Mustang_A Mountain Man Romance Read online

  “Hardly,” I laughed. “I’m no realtor, but don’t people usually come out ahead when they sell land?”

  In the back of my mind, I had to wonder if there wasn’t some trick to this. Maybe Jim had wanted this property all along and was waiting for some other sucker to buy it first?

  Maybe there were tax liens against it, or improvements that had to be made under the law?

  Then after the right greenhorn came along and blew all that money, Jim could swoop down like a cattle baron from the Old West days and rob me blind.

  I could just see it now...

  “Precisely,” he answered smugly.

  Something about the look on his kind, weathered old face made me think again.

  “Leah, I want you to go for it. I want you to get your ranch and make something of it. Most of all, I want you to be happy. That’s why I’m willing to be a safety net, but what I won’t do is become a way out. Because if you knew the whole time that you could just get your money back and head home without any losses, you wouldn’t have any reason to tough it out. If you don’t want to lose everything that you’ve sunk into it, then you’re going to have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when times get tough and forge ahead, no excuses.”

  I thought about what he said and decided he was right.

  The only way I wouldn’t chicken out was if I knew I had a lot at stake. Losing my down payment plus whatever payments I’d made would be a huge incentive not to give up if things didn’t work out exactly the way I wanted.

  “It’s a deal, Jim, and now that you explain it that way, I guess it makes a lot of sense. If I don’t want to lose out, then I’m going to have to be a big girl and push on through.”

  I shook his hand, taking the piece of paper with the banker’s name on it and sliding it into my pocket.

  “I appreciate your willingness to even offer, by the way. A lot of people back home would have told me I’m being stupid and impulsive.”

  “Oh, I never said I didn’t think this was stupid and impulsive,” he said with a smile that made his wrinkled old face even more creased, still holding onto my hand. “Everyone deserves a chance to try something new and make a fresh start. And if you fail, it won’t be because you didn’t try. No matter how it works out for you with the ranch, you’ll be a stronger, wiser person for doing it, and I want to support that.”

  We walked out of his office and back outside, into the sunshine that had first shone on me when I arrived on the charter bus from the airport along with a dozen other would-be cowboys.

  Whatever things were going on in their lives, I knew one thing for certain: things were going to change for me, starting right now.

  Chapter 2: Mustang

  Watching the sun rise over the valley was the best part of the day.

  The quiet of the morning brought a brand, new day full of possibilities. The ranch had been my home since I left the Army and I wouldn't trade it for anywhere else in the world.

  Some might think that I was living like a hermit, isolated way out here from the world, but I preferred it that way.

  I didn't have to deal with traffic, or blaring horns, or people around me.

  People could be jerks at the best of times, and the less I had to deal with them, the better. I’d been disappointed too many times in my life and isolating myself from people seemed like the best option.

  At least for now.

  That way, they didn’t bother me, and I didn’t bother them.

  My living style out here on the ranch was primitive and rustic. At times, it felt like I lived in the late 1800’s, but it suited me just fine.

  Fancy creature comforts weren’t meant for a man like me.

  Being alone for so long had given me a new perspective on life. It gave me a chance to enjoy the little things, the things that are free. The things that I took for granted before I joined the Army and the things I missed the most when I was in Afghanistan.

  The sound of rain and the wind howling through the trees.

  The smell of fresh dew on the grass, and the stars shining brightly against the dark night sky that went on forever.

  Those were the things I loved the most about being out here.

  My days on the ranch were quiet and peaceful. Sometimes when I looked out across the valley, I was swept away by the sheer beauty of nature, even if I had no one to share it with.

  My mornings on the ranch were always the same routine.

  I’d wake up before the sunrise, have breakfast, and head out along the path leading to the fields. There were still a few cows sauntering around, lazily grazing on grass. I’d make sure that the road was clear, especially if there was a rainstorm the previous day.

  I always kept a watchful eye out for forest fires and checked the plains for curling smoke every morning. The trees were brittle from a drought that struck two years ago and still hadn’t recovered.

  After I brought out hay bales to the field for the cows, I fed the few chickens that still roamed around the yard near the house. Every morning, they would leave me a couple of fresh eggs in appreciation.

  “Thank you, ladies,” I would always say to them even as they tried to peck my hands.

  I would go weeks at a time without seeing another person. The only visitors were an occasional real estate agent who would bring a potential buyer to view the ranch, which wasn't all that often. The buyers were always city people who thought it would be easy to run a ranch.

  Once they saw the condition everything was in, they would hightail it back to the car and drive away like a bat out of hell.

  Or maybe it was the actual bats living inside the house that scared them away. They never stuck around long enough for me to ask them.

  I never paid much attention to them and always carried on with what I was doing, since it didn’t make a difference to me one way or another if the ranch sold. My caretaker duties extended only to the ranch, not to the house itself.

  The main house at the ranch was a mess, and I hadn't checked on in for almost a month now. Frankly I was almost too scared to open the front door and see what came running out. An assortment of rats and possums had moved in the previous winter.

  The last time I peeked into the window there was a power struggle going on over who was allowed to sleep on the couch. The Mama possum and her litter of babies hanging onto her back seemed to be winning the battle.

  I’d thought about changing the name to Rat Ranch, except I knew the state historical society people wouldn’t be pleased.

  The whole ranch was a mess, truth be told.

  The wooden fencing needed to be replaced, the trees were overgrown, the barn needed to be repainted, and the lone tractor needed a good cleaning.

  Once a week I’d start the engine and allow it to run idly for a short while. At least it kept the mountain lions fooled that there was activity on the ranch.

  Not that it stopped them from coming around.

  There was an incident last year when I surprised a full-grown mountain lion in the barn, lounging on an old hay bale, looking mighty comfortable.

  I left him alone because there wasn’t another alternative.

  Eventually he got bored with napping and left.

  There was no way to contact me here except for a trip out in person, so if someone was thinking about buying the place, I’d never know about it until they showed up.

  I’m not worried.

  Even if some idiot does buy the place, it won’t be too hard to run them off.

  Chapter 3: Leah

  “Ms. Taylor, I’d be happy to take you on a tour of the ranch if you’d like. It would be a good idea before we finalized any of the arrangements,” the banker, Mr. Munroe, offered when I met with him in his small office. “Your paperwork is in order and your credit score is impeccable. I hate the thought of you buying the property sight unseen. I have to say it, the former owner got so sick and in such a short time, he let it go downhill. The old place needs work.”

  I was undeterred from my plan
.

  “I don’t want the property to slip through my fingers. I want this ranch.”

  I eyed him squarely, daring him to tell me that I couldn’t buy the place. I’d offered the bank thirty percent less than the sale price and they’d accepted my offer.

  “I completely understand, I just don’t want you to be back in my office three months from now, screaming about how we didn’t disclose the condition of the property. You’re buying it ‘as is.’”

  “I understand,” I said.

  “If you’re sure,” he conceded with a sigh. “Let me get the papers finalized and I’ll deliver them to you myself. Will you be staying at the Mourning Dove Ranch until you’re able to take ownership of the ranch?”

  “Yes, I’ve paid for an additional week of lodging, not the vacation package, mind you, just the bunkhouse and meals. After that week is up, I’ll need to move into my new home.”

  I smiled, pleased with my decision and at how quickly this transaction was coming along.

  “Fine. I’ll try to get in touch with the property caretaker,” Mr. Munroe said.

  He placed copies of my papers in a large manila folder and slid them across his desk for me.

  “Caretaker?” I asked, confused.

  Tina hadn’t mentioned that someone already lived on the property. For just a second, the former sensible, Do-the-Right-Thing Leah appeared, chastising me silently for kicking someone out of his home.

  What if he needed more than a week to find a place to live and move out? I hoped this was the only surprise about my new home.

  “Yes, there’s a state-appointed caretaker who lives on the property. It’s a state law given that the ranch is a protected land and is home to a number of protected species. It’s registered with the state historic society, and also due to the fact that the property has been abandoned. Don’t worry, his salary is covered under state funding, but he’ll remain on the property to ensure that no harm comes to it.”

  “I see,” I said, hoping this was the only major surprise.

  I didn’t realize I’d have to share my ranch with a caretaker.

  “Is there a way I can petition to become the caretaker of the ranch?”

  My mind was always at work on the numbers, and if there was state funding set aside and earmarked for the protection of the property, that would go a long way towards offsetting some of my property taxes, and more.

  Plus, it would guarantee that some stranger wasn’t living on my ranch with me.

  I immediately felt the weirdness that came with not wanting to have the caretaker there. I had shared office space with fifty other computer coders on my floor alone, and lived in a building with thirty other families, most of them with at least a couple of kids running around.

  None of it had ever bothered me before because that was the life I’d always known. Now that I’d tasted the wide open plain, the thought of someone living elsewhere on my five hundred acres made my skin crawl a little bit.

  “Of course,” Mr. Munroe said, his face falling ever so slightly as he chose his words very carefully. “But if you don’t mind me butting in here, I think you’ll find that keeping the current caretaker is a good idea. He would serve as another human presence out there in case of any trouble, and please forgive me for saying this...he’s a man. Now don’t go getting mad at me, I’m just saying that you’re not accustomed to living out here, and you might find it comforting to know that there’s a man somewhere on the property if, say, a sudden freeze set in or a mountain lion started nosing around.”

  I was too alarmed to be offended.

  “Mountain lion?”

  Surprise number two.

  “We have those in this area. And even though they’re usually more afraid of us than we are of them, there have been reports of hikers and mountain bikers being attacked in the past, especially during certain times of the year when their natural food source is scarce. So you see, you might find that you’re more comfortable and that you sleep a little easier knowing there’s someone else nearby.”

  I nodded.

  I’d let the insinuation that I couldn’t take care of myself slide for the time being, since he was just trying to be supportive. Still, the idea that I couldn’t take care of myself was a little unsettling.

  Did I really give people that impression? I’d love to see the look on this man’s face as he walked in downtown Seattle after dark. Let’s see who wants to go running to a big, strong male for protection then.

  I was smart enough to know there were a lot of things I didn’t know. I knew better than to expect to arrive out on my ranch and have it made. A caretaker could offer advice and teach me plenty, I was sure of it.

  Down the road, if I needed the financial assistance and felt confident standing on my own two ranching feet, I could always take over as caretaker then.

  “Fine. How do I get in touch with this caretaker?” I asked, pointing to my paper with my pen. “I’m sure I’ll have some questions, and he’ll want to know about my plans for the ranch.”

  “That’s another issue. We don’t exactly have a way to contact him. There’s no phone service out at the ranch.”

  “Oh?”

  No phone.

  Surprise number three.

  I thought very carefully before asking my next question, afraid of Mr. Munroe’s answer.

  “I assume there’s electricity, correct?”

  “Oh yes, that was put in by the previous owner.”

  “That’s a huge relief,” I joked, covering up my very real fear of not having any way to run even the smallest of kitchen appliances. “So where does this caretaker stay? I’ll stop by and see him.”

  Mr. Munroe shifted uneasily in his seat.

  “That’s another issue. The caretaker chooses to live outside. We don’t know exactly where on the property he resides, other than not in the house or barn.”

  “Outside?”

  “Yes. Year round, even. He’s very much into the old pioneer ways, a true cowboy at heart. Don’t worry, he’ll show up at your house once he realizes you’ve moved in. Just show him the piece of paper so he knows you’re entitled to be there, otherwise, he might think you’ve moved yourself in like a squatter. Be sure to give him the paper immediately, in fact. Don’t wait around for him to ask.”

  I watched Mr. Munroe’s face for any sign that this was a joke. Instead, he met my gaze with an even stare of his own, a forced smile fixed in place for my benefit.

  “Welcome to ranching, Ms. Taylor. Good luck.”

  Chapter 4: Leah

  I stepped out of Tina’s truck parked outside the strip mall. I looked around, amazed to be back in civilization after only two hours of bouncing along on the old two-lane highway.

  “Come on, we’ll start in this store,” Tina said, pointing to the first place I would need to go to buy supplies.

  She’d been very eager to help me get set up for living at the ranch, and even offered to take me into town to buy supplies.

  I still hadn’t seen the inside of the house, so I wasn’t sure what items were still in place. Anything from cooking utensils to bed linens could be there, for all I knew. Still, there were things I was going to need, like a satellite phone that Tina had suggested and—as much as I disliked the thought—a gun.

  “I’ve lived for almost all of my life in the heart of a big city,” I’d argued when Tina said she would take me to the store then teach me how to shoot. “I didn’t need a gun then, and I certainly don’t want one now.”

  “The police aren’t going to come running when a coyote is trying to drag down your horse with you on it. It’s too dangerous to leave things to chance. Let’s at least get you something effective but easy, and then hope you never need it, okay?”

  If it had been anyone else but Tina, I would have kept fighting.

  There was something about Tina’s manner that made you want to be accommodating. Maybe it was her easy-going personality or her genuine love of living on the ranch.

  Eithe
r way, she was giving up an entire weekend day to help me get what I needed for country life.

  Why ask someone for advice if you don’t plan to listen to it?

  We left the hunting shop with a .22 rifle for me. It was easy to load, easy to secure, and didn’t have too much of a kick when fired. Sure, it wasn’t going to bring down any rhinos, but it would certainly make a coyote or a mountain lion think twice about coming any further.

  Tina had pointed to some practice targets and grabbed those for my basket, urging me to tack them to a tree stump and practice in my spare time.

  From the same store, I also picked up a few extra changes of clothes, some bear mace, and a second pair of boots so I’d have something to wear if my one pair got wet. Then, it was on to the mall’s electronics store, where Tina flirted and finagled with the college-aged boy behind the counter until she got me the best possible discount on a satellite phone.

  “Won’t you miss the internet at the ranch?” she asked me. “I heard you were a computer coder.”

  “No, I won’t,” I replied. “I need to disconnect from the online world. That’s one of the main reasons I’m moving out here.”

  “You know,” Tina said, her expression changing a little. “I don’t want to pry, but how are you going to earn an income? I mean, I’m assuming you’re not a lottery winner or anything. You could do a little home-based internet business helping some of the ranchers out here with their computers and stuff.”

  I nodded.

  “It’s not a completely horrible idea and I’ll keep it in mind,” I said. “As for income, I sold a fair amount of my stock to use as the down payment. I started working years ago for a tiny startup tech company. The company grew like crazy and the stock prices shot up. The company offered me a buyout. Basically, a large severance package and my salary for several months. I got the feeling it was a first come, first serve kind of deal. If I didn’t take the buyout now, I might be hit with a layoff later with less benefits.”