Resisting Rose, page 11
About a mile down, Tate pulled off the county road and onto the rutted ranch drive. The Russell Ranch brand was displayed proudly on the sign over the entrance, a double R.
“Home sweet home,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Last chance to turn around,” she said.
It was tempting. But he was here now, and Tate wouldn’t be scared off. As much as he’d despised his father, and eventually his brother, he appreciated the life he’d had growing up on the ranch. It had instilled a deep love of the land and the animals that never went away. If nothing else, it would be therapeutic to be back here where it all started. If only to say goodbye for good.
Tate parked the truck in front of the house and tried not to be overwhelmed with memories. He could still remember running up the drive after getting off the bus to see his mom waiting for him on the porch.
But she hadn’t been there in a long time.
The house could use a fresh coat of paint, but it looked the same as he remembered. He grabbed the bags from the bed of the truck. Rose was waiting for him near the front bumper and he stepped next to her.
He exhaled deeply. “Are you ready for this?” Despite the slight apology from Travis, he really had no idea what he was walking into here. And he’d been desperate enough to bring Rose into his messed-up history.
“Ready when you are, Cowboy.” The nickname was just the reassurance he needed. He squeezed her hand before reaching down to grab the suitcase again.
As they headed up to the door, it opened. Travis stepped out. “Glad you made it. Rose, it’s good to see you again.”
Tate was impressed his brother had managed to remember her name. Clearly Travis was determined to be on his best behavior. They followed Travis inside and he offered them iced tea.
“Welcome to Russell Ranch,” Travis directed his words to Rose and she smiled kindly.
“I’m excited to see the rest of it.”
“I’m sure y’all have had a long day, so feel free to put your bags upstairs and get settled in. You’re in Tate’s old room.”
Tate nearly choked on his tea. “Um, we’re going to need two rooms. Or I can take a couch or something.”
Travis raised his eyebrow. “Oh. I just assumed… No problem.” He recovered quickly. “Is the couch in the living room okay? Sorry, it’s just that the guest room is full of boxes and papers.”
Tate shook his head. “No, it’s totally fine. I should have thought to warn you.” He wasn’t surprised that Travis assumed he and Rose would share a room. Any semblance of faith from his childhood had been purely performance.
He led Rose up the stairs to his old room. The navy walls and wood furniture were the same as when he’d left, and his high school baseball trophies still lined a shelf above the desk. Tate set down Rose’s suitcase. She spun in a circle, taking in the room.
“Is it what you expected?”
Rose laughed. “I don’t know what I expected. It’s a nice room. Am I going to find a secret journal if I go snooping?”
“No journals. Sorry to disappoint.”
Rose stepped close and wrapped her arms around his waist. He tipped his head down to meet her gaze. “Are you doing okay with all this?”
“I am. Seeing my dad will be hard, but I’m really glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too.”
He leaned down and met her lips with his own. He knew, without a doubt, that there was no one he would rather face his demons with. Tate traced his thumb from her temple to her jaw, her skin impossibly soft under his. He tucked his hand around to the nape of her neck and tried to pour all his grateful, anxious emotions into the kiss.
Rose leaned into Tate’s kiss, letting the fatigue of travel and the apprehension of stepping into the unknown fade away. She simply allowed herself to rest in the presence of Tate.
Since they’d decided to come, she’d been praying for this trip. He’d grown increasingly quiet as they drew closer to the ranch, despite her attempts to make conversation.
Footsteps echoed in the hall outside the bedroom, and they broke the kiss. Rose stepped toward the desk to examine the trophies along the shelf.
“Everything look okay?” Travis stepped into the room, holding his cowboy hat. She really did want to see Tate in one. The man was nearly irresistible in a baseball hat, but a cowboy hat might literally make her swoon, like a delicate woman in a regency romance.
“It’s great.” Tate’s reply was short, but not unkind.
There was an awkward silence before Travis recovered and cleared his throat. “Okay, well, when you are settled, Dad is at the barn. He’s eager to see you.”
“Ah, yes. So eager he couldn’t even come up to the house when we arrived.” Tate’s voice had a bite to it that made Rose wince.
“Thanks, Travis. We’ll be out soon.” She gave Travis a polite smile and shut the door behind him when he left. She would do her best to be a bridge and help Tate reconnect with his family. Travis hadn’t made the best first impression on her in Indiana, but she was determined to give him the benefit of the doubt. She turned back to Tate and laid a reassuring hand on his arm. “You okay? He can wait if you need some time.”
“No, it’ll be better to get this over with. You don’t have to come with though.”
“If you want me there, I’ll be there. If you’d rather handle it alone, I’ll be fine on my own.”
Tate squeezed her hand. “I guess it’s time you meet dear old Dad, then.”
Rose swallowed nervously but smiled at Tate. Her own apprehension would bring out Tate’s protectiveness, and she didn’t want him focused on her.
“Let’s do it.”
19
On the walk to the barn, Tate gave Rose the five-cent tour, pointing out various landmarks and ranch buildings.
“We’ve got a shop over there, and that’s the bunkhouse. It can house six, but I have no idea if they’ve got full-time ranch hands living on-site these days or not.” It was an odd feeling not to know what was going on around his family’s ranch. He felt a twinge of guilt, as though he should have been keeping tabs. He shook it off. His lack of involvement in the ranch was as much his dad and brother’s fault as it was his own.
“Obviously, you’ve got the barn and the stables. Corrals and holding pens extend to the west, and there are about 5000 acres of pasture, plus 1000 more in a grazing lease from the state. At least, there used to be.”
“Impressive.”
Because he knew Rose would understand the significance, he continued talking about how many cows and cow-calf pairs the ranch ran, and the mix of native plants that made up the rich pasture. He could hear the pride in his own voice.
They stepped into the stables, the pungent scent of horses, leather, and hay welcoming him home. He couldn’t help but glance at the stall where his horse, Thunder, had been housed, but the unfamiliar eyes of a chestnut greeted him instead.
“That’s Lucy.” The gruff voice from behind them nearly made him jump. Tate clenched his jaw and turned to face his father.
“Dad,” he said by way of greeting. His dad looked smaller than he remembered. Was it because Tate had grown up or was it the illness causing his father to shrink?
Steve Russell cleared his throat and tucked his hands in his pockets. “It’s, uh, good to see you, son.”
The way his dad shifted his weight made him look nervous, something Tate wasn’t sure he ever remembered.
Rose squeezed his hand lightly, and he shook himself out of the distracted thoughts. “This is Rose Bloom.” He hesitated. How much did he want to share? “My girlfriend,” he finally finished. Calling her his friend seemed wildly inadequate. Admitting to his father that he was contemplating proposing wasn’t exactly on his to-do list.
His father extended a hand. “Nice to meet you, Rose.” Apparently, he could play nice when he wanted to. Good to know.
“Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to finally see where Tate grew up.”
His father’s curious gaze shifted back to Tate before returning to Rose. “How long have you known my boy here?” Tate’s hackles immediately raised, but Rose seemed unfazed by the question.
“Oh, I guess you came to the farm about four years ago now? Is that right, Tate?”
He nodded, still waiting for the other shoe to drop and this polite small talk to disintegrate into an interrogation or a guilt-trip.
“I’m glad you decided to come back. It’s been too long.”
Or not nearly long enough. Tate couldn’t hold back the words that came next. “Travis said you were sick.” If his dad wanted to know why he came back, he wouldn’t pull any punches. It was entirely possible that if Steve Russell wasn’t supposedly dying, Tate would have gladly avoided him and Travis for another five years.
His father gave a wry smile. “Death and taxes, so they say.” He sighed heavily. “It’s cancer. Who knew smoking for forty years would kill me?”
“Literally everyone, Dad. Pretty sure I told you that when I was ten and I broke all your smokes in half.”
His dad chuckled. “I forgot about that. You destroyed a whole carton, you little punk.”
Tate shrugged. “Apparently I didn’t want you to die of lung cancer. How dare I?”
“Yeah, well, maybe I should have listened. Doc says I’ve got six months, maybe less.” As though to emphasize the point, his father wheezed the last few words before succumbing to a coughing fit that had Tate wincing.
“Can we get you some water or anything?”
Rose’s concerned voice spurred him into action. He led his dad to a bench near the wall, even as Steve protested with a raised hand and a shake of his head through his coughs.
When the coughing subsided, his dad leaned back against the wall. “I’m okay. It’s all right.”
“You shouldn’t be out here working, Dad.”
“I’m not an invalid. And the ranch needs me.”
Tate resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, his father would assume the ranch would fall to pieces if he weren’t there to manage every little thing.
“I’m sure Travis can manage things for an afternoon,” he insisted. Then after his father protested some more, he added, “I’ll touch base with him and help him out with whatever he needs, okay?”
The next morning, Tate rose early to join his brother for the day. The last thing his dad needed was to be out on the range moving the cattle. Dust and dirt would do no favors for his already fragile lungs. They saddled their horses and headed to the pasture, along with two of the ranch hands.
The ranch hands broke off to come around the south side, leaving Tate alone with Travis. “Are things okay around here?” Perhaps he should have eased in to the conversation, but the subtle signs of neglect were hard to ignore. Rotted floorboards beneath a roof leak in the stable, a broken gate hobbled together instead of fixed properly. A section of fence laid down with enough brush grown up around it to prove it had been down at least a year.
Travis shrugged. “Things are fine. Last year was a little tight, but we’ll make it through. This is the year things fall into place.”
Tate tried to analyze the truth of his brother’s words. He sounded confident, but was it misplaced? There were no guarantees in the ranching world. What made Travis so sure this year would be better? It was early, still months away from sending any head to auction.
Instead of pushing further, he simply nodded. “Glad to hear it.”
“Did you and Dad get a chance to talk last night?”
Tate shrugged. “A little. We didn’t get into anything important.”
It seemed like maybe Travis wanted to say more, but they reached the herd and needed to split up in order to push the cattle in the direction of the new pasture they had opened. For the next several hours, Tate simply enjoyed the job at hand. As much as he enjoyed managing the produce operation at Bloom’s Farm, he truly loved working with the animals. He’d be sore tomorrow after so long in the saddle, but it would be worth it.
He couldn’t let his dad get rid of the ranch. Even if it was only to Travis, Russell Ranch needed to stay in the family. For the first time in ten years, he wondered if he’d made a mistake by leaving.
Of course, that would mean he would never have met Rose, which was a sobering and painful thought. He hoped she was doing okay at the house today. She was technically there with his father, which wasn’t ideal, but when he’d suggested she come along, Rose had begged off. Knowing her, she probably thought he needed the time alone with his brother.
He saw Travis across the pasture, rounding up a straggling cow-calf pair and urging them toward the rest of the herd. Tate wanted to trust his brother. He wanted to believe that Travis had grown up over the years and that given the opportunity, he would do the right thing when faced with a difficult situation.
But deep in his belly, there was still that hint of unease and mistrust. Travis was too much like his father, perhaps. Too willing to sacrifice people and relationships for money or success. Whether his dad had learned that lesson in his old age remained to be seen.
When they were almost done, Travis waved him over. Looking around the now empty pasture, Tate tried to guess what his brother wanted. They sat tall on their horses and watched the last of the cattle flow through the gate into the newly opened grazing space as flies buzzed around them. A cool breeze danced through the grass and brought a welcome wave of relief from the intense sun.
“Thanks for your help today.” Travis’s tone was serious and a bit gruff. He cleared his throat and continued, “I’m glad you came back.”
The way his brother shifted in his saddle betrayed his discomfort. Tate watched carefully for some sign of the insincerity he expected. There was none, just an honest declaration of appreciation. “I’m still not staying.” His words were firm, but in his gut, he felt a quiver of uncertainty. Would he consider staying?
“I know. But it’s still nice to have you around. It hasn’t been the same without you.”
“You’re just tired of dealing with Dad on your own,” Tate remarked with a smirk.
“Well, that’s true. You see how he’s different though?”
He gave a thoughtful nod. “Yeah. He seems tired.” The man had worked nearly sixteen hours a day Tate’s entire life, and now even the lightest ranch duties took him hours to recover from.
Travis stared over the rolling hills. When he spoke, Tate heard the emotion in his voice. “I just want to make him proud, you know?”
Oh yeah. He knew. Tate had spent the first eighteen years of his life trying to earn the approval of his father. Apparently, he had learned the lesson that Travis never had. Nothing was good enough for Steve Russell. A wave of sympathy for his brother came over him. The best thing Tate had ever done was leave the ranch and the toxic influence of his father. Travis, on the other hand, had stayed and dealt with it every day for a decade.
“I’m sorry, Travis. I’m sure he is, even if he doesn’t express it.”
Travis looked at him with dark brown eyes he knew mirrored his own. A quick nod of appreciation, and the moment was gone. “I think we’re done here. Want to grab a couple fishing poles and hit the pond?”
Memories of early summer mornings spent on the shores of the small creek-fed pond filled his thoughts. Away from the crushing presence of their father, he and Travis had talked about everything while catching bluegill, perch, and brown trout.
“I’d love to get out there, but I should go back and catch up with Rose. Maybe I’ll take her and show her our old stomping grounds.” He felt a little guilty for abandoning her. A romantic evening on the dock would be the perfect way to end the day.
“That’s fair,” Travis said. “She’ll love it. Rose seems like a real keeper.”
Tate clicked his tongue. “I think so too.” He urged his horse into motion with his heels. After a long day working on the ranch, it was time to go find Rose. The anticipation of an evening relaxing with the perfect woman had him smiling the entire ride back to the barn.
20
Rose had to admit the dusty, sweaty smell of horse and cattle pasture on Tate was even more enticing than his usual dirt and oil. On the back of the four-wheeler, she clung tightly to Tate’s waist. They quickly left the part of the ranch she was familiar with. Wandering around the ranch today without him had been uneventful. She didn’t go too far from the house or barn, but she could already appreciate the rugged landscape.
Tate led them down a rutted path along the edge of a pasture. The path slowly climbed, so gradually Rose didn’t even realize how high they’d come until he stopped the engine at the edge of a bluff. Wide open country spread out below them and Rose drank in the sight. Mountains rose in the distance, and a broad, winding creek played peekaboo through patches of scraggly trees. Cattle dotted the landscape, comfortably grazing on the open plains.
“Wow,” she breathed the word.
“Home sweet home,” Tate said quietly. He pointed to the left, “There’s the main house and the barn. Our property goes all the way to that ridgeline over there.”
“It’s incredible.” The sky was making the slow transition from bright blue to purple as the sun sank below the horizon. The edges of the clouds were painted with brilliant oranges and pinks and reds.
“I’m glad you think so. I’m sorry I didn’t get to spend time with you today.”
She shrugged a shoulder. Tate was far more perceptive than she gave him credit for sometimes. She thought she had hidden her disappointment better this morning when he said he was helping Travis. “It’s okay. You needed to spend that time with your brother. If there is anything I understand, it’s the demands of siblings.”
Tate chuckled at her comment. “It was good. We talked a bit and worked a lot. It felt good to be out there again. Feels different to spend the day in the saddle instead of a tractor seat.” Twisting in the seat, he pointed behind them to a bramble of bushes tucked in the rock formation. “See those flowers? Those are wild roses. My mom always used to call this spot Rose Ridge.”
