The Rancher Next Door. Cathy Thacker Gillen

on a few animals, see how that goes before you invest every penny you have in this endeavor.”

      “You could start your own travel agency,” Meg chimed in. “With your experience…you’ve been so many places. You would be great at it. You could still live on The Primrose. Have one or two alpacas for pets. You just wouldn’t have to…”

      “Labor like a farm hand?” Rebecca guessed where this conversation was going.

      “Exactly,” Luke said.

      Rebecca was saved having to reply to that suggestion by another vehicle moving up the gravel lane that served as her driveway. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to show the movers where to put my boxes.”

      Rebecca lifted the cross bar on the swinging wooden doors and opened up the detached barn-style garage that would soon be turned into the farm office. She greeted the driver and his assistant and indicated where she wanted the boxes stacked. The two men had just gotten started when a third vehicle drove up the lane.

      “When it rains it pours,” Rebecca mumbled, not all that sorry Trevor McCabe had taken this moment to drop by, too. She could use whatever distraction her neighbor provided, and then some.

      Trevor drove past the movers and parked next to her parents’ vehicle. Rebecca watched as he strode toward her and her parents. He said hello to everyone then grinned at her disheveled state. “Looks like you’ve been busy,” Trevor drawled.

      Rebecca noted he also looked a little worse for wear, as if he’d spent the day working, too. “Then that makes two of us.”

      “I stopped by to see if you wanted to borrow my pressure washer to clean out the barn,” Trevor said. “I could show you how to use it, if you’ve never handled one.”

      Aware her parents were hanging on every word, Rebecca said, “I’d appreciate that. Thanks.”

      “Want me to go and get it for you now?” Trevor asked. “That way you’ll have it when you need it.”

      “I’ll ride over with you, if you don’t mind,” Luke said. “I’ve never seen your ranch.”

      Trevor’s surprise faded as quickly as it had appeared on his face. “Sure.”

      Rebecca stepped between the two men. “Smooth, Dad. But you can stop trying to set up Trevor and I. He’s already told me in no uncertain terms that he has absolutely no interest in dating me.”

      TO TREVOR’S RELIEF, Luke didn’t even try to deny his supposed matchmaking before heading off to the Wind Creek with him. “Is that true?” Luke demanded as Trevor turned the vehicle around and headed toward the rural two-lane highway.

      “Rebecca misunderstood why I was talking to you yesterday morning.” Trevor eased back out onto the road.

      “Did you tell her I asked you to talk her out of ranching?” Luke studied the feed corn growing in the field to their right.

      “Nope,” Trevor said as he turned into his own drive.

      “Thanks. She wouldn’t appreciate the behind-the-scenes interference.”

      He stopped to get the mail out of his box. “No kidding.”

      “I know you think I’m wrong for trying to change her mind about this.”

      Trevor shrugged and continued driving. “She’s a grown woman.”

      “Who is still capable of making a mistake.”

      Trevor parked in front of the barn and cut the engine. “Maybe it should be hers to make. Look, Dr. Carrigan, I know you mean well. But Rebecca has a right to live her life any way she pleases.”

      Luke hit the release on his safety belt and pushed from the vehicle. “Even if it costs her six years of savings?”

      Trevor led the way into the state-of-the-art facility. It smelled of disinfectant and spring air. “This venture of hers is not going to do that. Ranch land around here is only going up in value. Alpacas, while expensive, are a much sought after commodity, not just in Texas, but in the entire United States. There’s a ban on importation. She’s going to have to breed wisely to get the maximum value from her investment, but even if she doesn’t, it’s unlikely she will lose money, given the demand for the animals.” He retrieved the pressure washer out of the tack room and carried it to his pickup.

      Luke lounged against the pickup’s gate. “That could all change if demand declines.”

      “True, but since it takes eleven months to produce a single alpaca, and alpaca wool is wanted world over, it won’t happen any time soon.”

      Luke stuck his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “I heard what happened at the feed store with Vince Owen.”

      Trevor shut the gate. “Then you also know there were no takers for the bet he tried to make about Rebecca.”

      Luke exhaled. “Does she know?”

      “No, and everybody there agreed she shouldn’t. It would only hurt her feelings. Make interaction with him all that much harder. And since Vince owns the ranch on the other side of her now…”

      Luke rubbed his neck. “Have the two of them met?”

      “Yes.” Trevor propped an arm on the side of his truck. “She doesn’t like him.”

      Luke’s posture relaxed in relief. “She’s always had good instincts about people.”

      “About a lot of things, from what I see,” Trevor concurred. He understood why Luke was protective of his second-oldest daughter, but protection wasn’t what Rebecca needed.

      Luke studied Trevor a long moment. “I never thought of you as a potential boyfriend for my daughter,” he said. “But I want you to know, should you ever decide to pursue her, you have my blessing.”

      Trevor accepted the announcement with the respect it had been given. “I appreciate that, sir, but I would prefer you not mention this to Rebecca. It would probably blow whatever slim chance I have of getting her to go out with me.”

      A quizzical lift of the brow. “And do you want to go out with her?” Luke asked.

      Trevor shrugged. “I don’t think she wants to go out with anyone right now. She’s got her hands full starting up her operation.”

      “Which is exactly why she needs someone like you in her life.”

      “Be that as it may, that’s up to her to decide,” Trevor said. “And with all due respect, sir, I suggest you back off and give her room to do it.”

      “SO WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON between you and my dad?” Rebecca asked Trevor the moment the movers and her parents had left.

      He turned and gave her a look that was pure innocence. “What are you talking about?”

      So you’re going to make me spell it out. “He obviously wanted to speak to you about something. Otherwise he wouldn’t have ridden over to your ranch with you.”

      Trevor’s hazel eyes took on a gentle expression. “He’s concerned about you. I told him he didn’t need to be. You’re going to be a fine rancher. Yeah, there are bound to be difficulties, but there are people like me and my brothers and my mom and dad around to help you get acclimated to ranch living.”