The Rancher's Secret Crush
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Cari Lynn Webb
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CHAPTER ONE
LEAVE IT INSIDE the gate.
Those had been Elsie Parks’s exact but haphazard words not twenty minutes ago to Trey Ramsey of Ramsey and Sons Auto & Heavy Machinery Repair. Elsie had been moderating a dispute between her two young nieces over crayon ownership and checking the visitor policy at Belleridge Regional Hospital. That was where Elsie’s brother—and her nieces’ dad—was currently a patient.
Not that any of those details mattered if Elsie couldn’t even get out of the driveway. She put the car in Park, told the girls to stay buckled and stepped out to confront the massive green tractor standing in their way.
The very one that Trey Ramsey had repaired. And the same one the very nice mechanic had left just inside the gate like Elsie had instructed. Completely blocking the driveway. Elsie squeezed her forehead. Behind her, car doors opened, and footsteps scrambled across the gravel drive. Soon enough, her two nieces bracketed her on either side.
Gemma smashed her polka-dot bucket hat lower on her blond head and bumped her skinny elbow into Elsie’s side. “You gotta drive it, Auntie.”
Elsie gaped at the giant tractor. One tire was wider than her six-year-old niece was tall.
“She can’t,” Autumn countered. At eight years old, Autumn was already proving to be analytical and serious-minded, same as her father had always been. Autumn pointed toward the tractor. “It’s headed for the ditch. If auntie doesn’t turn it just right, she’ll end up in the ditch too.”
The ditch was the least of Elsie’s issues. The main one being Elsie had never operated a tractor, let alone sat in one. She wasn’t even sure how to climb aboard to get inside the enclosed cab. Elsie turned and surveyed her surroundings.
Her nieces moved with her. Gemma rolled up onto her tiptoes and whispered loudly, “What are we looking for?”
“Another way out of here.” Elsie tracked the thick three-rail wood fence that framed the acres upon acres of Doyle Farm. Her aunt and uncle had started with twenty acres and expanded during their thirty-year marriage. The property was now well over a hundred acres.
“There isn’t another exit,” Autumn declared, her words tinged with pride. “Dad says it’s like a castle here. One way in. One way out.”
“Can we have a tea party when we get home? It’s what all princesses who live in castles do.” Gemma jumped and clasped her hands together. “Pretty please. We can invite Cowboy Prince since Dad can’t come.”
The sun beat down on Elsie’s head, making her wish she’d grabbed a hat like Gemma. She could already feel her skin tightening and her face heating. Even though it was spring in the Panhandle and that Texas heat hadn’t even been dialed up quite yet. Still, spring or summer, she’d never tanned gracefully. Simply turned a fascinating shade of beet red before peeling and returning to pale. Remember to take care of your porcelain skin, Elsie. You must always protect your assets.
Elsie touched her cheek. Sunscreen certainly wasn’t going to help her now. Besides, she’d grown up and learned to rely on things like hard work, wise decisions and determination. She said, “Gemma, let’s table the tea party until after we visit your dad, okay?”
Gemma opened her mouth to argue.
Autumn leaned around Elsie and added, “We have to see Dad, Gem. ’Cause he’s lonely and bored in the hospital without us.”
“Don’t forget you promised your dad you’d bring him pictures for his wall.” Elsie touched Gemma’s thin shoulder and added more cheer to her words. “Maybe you could go draw another one inside the car while I move the tractor.”
“Can’t we watch?” Autumn yanked on the waist of her shorts, tugging the baggy denim higher on her hips. “I could help guide you.”
“I want you both to wait inside the car. Where it’s safe.” Elsie cringed. But it was too late to take back her words.
“You can’t move the tractor, Auntie. You can’t.” Gemma knocked her hat off, latched her arms around Elsie’s waist and clung tight. “It’s not safe.”
Unfortunately, two days ago, Gemma’s dad had told both his daughters that it was perfectly safe for him to be up on one of the greenhouse roofs on the farm. It had been mere minutes after his bold declaration that one of the older rafters gave way and Elsie’s brother fell through the roof to the cement floor below. Miraculously, Bryce had only suffered several badly bruised ribs and multiple fractures in his ankle. Now Bryce was in room 414 at Belleridge Regional Hospital, preparing for an early morning surgery on his ankle. As for Bryce’s six-year-old daughter, well, Gemma now fully distrusted all claims about safety.
Elsie lifted Gemma up into her arms and hugged her. Her nieces had been through so much. First their parents’ divorce that was finalized just before last Christmas. Then their sudden move at the start of the new year from the only home they’d known in the suburbs of Philadelphia to a farm in the Texas Panhandle. Now their dad’s accident. More than anything the girls needed stability and reassurance. Elsie walked closer to the silent tractor. Autumn trailed beside Elsie, her shoulder brushed against Elsie’s arm every other step.
“The tractor is safe.” Bold statement. Up close the tractor loomed into even more intimidating. What could her brother possibly need with a tractor that massive? He’d never even owned a riding lawn mower before. What was she supposed to do with it? Elsie worked a confidence she wasn’t entirely feeling into her words. “See, it’s turned off right now. It can’t hurt anyone.”
“We should leave it off.” Gemma rested her head on Elsie’s shoulder.
“We could,” Elsie started. “But then we wouldn’t get to see your dad today.”
“Then he’ll be really sad.” Gemma wiped her hand under her nose. Her voice descended into pitiful. “I miss my dad.”
“I know you do.” Elsie squeezed the little girl harder and reached for her own resolve. So what if she didn’t know anything about tractors. She had to do something. She hugged Gemma once more. “I promise I’m going to get you to the hospital this afternoon so you can give your dad the biggest hug ever.”
Gemma nodded and swirled Elsie’s ponytail around her fingers. “The tractor won’t hurt you, right?”
Elsie shook her head then lowered her niece to the gravel. “Now head on over to the car. I put your backpack of coloring supplies on the front seat.”
Gemma picked up her hat and raced to the bright blue Jeep Bryce had purchased for what he’d dubbed his career pivot from financial advisor to full-time farmer.
Autumn lingered beside Elsie. Her hands on her hips, she studied the tractor then tipped her head toward Elsie. “Maybe you should call like Dad did.”
“What do you mean?” Elsie studied the tractor and searched for a way inside. Her brother had hit the height gene jackpot in their family. What would’ve been a simple extended step up was more like a big leap for Elsie. She rolled onto the balls of her feet. The soles of her cute sandals had little flex and even less bounce. Perhaps a running start then.
“Dad made a phone call, and a cowboy came over. Then the cowboy drove the tractor for Dad.” Autumn tucked her brunette chin-length hair behind her ear and nodded sagely at Elsie. “You should call a cowboy too.”
Elsie rocked back and forth. Run. Jump. Grab. Nothing to it. Surely, she could reach the door handle on the tractor cab. It was just one jump. Ouch. Elsie winced and brushed away the sharp pebbles that slipped between her sandals and bare toes. “I don’t know a cowboy to call.”
“All the cowboys live next door,” Autumn added. “One of ’em has a beard whiter than Santa.” The little girl paused and patted her stomach. “But his belly is too flat so he can’t be the real Santa. We get to call him Cowboy Santa, even though his real name is Sam.”
Sam Sloan and his family had property that bordered her aunt’s farm. The two families had been neighbors for decades according to her aunt. Elsie’s brother always hung out with the Sloan brothers during their summer trips to their aunt and uncle’s farm. As the younger sister and only girl for miles around, Elsie had often stayed with her aunt. She’d always preferred reading on the back porch and helping her aunt in the greenhouses. Until the summer after Elsie’s freshman year in high school. When she’d encountered one Sloan brother alone at the Sloan family pond.
Elsie tightened her ponytail and pushed her memories aside. “Well, we don’t have Santa or Santa’s helpers right now. It’s just us and a tractor.”
“But Auntie.” Autumn tapped Elsie’s arm. “What about Cowboy Prince?”
“We don’t need a cowboy rescue.” Especially not from some cowboy prince Elsie didn’t know. All she had to do was jump. Grab the handle. Climb inside. On three. Elsie inhaled a deep breath and fixed her gaze on the tractor. Target set, she shook her arms out at her sides and crouched lower. “Watch. I’ll show you. We got this.”
One. Two. Three.
Elsie sprinted to the tractor and leaped. Miraculously her fingers wrapped around the door handle. She gripped tight and managed to find a place to prop her feet. Adrenaline propelled her upward. Autumn clapped and cheered her on. Swinging the door wide, Elsie climbed inside, albeit awkwardly. Scraping elbows and knees on her way in. She’d have more than one bruise from this exercise. No matter. She’d made it.
But her victory celebration was immediately cut short. The inside of the tractor looked more technologically advanced than a space shuttle cockpit. And at least as complicated. Elsie dropped onto the captain’s chair. Sweat beaded along the back of her neck. The heat wasn’t too stifling inside the enclosed cab. Yet the air was stale. Defeated? Not yet. All she needed was an instruction manual. Good thing she excelled at online searching.
Propping the door open with her foot, she called out, “Autumn. Look for a name on the tractor.”
“But Auntie,” Autumn hollered. “You can...”
Elsie’s foot slipped the same time she jostled her phone from her back pocket. The door slammed shut on Autumn’s words. And her cell phone landed with a thunk up under the console. Elsie scrambled to locate her phone. And the cab door swung open behind her.
“Well, if it isn’t Elsie won’t-dance-with-me-ever Marie Parks.”
Elsie stilled. No one had called her that in forever. Not since that one particular summer. When only one person—with a very similar deep Texas drawl—had ever dared.
Slowly twisting around, she took in the full-fledged cowboy propped in the open doorway. His chestnut-colored cowboy hat rode low on his forehead, shadowing his bearded face. Dust and pollen stuck to his plaid shirt, with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and his jeans as if he’d been walking through a dry field. Oh, but she knew him. Her heart raced. Her mouth felt as dry as the dust caked on his worn boots. “Ryan Sloan.”
His grin lifted into both cheeks. His teeth flashed white. “You remember me.”
Ryan was hard to forget. Even though he’d only ever been nothing more than her one-time crush. When she’d been young and foolish enough to accept his dares at his family pond one summer evening. She’d been excited and giddy and thrilled to have his undivided attention. Until his girlfriend had arrived. Then Elsie had discovered firsthand why it was called a crush. The pain had been oddly difficult to dismiss. And Elsie had decided cowboys weren’t worth the trouble of a real heartache. Her voice cracked. “Ryan. What are you doing here?”
He nudged the brim of his hat higher on his forehead. Revealing a pair of all too dreamy, but deceptively shrewd, hazel eyes. “Sundancer and I were just passing by.”
Elsie glanced out the window. Saw a stunning palomino grazing not far from Autumn. Not surprising. Ryan had always been a cowboy first. And his partner his trusted horse.
“I tried to tell you, Auntie.” Autumn’s enthusiastic shout reached Elsie clearly and concisely. “Cowboy Prince is here. Now he can rescue you.” Autumn skipped over to Sundancer, tore a fistful of grass from the ground and carefully fed it to the horse.
Except Elsie rescued herself these days. No prince, cowboy or otherwise, required. Still, she couldn’t quite clear the surprise from her words. “You’re the cowboy prince I’ve been hearing about.”
“One and the same.” The corner of his mouth hitched into his beard. “We can talk about all that later.”
Talking later. With Ryan. That sounded appealing. Or would have if Elsie’s crush on Ryan hadn’t expired well over a decade ago. If she had returned to Three Springs for more than her family. If she wanted to get entangled in some sort of cowboy situation. With him. More sweat dampened the back of her neck. Despite it not being midsummer and the temperature not even close to sweltering.
Ryan eyed her. “Well, are you going to tell me?”
“What?” That you’ve strolled through my thoughts over the years. Slow and unrushed. Like the spark of a good memory. The kind worth revisiting again and again. Elsie rolled her lips together and willed the flush she felt out of her cheeks.
“Tell me what exactly you are doing in here,” Ryan said.
“In case it isn’t obvious, I have a bit of a tractor situation.” And definitely not a cowboy one. Elsie waved her hand around and tried to stir the suddenly stifling air. “Now, all I need is an instruction manual to get out of it.”
“That’s your plan then. Reading your way out of this.” He braced his arm on the door frame and looked her over. “I see some things haven’t changed much.”
Elsie refused to squirm and instead returned his steady regard. Eye for eye. Beat for beat. Same as she’d met his stare years ago. You read too much, Elsie Marie. You can’t really want to be alone all the time. Come on. You might have fun. Elsie had only ever grinned and turned the page of her book. I’m not alone. I have my books. You should try sitting still once in a while, Ryan. You might like it. Ryan had always laughed. Only place a cowboy sits is in the saddle. And then he’d hop onto his horse and leave her alone. Like she preferred. Until she hadn’t.
She lifted her chin and nudged aside her memories. “Yes, that’s my plan. Read the instruction manual. Drive the tractor.”
“Still doing everything on your own too,” he mused, seeming intent to point out what hadn’t changed about her.
While Elsie couldn’t help but notice what had changed about him. Specifically, the boy she’d known had grown into a man. Where he’d once been cute and boyishly charming, he was now so very handsome, in a rugged, outdoor, hands-on kind of way. The exact kind of way Elsie had no business noticing. Elsie crossed her arms over her chest before she reached out, touched his arm. Tested her theory that beneath his sun-soaked skin was all muscle.
He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “What’s your plan B then?”
“What?” Elsie met his gaze.
“Elsie Marie, I know you.” He leaned farther into the cab, closing the distance between them.
And Elsie almost leaned toward him. As if she meant to meet him halfway.
Those gold flecks in his gaze sparked. His words were wry. “You always have multiple plans, Elsie. So much so, your plans have plans.”
Only she hadn’t planned on running into him so soon. So quickly. With barely enough space between them to draw a decent breath. Let alone think clearly. She swiped at her damp neck. Wanting desperately to blame the unrelenting sun for rattling her. “There’s nothing wrong with being prepared.”
“Let me see your phone.” He extended his arm toward her. Palm up.
Now was her chance. To finally know. To take his hand in hers and know for certain if his grip was as strong and secure as she’d always imagined. To know for certain if their hands fit in that easy, perfect way that just felt right. The way she’d always wanted her hand to fit inside her ex-husband’s and never quite did.
Definitely not a chance she would ever take, especially with Ryan Sloan. Who took relationships less seriously than a bear took a bee guarding its hive. Love. Why would I want that, Elsie Marie? I have bronc riding. That’s my life. All I’ll ever need. And given that Ryan was currently ranked number one in bronc riding and very single according to her brother, Ryan had certainly proven his words true.
Besides, everything Elsie needed waited in New York. The city was her calling. The country his. Their time together would only ever be temporary. As always. It was best not to hold his hand. Best not to know. After all, she never liked starting things that could not be finished.
She set her phone carefully on his palm. “If you can tell me what kind of tractor this is exactly, I can read the manual on my own.”
“You don’t need a manual.” He tapped quickly on her phone screen, then handed her phone back. His expression was neutral. His voice causal. “You have me.”
Have him. No. He wasn’t hers. She didn’t want to think of him like that. That implied things like dating and relationships and those extra messy emotions. The ones she’d gotten completely wrong before. No matter. She’d filed away love in the been there, don’t need that again folder along with her divorce papers more than a year ago.
“I added myself to your contacts. Now one of your plan B’s can be calling a cowboy.” A close-lipped smile worked across his face. He motioned toward her. “Scoot over.”
Elsie never budged. “Why?”
“So I can give you your first tractor driving lesson.” He folded his tall frame into the suddenly too-small cab.
Sweat dampened her entire back now. Yet he looked unbothered as if he was somehow immune to the heat. Elsie blurted, “We can’t.”
He paused and arched an eyebrow at her.
He was close enough to hug now. Without any effort. Just a small stretch. For a welcome back embrace between friends. First, she wanted to hold his hand. Now hug him. What was next? Exit now. She had to get out. Get herself back together. She rushed on, “I can’t leave Autumn alone with your horse.”
“Sundancer is gentler than a kitten and better trained than a show dog.” He motioned toward the window. Outside, Autumn picked a dandelion and blew the fluff into the air all while the horse grazed calmly beside her.
“Still, I should wait here. Gemma is coloring in the car. She might need me.” Elsie scooted to the edge of the chair and shifted toward the door. Only to pause when her toes touched the tips of his boots. Two problems faced her. Getting around her cowboy. And getting down.
He lifted his arm as if reaching for her.
Elsie held her breath and waited. Braced herself for the connection. She had always wanted to know...
But he simply touched his hat and adjusted it lower on his forehead. “Let me get out of your way first. Unless you need help climbing down.”
Elsie exhaled and shook her head. “I can manage.”
With a quick nod, Ryan backed out of the cab and was on the ground in seemingly one agile leap. Elsie on the other hand found herself indecisive about how to even climb down. Forward or backward. She finally chose backward. Only to have her sandal slip off the first step. She would’ve fallen unceremoniously into the dirt if Ryan hadn’t reached up, caught her around the waist and set her safely on the ground.
One shift. One lean back against him. Then she would be inside his embrace completely. One more thing she didn’t need to test. She took a quick breath and released it. Finally, she glanced over her shoulder and worked to keep her words light and easy. “Thanks for the assist.”
His fingers flexed at her waist. His mouth opened.
But Autumn’s excited words filled the silence. “Cowboy Prince, did Auntie stall the tractor like she does Dad’s car?”
Elsie cringed. Then stepped away from Ryan. She set her hand on her niece’s shoulder. “We only stalled twice.”
“In the driveway,” Autumn supplied.
Elsie glanced at Ryan. He smoothed out his grin. Elsie shoved her shoulders back. “It’s been a minute since I’ve driven a stick shift.” More like years since she’d driven her own car. Let alone one with a manual transmission. She’d lived in Seattle until last week. Walked to work. To restaurants. To everything. And if she’d wanted a ride, she opened the app on her phone and scheduled a pickup.
“I offered to give you driving lessons all those summers ago,” Ryan teased. “Maybe you should’ve said yes.”
She’d been fifteen and more worried about what Ryan thought of her outfit than perfecting her shifting skills. And he would’ve been a distraction she hadn’t needed. Then or now. “It’s coming back to me.”
“I’ll be happy to give you a refresher,” he offered.
More time with Ryan. Not what she came for. She was there to watch her nieces. Until her Aunt Marlena and Elsie’s mom returned from their extended overseas vacation. Then the two sisters would care for Bryce and look after the girls. For now, Elsie would do what she always did. Keep her senses about her. “If you could move the tractor so we can get to the hospital to see Bryce, that will be more than enough.”
“Well, the offer stands,” he said. His gaze gleamed. “You know how to reach me if you change your mind.”
Not happening. One cowboy rescue was more than enough.
Ryan shifted his smile toward Autumn. “Want to take a ride in the tractor? Think of it like a carriage for a cowgirl princess such as yourself.”
“Can I, Auntie?” Hope widened Autumn’s eyes. “Please?”
Elsie looked at Ryan.
“She’ll be fine,” he assured her. “I know what I’m doing.”
That made one of them. Elsie finally nodded.
Ryan guided Autumn up into the tractor. Elsie walked over to Sundancer on the other side of the driveway.
Within seconds, the tractor engine started. Autumn waved excitedly from her perch next to Ryan. He maneuvered expertly around the Jeep, missing the ditch entirely, and stopped beside the car. Autumn shouted out the window at her sister. Gemma cheered from the front passenger seat. The tractor rumbled up the driveway and out of sight. The large wheels kicked up a dust cloud in their wake.
Minutes later, the pair finally appeared on the crest. Ryan held Autumn’s hand while she skipped beside him.
“I finished two drawings, Auntie,” Gemma shouted and waved the papers at Elsie. She was out of the Jeep and racing up the drive toward Ryan and Autumn in a blink.
The girls’ bright laughter floated like the plump white clouds across the spring blue sky, drawing out Elsie’s own reluctant smile. It was the first time she’d heard her nieces truly laugh since she’d arrived late yesterday afternoon. It rankled slightly that it was their cowboy prince, not Elsie, who was responsible for her nieces’ sudden good moods.
Watching the animated trio, Elsie’s smile expanded. Before she checked herself.
Sundancer nickered and pawed the ground beside her as if wanting Ryan’s attention too.
Elsie patted the horse. “Don’t worry, Sundancer. He’s all yours.”
After all, the very last thing Elsie wanted was her own cowboy situation.
