She shook her head. “Don’t ask. You really don’t want to know.”
Leaning back, he frowned. “That bad, huh?”
“Just tiring.” She explained about the booking mix-up, then smiling, asked, “How about you? Anything interesting happen?”
“I got a call from Sheik Al Kahara.” He shrugged. “He wants to hire me to design all new stables for the Thoroughbred farm he just bought in Kentucky.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” she said, sounding genuinely interested. “Do you have to do a lot of traveling with jobs like that?”
“I have to travel occasionally, but not more than once or twice a year.” He shook his head. “Most of my clients e-mail the size of stable they want and what they want included in the design. I send them a quote and then once we sign the contracts, I go to work on the design. But the sheik’s is going to be a piece of cake. He basically wants the same setup I designed for the stables at his palace in Almarif.”
Her eyes widened. “Do you have a lot of foreign clients?”
“I have quite a few.”
“Are they all royalty?”
Her curiosity about his career pleased him more than he would have thought. “Not all of them are royalty, but I have designed stables for several members of this or that monarchy.” Taking her hand, he led her over to the other side of the room. “But I don’t want to talk about sheiks or stable designs right now.” He motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. “I want your opinion on something.”
“I can’t guarantee how much help I’ll be, but I’ll try,” she said, smiling as she settled into the high-backed leather armchair.
“Oh, I think your opinion on this counts for a lot more than you think.” He turned to remove the small, black velvet box he had placed on the fireplace mantel before leaving to pick her up after she got off work. Flipping the box open, he turned to hold it out to her as he watched for her reaction to the pear-shaped diamond solitaire in a white-gold setting that he had bought for her the day before. “Do you think you would be interested in wearing this to the investors’ dinner on Saturday evening?”
If the look on her face was any indication, he had hit a home run. “My God, Shane, it’s beautiful.”
Removing the sparkling jewelry from the box, he took her left hand in his to slip the ring on her third finger. To her delight and his relief, it fit perfectly.
“How did you know my ring size?” she asked, jumping from the chair to throw her arms around his neck.
“I guesstimated,” he said, catching her to him. “So you like it?”
“I love it.” She leaned back to stare down at her hand. “It’s exactly what I would have chosen.” Then, looking up, the smile she gave him lit the darkest corners of his soul. “Thank you.”
“Are you ready for my other surprise?” he asked, kissing the tip of her nose. He decided there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do just to see her smile at him like she was at that very moment.
Her eyes widened. “There’s something else?”
He took her by the hand and led her out of the study to the front door. “I want you to close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.”
“What are you up to now?” she asked, laughing.
“If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Shane grinned. “Would you rather I blindfold you?”
She shook her head. “No, I promise I’ll keep my eyes closed.”
Once she did as he asked, he helped her down the porch steps and across the yard. “Don’t peek,” he warned, releasing her hand to untie a set of reins from the corral fence.
“Shane, what on earth—”
Placing the leather straps in her hand, he said, “Okay, you can open your eyes.”
When she did, she looked puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
“Stormy is yours now, angel.” The look on her face was everything he had hoped for.
“He’s mine?” Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the blue roan, standing saddled in front of her.
“Yup.” Shane grinned. “I’ve already sent in the paperwork to transfer his registration to you.”
She glanced at the sun sinking low in the Western sky. “Do you think we have enough time to take a short ride?”
Grinning, Shane nodded. “I thought you might want to do that. That’s why I had one of my men saddle Stormy and have him ready.” As Lissa mounted her horse, Shane walked into the stable. He returned with his stallion and swung up onto the saddle. “We should have time to ride to the trailhead that leads to Rainbow Falls and make it back before dark.”
“Thank you for everything.” Riding the roan up beside his sorrel, Lissa leaned over to kiss his cheek. “This is the nicest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.” Her delighted expression suddenly turned to a teasing grin. “You are going to get so lucky tonight.”
“Then let’s get the hell out of here,” he said, nudging his stallion into a lope.
“What’s your hurry, Cowboy?” she asked, laughing as she urged Stormy to follow.
“I want to get back.” When she caught up to him, he grinned. “I could really use some…luck.”
As they rode across the valley back to the stable, Melissa couldn’t keep from smiling. “I love it here.”
“Really?” It sounded as if Shane had a hard time believing she meant what she said.
“Who wouldn’t love this?” Twisting around in the saddle, she took in the majestic beauty of the surrounding snowcapped mountains. “This has to be the quietest, most peaceful place on earth.”
“Some people would rather live where there are people around and things to do besides sit and listen to the grass grow,” he said, staring straight ahead.
She shook her head. “I’m not one of them.”
“That reminds me. There’s something else we need to discuss before we get married,” he said slowly. “Where do you want to live?”
Confused, she stopped her horse. “This is your home. I assumed you’d want us to live here.”
Reining in the stallion, Shane turned to meet her questioning gaze. “I do want to live here. It’s home. But I also know and accept that once the snows start, I may only get out of the valley a handful of times until the spring thaw. I accept the fact that there isn’t a convenience store just around the corner. It’s a good ten-mile drive if you forget to buy something while you’re in town.”
It was almost as if he was trying to talk her out of living on the ranch. Once they were married, didn’t he want her to live with him?
“I remember you telling me the first day you brought me here that the road leading into the valley sometimes gets closed off for several weeks.”
His intense gaze caught and held hers. “Do you think you can stand being snowbound for that long?”
She stared at him for several moments before she spoke. “I can’t answer that right now because I’ve never been in that situation, Shane.” She flicked the reins to urge Stormy into a slow walk. “What I can tell you is this. I understand all the drawbacks of living here and I’m still more than willing to give it a try.”
Each lost in thought, neither had much to say as they rode into the ranch yard. Dismounting the horses, by the time they had the animals groomed and turned into their stalls, Lissa had started yawning.
“I have to send an e-mail to a potential client. Why don’t you go on upstairs and take a hot shower?”
Shane asked, when they entered the house. He caught her to him for a quick kiss. “I promise I won’t be long.”
“I think I’ll do that,” she said, hiding another yawn. She smiled apologetically. “I’m beat.”
“I know, angel.” Kissing her again, he released her and took a step back. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Shane watched her climb the stairs before he went into his study and opened his e-mail. Quickly composing a message with a quote for his architectural services, he pressed the send button, then turning off the computer, sat back in his desk chair.
The evening couldn’t have gone more perfectly. Lissa had loved the engagement ring he’d bought her and couldn’t have been happier when he gave her the roan gelding. The ride to the trailhead had gone well, too—right up until she mentioned how much she enjoyed the peace and quiet of his ranch.
What had gotten into him anyway? Why couldn’t he have taken her at her word that she wanted to live on the ranch? Why had he felt compelled to point out all the drawbacks of living on the Rainbow Bend?
Something he had overheard his father tell Cactus right after Shane’s mother left kept running through his mind. At first, Carolyn McDermott had loved living on the ranch and hadn’t minded the isolation. But as the years went by, being snowbound for weeks on end and having no neighbors close by had taken its toll and she had come to hate the picturesque valley.
After living on the ranch for a while, would Lissa end up feeling the same way? Would her resentment grow to the point that she left and never looked back?
Unlike his mother, Lissa was from Aspen and well aware of what the weather was like in the Rocky Mountains. But she had lived in California for the past eight years and although she said she missed the winter activities, she also liked living on the beach. After being snowbound a few times, what if she decided she preferred the more temperate climate of Malibu? And what if instead of leaving her child behind as his mother had done, Lissa took their son with her?
Staring at the dark computer screen, Shane drew in a deep breath. He didn’t think Lissa would do that to him. Even before he’d convinced her to let him do the honorable thing and make her his wife, she had told him that arrangements could be made for him to be part of their child’s life.
Rising from the chair, he turned off the desk lamp and left the study to head upstairs. Lissa had told him she wanted to try living on the ranch and that was really all he could ask of her. Only time would tell if her enthusiasm would turn to loathing. As long as he kept that possibility in mind and didn’t allow his fondness for her to develop into a deeper emotion, he should be fine.
Unfortunately, he was finding that harder to keep in check with each passing day. Lissa was quickly becoming an addiction, and one that he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to live without.
Eight
“How was your meeting with the other Jarrod Ridge investors this afternoon?” Melissa asked when Shane stopped by the spa the following afternoon.
“Long and boring as hell.” He chuckled. “At least it was right up until I made my little announcement about our engagement.” Laughing out loud, he shook his head. “You should have seen Elmer Madison’s and Clara Buchanan’s faces.”
“Let’s go into my office and you can tell me all about it,” she suggested, not wanting to talk in front of the spa staff and resort guests.