Courting The Cowboy. Carolyne Aarsen

lifted her chin in a defensive gesture. “Boyce assured me that the children wouldn’t come—” She stopped there, biting her lip as she looked down at Suzy and Paul who were still stroking her dog’s head.

      He guessed that his dad told her the kids wouldn’t get in her way and he figured from her reaction to Paul, Suzy and Ollie that she didn’t like kids.

      Which was probably a good thing. She was far too attractive and, of late, he’d been getting lonely. His friend Owen had been pushing him to date. Put himself out there. But he had his children to think of and he wasn’t doing anything to jeopardize their well-being.

      “I understand what you’re saying,” he said, a cool note entering his voice.

      Though in spite of that he glanced her way again, flustered to see her doing the same.

      He shook off his reaction and called out to the kids just as an old, rusty pickup came down the drive.

      “It’s Grandpa,” Suzy and Paul called out, their gnat-like attention spans turning to his father. They ran to the truck as he got out, holding a bag.

      “What did you get for us, Grandpa?” they asked, grabbing his hands and dancing alongside him as he limped toward Cord.

      “What do you think I got, Suzy Q?” he asked, tweaking Suzy’s nose and tapping Paul on the cowlick that Cord could never get under control.

      “Candy. Candy,” they both chanted.

      Boyce glanced over at Cord with an apologetic shrug, then walked over to Ella, holding out one gnarled hand.

      “Good to see you again, Miss Langton,” he said in his best aw-shucks manner.

      In his heyday Boyce Walsh was a rodeo bull rider who still bore the scars and limp of a bad wreck that ended his career. Boyce and his brother, George, inherited the ranch from their father who, along with his brothers, had in turn inherited it from their father. Both Boyce and George had expanded their ranches, as had their cousins. Walshes had lived in Cedar Ridge even before the town was officially established.

      Cord’s brother, Morgan, and sister, Amber, had both moved away, but Cord had stayed to help his father work the ranch, living the life he’d always wanted, carrying on the Walsh family tradition.

      “Hope you’re getting settled in?” his father asked Ella, still holding her hand.

      “A few things to unpack but otherwise it’s coming.” She gave his father a wide smile that lit up her face and Cord could see that Ella had, like so many others, been taken in by his father’s effortless charm.

      And to his own disappointment, the change in her voice and manner created an unwelcome quiver of attraction in him.

      “Kids not bothering you too much, I hope?” he asked, glancing down at Suzy and Paul. “I warned them to leave you alone.”

      “No. It’s fine,” Ella said, her voice reverting to the cool tone he had heard before that told him it wasn’t.

      Boyce’s frown showed his father sensed it as well but instead he looked at Cord, then at Ollie who had his head tipped up to catch the last few drops in his bottle. “So where’s Adana?”

      “She quit. Dropped the kids off at Ella’s,” Cord said, shooting a glance at Ella as if to let her know that he had nothing to do with his ex-nanny’s irresponsibility. “Called me in the middle of a meeting to let me know.”

      “That little minx,” Boyce said, shaking his head in disgust. “I thought she might not be the best one to hire.”

      Cord said nothing to that seeing as Adana had been hired on his father’s recommendation. She was the granddaughter of one of his coffee buddies at the Brand and Grill in Cedar Ridge.

      “I was on my way to get potatoes,” Cord said, moving Ollie to his other arm and taking a step away. “For supper.”

      Boyce looked over at Ella, his face brightening. “Would you like to join us?” he asked and Cord stifled a groan. His father could read cattle like no one he knew but was illiterate when it came to people.

      He saw Ella visibly recoil and how her full lips grew tight. Her jaw clenched as she glanced at Ollie who was finally happy, swinging his baby bottle around by the nipple.

      “I’m sorry. I already ate,” she said, her voice breathless as her eyes skimmed Cord’s, then looked away.

      “Adana forgot to take meat out,” Cord added, shooting a warning glance at his father. “So it’s slim pickings anyhow.”

      “Well, maybe another time,” Boyce said, slapping his thighs, his hearty voice oblivious to the undercurrents of tension that emanated from Ella.

      What was her deal, anyhow?

      “And speaking of supper, I should get moving,” Cord said.

      “Here, I can do that for you,” Boyce said. “Suzy and Paul, you come with me. Cord, why don’t you show Ella that trail we cut through the bush last year? She could take her dog for a walk there.”

      Before Cord could protest or Ella could voice the objections he clearly saw on her face, Boyce was gone, Suzy and Paul trailing behind him, clamoring for whatever he had in the bag he swung from his other hand.

      Cord blew out a sigh, then turned back to Ella, taking the bottle from Ollie before he dropped it in the dirt. “Sorry about that. Dad tends to be a bit clueless.”

      “It’s okay. He meant well.”

      “And about that trail—”

      “I can find it myself. Just point me in the right direction,” she said, twisting her dog’s leash around her hand in a nervous gesture as Pablo stood, watching the kids leave and whining.

      “Puppy,” Ollie said, lunging toward the dog in a movement that caught Cord unawares. The little guy would have fallen straight down but Ella reached out in time to steady Ollie with her free hand. For a moment she held his son’s arm as Cord regained his balance.

      Then, as she shifted Ollie back to him, their eyes met.

      And in that brief blink of time he saw a shadow of something deep in those expressive dark eyes. Sorrow? Pain? Regret?

      A dangerous emotion shimmered in his heart as their eyes held for a split second longer than necessary. He felt a surprising and unwelcome connection to her. As if, like him, she held her own doleful secrets.

      “I’ll find the trail,” she said, her voice breathless as she lowered her eyes and pulled Pablo away from both of them.

      Then she turned and strode away, head high, movements deliberate, her dog trotting obediently alongside her.

      Cord watched her go, unable to get rid of the suspicion that there was a lot more to Miss Ella Langton than met the eye.

      Then Ollie grabbed his hair with his sticky hands, as if reminding him of his obligations and the danger of letting someone like Ella get behind his defenses.

      He gave his son a smile and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Yeah. I know, buddy. I’ve got you, Suzy and Paul to think of. No room at the inn.”

      But as he left he couldn’t help one last glance over his shoulder at Ella.

      Just in time to see her doing the same.

      He couldn’t allow himself to be attracted to her or any woman, he reminded himself, turning around and almost running to catch up to his father. He would have to keep his guard up around Ella.

      He couldn’t afford to let himself even think of her.

       Chapter Two

      Ella glanced at the clock as she called up her mother’s number on her cell phone. It was early enough on a Sunday morning that her mother was