Sunset Surrender (2 page)

Sophia had grown into the spitting image of her mother and then some. In fact, Logan hated to admit it but Sophia Montrose was even more stunning than her mother had been.

“So, refresh my memory. Why in hell do you want to live way out here with the dust and the flies and horse dung?”

Sophia rolled her eyes, and the deep breath she sucked in lifted her ample chest, stretching the material of her dress to its limit. Logan’s groin tightened. He didn’t like his immediate reaction to her one damn bit.

“Sunset Ranch was my home, too, Logan. For twelve years of my life. It was a happy time, and I loved working alongside my mother at the lodge, which—thanks to your father’s kindness—is half mine now. So why would I not want to live here?”

Logan rubbed the back of his neck. He still didn’t get why his father put Sophia Montrose in his will. “It’s hardly an exciting life.”

Sophia repeated his words. “It’s hardly an exciting life.”

Logan’s brows lifted. “You telling me you didn’t like living in Las Vegas? A woman like you?”

Sophia narrowed her eyes. “You have no idea who I am, Logan.”

He knew she was the kind of woman who wasn’t above sleeping with an old man to get her hands on his money. The old codger must have come to his senses before she cleaned him out, prenup or not.

“I can’t change the past,” she said. “But I’m here to make a life for myself.”

“On Slade land.”

“Yes, on Slade land. Now, are you going to keep jingling those keys in front of me or are you going to hand them over?”

Logan looked at the keys in his hand. “No one has lived there since you left.”

Sophia’s brows gathered. “Are you saying that the cottage is exactly the same?”

He nodded. “My father wouldn’t allow anyone else to live there. Another victory for Louisa. You can bet that decision didn’t set well with my mother. I used to hear them fighting about it late at night.”

“That’s hardly my mother’s fault. Or mine, for that matter.”

“You’ll have to let the current manager at the lodge go.”

Sophia met his smug stare. “Go? What do you mean?”

“I mean, she’s out of a job now. The thing of it is, Sophia, you’re going to replace her as manager. Last I checked the place can’t have two full-time managers. Mrs. Polanski has to be notified.”

“You don’t honestly expect me to go in there and fire her, do you?”

“Well, if you don’t want to, she can stay on and I’ll buy you out. That’ll solve your problem.”

Sophia crossed her arms under her breasts and glared at him. “You go straight to hell.”

Logan grinned. He couldn’t help it. He’d succeeded in rankling her. Up until this point, she’d been a cool customer. But he’d be darned if the woman didn’t just get prettier with her face heating up and her eyes shooting sparks. “I’m just telling you like it is, Sophia. Mrs. Polanski has managed the place going on eight years now. She’s good and the guests like her.”

“And you left it up to me to fire her. How sweet of you.”

“Something has to give. It seems my father didn’t think of everything when he gave away our lodge.”

“I only have half ownership. He didn’t give it all away.”

“I bet you wish he had.”

She lifted her perfectly sculpted chin and replied without pause. “Yes, sure. I wish I had full ownership.”

Logan eyed her. He hadn’t expected her to admit it.

“Maybe then I wouldn’t have to deal with you...or fire an employee.”

Now, Logan’s blood boiled. “That lodge has been in the Slade family for generations. It was a little hole-in-the-wall inn for drifters and penniless soldiers after World War II, until my grandfather came along and built it into the fine establishment it is today. You tell me how you figure into that picture?”

Sophia raised her arms into the air, her temper flaring. “I don’t know why your father was so generous with me, Logan. I don’t know what you want me to say, but obviously your father had faith in me to do the job right. I’m here now and I am going to manage the lodge. If I have to let someone go, I’ll do it. But,” she said, pointing her finger at his chest, “I can assure you, I will not forget that you placed me in this position the very second I stepped onto the ranch.”

“That’s the way I want to be remembered, Sophia. As the guy who is going to test you, time and again. You don’t belong here, but I won’t stand in your way, either, if you do a good job. And don’t worry, I’m relinquishing my duties at the lodge to Luke. You’ll deal with him from now on.” He dropped the keys into her hand. “Starting tomorrow.”

She closed her hands around the keys. “I didn’t want to start out like this, Logan.”

He opened the car door for her and spoke with as much civility as he could muster. “Half a mile down the road. I’m sure you remember how to get there.”

“Yes, I do remember,” she said. As she squeezed past him to get into the car, her knockout breasts brushed his chest and the firm contact, along with the stirring scent of her erotic perfume, assaulted him like a blow to the gut.

He closed the car door, and watched her Camry vanish into the horizon as half a dozen curses slipped out of his mouth.

* * *

The second Logan was out of sight in her rearview mirror, Sophia slumped her shoulders and loosened the tight grip she had on the steering wheel. She eased her foot off the pedal a little and let the car amble along the road that led to Sunset Lodge. She simply would not think of Logan Slade again. He angered her, but he also thrilled her, and it was an emotion she didn’t welcome—and one she tried to will away. Her mother had once told her that matters of the heart could not be explained or understood. They just were. Sophia would not be a fool in regard to Logan Slade. He’d offered her a small fortune just to be rid of her. How could she feel anything for him but disdain?

Certainly, she could avoid him while living here. Nestled between the grand Sierra Nevadas and Carson City, Sunset Ranch was vast, spanning miles in a diamond-shaped perimeter. Tomorrow, when Luke arrived home, she’d renew their friendship and she’d deal with him on matters involving her lodge duties. At least she had one friend on Sunset Ranch she could count on.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, darlin’,” he’d said. “I’ll make sure you get a proper welcome home.”

Snow from winter storms capped the tallest peaks of the mountain range, reminding her of vanilla ice cream on a waffle cone. The image made her smile. She’d almost forgotten how peaceful and beautiful the landscape was on Sunset Ranch in the spring, the indigo skies dotted with white marshmallow clouds. It was so different from the crowded marquee-laden noisy streets of Las Vegas.

The lodge stables came into view first, and her heart squeezed tight that her mother couldn’t be here to see the grounds once again. Louisa had loved caring for the horses in her spare time. “So sorry, Mama.”

Sophia blinked away a tear, taking a deep breath.

As she drove a little farther, the lodge filled her vision. It wasn’t what one would expect to see on a Nevada ranch. The lodge was grand, made of natural, rounded gray stone mingled with cedar sidings in a glorious combination that spoke of elegance and grace. The surrounding land was fertile and filled with wispy wildflowers in bloom. And the immediate grounds were groomed impeccably.

It was considered a privilege by the employees to tend the property and work the stables. Not too many workers came and went at Sunset Lodge. The Slades had always maintained long-standing relationships with those on staff.

Sophia felt queasy about having to release Mrs. Polanski, and any thought she had of stopping in to see the lodge vanished in an instant. She couldn’t face that hurdle right now. She would settle into the cottage first and get organized. She would wait until tomorrow to speak to Luke about the woman.

The cottage was tucked behind and out of view of the lodge. It afforded a good amount of privacy, which Sophia wanted now above all else. The media splash her secret marriage had created, along with watching her mother lose her struggle with cancer, had taken a giant toll on her. She needed to regroup and dive into work she would enjoy. More than anything else, Sophia had to prove something to herself.

All her life, she had gotten by on her looks. She’d never had the chance to go to college, but she’d never regretted the time she’d spent with her mother, helping her manage small motels and inns on the outskirts of Las Vegas. When her mother became ill, Sophia had honed her natural dance abilities to land ensemble roles for big-time casinos in Las Vegas. She’d made enough money to support the two of them as a showgirl, not so much because of her brains or talent, but because she looked the way she did.

Now was her chance to dig in, to give it her all and to shine doing something she loved.

“Ms. Montrose, hello!”

A rider on a gorgeous bay mare sidled up next to the car. She didn’t realize how slowly she was actually driving. She rolled the window the rest of the way down.

“It’s Ward Halliday. Remember me?”

She glanced at the Slade’s head horse wrangler. “Oh, Mr. Halliday. Yes, I do recognize you. How have you been?”

He grinned crookedly. “Getting old and grouchy,” he said as he rode along beside her car. “But seeing you here sure brightened my day.”

“Well, thank you. It’s good be ho—here. I’ve missed it.”

His grin faded and he gave her a solemn nod. “Sure am sorry to hear about your mama, girl.”

She put her foot on the brake and the car rolled to a stop. “Thank you. It was a hard time.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that it was,” he said, pulling up on the mare’s reins. “She was a nice woman. She made cookies a time or two for my boy, Hunter. Gosh, he was a little cuss then.”

“I remember. I helped her, Mr. Ward.”

A sweet smile wrinkled his face. “Heck, you’re not fifteen anymore. You can call me Ward. Here comes Hunter now.”

He turned in his saddle just as a younger man approached on a horse. “He was just a kid when you left the ranch. He’s working here with me now and planning on going to Texas A & M in the fall.”

Sophia turned off the engine, and stepped out of the car. The sun beamed down with early afternoon intensity and she shielded her eyes as she gazed up to greet the young man. “So you’re little Hunter. It’s good to see you again.”

He took no offense yet straightened her out good-naturedly. “Not so little anymore, miss.”

No, he wasn’t. Hunter Halliday was taller than his dad and broader in the shoulders. “I can see that.”

“Are you fixin’ on moving in right now?” he asked.

“Yes, I was just on my way to the cottage.”

Ward looked at the boxes in the backseat of her car. “You need help? Hunter will help you unload.”

“Oh, well...I could use a hand, but if you’re busy—”

“I’m not busy at all,” Hunter said. “Mr. Slade sent me out to see if I can help.”

He did? Logan hadn’t seemed to care one bit that Sophia had to move all of her things into the cottage by herself. He hadn’t offered to help, the way a gentleman would, but then she really hadn’t expected much from him. “Then yes. I would appreciate your help.”

Ward tipped his hat. “Welcome home, Ms. Montrose.”

“Call me Sophia,” she said just before he turned his horse around.

“Will do,” he called over his shoulder.

Sophia smiled and got back into her car. “I’ll meet you at the cottage,” she said to Hunter.

Hunter took off and somehow managed to beat her there. He ground-tethered his horse and came forward to open the car door for her.

“You got here fast.”

He grinned. “I know a shortcut, miss.”

“Of course.” She was reminded of all the shortcuts she’d taken on horseback when she lived here. The paved roads weren’t always the quickest way from point A to point B. “And please, call me Sophia, too.”

He was already reaching into her backseat for a box.

“Sure thing.”

He came up with three boxes, stacking them and managing to keep them balanced as he walked to the door. Sophia put the key into the lock. Her heart hammered against her chest, and Hunter beat her to the words that were just forming on her lips.

“I bet it’s just the way you remembered it.”

She breathed out. “I hope so.”

She opened the door without fanfare and moved quietly into the cozy three-bedroom cottage. She glanced around, taking everything in with a quick scan. “It is just as I remembered it.”

Hunter glanced around. “I’ve always wondered what the place looked like on the inside. It’s sorta nice. Homey.”

“Yes,” Sophia agreed. She honestly hadn’t known what to expect after Logan informed her no one else had lived here since she and her mother left. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d wondered if he would deliberately let the place fall to ruin out of bitterness.

“Where would you like the boxes?” Hunter asked.

She walked into the master bedroom that was once her mother’s and forced away her sentimentality for Hunter’s sake. She didn’t want to cry in front of him. “In here, I think.”

He followed her, and then set the boxes on the floor by the long three-drawer dresser. Sunlight streamed inside and cast a golden glow on the room. “Wow, looks like a daisy patch in here.”

Sophia smiled. “My mother loved daisies. They were her favorite flower.” And the room, decorated with white eyelet curtains covered with teensy daisies and a bedspread of creams and buttercup yellows, depicted that love. “My mama liked things bright. That’s how she viewed the world.”

Hunter didn’t say anything about that. He finished unloading her car and she thanked him for his help. Once she was alone, she sat down on the bed. The curtains were crisp, the bedspread fluffy. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. Everything was in good condition—too good to have been left uncared for all this time. Someone had made sure these things were well preserved. And she had a feeling that someone had been Randall Slade.

He was still taking care of her, even from the grave.

After half an hour of unpacking, the doorbell chimed. It was the same singsong melody that she’d remembered. Curious, she walked to the door and looked through the peephole. An older woman stood on the cottage threshold holding a lovely vase of pink roses and greenery.