Home on the Ranch: Montana Christmas Secrets
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Karen Rose Smith
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Chapter 1
Hudson Jones was used to getting his own way. But as he stood in the doorway of his office at the Just Us Kids Day Care Center, he had a feeling he wouldn’t get his way this time. Bella Stockton had him stymied.
The day care manager was beautiful—tall and willowy with wispy short blond hair. He’d tried to flirt with her over the past month that he’d been here to see to the day-to-day running of the center. After all, a cowboy could get lonely underneath the big Montana sky. But unlike the other pretty women he’d flirted with over his thirty years, Bella didn’t respond to him.
He studied her as she talked with a mother, one who’d apparently been involved in the parent-teacher conferences scheduled at Just Us Kids after normal business hours. Hudson recognized the expression on the parent’s face. Over the last couple of months, he’d dealt with his share of upset parents. An outbreak of RSV—respiratory syncytial virus—had hit Just Us Kids, sending one of the children to the hospital, which had prompted her parents to file a lawsuit. The day care had been cleared, but the damage to its reputation had been done.
He moved a little closer to the main desk in the reception area where Bella sat.
Marla Tillotson was pointing her finger at Bella. “If I even see another child here with sniffles, I’m pulling Jimmy out and enrolling him in Country Kids.” She turned on the heels of her red boots, gave Hudson a glare and headed for the door.
Although Hudson usually didn’t commit too much time to any one place, he had taken this job more seriously than most. After all, it was an investment he didn’t want to fail. He owned the property the day care sat on; his brother Walker owned the franchise. He’d let his brother talk him into staying for a while in Rust Creek Falls to oversee the staff and handle the PR that would put Just Us Kids back in the public’s good graces. But, to be honest, mostly he stayed in town because he wanted to get to know Bella better.
As soon as he saw Bella’s face, he didn’t hesitate to step up to her desk. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said adamantly.
As day care manager, Bella ran a tight ship. She enforced policies about not signing in sick kids, incorporated stringent guidelines for disinfecting surfaces and educated the staff. But it seemed she couldn’t put the whole awful experience of the lawsuit behind her.
Bella brushed her bangs aside and ducked her head for a moment. Then she raised burdened brown eyes to his. “I just can’t help thinking that maybe I slipped up somehow. What if I wasn’t vigilant enough before the outbreak? What—”
Hudson cut her off. “I’m going to say it again, and I’ll say it a thousand times more if you need to hear it. You didn’t do anything wrong,” he assured her. “I read numerous blogs about day care and RSV when Walker asked me to take over here. RSV looks like a cold when it starts. Kids are contagious before they show symptoms. That’s why it spreads like wildfire even with the best precautions. It’s going to be our job—” he pointed to himself, and then he pointed to her “—to make sure an outbreak doesn’t happen again.”
Bella met his eyes intently. Suddenly the day care center seemed very quiet. Maybe it was just because he was so aware of her gaze on him. Was she aware of him? They could hear low voices in one of the classrooms beyond where tables were set up for the parent-teacher conferences. But other than that, the facility suddenly had a hushed atmosphere.
Hudson noted that Bella seemed to be gazing intently at him. That was okay because he was studying her pretty oval face. He missed seeing the dimples that appeared whenever she was with the kids. That’s when she seemed the happiest. Her hair looked so soft and silky that he itched to run his fingers through it. But he knew he couldn’t. This was the first time she’d even stopped and looked at him like this. Had she thought he was the enemy, that he’d pick apart everything she did? That wasn’t his style.
He found himself leaning a little farther over the desk. He thought she was leaning a little closer to him, too.
All at once there was a rap-rap-rap on the door.
Sorry that they’d been interrupted, he nevertheless excused himself and went to the door. When he opened it, the brisk November air entered, along with Bart Dunner, a teenager who was a runner for the Ace in the Hole. Hudson had ordered a mess of ribs from the bar for anyone who was still around when dinnertime came. He paid Bart, gave him a tip and thanked him. On the way to the break room, he glanced over at Bella. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, he told himself.
“Have you eaten?” he asked her.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve been making out schedules and ordering supplies for the new year.”
He motioned to the bag. “Come join me.”
At first he thought she was going to refuse, but then to his surprise she said, “I skipped lunch. Supper might be a good idea.”
As they washed their hands at the sink, Bella kept a few inches between them, even when she had to reach around him for a paper towel. Was she skittish around all men...or just him? Maybe she was just shy, he told himself. Maybe she was a virgin. After all, she was only twenty-three.
At the table, they each took one of the Styrofoam containers with ribs, crispy fries and green beans. “These ribs smell delicious,” she said, and he didn’t think she was just making conversation. But it was hard to tell.
As they ate, he tried to get her to talk. “You know, we’ve been working together for over a month, but I don’t know much about you, except that you live with your brother and help with his triplets. I also know lots of people in town signed up to create a baby chain to care for the kids.” Jamie Stockton had lost his wife, leaving him with the newborns to care for and a ranch to run. “That says something about Rust Creek Falls, don’t you think?” If he could just get Bella talking, maybe she’d realize he was interested in her.
“That’s the way Rust Creek Falls works,” she responded. “Neighbors helping neighbors. And what you know about me is probably enough.”
“Come on,” he coaxed. “Tell me a little more. Did you grow up here?”
“Yes, I did. I was born here.”
“Have you and your brother always been close?” he prompted.
“We have. I love my nephews and niece dearly.” She took a forkful of green beans, then asked, “What about you? I know Walker is your brother.”
“I have four brothers. But we aren’t that close. Maybe because we’ve always had our own interests, or maybe because—” He stopped.
Bella studied him curiously. “What were you going to say?”
Hudson hesitated and decided he had to give to get. “Maybe because my parents never fostered closeness.”
She gave him an odd look at that. “Our parents died in a car accident when I was twelve and Jamie was fifteen. We always had to rely on each other.”
No wonder she didn’t talk about her childhood. Losing parents had to be traumatic. “I’ll bet you did rely on each other. Who took you in?”
“Our maternal grandparents took us in—the Stockton grandparents had both died. But Agnes and Matthew Baldwin didn’t really want that responsibility.”
“How can you know that, Bella? What starts that way sometimes can turn into something else—a real family.”
Looking troubled now, Bella shook her head. “When our grandmother died of a heart attack, I was fifteen. Jamie was eighteen. Our grandfather blamed us.”
“You can’t be serious.” Hudson was outraged for her. How could her grandfather have even given that impression? But then he thought about his own parents and how cold his mother seemed.
“You don’t know the situation,” Bella said gently. “Jamie and I weren’t the easiest kids to raise, and our grandfather was probably right.”
Hudson was horrified that Bella actually believed that. She was one of the sweetest women he’d ever met. “You can’t blame yourself for what fate hands out.” But he could see she did.
Bella had torn apart her ribs at that point, and instead of trying to eat them with a fork as some women might, she nibbled the meat off the bone. Her fingers were sticky, and so were her lips. Hudson couldn’t stop looking at her lips. She was in midchew when she realized he was staring. She stared back.
All eating stopped as they gazed at each other, and it was quite possible there was even a hum in the air. He wondered if she was just a little bit attracted to him.
But he never got to ask because one of the teachers popped her head into the break room.
“Got enough for me?” she asked.
That broke Hudson out of his trance. “Sure do, Sarah. Come on in and join us.”
As the boss, he knew that was the right thing to do. But as a man, what he really wanted was to be alone with Bella. To find out more about her. To get to know her.
To kiss her.
Hudson let himself into the ranch house on the Lazy B, thinking that living in Rust Creek Falls for a while wasn’t a chore. He tremendously liked where he was staying. He’d met Brooks Smith, the town’s veterinarian, on one of his first trips to Rust Creek Falls. He knew the town vet could always recommend the best place to ride or rent out a horse. Brooks had done better than that. He’d suggested Hudson rent Clive Bickler’s ranch.
Clive, an eccentric wealthy man who’d bought the property after the big flood several years ago, traveled a lot. Besides the main ranch house there was a smaller log home on the acreage where an older couple lived. They’d lost their ranch in the flood, and they lived on the Lazy B now and ran the place. Clive rented his home to high-end clients who appreciated his art collection and other niceties. Hudson, basically a trust fund cowboy, filled the bill. Living here was not only convenient but downright pleasant.
As he tapped in the code for the security alarm, he heard noise in the kitchen. That didn’t bother him because he knew who was there—Greta Marsden. She wasn’t only the wife of the foreman, but she also made sure Hudson had meals and treats to eat. Now she was loading a casserole into the refrigerator. The kitchen was all shiny stainless steel and high-end appliances. Not that Hudson cared because he didn’t do much cooking.
Greta was in her fifties with silver hair that fluffed around her face. She had a wide smile and a kind disposition. She might have been a few pounds overweight, but she was fit in jeans and a plaid shirt. Her wool jacket hung over a nearby chair.
She glanced over her shoulder at him as she made room in the refrigerator for the casserole dish and smiled. “Do you need supper?”
“No, I had ribs. Not that they could stand up to anything you make.”
She closed the refrigerator door, blushing a little. “You sure do know how to charm a woman, but save that for the ladies your age. I’m beyond it.”
Hudson laughed. “You’re not.”
She waved his comment away. “When kids are grown, companionship and affection mean more than anything else. I’m relieved I don’t need to look hot for anyone.”
So that was what marriage developed into—companionship and affection. He wasn’t sure his parents had that.
On the drive here, he’d thought about everything Bella had told him about her family. In fact he hadn’t been able to get her story out of his head. He was still distracted by it now.
Greta bustled around the kitchen and pointed to a plastic container on the counter. “Oatmeal raisin cookies. These cold nights they’ll go good with hot chocolate before you turn in.”
“So you think I’m still a growing boy.”
She laughed. “No, just a hardworking man with a big appetite.”
Hudson wasn’t sure about the hardworking part. He’d never really had to work too hard because his family was wealthy, so he was wealthy. He tended to take on jobs as he liked and then move on. His last project in Cody, Wyoming, had been about helping a friend start up a ranch—buying horses, choosing computer programs to manage the place efficiently. Over the years he’d managed ranches, wrangled cows and trained horses. This gig with Just Us Kids Day Care Center was something entirely new to him.
Greta looked around the kitchen and shook her head. “Edmond needed me to do bookwork today, so I didn’t clean up here,” she explained. “I’ll be back to do that in the morning.”
Hudson wasn’t concerned about collecting a few dust bunnies. “No problem.”
As he remembered Bella saying Our grandfather blamed us when Grandma died, he considered Greta’s comments about marriage.
“Do you mind if I ask you something personal?”
Greta shrugged. “I suppose not.”
“How would you feel if you suddenly had teenage grandchildren to raise? What if it happened overnight? What would you do?”
Greta didn’t even hesitate. “Edmond and I would try our best to love them to bits. The people who come in and out of our lives are gifts.”
When Hudson thought about Bella, he realized how she usually seemed sad unless she was around the kids. Had that been because of the way she’d been raised?
Apparently her grandparents hadn’t considered her and her brother as gifts. That had to color the way she looked at herself and the rest of her life.
Hudson nodded, suddenly a bit pleased with the evening. Though she hadn’t revealed too much over their quick dinner, he had learned quite a bit about Ms. Bella Stockton.
When Hudson entered Just Us Kids the following morning, Bella was already there.
As he walked into the reception area, he tipped his Stetson and gave her a cheery good morning. Yet she simply murmured hello and hardly lifted her head. What was that about?
He wondered that same thing again when she wouldn’t meet his gaze at a brief staff meeting before the children began arriving. He was sure something was wrong midmorning when Bella dropped time sheets on his desk without even looking at him.
She didn’t act like a beautiful young woman of the millennia. It wasn’t that she lacked self-confidence, because she didn’t. With the staff, with the kids, with every aspect of organization, she was confident in her abilities. But not around him.
He had to get to the bottom of it.
Hudson had found he enjoyed being with the kids. It was odd, really. As an adult, he’d never been around children much. Several times a day he’d wander through the sections of children in different age groups. He knew many of the children by name, and they knew his name. He often stopped to help with an art project or just to converse with a curious four-year-old. They came up with the darnedest questions. He pretty much stayed away from the babies, watching over them from afar. The teachers didn’t seem to mind him wandering through. They often gave him a thumbs-up, and he praised them for the way they handled the kids. It wasn’t an easy job, and he knew it. He’d handled two-year-old horses, and that task had seemed easier.
Throughout the day he often glanced at Bella and wondered why he was so interested in her. Her beauty, for sure, that pretty face, that pixie hairdo, that slender figure. There was something else, too, though—something that both unsettled and intrigued him.
He’d never been seriously involved with a woman. He’d never wanted to settle down because he’d seen the coldness in his parents’ marriage. When he had dated, he’d seen that women wanted to tie him to one place. Moving from place to place gave his life the excitement romance couldn’t. No woman had ever meant as much to him as not being tied down.
However, something about Bella Stockton made him want to get to know her a little better. He wanted to know why she’d gone all shy on him.
Late in the day, when only a few stragglers remained to be picked up, he had his chance.
He went to Bella’s desk and asked, “Can I see you in my office?”
She looked up at him with startled eyes. But then she asked, “Do I need my tablet to take notes?”
He shook his head. “Not about this.”
That brought a frown to her pretty face. But she followed him into his office, and this time he closed the door. He didn’t claim to be a human resources expert. Yes, he could spin a good story. However, this moment called for some honesty.
“I suspect you’re not happy that I’m here to oversee Just Us Kids. But I want to reassure you I know you do a good job. My being here is just necessary in the wake of everything that happened.”
“I know that,” she murmured.
“Do you?” He looked at her directly, making eye contact, not letting her look away.
“It’s not just you,” she said. “It’s me. I don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want anything to jeopardize Just Us Kids.”
“I understand that. Up until yesterday, I thought we got along just fine. At least we could have a simple conversation.”
She didn’t say anything to that.
He went on. “And yesterday, I thought we were finally getting to know each other a little better. I’m glad you told me a bit about your childhood.”
“I shouldn’t have,” she quickly said.
“Why not?”
“Because Jamie and I don’t like to talk about it. We don’t like to think about it. Those were hard times for both of us, and we don’t want anyone to feel sorry for us.”
“And you think I feel sorry for you?”
“Possibly.”
Hudson shook his head. “I’m sorry you and your brother went through that. I’m sorry your grandparents didn’t treat you as the gifts you must have been.” He found Greta’s conclusion absolutely fit the situation.
At his words, Bella looked surprised.
They were standing near his desk, she at one corner and he at the other. But now he took a few steps closer to her. He could smell the light flowery perfume she wore. He could see the tiny line across her nose because it wrinkled there whenever she laughed or smiled. She didn’t wear much makeup, but what she did wear was perfect—just a bit of lipstick and a little mascara from what he could tell. Simply looking at her caused heat to build inside him. He tried to throw a dash of cold water on it with logic, but it was hard to douse the kind of attraction he hadn’t felt for a very long time.
However, he kept his voice even when he said, “It’s a good thing when people who work together share bits of their personal life. They have a better understanding of what the other person has gone through. Do you know what I mean?”
She considered that. “I guess the way I grew up taught me that children should all be treated with respect and kindness and love.”
“I can see that.”
“And why do you treat them as if you’re one of them?” she asked as if she really wanted to know.
“Because I never grew up.” He was half joking and half serious.
Bella finally broke a smile. She looked him up and down, from his wavy brown hair, to the razor stubble on his jaw, to the open collar of his snap-button shirt, to his wide leather belt, jeans and boots. Then she said, “That’s easy to believe when I see you with the kids. But it’s hard to believe when I look at you as the supervisor of this place. You wear the role very well.”
“It is a role, Bella, believe me. I’m only here until we’re sure Just Us Kids has its reputation back, then I’ll be off again somewhere else. That’s what I do. That’s what I mean about never growing up.”
She shook her head as if she didn’t understand. “But what’s your purpose?”
“My purpose?”
“Before this job, what made you want to get up every morning and face a new day?”
“A new adventure. I went looking for it, whether it was gathering wild mustangs in Wyoming or managing the books of a friend’s ranch during start-up. I have skills, and I have purpose, but that purpose isn’t always the same. I find a purpose in the places I travel.”
“With no commitment or responsibilities?”
“No commitment and no personal responsibilities. It’s an easy, uncomplicated way to live.”
“My life is full of complications,” she responded with a little shrug. “I guess I wouldn’t know what to do without them. But my commitment to Jamie and the triplets, and eventually finding my own future, gives me purpose each morning. It’s a continuing purpose. Do you know what I mean? It’s going to take me into the years to come. Yours seems like it could fall apart easily and leave you adrift.”
Oh, he’d been adrift. He’d been adrift in between jobs, and he’d been adrift when he’d just enjoyed the scenery. But Bella seemed to think adrift was a bad thing. He didn’t.
They gazed at each other for what seemed like minutes, even though it was only seconds. He found himself wanting to slide his fingers through her hair. He found himself wanting to step even closer. There was a sparkle in her eyes when she looked at him that made him believe that maybe she was attracted to him, too. But he was sort of her boss, and she already thought he was judging everything she did. How stupid would it be to get involved with her? Yet he set the rules here, didn’t he? If he and Bella ever did really connect...
He suddenly cleared his throat. “I’d better open the door before anyone gets second thoughts about what’s going on in here. I wouldn’t want there to be any gossip about your reputation.”
A shadow passed over her face, a definite shadow. Maybe he’d learned a little personal information about her, but not nearly enough. Just what was that shadow from?
But she wasn’t going to confide in him any more than she already had. He could see that. She was already stepping away from his desk toward the door.
“Bella?”
She stopped.
“Are we okay?”
“We’re fine,” she said, raising up her chin a bit.
Fine. That was a wishy-washy word that didn’t nearly begin to describe what he felt when he was in the same room with Bella Stockton. But he just nodded because he could see that’s what she wanted him to do. He wasn’t going to push anything...not yet.
