in and turn the ranch into some kind of exclusive resort for the rich and famous, like some of the other guest ranches in the area had become. It would be a shame, not to mention take a huge investment in capital.
But why else would he want it, especially when he had to know he wouldn’t be welcomed back by many of the good people of Star Valley?
And why all the secrecy?
Maybe for that very reason—if Jean knew he was the one buying the ranch, she never would have agreed to the sale.
Cassie pounded the bread one last time, wishing it were a certain man’s lean, masculine, treacherous features.
“I can try to back out of the sale, if it’s not too late.” Jean didn’t sound very confident. Her frown cut through her wrinkled, weather-beaten face like sagging barbed wire.
Cassie shook her head. “You won’t get another offer to match the one Maverick made for the ranch.”
“Well, I can get by without the money.”
Maybe, but both of them knew Jean wouldn’t be able to run the ranch much longer, at least not with the same hands-on approach she had always maintained. Some days her arthritis was so bad she couldn’t even raise her arms to saddle a horse.
“I can’t let you back out of the sale,” Cassie said gently. “Not on my account. I’ll find a job somewhere else. Wade Lowry is always after me to come cook for the Rendezvous Ranch.”
Jean touched her shoulder. “I’d hate to lose you. I wouldn’t be able to find anybody else with your gift in the kitchen.”
“I’m sorry,” she said helplessly. “I can’t work for him. Surely you understand that.”
Jean squeezed her shoulder, then stepped back to lean a bony hip against the table. “The past is past, honey. Nothing you can do to change what happened ten years ago. You got to move on.”
It was so much like the lecture Matt always used to give her, she wanted to scream. “Maybe I can’t change the past. But I also don’t need to have it thrown in my face every day when I go to work.”
“True enough. Can’t say as I blame you.”
Still, the disappointment in the feisty rancher’s eyes gnawed at Cassie’s insides. Guilt poked at her. Leaving right now in the middle of the ranch’s busiest season would create a bundle of problems. Jean would have to find someone else fast to fill her position, which meant she would have to take time from the ranch’s guests for hiring and training someone new.
She wavered. Maybe she could stick it out a little longer, just for Jean’s sake.
Then she thought about working for Zack, having to see him regularly. Ten years ago she had been nothing short of devastated when he jilted her. She had worked hard during the intervening years to get to this place where she had confidence again, where she could see all the good things about herself instead of constantly dwelling on what it was she had lacked that had driven the man she loved into the arms of her brother’s wife.
Seeing him all the time, working for him, was bound to undermine that confidence. She couldn’t do it. Not even for Jean.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
Jean shrugged and managed a weathered smile. “We’ll just have to make the best of a bad situation. That’s all we can do. Now, it’s been a heck of a day. Why don’t you go back to your cabin and I’ll finish up here?”
“No. I’m almost done. You get some rest.”
Jean touched her shoulder again. “Good night, then,” she said, then hobbled from the kitchen.
After her boss left, Cassie quickly finished her prep work for breakfast, then turned the lights off and walked out of the kitchen toward her own cabin next to the creek.
She considered her little place the very best perk of working for the ranch. It was small, only three rooms—tiny bedroom, bathroom and a combined kitchen and living room—but all three rooms belonged to her.
For another few days, anyway.
The cabin was more than just a place to sleep. It represented independence, a chance to stand on her own without her two older brothers hovering in the wings to watch over her, as they had been doing for most of her life.
She was twenty-eight years old and this was the first time she had ever lived away from home. How pathetic was that? She had never known the giddy excitement of moving into a college dorm and meeting her roommates for the first time or the rush of being carried across the threshold of a new house by a loving husband or repainting a guest bedroom for a nursery.
She didn’t like the bitter direction her thoughts had taken. Still, she couldn’t help thinking that if it hadn’t been for Zack Slater, her life might have turned out vastly different.
She had just graduated high school when he blew into her life. She had been young and naive and passionately in love with the gorgeous ranch hand with the stunning gold-flecked eyes and the shadows in his smile.
To her amazement he had seemed as smitten as she. The fierce joy in his face whenever he saw her had been heady stuff for a girl who had never even had a serious boyfriend before.
Right from the beginning they had talked of marriage. He had wanted her to finish college before they married, but she couldn’t stand the idea of being away from him for four long years. She had worked for weeks to persuade him that she could still attend college after they were married, that he could work while she went to school since she had a scholarship. After she graduated, she would work to put him through.
Finally she had worn down his resistance. She flushed now, remembering. Maybe if she hadn’t been in such a rush, had given him time to adjust to the idea of settling down, he wouldn’t have felt the need to bolt.
But
