The Wrangler Rides Again
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Stella Bagwell
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Harlequin
HarlequinChapter One
“Oh, darn it!”
Tallulah O’Brien muttered the words under her breath as a loud pop, coupled with a violent tug on the steering wheel, announced trouble.
Easing the SUV to a stop on the side of the dirt road, she set the parking brake and reached for the cell phone lying in a cup holder on the console.
“Why are we stopping, Nanny Tally?”
The question from Andrew Hollister prompted Tallulah to glance over her shoulder at the four young children safely strapped in their car seats. Andrew and his twin sister, Abagail, were situated on the seat directly behind Tallulah’s while the second bench seat held little Evelyn and her younger brother, Billy.
“Let’s get out and pick sagebrush,” Abagail suggested before Tallulah could explain the sudden halt. “Mommy likes the flowers.”
“I’m thirsty. I wanta drink,” Billy, the youngest of the children, bemoaned from his seat at the back of the vehicle. “I don’t wanta pick flowers!”
With the cell phone in hand, Tallulah turned and peered between the bucket seats at the impatient children.
“Okay, everyone. We’re not getting out of the car to pick flowers,” Tallulah said. “I’m going to step outside and while I do, I need for each of you to stay buckled in your seats just as you are. Understand?”
Evelyn immediately responded with a question. “What are you going to do outside, Nanny Tally? It’s hot out there. And Daddy sees rattlers on the road all the time. If you got bit you’d be sick.”
“No, Evie, people die when they get bit by a rattler.” Abagail corrected her younger cousin, as though she was the snake authority of the group.
“You’re dumb, Abby!” Andrew shot back at his twin sister. “Rattlers don’t kill people. Not all the time.”
From the back seat, Billy began to wail. “I don’t want a snake to get me! I wanta go home!”
Under different circumstances, Tallulah would’ve been struggling not to laugh at the children’s banter. But being stranded in the Arizona heat, with four youngsters in her care, took all the amusement out of the situation.
“Now, now. Let’s not have any more talk about snakes,” she said to the group, all of whom were looking expectantly at her. “Andy, you’re good at telling stories. Tell one now. Just not the scary one about the owl.”
“Okay. I’ll tell them about Cletus the coyote,” Andrew happily agreed.
While the boy began the story, Tallulah climbed out of the vehicle to confirm what she’d already suspected. A blowout had created a large hole in the side of the right front tire. With jagged pieces of rubber hanging in all direction, it was obvious a can of flat fixer would be useless on this catastrophe.
With a silent groan, she glanced from the ruined tire to the empty dirt road leading to the main headquarters of Three Rivers Ranch. On either side of the road, as far as the eye could see, the terrain was rough with slabs of rocks interspersed with agave, tall cacti, clumps of tough grass and a few Joshua trees. And even though it was only the first week in March, the sun was baking everything beneath its hot rays, including her.
Less than twenty minutes ago, she’d collected the children at a rural crossroad, where a special bus for preschoolers dropped them off at a designated spot located some ten miles from the ranch house. Fifteen more minutes and Reeva and Sophia would be expecting the children to enter the kitchen for their after-school snack. When she and the kids failed to show, worry bells would start to ring, along with Tallulah’s cell phone.
Adjusting her sunglasses on her nose, Tallulah turned her back to the glare of the sun and scanned through the contact numbers on her phone. Just as she was about to punch the number to the ranch house kitchen, she caught the sound of an approaching vehicle coming from the direction of the main highway.
Glancing up, Tallulah spotted a white work truck with the ranch’s 3R brand on the side. The sight caused a breath of relief to rush past her lips. Thank God, it was someone from the ranch, she thought, as she stood next to the fender of the SUV and waited for the truck to pull alongside.
When the darkened window on the passenger side lowered, she could see a man with rugged features, tawny blond hair, and a brown cowboy hat pulled low on his forehead sitting behind the steering wheel.
Leaning toward the open window, he peered out at her. “Having trouble?”
Shoving back a wave of dark, wind-tossed hair, she stepped toward the truck. “I’m afraid so. The right front tire has blown and I have four young children inside. I’m Tallulah O’Brien, by the way. The Hollisters’ nanny.”
The man quickly opened the driver’s door and swung to the ground. When he skirted the front of the truck and joined her in the middle of the road, Tallulah struggled not to stare.
She’d only been living on Three Rivers for a short time. There were many ranch hands she’d never seen before, much less been introduced to. This one was definitely not average. Compared to her five foot five inches, he had to be over six feet, with a solid build that was emphasized by very faded denim jeans and a snapped Western shirt. His darkly tanned face was dominated by a pair of blue, blue eyes and a faint dimple in his left cheek.
“I’m James Garroway,” he introduced himself. “Head wrangler for Three Rivers.”
“Nice to meet you, James.” She extended her hand to him and felt an instant jolt as his rough palm slid against hers.
“Pleasure meeting you, Ms. O’Brien. Call me Jim. Everybody does.”
His voice had a deep, raspy timbre that was totally masculine. The sound of it, coupled with his striking features, momentarily scrambled her senses.
She cleared her throat and tried to look away from him, but the attempt failed as her gaze refused to budge from his face. “All right—Jim,” she managed to say. “And I’d be happy for you to call me Tallulah.”
“You must be Tag’s sister,” he said, while releasing his hold on her hand.
His blue eyes closely matched the bright sky, and right at this moment those vivid eyes were making a lazy inspection of her face. The idea that he was studying her so closely made her painfully aware of her tousled hair and bare lips. He was probably thinking she looked wrung out, Tallulah decided. But what did that matter? She expected he had a wife and family at home. And she wasn’t regarding him in that way. Not in the least!
“I am Tag’s sister,” she replied. “I moved out here to the ranch about three weeks ago.”
A faint smile touched his chiseled lips. “Welcome to Three Rivers Ranch,” he said, then turned his focus on the SUV.
She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I was about to call the ranch house for help when I heard your truck,” she said. “If you’re running short on time and need to be on your way, I’m sure Blake will send someone else to change the tire.”
He moved to the front of the SUV and surveyed the problem. “No need for you to do that. I’m here and have the necessary tools in my truck.”
“I’d be ever so grateful,” she told him. “Do I need to get the children out of the vehicle?”
“No. Just make sure the parking brake is on before I start to jack it up.”
“I’ve already done that,” she told him. “But maybe I should open the windows and kill the engine while you work. Just to keep things safe. The children are strapped in, and I’ve ordered them to remain in their seats. But with three-and four-year-old kids, one never knows.”
“Good idea,” he said with a wry grin. “One of them might decide to try driving.”
While she opened the windows on the SUV and cut the engine, the wrangler collected a high lift jack and a portable power wrench from the back of the work truck.
“That’s Uncle Jim,” Andrew declared as he leaned toward the open window as far as the seat belt would allow. “Are we gonna ride home with him?”
“Yippee! I want to ride in Uncle Jim’s truck!” Evelyn chimed in. “He’ll drive fast!”
Obviously the children were well acquainted with Jim Garroway. Which told her the man had probably been working for the Hollisters a long time.
All four children began to talk at once, but Tallulah managed to get their full attention. “Mr. Garroway is going to fix the tire. That means I expect all of you to sit still and quiet until he gets the job done. Then we can all go home.”
With those instructions, she climbed back out of the vehicle and joined the cowboy, who was already placing the jack in a position to lift the disabled tire off the ground.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.
Without bothering to look in her direction, he said, “Thanks, but I can manage.”
As Tallulah watched him pump the lever of the jack, she had no doubt the man could easily manage the task. His shoulders were broad and even though his arms were covered with denim fabric, she could see they were bulging with muscles.
Did a man get in such fit condition just from handling horses? Or was Jim Garroway a natural? As the questions drifted through her thoughts, her gaze seemed to take on a will of its own and continued to travel downward to where his thighs were straining against the worn denim.
“Nanny Tally, I’m hot,” Abagail whined. “Can we get out?”
“I want out, too!” Billy wailed.
Thankfully, the children’s complaints interrupted Tallulah’s daydreaming and she gave herself a mental shake as she moved around to the side of SUV and stuck her head into the open window of the back door.
“Be patient, kids. It will only be a few more minutes. And when we get home we’ll all have some lemonade,” she promised.
“And cookies,” Evelyn added. “I want snickerdoodles.”
“Yuk!” Andrew responded to his cousin’s request. “I want the cowboy kind. With nuts and chocolate.”
The kids began to argue about the cookies and Tallulah decided not to intervene. At least they weren’t screaming at each other, or trying to climb out of their seats.
The high-pitched buzz of the power wrench caught her attention, and by the time she walked back to the front of the vehicle, Jim had already removed the lug bolts and was in the process of removing the tire and wheel.
Tossing it aside, he said, “That one is done for.”
“I’m assuming the spare is under the vehicle,” Tallulah told him. “Those things aren’t always easy to take down.”
He rose to his full height and directed a look at her. “You know about getting a spare down, do you?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve had a few flats over the years. And three-fourths of those I changed myself.”
His expression said her remark had surprised him or he flat-out didn’t believe she could change a tire. She could’ve told him that she and her brother had been forced to learn how to take care of themselves years ago.
“There weren’t any Good Samaritans around to help?” he asked.
With a rueful smile, she shook her head. “Not on the road where I lived. It was out in the country and rarely traveled.”
His gaze met hers, and Tallulah felt a strange little kick right between her breasts. What in heck was wrong with her? Too much sun?
“I see,” he said. “Well, I’m going to do a little cheating today. I have a spare in the back of the truck that will fit the SUV good enough for you to limp home. Using it will save us both some time. And from the sounds of those kids, they’re getting restless.”
She laughed lightly as sounds of the chattering children grew a bit louder. “Andy is supposed to be telling the others a story. But it sounds like they’re all trying to drown him out.”
“Poor Andy.” A faint smile curved his lips. “I’d better get that tire so you can get them home.”
Nodding, Tallulah moved to one side and watched while he went about finishing the task.
After he’d put the tools and the ruined tire into the back of his truck, he walked over to where she stood.
“That should do it, Tallulah. I’ll let Blake know that the SUV needs a new tire before it’s driven again.”
Impulsively, she reached for his hand and gave it a grateful squeeze. “Thanks for all your help, Jim. You’ve been a lifesaver.”
Surprise flared in his eyes, and it dawned on her that the touch of her hand had caught him off guard. Was he not that accustomed to having a woman touch him? Even in a very casual way?
The questions hardly had time to flash through her mind before he eased his hand from hers and stepped back.
“All in a day’s work, Tallulah,” he said. “Drive safely.”
“Always,” she replied.
He gave her a thumbs-up, and then after a wave to the children, climbed into the work truck. It wasn’t until he’d started the engine that Tallulah realized she was standing in the middle of the road, staring after him.
Hoping the man hadn’t noticed she’d fallen into some sort of momentary trance, she hurriedly climbed into the SUV and buckled her seat belt.
“Okay, everyone can yell yippee now. We’re on our way home!” she said to the children as she started the engine and raised the windows.
While the youngsters all yelled the word at once and clapped with glee, Tallulah put the vehicle in gear, then automatically glanced in the side mirror to make sure the road was clear.
Jim Garroway’s truck was still sitting a few short feet behind her. Was he waiting for her to make the first move?
Unsure of his intentions, she lowered the driver’s window and leaned her head out in order to cast a questioning look at him. He aimed a forefinger in the direction of the ranch.
She waved that she understood and slowly drove forward. He promptly pulled in behind her, and for the next few miles, Tallulah tried not to notice he was back there. But that was hard to do when every minute or so, she caught herself glancing in the rearview mirror.
The wake of the SUV’s dust partially obscured his truck, but she didn’t need a clear view to remind her of the cowboy’s image. It was already burned into her brain, and Tallulah realized her reaction to Jim’s rugged good looks was very immature. True, he was one hot hunk of man, but she had no idea if he was married or involved with someone. For all she knew, he might be a husband and a father to a house full of kids.
She’d already suffered through a disastrous marriage. And she’d moved to Arizona to put all that behind her. More than anything she wanted to make a new life for herself. Pining after another man, one who’d most likely be all wrong for her, was not the way to accomplish her goal.
Once both vehicles reached ranch headquarters, Jim watched Tallulah brake the SUV to a stop near the west end of the three-story ranch house before he continued on to the work yard. At the side of a huge white barn with a red roof of corrugated iron, he braked the truck to a halt and headed toward the entrance to Blake Hollister’s office.
In the past, Blake had used an old feed room in the cattle barn for his work space. But as Three Rivers Ranch had grown, and visits from cattle buyers had become more frequent, Maureen Hollister, the family matriarch, had insisted it was time for Blake to have a modern, up-to-date office. The man had finally given in to having a new office built, but he’d insisted it remain connected to the cattle barn.
When Jim entered the outer room, Flo, the ranch’s one and only secretary, was at her desk with the receiver of a landline phone pressed to her ear. As soon as the sixtyish, redheaded woman glanced up to see Jim, she waved him on to the door that led into Blake’s office.
After a short knock to announce himself, Jim stepped into the comfortably furnished room to see Blake was sitting at his desk and barking instructions into the phone. Tall and muscular with a head full of dark hair that was usually covered with a black Stetson, the eldest of the Hollister offspring had reached the age of forty this past year. However, due to his father Joel’s untimely death, he’d served as the manager of the mega-sized ranch for more than a decade now. Blake was one of those guys that had much rather have his leg thrown over a horse, but duty and responsibility kept him mostly tied to the business end of the ranch. Jim admired the man for his loyalty along with countless other reasons.
Spotting Jim, Blake quickly ended the conversation and leaned casually back in a black executive chair. “Well, knock a board off the barn!” he joked. “It’s been ages since you’ve been in here. I thought you’d forgotten how to find the cattle barn.”
Jim gave him a lopsided grin. “Oh, I remember how to get here all right. It’s just that your brother always keeps me too busy with the horses.”
Blake chuckled knowingly. “You know Holt. He never has enough horses to suit him.” He motioned for Jim to take a seat in front of the wide cherrywood desk. “What’s going on over at the horse barn? Anything I should know about?”
Easing into the heavy wooden chair, Jim said, “Everything is good. Having Colt and Luke working with us has made a world of difference. Those two guys are the best.”
Blake grinned and nodded. “Yeah. The Crawford brothers are a great asset to the ranch. So what about you? Everything going okay?”
Okay. Yeah, Jim thought, that was probably the best word to describe his life. It was good, but uneventful. He worked every day of the week from sunup to sundown and went home every night to a quiet, empty house. And because that was the way he wanted things to be, he couldn’t complain.
“Sure. No problems.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Blake rose from the chair and walked over to a small table with a coffee machine. “Want a cup? Sophia just brought down fresh cookies from the kitchen a few minutes ago.”
“No, thanks, Blake. If I don’t show up at the horse barn pretty soon, Holt’s probably going to put out an APB for me. I got detained on the way home from town. That’s why I stopped by to see you.”
Blake filled a ceramic mug with coffee and carried it back to the desk. “What do you mean, detained? You got stopped by the law and handed a speeding ticket?”
Jim grunted with amusement. “Nothing like that. A few miles out from the ranch, I ran into your new nanny and the children. They were stranded on the side of the road with a blown tire on the SUV. I changed it with an old spare I had in my truck. But I thought you’d want to know the vehicle needs a new tire before it’s driven again.”
A concerned frown creased his face. “A blowout! Damn. Was everyone okay?”
“Everyone was fine. Ms. O’Brien had managed to get the vehicle safely to the side of the road. And the kids were all in their seats and behaving themselves.”
Blake blew out a breath of relief. “Thank God for that. I’m assuming they were coming home from the bus stop.”
“Must have been. I followed them back to the house—to make sure there wasn’t a problem with the spare.”
Sinking into the desk chair, Blake said, “Thanks, Jim, for taking care of things. Glad you came by at the right time. I’m sure Tallulah was grateful for your help.”
“Appeared to be,” Jim said while recalling the way she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She’d more than surprised him with that move. Come to think of it, just about everything about the woman had surprised him. Especially, the beautiful way she’d looked standing out in the middle of the road with her dark brown hair whipping around her pretty face. The smile she’d given him had been totally genuine and very unforgettable. “To tell you the truth, I had the feeling she wouldn’t have been intimidated to change the tire herself.”
Amused by Jim’s suggestion, Blake said, “That’s not surprising. Tallulah is a resourceful woman. Sometimes she cares for six or seven kids at the same time and handles the job with ease. Kat calls her an angel come to the rescue. And I have to agree. She’s made life easier for all of us. And with our twins coming in a few months, I couldn’t be happier that Tallulah is here. Kat needs all the help she can get and then some.”
Blake was already father to teenage son, Nick, and four-year-old twins, Abagail and Andrew. Plus, this past December, during one of the Hollisters’ Christmas parties, it was announced that Katherine was pregnant again. The news had surprised and delighted everyone. But the shocks hadn’t ended there. A few days later, there’d been another stunning revelation, especially to Holt and Isabelle, who hadn’t known at the time that she was also pregnant. Only six months earlier, Isabelle had given birth to their second son, Axel. Now, the horsewoman was expected to deliver their third child in June, while Katherine and Blake’s second set of twins were due to arrive before summer’s end.
Jim was happy for the whole Hollister family. But there were times he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what-if. He couldn’t stop the painful memories, or the awful longing for what might have been. But that part of his life was over, and he’d long ago decided it wasn’t meant for him to be a family man.
Pulling his wandering thoughts back to the present, Jim said, “No doubt Tallulah will take a big load off Kat. But I wonder...”
After a long, awkward pause, Blake shot him a wry look.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You’re trying to figure out why a pretty young woman like her doesn’t have a home and children of her own. Right?”
A wave of hot color crept up Jim’s neck. “I...uh...something like that. Today was the first time I’d met her. She’s not what I expected.”
Actually, when he’d heard about Taggart’s sister coming from Texas to care for the Hollister kids, he’d assumed she’d be a plain, middle-aged woman. Like an aunt he’d had as a child, who’d patted the top of his head and given him pieces of hard candy.
He couldn’t have been more wrong, he thought, as the image of Tallulah in a pair of tight skinny jeans and a bright yellow tank top paraded through his mind. She wasn’t one of those women with a stick straight figure. No, she’d been lushly curved in all the right places. And he’d had to work at not staring.
Blake chuckled. “What were you expecting? The stereotypical image of a stern old maid? Tag would get a laugh out of that.”
His jaws still burning with color, Jim said, “No doubt.”
“I’ll tell you, Jim, Tag is thrilled to have his sister here on the ranch. He wasn’t happy with the way her life was going back in Texas. Supposedly, she worked for a hard-nosed jerk. Plus, their father, Buck, was always trying to sponge off Tallulah. But that’s a whole other story. And I shouldn’t be repeating personal things about the O’Brien family.”
Nor should Jim be listening, he thought. Tallulah O’Brien was none of his business. Even so, the tidbits of information Blake had just thrown at him had made him curious about her. That and the fact that she was the first woman he’d met in the past nine years who’d made him momentarily forget he was a widower.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Sounds like the move here was beneficial for her and your family.”
Blake thoughtfully sipped his coffee. “You know, Jim, when things are going good, a guy needs to be thankful. Since Mom and Uncle Gil got married last year it seems like everything on the ranch and with the family has gotten better. The market for Three Rivers cattle is booming. Not to mention the high prices that Holt is getting now for the horses. We’ve had healthy babies born to the family and friends. And a few weddings and engagements have taken place. But I’ll admit there are times I lay down at night and wonder what might suddenly crack.”
Jim knew all too well what it was like for something in a person’s life to suddenly crack. He’d endured it firsthand when he’d lost his wife and unborn child. But it wasn’t like the Hollisters hadn’t endured their fair share of miseries, either.
“Your father’s death cast a shadow over your family and the ranch for a long while,” Jim said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Things happen for a reason. But it’s tough trying to figure out those reasons.”
“When Dad was killed, Mom said the very same thing. For a long time I tried to figure the why of the tragedy. Now I’ve come to the conclusion that the why no longer matters. Clearly, Mom and Gil were meant to spend the rest of their lives together. And that’s enough reckoning for me.”
Was Blake hinting at the idea of there being a woman out there somewhere for Jim? One he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with? If so, he could’ve told the ranch manager that he wasn’t about to let himself fall in love with another woman. As far as he was concerned, the emotional cost was too high.
Jim scooted to the edge of his seat. “I’ve sat here long enough,” he announced. “I need to get on to the horse barn.”
Blake’s expression turned playful. “You haven’t let my brother or any of the guys talk you into climbing on a bronc here lately, have you?”
Chuckling, Jim rose and walked to the door. “I’m not that crazy. I’ll leave bronco busting to Holt and the Crawford brothers.”
Giving him a thumbs-up gesture, Blake said, “See you, later, Jim. And thanks for helping Tallulah.”
He gave the ranch manager a backhanded wave. “Anytime, Blake.”
But as he left the office and headed to his truck, he hoped like hell he didn’t run into Tallulah O’Brien anytime soon. She was the kind of woman who could wreck a man’s peace of mind.
