decisions, but Braden didn’t feel quite right about the way he’d orchestrated the whole thing. Trouble was, he was so desperate, he’d be damned if he’d put too much thought to it. Otherwise, he might try to backpedal on that job offer. And then where would he be?
“Looking after the kids won’t be her only duty,” he added. “I’ve also asked her to modernize my grandfather’s old accounting system. If I’m going to run the ranch right, I’ll need to have everything digitalized. And she’ll be a big help with that.”
Paco seemed to think on that for a moment, then said, “Elena is a good girl.”
Braden wasn’t sure where he was going with that. Or why his expression had sobered. “Yes, sir. I’m sure that she is.”
“Just so you know, I had a good relationship with your grandmother, Rosabelle Rayburn. And I knew your father.”
Damn. Did he think that Braden was a chip off the old block? It was true that he might resemble Charles Rayburn, but that didn’t mean he’d inherited his father’s character flaws.
He just hoped Paco didn’t think this was a ploy for Braden to get his single daughter alone and seduce her. Maybe he feared that the fertile apple didn’t fall too far from the scandalous Rayburn tree.
“All I ask is that you be good to my daughter and treat her with respect,” the man said.
“You have my word.” Braden reached out and offered a handshake to seal the deal. He didn’t have any qualms about making a promise like that to Paco. Trouble was, the older man’s words had struck him to the quick.
The truth of the matter was, as hard as Braden had tried to emulate his grandpa Miller, he wasn’t entirely sure how much of Charles Rayburn’s genes he’d inherited.
* * *
By the time Elena arrived at the ranch, Braden had practically paced a furrow in the front yard deep enough to plant corn.
Okay, so he’d just kicked up a little trail dust. Still, she was a sight for sore eyes—and in more ways than one.
She drove a small blue Honda Civic—nothing out of the ordinary. But when he saw her climb out from behind the wheel, his pulse rate shot up as though she’d just blown in on the Texas wind, holding a magical umbrella and a black carpetbag containing a spoonful of sugar.
Thank goodness she was finally here.
But damn. She’d changed out of the snug jeans that had molded her shapely hips and now she wore a colorful gypsy-style skirt and bright red tank top. Her dark hair had been swept into a twist of some kind back at the feed store, but it now hung loose along her shoulders in a soft tumble of glossy curls.
What do you know? His Spanish-speaking Mary Poppins had morphed into a sexy Latina beauty.
How could a lovely woman become even more beautiful in a matter of hours? She’d said that she couldn’t come out to the ranch until afternoon, when her father finished making deliveries and could finally relieve her at the store, but it looked as if she’d spent the entire time fussing with her hair, makeup and outfit.
Not that he was complaining. She’d mentioned that she had fashion sense, but he’d had no idea just how true that statement was.
“Where are the kids?” she asked, as she reached into the trunk and pulled out a suitcase.
“They’re on the back porch, playing with their rabbits.” He probably should offer to carry in her things, but for the life of him, all he could do was stand in the middle of the yard and gape at her like a moonstruck teenager.
Get with it, man.
As she proceeded to the front porch, she asked, “Are you having buyer’s remorse?”
“No, I want you here.”
She laughed. “I didn’t mean me. I was referring to those bunnies.”
Of course she was. If he hadn’t been having a testosterone moment, he would have picked up on that immediately.
“No,” he said, “I’m not at all sorry about buying them.” He reached the screen door before she did and pulled it open for her. “In fact, I’m not even sorry that I let you talk me into buying two cages, watering receptacles and food dishes, not to mention five pounds of rabbit pellets and the shaved wood bedding you insisted they needed.”
She blessed him with a bright-eyed smile. “You could have gotten by with one large pen.”
“Yes, I could have,” he said, as she brushed by him into the living room, taunting him with a whiff of her exotic floral scent. “But it’s a known fact that rabbits multiply like crazy. And since neither of us knew how to tell the males from the females, purchasing two meant I could end up with more rabbits than horses on the Bar M.”
Her laugh had a magical lilt, making him again think of Mary Poppins until he took another look at her. There was no way anyone would confuse Elena Ramirez with a nanny. But that was okay with him. Just as long as she was bilingual and experienced with kids, she was going to work out fine.
“Is there someplace you’d like me to put my things?” she asked.
Yes, his bedroom. But he vanquished the inappropriate thought as quickly as it came to mind. He’d been gifted with an abundance of common sense, as well as self-control. And as long as Elena and the kids were staying on the ranch, he was going to need to exercise every bit of both.
He led her upstairs and down the hall to the guest room, which was across from the room he’d given Bela and Beto—and the farthest from his own.
“The kids have been happy and chattering up a storm ever since we got home,” he said, “although I really can’t make out what they’re saying.”
“I told you that pets were good for them. If they’ve been shuffled around a lot, the bunnies might give them a better sense of permanence—or at least security.”
“Yes, you did say that, and I’m sure there’s some truth to it, but I still think you were trying to sell some rabbits and all the paraphernalia that went with them.”
“You do realize,” she said, her caramel-colored eyes sparkling, “that my father has a return policy.”
He laughed. “And don’t think I’m not tempted to take advantage of it. But I don’t want to disappoint those kids. Besides, I need my peace and quiet. I’ve also been putting off chores since they arrived on Sunday, so I have a ton of work to do. And now that you’re here, I plan to get after it.”
She smiled. “Go right ahead. I’ll settle in; then I’ll find the kids. What do you have planned for their dinner tonight?”
“I...uh...” He shrugged. “Nothing in particular. But don’t worry. There’s plenty to choose from. I stocked up on a bunch of easy-to-fix, kid-friendly stuff at the market yesterday. So you have the option of hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken tenders, pizza or frozen burritos.”
“That’s not very healthy.”
“Okay, I admit I like junk food. My mom usually did all the cooking when she was living
