Page 3 of Disarming The Rancher

“Ex-wife,” he corrected.

Raleigh didn’t want to go down that road again with him right now. He’d been hinting they should pick up where they’d left off a hundred years ago after she’d overheard his conversation. No thanks. “You know what?”

He cocked a brow.

“You can help me if your offer still stands,” she said, needing to stretch her legs.

“Name it.” His dimpled smile wouldn’t last when he heard what she was about to say.

“Get the wash started with linens. And figure out what to do for dinner. Pizzas maybe?” She pushed up to standing and her knees creaked and groaned. When did she get this old?

His “All right,” came after a long pause. He’d been expecting a much different answer, but then again Kenny was used to getting whatever he wanted from the opposite sex.

“Thank you.” She pulled off the rubber gloves she’d been wearing and tossed them under the sink in the cleaning supply bucket. “Save me a slice?”

“Where are you headed?” His expression turned sour faster than milk left sitting in the August heat.

“Out,” she said as she freed her hair from the rubber band and then pocketed her cell phone. “Don’t worry. I know this area like the back of my hand.”

Before she could make it out the back door, Hardy walked in the kitchen. “Mind if I join you?”

“You can if you want but I’ll be fine going alone. I can’t say for how long though. Once word gets out we’re here, you’ll have your hands full. But tonight, no one knows I’m back. Not even my more hardcore fans know I’m from Lone Star Pass.” She didn’t want to tell the man how to do his job. Everything she’d said was true. Sharon had insisted early on they tell everyone Raleigh’s hometown was Austin. She didn’t have the same last name as Nana, so no one would track Raleigh here. “I have a small window to be on this land undetected, Hardy.”

She pinched her thumb and forefinger together.

“And it’s shrinking by the minute,” she warned. “So, I’m heading out that door. Come if you have to.”

Hardy followed her. He stayed back, seeming to know it was a good idea to give her space.

Was her old minibike still in the shed? She made a beeline toward the old building. It had seemed much bigger when she lived here. It struck her as funny how grand everything had seemed to be as a child, and how tiny it seemed now.

In truth, the house was decent size. Though not nearly as large as she’d remembered. The land was still vast, but she was going to need a machete if she wanted to walk around. The sound of a riding lawn mower’s engine gave her an idea.

The minibike was right where she’d left it. Albeit the tires needed air. She located the pump and filled them. Had Nana maintained it in the hopes Raleigh would visit more?

Nana had been one of Raleigh’s best cheerleaders from the minute she declared she wanted to sing and play guitar for a living. The older woman nearly burst with pride every time they met up in another city. Guilt stabbed Raleigh for being too busy to visit Nana while she was alive. Raleigh would never forgive herself for missing holidays, birthdays, and special occasions, no matter how much Nana reassured it was no big deal. Putting her career above all else got her where she was…but recently she wondered if it was enough.

Raleigh threw her leg over the minibike and started the engine. It had been jerry-rigged a long time ago so she wouldn’t need a key since she couldn’t seem to hold onto them. She popped a wheelie on her way out of the shed, and then turned right toward the Firebrand Ranch, her second home.

From her sideview mirror, she watched Hardy as he ran, trying to keep up. There was no way he could outrun Red Devil. The minibike was black with spray-painted flames on its sides, but the name was also a nod to her fiery red hair and some might say her temper. She called it passion.

Raleigh shouldn’t ride straight to her neighbor’s barn. Except she did that very thing, cutting off the engine of Red Devil at the tree line. She squatted as the sun hid behind the mesquite trees, ensuring no one saw her.

This place brought back so many happy memories and she wanted to fly under the radar. Exhausted from the recent event and life on the road in general, she had to remember what she loved about singing in the first place.

She made it into the barn unseen. It was dimly lit inside. She climbed the round metal staircase to the loft where she’d written her first song. She leaned her head against the wooden beam…

And then she heard the door creak open downstairs. Her heart jackhammered her ribs and her pulse pounded. She pocketed her cell and stood against the beam, praying no one would find her up there.

2

Brax Firebrand muttered a curse. This was the second time he’d misplaced his wallet this week. Don’t even get him started on his keys. He’d lost count. It was a good thing he lived in the kind of town where keys were normally left inside his truck at all times and belonged to a family well known enough for folks to give him whatever he needed with a signature.

Several of his brothers and cousins had left Firebrand Ranch the minute they’d come of age. Not Brax. Being a Firebrand, living and working the land, was his life.

It did nothing to help with keeping track of his personal belongings though.

The barn was the last place he remembered having his wallet, and he hoped it was still there. Ranch hands could be real comedians when they wanted to be and he didn’t want to be on the wrong side of another prank.