Patty's Homecoming, page 3
part #1 of Montana Wranglers Series
He lifted a hand and flicked the rim of his cowboy hat at her. “Patricia.” He was staring at her from under the shadow of the rim, his bright blue eyes seeing too much. Rusty, his stallion, thankfully broke his attention by bumping him. “Good to have you home, ma’am,” he said. Stepping away, he clicked his tongue to his horse and they both moseyed, no other word for that kind of lazy walk, toward the stables.
She so couldn’t stay. This was why she left in the first place. Just seeing that sexy swagger, seeing the way that Blake filled out his jeans as he walked along. Yeah, this is such a bad idea, she thought to herself. When Diamond nickered behind her and butted her head to Patty’s shoulder, she cried out, but then steeled herself and turned back to the pony. “You are a beauty.” Giving the pony one last pat, she left it standing there and headed for the house. Hotel, yep, hotel and then she had to leave. She couldn’t bring this shit onto her family and those she cared for.
Just as she reached the steps, she felt someone coming up behind her. When she looked, she shouldn’t have been surprised to see Blake not more than a foot from her. “You going in or not?” he asked, his tone a lazy drawl that she knew was all show. He had brains under that hat and was too damned smart for his own good, or hers at that moment.
“Yeah. Sorry.” She shook her head. Stepping back, however, she motioned to the door. “You can go ahead though. I don’t want to keep you from something.” Maybe he was seeing the new girl. She knew that was a stupid thing for her to immediately think, but she had thought it.
He didn’t move right away, but then he stepped up onto the stairs, stopping next to her. He looked down at her and, she would swear, right through her and into her head. But he didn’t say anything as he took the last two stairs and went into the house, calling for her father. It was only a minute before he came back out and jogged down the stairs, heading for the stables once more.
Patty watched Blake leaving and shook her head. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Even after all of these years she was completely and fully hung up on him, well them if she was really honest with herself. She felt it then, someone watching her, and suddenly her fear ratcheted up as she looked about, searching for the danger.
“Well, well, well,” a voice said from just behind her. Boots sounded on the floorboards of the wraparound deck. “If it’s not the little darling. So nice to see you again, Ms. Graymont.” She turned to see Trevor moving toward her much like a rattler looking to strike. His eyes were too bright and latched onto her, his smile just a little too suggestive and damned creepy.
Patty looked at the man and said, “Trevor.” The word made her sick to her stomach. Why the hell did he have to be so good with the animals? She thought that animals could sense evil and that’s what she felt he was, pure evil. “What can I do for you?” she asked simply, her eyes never leaving his and anticipating his moves before he made one so that she could step around the rocking chair and put it between them.
“Just thought I’d stop by and say hello.” He smiled wider. He knew he made her nervous and he liked it, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by. It was clear from the way that Trevor moved, the way that he approached Patty that he was enjoying her discomfort.
“Finch!” a sharp male voice said from behind her. This one she recognized, so she didn’t jolt when the heat that radiated from the large body got closer. “The horses need tending and Daisy May looks to have a stone in her shoe. Daniel will have heads rolling if that horse goes lame.”
“Sure, sure, Jacobson.” Trevor’s eyes chilled with anger when he looked past her. “I’ll get on that right away.” But he didn’t move immediately and, when he finally did, it was like an oil slick oozing toward the barns.
“You okay?” Blake asked quietly, his body shifting to stay between hers and Trevor’s.
Patty nodded and wanted to lean into Blake. God she wanted to be able to turn into him and divest herself of her secrets. “Yeah, he just reminds me of people I knew in New York. Just plain ornery.” She muttered and shook her head. “Thank you. For coming back. For sending him off to do his job.” She had a feeling that, while Trevor knew animals, there were times he would hide behind anything and everything that he could to get out of work. “I think it might be best if I head off to a hotel. I don’t want to give Daddy any extra worry about getting my room ready, especially with a new housekeeper.”
“It’s never not ready for you, Patricia.” He finally turned to look at her. “If you leave, you’ll have to tell your father about whatever you did to yourself to be in that much pain. And don’t try lying to me. Besides the fact I know when you lie, I saw how you reacted to Diamond bumping you. I won’t ask,” he said quietly, his voice dropping to a more intimate level. “But if you ever want to share I’ll always listen.”
“And some things are safer not to share,” she whispered, and sighed. “I will figure out something to tell Dad.” Somehow. Someway. Right? “You always could read me better than anyone. Even as kids you and Corbin could both put me in my place with just a look.” One of the bad things about growing up with these men around her all the time. “So how have you been, Blake? How’s life treating you? Dad said that you were dating May Shores in town?” May was so not good for Blake. She was a viperous whore. Then again, maybe that’s what he wanted?
He shifted ever so slightly, moving away and yet still filling her personal space. “You could just tell him the truth, Patricia. Novel concept I know, but it works wonders. Besides, you bail out and he’ll be calling everyone he knows between here and New York and he’ll have the answers before you even hit Mission. As to those vicious rumors, they are false and you should know better than to believe such heinous fabrications, Tish.”
God, that made her shiver. “Goodness, I’ve missed that,” she whispered softly. Tish, only he and Corbin had ever been the ones to call her that, the only ones that she would let call her that. “And if it’s trouble I’m bringing with me? Wouldn’t you agree it’s best that I get out? I shouldn’t have come home. It’s too dangerous,” she admitted softly. “And I hate that.”
He moved then, slowly, but much like an ocean wave—you knew he could crush you if he chose to. Instead he boxed her in, his long, muscled arms a cage as he looked into her eyes. The rim of his hat just brushing her hair he was so close. “You leave and I’ll chase you down personally, hogtie you and drag your well-toned ass home. If you have trouble coming for you, the best place to be is on land you know inside and out with people you know would do anything to keep you safe. Because, if you run, it won’t only be your father calling people, I’ll damn well be calling several folks I know working for various agencies in DC to find out just what has you this spooked. Now, you going to tell me what’s coming or should I just dig out the rifles and get settled in a perch for the next while?” She forgot, nearly constantly, he’d been a Marine sniper for a while. His one break from ranch life was a six-year stint that got him an honorable discharge due to medical reasons she’d never actually gotten the dirt on.
Patty found the story falling out of her without another moment in time. She spilled her guts to him, explained to him about the man after her and added in, “And not only does he want me, but it seems the feds want to put me into protective custody, yet they weren’t so protective when Trevino ensured that I had the hell beaten out of me and ensured that I knew it was him.” She felt deflated after giving him the honest truth of what brought her home, and settled in the double rocker. “Now I just don’t know what to do,” she admitted and dropped her face into her hands, the urge to just give up and cry hitting her hard.
The rocker swayed when he sat next to her. She knew it was him, the heat coming off him couldn’t be anyone else’s. He didn’t say anything, but one of his large hands gently touched her hair and began to stroke, a soothing rhythm that had her fighting even harder not to cry. “Let it out, Tish,” he advised quietly. “You’ll feel better for it if you do.”
“Says you,” she whispered and felt herself crying at the gentle touch of his hand to her hair. Shaking her head, she said, “And now I bring this craziness home. God, I should have my head examined for bringing this anywhere near my father.” She leaned back in the rocker, turning when his large hands moved to pull her close and then proceeded to drench the poor man in her tears. Tears that were long past the need to flow free.
He held her gently, seeming to just know where to keep from touching her wounds. The rocker was moving in a slow motion, soothing just like his touch on her hair. And he didn’t even comment about the river that was likely drowning him. He even remained quiet, letting her pour out all the hurt and pain and fear without saying anything at all.
When she was finished crying, she felt as if she had been turned inside out and backward. “And now you know,” she whispered softly and rubbed her cheek to his chest. “How do you always smell so damn good?” she wondered aloud, realizing after she said it what she’d said. Lord, revealing your soul was just bad juju all around.
His chest vibrated under her cheek as he chuckled. “Considering I’ve been wrestling with a fence and on a horse most of the day, I’ll take that as a compliment.” He moved slightly and tipped up her face, his thumbs moving to brush the stray tears away from her cheeks. “No matter what you think, Patricia, we’re not going to let this man hurt you. You’re home where you belong, and we look after our own. I won’t tell your father what you told me but if we catch wind this fella’s comin’ here, we need to give him a heads-up. He deserves to know something’s a comin’, right?”
“I have a feeling he already knows far more than he’s letting on.” If Patty wasn’t mistaken, her father had known when he saw her. “But yes, if I find out that he’s coming or sending his men after me I will ensure that Daddy knows.” She sighed and pushed them to rocking once more in the double rocker. “I guess it’s true. When you are scared you always come home.” And she was. Patty wasn’t afraid of a lot thanks to the way she was raised, but this man in New York terrified her and it was very clearly written all over her face. “Maybe I should just let the feds take me into protective custody. Maybe that would be the best idea. That way you would all be safe, I would be safe.” Ha! “And then life would go on.”
“Not happening, Patricia,” he said, back to using her full name. Never good. “No running and definitely no federal program. Those fools are more likely to get you killed than if you stayed here. They leave a paper trail and, no matter how careful they think they are, they paint a target on your back. Here is where you will stay and here is where you’ll be safest. Besides, look at this place,” he waved a hand toward the vista before them. “We can see them coming a dozen miles away. And this is our turf, nobody is sneaking up on us to get to you out here. Period.”
“Yeah, well I hope you are right. I just pray that you don’t regret having me remain.” She loved it here, though. This was her home. This place ran in her blood. She had only run to New York because seeing Blake and Corbin day in and out, seeing them dating women together or separately, just made her ache. It made her hurt and so she latched onto the first excuse to leave she could, interior design. Oh, she was good at it, she was amazing at it actually, but it wasn’t in her blood. Not like this place was.
“Never,” he told her quietly. Then he slid an arm around her, again with infinite care, and pulled her in close to his side. He held her gently as they rocked on the deck. In that moment, his chin resting on her head, there was literally not a worry in the world. She didn’t know how long they sat there, didn’t really care, but he drew back to look at her after a time. “Come on, there’s still time before dinner. Come for a ride with me. We’ll take Rusty so you aren’t jarred around.”
“You sure?” She hadn’t been riding in far too long. She missed it too. “Don’t you have stuff you have to get done before dinner?” But she wasn’t turning him down, just making sure. “It’s been so long since I’ve ridden,” she whispered with the shake of her head. “Not a lot of places in New York where you can get on a horse and simply give in to nature and let it take you away.”
“I’m sure. I got everything I needed to do done already. Unlike some people around here, I make sure I’m ahead of the game in case someone else needs a hand.” He moved his arm and stood up, holding out a hand and helping her from the seat. Then he took his hat and dropped it on her head with a snort. “We’ll de-citify you right quick, Tish.”
Laughing, she nodded. “If anyone could, Blake, it’s you.” Pure pleasure rolled off of her in waves, happiness simply filled the space between them. “Thank you,” she said finally as they walked toward the horse paddocks. “For always seeming to know what I need. I don’t know how you do it, but thank you.”
He shrugged slightly and kept a hand on her elbow as they walked. Reaching the paddock, he gave a whistle and Rusty came bouncing along. He was still saddled, so obviously Blake had been planning, or something. He went to the gate and let the horse come out. The big suck-up came right for her, looking for some loving and not the least bit shy to demand it. “Good God, Rusty,” Blake groaned.
Giving the horse some love, she hugged the horse’s neck. “I’ve missed you too, Rusty.” Rusty had been on her father’s ranch for, goodness, what felt like forever and he was always the sweetest animal ever. “He just remembers all the apples I would sneak him and is likely trying to figure out why I’m not giving him one now.”
“Yeah, I know,” Blake moved toward them and grabbed up the reins. “He won’t do a damned thing unless I give him one every morning.” Swinging up into the saddle, he looked to her as he held out a hand. “Front or back?” he asked.
“Back, the pommel would hurt me right now.” With the way she was bruised she didn’t want to chance it. Putting her foot in the stirrup and her hand in his, she grinned. “Well come on, B, pull me up so that we can have our ride.”
With a gentle tug he pulled her up until she was situated behind him. Once her arms were around his waist he turned Rusty’s head and they got moving at a nice slow pace. “You okay back there?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Perfect.” Her cheek was pressed to his back, her arms around his middle and thighs rubbing along against his. Oh yeah, she was in heaven. Too bad that she would have to come back down to earth far too soon. “I forgot how good it is to ride.” To ride with him.
Chuckling, he snagged his hat back and settled it on his head, brim low. “Well, we’ll keep it under a trot so that you don’t have to worry about being in pain.” They moved nice and slowly, away from the house and the others. “So, how’s your business doing?” he asked softly.
“It’s doing well. Well, it was before I took off. Now.” She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t care. I’m home.” She had a feeling she wouldn’t be going back to New York, ever. No, when she left the ranch again, it would be farther from the temptation that was here at home. “I had a backlog of clients nearly a year long,” she admitted. “I’ve asked other designers to step in and take them over, fitting clients and designers together so that aesthetics match.” Rubbing her cheek against his flannel-covered back, she honestly felt like all was right in the world. No matter how much she hurt, she wouldn’t give this up for anything.
“Your father is damn proud of you,” he said, slowing them down even more. “He’s always bragging to anyone and everyone he can pin down for more than a minute about his daughter and her business. But I do know he’s happy to have you home again. He’s been damned antsy these last couple of weeks when you weren’t calling him or taking his calls. I know why now, of course, but he’s only going to let it slide for so long. Probably a good thing you came back, he was bound and determined to tear New York apart to find you. It was rather amusing, actually.” Blake chuckled. “He had a lynch mob pretty much organized. I’d say search party but they were all a little drunk and more than a bit rabid at the time.”
“Oh lord, his poker buddies?” Several men that were all her father’s age, all men that had ranches in the area and all men that had more secrets than a miller had oats. “Well thank you for keeping him sane and keeping him from coming for me.” She knew that Blake had somehow played a part in it. “You kept him safe and didn’t even fully realize it. Thank you for that.”
“Who else would he take? He may not trust them with his money at a table, but they have his back when it comes to doing what’s right.” Blake fell silent as they rode slowly toward the pond. She recognized the area easily. She’d spent many a killer hot summer day in the water, cooling off. Montana might have brutal winters but its summers could be just as harsh. “I knew something was up when he went into Mission two days in a row. Corbin was in town already with Michael so I had them tail your dad around town. I should mention, for the record, your father is a great rancher and knows his animals, but he sucks at being sneaky. Especially if those two could figure out what he was up to as easily as they did.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me at all. Dad is a lot of things, but slick is not one of them.” Dismounting with his help, she walked to the edge of the pond and sighed. God, she loved this place. “There is nothing like coming home.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and simply watched as the dragonflies lit on the water and took off, as the insects moved in and out of the small ripples and a fish came to the surface to try to capture one of the bugs for its meal. “So why the new housekeeper?” She had to turn the conversation and thoughts from her and what she had survived. Had to.
“Constantine quit,” he said, again. When she looked his way, he didn’t appear inclined to explain either. His jaw had a stubborn set to it and he looked…well, he looked pissed. He caught her looking at him and shot her a glare. Pure defensive move. He really didn’t want to share whatever the reasoning was. Which was curious, very. He usually didn’t have an issue telling her anything. And then there was the oversharing. Yeah, she knew things her father probably wouldn’t want her to ever know.
