Harlequin American Romance May 2014 Bundle: One Night in Texas\The Cowboy's Destiny\A Baby for the Doctor\The Bull Rider's Family (73 page)

But, honestly, did she have a choice? Her hands shaking, she informed the voice on the other end of the line that his new chef was on her way.

Finally, she drew in a courage-laced breath, squared her shoulders and pushed her way into the Circle P’s kitchen a final time. In one corner Chris chopped veggies with the precision of someone who’d been born to the job, while at the pastry counter, Tim decorated a cake for the Parkers’ homecoming. A cake someone else would have to serve because she and Bree were on their way out of here. A wave of homesickness for the ranch she was about to leave threatened to knock her down.

“Chris, Tim, I’m feeling a little under the weather,” she announced from the doorway. “I’d appreciate it if you could carry on with the dinner preparations.”

“You okay, Ms. Emma?” A worried frown crossed Tim’s face.

Buying time, she closed her eyes and nodded. “I’m leaving the kitchen in your capable hands.”

For a few seconds, she concentrated on staying upright, on ignoring the searing pain that gripped her heart. She spared a quick look at the small corner table where her daughter was coloring a welcome home banner for the Parkers. Her chest tightened and she swallowed her tears. For Bree’s sake, she wouldn’t cry. Wouldn’t let her heartbreak show.

“I’m making a present. See?” The sign Bree held up had more scribbles outside the lines than inside them.

Emma lifted a hand, intending to brush it through hair she’d snagged into a bun in deference to the rising temperatures. She settled for tucking one of the pins in deep enough that it scraped across her scalp.

Yipping, a puppy scratched at the screened door.

“Chocolate!” Bree looked up from her artwork. “You’re s’posed to be with your mommy and your brothers in the barn.” Golden-brown from the days she’d spent playing outside, her daughter rushed to the door. She scooped the dog of indeterminate breed into her arms and carried him inside. “Mommy, look, he runned to me. Watch. I’ll show you his new trick.” Eight pounds of squiggling fur poured out of her arms when she bent over. “Sit, Chocolate,” Bree ordered.

The dog plopped its heavy hindquarters on the floor.

“Now, shake.”

The appropriately named puppy slapped one paw against Bree’s outstretched hand. With a squeal of delight, her daughter scooped the dog back into her arms. “Mr. Colt said a dog is a big job. But I teached him good, didn’t I, Mommy?” She patted the dog’s head. “I’m gonna teach you lots of tricks, Chocolate.”

Another wave of pain knifed through Emma’s chest. When she and Bree left the Circle P, they’d have to leave the pup behind. Taking over as head chef meant impossibly long days that started late and ran far into the night. No, she shook her head. There was no way to fit even a small pet into their new schedule. And, from the size of his paws, Chocolate was going to be anything but small. She dropped to her knees and let Bree think she was letting the dog lick her face when, in fact, he washed the tears from her cheeks.

* * *

J
UST
WHEN
HE
thought Jimmy couldn’t bounce any higher and still remain strapped in, Colt turned off the main road onto the long drive to the ranch house. “Keep your boots on,” he told the youngster whose presence had stifled the serious talk he needed to have with Ty and Sarah. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

Beside him on the passenger’s seat, the Circle P’s owner stretched his long legs. “I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed. Hawaii was nice, but nothing beats coming home.”

Home.

Theirs, but not his. Not for much longer. The pain of leaving, of letting down all the people who were counting on him, was a knife in his chest. Colt stared through the windshield at land that had been worked by four generations of Judds. Thanks to Emma, he’d rediscovered a love for ranching that had been handed down from father to son. A love he wanted to pass along to children of his own someday. He wanted...this, he admitted as he studied barbed wire and green grass. Trouble was, having his own patch of saw grass and palmetto didn’t hold the same appeal without Emma at his side. Before he could have what he wanted, he’d have to get over losing her. Have to reach the point where he could think about her without doubling over. Which, by his reckoning, might not happen till he hung up his spurs for the last time.

“Well, I want a decent cup of coffee.” Sarah gave one of the ranch hands a friendly wave. “I missed the gurgle of our old percolator in the mornings.”

“About that...” Colt swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Emma called it a monstrosity. She tossed it. The new one, though, it makes a mighty fine cuppa joe.”

“You don’t say.”

Sarah leaned back so far into her seat Colt barely caught a glimpse of her raised eyebrows in the rearview mirror. Maybe he should have argued longer or stronger for the battered coffeemaker. He’d intended to. One look at the excitement in Emma’s eyes when she lifted the new one out of the box, though, and all his objections had simply melted. The same way they had when she rearranged the cupboards. Or offered the men a choice between apples and oranges in their lunch pails.

“I know I promised to uphold the Circle P’s traditions, but that old pot—”

“Nothing stays the same forever,” Ty interrupted. “Look how much the ranch has changed. Five years ago, we raised beef—prime Andalusian cattle—and nothing else.”

“And you were barely keeping body and soul together,” Sarah pointed out.

“Lettin’ tourists come along for the spring and winter roundups put us in the black and kept us there,” Ty finished.

“Don’t forget my flowers,” Sarah chimed in. “With that end of the business doing so well, we can afford to take on two more foster kids this fall.”

“Sounds like the birding tours’ll be a big hit, too, thanks to Josh. He did a great job showing Mike and Dave around.” Colt aimed for a parking spot among the usual assortment of pickup trucks and four-wheelers. “You’ll have to read the article from
Beaks and Wings.
”

“First thing on my list after we unload.” Ty unbuckled his seat belt with an audible sigh.

“I can’t wait to see Maize’s puppies. Can I go to the barn, Dad?” Jimmy popped his door open when the truck rolled to a halt.

“Let the dog get a whiff of your scent before you go bustin’ in on her,” Ty cautioned the same way Colt had taught Bree. “Remember, you’ve been away for a while.”

The boy who’d acquired a deeper tan in the month he’d been gone slowed his steps just long enough to treat them to a world-class eye roll as if he needed to remind his dad this wasn’t his first time dealing with a protective mom and her pups.

“Ty, would you mind getting the luggage?” Sarah asked as she stepped from the vehicle. “I’m itching to visit the greenhouse. I’m sure Chris and Tim took good care of my plants.”

“They worked with ’em whenever Emma didn’t need them in the kitchen,” Colt said, noting the same slight lift in Sarah’s tone he’d heard the past three times she’d asked about the boys. He added a subtle hint of his own. “She taught ’em so much about cookin’ an’ such, I imagine they could ’bout take over.”

“Uh-huh.” Sarah squinted at the horizon, where the setting sun had turned low clouds into a sea of gold and pink. “For now, though, I’ll need their help. The new plants should arrive the day after tomorrow. We have to make room for them.”

“There’s some other stuff you need to know.” Prepared to dive into the topic he’d put off for as long as he could, Colt ran one hand over the brim of the new Stetson he’d picked up on his way through Okeechobee.

“Can we get to that in a bit?” Sarah flexed her fingers. “I can hardly wait to dig my hands into some good Florida dirt.”

“Well, I...” But he was speaking to Sarah’s back as the boss’s wife headed for her beloved flowers. Watching her go, Colt resettled a hat that, like all the other changes in his life, was going to take some getting used to. He shrugged. “Guess I’ll help with the luggage,” he muttered. It was just as well. He could use the reprieve to get his wits about him.

While he and Ty pulled bags from the back of the truck, Colt took a slow, methodical survey of the parking area. He couldn’t spot Emma’s car and told himself that was a good thing, though, for the life of him, he wasn’t sure how he’d survive the next five minutes, let alone the next five years, without her at his side. In her usual parking space sat a black sedan with an “I Heart Real Estate” sticker on the bumper. Evidently, Hank had made good time. Too good, in fact. Had something else brought his younger brother to the Circle P? Colt’s brow furrowed. Weekly phone calls from his mom kept him updated on Arlene and the baby. At last report, the situation was still touch and go.

Suddenly in a hurry, he put his feet in motion. Seconds later, his boots rang against the wide steps leading into the ranch house. The front door swung open before Colt made it to the top, and his brother stepped onto the porch. Munching on a cookie, the younger Judd dusted a few crumbs onto the wide cedar planks.

“Hank.” Colt dropped a pair of suitcases at the feet of a man who looked far too at ease to be the bearer of bad news. “You must’ve been halfway here when we spoke on the phone earlier,” he said while they traded shakes and half hugs. “What’s the hurry?”

“I’m just here for you, bro. It sounded like you were eager to hit the road.” Hank held out a fistful of cookies. “Want one?”

Colt’s stomach did a slow roll as he stared down at the treats he and Emma had baked for the Parkers’ homecoming. He told himself the tremor that shot through him was just hunger. Earlier, he’d been in such a rush to put some much-needed distance between him and the woman he loved, he hadn’t bothered to stop for lunch. But the thin scab over his heartbreak was sure to reopen if Emma and Bree were still on the Circle P. “You haven’t seen Emma, have you?”

“The cook?” Hank’s eyes widened. “You know what she did, don’t you?”

“Hey, Hank.” Loaded down with luggage and bags, Ty brushed past. “Don’t stand out here jawin’. Grab a bag and close the door.” The Circle P’s owner trudged to the bottom of the staircase, where he dropped a load of suitcases bearing red overweight tags. When Colt and Hank added theirs to the pile, Ty asked, “Are you going someplace, Colt?” He turned to Hank. “I didn’t expect to see you here. And what did our cook do?”

“You haven’t told ’em?” A grin spread across Hank’s face. “The PBR made Colt a sweet deal if he’d quit loafin’ around here and get back to work.”

While Colt considered throttling his brother for the way he’d dropped the bomb, concern deepened the lines around Ty’s mouth. “Is that true?”

His eyes on the doorway to the kitchen, Colt shrugged. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out, but yeah. I’m heading out tomorrow.”

“Leaving the ranch in my capable hands.” Hank, ever the salesman, stepped forward. “I may not be able to ride a bull as well as Colt, but I know as much about managing the Circle P as he does. And I’m not going anywhere till Royce and Randy get here.”

Ty expelled air. “This isn’t exactly the welcome home I expected, but it sounds like you’ve taken care of things. Now, what’s this about our cook?”

A troubled look crossed Hank’s face. His voice dropped to a stage whisper. “She’s gone. Packed up—lock, stock and barrel—and hit the road. She didn’t even stick around long enough to help with dinner tonight. Chris and Tim are doing the best they can, but...” He tsked. “Damn shame, if you ask me. These are the best cookies I ever tasted.”

Gone.
The relief Colt expected at not having to face Emma again never materialized. Instead, the bands across his chest tightened.

“Let me get this straight.” Ty’s voice dropped into a lower register. “You’re leaving
and
we’ve lost our cook? Ever think those two items might qualify as an emergency?”

“I hear ya.” Colt absorbed Ty’s censure. His friend was right. Ty should have been kept in the loop. Would have been, except everything had happened so fast there hadn’t been time to so much as make a phone call.

While Ty continued to glower, the front door eased open. Smiling, Sarah joined the trio in the great room.

“Hank! I didn’t know you were here.” After giving him a brief peck on the cheek, she turned to Colt. “The boys have done a marvelous job with the nursery. They even started an herb garden for our new cook. I need to thank them. Are they in the kit—” Noticing the grim faces around her, she stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“Emma’s gone,” Hank blurted.

“Really?”

As one, the three men nodded.

“What a shame. I really liked her. I’m so sorry, Colt.” A pensive frown crossed the redhead’s brow. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Hank’s eyes widened as understanding finally sank in. “Wait a minute.” He stared at his brother. “You and Emma?”

Colt sliced the air with one hand. “Doesn’t matter. She— I told you about the changes she made.”

Some, like the coffeepot and fruit in the lunch bags, were obvious. Others, not so much. Like the ones she’d made in his heart, his life. She’d turned a nomadic cowboy into a man who craved nothing more than a quiet evening by the fireplace, his girl in his arms, his babies upstairs. That he couldn’t have what he wanted, that was his own misery to bear.

He swallowed past a fresh burst of pain and steadied himself. He had to make Ty and Sarah understand why Emma had left.

“She...” Unwilling to let her shoulder the blame, he tried again. “There was an accident. In the kitchen. Most of the Circle P’s cookbook was damaged. We spent the past month salvaging what we could and testing out new recipes to replace the ones that were lost. Emma’s a good cook. A great one,” he corrected. “We made a lot of progress. But then a four-star restaurant in Fort Lauderdale offered her better pay and the chance to make a name for herself. It was simply too good to pass up,” he said, his words spilling out faster than the announcer’s at the rodeo.

“Wait.” Sarah held up a hand. “I’m confused. She had all that in New York. She came here to have more time with her daughter. So why’d she leave again?”

Knowing the time had come to explain his role in Emma’s swift departure, Colt widened his stance. “Truth be told, she didn’t want to take the job. But this kind of thing, it doesn’t come along very often. So I—” he scuffed one boot against the floor “—I fired her.”