Rancher’s Dream
by B.J. Daniels
YOU WILL DIE in this house.
The thought seemed to rush out of the darkness as the house came into view. The premonition turned her skin clammy. Drey gripped a handful of her wedding dress, her fingers aching but unable to release the expensive fabric as she stared at her new home. A wedding gift, Ethan had said. A surprise, sprung on her at the reception.
The premonition still had a death grip on her. She could see herself lying face down in a pool of water, her auburn hair fanned out around her head, her body so pale it appeared to have been drained of all blood.
“Are you all right?” her husband asked now as he reached over to take her hand. “Dierdre?” Unlike everyone else she knew, Ethan refused to call her by her nickname.
“I’m still a little woozy from the reception,” she said, desperately needing fresh air right now as she put down her window to let in the cool Montana summer night.
“I warned you about drinking too much champagne.”
He’d warned her about a lot of things. But it wasn’t the champagne, which she’d hardly touched during the reception. Her stomach had begun roiling from the moment Ethan told her where they would be living. She’d assumed they would live in his New York City penthouse since that was where he spent most of his time. She’d actually been looking forward to it for several reasons. She’d never lived in a large city. Also it would be miles from Gilt Edge—and Hawk Cahill.
She’d never dreamed that Ethan meant for them to live here in Montana, at the place he’d named Mountain Crest. All during construction, she’d thought that the odd structure was to be used as a business retreat only. Ethan had been so proud of the house with its barred gate at the end of the paved road, she’d never let on that she knew the locals made fun of it—and its builder.
When Ethan had pulled her aside at the reception and told her that they would be living on the mountain overlooking Gilt Edge in his prized house, Dierdre hadn’t been able to hide her shock. She’d never dreamed... But then she’d never dreamed she would be married to Ethan Baxter.
“Is there a problem?” he’d asked when he’d told her the news.
She’d tried to cover her discomfort. “I just assumed we would be living in New York City, closer to your business.”
“I’ve given up the penthouse. When I have to go to the city on business, I’ll be staying in a hotel.” He’d sounded a bit indignant as if she should have been more excited. “Mountain Crest will have to do.”
“I didn’t mean...” She had seen that there was nothing she could say that wouldn’t make it worse.
Now, as she found her breath, the premonition receding only a little, she had another paralyzing thought. You’ve made a mistake.
It was that thought that had made her freeze earlier, standing in the church. It had been a large wedding, the pews filled with business associates of her husband and half the town. Her bridesmaids were women she worked with at the library, women who’d been excited about her engagement and enamored by Ethan every time he came into the library looking for her.
She’d wanted her best friend, Lillie Cahill, to be her matron of honor, but she’d known Lillie would decline. “I’ll be at your wedding. I’ll support you to the death, but I can’t do that to my brother. I would feel as if I was betraying Hawk. I hope you understand.”
Of course Drey had understood. Lillie was like a sister to her after all the years Drey had spent on the Cahill Ranch when she was dating Hawk. When the two of them had been so madly in love that everyone had expected they would be the ones marrying today.
You’ve made a mistake. But it was too late to have second thoughts. She’d been telling herself that from the moment Ethan had sent out the announcement about their engagement before he’d even officially asked her to marry him.
“I thought you loved surprises,” he’d said.
She had no idea where he’d gotten that idea.
“Maybe this will make it up to you.” He’d reached into his pocket, produced the small velvet jewelry box and opened it. Light caught the impressive diamond, almost blinding her. She’d told herself this was every young woman’s dream. A handsome rich businessman wanted to marry her.
“Do you like it?” he’d asked impatiently.
She’d nodded as he’d slipped it on her ringer. It was beautiful, if a little tight on her finger. He’d promised to have it resized. And yet it had nagged at her, him running the engagement announcement in her hometown paper without telling her.
“What’s the big deal?” he’d demanded when she’d said something about it. “I thought you’d want your friends to know.” It hadn’t been her friends he’d wanted to know about the engagement. He’d wanted Hawk Cahill to see it, which made her regret telling Ethan about her first love.
As she now stared at the house growing larger and larger as he drove nearer, she felt sicker. The roof lines rose at odd angles as the house backed up against the mountainside in what appeared to be five levels of glass and rock and old timbers. The front was all glass, behind it darkness. She got the crazy feeling that the house was watching them approach and that it wasn’t happy.
Ethan swore under his breath and looked back down the mountain.
“What is it?” she asked turning in her seat. A set of headlights disappeared down the county road below them on the mountain.
“Nothing,” he said, but he kept glancing in his rearview mirror until they came around a bend and the road below them disappeared. “Mountain Crest,” he said, his voice filling with pride as he let go of her hand to motion toward the ultramodern structure. “So what do you think?” he asked when she didn’t respond. Couldn’t respond.
She tried not to shudder. Two years ago, she’d heard that everyone in Gilt Edge was talking about the ultramodern mansion some rich businessman was building on the side of the mountain overlooking the valley. Few people had seen it since the property was gated down on the county road and under the watchful eye of a caretaker who stayed on the estate until recently, apparently. The rest of the property was surrounded by an eight-foot-high stone fence. Ethan was determined to have his privacy.
Over those two years, several unfortunate accidents had occurred during construction. Three laborers had been injured and the first caretaker had been found dead. All of the incidents were ruled accidents and yet rumors circulated. Locals said that Mountain Crest was cursed.
Drey had scoffed at such foolishness long before she’d met Ethan and begun dating him. It surprised her, though, that when he was in Gilt Edge overseeing the building of the house—and even after it was almost finished—he always stayed at the local hotel. When she’d asked him about it, he’d said that he wanted to wait until the house was completely finished.
She could feel Ethan waiting for her reaction. “It’s breathtaking.” It had certainly taken her breath away the moment the house had come into view. Followed instantly by that awful premonition. She saw at once that he’d hoped for more effusiveness. “I don’t recognize the architecture.” Not that as a librarian she was up on the latest architecture.
“It’s my own design,” her husband said a little stiffly as he drove slowly up the paved road. “It will grow on you.”
Again she saw herself lying face down in the pool, the house looming over her. She tried to hide the shiver that started at the nape of her neck and crawled with icy feet down her spine. She forced the image away. It wasn’t like her to let silly rumors of a curse unnerve her. And yet when she’d glimpsed the house for the first time, she hadn’t been able to shake the horrible premonition that had come out of nowhere.
“Close your window if you’re cold,” Ethan said, apparently having noticed her shudder. As the road had climbed up the mountain, the air had cooled.
But as she whirred up her window, she knew it wasn’t the Montana air that was chilling her. The dark windows caught the glare of the headlights, casting odd shadows across the grounds—and skittering over the pond. She swallowed at the sight of water and was glad when Ethan turned into the driveway at the front and killed the lights.
“For now, you won’t have any staff.”
Staff?
“I’ll see to hiring a cook, housekeeper—”
“Ethan, I don’t need any of those.” Since he’d talked her into quitting her job, she would have plenty of time on her hands to take care of the house.
But he didn’t seem to hear her as he climbed out of the car. She sat for a moment, not sure if he would want to open her door, maybe carry her over the threshold. All this had happened so fast, she still felt as if caught in a whirlwind.
To say Ethan Baxter had swept her off her feet was an understatement. One moment he walked into the library and the next they were flying to Paris for dinner or landing on a helicopter pad on a yacht in the Caribbean or getting engaged.
“I’m going to make all your dreams come true,” Ethan had promised.
And here she was on her wedding night and nothing about it was as she’d once dreamed. Dierdre “Drey” Hunter Baxter. Married.
Married to the wrong man.
* * *
HAWK CAHILL HAD stayed as far away from Gilt Edge and the festivities as he could on Drey’s wedding day. He’d ridden up into the mountains that surrounded the small Montana town so people would quit asking him if he’d heard about Drey marrying some New Yorker. He’d have had to be living on the moon not to hear about the upcoming wedding.
His family had the good sense not to bring it up in the days preceding the big event. Invitations had gone out. Like that monstrosity he’d built to his ego, Ethan Baxter had made sure that his wedding would go down as the biggest event this town had ever seen.
At least that’s what he was quoted as saying in the article that ran in the local paper about the engagement. Hawk had heard that Drey needed a wheelbarrow just to haul around the huge diamond on her ring finger.
He’d gritted his teeth all day, getting through it the same way he did when he had a root canal at the dentist.
But tonight, as he and his horse started out of the mountains in the dark with only the moon and starlight to guide him, he couldn’t keep his mind off the fact that Drey was married. This was her wedding night—and not the one he’d envisioned for her all those years ago. He could almost laugh about the plan he’d had for their wedding night.
Nothing like Ethan Baxter’s, that was for sure. Hawk wouldn’t have taken Drey in some fancy car to some ugly mansion on the mountainside. Nope, he’d planned to erect a wall tent up by one of his favorite mountain lakes. After the wedding they would have ridden by horseback to find a lantern burning inside the white tent. The only music would be the gentle lapping of the lake at the rocky shore and the sweet sounds of their lovemaking.
With a curse, he spurred his horse, anxious to get back to the ranch and reality. His new reality. And his own fault. He’d never been able to forgive her after what had happened in college. Even now, after all these years, the pain had only dulled to an ache. He’d thought it the worse pain he’d ever experience.
But knowing that Drey would be spending this night with some other man as his wife was almost more pain than he could endure.
“You can stop her from marrying him,” his little sister, Lillie, had pleaded. Drey had told him she was planning to get married. When the announcement had come out in the local newspaper, it left little doubt that it was true.
“I’ve never been able to stop Drey from anything,” he’d told his sister, who still wouldn’t let it go. “This New Yorker can give her a hell of a lot more than I can.”
“Drey doesn’t care about any of that,” Lillie had snapped.
“You sure about that?”
His sister had been furious with him. “What happened between the two of you?” she’d demanded more times than he could remember.
“None of your business.”
She’d squinted at him, determination in her gray gaze so like his own. “I’m betting you’re to blame.”
He’d said nothing, knowing at least part of it was true.
“You’re really going to let your pigheaded stubbornness keep you from the only woman you’ve ever loved? Then you aren’t the man I thought you were.”
He hadn’t bothered to argue. He wasn’t the man his little sister thought he was and it hurt like hell. Especially tonight when he knew that because of his inability to forgive, he’d let the best thing he’d ever had get away.
* * * * *
Don’t miss RANCHER’S DREAM by B.J. Daniels
Available August 2018 from HQN Books!
Copyright © 2018 by Barbara Heinlein