Chapter Two
Almost home.
At last.
With one hand on the steering wheel, Avery Wainwright yawned and stretched, trying to ease his protesting muscles. It’d been a very long drive from the rodeo event in Colorado, but he hadn’t wanted to waste money on a motel room. Now that his horse, Lucky, had been stabled at the Crooked S Ranch, this long day was almost over.
As expected on this January evening, snow blanketed most of Montana. The highways hadn’t been too bad, but the side roads leading into the small town of Marietta had been coated with a layer of ice with packed snow on top of it. It was nothing he hadn’t driven in hundreds of times, but tonight he was anxious to get home.
Avery had been mulling over the direction of his life. Now that he was no longer the guardian of his twin siblings, he could pick up the pieces of his dreams—of owning a ranch with plenty of land.
But to do that he needed money—something he was in short supply of these days. After his parents had tragically died, he’d unfortunately learned that their life insurance had been minimal. Guilt and love had driven Avery to use his income combined with his savings so his siblings didn’t have to go without.
Now, he was participating in every rodeo event possible in order to replenish his savings—only it was taking much longer than he’d imagined. And with his injury at the rodeo in Denver, it was going to take him that much longer to come up with the full down payment for a place of his own. His dream was to own a ranch outside of town with plenty of elbow space. And he wasn’t going to let this injury keep him down for long.
His leg throbbed. The doctor had ordered him to rest it and keep it elevated. So far, Avery had done neither. Unless sitting in a pickup for hours on end counted as keeping off of it.
Other than a warm bed, there wasn’t anything waiting for him in Marietta. Correction, there was Marshmallow, his sister’s cat. At his request, the neighbor lady had taken in the cat and had agreed to watch over his house while he was out on the road.
Avery turned onto Collier Avenue. He was almost there. But his enthusiasm for returning home had waned in the last several months. His brother was now in the military, hoping to one day be a pilot. And his sister was away at college. Other than Marshmallow, the house would be empty—
What in the world? There was something in the road. Avery tramped on the brakes. He squinted. Between the falling snow and the long shadows of evening, he was pretty certain it was a person.
The pickup hit a patch of black ice. Though he hadn’t been going very fast, the vehicle refused to stop.
Avery’s heart slammed into his ribs. “Move!”
It wasn’t like the person could hear him, but he felt as though he had to do something to gain their attention. The distance between them was shrinking with every beat of his heart.
Five feet.
Four…Three…Two…
And then the truck slid to a stop.
The breath that had been trapped in Avery’s straining lungs rushed out. The surprise, worry, and fright all ganged up on him. In turn, anger pumped in his veins. What had this person been thinking to run out in front of a moving vehicle?
He threw the pickup into Park. Ignoring the pain from his injured leg, he alighted from the truck. “What do you think you’re doing? I almost hit you—”
“You almost hit my cat.”
He immediately recognized the female voice. It was Jillian. What in the world was she doing in the middle of the road in the dark?
With his heart still pounding, Avery stepped around the front of the idling vehicle. A cold breeze rushed past him, but it wasn’t enough to cool his temper. “Do you know how close you came to getting hit?”
“I had to save Romeo.”
Avery shifted his weight to his good leg. “Who? I thought we were talking about a cat.”
“Romeo is a cat.” Jillian stepped in front of the pickup’s headlights and then she lowered her hood.
His next words stuck in his throat. He hadn’t seen Jillian since his brother and sister graduated high school eight or so months ago. Since then he’d been in Marietta infrequently, spending all of his time going from one rodeo to the next.
How was it possible that Jillian had grown even more beautiful? Her long hair was like spun gold and her ivory complexion was flawless. One of the things he admired about her was how she didn’t hide her beauty behind a bunch of makeup. Sure, she wore a little, but not too much.
And this was the first time he’d been alone with her since she’d worked for him. Normally, he had no problem speaking to her, but suddenly things felt awkward. What was up with that?
He swallowed hard. “Are you okay?”
“Considering you almost hit me, yes. I’m fine.”
“Hey, that’s not fair. It’s icy out here if you hadn’t noticed.”
“Trust me. I noticed.”
Her long blond ponytail swung over her shoulder. “Where did he go?”
Avery thought she was alone. “Where did who go?”
“Romeo.”
“I didn’t see a cat. I haven’t seen anyone but you out here on this snowy evening.”
She glanced behind her and then scanned the perimeter. “Romeo. Romeo.” Worry laced her voice. “Here, boy!”
“I’m sorry.” Avery meant it. He would never intentionally do anything to upset Jillian. “You know I would never hurt an animal.”
She sighed. “I know. I’m just frustrated and worried.”
“Since when did you get a cat? I thought you swore off them. At least that’s what you said when my sister adopted Marshmallow.”
“I never swore off cats. I like them. It’s just—oh, never mind.”
He had a feeling that she’d withheld the most interesting part of that answer, but he didn’t push the subject. “So if it isn’t your cat, whose is it?”
“My mother’s. I was cat-sitting.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Cat-sitting, huh?”
“Hey, it’s not funny. My mother is visiting with Carol Bingley.”
“I bet your mother comes home with some interesting stories—”
“I don’t think she’ll have time to repeat any gossip as she’ll be too busy yelling at me for losing her cat. Speaking of which, I have to go.”
Jillian attempted to step past him when she suddenly lost her balance. She let out a gasp. Avery turned just in time to catch her in his arms.
He pulled her slight form to him, crushing her soft curves against his chest. He heard the swift intake of her breath. Was it a surprised reaction? Or was it something else? Perhaps the same thing that had his pounding heartbeat echoing in his ears?
He’d never held Jillian in his arms before. Sure, he’d noticed her back in school. How could he not? She had always been and still was a knockout. But he was never around on the weekends to take her out. He’d spent all of his free time working at the Crooked S. It didn’t leave much room for girls.
And then after graduation, in a split second his whole life had changed. After his parents’ accident, he was left with a family to manage. That’s when he’d made one of his best decisions. He’d kept Jillian on, promoting her from babysitter to housekeeper/nanny.
He still remembered the agonizing task of moving into his parents’ bedroom in order to give Jillian his room to sleep in while he was away at the various rodeo competitions.
He didn’t know how he’d have gotten through those rough years without her. And that’s why he’d made sure to keep their relationship totally platonic. Because if they’d gotten involved and things had gone wrong, not only would he have paid the price but his brother and sister would have too when Jillian quit. The truth was he couldn’t have afforded to lose her—her help that is. There had been so much more to being a guardian than he’d ever imagined.
But now that he was holding her, he was starting to realize just how much he’d missed out on. Her gentle curves fit just right against him. And she smelled so good. Was that cinnamon? And there was another scent that he couldn’t quite place. His instinct was to pull her closer and take a deeper whiff of her sweet scent, but he resisted—just like he’d done for years—and just like he’d keep doing until he left Marietta for good.
When his gaze latched on to her big blue eyes, he found his pulse picking up its pace. His gaze lowered down over her pink-tinged cheeks and pert nose to her red lips that were slightly parted. In that moment, the strongest urge came over him.
He longed to kiss her. He wanted to see if her berry red lips were as sweet as they appeared. Would it be so wrong? After all, it wasn’t like it would lead anywhere because soon he’d be packing up and hitting the open road—hitting rodeo after rodeo until he had enough money for his own patch of land. And the memory of Jillian’s kiss would keep him warm on those long, lonely nights.
Before he could put action to his thoughts, Jillian pressed her hands to his chest. She pushed away. “Thanks. I…I stepped on a patch of ice.”
He reluctantly let her go. “No problem. Just be careful. It’s slick out here.”
“All the more reason I have to find Romeo. Anything could happen to him. Not to mention the freezing temperature. He’s not used to the snow and ice.”
“Calm down. Animals are smart. He’ll take care of himself. In fact, he probably already circled around and is at home waiting for you to let him inside.”
Her eyes widened with hope. “Do you really think so?”
“I do. Besides, you’re never going to find him out here in the dark.”
She paused as though considering his words. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Can I give you a ride?”
She shook her head. “Thanks. I’ll walk. It’s just a block or so.”
“Okay. Be careful. And I’ll keep an eye out for—what did you call the cat?”
“Romeo. He’s a tuxedo cat.” When Avery sent her a puzzled look, she said, “You know, a black and white cat. He’s mostly black with a bit of white on his face and chest. And the tip of his tail is white.”
“Got it. I’ll keep an eye out for Romeo. I’ll let you know if I spot him. But he’s most likely waiting at home.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She hesitated as though she had something else she wanted to say, but then she changed her mind and retraced her steps back to the sidewalk.
Avery ignored the throbbing pain in his leg as he watched Jillian walk away. Once more, an opportunity to kiss her had slipped through his fingers. And he had a feeling it would be his last chance. He told himself it was for the best, but it didn’t assuage his disappointment.
And to top it off, he got the distinct impression he was alone in that disappointment. Where Jillian had once been overly friendly and a tad flirty, she was now more reserved.
Had she moved on? Not that there had been anything between them, but somehow when he thought of her, he imagined her as single and available. But as he relived the events of the evening, he realized there definitely was something different about her—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.