A Cowboy Takes A Chance (The Callahans #3)

Chapter One

As she drove her car under the archway, Presley Reynolds smiled as she looked at the grounds.

What a beautiful place.

Pulling up to a small log cabin that sat to the right of the road, she read a sign telling her to stop and register before continuing, she pulled her vehicle into a parking spot and shut it off.

Opening the door, she stepped out, and the heat of the day smacked into her.

Taking a deep breath, she could already feel the sweat on her temples and trickling down between her breasts.

The humidity hung in the air, making it almost unbearable to breathe.

Quickly, she walked to the door and entered, sighing as the air conditioning hit her.

A young woman sat behind the counter, smiling at her. Her long blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and her green eyes sparkled.

“Welcome to Bur Oak Guest Ranch. How may I help you?”

“Hello, I have a reservation. Presley Reynolds. I was supposed to be here yesterday but had to work.”

The woman nodded as she looked through the computer. “Ah, here you are. You’re staying with us for a month. Let me get you the key to your cabin.”

“Thank you. I’m so anxious to relax.”

“Tough job?”

“I’m an ER nurse.”

“Say no more,”

the woman said laughing. “I’m Josie Hawthorn. If you need anything, call here, and I’ll do what I can to get you what you need. Any phone numbers you may need are by the phone in the kitchen in your cabin.”

“Thank you, Josie. I appreciate that.”

“You’re in cabin twelve. Just follow the road out here. It will tell you which way to go. Enjoy your stay and remember you are under no obligation to take part in any of the activities. If you just want to be lazy for as long as you’re here, well, have at it.”

Presley laughed. “I might just do that, but I do love to go horseback riding.”

Smiling, she picked up the key then waved as she headed out the door.

Glancing around before opening her car door, she could see horses in the green, lush pastures with their tails swishing to keep flies away.

Two large red barns sat about two hundred yards away.

A large log building, which had to be the lodge, was to the left and cabins sat in the distance.

Cowboys, or ranch hands, she wasn’t sure which they’d be called, were seen just about everywhere she looked.

Smiling, she opened the car door and climbed inside then followed the road to her cabin.

What was impressive was the Glacier Mountains in the distance.

They were absolutely breathtaking.

Following the road past several cabins, she loved that they didn’t sit too close together.

Seeing the little wooden plaque for her cabin, she pulled into the parking spot and shut the car off.

Throwing open the door, she exited the vehicle and got her suitcases from the trunk then walked up to the steps to the porch, and climbed them.

A swing hung from one end, and the windows had flowerboxes with marigolds blooming in them.

Using the key, she opened the door then stood in awe of the beautiful little cabin.

The entire area was open.

A large stone fireplace sat to the right, and French doors faced the woods behind the cabin.

The overstuffed sofa looked so comfortable, and she knew it would be a good place for a nap some days.

A small kitchenette sat beside the doors.

Presley smiled as she walked down the hallway and found a bedroom with a queen size bed with an iron scrolled headboard sitting cattycorner with a large antique steamer trunk sitting at the bottom.

A blue and white quilt covered the bed.

The pale blue interior walls were trimmed with white, and another set of French doors looked out into the woods.

Dark blue plush carpeting covered the floor.

She saw a bathroom with a black Jacuzzi tub off a doorway in the bathroom.

She figured that if people did the outdoor activities, the Jacuzzi would feel fantastic at the end of the day.

She’d read in the brochure that people had the options of working the ranch, trail riding, cattle drives, camping, or doing nothing.

A dance was held each Saturday night in one of the barns, and she was anxious to find the swimming pool she’d read about in the brochures.

There were also tennis courts if she wanted to play. It was rare that she was able just to sit and relax in the sun, though.

Right now, she just wanted to unpack then use the tub after the long drive.

It was a little over six hours from Idaho Falls to Spring City, Montana.

Her friend, Denise, told her about this place, and it sounded like just what she needed.

Besides, Denise knew of her fascination with cowboys.

Presley always attended the rodeos when they came through town.

Hoping that one day, she’d get one for herself.

Laughing, she knew that was very unlikely.

An image of a certain cowboy came to mind.

Shaking her head at her foolishness, she entered the bathroom and turned the water on in the tub then started to strip when she realized no towels were hanging on the racks.

Checking the linen closet, she saw none there either.

Turning the water off, she knew she needed to make a phone call.

“Wonderful,”

she muttered as she walked back to the kitchen to look for the phone.

After finding it, she looked through the numbers next to it for the front desk, dialed the number, and explained the situation.

Josie couldn’t apologize enough and told her someone would be right there with the towels.

Presley took a seat on the sofa to wait.

Picking up the remote, she turned on the big screen TV that sat in the corner on the other side of the French doors.

A few minutes went by when she was startled by a knock on the door.

Turning the TV off, she got to her feet and walked to the door then opened it.

Dear God! It was him! This man had haunted her dreams for almost two years, and she knew she was staring.

She had never realized he was so tall. He had to stand close to six foot five.

“Your towels,”

he said in a deep voice that had her suppressing a shiver. He handed her the towels, and his brow furrowed. “Have you been here before?”

“No, this is my first time.”

“Do I know you?”

he asked as he continued to frown at her.

“Yes. No—”

“Which is it? ”

“You probably recognize me, but we don’t know each other. I’m a nurse in the ER you were brought into two years ago in Idaho Falls.”

She stared up at Jaxon Callahan.

His white straw cowboy hat sat low on his forehead, but she knew it was him, and she had never forgotten his name.

His grey eyes were so light that they appeared silver.

When they’d wheeled him into the ER, he’d been in a lot of pain from being in a car accident.

Presley had stood beside his gurney, and he’d grasped her hand so tightly she was surprised he didn’t break her fingers, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from him.

He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

His black hair had gleamed under the bright lights, and scruff covered his lower face, neck, and strong chiseled jaw. When he’d opened those beautiful eyes and stared up at her, she swore she’d lost her heart then and there.

The pain in his eyes was not just from the accident, he had just lost his wife in the crash.

“Oh. Have a pleasant stay with us,”

he said, bringing her thoughts back to the present.

“Jaxon…uh, Mr. Callahan.”

He turned to face her. “Yes?”

“Uh, how…are you?”

“Fine.”

He put his fingers to the brim of his hat then left the porch and headed toward his truck .

“Mr. Callahan.”

She saw him take a deep breath and turn to face her again.

“What is it?”

Having no idea what to say to him as he continued to stare at her, she said the first thing that popped into her head.

“Maybe I’ll see you on one of the trail rides.”

Nodding, he turned from her. “Having a conversation with you is like pulling teeth,”

she muttered.

He spun around. “Maybe because I don’t want to have a conversation. Good day, ma’am.”

He climbed into his truck and drove off.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the cabin and shut the door then leaned back against it and closed her eyes.

He was so sexy, and she had never felt that way before, or since seeing him. When he was brought into the hospital, she ran into the room to help the doctor and couldn’t breathe when she saw Jaxon Callahan.

Another nurse took off his boots then his socks.

The doctor took a pair of scissors and started cutting his jeans off then removed them, making Jaxon shout out in pain since they had to roll him to remove them.

He laid there in his boxer briefs until someone placed a blanket over him and rolled him up to x-ray. The image of him lying there in black boxer briefs had burned into her eyelids .

Presley carried the towels and walked down the hallway to get into the Jacuzzi. She’d planned to do nothing while she was here. That was until she saw Jaxon Callahan. She wondered if he’d remarried. What did it matter?

You’re going home in a month. Damn it. Of course, she’d find him now when she had a tough decision to make, and she couldn’t get involved with him.

Not that he’d encouraged her, quite the opposite. Besides, Idaho Falls was far from Spring City, and she’d never been into long-distance relationships.

“Good Lord, Presley. Who says he would do any kind of relationship? You’re grasping at straws,”

she muttered as she hung a towel up, put the rest in the linen closet, undressed then stepped into the Jacuzzi.

****

Jaxon drove down the road to around the back of the barns. Parking, he climbed out to see his fraternal twin, Devin heading toward him.

“Where did you go?”

“One of the guests didn’t have towels in her cabin. Josie roped me into delivering them.”

“Why weren’t there any towels? What’s going on with housekeeping?”

Devin asked him with a frown .

“Hell if I know, but we need to talk to Rosita about it. Maybe one of the new girls just missed the cabin, but it doesn’t make us look very efficient.”

“I’ll call Willa and have her look into it,”

Devin said as he pulled his cell phone out.

“You just want an excuse to talk to her. You’re not fooling anyone.”

Jaxon grinned.

“Hell, I’m not trying to fool anyone. I’m in love with my wife. What can I say?”

Jaxon laughed and strode down through the barn. The horses had just been put in for feeding. One of the ranch hands came out of one of the stalls and nodded at Jaxon.

“Hey, Jax. All the babies are fed and watered. I’m about to head out of here.”

“Sounds good, Chip. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jaxon entered the office in the barn and booted up the computer.

There was a trail ride tomorrow, along with a camping trip.

By the looks of the list, they had the maximum of people going on both.

Jaxon glanced toward the window and thought about the woman in the cabin.

She was beautiful.

He didn’t really remember her, but she did look familiar.

A nurse.

She’d been there when he’d been in a lot of pain, so it was no wonder he didn’t remember her specifically.

But when he’d seen her a few minutes ago, he knew he’d seen her from somewhere.

Her dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and thick, lush lashes surrounded her blue eyes.

A pert nose sat over sexy lips.

Shit! He didn’t need to think of her at all.

Nothing could come of it.

No matter how beautiful she was, he wasn’t interested in her or a relationship.

He’d had the love of his life, and he knew no other woman could replace her. The phone rang, and he picked it up.

“Jaxon,”

he said by way of answer.

“I have an add on to the camping trip if you can fit one more in,”

Josie said in his ear.

“I can always add one more. Let me pencil them in. What’s the name?”

“Presley Reynolds. You delivered the towels to her.”

Well, hell! “Does she know how to ride?”

Jaxon clenched his jaw, hating the idea of seeing her again so soon.

“Yes, and I told her breakfast was at six, and she had to be at the barn at seven.”

“All right. Not a problem. Thanks.”

Jaxon hung up and swore.

“Problem?”

Jaxon glanced over to see his sister-in-law, Willa.

“No. Not really. What are you doing here?”

“Just wandering the grounds.”

She smiled at him .

Jaxon grinned. “Dev call you about housekeeping?”

“Yep. I talked to Rosita. She said she’d check into it, and I’m sure she will.”

He laughed. “Yes, she will. She doesn’t like anything going wrong.”

“You got that right. I’m off to find Dev. Talk to you later, Jax.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Damn it. Now she was going on a camping trip with him. It wouldn’t matter that ten other people were going. All he’d see was her, and that was the last thing he wanted. Why had she decided to go? Most of the itinerary was set up days earlier. She’d just arrived, so why wouldn’t she take a day or two to relax and how long was she here for? Jaxon leaned forward and opened the guest list on the computer.

“Presley Reynolds. A month stay. Wonderful,”

Jaxon murmured. He’d just avoid her. Leaning back in the chair, he ran his hand down his face. She’d seen him at his worst. In so much pain, he thought he was going to die, and he’d wanted to because Bethany had been taken from him. Then the doctor tells him after surgery that he shouldn’t ride bulls again. Jaxon hadn’t cared. It didn’t mean anything to him anymore anyway. Without Bethany there with him, he’d never step foot inside an area again. Not to compete anyway. He did take part in the local rodeo, in barrel racing, but it wasn’t a competition, it was just for fun, and he never rode the bulls. Not because the doctor told him not to but because it brought back too many memories. Each time he’d straddled a beast, he’d look up to see Bethany smiling at him, and that would never happen again.

Devin entered the room and took a seat in the chair across from the desk.

“What’s up, Jax?”

“Nothing—”

“Bullshit. Something is bothering you. Is it your hip?”

“No. I’m good today. Not sure how I’ll be after the ride tomorrow. I usually hurt after the ride.”

“I can take the camping trip, and you can take the trail ride if you want. The ride is only an hour.”

“I’m fine, Dev. I’ll relax once I get them up to the mountains and camp.”

Devin stood. “All right. If you’re sure. It won’t be a problem to switch. I can take Willa camping with me.”

He wiggled his eyebrows.

Jaxon laughed. “Oh, hell no. We can’t have the guests hearing you two go at it in the tent. ”

Devin laughed. “That’s true. All right, man. See you later.”

Jaxon gave him a nod as Devin walked out then turned toward the window. It was a beautiful day. Tomorrow was Tuesday, and most of the people had arrived on Sunday. He was sure most of them would meet at the lodge for dinner and get to know each other. There were twenty-five married couples and fifteen singles. All twenty cabins and the twenty rooms at the lodge were full. Sixty-five people in all. Twelve were on the camping trip with him and ten on the trail ride with Devin. The rest were either working around the ranch or just taking it easy around the pool or playing tennis. No one had to do anything on the ranch. He and Devin decided that from the beginning. Some people just came to be close to the Glaciers and relax, and others wanted to play cowboy for a week or two. What had brought Presley Reynolds here? Damn. Talk about fate.

Jaxon stood and stretched then felt a twinge in his hip. Was it calling for rain? God, he hoped not. The days it rained about did him in. The cold too but he loved living in Spring City, Montana. He’d never leave it. His family was here. His parents, brother, and cousins. They were a close-knit family. A little hip pain wasn’t going to make him leave the town and the people he loved. After closing the computer, he walked from the office. As he passed the horses, he rubbed their noses, stopping at his horse, Zander’s stall. The horse stuck his head over the gate and tried to take Jaxon’s hat from his head.

“Cut it out. You get my hat, and I’ll never get it back. We’re going for a ride tomorrow. You all be good,”

Jaxon said as he strode from the barn to his truck and climbed into the cab, then drove to his home on the east side of the property. Devin and Willa lived on the other side of the property. They all needed privacy. Their homes each sat on fifty acres of the one thousand acres surrounding the ranch.

He drove up to his one-story log home, parked his truck, and climbed out. As he climbed the steps, his black and white Border collie, Jinks, came toward him then sat when he saw Jaxon.

“Hey, buddy. What are you doing out in this heat?”

Jaxon rubbed the dog’s ears. There was a pet door for the dog to use, but he preferred being on the front porch waiting for his master.

Jaxon opened the back door, and Jinks followed him inside. Jaxon sighed when the air conditioning hit his hot skin. Sweat ran down the back of his neck as he removed his hat and hung it on a peg by the door. Pulling his T-shirt off over his head, he tossed it into the mudroom then after pulling a chair out with his booted foot he took a seat at the table, toed off his boots, and removed his socks then stood to head for the shower.

Once in the bathroom, he turned the shower on then pushed his jeans and boxer briefs off as steam filled the room. His muscles hurt, and his hip was throbbing. He just wanted to relax for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow would come soon enough.

****

Presley sat in the swing on the porch of the cabin watching the sun disappear behind the Glaciers and took a deep breath. The air was so clean. She found it hard to believe that the man who had haunted her dreams for two years worked here at Bur Oak. She had never forgotten him and being an ER nurse, she’d seen a lot of handsome men come through and not one of them stuck out as he had.

The minute she looked down at him on the gurney, her heart skipped a beat. His face was pale due to his pain, but it didn’t take away from just how good-looking he was. She fell, and she fell hard. When she found out he’d been released two days after his surgery, she was mad at herself for not going back again to see him before his family had come to take him home and she never saw him again. She’d gone up to his room the day after he’d been brought in and he’d ran her off, but no man had ever affected her like that. She’d been in several relationships, and at the age of twenty-eight, she was no virgin, but once she saw Jaxon Callahan, other men ceased to exist.

For two years, she’d thought about him. She’d even looked at his medical records to see where he lived, and when she found out it was Montana she knew she didn’t have any chance of ever seeing him again. Now, here she was in Montana, right where he worked. It was fate. Being a believer that everything happened for a reason, she knew she was meant to be here and to see Jaxon again. She was going to try to spend as much time with him as she could. She wanted to sit and talk with him.

Mentally shaking her head, she realized that it might be hard to do since he didn’t seem to want anything to do with her. He’d have to talk to the guests though, wouldn’t he?

Maybe she’d see him at breakfast in the morning. Sighing, she stood and entered the cabin, deciding to fix a light dinner here. That was one thing she liked about being here, having the choice of eating at the lodge with other guests, if she chose to, or fixing herself something in the cabin. Food was supplied at the guests’ request. She’d filled out a menu on the webpage and paid extra for it because she knew there would be times, she’d want to be alone and just relax. At least, that had been her first thought. Before she knew Jaxon Callahan was here. He had to work here if he brought her the towels. It didn’t matter. She was going to find out all she could about it. If he had remarried, she’d stay away, if not… Yes. Fate.

The next morning, she entered the lodge and glanced around but didn’t see Jaxon anywhere. After introducing herself to some of the other guests, she picked up a plate and headed for the buffet of food. Every type of breakfast food imaginable was there. Choosing scrambled eggs and sausage, she took a seat beside another guest at a long wooden table.

The woman beside her smiled as she looked at her. “There are a lot of married couples here.

I feel like a fifth wheel.”

Presley laughed. “I know. I didn’t even think about that when I made my reservation.”

“Me neither. I’m Bett Gordon.”

“Presley Reynolds. It’s nice to meet you, Bett. What are your plans here? ”

“Well, I’m going on a camping trip today. I signed up when I saw the hot cowboy leadingit.”

She laughed.

“I’m going on the camping trip too,”

Presley said with a smile.

“Did you see the gorgeous man taking us? Oh, my. He is so hot.”

Bett fanned her face withher hand.

“I don’t know if I have or not,”

Presley said.

Bett laughed. “Oh, you’d remember if you saw him.”

Presley nodded and turned her attention to her food. Glancing around the table, she picked out at least two other single women and four single men. Bett was now talking with the other women and they all thought the same thing about the cowboy leading the ride.

“He has the most gorgeous silver eyes,”

another woman said.

Presley knew then it had to be Jaxon Callahan leading the ride. Fate. Plain and simple.

“The other cowboy taking the trail ride is hot too, but he’s married,”

one of the other women said.

That made Presley sit up. “The one taking the camping trip, isn’t?”

“Not sure, but I didn’t see a wedding band. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything since some men don’t wear them,”

another woman said.

“If I had a man who looked like that, I’d make damn sure he wore a wedding band,”

Bett said laughing.

“Just because he wears a band doesn’t mean he’s faithful,”

another one said.

Presley tuned them out. This wasn’t a singles get together. Even though she wanted Jaxon, she didn’t come here with getting a man in mind. She might have a fascination with cowboys, and it was one reason she decided to vacation here, but she wasn’t here to find a man. By the way the other women talked they came here specifically looking for a cowboy, and Jaxon fit the bill. Shit! Shit! Shit!

Someone announced that everyone should leave now and go to the barn for their activities. The guests rose and walked out of the lodge. Presley took a deep breath and followed .