The Rancher's Return. Carolyne Aarsen

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СКАЧАТЬ apologize. That was uncalled for,” she said quietly. “It’s just this place …” She looked around, letting the utter peace that surrounded the property wash over her. “It’s so beautiful, and I know it’s been in your family a long time. That’s rare.” She thought of her father and how easily he had disregarded his legacy. How he had disregarded her when his life imploded. Why were men so casual with the blessings God had given them?

      “I’m not going to let history dictate my choices,” Carter said, taking a final sip of his coffee. He tossed the remains out. “This place means nothing to me anymore.”

      Carter’s reply held a heaviness that underlined the sorrow she’d seen in his eyes. He sounded like a man who had come to a place where there was no other option. She assumed it had to do with losing his son. “I’m sorry about ruining your plans,” he added.

      Emma gave him a tight smile. “I thought asking was worth a try.” She gave a light laugh as if to show him that the dreams she had spun around owning her own place meant as little to her as the coffee he had just tossed out.

      He tapped his cup against his thigh, his movements jerky. “I’m also sorry about your job,” he said. “Maybe the new owner could hire you.”

      “Don’t worry about me,” she said, holding up her hand as if to placate him. “I can take care of myself and my son,” she added with more bravado than she felt. “Always have.”

      How that would happen over the next few weeks, she wasn’t sure. But she had to put it in God’s hands. She had to trust that somehow, something would come up.

      The jangling ring of a phone sounded from the cabin, and Carter glanced back over his shoulder.

      “That’s my cell phone. I should answer it.” Then he was gone.

      Well, wasn’t that a scintillating conversation. Emma spun around on her heels and strode back to Wade and Miranda’s house.

       Don’t count on men. Don’t count on men.

      The words pounded through her head in time with her steps.

      She would be making her own phone calls this evening. Maybe she could take tomorrow off and go into town to look for a place for her and Adam to stay. Look for a job.

      Her steps faltered at the thought, but she suppressed the negatives.

       Help me to let go of my fears, Lord. Help me to trust only in You.

      “Carter? You won’t believe this, but I think I got a buyer for the ranch.”

      Carter leaned against the wall of his cabin, his hands tightening on his cell phone as the words of the real estate agent sunk in.

      “Already? I just talked to you yesterday.” He tucked the phone under his chin as he made up the bed. He had turned down Miranda’s offer to move into the house, choosing to bunk in Hailey’s cabin. If he had known that Emma and her son were staying in Shannon’s place, one cabin over, he would have rethought his choice.

      Seeing both of them coming out of his cousin’s cabin first thing this morning was an unwelcome jolt. He had assumed they were staying in the main house.

      “Tell you the truth, I had a guy from Sweden, Jurgen Mallik, who came to town about six months ago, looking for property in the valley,” Pete said. “We went touring around and ended up at your place. He loved it and said, as a joke, if the place ever came up he was interested. So when you came in yesterday, I called him. He definitely wants to sign up something immediately. We can do that by fax if you want. He’s very excited, very interested and very well financed.”

      “Wow. That’s quick,” Carter said, surprised at the lift of panic Pete’s words created.

      “Quick is what you wanted.” Pete was quiet a moment, and in his hesitation Carter heard again all the warnings Pete had given him yesterday. How he shouldn’t rush into this. How he had to talk it over with his family. But two years of holding on to the past and waiting was hardly rushing into things. And now that Nana, one of the main reasons he had held on to the ranch, was moving, it was all the incentive he needed to get rid of the place and move on.

      “So you’re sure none of your cousins are interested?” Pete continued. “Not even your brother, Garret?”

      Carter threw the blanket over the bed and sat down, easing out a sigh. “He said no. And he’s the only one that can come close to affording it.” After talking to Nana Beck yesterday, he’d made some phone calls to his brother and cousins about the ranch.

      Garret wasn’t interested at all. Their cousin, Naomi, was still dealing with her fiancé’s cancer and didn’t have enough money. Hailey would have loved to buy the ranch, but she was swimming in student loans and was desperate to pay them off. Furthermore, she knew nothing about running a ranch.

      He had expected to get the strongest protest from Shannon, but when he told her his plans, she said she understood. When he asked her what Nana Beck would think, Shannon said that he had to go ahead with his own plans. Nana needed to live in town, closer to a hospital.

      Which left Carter with no recourse but to go to Pete and list the property.

      “So what’s the next move?” Carter asked, dragging his hands over his face.

      “I’ll need you to come in as soon as possible and sign up a basic agreement for sale. I’ll fax a copy to Jurgen, and we’ll take it from there.”

      “Do I need to stick around for all of that?”

      “Once you sign the agreement, we can do a lot by email and phone. You don’t need to stick around after the initial paperwork, though it might be helpful.”

      An image of Emma and Adam drifted through his mind, and he shook his head as if to dislodge it. “No. I’ll be leaving. The sooner I can get away from here the better.”

      “Let me know when you can come in to sign, and we’ll be well on our way.”

      “One other thing,” Carter said, feeling as if he owed Emma at least this. “There’s a woman who works here, Emma Minton.”

      “Oh, yeah. I know Emma. She’s a good-looking gal.”

      Which made Carter wonder if Pete was one of the guys who had asked her out.

      As if that mattered.

      “She’s asked me about subdividing an acreage off the property for her and her kid. When you talk to Jurgen, could you run it by him? See if he’d be willing to subdivide it?”

      Pete sucked his breath through his teeth. “I doubt it. One of the things he liked the best about the property was that he had no close neighbors. But, hey, doesn’t hurt to ask.”

      “Just ask him and let me know.” Though he had told Emma he couldn’t do anything for her, he still felt he had to at least try. Then Carter said goodbye and tossed the cell phone on the bed as he glanced around the cabin. A poster of a ski hill took up one wall. Two snowboards leaned in one corner of the cabin, both cracked in half. Remnants of Hailey’s wilder days when there was no ski run too difficult, no boundary that she respected, no jump she couldn’t take.

      He СКАЧАТЬ