The Lonesome Rancher / Finding Happily-Ever-After. Marie Ferrarella

I’m here for you,” she insisted. “It’s whatever you want me to help you with.”

      “I’m flexible with my schedule. And I’m happy you were there for Polly,” Louisa said. “That chestnut is a favorite of mine.” With a sigh, she went on. “It seems like yesterday that she was a foal. Where does the time go?”

      “Mother, Polly’s only three years old,” Sloan reminded her. “And if you hadn’t been asleep, I would have had you there, too. Next time, I’ll make sure of it.”

      Louisa smiled. Jade doubted much happened around here without this woman knowing about it.

      Had she known about her husband’s past? Had he ever told her about Kathryn Lowery? Did he still have affairs with younger women?

      “Jade …”

      She jumped, realizing someone had called her name.

      “Excuse me. Did you say something?”

      “Are you feeling all right?” Louisa asked and nodded toward the plate of enchiladas. “Is the food okay?”

      “Oh, yes, it’s delicious.” She glanced at Marta as she came into the dining room. “I guess I’m a little tired.”

      Louisa frowned. “That’s right, you came all the way from Dallas, and here we put you right to work. We could have waited a day or two.”

      Jade smiled. “No, really, I’m fine. Please, don’t worry about me. I came here for a job, so I planned on starting right away.”

      Sloan watched Jade Hamilton. Even exhausted, the woman was beautiful. She looked more like a model than a nurse. It still puzzled him to why she was here. A rural ranch outside of Kerry Springs wasn’t exactly an exciting place to live.

      “I hope you don’t regret being so far away from everyone and everything familiar,” he said. “A small town has a lot of disadvantages.”

      “And it has a lot of advantages, too,” she told him. “Such as no five o’clock traffic, which means no crazy drivers.”

      “We also have no nightlife.”

      “Drinking in bars can be overrated,” she argued.

      “What about fine dining?”

      Jade smiled. “I heard that Rory’s Bar and Grill has great barbecue.”

      Sloan nodded. “The best.”

      Louisa jumped in. “Son, you’ll have to take Jade in to give her a sample.”

      Great, he’d walked into that one. “Ms. Hamilton needs to focus on you.”

      Those beautiful eyes widened. He suddenly wondered what else he could get her to react to. Whoa, he needed to take a step back. This was an employee, his mother’s nurse.

      He stood. “I should check on the filly.”

      “Why don’t you take Jade along?” his mother suggested. “I mean, she did help deliver her.”

      Jade shook her head. “No. I need to stay with you.”

      Louisa shrugged. “I’m going to watch television with Marta. If I need to go upstairs, there’s the elevator.” She waved her arm. “Now, go. You’re dying to see that foal again.”

      Jade relented.

      Sloan shot his mother a disapproving look, but it didn’t seem to faze her. He waited for Jade to head out the door first, turned back and spoke in Spanish. “Basta, Madre.”

      She smiled up at him. “Enough what, dear?”

      He ignored her innocent look as he met up with Jade. The evening was cool and he handed her a jacket from the hook near the back door.

      “Here, you better put this on,” he said as he held it out for her. When she slipped her arms in, he caught a whiff of her perfume, a fresh citrus scent.

      “The first thing to know about my mother is that she likes getting her way.”

      She glanced at him as they headed toward the barn. “What woman doesn’t?”

      “But Louisa is relentless when she sets her mind to something. Just don’t let her get away with anything.”

      “You forget it was your mother who wanted me here. She’s the one who wants to recover.”

      He opened the door to the barn and paused as he found himself leaning closer to her. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d managed to draw him in, made him want and need. Damn, if she wasn’t the most tempting woman. He quickly roped in his desire and managed to speak. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

      He motioned for her to walk in ahead of him. Mistake. He tried not to stare at her shapely backside, but lost the fight and enjoyed the view as they made their way down the aisle toward the last pen. It was quiet and that was how he liked things. Polly spotted him and blew out a long breath in greeting. “How are you doing, girl?”

      The chestnut made her way to the gate and let Sloan rub her muzzle. “You had quite a day, Mama.” He glanced down at the filly. “Well, hello to you, too, little one.”

      He lowered his hand, but it was Jade who got the attention. The filly with the white star on her forehead came toward her. “I guess you females stick together.”

      Jade knelt down and coaxed the filly with her hand. “It’s my voice. It’s softer. Oh, she’s so cute.”

      That wasn’t the only soft thing about Jade. He glanced away from the soft skin of her cheeks, only to catch the generous curve of her backside. He released a frustrated breath. He needed to get out more and get away from a certain pretty nurse, or he might be in some big trouble.

      CHAPTER THREE

      THE next morning, Sloan was out of the house and on his way to the barn before dawn. Over the next two hours he worked alongside the other hands to feed livestock and set up the work schedule for the day before he finally came in for breakfast.

      Five years ago after college, he’d moved out of the main house. He’d built his own place just up the road about a quarter of a mile. The one thing he did was come by occasionally and share breakfast with his mother. After her stroke and his father’s return to Washington, he’d stayed over, temporarily, when his sister was out of town.

      Now there was Nurse Jade on the premises so he could go back to his place. In truth, Jade Hamilton was a distraction. He couldn’t even walk past her bedroom door this morning without pausing, hoping to see her again. Still, he told himself he needed to wait a little longer to see how things worked out. He’d stay here a few more nights.

      A pretty woman arriving in Kerry Springs sent up several warning signals for him. Although the feelings had gone cold, the bad memories were still raw. The difference this time from the last, he planned to keep his distance.

      He wasn’t the only one who’d been intrigued by the nurse. He’d seen how the ranch hands had watched her yesterday in the barn. It was not what he needed right now with the fall roundup coming soon. All ranch hands needed to focus on their jobs.

      That included him. This was the future of River’s End. His chance to prove to Clay that he could make the ranch thrive. His way.

      He headed up the porch steps to the back door. After scraping his boots, he walked in and hung his hat on the hook. He found Marta at the stove and greeted her, but before he could ask about his mother, he heard voices coming from the garden room. As he entered, he saw something he hadn’t seen in a while.

      A happy Louisa Merrick. Then his attention went to her companion.

      Jade looked fresh and pretty this morning. Her hair was pulled back from her face, exposing her creamy skin, pert nose and delicate jaw. Then she smiled and it caused his heart rate to accelerate.

      “This is crazy,”