Wearing the Rancher's Ring. Stella Bagwell

deal with the flowers and returned moments later wearing a camel-colored coat and clutching a red handbag that matched her high heels. Clancy was still standing where she’d left him, his hat in his hand.

      “All set,” she said.

      He levered the hat down over his forehead. “Do you need to tend to anything before we leave? The dogs?”

      “They’ve already been fed and I let them run loose. I have a cat, too. But she’s hiding under the bed. Except for me, Cleo hates people. As soon as she hears another human voice, she’s gone.”

      “Nice cat,” he said.

      She walked past him on the way to the foyer and he followed in her footsteps.

      “At least I don’t have to worry about anyone taking her away from me.”

      “No. That shouldn’t be a worry.”

      After she locked the door behind him, they stepped off the porch and crossed the short distance to his waiting truck. A brisk north wind stung Olivia’s cheeks and prompted her to flip up the collar on her coat.

      When they reached his vehicle, she noticed the diesel engine was idling and ready to go. He quickly helped her into the warm cab and as soon as he buckled himself beneath the steering wheel, he turned the big, dual-wheeled truck toward town.

      As they barreled down the graveled county road, he said, “I think we’re in for some nasty weather.”

      “That’s what the long-range forecast is predicting,” Olivia replied. “We have a lot of fieldwork to do this month. It would help if the snow held off for a while, but I understand this area is in extreme drought. You definitely need the snow.”

      “The ranchers around here are praying for a wet winter.”

      “Then I’ll pray for the snow to come, too. Everything suffers during a drought.”

      “You live farther out of town than I expected,” he commented. “Do you like it out here?”

      When she’d first met Clancy in college, he’d already grown into a tall young man, but the rest of him had been very lean and wiry. The passing years had filled out his shoulders, arms and legs. Now he looked strong enough to take on a raging bull by the horns, Olivia thought, as she watched him deftly maneuver the truck around a washed-out piece of road.

      “I do. I never know when my job might force me to transfer to another place, but I’m hoping I’ll get to sink roots here. That’s why I took a chance and bought property instead of renting. The house is nothing fancy, but I got forty acres with the place, so that makes up for the price I had to pay. Anyway, I like it out here on the edge of the desert. I can see for miles. I do wish I had more than one shade tree, though. I suppose whoever built the place wasn’t into landscaping.”

      He glanced at her. “What are you going to do with the forty acres? Run a few cattle?”

      She shook her head. “It’s too barren to sustain more than five head. That wouldn’t be worth the effort. But I have thought of getting a couple of horses. I could use them at work. Sometimes we have to ride over a lot of country that can’t be traveled by truck or four-wheeler.”

      He grinned. “Well, I can tell you where some pretty good horses are for sale. You might even get a good deal on a pair of them.”

      A wan smile touched her lips. “I seriously doubt I could afford anything from the Silver Horn. I don’t need high-powered breeding, anyway. Just gentle, sturdy animals that can carry me over the rocks around here.”

      “I said you’d get a discount,” he pointed out.

      She sighed. Years ago, Clancy hadn’t really understood the differences between them. How could she make him see that he still didn’t understand? Even with a discount, a Silver Horn horse would be thousands of dollars she didn’t have.

      Deciding it was best to ignore that issue, she simply said, “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” Turning her head toward the passenger window and away from his rugged profile, she stared out at the shadowy landscape and wondered if he was feeling the same tension between them that she was feeling. “When I left Idaho, I was still living in the house my mother left to me. Moving away from it has been—a little traumatic.”

      “That was near Twin Falls, right?”

      She glanced his way. “You remembered.”

      “I remember most everything about you, Olivia.”

      His comment was so unsettling that she didn’t make any sort of reply. After all, it was the same with her. She remembered everything about him, too. She just wasn’t brave enough to admit it to him.

      * * *

      Clancy took her to Bonito’s, a rustic Mexican restaurant located on the edge of the city. From their table by the window, the twinkling lights of the city stretched for miles toward the west and the mountains that rimmed Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, just outside the wall of glass, a Joshua tree and a spiny barrel cactus framed the view.

      “Do you eat here often?” Olivia asked as the two of them munched on the chips and salsa the waiter had left behind.

      The eating area was rather small and nearly all the tables were occupied. Piped mariachi music was playing quietly in the background, although Clancy had informed her that a live mariachi band played on the weekends. The plastered walls were cracked in some places and the board planked floor had been there for so long that some of the nail heads had been worn away. It was just the type of place that Olivia liked and Clancy knew it.

      “No. I don’t eat out much,” he said. “Greta, our house cook, always has nice meals fixed for the family. And I don’t leave the ranch unless I have a reason to.”

      “Hmm. I guess I must have been one of those reasons tonight.”

      He cocked a brow at her. “You could put it that way.”

      Dropping her gaze from his face, she took a sip from her water glass. “You never were much of a social person. That hasn’t changed?”

      “I’m not a hermit. I get out occasionally. But the ranch takes up most of my time.”

      While they’d been engaged, Olivia had never carefully measured her words before she’d spoken them to Clancy. She’d felt free to say anything, about any subject. Now their past together was getting in the way, blocking the things that would have otherwise come naturally to her lips.

      She said, “I’m sure it does. From what I hear, your family’s ranch has grown even bigger than what it was when you and I—when we were in college.”

      The faint grimace on his face told her that he hadn’t missed the abrupt change of her words and suddenly Olivia realized how cowardly she was being. There was no point in trying to evade or dance around the issue of their past. It had happened. It couldn’t be changed. So there was no purpose in making herself miserable by trying to pretend otherwise.

      He said, “Yes. It’s grown. My grandfather is still purchasing land whenever it becomes available. And like I told you the other day, we lease, too. Our lease land has also increased. So that means with more land, Dad wants more cattle. It’s a circle that goes around with my grandfather and father. And I have to try to keep up with the business ends of their deals.”

      She smiled faintly. “That’s what you got your degree for. Now you’re putting it to use. I’m sure it must feel really nice to be able to put your knowledge and effort into something that actually belongs to you.”

      Resting his forearms on the edge of the table, he leaned slightly toward her. “So tell me, Olivia, when did you go back to college? After your mother passed?”

      Nodding, she said, “She died in the fall, after the semester had started. That was two years after I left UNLV. I waited until winter break to start my studies again. But I didn’t go back to Las Vegas. I had all my hours transferred to Boise State.”

      A