Jared's Texas Homecoming Read online

  He nodded, trying to distract himself from the picture she had alluded to. No, he couldn’t think about her that way—about wanting her. “You’re right. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”

  “Good night.” Dana turned around and Jared couldn’t ignore the soft sway of her rounded hips. Desire shot through him. He knew the last thing he could do was get involved with Dana. She was off-limits, in more ways than one.

  Jared sat on the bed, unlaced his work boots and pulled them off. Stretching out on the mattress, he stared up at the wooden slats in the ceiling. What had possessed him to take the job? He had no business being here. Well, what business he had wouldn’t take more than an hour. He needed to forget what Marsh told him about their mother and just get the hell out of Dodge.

  Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the crumpled letter from Jack Randell. Hell, why couldn’t he just let it go? The last thing he wanted to do was find out he didn’t fit in somewhere else. He doubted the three Randell brothers wanted a bastard brother showing up.

  But, damn, he had to know where he belonged.

  Dana walked through the back door of the house. She couldn’t believe she had flirted with Jared Trager. And worse, she knew better. There was danger written all over the man, from his slow, easy saunter to his sexy grin. Besides, he had a home in Las Vegas. And probably a woman waiting for him.

  As her father used to say, drifters come and go as fast as the seasons. If only she’d heeded those words when she’d met Marshall Hastings.

  At twenty-three, Dana had had yet to experience love…until she’d met Marsh. A good-looking stranger who had come to the ranch, asking for directions. He gave her the attention she craved, but in the end he took off. Marsh hadn’t cared that he’d taken her innocence. But he’d left her a gift. Evan. Because of her son she would never regret what had happened between them.

  Now, at twenty-eight, Dana had given up on finding what her parents had. Although their time together had been short, Kathryn and Drew Shayne had truly loved each other. But their daughter would never risk her heart again. Dana never wanted to feel that kind of pain for the second time.

  If she ever got married, she was definitely going to play it safe. Look for a nice, safe guy…like Hal Parks. The local deputy sheriff was nice enough, not bad-looking, either. She’d known him all her life. He still came around to the ranch and it was easy to see that, with some encouragement, the shy deputy might ask her out. Was that what she wanted?

  Maybe. She had Evan to think about. He was getting older, and he needed a father figure. Hal liked kids, even coached Little League.

  “If there were just a few sparks,” she murmured, wishing she could get up some enthusiasm.

  A warm shiver slid down her spine as her attention turned to her new ranch hand. Jared Trager sent off sparks with just a look from those bedroom eyes. What would his touch be like?

  “Stop it,” she chided herself, shutting off lights as she walked through the quiet house. On the stairs, not wanting to wake Evan, Dana skipped the fifth step to avoid the squeaky loose board.

  Once in her bedroom, she closed the door and turned on the lamp on the night table. A soft glow illuminated the room she’d slept in all her life. It was still painted a light pink, but she had exchanged the twin bed for a double. After her father’s death, she hadn’t seen any reason to move into the master suite.

  She went to the window and glanced down at the barn. Everything looked peaceful. Just the way she liked it. But for how long? How long could she hold on? How long would this ranch belong to a Shayne? The place was mortgaged and the payment was due soon.

  A mortgage that her father had taken out when his only child had developed complications in her pregnancy and had delivered his grandson, Evan Andrew, six weeks early. At less than four pounds, her infant son had had to remain in the hospital for weeks. That had cost money, a lot of money.

  When she’d told him of her pregnancy, not once had her father complained or lectured her. He’d never judged her when she said that her baby’s father was not in the picture. And from the day she’d brought Evan home from the hospital, he’d loved the boy.

  Now, it was just her and Evan. And as a legacy to her father and her son, she couldn’t lose the Lazy S. She might not know what the future of the ranch would be, but she wasn’t going to give up easily. She would do whatever it took.

  The next morning, Dana was putting breakfast on the table when Bert walked in the back door, Jared behind him. His chambray shirt and jeans looked as if they’d already seen plenty of work and it was only 7:00 a.m. If Bert had had anything to do about it, they’d been up well before the sun.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” Dana said as she tore her gaze away from her good-looking new employee. “Have a seat.”

  “Yeah, Mom made biscuits and her special gravy,” Evan said from his chair at the kitchen table.

  Bert hung his hat by the door. Jared also placed a hat on the hook next to the foreman’s. She recognized the familiar battered straw that always hung in the barn. So her new ranch hand didn’t even own a cowboy hat.

  “Is it someone’s birthday?” Bert asked as he walked to the table.

  “I just felt like making biscuits and gravy,” Dana replied, a little too quickly. “Of course, I’m not going to force you to eat them.”

  Bert grinned as he raised his arthritic hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m pleased as a calf in clover. Just surprised.” The older man glanced at Jared. “This girl here is the best cook around these parts.” He patted his rounded stomach. “I should know—been eating it for years. That alone should be enough pay to work here.”

  Dana returned to the table with a plate of eggs and a basket of her butter biscuits. “Yeah, too bad that isn’t true. If it were, I’d have ranch hands lined up outside my door.”

  “Mom, I’ll work for you,” Evan volunteered as he reached for a biscuit.

  She ruffled her son’s dark head. “Thanks, but I’d be happy for you to pick up your room and give me a few kisses.”

  He puckered up and Dana leaned down and took his offering. “Bert and Jared need to give you a kiss, too.”

  Dana fought the heat flaming in her cheeks. She lost. “Oh, I’m pretty stingy with my kisses. I save them for my best guy. You.” She tickled his ribs, making him giggle.

  Jared sat back and watched the exchange between mother and son. Marsh would be happy to see how good they were together. Once again he reminded himself he should leave. It had been a lot of years since he’d worked on a ranch. Just that short time right after he’d left Graham Hastings’s house some dozen years ago. He smiled to himself, recalling another time when he and Marsh were twelve and thirteen and attended a summer ranch camp for wannabe cowboys.

  Maybe he’d just finish the week, then go and stay in town until his truck was repaired. While he was here he could replace some of the stall gates in the barn. How long could that take? He knew that Bert was limited to the amount of work he could do. Just feeding stock and keeping the fences repaired and upright was a full-time job.

  That’s what they’d been doing since five this morning when Bert had come to get him. Having had a restless night he’d already been awake. He’d been thinking about Dana, and the direction of his thoughts were dangerous. That’s the reason he needed to finish this job and get going. His pretty boss was trouble.

  “What ya doin’?” Evan asked.

  Jared stopped his hammering and turned to find the boy standing behind him in the wide concrete aisle inside the barn.

  “I’m fixing Sammy’s stall. Some of the boards rotted out and I thought I’d replace them. You don’t want your pony to get hurt, do you?”

  The boy shook his head. “No, I love Sammy.” He glanced around the barn. “Where’s my pony?”

  “I took him outside so the noise wouldn’t scare him.”

  Evan gave the situation some thought. “Do you have a horse?”

  “No, I don’t.”

 
; “Do you want one?”

  He pulled another rusted nail from the rotted wood. “I probably did when I was your age.”

  “Do you know how to ride?”

  Jared bit back a smile at the artillery of questions. “Probably not as good as you, but I manage.”

  “I bet Mom will let you ride Scout. He’s gentle and doesn’t bite or kick.”

  “That’s good to know in case, but I’m busy for a while repairing the stall.” Jared replaced his hammer in his tool belt.

  “Wow, what’s that?”

  “My tool belt.” Jared crouched down to show the boy his different tools and the pouches for nails and screws.

  “That’s cool.”

  “I’m a carpenter. I need to have a lot of different tools so I can do my work.”

  “Can I help you? I know how to use a hammer. Bert showed me one time.”

  Jared scratched his head as if thinking about it. “I guess I could use a helper. Maybe you can hand me nails and tools.”

  The boy’s dark eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “As long as it’s okay with your mother.”

  “She went into town. Bert’s watchin’ me.”

  “I guess we should ask him. Then maybe you can help me carry some more wood from the side of the barn.”

  “I’m strong, I can do it. Come on,” Evan called as he took off to the corral to ask Bert. A smiling Jared walked after him as the boy eagerly chattered with the older man, selling his case. Bert looked toward him. Jared nodded his approval and the foreman gave the child permission. He found he was looking forward to spending time with Evan. He was a great kid.

  The next two hours flew by. Surprisingly, Evan didn’t get tired or complain about the work. The boy held tools, handed Jared nails and did just about anything Jared asked of him.

  They were working on the third horse stall and Evan was still talking nonstop. The current subject was about some wild mustangs.

  “Are there mustangs on the Lazy S?” Jared asked.

  Evan shook his head. “They live in Mustang Valley, but that’s really close to here.” He pointed off to the west. “Over by the Circle B that Hank owns. He’s Bert’s friend. But Bert says Hank turned the ranch into a sissy dude ranch.”

  Jared couldn’t help but laugh.

  “They got a whole bunch of people who go there just to look at the mustangs. They pretend to be cowboys and cowgirls. Bert says it’s plumb crazy. That city people are loco.”

  “How big is this place?”

  “Real big.” There was a pause as Jared hammered in another nail. Evan handed him another one. “They want Mom to sell them some of her land.” The boy picked up the conversation. “But Mom never will ’cause when I’m growed up, the Lazy S is gonna be mine.”

  “So Hank has been after her to sell?”

  Evan shook his head. “No. She says it’s Hank’s boys. They aren’t really his boys, they just lived with him.”

  Was someone pressuring Dana into selling? “How do you know they aren’t his kids?” Jared asked.

  “’Cause Bert said they have a good-for-nothing daddy. Hank took them in and saved them from a life of crime.”

  “Who are these boys?”

  “The Randells.”

  Dana finally had made it back into town. A lot of good it had done her. The bank hadn’t been interested in listening to her idea to expand the cattle operation. Worse, they refused her the additional money she needed, only allowing her a sixty-day extension on her current mortgage. Things didn’t look good. She turned off the highway and headed down the road to the Lazy S.

  Why not just give up? She could sell part of the ranch to the Randells. Cade had talked with her several times about wanting the section that was attached to the valley and their property.

  Dana wiped way her tears. She didn’t want to think about it now. There was still an outside chance that she could scrape up enough money when she sold off her yearlings. But what would she and Evan live on for the next six months? She could get a job in San Angelo. But what was she qualified to do? Work as a waitress? And besides, Evan would only be in school half days. Bert would probably be able to watch him. But how could she ask her dear sweet godfather to do more?

  She pulled the truck up to the back door, disappointed when Evan didn’t come running to greet her. She climbed out and started for the barn, wondering what her son was up to. She was surprised to hear the sound of hammering greet her as she walked into the cool structure. She followed the noise and found her son…and Jared Trager.

  The two had their dark heads together as they measured the piece of wood that was going to be a slat for the stall. Dana glanced around and discovered that several of the stalls had new boards and shiny new hinges. So this was what her new hand had been doing all day.

  “Evan,” she called.

  The boy turned and grinned at her. “Mom, you’re home.” He ran to her and hugged her. Dana relished having her son in her arms. It made her lousy day suddenly brighten.

  Evan pulled back. “Look what me and Jared are doing.”

  She glanced around at the three stalls with the new wooden boards and gates. “By the looks of things, you both have been busy.” What was Evan doing in here?

  Jared stood. “I checked with Bert before I let Evan help me.”

  The boy pointed to Jared. “Look at Jared’s tool belt, Mom. It’s cool.”

  Dana’s gaze went to the area that had her son so fascinated. There were several kinds of tools that hung from a wide strip of honey-colored leather around Jared’s narrow waist and hips. But her attention lowered to his fitted jeans over long muscular legs. A sudden awareness rushed through her body, catching her off guard with the sensual direction of her thoughts. Her gaze shot upward to catch a knowing look in the man’s eyes.

  “Yes it is,” she agreed, a little perturbed that he’d discovered her bold appraisal. “But you shouldn’t have bothered Jared, honey. He has chores to do.”

  “I finished everything Bert asked me to do,” Jared assured her. “I don’t like to sit around. So I found a few things to fix.”

  Dana stiffened. She didn’t needed him pointing out that the Lazy S was badly in need of work.

  “Evan, why don’t you go to the truck and take the bag of groceries into the house?”

  “But, Mom, I’m helping Jared.”

  Before Dana could say anything, Jared spoke up. “Remember what I said, Evan. You have to do your other chores before you can work for me.”

  The child frowned, but he nodded. “Okay. But I’ll be back.” He shot out of the barn, leaving the two alone.

  Dana watched him go, then turned back to Jared. “I’d appreciate it if you talked to me before recruiting my son. Besides, I hired you to feed the stock and repair the fences.”

  Jared stood there for a long time, then finally spoke. “I checked with Bert. He didn’t have a problem with Evan helping me. I wouldn’t let the boy get hurt. I only let him hand me some nails and help carry wood. I didn’t mean any harm, Dana.” He took a step closer and she fought the urge to back away. “What’s really bothering you? If you don’t want me around your son, just say so and I’ll leave.”

  His gaze locked with hers and a warmth erupted in her stomach. She had overreacted. “It’s not that. It’s just…I can’t afford to pay you any extra.”

  A smile spread across his face. “I don’t believe I asked. As I said, I finished the jobs you assigned me, and thought I could fix a few things.”

  Dana blinked back threatening tears. She was acting silly. Was she jealous of this man because her son was drawn to him?

  For so long, it had always been just her and Evan. He’d had a close relationship with his grandfather, but that was different. It wasn’t a secret Evan wanted a father. And as his mother, Dana was terrified her son would get hurt attaching himself to every man who he met. In walked Jared Trager and he was getting the brunt of her wrath just because Evan longed to spend time with him.

  “Yo
u’re right. I apologize. I appreciate what you’ve done here.” She brushed back her hair. “I guess I just had a bad day.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Any way I can help?”

  She released a tired breath and shook her head. “This is something I have to handle on my own. The worst part is, it looks like there’s only one answer.”

  Chapter Three

  That evening, Jared walked toward the house for supper. Bert had gone up earlier and Jared had thought about skipping the meal and just staying in the bunkhouse. He figured if Dana hadn’t wanted him around the boy, she surely wouldn’t want him at her supper table.

  It had been hours since she’d stopped by the barn and more or less told him to stay clear of her son. Normally, he’d never given a second thought to kids. But little Evan was starting to get to him. No doubt the boy was aching for a father. “He needed you, Marsh. You should have been here for him.”

  Emotions tightened Jared’s throat and he stopped on the porch to pull himself together. Damn, he didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to feel anything. Years ago he’d learned how to cover all the hurt his father dished out—he’d learned to turn off emotions. After he’d left home, he’d avoided any and all attachments. Whenever he’d hooked up with women, he told them up front not to expect anything permanent, nothing that would put him in danger of getting hurt. Now, he was smack-dab in the middle of this…mess. A fatherless boy who was his nephew. If that wasn’t enough, about ten miles down the road, there was a whole other situation.

  Jared looked off toward the west in the direction where supposedly the Randells lived. The last thing he wanted—or needed—was more family. He’d never fit into that cozy scene. An anxiousness rushed through him. This was usually when he’d pack up and move on. Too late. After turning up a hero to a little boy, and wanting to help out the pretty mother, he was already involved.

  Besides, he owed Marsh this. He’d never been much of an older brother, so he had to stick it out. He could do this one last thing for probably the only person who had ever loved him.