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  Chapter Five

  Alex moved over to the window and watched him drive away. Would he have stayed if she’d invited him inside?

  For what, Alex? So they could talk?

  She didn’t have an answer for that, because she didn’t know what she wanted.

  Oh, yes, you do.

  Simply put, she had the hots for Buck Summerhayes.

  The signs had been there from the night she’d seen him walking toward her in the Jackson airport. It made no sense. It hadn’t made any sense when she’d met Kyle and had been struck by an energy she couldn’t explain. But that was twenty-four years ago and she’d long since given up believing such a thing would ever happen again. She didn’t want it to happen again, considering Kyle didn’t turn out to have staying power.

  It was as if a bolt of lightning during that summer storm over the Tetons had struck her, charging every atom of her body when she’d least expected it. She hadn’t been the same since.

  Earlier on the phone, Frank had told her she seemed different.

  Yes, she was....

  When Buck appeared at the cabin door just a few minutes ago, her body had sizzled at the very sight of him. She couldn’t do anything about the feelings he aroused in her without even trying. They were a fact of life. If she ran away to the other side of the earth, they’d still be with her.

  If Frank were here kissing her right this very minute, she wouldn’t be able to feel it, not since her body had been ignited by this new energy radiating from Buck.

  So deep was her fear of her feelings that she didn’t realize Jenny had come back from town and was trying to get her attention. “Nana? Can’t you hear me?”

  Startled, Alex spun around. “Sweetheart—”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Heat swept through her. “I was thinking about something else.” Someone else. “I’m sorry. Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes, and guess what? It’s Buck’s birthday on Friday. He’ll be thirty-six. Johnny says he’s older than Carson or Ross.”

  Adrenaline coursed through her body. “I didn’t know that.” Johnny knew just about everything that went on around the ranch. Buck was closer to her age than she’d assumed. He’d insisted that losing the girl he’d loved hadn’t played a part in his decision to join the armed forces, but Alex marveled he hadn’t fallen in love with someone else since then and wasn’t married by now.

  “Johnny’s mom says we’re going to celebrate it on Johnny’s birthday the day before so it will be a surprise,” she chattered away. “She let me and Johnny pick out a present for Buck and she’ll wrap it for us. It’s a T-shirt.”

  Alex took an extra breath. “What does it look like?”

  “We went to a shop where they put on whatever you tell them. It’s a dark green one with the Grand Teton on it, and we had them put Super Dad on it.”

  Of course. The Daddy Dude Ranch. How absolutely perfect for the man who was being a super dad to Johnny and Jenny and would definitely be a super dad if he had his own children one day.

  “Do you think we could go into town to that same shop and make a T-shirt for Johnny? But it will have to be a secret.”

  “Of course. Since we have the use of a car while we’re here if we want it, we can drive into Jackson tomorrow before breakfast. Do you have an idea what you’d like his shirt to say?” Interestingly enough, Alex had been thinking about buying matching T-shirts for Jenny and Buck for winning the water-fight contest last night.

  “Not yet.”

  She squeezed her granddaughter. “Well, you’ve got plenty of time to decide.”

  “Can we go riding now? Buck’s going to take us.”

  I know. “I was planning on it. Have you eaten lunch?”

  “Yes. Johnny’s mom bought us hamburgers and milk shakes.”

  “Lucky you!”

  “She’s really nice and fun. I wish we lived here all the time.”

  “I know you do. Hurry and freshen up, and then we’ll walk to the barn. It’s not that far.”

  “Okay. Be sure and wear your hat, just like in the cowboy movies. Johnny says his dad has a DVD we have to watch. Have you ever heard of Hopalong Cassidy?”

  “I have. When I was little, I saw a few of his movies.”

  “Was Hopalong really his name?”

  “I think so.”

  “That’s funny. Wait till I tell Johnny—”

  Alex chuckled and put the hat on her head. One thing she wouldn’t do was phone the desk to reach Buck. No doubt he would find out Johnny was back and would meet them at the corral. The stable manager would help get their animals saddled.

  When Jenny was ready, Alex grabbed a granola bar and an apple from the basket and they left the cabin. She munched her way along the road, so filled with a sense of well-being in spite of her guilt that she didn’t notice her cowboy boots touching the ground.

  They arrived at the barn to find Johnny already astride his pony. “What took you guys so long?”

  She smiled at the boy who’d quickly become Jenny’s friend. “It’s such a beautiful day that we decided to stretch our legs.”

  Bert led Mitzi outside and saddled her. Jenny looked around while she was waiting, and then the older man helped her on. “Thanks, Bert. Where’s Buck?” There was no sign of the Jeep.

  They all heard a cough. “I’m right here.”

  “Goody!”

  Alex felt as if she was falling into space when he emerged from the shadows of the barn, leading a saddled horse by the reins. In his hat and jeans and wearing a Western shirt that accentuated the size of his chest, he looked sensational.

  He raised his head, causing their gazes to collide. Buck had to know she’d been staring at him, because he’d caught her before she could look away. One side of his compelling mouth turned up, giving her senses a jolt. “This is Blossom. She’s a mare you can trust.”

  Don’t touch me, Buck. Don’t come near me.

  But it was too late, because he steadied the horse while she climbed onto the saddle and his hard-muscled arm brushed hers, sending liquid fire through her body. “Thank you,” she said in an unsteady voice.

  “You’re welcome.”

  While she attempted to recover, he went back to the barn and rode out on a dark brown horse.

  Jenny made an excited sound. “What’s his name?”

  “Dopey.”

  She laughed hilariously. “No, it isn’t.”

  “Buck’s just teasing,” Johnny explained. “His real name is Dynamite. Can we ride to the new house so Jenny can see it?”

  “Sure. It’s midafternoon. The workmen should be gone by the time we get there. Why don’t you lead the way?”

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  Alex hurriedly drew alongside him with Jenny on his other side and they were off. Buck brought up the rear. It had seemed like a good idea to go ahead with the children, but she couldn’t forget that he was right behind them. Alternating thrills and chills bombarded her as they left the sagebrush and entered a forested area filled with the sound of insects and birds whirring about.

  The children talked incessantly, but their voices couldn’t drown out the sound of her own heart pounding mercilessly in her chest. Alex breathed in the fresh smell of pine and simply absorbed the wonder of her surroundings, made more intoxicating by the man trailing them.

  When they came out of the trees into a clearing near the river, the skeleton of a house appeared before them. Beyond it, the Grand Teton stood like a sentinel. Alex had never seen anything so spectacular.

  “What a beautiful house!”

  “Yep. Uncle Buck built it.”

  Alex turned to look at Buck. “I thought you were a rancher.”

  “I grew up learning how to do constr
uction. My father and brothers run Summerhayes Construction in Colorado Springs.”

  “Why didn’t you go back to the business after you left the military?”

  “I met the guys in the hospital. We had a lot of time to talk and think about our lives once we were no longer deployed. Compared to what we’d lived through, Carson’s life as a rancher sounded like a piece of heaven. It got to me and Ross.

  “We were filled with guilt that we’d survived the war and others hadn’t. The idea of turning his ranch into a dude ranch for helping children who’d lost their dads in the war grew on us until we couldn’t think about anything else. I figured I could put all the training I’d learned from my father to work building cabins and remodeling the ranch house. One thing led to another.”

  “And now he’s built us our house! He made the loft just for me!” Johnny declared with a happy face.

  Alex smiled. “Well, aren’t you just the luckiest boy in the world to have a daddy like Carson and an uncle like Buck.”

  “Buck can do anything!” Jenny exclaimed.

  “I know,” Johnny said in that way of his. He rode over to a nearby stand of jack pines and dismounted by himself. Jenny needed help. While Buck jumped down to assist her, Alex swung her leg over and got down from Blossom. They tied the reins to tree trunks and started walking around. Johnny pointed out where every room would be.

  “Mine’s going to be in the loft. How long before I can go up there to look around, Uncle Buck?”

  He was already inspecting the work. “In a few more days.” The last word came out on a cough.

  “That long? I want Jenny to be able to see it.” Alex expected some kind of remark from her granddaughter about not wanting to go home, but oddly enough she remained quiet and kept following Johnny around. “We’re going to go down by the river and watch the beavers.”

  “Don’t get too close,” Buck warned.

  “We won’t.”

  As they ran off, Buck came to stand by her. She turned to him. “It’s going to be spectacular when it’s finished. Paradise for a boy like Johnny.”

  “Carson hired an architect to design something contemporary. There’ll be a lot of glass. He and Tracy want as much light as possible.”

  “I’d want the same thing so I could enjoy every season here. With a view like this, it will be beautiful in winter, sitting in front of a fire.” The second the words came out, she cried, “Oh, no—I forgot.”

  He smiled. “We’ll be putting in a fireplace, but it will be more for effect. Whether gas log or wood, the smoke is real.”

  “I’m so sorry you have to suffer,” she whispered.

  “It’s a small price to pay to be alive.” Shadows marred his features. “Daniel’s death shouldn’t have happened,” he said in a hushed tone.

  “Even so, he chose to go into the marines and knew it was possible he wouldn’t come home. What no one expected was the sudden illness that attacked Christy and took her life. If I’ve learned anything so far, it’s that life is precious and fragile. Coming to the ranch has taught me something else. You need to make every moment count in case it’s your last.”

  He eyed her beneath the rim of his Stetson. “You sound as if you’ve made some kind of decision.”

  “I have. Last night Frank asked me to cut our vacation short and return home to get started on some counseling I’d planned for me and Jenny. You know, to help her adjust to our impending marriage. But watching her smile and laugh again, I know I don’t want to leave until our vacation is over. Truth be told, Frank didn’t want me to bring Jenny to the ranch in the first place.”

  Buck’s eyebrows met in a frown. “Why not?”

  “Since you’re all marines, he worried she’d think too much about her father’s death and it wouldn’t help her to get on with her life.” Alex swallowed hard. “But I haven’t found that to be true. In fact, it’s just the opposite because Johnny lost his father, too, and they talk about it. I think it’s been healthy for her.”

  “For Johnny, as well,” Buck concurred. “Kids have their own system for relating. Carson’s been worried about Johnny since he and Tracy got married. He knew it would be a big adjustment for him even though he does love Carson.”

  “Well, you can tell Carson for me, that boy is one of the happiest, cutest, most well-adjusted children I’ve ever met. I know Tracy has a lot to do with it, but Johnny told me himself that Carson was his favorite person in the whole wide world besides his birth father.”

  Buck inhaled sharply. “That’ll make his day.”

  “I guess it doesn’t come as any surprise that Jenny thinks the world of you.” He had to have seen the way Jenny was smiling at him earlier.

  “I’m flattered, but the truth is, every child enjoys attention.” Apparently, Buck didn’t do well with compliments. His modesty was one more thing to add to the list of his virtues.

  “That’s true, but she’s given you a lot of thought, like, for example, do you ever go on a vacation?”

  His eyes darted to hers in surprise. “Why do you think she would ask that?”

  “Maybe she worries you’ll leave while she’s still here.”

  “I just got back from the only vacation I’ve taken since I got out of the hospital.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “Colorado Springs to see my family. I was only there three days. My mother wished it had been longer, but I told her I had to get back to host the new family flying in.”

  “Do you have a large family?” Alex couldn’t learn enough about him fast enough.

  “Pretty big. Four brothers, all married with children, and lots of extended family. I’ll always like working with my hands the way they do, but you can’t beat ranch living. I’m here to stay.”

  Alex knew she was taking a big chance to ask her next question, but something had come over her and she decided to risk it. “If you’d married your soul mate, would you be working with your father today?”

  He slanted a look at her, one she couldn’t decipher. “I’ll never know the answer to that. The girl I loved married my brother, Sam.”

  No-o. “Buck—”

  “Take that devastated look off your face. It happened twelve years ago while I was attending the University of Colorado at Boulder on scholarship. They didn’t mean for it to happen. I’m glad they got together before we ever made it to the altar. It saved everyone a world of pain and trouble.”

  Even so, she was sick for the hurt he’d had to endure at the time.

  “I can read your mind, Alex, but seeing Melanie and Sam together has nothing to do with my only staying in Colorado for a few days.”

  “I believe you.”

  “By the time I’d been deployed to Afghanistan, I’d gotten over it and gave them my full blessing. It’s ancient history and there’ve been plenty of women since then.”

  Alex didn’t doubt it.

  “Melanie was my high school love, but we were never meant to be. Not very many high school affairs last.”

  “I know what you’re saying. Kyle and I had no destiny. At the time it killed me, but it’s amazing how time heals those wounds.”

  “Amen to that. The only reason I didn’t take a week off to be with the family is because the guys and I are doing everything possible to make our venture work. I love my family and during the winter when we don’t have so many guests, I’ll spend more time with them.”

  “Thanks for telling me, Buck. When Jenny learns you don’t have plans to leave the ranch anytime soon, she’ll stop fretting. Since her mother and father died, she’s turned into a worrywart.”

  “I’ve noticed. This morning when I bumped into her and Johnny in the back hall, they wanted to drive to the building site with me. I told them they couldn’t because the workers were there and it was in the hard-hat stage. She promptly
asked me if I wore one. When I said yes, she made me promise to keep it on the whole time. She’s a sweetheart.”

  Her darling granddaughter was watching out for him. Jenny had never shown that kind of worry over Frank when he’d had a bad case of bronchitis, or when he’d slipped on the tennis court and had to be hospitalized for a torn leg muscle.

  While she was cogitating on that fact, they both heard Johnny’s blood-curdling cry for help, followed by Jenny’s screams. Buck took off so fast Alex didn’t have time to blink. With her heart in her throat, she raced after him. A dozen horrifying scenarios passed through her mind, giving her feet wings.

  Buck was already there. Jenny was standing on top of a big beaver dam while Johnny stood on the grassy bank beside it. It appeared as if Jenny’s leg had gone through part of the wooden structure. “I can’t get out!” she cried in a terrified voice. “It hurts! Come and get me, Buck! Come and get me!” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  He was already in the water. Alex could imagine him as a frogman, swimming against the fast current toward her granddaughter with torpedo-like strength. “I’m almost there. Easy does it, Jenny. Don’t move.”

  Alex ran down to Johnny and put her arms around him, hugging him tight. “She’s going to be all right.”

  Johnny had gone pale. “I was going to come and get you, but she begged me not to leave her.”

  “You did exactly the right thing.”

  “I told her she shouldn’t walk on it, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She lost her hat when her leg fell through. It’s floating down the river.”

  “Don’t worry about that. We can always get her a new one. What’s important is that she’s going to be okay.” Knowing Buck was there made all the difference. Without him, Alex would be hysterical.

  “Dad said it was dangerous. He wasn’t kidding!”

  “No, he wasn’t, and now I’m afraid Jenny’s had to learn a lesson the hard way.”

  “Are you mad at her?”

  “Oh, no, honey. Accidents happen.”

  “You’re nice.” He hugged her hard.

  “So are you,” she whispered. Alex loved this boy who’d been through the same grief as Jenny.