got too much for you,” he teased.
She smiled back. “Yes. It did. For both of us. Honestly, we wanted to live someplace where we didn’t have so many memories of my mother. Besides, Benton is nice.”
“Nice, if you don’t like nightlife,” he chuckled. “They roll up the sidewalks every night at six sharp.”
“That doesn’t bother me,” she replied. “I like the peace and quiet.” She didn’t add that she’d gotten used to it on the lake.
He laughed. “Good thing. We don’t have much excitement around here.”
“That suits me very well.”
He pulled into the long driveway and pulled up next to an old pickup truck sitting in front of the little white frame house. The property was surrounded by pastureland that ran to the horizon in the shadow of the mountains.
“I always liked this place,” he remarked.
“It’s very pretty,” she agreed. She grimaced. “Look, I’m sorry about the picket sign. . . .”
“I’ll tear a strip off Cary and we’ll be even. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks. And thanks for the coffee and the ride.” She opened the door and jumped down, pausing to get her wet, faded sign off the floorboard in the back seat.
“Stay warm,” he said.
She smiled. “Drive safely,” she replied, and closed the passenger door before she saw his bemused expression.
He waved and drove off.
She propped her sign against the wall and opened the door.
Her father, tall and thin and graying, looked up from the sofa, where he was reading a book. “Back so soon?”
She grimaced. “He doesn’t have a single chicken house,” she said with a long sigh.
His eyebrows rose. “Then why were you picketing him?”
“It’s a long story,” she replied, shedding her wet coat. She hung it up and plopped down into the easy chair across from the sofa. “He owns this run-down ranch,” she began.
Chapter Two
“A run-down ranch, an owner who drinks, and purebred cattle?” he mused. “I think he was having you on, Cassie,” he chuckled. “A poor man can’t afford to run purebreds. They cost thousands of dollars. A good herd bull alone sometimes goes for half a million.”
“Oh. I see. Well, he was nice about it, anyway. He gave me coffee and dried my jeans and . . . Oh, my gosh, my clothes are still there!” she exclaimed. “I forgot all about them!”
He was watching her with wide, stunned eyes.
“These clothes belonged to his housekeeper’s daughter,” she explained. “He handed them to me in the bathroom. I put them on and he put my things in the dryer. My outer things,” she added. “I wasn’t about to take off my underthings in a strange man’s house.”
He smiled gently. “You’re so like your mother,” he said with a sad smile. “She was straitlaced, too, very Victorian in her attitudes. I guess we didn’t do you any favors, giving you such an old-fashioned upbringing when the rest of the world is so permissive.”
“I like me just the way I am, thanks,” she laughed. “I like being out of step with the world. I stay healthier, for one thing,” she added, tongue-in-cheek.
He sighed. “Yes, but you don’t date anybody.”
“I dated Jackson Hill,” she pointed out.
“Sweetheart, Jackson Hill was gay,” he reminded her.
“He was great company, too,” she replied, smiling reminiscently. “His parents were so conventional, and he loved them so much, that he didn’t want them to know. We went out together so we could both hide. I didn’t want a loose relationship with some career-minded man, and he didn’t want notoriety. We suited each other.” She sighed. “I miss him. He was so much fun!”
He nodded. “Well, I guess we settle for what we can get in life. I would have liked grandchildren, though,” he added with a smile.
She had a sudden picture of the reclusive rancher with a baby in his arms and swatted it away. “Maybe someday,” she said. “Right now, I’m busy learning how to balance a plateful of food on a tray without dropping it while I set up the tripod.”
He laughed out loud. “And I’m busy learning how to persuade ranchers to buy equipment they may not know they need.”
“I daresay we’ll both do well, once we learn the ropes,” she replied.
He sighed. “I keep hoping. I miss my crew.”
She knew it was hard for him. To be such a celebrity, with his own television show, loved by millions. And with one unfounded accusation by a vengeful woman, it was all gone and he was in hiding. The damage had been far-reaching. His attorneys had done their best,