The Cowboy's Homecoming Surprise (Fly Creek) Read online

  But the new Ryder couldn’t let the insults stand without a response. He knew his worth. Knew his value.

  “Funny how some of those ideas you thought were so lazy seemed to have found favor with you now.” Ryder tipped his hat and brushed past his father to collect Mel and Alex. The issues with his father were coming to a head but now was not the time. No, now was the time for Mel and apple tarts.

  …

  Peyton stepped up onto the porch of the main lodge and stopped. There, lying just to the right of the double oak doors, was a dog. A dog that she’d never seen and was pretty certain didn’t belong anywhere near Sky Lake. He or she looked harmless, with large pointed ears perked up and a long, fat snout. An elfish grin and brown eyes watched her as its back end wiggled from side to side.

  Peyton squatted and clucked her tongue and the dog got up and trotted over to her. Dark and light brown fur covered its back, with snowy white dotting its belly and paws. She held out her hand and a cold, wet nose snuffled it before sealing their friendship with a kiss. Peyton giggled as the rotund canine circled around in front of her, sending her backward onto her butt. The canine capitalized and was up in her face giving doggy kisses anywhere the little pink tongue could reach.

  “Vista, you lucky dog.”

  Peyton managed to corral the dog onto her lap and looked up to see a handsome, red-haired cowboy smiling down at her, laugh lines fanning away from dark green eyes.

  “Vista?” she asked and was rewarded with another round of kisses. Before she could fend off the randy advances, the dog was scooped off her lap and a hand extended in her direction. She grasped the smooth, tanned skin and let this mystery cowboy haul her to her feet.

  “Thank you, Mr.?”

  “Alex. No Mr. needed, Ms.?”

  “Peyton. Peyton Brooks.”

  Alex lifted her hand and placed a kiss on the top. She would have snorted at the smooth calculated risk, only it was accompanied by such an exaggerated wink that she burst out laughing.

  “Alex, I can’t take you anywhere.” Ryder stepped onto the porch. His statement should have been a joke but the steel that ran underneath Ryder’s proclamation both excited and infuriated Peyton.

  Alex put Vista down on the floor and clapped Ryder on the shoulders. “Just saving this pretty lady from the unwanted advances of your dog.”

  Peyton’s gaze snapped to Ryder. “Your dog?”

  Ryder nodded.

  “A dog, how adorable.” Mel dropped to the porch floor and Vista took full advantage. Peyton hadn’t noticed their daughter, too busy wondering why Ryder was so incensed that a man he clearly knew was flirting with her.

  Cause he’s jealous, silly.

  The truth was way too welcomed. Jealousy meant emotions, and Peyton and Ryder had too many of those floating around, most of them unresolved on her end.

  “Mel, meet Vista. Why don’t you take her down to your grandparents and introduce them.” Ryder caught Peyton’s gaze. “That is, if your mom doesn’t have anything for you to do.”

  Peyton crossed her arms and shook her head. “No, honey. I’ll pick you up from there in about an hour when I finish with work.”

  Mel bounced down the steps, Vista happily following her. Her daughter kicked up dust and the horses’ heads bobbed as she passed their paddocks.

  Alex cleared his throat. “I think I’ll leave you two alone and go head to the lake. See ya later, man.”

  He walked away, a swagger in his step.

  “Like what you see?”

  Peyton shrugged. “Could be. Something pleasing about his eyes.”

  “He’s a womanizer.”

  Peyton laughed and met Ryder’s gaze. “Does it take one to know one?”

  He growled and stepped closer. “Alex isn’t your type.”

  “How do you know what my type is anymore?” She poked him in the chest and he grabbed hold of her finger.

  He ran his hand along the length of it and then intertwined their hands. “I would think last week proved exactly what type you and I have.”

  His voice slid along her nerves waking each one up. He was right, dammit. In ten years, not one man had spoken to her the way he did.

  He captured her gaze and lowered his head, giving her every chance to stop him.

  She didn’t.

  The kiss was like coming home. Exploring, testing, confirming things you remembered. He tasted like peaches and cider and when he angled his head and dove deeper into her mouth, she moaned in acceptance.

  This man was made for her. His tongue doing delightful things to hers and sending warmth to all corners of her body. Their night together had been frantic, quick. As if they both knew it was wrong in its timing but needed it anyway.

  But this kiss? This was slow and full of promises. Full of a promise that the next time they were together, it would move at a slower, sensual pace.

  Next time?

  Lord if ever there was a cold shower, that thought was it. Peyton pulled back and the sounds of a working ranch buzzed by her ears. A quick glance showed no one immediately around but she wasn’t naive enough to believe someone hadn’t seen them.

  “I have to go.”

  She brushed by him, her shoulder sweeping across the rock-hard chest she’d been plastered against. Until she had made up her mind about a future with Ryder, she really needed to stay out of kissing reach.

  Her fingertips traced her swollen lips and she sighed. What woman in their right mind wouldn’t want more kisses from a master like Ryder Marks?

  …

  “Hey, Peyton?”

  Peyton looked up from the metrics on Sky Lake’s website to see Dan leaning against the doorway, his hat working its way through his fingers.

  “Something wrong?” She’d gotten so behind the past week, the last thing she needed was something else that required her attention. But Dan rarely entered her private office. It was too confined. It was no secret that one word of encouragement from her was all Dan would need, but she’d never felt the same way. So they’d been very careful to walk the fine line of friendship. If he’d crossed self-imposed barriers it was important.

  “Nothing with the guests.” He glanced over his shoulder. “You might want to stop by the indoor roping ring.”

  “Okay. Good picture opportunity?”

  “No. Just stop by. Soon.” He placed his hat on his head and adjusted the rim down and left. No other explanation. Worry filtered through her body, leaving her fingers itching and her heart racing. Dan was never uneasy around her. Even when a guest took a tumble or something had occurred that would test her excellent PR skills, he’d been cool and collected. The man who just left was worried and torn. That meant whatever it was, was personal.

  She pushed back from the desk and crossed through the lobby as fast she dared without arousing suspicions of the few employees. Once safely down the porch steps, she broke into a trot down the back lane toward the indoor roping ring. Running through the typical schedule, she realized there shouldn’t be anything going on in there right now. They barely had any guests, although it was picking up for the fall. Trotting transformed into a sprint. Reaching the back door, she slid it open only to freeze with her fingers still wrapped around the iron handle.

  Ryder stood in the middle of the ring hands on his hips, giving instruction. On top of a horse, three hands too tall for her, sat Melanie. A roping ring in one hand, the other clutching the pommel. At the far end, Alex, Ryder’s friend, was corralling a small black steer. Vista circled the bovine, her back end moving a mile a minute.

  Peyton couldn’t scream. She didn’t want to startle the horse or Mel. Before she could work out the best plan, Mel kicked her heels and started into a circle. Alex released the steer and a slow-motion train wreck unfolded before her. The steer cut back in front of the horse, Mel yanked the reins, causing her mount to rear up. Tiny hands scrambled at the mane but to no avail. In a tangle of limbs, Mel fell to the ground. Another ranch hand jumped off the fence and pulled the horse a
way as Alex corralled the steer into a holding pen. Peyton raced toward Mel, screaming her name even as Ryder bent down and scooped their daughter up.

  She reached them, and her daughter fluttered those puppy dog eyes. “Mom?”

  Peyton slid her arms around Mel. “Give her to me,” she hissed as Mel clung to her neck. Ryder relented, and Peyton took their daughter over to the side of the ring and settled them onto a bench. She ran her fingers across Mel’s forehead and around the back of the head. Nothing seemed tender or swollen. It didn’t appear she hit her head.

  “What hurts, honey?”

  Mel struggled to sit up, but Peyton held her in place. “Don’t move until I know what you hurt.”

  “I’m fine, Mom.”

  Peyton ignored her and continued running her hands down arms and legs. She became aware of Ryder standing protectively close, and she fought the urge to growl at him. His time would come. But Mel came first. Mel would always come first.

  Satisfied that all parts were in working order, Peyton settled Mel onto the bench.

  “You stay here.”

  Mel nodded. Her daughter might be willful, but even Peyton would have quaked at the tone she used.

  She stood and pushed past the mass of a man hovering around them. Thankfully, he followed without her having to ask.

  “She looks okay. I’ve taken worse tumbles than that and survived. She just needs to adjust her—”

  Peyton whirled around and shoved Ryder. “What the hell did you think you were doing? She’s ten. The horse was too big. She has had no instruction, and I have told her she wasn’t ready to learn to rope yet.”

  Ryder crossed his arms. “I was teaching her. That’s how someone learns.”

  “That wasn’t your call to make.”

  “She’s my daughter. I get to make calls, too.”

  “No!”

  “No?”

  “No. You don’t. You do not get to waltz in here and know her for two days and make calls like this. Calls that have consequences. She could have broken a bone. Been trampled by the horse. Gotten a concussion. You don’t have any idea what it’s like to be a parent. To have the worries that go with it. You want to be her playmate, her friend. You don’t want to be her father.” Peyton walked away from him. He’d broken her trust, just as predicted. Only this time it was the trust that he would protect Mel as a father should. “I should have known it was something bad for Dan to act that way.”

  “Dan,” Ryder thundered. “What the hell does he have to do with any of this?”

  Peyton ignored him. Should she take Mel to the doctor as a precaution? It couldn’t hurt. Two strong arms gripped her from behind, spinning her around and holding her in place.

  “What does Dan have to do with Mel?”

  “He came and told me. Warned me. He cares about her, and he knows what her capabilities are. That she isn’t ready. If you’d asked him or even me, we could have told you.”

  “She’s my daughter.” He leaned closer, his breath warming her already heated face. “And don’t you ever imply that I don’t care about her or that Dan has a better interest in her than I do.”

  Anger pulsated through her body and she ripped herself from his hold. “Dan has been more of a father to her than you’ll ever be. In fact, every ranch hand at this damn place has cared for her more than you.”

  “That’s not my fault,” he roared. “I didn’t know.”

  “Because you ran off. You abandoned me. Us.”

  Sobbing broke through their haze of anger. They stood feet apart, chests heaving in and out. Peyton turned to see Mel clinging to her grandmother, her wails echoing through the ring. A quick glance around showed no one else about. Shelby must have cleared the place out with one look.

  Shelby whispered something into Mel’s ear and the young girl nodded and trotted off through the open door. Peyton moved to go after her but one look at Shelby marching determinedly in their direction, and Peyton stood rooted to the dirt floor.

  Ryder shifted beside her and she felt somewhat better in knowing whatever Shelby was about to unleash would be shared equally among them.

  Ryder’s mother stopped short of mowing them over, but her close proximity had Peyton crossing her arms in defense.

  “How dare the two of you act no better than a pair of fighting bull moose. It’s bad enough that the argument was so loud that damn near half the ranch overheard it, but you fought in front of your daughter. You argued about her while she was within hearing distance.”

  Peyton deflated. She did know better. She’d made a promise to herself to interact civilly. And she had, until Ryder had broken her trust and almost gotten their daughter killed. The pain of seeing her daughter hurt overrode any sense of calm.

  “Mom, this isn’t—”

  Shelby poked her son in the chest. “Don’t you dare tell me this isn’t my business. That little girl means the world to me, and she was a wailing mess because of the two of you. You don’t get to waltz back into our lives and take over. That’s not how it works. With Melanie or Peyton or Sky Lake.”

  Peyton smiled. She’d nailed Ryder right into the hitching post.

  “And you, missy. I get that your mama hen instincts have your feathers all ruffled, but Ryder is Melanie’s father. While I do take umbrage at the way he’s going about it, the fact is he’s trying and deserves the chance. Melanie deserves to have him in her life. So you’re going to have to smooth those damn feathers down and stop throwing his leaving back in his face every single time. I have no doubt the both of you are hurting, but you will not take that hurt and toss it in your daughter’s direction. Do I make myself clear?”

  Exhaustion overtook Peyton. She nodded, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She’d brought that pain to her daughter. How could she ever erase the argument Melanie just witnessed?

  She looked up at Ryder, an apology on her lips. He didn’t deserve to have her throw his absence back in his face. She knew how much he hurt over it. How much it tore him up. She could do better. Would do better. But the pain with which he met her gaze had the apology dissolving. “I’m sorry” wasn’t enough at the moment.

  “Ryder?” Shelby questioned.

  Ryder broke eye contact to look at his mother. Peyton took a step away. Whatever was about to be shared had nothing to do with her anymore. She quietly left the ring from the opposite door and went to find Melanie. She would start her apology there and then maybe once Ryder had cooled, she could go to him and they could figure this co-parenting thing out.

  …

  Peyton had left. That damn tuning fork, aimed right at her no matter how hard Ryder tried, told him when she silently slid away from the staring down he and his mother were engaged in. And as seemed to be the case, his body seemed less alive, less sure of its place. All those years in Alaska, despite trying hard not to remember her, she’d been an anchor for him. Something to think about back at Sky Lake. Now that damn anchor held him immobile every time he tried to find a way forward.

  “Ryder, this has to stop.”

  He loved his mother. He knew she was right, at least in regard to upsetting Melanie, but she was sticking her nose into business that wasn’t hers. She had no idea how much missing out on Mel’s life tore him up. Just when he thought he had a handle on the conflicting emotions, Peyton jumped in, throwing the past in his face and questioning his motives. He didn’t want to walk a tightrope for the rest of his life and he didn’t believe Peyton did, either.

  “Mom, stop. I’m sorry for getting Mel upset, but I will not apologize for my feelings.”

  She slapped his arm. “Wake up, you big oaf. No one asked you to apologize. Trying to forget one’s feelings is like trying to ignore a plate full of apple tarts. But what you’re failing to grasp in all this hatred toward the past is that everyone else is feeling and dealing with it, too. We tried to find you. We tried to avoid all of this.” She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, tears spilling over. “Is there an ounce of sense left in that br
ain of yours, or did that damn Alaskan frontier freeze it all out? Don’t you think I tried to find you? We tried to find you. My only son walks out on me, his father, his life and legacy, and then I find out I’m to be a grandmother. You don’t think I knew you would be there for her? For your child? Ten years, Ryder. Ten years of nothing but a monthly letter telling us you were fine.”

  Ryder shifted away, the heel of his boot kicking up dust. When he’d left, everything had seemed so simple. Go away, find a way to prove to his father he wasn’t the slacker he thought him to be. He hadn’t planned on ten years. That had evolved as he had. First, it was until he’d gotten the training. Then it was about a certain sum of money. Then it became about the business he and Alex had talked about, and then it had ultimately become about the purchase.

  “It couldn’t have been easy on you, Mom. I’m sorry.”

  “I know you are. I know you never meant to hurt anyone, and I imagine there’s a hell of a lot more that I don’t know yet. The fact is, your daughter is here and she wants you and needs you. But the years cannot be overcome in ten seconds. You’re a parent first and a playmate second. And you have a partner in this. A partner who is wiser, smarter, and more grounded in what you’re stepping in to.”

  Ryder sighed, but a finger jammed into his chest stopped the words about to roll out of his mouth.

  “Don’t you get all poker straight, jutted chin with me. I know you think you know what’s best and that you have to do things your own way. But in this, you need Peyton. And guess what? She needs you, only she’s just as stubborn as you and hasn’t realized it yet.” Shelby leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Now go cool off and think about all my wise words and figure out a way forward.”