now more than disgusted, she laid her forehead against the steering wheel and considered how she would ever face him again.
Warmth spread through her as the brief meeting of her lips and his stubbled jaw played through her mind once more. Though always clean-shaven, Ty’s dark features left him with a five o’clock shadow every evening. She’d always imagined that beneath that darkly handsome exterior beat the heart of a truly sinful lover. A man who could please a woman. The details of his muscular chest ran through her mind. Never had the idea of Ty’s virility or masculinity intrigued her so.
Leanne straightened, frowning. She’d seen Ty shirtless hundreds of times. He was a strong, well-built man. She felt certain he would make some woman very happy some day. But not her. She loved him like a brother. Not once in her entire life had she felt even remotely sexually attracted to him.
Not once.
Until today.
The moment their gazes had locked at the airport she’d felt something…something different. She shook her head and climbed out of her old truck. The Coopers as well as her own mother had been trying to push the two of them together for as long as she could remember. She knew they meant well, wanted their children to be happy. But Leanne had other plans. She wanted to fall head over heels in love with a man who would sweep her off her feet. And she wanted to be financially independent.
“Yeah, right,” she grumbled as she trudged up the steps to her house. Just how was she supposed to meet Mr. Right and be financially independent when she was barely keeping her head above water in more ways than one?
She unlocked the front door and went inside. Being careful not to make any more noise than necessary she closed and locked the door behind her. The stairs to the second floor proved a bit trickier when it came to her efforts to be soundless. But Leanne knew all the spots to avoid. She didn’t want to wake her mother. Lord knew, sleep was the only peace she found.
Joanna Watley suffered with debilitating weakness and often a great deal of pain. Dr. Baker had done everything he could for her, to no avail. She needed further testing and a specialist or maybe even a team of specialists. But there was no money for such extravagances that would likely do no good, her mother insisted. Without medical insurance the burden of cost fell squarely on Leanne and her mother’s shoulders. A burden Leanne was ready to accept if her mother would only allow it.
Leanne paused outside her mother’s bedroom door. She slept soundly. Leanne eased into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed to watch her sleep. She was a truly beautiful woman. Long blond hair, peppered with a little gray, and blue eyes. The same blue eyes Leanne had inherited. Leanne’s father used to say that she and her mother looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. He’d always known how to bring a smile to her mother’s lips. It just didn’t seem fair that he’d died four years ago, and then last year her mother’s debilitating illness had struck. Leanne blinked back her tears. She loved her mother dearly and she would do whatever she could to help her.
Joanna Watley had a stubborn streak a mile wide, though. Leanne had begged her to sell the ranch and use the money for whatever medical treatment she needed. Joanna refused. She insisted that they hang on to the ranch no matter what. She’d be all right in time, she always said.
But that time never came. She only got worse. Leanne felt a burst of desperation in her chest. How would she ever convince her mother to listen to her? She probably couldn’t, which left Leanne with only one choice. She had to make the money herself. She couldn’t leave her mother alone all day to get a job in town. And anyway, Leanne had no real skills. With her father’s ill health, then his death, and now her mother’s illness, she’d been taking care of the ranch since she’d graduated high school. There’d been no time or money for college.
Instead, she spent every spare moment attempting to complete what her father had begun—turning their ranch into a dude ranch. Dude ranches were wildly popular, and this area of Montana was particularly attractive to tourists. No one else in the vicinity had one. It would be a gold mine, if only Leanne could finish the job.
The guest cabins had been constructed. The pool was pretty much complete. If Leanne worked hard enough, saved every cent possible, she could get it up and running. With the dozen horses they had kept and the guest cabins and pool ready, she could prepare to open this fall. She might not make much in the beginning, but her reputation would build. Then she would have the money to send her mother wherever she needed to go without selling the ranch.
But that seemed a lifetime away. Though Dr. Baker didn’t feel her mother’s symptoms were life-threatening, it was definitely debilitating, leaving her with a miserable existence.
Leanne blinked back a fresh wave of tears. She didn’t want her mother to suffer like this. But she was an adult, Leanne couldn’t make her go to a specialist.
“You home already?”
Leanne produced a smile at the weak sound of her mother’s voice. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’m glad you came in to say goodnight.” Her mother frowned. “But you shouldn’t have hurried home.”
“I didn’t want to stay out too late. You feeling all right?”
Her mother dredged up a smile from a source of strength Leanne could only imagine possessing. “I’m just fine. How did Ty’s trip go?”
“He won’t know for a while.” Leanne looked away. She didn’t want to get into a discussion of Ty with her mother. Not tonight.
“Is something wrong, Leanne?”
Her mother read her too well. “Oh no,” she assured her. “Everything’s fine.” But it wasn’t, she thought, remembering the way he’d looked at her in the truck on the way home and then at the door when they’d said goodnight. Something was definitely different.
Her mama’s hand closed over hers. “I wish I could make you see, child, what a good husband Ty would make. I don’t know why you don’t trust your mama’s instincts.”
Here they went again. Leanne sighed. “I know he’d make a fine husband, Mama, that’s not the problem.”
Joanna shook her head. “You’ve read too many of those paperbacks. You keep expecting some knight in shining armor to come take you away. Well, that ain’t the way it works. You know Ty and his family. They’re good folks. Marrying Ty is the right thing to do.” She squeezed her daughter’s hand. “It’s the only way you’ll ever save this ranch.”
There it was, the bottom line. The weight of saving the family ranch fell squarely on Leanne’s shoulders. “I know all that,” she said. “It’s just that I don’t feel that way toward Ty.” At least she hadn’t until today. Maybe that was just a fluke.
Her mother sighed wearily. “You’ll see, Leanne. Everything will be fine. You’ll learn to love Ty that way. He’s a good man. It’s what we all want.”
Leanne arched a skeptical brow. “You might be counting your chickens before they hatch considering he hasn’t asked yet. Maybe he won’t.”
Joanna smiled. “Oh, he will. The Coopers have wanted to combine this land with their own for two generations.” Her mother patted her hand. “He’ll ask. It’s just a matter of time.”
Opting not to argue the issue further, Leanne kissed her mother’s
