seen a woman smile at him? When was the last time he’d heard a soft voice speaking words of comfort?
“Zeke tells me that his father has hired a new housekeeper. She’s due to arrive at the end of the month. That’s only two weeks away. Surely your plants can spare you that long.”
She bowed her head to the inevitable. “I’ll go with him. Please ready my horse while I pack my bag.”
In less time than she would have liked, she and Zeke were on their way. He rode his horse, while she sat in her small cart pulled by a single black gelding. She had brought her healing herbs along with clothing and personal items. Zeke chattered about the ranch and all the things he would like her to cook but she found it difficult to concentrate. Her mind wandered to the past and what it had been like when she’d stayed with Caleb and his family before.
It had been so many years, yet she could recall certain details as if they’d just occurred the previous week. As they approached the ranch, her stomach tightened and her fingers twisted around the reins. She and Zeke crested a low rise and suddenly she could see the ranch house, the barns and stables. Everything was different, yet nothing had changed. Nearly nine years after Caleb had promised to love her forever, she had returned.
* * *
“STORM COMING in tonight, boss,” Hank said as he reached the barn. He turned and squinted at the setting sun, studying the dark bank of clouds heading their way.
“It won’t snow,” Caleb Kincaid replied, not even bothering to look at the potential threat. He was too tired to raise his head that far.
He hadn’t slept in three nights and he didn’t doubt he’d be forced up sometime before dawn this morning. Spring was always a busy time at the ranch.
“I swear those damn cows are deliberately stupid,” he muttered as he swung down from his saddle. “The way I see it, they know when they’re gonna have trouble giving birth and they find the most difficult place to hide, then dare me to find them.”
Hank lifted his hat and scratched his nearly bald head. “I don’t think they’re out to get you, boss. It just happens.”
Caleb grimaced. “You’re wrong. They talk about it. One of them finds a new canyon or gully and spreads the word.”
Hank’s dark eyes narrowed in concern. “You need some rest.”
“I know. But until they’re done dropping their calves, none of us is going to get it.” He led his horse into the barn, handing him over to Tully. “Everyone in?” he asked the fifteen-year-old boy who had started work at the ranch the previous fall.
Tully had hair the color of fire and enough freckles to share with every person in the state of Montana. He was short, had a stammer and looked skinny enough to blow away in a good wind. But there was magic in his touch. In all his thirty-one years, Caleb had never seen anyone so good with horses.
“All the m-men are b-back,” he said. “Zeke brought back c-company.”
Caleb scowled. “Who? A boy from town?”
Just what he needed right now. Some stray kid for him to look after. Dammit, they were in the middle of calving. Zeke knew better than to—
“No. A w-woman.”
Caleb stared in surprise. Hank raised his bushy eyebrows. “Looks like your boy done found you a new wife.”
Caleb didn’t even bother responding to that outrageous statement. Instead he glanced in the direction Tully pointed and saw a small black gelding with a white star between its eyes. The creature looked dainty, but Caleb knew it was a strong, sturdy horse. Dependable. Familiar.
He’d sold that horse to John Whitefeather nearly five years before. John had wanted the animal for his sister to use when she visited sick folks in the area.
Caleb felt as if he’d been poleaxed. The pain inside was white-hot and unrelenting.
“Ruth,” he said, barely able to speak her name.
“Yes, s-sir,” Tully stuttered. “S-she’s up at the h-house.”
Ruth. Here. He didn’t know what to think. It had been long enough that her being here shouldn’t matter. But it did. Because once, she’d been all he’d wanted. Once he’d thought they would get married and have half a dozen children together. He’d imagined the Kincaid ranch becoming a dynasty—something he could be proud of.
But as much as he’d wanted her, she hadn’t wanted him. Instead she’d walked away. And he’d married Marie.
He cursed his own rule of not keeping liquor in the barn, then turned his back on Tully and Hank and headed for the house. He was halfway there when he realized his foreman hadn’t said a word about Ruth being here. Hank had been around for nearly fifteen years. He knew what had happened the last time she’d visited. He’d been the one who’d suggested Caleb needed to get away when he’d lost the only woman he’d ever loved.
The house loomed in front of him. Bright lights spilled out the kitchen windows, but the pulled curtains kept him from seeing more than shadows. He felt weary beyond feeling, yet oddly alert. Why was she here?
It couldn’t be because of Marie’s death. His wife had been gone nearly five months, so it was a little late for condolences. No one was sick. Tully would have mentioned Zeke being injured. So why now?
He climbed the single step that led to the mud room and quietly opened the door. Voices came from the kitchen. Voices and a sound Caleb hadn’t heard in too long. Zeke’s laughter. Caleb stepped through the doorway and stared into the kitchen.
In the second it took him to find Ruth, he saw the mess he hadn’t had time to notice before now. Once sparkling floors were scratched and dirty. Filthy dishes had been stacked on counters and in the sink. Once white curtains had turned gray with grime. If he wasn’t careful, the mail-order housekeeper he’d sent for would turn tail and run as soon as she saw the place.
When he could no longer avoid the inevitable, he turned his attention on the woman and the boy. They sat together at the big kitchen table. Ruth sat with her back to him. He saw her crisp white blouse tucked into a dark skirt. Her long hair had been pulled back in a thick braid. Something hot coiled in his belly as he recalled what it had felt like to unfasten that braid and run his hands through her silky hair.
She sat straight and proud—still slender. She hadn’t turned to face him, but he knew she was beautiful. Eyes the color of chocolate. Honey-colored skin. A full mouth so tempting it had taken every bit of willpower not to kiss her the first time he’d seen her.
Zeke knelt on the chair next to hers, watching intently as she spooned biscuits onto a pan. There was trust in the way the boy leaned close. Trust and an ease he’d never had around Marie.
This is what he’d wanted, Caleb thought as pain filled his chest. This is what he could never have.
Suddenly there was anger. Anger that she’d left and anger that she’d dared to return. He didn’t need her pity or her gentle ways. She’d said she didn’t want to live in his world. So what the hell was she doing here now?
