spent every summer since he was ten on a series of ranches in “the country,” really just a suburb of Chicago. At first he’d been sent there by the city officials because no one had wanted the trouble-causing boy he’d been. He’d been worked hard, and he had grown to love every minute of it, while still pretending to hate it.
Then later he’d gone willingly, taking Ben, feeling more at home in the great outdoors than anywhere else. He loved horses, loved all animals, and had begged, borrowed and practically stolen to make Ben’s fantasy of ranching come true.
It had to be in one’s blood to make this hard living work. And if it wasn’t in these women’s blood, they’d go away and he would buy the land. Then they’d all win.
“Let me get this straight.” Zoe studied him carefully. “You want to be involved as a partner, not just to manage, but to own a part of it.”
“Yep.”
“You want to control it.”
Her mistrust was palpable, and he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her to make her this way. “I wouldn’t even attempt to control you, Zoe,” he said softly, everything else fading away but this woman with the bcautiful and so-unsure eyes. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”
“You couldn’t, anyway,” she said, lifting her chin.
“It snows here in the wintertime,” Delia said shakily.
“Quite a bit,” Ty told her.
“If we had a bunch of animals here, we wouldn’t be able to head south for warmer weather.”
“You’ll love cross-country skiing. I’ll teach you,” Ty said, shocked to discover he meant it. But they were leaving soon. He was counting on it, he reminded himself.
“Oh Lord,” Delia murmured, rubbing her head. “It just hit me. The wilds. We’re really living in the wilds.”
“Eighty-three thousand square miles of wonder,” he confirmed. “That’s Idaho. There’s no place more wild in the U.S., except for maybe Alaska.”
Delia moaned.
“Well, it’s not like we’re camping,” Maddie pointed out in her quiet, infinite wisdom. “You have electricity for your hair dryer, Delia. A tub for your bubble bath.”
Zoe let loose enough to laugh, the sound unexpectedly light and happy. Her tense face transposed, softened...and took Ty’s breath away. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Skiing,” Zoe murmured a bit dreamily. “I’ve always wanted to try it.”
The yearning in her voice tugged at him. “You’re in, Slim?”
He knew what the stakes were for her; Delia had told him. After years of going to college at night while working full-time during the day, Zoe had finally gotten her business degree. Would she be happy running a ranch when a cool, easy living was all she’d ever wanted?
“And you’re going to stick with us?” she wondered. “No matter what?”
They were still watching each other, so that there was no hiding what flickered between them. Honesty, fear. Need. Startling need. “I’m going to stick, no matter what,” he said.
He saw the moment his response registered. The promise he was making. Saw, too, her fierce disbelief, and he experienced a strange urge to pound whoever had hurt her so badly in her past, whoever had caused Zoe to accept a promise, any promise, with such mistrust.
“Well, I think you’d make a good partner,” Maddie said softly, with a shy smile. “But only if Delia and Zoe agree.”
Delia’s wide gaze whipped to Maddie. She was so uncustomarily ruffled she forgot to pretend she wasn’t.
“I promise to make sure all the amenities run smoothly,” Ty said seriously, though he wanted to sigh in relief. They’d never stay long, and while he might actually miss them, he convinced himself he was doing them a favor. “I’ll even build a Jacuzzi, Delia. Just for you.”
“Oh, really?” She beamed. “You really will?”
“Promise.”
“Okay, but I won’t raise pigs. Or kill anything that makes red meat,” Delia said firmly.
“No problem. We can start with horses if you’d like.”
Delia flipped back her hair and took a deep, calming breath. “Oh God. Okay. I’m in, too. Maddie’s right. You’d be a great partner. Zoe?”
All eyes flew to Zoe, including Ty’s. She looked at him, unusually intense.
And again that strange, inexplicable communication happened between them. She was looking for honesty and he’d claimed to have given it, but he hadn’t, not fully.
He was counting on them leaving and guilt hit hard.
She deserved more, but unfortunately he couldn’t give it.
The room was thick with unspoken hopes and dreams. Ty watched Zoe, waited while that current tugged between them.
Stubbornness set her jaw, and he knew from the sudden disappointment filling him what her answer would be before she even spoke.
“You know what?” she said softly. “We’ll do this, we’ll manage to get this ranch running, but we can do it on our own. We won’t be a burden to anyone.”
“I never said you’d be a burden,” he said carefully. What had given him away? Had she read his guilt for what it was? “I offered.”
“Zoe, I—” Delia pinched her mouth closed at the look of determination on Zoe’s face. “Never mind. You’re right.”
Maddie sighed, then smiled and took Zoe’s hand, effectively disarming the tension. “Thanks, Ty, for offering.” She spoke softly but firmly, sparing one last glance for her still-silent and brooding sister. “But we’ll be fine.”
They were united, together. Reluctant admiration shot through Ty. Seems they had grit after all.
Then he looked at Zoe, who was looking at him with a definite challenging light. He felt his blood stir to meet that challenge. They would still work together. After all, he was manager of their property for the next year whether they liked it or not. It would be interesting, to say the least, considering she was stubborn to the last drop.
So was he.
“But Ty, honey?” Delia smiled beguilingly. “Think I could still have that Jacuzzi?”
* * *
Zoe took a walk after dinner in the cold night, desperately in need of some perspective, which she couldn’t get being in the same room with the enigmatic, sexy Ty Jackson.
Leaving Ty happily and easily charming Maddie and Delia, she stomped along. Why did he do that? she wondered. He certainly didn’t bother with any charm when it came to her, yet with her sisters, he poured it on. It wasn’t fake, either, which also confused her. No, when he spoke to Maddie or Delia his eyes were warm and relaxed, his manner genuine and easygoing yet somehow protective.
But she wasn’t fooled.
Letting her pent-up energy take her where it would, she roamed. In daylight, Triple M was too gorgeous to believe. Behind the house, there were the three peaks, behind them more mountains for as far as the eye could see. The fertile black soil was covered with lush growth. Tall green grass, myriad colors of wildflowers, the azure-blue sky, the deeper blue of the raging river, and interspersed among it all were the two rustic red barns, the ranch house and a series of run-down cottages.
A picture-perfect scene.
Except that the barns were empty and in desperate need of repair. So was the house. Brightly colored wildflowers grew like weeds in the empty pastures.
At night, though, like now, Zoe could