Chapter Three
“Here you go, Miss.”
Naomi looked down the long driveway he pointed at.
“It’s just a half-mile down the drive. I’d take you all the way there, but I’m already running behind. Do you mind?”
“Oh, no. I’ll be fine. I promise.” She grabbed her bag, got out, and came to his side. “Thank you again, Stanley. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem, Miss. I hope it all works out for the two of you.”
“I do, too.”
She watched him drive off and wave. She turned toward the house and looked around, scanning the area. The ranch was much bigger than she’d thought. The way he talked in his emails was that it was a family ranch that raised cattle. She could see hundreds, if not thousands, of cows from where she stood.
She drew in a shaky breath. The sun would set within the hour, so she had to get moving.
Naomi reminded herself, like she had so many times on this trip, that the worst that could happen was he wouldn’t want her, and she’d have to leave. She had saved some money to live for a few months as she tried to find a place to live and work. She had other options. The only thing she wouldn’t do was go back home.
The first few steps down the gravel driveway were the worst. It felt like she was taking giant steps that would change her life forever, and she didn’t know if it was a good change or a bad one. But it was the only step she had taken.
She passed the first large barn. Men turned to stare at her as if they’d never seen a woman before, making her nervous and shaky. She kept her chin up and walked toward the large stone house.
“Ma’am, can I help you?”
She stopped. The cowboy was tall and looked strong. He had gentle brown eyes and a sweet smile.
“I’m here to see Mr. Dawson.”
“He’s up at the house.”
“Thank you.”
She could feel the eyes that followed her up the porch steps and to the front door. She inhaled and knocked. When no one answered, she knocked again, and it was a little harder.
She jumped when the front door flew open. The two stared at each other for a long moment.
If this was Mr. Dawson, she would have been pleasantly surprised. He was at least six-foot-four, had dark hair like her own, and piercing blue eyes that stood out from a strong, tan face, testimony to the fact he was a hard worker and the majority of it he did outside. He stood in front of her in a shirt with all the buttons undone, showing her a tremendous amount of his sculpted chest. The way he wore his jeans and his bare feet made him even sexier.
“Um, hi,” she said. “I’m Naomi.”
He looked around like he was searching for someone.
“Who are you here to see, Honey?”
“Are you Mr. Joseph Dawson?”
“Yes.”
“Then, I’m here to see you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Her brows pinched together in confusion.
“You were expecting me today, right?”
“No, darlin’. I’ve no idea who you are.”
“I’m going to be your wife.”
He snorted and looked around again outside as if watching for another person.
“Okay, who put you up to this?”
“What are you talking about?” She had a horrible thought he was telling her the truth, and if he was, who would play this kind of joke on them?
“No one put me up to anything. You and I have been emailing back and forth for a few weeks. We decided to meet, and here I am.”
“Do you have these emails?”
She nodded. “Yes, I brought all of them like you told me to.”
He sighed and opened the screen door.
“Come in while we get this figured out.”
She crossed the threshold, and her shoulder slid across his chest, letting her get a good whiff of his masculine scent.
“I’m sorry I got here so late. The bus had a breakdown.”
“Let’s go into the office.”
She followed him through the house and into a room at the back. It was big and wood-paneled on three walls. The back wall was painted creamy white and surrounded by a huge window that looked out onto the vast, picturesque range.
“Have a seat,” he said, indicating a chair across the desk from him.
He buttoned up his shirt and sat in the chair behind his desk.
“Let me see the emails.”
She dug into her backpack, pulled out several folded papers, and handed them over the desk.
Naomi waited while he reviewed them. Every second that passed, her nerves felt tighter, and panic grew inside her. She could see he was as shocked about the circumstances as she was. She hoped he could figure out who did it and where they would go from there.
He grunted and threw the papers down.
“You know who it was?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes. My mother.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Your mother, why would she do this to you?”
“She’s not doing it to be mean. She thinks she’s helping me out.”
“Oh.”
The silence dragged on.
She tried not to let panic take over, but being exhausted and fearful of her future made her nerves and stomach even tighter. When she couldn’t take the staring and silence, she asked the dreaded question.
“So, what do we do?”
“I’m very sorry you came all this way.”
“But you’d like me to leave?” she guessed.
He sat back with a sigh. “What are your ideas?”
She could detect a slight resentment in his tone and knew her only option was to leave. She stood abruptly.
“How far is it to town?”
“Why? How’d you get here?”
“The postman gave me a ride that you … I mean, your mother set up.”
He chuckled. “At least she was thorough.”
“Actually, she wasn’t because she forgot to include you in the decision.” Naomi looked down for a moment. “Would someone be going to town tonight?”
“No. Everyone’s wiped out from calving. I’d imagine most of them are already sleeping.”
She could feel herself getting shakier by the second, and she wanted to be gone by the time she broke down.
“Okay, then. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, and I’ll be on my way.”
She bent, picked up her suitcase, and threw her backpack over her shoulder.
She reached the door before a hand wrapped around her upper arm.
“Whoa, wait a damn minute. Where do you think you’re going?”
She tried to pull away, but he held her tight.
“I’m going to town, I’ll figure out where I want to go when I get there.”
“How do you expect to get to town?”
“Walk.”
“Jesus Christ, woman. It’ll take you three or four days to walk to town.”
“It didn’t take Stanley that long to get me here.”
He grunted. “He was in his jeep, and if you didn’t notice, he drives like a maniac.”
“I … no, I didn’t notice. But this is not your problem. All I ask is that you tell your mom not to do this to anyone else. It’s … it’s made it very hard for me.”
She tried to pull away again, but he dragged her back to the office and to her chair, sat her down, and then leaned against his desk, facing her.
“I can’t let you walk back to town.”
She shook her head. “As I said, Mr. Dawson, this is not your problem.”
“I disagree. It was my mother that put you here.”
She looked down at her hands. She didn’t know how to answer that, and she needed a moment to steady her control.
“Okay, is there a cabin I can sleep in until Stanley comes back tomorrow?”
“He won’t be here for a few days. The route is too long to do every day, so we won’t see him for three days.”
She could feel the shaking inside that she was usually normally able to hide, and it started to rise. She knew if she didn’t get it under control, she’d be shaking and crying, and she needed to wait until she was alone for that.
“Will there be an employee maybe going to town tomorrow?”
He shook his head.
“I’m assuming there are no taxis here, so my only option is walking. I can wait until morning if there is a place I can sleep. All I need is a blanket.”
She really didn’t need much, and she was thankful for whatever she got because it would be more than what she’d received from anything she’d gotten from anyone. She also knew not to ask for anything because she’d pay the price, and she was expected to do things that made her ill.