The Rancher Takes a Family Read online

  Finally. Things were looking up.

  *

  Lacey had put entirely too much thought into what to wear to a parent-teacher meeting.

  When her front doorbell rang at quarter to six, she had on a pink-and-black flowered dress with a light, bolero-style cotton-knit sweater and rose-colored flats. She’d considered high heels because Jake was so tall, but this wasn’t a date, so what did it matter?

  She expected to find one of her neighbors when she answered the door. Instead, Neil stood on her step. He held a bouquet of orange tulips in his hand. It took her a second to figure out why he was here.

  They were supposed to have dinner. Heat flooded her body from the soles of her feet to the roots of her hair.

  He read the look on her face and the smile on his faded. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

  She had no excuse. She was the one who’d picked the night, but when Jake suggested they meet on Wednesday, it hadn’t clicked that she’d already made plans with Neil. Not even when Neil had asked her at lunch if she liked seafood.

  “I’m so sorry. I have a meeting with a parent at seven,” she said. She left out a few details, such as his name and that he wasn’t a parent, but a guardian.

  Oh, yes. And he was my boyfriend in high school. My first major crush.

  What a stupid secret for her to keep. She’d shared her first kiss with Tommy Jennings when they were in third grade together, and now he had a son in the second grade, and it wasn’t an issue whenever he came to the school.

  The bigger secret would be that, other than an inability to mind her own business, she had no real reason to meet with Jake. Mac wasn’t one of her students.

  Neil’s smile returned, although it wasn’t as wide. “No worries. We can go to dinner some other night.” He thrust the flowers into her hands. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

  The compliment made her feel worse. If she could forget their dinner date because of a parent-teacher meeting, then there wasn’t going to be another time. While she didn’t believe Neil was serious about her, he deserved better treatment than this.

  When she walked into the Wayside Café and saw Jake sitting at a table on the deck that extended over the Yellowstone River, a fresh wave of guilt overwhelmed her.

  Neil didn’t make her heart race this same way.

  Jake had his head turned away from the main door so he hadn’t seen her arrive. She stole a few seconds to get her giddy inner teenager under control and maybe to stare. The teenaged barista stared, too. Every woman in Montana who breathed on her own thought cowboys were hot, and this one was hotter than most. It wasn’t just the whole long-legged, lean-muscled packaging, or the deep, Irish-green eyes rimmed with black lashes. Jake had an air about him that reeked of quiet charisma and strength.

  Although, right now, he also looked as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  She took a few quick, quiet breaths, slapped her inner teenager for good measure, and pasted a smile on her lips. She skirted the bistro tables inside the café and strode out onto the deck.

  The evening was warm. Storm clouds churned in the distance, but the sun hadn’t yet battened down. A slight breeze lifted her hair and tickled the surface of the slow-flowing river. Along the far bank, a family of ducks was out for a swim. They clung to the shoreline, bobbing in and out of the reeds. So that was what Jake had been watching.

  He finally saw her and stood. His eyes never left her as she approached him, and all of a sudden she was petrified that she’d trip and fall flat on her face at his feet. How was it possible that no woman had yet snagged him?

  Who was to say one hadn’t?

  The gossips in Grand didn’t know all the dirt.

  The thought calmed her. In her head she’d pretend he was engaged, possibly secretly married, and off-limits to her. Plenty of the fathers who came to the school were attractive and she had no desire to throw herself at any of them. Jake was a parent, even if only by a serious act of misfortune, nothing more.

  They were here to discuss Mac.

  Lacey offered him her hand, determined to keep things professional. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

  His grip was as warm and smooth as a caress, not in the least suggestive, but enough to make her feel flushed and unsettled. He held her chair out for her and she was transported fifteen years back in time, charmed. He’d been a gentleman then and he remained one to this day. She hoped his fiancée or wife realized how lucky she was.

  The barista came out and they placed their orders. Lacey opted for black decaf and a chocolate croissant while Jake chose a mocha latte and huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

  “Supporting the local dairy industry,” he explained, dry humor creeping into his eyes.

  They talked about the ranch while they waited for their drinks. Ranching, it turned out, had taught him a lot. So had studying animal science at the state university for four years. She’d heard that the McGregors had installed an onsite power plant that fed into the local grid, but other than that, her understanding of the process bordered on zero and a lot of what Jake said went over her head. Her big takeaway was that they converted farm waste into energy and a nutrient-rich, marketable fertilizer.

  “I’m sorry,” Jake said, leaning back. “I shouldn’t ramble on this way. I doubt anaerobic digestion is as fascinating to you as it is me.”

  What fascinated her was how animated he became while explaining his pet project to her. He’d known in high school he’d end up a rancher, but it wasn’t her background, so she’d never quite grasped how much he truly loved it. She’d assumed he chose his vocation because he was the oldest son and under pressure from his father to take over the family business.

  The man he’d grown into appealed to her as much as the boy who’d once owned her heart had. He was still quiet, and yes, a little repressed, but she caught tiny glimpses of a vulnerability that had never been there before in the way he dodged any talk of his family. She wanted so much to help him work through his loss. Much more than was appropriate.

  She shouldn’t be here with him like this. At some point, their parent-teacher meeting had derailed. The patio lights were now on. The river sighed in the dark as its waters flowed by. The temperature dropped a few degrees with the sun. Their drinks had arrived, they were half-finished with their pastries, and they hadn’t even begun to discuss Mac.

  “Your nephews are wonderful boys,” she began.

  Jake’s face lost its animation. He leaned back in his chair, one palm flat on the tiny round bistro table. “They’ve had a rough go of it. It’s been barely a month. Mac needs time to settle in. It’ll be easier for him once he makes a few friends.”

  It was best to tread lightly. “He’s not showing any interest in making friends,” she said carefully. “He spends his lunch breaks and recesses watching over Finn.”

  “He’s the oldest. Once he’s sure Finn is okay, he’ll come around.”

  If Mac were a girl, they’d be having a far different conversation tonight. This macho, male chauvinistic attitude was what made cowboys less appealing to her. “That’s all well and fine, but who’s making sure Mac is okay?”

  “Mac has three uncles keeping an eye on him.”

  “He’s used to having two parents to turn to.”

  A flicker of pain flashed in Jake’s eyes before he could hide it. “And he doesn’t anymore, so we’ll all have to move on.” One long finger tapped on the table. “Any suggestions?”

  He knew she had some. That was why they were here.

  “In fact, I do. Our school has a coed summer soccer program for kids in the fifth and sixth grades. It’s intended to get them ready for the high school varsity teams. I’m the head coach and I think this would be a great opportunity for Mac to learn how to be part of a team.” Not to mention, burn off a lot of that pent-up aggression. “It seems to me that you’re trying to do the same thing at home—build a team. You and your brothers aren’t trying to replace their parents, but
you’ve got to give the boys some sort of structure, correct?”

  “I hadn’t thought of it in quite that way, but yes, you’re right,” Jake admitted. “I’ll talk to him about giving soccer a chance.”

  She’d made it past one hurdle. She might as well tackle the next. “Great. Now, you and I can talk about grief counseling.” She rummaged in her purse and withdrew a piece of paper. She slid it across the table and tucked it under his hand. “Here’s the number.”

  His fingers curled around the paper and crumpled it into a ball. He shoved the ball into a pocket without looking at it, saying nothing.

  That had gone better than expected. He’d probably throw it away, but at least he’d given himself time to reconsider.

  They were sitting on the patio so that they were side on to the open doors of the café. Lacey had stopped paying attention to the few customers who wandered through, but movement at the counter inside caught her eye.

  It was Neil. He looked around before she could look away. Heat scorched her cheeks. So this was how it felt to be caught in the act. The act of what, she couldn’t say. Her only escape route was over the railing and into the river.

  “Someone you know?” Jake asked.

  “One of our teachers.”

  Lacey tried to tell herself she’d done nothing wrong—she and Neil weren’t exclusive—but she was lying. Again. Since there was no getting around this, she might as well get it over with. She lifted her hand and waved.

  Neil didn’t wave back. Instead, he paid for his drink, grabbed his takeout cup, and headed her way. Lacey saw the train wreck in motion, but couldn’t avoid it.

  He nodded at Jake, but his eyes drilled into her. “Lacey. I didn’t expect to see you here, tonight.” Bet you didn’t expect to see me here, either.

  No. No, she hadn’t.

  Her skin crawled with embarrassment. She prayed the dim light would hide it as she made the introductions. “Neil, this is Jake McGregor, Mac and Finn’s uncle. Jake, Neil Pierce. Neil teaches third grade.”

  The two men shook hands.

  “Don’t let me interrupt a parent-teacher meeting,” Neil said.

  There was no mistaking the unspoken question she heard. Well? Is that what this really is?

  Jake heard it, too. He scraped his chair back and unfolded his long legs. “You aren’t interrupting. We’re finished.”

  Side by side, the two men were night and day. And yet, they shared a quiet directness that Lacey was just noticing now.

  Go figure.

  Jake’s gaze fell on her. His tone turned as cool as the growing chill in air. “I’ll talk to Mac about soccer. Enjoy the rest of the evening.” He directed that last comment at Neil, too.

  There was nothing Lacey could add that wouldn’t make matters worse, so she muttered her thanks for the drink and pastry he’d bought her, then let him leave.

  Neil, however, wasn’t about to let her off the hook quite so easy.

  He settled into Jake’s vacated chair and sipped at his drink, taking his time. Lacey could smell the hot chocolate as the air shifted direction. Coots nesting in the long grass of the wetland cooed back and forth in the night. She tugged her light sweater closed, crossed her arms over her stomach, and waited for it.

  They might as well clear the air now.

  “Parent-teacher night, huh?” Neil finally said.

  “I used to know Jake and his parents.” That sounded so lame. “I knew Mac’s mother a little, too. I couldn’t stand by and watch Mac suffering the way he is and not talk to his family about it.”

  Neil took another sip of his drink. “Why not explain that to me earlier?”

  “Because I dated Jake when I was sixteen and it seemed like a ridiculous thing to tell you about. We were kids.”

  “Forgetting about a dinner date with me in favor of a coffee date with an old boyfriend makes it seem a whole lot less ridiculous. From my perspective, at least.”

  “This wasn’t a date. Jake had business in town and asked if we could meet here instead of the school.”

  “Come on, Lacey. Neither one of us is stupid. He was sounding you out and you know it. You were sounding him out, too.” One corner of Neil’s mouth twisted upward, then fell. “So, where does this leave you and me? What are my chances?”

  Dismay had her scrambling for words. She’d honestly believed Neil only ever asked her out in the first place because everyone else had been on staff since the Reagan administration. When he found a better job elsewhere, he’d jump on it.

  Lacey, however, was happy in Grand. This was her home and she wasn’t leaving again.

  “I really like you, Neil. I have a brother your age,” she began.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He set his drink down with a thud. “I was offered a classroom in Billings next year. I’ve been trying to work out the logistics—whether I should live here and travel, or maybe get a place in between. Or I could turn the offer down and stay on at Marion Street. I was planning to talk to you about it over dinner.”

  She didn’t bite. If he really wanted to stay on at Marion Street Grand Elementary, there’d be no reason to discuss his options with her. She wasn’t going to be the reason he turned down an offer he’d like to accept.

  “It’s two hours to Billings from here. That’s a ridiculous commute. Even an hour is too long, especially in winter.”

  “Right, then. I’ll start looking for an apartment in Billings.” Neil glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late and the girl at the counter looks like she wants us to get out. Why don’t I walk you to your car?”

  “I’ll be fine. This is Grand.” The crime rate was low. Not to mention, everyone knew everyone else. Austin Peters, who liked to expose himself when he was drinking, had been pepper sprayed so often that all she’d have to do was put her hand in her purse and he’d run.

  She trailed Neil out to the street anyway, since they were both leaving.

  He tossed his empty cup in the trash can next to the door. The barista locked up behind them. The windows of the businesses lining the street gleamed gunmetal black. A few blocks down, the tail end of Lacey’s car mooned them from under a lamppost.

  Neil kissed her cheek.

  “Bye,” he said, then waited with shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets until she was safely in the driver’s seat of her Honda. When she checked the rearview mirror, he was gone.

  She propped her head against the headrest and stared at the ceiling. She wasn’t sorry things had ended, because she’d already made that decision. What she regretted was how poorly she’d handled the whole evening—from beginning to end.

  And as far as Jake went?

  If he really had been sounding her out, as Neil believed, then she’d made a mess of that, too.

  Chapter Four

  “We are not putting Finn in a dance class,” Jake said.

  He and Luke were alone in the kitchen. Zack had drafted a schedule and it was Luke’s day to clean up after meals. Jake’s household assignment was laundry. The boys had taken the bus to school for the first time, and Zack was next door, dropping Lydia off for a few hours.

  Jake loaded another helping of bacon onto his plate. Grit scraped his eyes when he blinked. He was tired. He hadn’t slept well, no doubt thanks to the caffeine he’d consumed last evening with Lacey, and he’d already put in two hours in the barns this morning. He was not in a good mood.

  He’d started this, however, by asking Luke if he’d sign Mac up for soccer. One thing had led to another, and now, here they were. It was bad enough that one child was having a hard time settling in. No way was he painting a target on Finn’s back, and he said so.

  Luke’s eyebrows lowered until he looked like a pissed off cat ready to rumble. “What kind of target are we talking about?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No. I don’t. Because if you’re suggesting it might bring Finn’s masculinity into question, I’d like to point out that he’s five. It’ll be a few years before his
masculinity’s an issue, and even then, I doubt if dance lessons will be what tips the scales either way.”

  Jake was tired of every decision he made being questioned. Stubbornness overrode logic. “I’m not worried about his masculinity. But kids can be mean. Why make it harder for him to fit in than it already is? Why not put him in something more geared toward boys so he can make friends? What’s wrong with kickboxing?”

  “Why would he want to be friends with kids who are jerks? Liz had him signed up for a summer dance class in New York, so she must have seen talent in him. He was excited about it.”

  Their sister had been passionate about dance, but she’d never quite had what it took to become a professional. If she’d seen talent in Finn, it might have been wishful thinking.

  “Things are different in New York.”

  “If you’re implying that people in Grand are more backward, then you’re doing a fantastic job of proving yourself right.”

  Luke always pushed the right buttons, but this time, Jake refused to be goaded. There was a difference between raising kids in New York City and here in Grand, and Luke knew it—no matter whether he agreed with the differences or not.

  “I don’t care if Finn grows up to be Tinker Bell and sprinkles fairy dust for a living. But do you think people aren’t talking about what a mistake it is for men to be raising three children alone? Do you think I’m not being judged? That you and Zack aren’t?”

  Luke wasn’t about to be swayed from his stance, either. “So he makes friends with little girls, not little boys. So what? Does it matter what anyone else thinks as long as he’s happy?”

  Jake’s chair legs clattered against terra cotta as he shoved away from the table, leaving his second helping of bacon and hash browned potatoes untouched. This was as much about taking care of Mac and easing some of his burden. It made Jake uneasy to think that he was spending his free time at school watching out for Finn, as Lacey claimed, rather than making friends of his own.

  “Finn can pick his after-school activities next year, once he’s settled in at school and makes a few friends. Until then, we help him navigate the minefields.”