Page 6 of In Bed with the Rancher

She smiled and shook her head. “Thank heavens, no. It’s easy to hire help of all sorts from Gerald’s ranch. Like I said, his house and buildings are close to my property.”

“That’s a good setup. But calling it a cabin doesn’t exactly convey an accurate image of your getaway home,” he remarked dryly.

She smiled. “True. But I love it here. My dream has always been to marry and have four or five kids to fill it.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t have any idea, but I seriously doubt if I’ve ever taken out a woman whose lifelong wish was for marriage and four or five kids.”

“Well, when you get your memory back, you might be surprised. I can say this, though—you probably have never taken out anyone who had no family.”

“No family?”

She shook her head. “I don’t have any family left. My mom and sister died from cancer. My dad moved away and remarried. My grandparents aren’t alive.” She shrugged. “So, essentially, I’m alone.” When she saw his mood start to sag, she added, “But I’m okay with it. My work and friends keep me plenty busy.”

“You said you’re an occupational therapist with a home-care business in Dallas. It must be a booming business.”

“We’re busy, which is good. I have a much simpler place in Dallas, but I love this cabin and I built it for my future, for my dream home. Right now it’s a vacation home, a getaway, so I don’t have a landline or Wi-Fi. Just peace and quiet.” She looked at the cabin and envisioned it without the torrents of rain marring its beauty. “Luckily I had this home when my mom and sister could still come out here to visit, before I lost my family. I’ll bet you have siblings.”

“I wish I could remember even one thing about my family.”

“A family is wonderful. My sister was ten years older, so when I was growing up, she wasn’t around. I love children and I love kids and I’m thinking about someday going back to night classes or taking online courses to get a teacher’s certificate. I have a master’s in occupational therapy. All I would need for secondary teaching would be the required education courses and student teaching. It’s not a whole lot. Either that or I’ll just volunteer for things that involve kids. Now I’m doing something that helps people, so I’m not ready to give up the home-care business yet. It’s work I like.”

He studied her with a thoughtful look and she wondered what he was thinking. He turned away. “That’s commendable—helping people. I can’t remember what the hell I do,” he said.

“You’ll remember eventually.”

“Thanks again for coming to my rescue, Ava. I know you’d feel better if I could tell you who I am and what I do. Being friendly and grateful to be rescued aren’t necessarily guarantees of a good guy,” he remarked dryly. “With you being isolated out here—”

She cut him off. “I’m not really isolated here because of Gerald and his wife, the cowboys who work at Roan Ranch and their families, some of whom work for me. And Samantha cooks for me, although she’s off right now because her daughter had a baby. Samantha is married to one of Gerald’s cowboys. The wife of one of the cowhands, Margo, cleans, and Jonah and his crew do the yard work for me and for the Roans. I have people around all the time. Margo won’t be here until next week because she was here yesterday. Oh, this is the first Monday in October in case you’re interested.”

“Neither the month or day means much to me right now. I don’t know where I was going or where I had been. I don’t know why I was where I was.” He blew out a frustrated breath and raked a hand through his hair. When he turned to her again, he changed the subject. “You said your father remarried. Do you see him?”

“No, I don’t. He divorced my mom when I was fourteen. He and his new wife live in California. I don’t see him at all. They severed relations and he doesn’t contact me.”

Though it was sad that her father wasn’t part of her life, she didn’t feel sorry for herself. She had lots of good memories of growing up with both her parents. Which was more than this man sitting beside her could say right now.

She continued up the drive and turned off the main road that circled in front of the house. She took a branch road that veered around the house to a porte cochere along the west side.

“We’re home,” she said cheerfully as she put the vehicle in Park. Then she turned to see his reaction to the cabin up close, only to find him instead looking intently at her. Her eyes met his and suddenly it became another moment when she was conscious of him as a physically appealing male. She didn’t know anything about him and she was about to take him in and let him stay at her house, under her roof, with her. And that thought made her heart race, but not with fear.

Breaking the spell that seemed to have fallen over her, a bright red pickup pulled in beside them and she smiled when she saw it was Gerald and Molly.

“Here are the Roans minus their kids. They have a sitter for them easily available—Gerald’s grandmother lives on his ranch. Her house is close to Gerald’s.”

“It’s weird to meet someone when you don’t even know who you are,” he remarked as he stepped out.

Even though they had both parked beneath a roof and were sheltered, the wind and torrential rain still blew through the porte cochere and Ava motioned for everyone to follow as she went ahead, opened the door and entered her house. The Roans were both bringing boxes and covered dishes as they hurried inside and set their packages on the floor so they could take off their wet coats.

As soon as they were inside the dark entryway with a terrazzo floor, she turned to face the Roans. “Let me help you get these wet coats off,” Ava insisted. She turned to flip a switch.

“First, we don’t have electric power because of the storm,” Ava said, getting a flashlight from a shelf by the door. “I’ll turn on the generators, but before I go, let me make the introductions,” she said as she took off her rain slicker and hung it on a hook. When she turned, she noticed the stranger’s gaze sweep over her and instantly she became aware of her tangled, long blond hair, her blue sweater and dark jeans. His gaze reached her toes and then went back up to meet her eyes, and she could feel the heat in her cheeks as they looked at each other.

To her relief, Molly was talking about dinner and Gerald had just finished hanging up their yellow slickers and hats, and he seemed distracted as he picked up boxes he was carrying when he came.

“We’re calling him Bill Smith until his memory returns,” she said to the Roans as she passed small flashlights to everyone.

“Bill, meet my neighbors. This is Gerald Roan,” she said as Gerald balanced two big boxes he carried, stuck out his hand and they shook. Gerald was almost as tall as the stranger.

“Meet my wife, Molly,” Gerald said easily, turning to his brunette wife, who only came to Gerald’s shoulder in height. As always, she had a warm smile and Ava was once again thankful for them as neighbors. Molly held a stack of three covered bowls in her hands.

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