The Rancher and the Runaway Bride Part 1 by Susan Mallery

Author:Susan Mallery
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Harlequin E
Published: 2014-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

He blew smoke. Randi had never cared for the smell of cigars or pipes, but she wasn’t about to tell Tex that. Not that he would care or listen. She was the outsider here; it was up to her to fit in with everyone else.

“You were up early,” he said after a while.

“So were you. I saw the lights on in the kitchen.”

He nodded. “I made coffee, if you want some.”

“Thanks, but Brady said I could make some there. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“No bother. If it was, I wouldn’t have offered.”

“What a gracious charmer,” she said without thinking. “You must be really popular with the ladies.”

Instead of snapping at her, he grinned. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

“So, you just pretend to be a cranky old man?”

“I’m not so old.”

Rita glanced at him. “It’s all an act, isn’t it? This tough-guy thing.”

“I can be tough.”

“That’s right. I bet you were a marine. How long were you in?”

“Twenty years.”

She pulled her knees close to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. The morning was already warm, and the afternoon would be sweltering. But for now, it was pleasant. The smells from the barn took the edge off the scent of the cigar. It wasn’t as horrible as she would have thought.

“After twenty years with the marines, how did you end up here?”

“Just like everyone else. I had nowhere else to go.” He bit down on his cigar. “Brady’s daddy hired me. I needed the job, so I agreed to take it for the summer. That was ten years ago and I’m still here.”

“Do you have any plans to move on?”

“Nope. I like it here. First place I’ve ever called home. Except the Corps. What about you?”

As she’d asked questions about him, it was only fair that he got to ask a few about her. Randi stared out at the yard as, one by one, the cats finished with breakfast and strolled off for their post-breakfast grooming.

“I’m not from around here,” she began tentatively.

“You don’t say.”

She shot him a glance and smiled. “I’ve never been a marine.”

“Shoot, you probably don’t have any tattoos, either.”

“Not a one.”

He shook his head. “Guess there’s no hope for you.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I learn quickly.”

“Have any plans to move on?” he asked, repeating the same question she’d asked him.

Their answers were going to be different. “Yes,” she said simply, then waited for him to ask her when.

He didn’t. He puffed on the cigar for a few minutes, then said, “You might want to think about staying around long enough to meet Brady’s folks. They’re good people. You’ll like ‘em. They’re a close family with big hearts. They make all of us feel like part of the group, especially at the holidays. Vi cooks up a big turkey. Won’t let me help with anything. I make a few pies the day before, but that’s it.”

“They sound nice.” Different from her own family, she thought. Her mother would never invite the help to the table.

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