Chapter 10
Rae drove her car across the cattle guard and onto Black Bear Ranch.
Due to Bear’s schedule and Rae’s, they’d had to postpone their riding date for another couple of weeks, so today was finally the day.
The original date they were supposed to go, he’d had an emergency with a mare on a neighboring horse ranch. Rae had been disappointed, but during the prior days, Bear had come in each night she worked at the bar, and she’d gone out to a late lunch with him on Saturday, before she’d had to go into work.
Over the next two weeks, Bear and Rae had gone out to dinner at local restaurants, including Ricardo’s. Bear came over to Marlee’s for dinner one night, which had been fun. In between glasses of wine for Rae and Marlee, and a Guinness for Bear, her cousin and Bear told stories about their school years and had Rae in giggles throughout the night.
He continued to come into Mickey’s on the nights she worked. She knew her face lit up every time he walked through the doors and his expression seemed to do the same.
She didn’t get a lot of time to spend with him while she worked, but they talked every break and he always waited for her after she got off work.
Every moment spent with Bear was uplifting. Rae had never felt like this in her entire life. He was such a good man and everything about him made her want to spend as much time with him as she could.
Sometimes what was bad in her world would intrude and she’d have to force it away with everything she had. The trial date was creeping closer, and with it a sense of dread.
But not today. She wouldn’t allow anything to ruin her time with Bear. Now she would have a full day with him, just the two of them.
Bear walked out of the house as she parked and hugged her and gave her a big kiss when she got out. They headed inside the house and she greeted Mervin, Katie, and Maggie. Bear let Arthur out of the kennel and the dog wiggled with excitement despite his injuries.
Rae rubbed the dog behind his ears. “Look at you. You’ll be running the range before we know it.” She glanced at Bear before turning back to Arthur. “Providing you know how to behave yourself on a ranch.”
Bear nodded. “He’s a smart dog and I have a good feeling about him. I think he’ll learn just fine.”
“Can he go with us today?” she asked.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet,” Bear said. “His injuries haven’t fully healed, and we’ll be going out a ways from home. I also haven’t seen if he’ll behave around the horses, so that’s always a concern.”
“That makes sense,” she said.
“Ready?” he asked.
She smiled. “Am I ever.”
“My sister, Leann, left a hat here that you can use.” Bear grabbed the straw western hat for her and pulled his own low on his brow.
“She won’t mind?” Rae asked as she plopped Leann’s hat on her head and adjusted it. The hat was about the right size, so it would work.
“Nah, she won’t mind.” Bear carried a saddlebag over his shoulder that he’d filled with their lunch and thermoses of water.
Rae saddled Angel and Bear checked over her work and pronounced she’d done a great job. She felt inordinately proud of herself.
The ride from the ranch, up into the Superstition Mountains, popularly referred to as “The Superstitions,” was a pleasant one. Rae enjoyed talking with Bear about anything that came up, as long as it didn’t come too close to what she had come to think of as her “secret.” She’d have to tell Bear, but she wasn’t ready, and she didn’t want to ruin the time she shared with him.
The air was cooler when they reached the forest. During their ride, clouds had built up over the mountains, threatening to bring monsoon rains later in the day.
Bear found a nice area to tie the horses and lay out a blanket to have their picnic. He pulled the saddlebag he’d brought off Roxie and rested it on the blanket. Rae sat cross-legged on the blanket while Bear sat and began pulling out their lunch and the thermoses of water.
“Barbeque sandwiches.” He laid plastic-wrapped thick slices of bread filled with beef, on the blanket. He pulled out containers of potato salad and cowboy beans and spooned out everything onto paper plates.
“You made all of this?” Rae set Leann’s hat aside as she looked at the food with surprise. “It looks amazing.”
“I’m a man of many talents,” he said with a teasing grin as he set a plastic fork on her plate.
“So I’m learning.” She smiled and unwrapped her sandwich.
“Has something to do with being a longtime bachelor and getting tired of boxed meals in college,” he said. “Out of self-preservation, I had to start cooking. Fortunately, Mom taught us how. It was just a matter of putting that training to use, rather than taking the lazy way out, like I had in my younger days.”
“I am much appreciative.” Rae took a big bite of her sandwich and chewed. She swallowed and used the napkin Bear had laid on the blanket for her. “This is fantastic.”
“Glad you like it.” He bit into his own sandwich.
“I have a question for you.” She held onto her sandwich. “How did you get the name ‘Bear’?”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “I used to read to my youngest sister, Haylee, and she loved the story of The Three Bears. She started repeating “bear” around me because she wanted me to read it to her yet again. My brothers thought it was funny as hell, so they started in and it wasn’t long before everyone was calling me Bear.”
“That’s cute,” Rae said. “What’s your real first name?”
“Bart William,” he said. “But I’ve been called Bear so long I might not know who you’re talking to if you call me Bart.”
“You don’t look like a Bart.” She shook her head. “But that’s probably why your sign at the clinic uses the initial ‘B.’”
He nodded. “It’s my legal name.” He looked thoughtful. “Is Rae your full name, or is it short for something?”
“It’s my name.” She shifted on the blanket. “I was named after my great-grandma Rae Fox.”
They continued to chat about family as they made their way through all of the delicious food.
After they ate, they stretched out on the blanket and stared up at the sky, which could be seen through gaps in the tree cover. They talked about his work and hers. They never seemed to have a time when they didn’t know what to talk about. Rae found Bear incredibly easy to talk with. He was interested in so many things that she could talk for hours with him and never get tired of it.
She studied the clouds. “The sky is getting darker.”
“Yep.” Bear scooted to a sitting position. “We’d better get back.”
Rae got up and scooped up the hat, put it back on her head, then helped Bear gather their things.
By time they were riding up to the ranch, the wind had picked up and thunder sounded in the distance.
A couple of raindrops landed on Rae’s jeans and the back of her hand. “Looks like we made it just in time,” she said as he got down and opened the pasture gate.
Raindrops fell faster as they reached the barn and lightning cracked the sky, causing Rae to shiver.
The shelter of the barn was a welcome relief. The drumming on the barn’s roof grew louder while they put up the tack and brushed down the horses.
While they finished up with the horses, the rain stopped. Arizona monsoons could go as fast as they came.
Rae breathed deeply of the rain-scented air. “Smells wonderful.”
He started toward the house. “Monsoon season is my favorite time of year. We just don’t get enough rain around here.”
“It feels like hours since we last ate.” She fell into step beside him. “I worked up an appetite.”
He flashed her a smile as they strode toward the backdoor of his home. “Can you stay for a light supper?”
“Sure.” She met his gaze. “What do you have in mind?”
“I was thinking about BLTs.” He shoved his hands in his front pockets. “I have a package of bacon from the butcher, fresh tomatoes and lettuce from my mom’s greenhouse.”
“What about mayo?” Rae spoke solemnly, as if it was the most important item of the day. “You can’t have BLTs without a ton of mayo.”
“I have at least a ton, if not more,” he said with a teasing grin.
“Sold.” She slid her hand into his, surprising herself, and from the look on his face, she’d surprised Bear as well.
He gripped her hand. “Just wait ’til you see dessert.”
“I sure enjoyed the cherry pie.” She smiled. “Can’t wait to see what you’ll pull off this time.”
Rae excused herself to use the bathroom and freshen up. She liked Bear’s home. It was comfortable and lived in, as well as attractive. Her practiced eye told her his home couldn’t be more than ten years old. It had vaulted ceilings, wall-to-wall tile, tall windows, taupe-painted walls, and deep windowsills. The rooms that she’d seen had western-style furnishings and neutral tones. The place could use some houseplants, but other than that it didn’t need much.
The guest bathroom had taupe and cornflower blue hand towels. She’d asked Bear if she could freshen up with a washcloth and towel, and he had told her where to find them. She smelled of horse and dust and felt grubby. After washing her face, hands, and forearms, she felt a lot better.
She started to leave the bathroom, but hesitated. She had been letting things progress with Bear farther than she had planned. Did she owe it to him to tell him that she’d killed a man, before she let things go farther?
Steve had dumped her, treating her as if she’d encouraged the attention from her attacker. But Bear would never do that, she was certain. More certain of that than anything else in her life.
Then why hadn’t she told him? It’s too soon, she told herself. But was it?
What about her intention to leave King Creek and Arizona and never come back?
The thoughts warred within her and it took her a few moments to gather herself before she opened the door and left the bathroom. She had no clear idea what to do. One way or another, she had to figure things out before it all drove her crazy.
The one thing she did owe to Bear was telling him about her plans to move to Albuquerque.
When she walked back into the kitchen, she smelled bacon and heard it sizzling on the griddle. “I haven’t had a BLT in ages,” she said as she reached him. “I can’t remember the last time.”
“One of my specialties.” He smiled at her. “To be honest, I’m a bacon addict, so a BLT is one of my fixes.”
Rae laughed. “There are worse things to be addicted to.” She leaned her hip against the cabinet as she watched him. “Is there anything I can do?”
He shook his head. “Just stand there and look beautiful.”
She smiled. “I’ll do my best.”
Arthur nudged his head under her hand and she absently stroked him. It felt so comfortable being with Bear in his kitchen. Like they’d done this a hundred, or maybe a thousand times before.
Bear finished making the BLTs and they made quick work of eating them at the kitchen table. After they tidied up the kitchen, he pulled out a glass bowl with plastic wrap covering it.
“Is that what I think it is?” Rae pointed to the bowl as he set it down. “Banana pudding with vanilla wafers?”
“You’ve got it.” He pulled off the plastic wrap. “It was my favorite dessert when I was a kid.”
“Mine, too.” She watched him spoon generous helpings into bowls. “Mom used to make it for Carrie and me for a special treat, like when we got good grades on our report cards.”
Rae enthusiastically sat down at the table in front of her pudding. “I’m not waiting long for you.”
He laughed as he sat with his bowl. “Is it a race?”
“You can’t even keep up with me,” she responded with a grin.
After they both had seconds, and they’d cleaned up what dishes they’d used, Bear said, “Would you like a beer or wine cooler?”
“Sounds good.” She set down the dishtowel she’d been using to dry the dishes. “What do you have?”
Bear looked into the fridge then glanced over his shoulder at her. “Dark beer as well as a couple of bottles of alcoholic root beer and a citrus wine cooler.”
She thought about it a moment. “I’ll take the root beer.”
He retrieved it along with the domestic dark beer and used a bottle opener to remove the caps. “Glass with ice?”
“I’ll drink it straight from the bottle.” She accepted the root beer from him and raised her drink.
He clinked his beer against her bottle. “To a great day with a fun lady.”
She smiled. “To all your critters and their dad.”
Bear cocked his head in the direction of the kitchen entrance. “Come on and we can sit in the family room.”
A little voice told Rae she should probably be going home instead of relaxing with alcohol and this sexy man.
She told that little voice to get lost.