Page 9 of The Rancher's Fake Fiancée

Cole stood up. “And that is a good idea, but I think Marcella has held lunch long enough for us. We have some time to choose the right mount for Jessie. Go wash up and meet us in the dining room.”

“Okay,” she said and stood, giving Jessie a final glance. “And you’ll have to meet my pet pig and Cheese Puff and…”

“Marcella is waiting,” Cole recalled. Emmie gave him a playful grimace and headed off to do as told.

Cole motioned to Jessie to follow him. They went down the hall and stepped into what Jessie had rightly assumed earlier was the rancher’s office by all the papers on a wide desk and maps on the wall, and the framed photos of Emmie on the long desk behind his chair and on the corner of his desk. Emmie as a small baby in pink, Emmie dressed for her first day of school possibly, and Emmie astride a horse next to her father’s mount. There were no shortage of photos of his daughter in the house.

“This should do for our quiet place to talk when needed,” he explained as the door shut behind them. Then he turned, hands on hips, and scowled. “What was that in the living room? She could have easily said no and get out now. And did she recognize you in some way?”

“Calm down,” she began. “Learn to deflect when you don’t like the conversation. I deflected and all was fine. And learn to gamble when you must do so. I gambled that she loves you more than anything. I gave her the opportunity to show that by being willing to accept someone or the idea of someone who might make you very happy. And perhaps, she’s a little girl who might be wanting a female in this house besides a housekeeper. It was an educated gamble, and it paid off. But there is always a plan A, B, and C in my back pocket. Don’t forget that. Relax and know that we will get through this and hopefully sooner rather than later. But we have more time to prepare now. To become more at ease in our roles and make them believable when the visitors arrive. Now, we will go to lunch, take deep breaths, and be normal.”

“Normal?”

“As normal as two people who are madly in love and thinking of a blissful future and all is rosy around them. Easy.” She threw him a pointed grin of challenge and left the door open behind her as she departed.

Chapter Five

Easy, she said.The jury was still out on that one as far as he was concerned. Lunch was a never-ending array of questions fired at them by Emmie, the little inquisitor. And once again, Cole had to be amazed at how easily the threads of their story came from Jessie. She never missed a beat. And she countered with her own questions also. Cole was watching a pro in action and taking mental notes. Thrust and parry…the old teachings of the extracurricular fencing class he had taken in college for mind and body exercise came to his thoughts. He could only imagine what she would do when faced with Madeleine. It might be the most enjoyable part of the whole mess they had been dropped in.

“Dad, did you hear me?” Emmie piped up beside him. Cole came back to the moment.

“Sorry, sweet pea. Guess I was thinking about what I needed to do this afternoon.”

“Well, you really need to get Miss Jessie a horse to have while she’s here. And a good one. I think Cinco liked her. Then we can go riding and she can see the springs and the top of the mesa and…”

“Whoa,” he said, “slow down. Jessie isn’t here to run a marathon.”

Before he could address the sudden appearance of a crestfallen look on his daughter’s face, their guest beat him to it.

“I do think Cinco would be a good choice. And I do want to see all the best places on the ranch while I’m here. Perhaps you could be my tour guide.” Jessie smiled across at the girl, “when you aren’t doing your chores or whatever else you might have as responsibilities.”

“Chores,” Emmie said with a slow shake of her head. “I need to get busy on some that I promised I would do in the kitchen.”

“Then get to it,” Cole spoke up. “Our guest will still be here for a few days yet.”

“Yes sir.” She stood with reluctance, taking her plate and glass with her as she headed through the swinging door into the kitchen.

“She’s going to be okay.”

The words surprised him, and he looked at the woman whose gaze was locked on his. “You aren’t going to lose her.”

Cole heard the words, but more than that, he felt them. This woman had made a declaration that was the closest thing to a sacred vow he had ever heard and likely would ever hear again. The amazing thing at that moment was the feeling that her gaze had read what was hiding in his heart since all had begun the day before. She knew his fear was palpable and that the feeling of helplessness was something totally foreign to him. How was she able to do that? Who was the real woman? Did she ever reveal that person to anyone? In that moment he knew with certainty that whoever was granted that knowledge was akin to a lottery winner. And why did he feel an unmistakable stab of envy for that person?

*

“There is afoot in there, you know.” She spoke the words to the cowboy bent over the stirrup intent on ratcheting upward the leather but the hook giving him fits. He released the tight grip on the soft leather of her booted foot as he bent over to fix the problem and allow them to have a quiet covert conversation in front of other prying eyes around the stable yard. “Sorry, guess my cowboy skills are a bit rusty.” Randall, now a ranch hand known as Rowdy, grinned up at her.

“Boss said there’s a lot of chatter going on amongst the members but nothing definitive as of yet. How are things here besides dull and duller?”

“Not really dull,” she responded, her gaze behind the dark glasses alerting Cole on the tall horse viewing them across the corral.Not dull at all.But to the cowboy beside her, she simply feigned a studied indifference. “Just interesting now and then. But all’s quiet on the home front about the impending visitors.”

“Just the calm before the storm,” Rowdy commented and got no further.

“Is there a problem, cowboy?” The voice coupled with a creak of saddle leather indicated they had been joined by Cole. His gaze was steady and directed at the hand he knew as Rowdy.

“No problem,” she spoke up. “This nice cowboy adjusted my stirrup for me.” She gave a pleasant smile to her helper. “Thank you for the help. All is good now.”

Rowdy touched a finger to the tip of his hat brim. “No problem, ma’am.” He gave a nod to his ‘boss’ and headed towards the barn, leaving them alone.

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