Chapter One

“What the hell is she doing here?” Logan Williams looked up from where he knelt on the barn floor to scowl at the local vet.

His brother stepped up next to her. “Dr. Jenna’s here to help.”

He glared at Trace. “I don’t remember asking for any help.”

“You never do. Maybe if you did, life would go a little smoother for you.” He grinned. “Now, no fighting while I’m gone.” Trace winked then turned on his heel and strode out of the barn whistling.

Damn troublemaker. It was just his luck that when he moved to the Last Chance horse rescue ranch, his extended family had retained the services of Dr. Jenna Atkins, local vet and former one-night-stand. She was the only woman he’d fought the urge to call for a month before their night together was finally put to rest where it belonged. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well make yourself useful. Go to the house and get me a couple bottled waters. This is going to be a while.”

The five-foot four-inch woman in a white button down collared shirt and snug blue jeans crossed her arms over her bountiful chest. Her blue-green eyes sent need spiraling up his spine, despite the anger in them. “Let’s reverse that, shall we? Since I’m the medically trained vet,” she lifted her large leather bag of medicines and equipment, “I suggest you go get us some waters and I’ll take mama’s vitals. What’s her name?”

He ground his teeth at her logic, trying to find a way around it. He couldn’t. “Her name is Macy.”

Jenna opened the stall door and walked in crooning to the horse, who, damn her, nickered at the vet. Jenna stood right next to him and set her bag on the concrete floor. “You’re in my way.”

Swallowing a completely inappropriate response, he rose to his feet, purposefully towering over her. “I’ll be right back.” His words came out like a threat, but he didn’t care. Brushing by her, he exited the stall and stalked out of the barn.

Thoroughly pissed off, he swore if he ran in to Trace he would lay him out cold. Ignoring the final reds and purples in the darkening sky, he took the three steps to the porch and threw open the front door. The screen banged against the doorframe as he stalked down the hall to the kitchen.

When he stepped into the room, he halted at his grandmother’s scowl. “Don’t you go slamming my doors. How old are you? Thirteen?”

It wasn’t his grandmother’s scolding that calmed him so much as it was his sleeping fifteen-month old daughter in his grandmother’s arms. “She’s getting too big for that, Gram. Here, let me put her in our room.”

She looked down at his daughter and her scowl faded. Charlotte had that effect on everyone who helped out at the ranch. Despite how rambunctious she was while awake, everyone doted on her.

When she slept, you’d think she was the Queen of Sheba the way they all tiptoed around the ranch house. The thing was, Charlotte was as likely to sleep at mid-afternoon as at night, her schedule like that of a puppy, which unfortunately, gave him little sleep. Luckily, the night sleeping had improved.

“She’ll never be too big for my arms.” His grandmother practically crooned her words.

“Come on, Gram. I bet your left arm is completely numb now. Let me take her up.”

His grandmother nodded, and he lifted his daughter into his arms. As he turned away to head upstairs, he caught his grandmother in his peripheral vision, shaking out her arm.

He didn’t say anything as he turned the corner and climbed the stairs. Everyone in the house, which luckily was just his grandparents and himself now, doted on his daughter.

When he’d first arrived, a new single dad without a home, the place was bursting at the seams with Cole and old Billy, not to mention Cole’s now wife Lacey. Since his cousin, Cole, jointly owned the horse rescue ranch with their grandparents, Logan really couldn’t say anything. Then his brother Trace had shown up during his divorce and getting sleep had been more a wish than a reality.

At the top of the stairs, he turned left and brought Charlotte into his room with the two twin beds. Next to one of them was Charlotte’s crib. There was an empty room across the hall, now that everyone had moved out, but he wasn’t quite ready to have his daughter that far away from him. The small bedroom at the end of the hall his grandfather was renovating, so it was unusable.

Gently, he laid Charlotte down, her little hand still holding her teddy with the cowboy hat. His grandmother had insisted that she have a horse as soon as she could crawl, even if it was a stuffed one, but that animal remained in the crib all day while the teddy went everywhere.

He gazed down at his daughter, still amazed that she was really his. Despite all his precautions, all his maneuverers to avoid any kind of entanglement with a woman beyond a quick night of sex, something had failed. At first, he thought it was just more of his perpetual bad luck, but having Charlotte in his life had changed everything…except his luck.

He brushed her thick brown hair, kept short after she started chewing on it. He’d had to cut his own hair short after she pulled it one too many times, leaving sticky syrup in it that would have taken days to wash out.

He still didn’t know anything about being a dad. All he had to go on was what he remembered with his own father, who he admired most of his life…until the end just before he passed. That’s when his bad luck had really started.

Thanks to his grandparents though, he was learning a lot more about being a parent and especially about being a parent of a little girl. Hopefully, she’d have better luck and be more successful than he ever was.

Turning away, he gazed at her from the doorway then turned off the light. A little pony nightlight illuminated the floor so he could find his way to his bed once it was dark. He chuckled silently as he descended the stairs. He would have been mortified if his mother had put a nightlight of any kind in his bedroom when he was a boy. He’d been tough, but Charlotte was soft and sweet.

Entering the kitchen, he found his grandmother had moved to another room, so he opened the fridge, grabbed four bottled waters and headed back outside. He wasn’t about to tell Jenna, but he was worried about Macy.

When he approached the stall, he heard Macy whine. Damn, he was right, it wasn’t going well. He set the water bottles on a beam and leaned over the stall door, in no hurry to get into such a confined space with Jenna. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t look at him. “The foal’s legs are both coming out at the same time. That won’t work. We need to get her up and walking or you could lose both of them.”

“Fuck.” He pulled open the stall door, his aversion to Jenna forgotten in his concern for Macy.

“Help me get her up.”

“Up? She’s trying to give birth.” He looked at the small legs sticking out the vulva. “If we get her up, the foal might fall back in.”

Jenna finally gave him her undivided attention. “That’s what I’m hoping.”

“What?”

“Listen, if we don’t get her up and walking around, you’re going to have one dead foal and one sick mama. Darn it, I wish I had Whisper here. At least she’d help instead of question everything I say.”

He’d been about to argue, but at her last comment he shut his mouth and moved toward the horse. His brother’s girlfriend, Whisper, was amazing with animals, but she was a bit odd. That Jenna would prefer her over himself irritated him, motivating him to show he could help.

With a few coaxing words and a push in the right direction, they got Macy up on her feet again. As he expected, the foal’s feet disappeared into Macy.

“Now we need to walk her.” Jenna issued orders like she was born to it, which rankled. He was the one who had run a ranch before. Yeah, and what a mess that was.

Swallowing his pride, he grabbed a halter. He hoped she knew what she was doing. He’d only had one mare in his lifetime have a difficult birth and they had lost the baby. At the time, it was all they could do to save the mother. Now, he couldn’t imagine losing the foal. Must have something to do with being a parent himself.

Jenna walked Macy down to the opening of the barn and back a few times, then she handed him the leads. “Hold those for a moment.”

He did as instructed, determined not to say a word. If he did, it wouldn’t be helpful, of that he was sure. His gut felt like a bull dozer ran through it.

Jenna moved her hands over Macy’s enlarged abdomen then she looked up at him. “Lead her into the stall. I think the foal has moved and Macy is not going to wait much longer. I just hope it has moved enough.”

He led Macy inside to the fresh hay he’d put down when he’d noticed her condition. Quickly, he removed the halter. “Okay, Macy. It’s up to you now, girl. Don’t let me down.”

Macy stood still as they backed away, then slowly lowered herself to the floor of the stall again and rolled on to her side. She started to breathe heavy and then the contractions began.

“Here we go. Cross your fingers, pray, or just hope that the foal exits correctly this time, or I will have to perform a cesarean in not so sterile conditions.”

“Can’t you do something to increase the odds in her favor?” She was a vet after all. “Like drugs or something?”

She frowned at him but turned her attention back to Macy when the horse whined. She spoke quietly. “Do me a favor and stay out of the way.”

He ground his teeth to hold in his response. For Macy’s sake, he’d step back, but after this, the woman would be getting an earful of opinion from him whether she wanted it or not.

The first hoof appeared enveloped in the white birthing sac. That was a good sign. Another couple heaves on Macy’s part and another foot appeared slightly behind the first. Yes! Come on, Macy! The next part was critical. Come on girl. Let’s see the head.

Logan gripped the top of the stall door, his heart beating as if he’d just galloped across the valley and back. He must be getting too old for this because he’d never been this tense with a birth when growing up on his family’s ranch.

The mare chuffed and whined as two more contractions hit her. They were very rhythmic so that was good, but he glanced at Jenna and the concern on her face made him want to yell.

Another two heaves of the mare’s sides and more of the white sac slid out onto the new hay. He stepped forward only to find his way blocked by a stiff arm.

“Stay out of my way.” Jenna moved past him and with practiced precision, slit the white sac to reveal the foal’s head. She delicately cleared the animal’s orifices before she stepped away again. At the smile on her face, his entire insides relaxed.

Macy gave another whine and the foal spilled out, except for its hind feet. Jenna glanced over at him and nodded, her lips still curved in the joy of a new birth.

At that moment, in the dimly lit barn, she looked like an angel. Her thick brown hair pulled back away from her face, emphasized the flush of her cheeks and the soft curve of her neck. In her happiness, her blue-green eyes almost sparkled.

It took everything he had inside him to stay where he was and not pull her into his arms and kiss her. She made it worse by walking over to him, keeping herself far from Macy and the new foal, who was not yet completely out of its mom’s body but would be soon.

“She should be fine, but I’ll check them both in about twenty minutes.” She kept her voice low, like she had when they were in bed. “It’d be best if we left them alone right now.”

He stared at her. He should open the stall door for her, but if he moved his arm, it would wrap around her of its own accord. He couldn’t allow that, but he wanted it so much he couldn’t think straight. “Jenna.”

His voice was husky with his own need.

Her brows knit together in puzzlement. “What? Do you have something you want to say?”

Yes! I want to tell you I want you so much I’d take you right here in the next stall. Instead, he swallowed hard against his own weakness. “I can take it from here.”

She frowned as she pulled the stall door open just far enough to slip out before holding it for him. “We can discuss that once you get out of there.”

There was nothing to discuss. He’d lived on a ranch his whole life. He could take care of a new born foal, dammit. Yeah, but you also lost the ranch, so what does that say about your expertise, smart ass? He stalked through the opening then spun around to confront her.

She quietly latched the stall door. Without turning to look at him, she strode toward the barn exit.

Oh no, she wasn’t getting away that easy. He caught up to her just before she reached the open barn doors and grabbed her arm. “There is nothing to discuss. I’ll take care of the foal and Macy.”

At her surprised look, he lowered his tone. “I didn’t call you.”

She pulled her arm away. “No, you didn’t. You’re not very good at that, are you? Returning calls isn’t one of your talents, is it?”

It didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out she was talking about the days after their night together when she called him and he didn’t return her calls. When he lived near Catalina, he thought someone like her from out of town would be easier to keep away. Joke was on him. He cracked two of his knuckles against his thigh. “Listen, it’s just that—”

“Oh, spare me the excuses. We both know I was just some easy lay for you.” She stepped closer to him, staring him down even though she was at least ten inches shorter than him. “For your information, I don’t do one-night-stands. There was nothing easy about it for me.”

Her blue-green eyes sparked with anger, but that very energy called to him as it had that night. Damn. He grabbed her by the shoulders to push her away, but instead, pulled her toward him, his mouth descending.

“I heard Macy was foaling. How’s it going in—” Cole’s voice stopped him cold.

What the hell was he doing? He dropped his hands from Jenna and stepped to the side, ignoring the surprise in her face. “It started out sticky, but Dr. Jenna got the mare back on track. They’re bonding now.”

Cole, still in his fire department t-shirt, looked at him then to Jenna then back again. He must have just come home from his latest shift. What timing.

Logan’s cousin frowned before retuning his gaze to Jenna. “Were you leaving? I’d like it if you could check on them in a bit. Could you come inside for a cup of coffee?”

She faced Cole. “I would be happy to if you could switch out that coffee for a beer. It was a little nerve-wracking there for a while.”

“Of course, whatever you want.” Cole opened his arm toward the ranch house, but after Jenna walked by, he shook his head at Logan before following.

Logan could hear him as they walked away. “I hope Logan didn’t get in the way. He can be hardheaded at times and that foal is important…”

He fisted his hands to keep from running after them, mainly because he didn’t know if he could keep himself from punching Cole or kissing Jenna. Either action would cause a hell of a lot more clean-up than he was willing to commit to, so instead, he strode outside and around to the side of the barn where Black Jack was housed beneath a roof, but with just a steel pipe fence to keep him in.

The horse snorted and moved toward him.

He felt a certain sympathy for the claustrophobic horse. He certainly understood wanting to remain free. “What do you say we go for a quick ride? Then I’ll come back and see how the new foal is doing.”

Black Jack lifted his nose over the fence.

Logan shook his head, but stroked the horse on its nose, the white star in the middle impossible to ignore. “If you let me in, we can head out.”

The horse nudged him, looking for a treat.

“You have a one-track mind, my friend.” Stepping away, he moved to the small shed he’d built against the outside of the barn, next to Black Jack’s cover. He hefted the saddle from the bench and grabbed the horse’s bridle.

In no time, he had the Quarter Horse ready to ride and jumped up on his back. Though Black Jack wanted to head for the valley, he turned him toward the long dirt road that connected the ranch to civilization. The valley terrain was too rough to risk at night. Black Jack had enough trauma for one lifetime.

He had thought he had too.

Jenna followed Cole to the house. She’d made it appear that she needed a drink after helping Macy, but it was Logan’s almost-kiss that had her wanting a beer. He’d rattled her far more than the new foal’s malposition had. Animals she understood. People she understood. Logan, she didn’t.

As she walked up the steps to the porch, she was thankful he’d disappeared. She didn’t want to lose the Benson-Hatcher business, but every time she arrived, if Logan was around, he argued with everything she said. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was afraid of her knowledge, though his concern for the horses was real.

She refused to be intimidated. The horse rescue ranch needed her more than any other client she had and they were quick to pay, especially since Whisper had set-up a trust for the care of the horses. She just had to forget she and Logan had one amazing day and night together.

The house was a bit warmer than the cool September evening. At least the heat of the days dropped below triple digits on occasion now, always a welcome reprieve for native Arizonans like herself.

“I’m sure everyone is anxious to hear the good news.” Cole looked back at her as they headed for the kitchen. “We haven’t had a baby born here since I turned it into a horse rescue ranch.”

She smiled, happy to have another topic to focus on. “The foal shouldn’t have any long-term complications from the difficult birth. I’ll make sure in a few minutes. I don’t want to infringe on the bonding period.” And hopefully, Logan wouldn’t either.

They turned the corner into the large kitchen. The matriarch of the family, Annette Benson, grandmother to Logan and Trace, and their cousins, Cole and Dillon, greeted her first.

“You must tell us. Do we have a new baby to welcome?” The fit, older woman with pristine white hair pulled back in a ponytail, stood, reaching out her hands in welcome.

Jenna grinned as she took them in her own. “You sure do.”

Annette squeezed her hands. “This is wonderful news. Cole, get the lady a drink.”

Cole, already at the refrigerator, smirked. “On it.”

“Come sit down and relax a bit.” Annette pointed at Trace who sat on the other side of the empty high chair. “Give your seat to Jenna. She’s worked twice as hard as you today.”

Trace laughed as he rose. “Gram, I don’t doubt it.”

Jenna rolled her eyes at Trace, who since falling for her odd friend, Whisper, seemed to be in a perpetually good mood. “Thank you.”

He bowed before moving around the table to sit opposite her.

Cole handed her a cold beer after first twisting off the cap.

She took a very unladylike gulp then raised it toward him. “Thanks. I needed that.”

Annette frowned, resuming her seat. “Was it that difficult?”

Trace answered before she could open her mouth. “Macy wasn’t the problem. She had to deal with Logan.”

His words hit far too close to home for her to come up with a suitable response. Luckily, she didn’t have to.

“That boy.” Annette shook her head. “He needs a good kick in the pants.”

Surprisingly, Trace came to his brother’s defense. “Now, Gram, I think he’s probably had a few too many of those already.”

“Well, he obviously needs one more.”

Not sure what Trace referred to and uncomfortable with the subject, Jenna changed it by addressing Cole. “Where’s Lacey?”

Cole’s face softened from firefighter/ranch owner to totally smitten husband in a split second. “She’s on her way. She and Whisper just got back from Poker Flat.”

Jenna swallowed the beer she’d just sipped and raised her eyebrows. “Poker Flat? Lacey took Whisper to the nudist resort?”

Cole grinned and nodded toward his brother.

She turned her head to find Trace frowning. “Yeah. Supposedly, there was a wild burrow there who wouldn’t leave one of the guests alone. Followed him everywhere. Lacey said she needed Whisper’s help to find out what was wrong with the animal.”

Cole laughed. “He thinks it was all a ruse to get Whisper to the resort. My fine cousin here is jealous.”

She grinned before taking another swig of her beer. To discover easy-going Trace wasn’t happy made her feel appropriately avenged since he enjoyed it just a little too much that she rubbed Logan the wrong way.

Trace grumbled. “Wait until one of the women decide to take Charlotte to Poker Flat, then see who gets pissed.”

Annette shook her head. “Being around Lacey and Whisper would be good for her. Maybe she’ll discover an interest in music or dance. It’s bad enough she’s growing up among so many men folk.”

Jenna doubted very much that Charlotte would be anything but a tomboy, especially with Logan for a father. She might have a chance at girly hobbies with Lacey, but Whisper was more likely to teach her how to suck the moisture from a cactus than discuss the latest boy band. Whisper probably didn’t even know what a boy band was.

Jenna examined the high chair next to her where Charlotte usually sat. When she was younger, she’d had a plan. Go to school, meet the man of her dreams, then on to veterinary school, buy a house, set up practice, and have a baby then two years later have another.

Her entire plan went off track when the man of her dreams turned out to be an avid hunter and her loans from graduate school made it more than difficult to make ends meet.

If it hadn’t been for Whisper keeping her truck at Jenna’s place and letting her use it when she needed it, she wouldn’t have been able to take on the additional ranches she had. Her little sedan couldn’t reach some of the ranches thanks to the rough terrain and Monsoon washes.

Lacey and Whisper walked into the kitchen. Cole was already out of his chair to give his wife a kiss and hug and Trace wasn’t far behind.

The love of the Benson-Hatcher-Williams family just accentuated her own loneliness. Even when she was growing up, it had only been the three of them.

“Jenna? Why are you here? Were there problems with the birth? Is Macy okay?” Whisper’s usual bluntness didn’t bother her in the least.

“There were, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Would you like to—”

Heavy footsteps striding down the hallway announced the newest arrival just before Logan’s body filled the doorway, a scowl on his face as he scanned them all until he settled on her. “You better check on them now. It’s getting late.”

She purposefully looked at her watch before taking another sip of beer. She set the empty bottle down before responding. “I was planning to.” She moved her gaze to Cole. “I appreciate the beer, but you’re still getting a bill.”

He chuckled. “Of course. I just hope you don’t charge me extra for having to deal with him.” He hooked his thumb toward his glowering cousin in the doorway.

She smirked. “Have I yet?”

Cole laughed, and she rose from her chair.

“Thank you for the hospitality, Annette.”

The older woman nodded regally. “You’re welcome any time. Thank you for helping the latest addition to our family arrive safely.”

She smiled before heading for the door.

Logan stepped aside and followed her out. She kept her walk to a stroll despite her growing irritation with the man behind her.

“It’s been well over a half hour. I expected you to have checked on them and left by now.”

That was it. She spun around and he halted, stepping back as his eyes widened in surprise.

“What the hell do you have against me?” She pointed at him, poking her finger into his hard chest, then wishing she hadn’t when the image of his naked pectoral rose inside her brain.

She pulled her hand back as if burned and squinted at him. “Do you think the veterinary school I attended wasn’t accredited? Do you question the validity of the degree hanging on my wall? Or is it that I simply wasn’t a good enough lay for you?” Ah, damn, she didn’t mean to say that part out loud.

Mortified, she ignored his stunned expression and turned, marching across the yard as if she could pound out the humiliation of having revealed her insecurity. When she reached the barn, she softened her steps until she arrived at the stall.

Glancing in at the new baby suckling its mother’s teat helped calm her. Silently, but speedily, she ducked into the stall and stepped behind the two. The placenta had still not been expelled. She certainly wasn’t going to wait for it, not with Logan around.

Reassured the two horses were bonding, she stepped back into the dimly lit barn to find Logan waiting for her at the entrance. Ignoring him, she packed up her bag and hefted it over her shoulder then strode toward him. Her plan was to brush by him without a word, but his hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

She tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go.

“Dammit, Jenna.” His voice was husky, like it had been that fateful night when she’d thrown caution to the wind and had fallen for the charming, considerate, cowboy—who turned in to the man before her.

“What?” She tilted her head back to look him in the eye. He was too darn tall and too good-looking.

“I—ah, hell.”

His mouth came down on hers so fast, she froze. But as warm tingles trickled across her skin and her muscles weakened, she pushed away, shaking her head at him. “No.” It came out choked, almost like a cry and she cleared her throat. “No, I’m not going there again. You burned that bridge, buddy.”

He stared at her, but there was no scowl on his face. There was no expression either, or another word.

Ugh, the man was impossible. Hefting her bag from the ground where it had fallen, she stalked away. She tried to get her heart rate to slow, but her breath was still coming too quickly. When she reached her car, she threw her bag in the back and jumped inside, locking the doors to keep him out and her in.

As soon as the car revved to life, she backed out only to see Logan still standing there watching her. Darn, she forgot to tell him to call her if the mare had trouble with the placenta. Screw it. She’d call Cole when she got home. Hopefully, Logan also knew about the umbilical cord, but she’d remind Cole anyway. He might not live in the main house anymore, but he could pass the word on to Logan.

Hitting the gas, she drove down the long dirt driveway, watching for animals in her headlights, refusing to look in the rearview mirror again until a second curve made it absolutely impossible to see him.

Once she turned onto the paved two-lane highway headed toward Wickenburg, she finally gave in to the turmoil inside her heart, angrily wiping away the tears in her eyes.

She didn’t cry for what could have been with the man who kept their relationship to a one-night-stand. That was her fault for falling in love with him after no more than a day at the fair and a night of amazing lovemaking.

Nope, she cried for herself because as long as he kept a piece of her heart with him, she would never find someone else, and she was sick and tired of being alone.