Chapter 13
“Hey, sweetheart,”a deep voice said as if from the end of a long tunnel. “Wake up.”
A hand on Londyn’s shoulder shook her gently.
She blinked her eyes open and stared out through the front windshield of her truck at the house that had been her home for the past twenty-one years. Her heart swelled with joy.
Home.
As quickly as the joy filled her, it vanished. Gramps wouldn’t come out on the porch to greet her ever again. He wouldn’t be there to give her his gruff hugs or sage advice.
A big black Ford F-250 pickup was parked beside them.
“Does the truck belong to one of your ranch hands?” Nash asked.
Londyn had to think about it for a second before she remembered. “No. It belongs to Ben Standing Bear.”
Nash frowned. “Did you let him know that we were coming?”
Londyn sat up straight and pushed her hair out of her face. “No, I didn’t.” She reached for the door handle and pushed it open. “He’s probably just here checking things out. He promised to look out for things while I was gone.” She slid out of the truck and closed the door.
Nash dropped down from the truck and met her at the front. Together, they walked up the front porch steps.
Voices sounded inside the house. Londyn frowned. One of those voices was female. A voice she knew.
She grabbed the door handle and twisted. It was not locked. She pushed it inward and stepped inside.
Ben Standing Bear stood with his back to her, talking to someone. “You have to tell her, or I will.”
When the door hinge creaked, Ben turned, his dark eyebrows forming a V over his nose.
Londyn could see the woman he was talking to, and she gasped. “Mother?”
“Londyn, darling.” Dana Tyler hurried forward to grasp Londyn’s hands. “I’m so glad you’ve arrived.”
“Why are you here?” Londyn looked from her mother to Ben Standing Bear. “You two know each other?”
Dana Tyler’s face blushed a pretty pink. “Yes, we do. We grew up together.”
Ben had moved to stand by the window, looking out. “Did you bring your mare back?” Londyn shifted her gaze to the man standing by the window. “Yes, I did. She had some kind of psychotic episode and took off yesterday. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen her do. When we finally found her, she was exhausted. I’m unsure what got into her, but the veterinarian took a blood sample and sent it off for testing. In the meantime, I knew she’d be better off in familiar surroundings. So, we brought her home.”
“Have you unloaded her yet?” Ben asked.
“No,” Londyn said. “We just got here.”
“I’ll take care of her.” Ben glanced toward her mother. “I’m sure you two ladies have things to talk about.” He stepped out the front door.
“If you don’t need me for now, I’ll help him.” Nash hesitated.
Londyn lifted her chin. “I’ll be fine.”
Nash hurried after Ben.
Once the two men were out of the house, Londyn met her mother’s gaze. “You never come to the ranch. What’s wrong?”
Her mother squeezed her hands and let go. “I had a small charter plane fly me into your film location in Yellowstone. When I asked where you were, Director Haynes said you’d quit.”
“What?” Londyn stared at her mother as if she’d lost her mind. “I did no such thing.”
“Well, Haynes is convinced you did.” Her mother pushed her thick blond hair back from her forehead. “Why would he think you had quit if you had not?”
“I don’t know.” Londyn shook her head. “I never said I quit. Director Haynes wasn’t there this morning when I left the T-Bar-M Ranch. Since cell phone reception is less than optimal, I asked Craig to let him know that I’d be gone for at least a day and to let me know when filming resumes. I’d get back.”
“That’s not what Craig told me,” her mother said. “He said that you’d had enough and were headed home to stay.”
Londyn continued to shake her head. “He’s lying.”
Her mother’s lips pressed together. “I trust Craig. He’s a good guy. I gave him his start in the industry. I got him this part. The man owes me.”
“I’m telling you he’s lying.” Londyn paced across the living room and back.
“He has no reason to lie,” her mother said. “Maybe because you left, he thinks you quit…?”
Londyn spun to face her mother. “I specifically told him I was only taking my horse back home and that I would be available as soon as they were ready to resume filming. That’s the message I asked him to pass on to Haynes.”
Dana Tyler lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “Arguing isn’t fixing the problem. They’ll resume filming tomorrow at the Yellowstone location. You need to be there to explain to director Haynes that you did not quit. He was given incorrect information. In fact, I can have you flown back tonight in the plane that I chartered.”
Londyn held her mother’s gaze. “I’m going to take a couple of hours to check how things have been going on the ranch. If you want to fly me back, you can do that tomorrow morning.” When her mother opened her mouth to argue, Londyn shut her down with a hard stare. “I’m not being unreasonable. Yesterday’s storm was pretty rough.”
Dana Tyler’s lips pressed into a thin line, creating a dark streak of red across her face. Finally, she nodded. “Very well. I’ll have my pilot on standby. We’ll leave before dawn.” Her face softened. “For the record, I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you,” Londyn said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to shower and change into some of my own clothes and dry boots. Then I’m going to get outside and see what’s been happening while I’ve been gone.” Londyn headed for the staircase.
Her mother touched her arm. “Londyn, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Londyn stared down the hand on her arm. “Mother, I’m tired. In the past few days, someone has tried to kill me, I almost killed someone, and I nearly drowned trying to rescue my horse. Can whatever you have to tell me wait until after I have a shower, dress in warm, clean clothes and boots that don’t squish when I walk?”
Her mother, who always knew everything and everyone and never hesitated, especially on big decisions, chewed on her bottom lip for a couple of seconds. Then, she nodded. “Get that shower. And the change of clothes.” Her mother smiled. “And definitely put on dry boots. But Londyn, we need to talk. I’ve put things off for far too long.”
Londyn gave her a curt nod and climbed the stairs to the room that had been hers since she’d been six years old and first came to live with her grandfather. Having been away for several weeks, she stood in the doorway and looked at it with a fresh perspective.
The room hadn’t changed much in all the years. A white iron bed stood in the center. It had been her mother’s when she’d been growing up and then Londyn’s. Londyn’s grandmother had made the faded quilt draped over the mattress. She’d had many opportunities to replace that quilt with a more modern comforter, but she hadn’t had the heart to do it. It was the one connection to her mother and her grandmother that she had refused to sever.
She turned her head to glance at the end of the hallway to the half-opened door into her grandfather’s room. A lump formed in her throat, and tears spilled down her cheeks.
After the trauma of the day before, her emotions were raw. What she needed was a hug.
Her thoughts went to Nash. He’d made love to her last night, awakening her body to delights she hadn’t experienced before. Then he’d held her in his arms, his muscular frame cocooning her in warmth and strength. For the first time since Gramps had died, she hadn’t felt so alone.
She grabbed underwear, jeans and a blouse and ducked into the bathroom across the hall from her room. If she’d learned one thing from her grandfather’s death, it was to keep moving. If you were busy, you didn’t have time to feel sorry for yourself.
Londyn made quick work of her shower, scrubbing the creek water from her hair and applying a healthy dose of conditioner to help smooth the tangles. Once clean, she turned off the water and grabbed a towel. She dried her body and wrapped her hair in the towel to help absorb the majority of the moisture.
Anxious to get outside, Londyn dressed quickly in worn blue jeans, a chambray shirt and her work boots. She ran a brush through her hair, wishing Nash was there to ease the tangles free. He’d been so gentle and sexy.
Clean and tangle-free, she left the bathroom and hurried down the stairs and out the back door, half-walking, half-running toward the barn.
She found Nash standing outside the barn with a garden hose, spraying the creek water and mud off the buckskin mare.
Nash had stripped off his shirt and hung it over a fence rail. His broad chest was nicely tanned with a smattering of man-curls begging her to run her finger across them. Like she had the night before. The scars on his face and across his torso only added to his appeal.
Londyn’s pulse pounded through her veins, and her mouth went dry.
He turned off the water and coiled the hose on a hanger affixed to the side of the barn. “You’re just in time. I could use some towels. Are there some in the barn?”
Londyn nodded. “In the tack room. I’ll get them.” To keep from openly drooling over him, she ducked into the barn and into the tack room. She gathered several towels and held them against her chest, willing her heart to slow to a normal pace.
When she had her breathing under control, she emerged from the barn and handed him a towel.
Without meeting his gaze, she dove into the task of drying Butterscotch. “Where did Ben go?” she asked.
“He said he had work to do on his place,” Nash said as he rubbed a towel across the mare’s back. “The ranch hands are mending a fence in your south pasture. A tree blew over onto it. They should be done soon. Ben will be back later this evening.”
Londyn gave Nash a tired smile. “Thanks.”
“What are your plans for the day?” Nash asked.
“I want to ride the fences, check the animals and get a feeling for how everything is faring without me.” She raised her eyebrows. “Do you want to come?”
He nodded. “I do. I’d like to get a shower first.”
“Of course,” Londyn said. “I bet I can find something for you to wear. My grandfather was a big man, much like you.” She glanced down at his feet. “He might even have a pair of boots that will fit.”
“I’d love that,” Nash said. “I’m to the point I’d rather go barefoot than wear these boots another minute.”
“Let’s finish up with Butterscotch. She doesn’t need to be confined to a stall. When she’s done eating, we can release her into the pasture.”
“I’d like to contact Swede and see if he came up with any hits on the names of the cast and crew.”
“If you can’t get enough reception for your cell phone, you can use the landline in the kitchen.”
“Thanks,” Nash said. “Ben fed Butterscotch. She’s ready for the pasture.”
“Good,” Londyn rubbed her hand along the animal’s neck. She hooked her fingers through the halter. “Ready to go hang out with the gang?”
Nash held the barn door open for Londyn and Butterscotch and walked with them to a gate. He opened the gate.
Londyn walked through with Butterscotch. “You’re on vacation now,” she said, rubbing the horse’s nose. “Enjoy it while it lasts. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
Butterscotch trotted off to join the other horses on the far end of the pasture.
Londyn’s gaze followed her all the way. “She wasn’t the same horse yesterday when she ran off.”
“No, she wasn’t. But she seems back to normal now and happy to be home.” Nash leaned on the fence rail, staring out at the animals in the pasture. “Are you going to ride a different horse around the property?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of taking four-wheelers,” Londyn said.
“I’m game either way. Give me ten minutes for that shower, and I’ll be ready.”
They walked back to the house together. Londyn led him through the back door and up the stairs to the bathroom. “There are towels in the cabinet and shampoo in the shower. I’ll be back with clothes that might fit you.”
Nash was already unzipping his jeans when Londyn turned to leave. She was tempted to stay and help him. But there was a lot she wanted to do and see before she headed back to Yellowstone.
The only clothes Londyn could think of that would fit Nash were her grandfather’s clothes. Gramps had been a big man, standing over six feet tall with broad shoulders and thick muscular arms. She hadn’t been back in his room since the funeral when she’d had to pick his best Sunday suit for the viewing.
With a deep breath, Londyn squared her shoulders and marched down the hall and into her grandfather’s bedroom. It still smelled like him, and that smell almost brought her to her knees. As she fought back tears, she crossed to his closet, opened the doors and thumbed through the hangers full of neatly pressed denim jeans. The jeans were well-worn and faded. Some had rips that had been patched, and others had frayed hems. But they were her grandfather’s, and she hadn’t had the heart to donate them to a local shelter. She wiped away a tear that had trickled out of the corner of her eye and grabbed a hanger with a pair of blue jeans on it.
“My father wasn’t always gruff and seemingly unfeeling.”
Londyn spun toward the voice.
Dana Tyler stood near the four-poster bed her father had slept in for most of his life. “He changed when my mother died. It was like the light went out of him. Sadly, I looked so much like my mother that he couldn’t even look at me. He was heartbroken. But so was I. I needed him, and he wasn’t there for me. I acted out for attention, and all it got me was the wrong kind of attention. It seemed like I was always crossways with my father through my teen years. I didn’t have my mother to talk to. I didn’t have many close friends at school. Just my boyfriend.”
“Is that why you left home and never came back?” Londyn asked. “All because you butted heads with Gramps once too often?” Londyn’s brow puckered as she stared at her mother. “Gramps was a good man. He didn’t always know how to show his love, but he did love me, and I know he loved you, too. It always hurt to know that the two people I cared about most never made the effort to reconcile. You were both so stubborn.” Tears flowed down Londyn’s cheeks. “It broke his heart when he lost Grandma. It broke all over again when he lost you. It took him a long time to open his heart to me, but he did.” She brushed the tears from her cheeks. “And I loved him very much, and I miss him every single day. He was the father I never had.”
Her mother stared out at the fields and the mountains beyond. “I left because the man I fell in love with told me he didn’t love me anymore. I’d wrapped all my hopes and dreams around him. When he broke my heart, I had to leave. I couldn’t be in the same town or the same state with him without being reminded of everything I’d lost.” She turned to face Londyn, tears streaming down her face. “You see, my father disapproved of my boyfriend. In fact, he told my boyfriend to leave me alone because he couldn’t provide the kind of life I deserved.” She turned back toward the window. “Granted, we were just kids, having just graduated high school with no firm plans for our future.” She snorted. “We were convinced love would find a way. We didn’t care that we were dirt poor. We both knew the value of hard work and were convinced a life together was what we wanted.”
“But you said your boyfriend broke up with you,” Londyn said.
Her mother nodded. “My father got to him. After they had a little discussion, my boyfriend didn’t think he was good enough for me and thought I would be better off without him. So, he staged the breakup, even though he really still loved me. He said awful things to make me hate him. I was hurting so bad that when my father cornered me and told me it was all for the best, I blew up. I said things that I’d been bottling up for years after Mom’s death. I packed my bags and left, promising never to return. It wasn’t until I got to LA that I realized I was pregnant.”
“With me.” Londyn’s whole world seemed to shift. “So, your one-night stand at the bar wasn’t my father, was it?”
Her mother shook her head.
“In fact, there wasn’t a one-night stand at the bar.” Londyn’s teeth ground together.
“No,” her mother admitted.
“You’ve known who my father is all my life.” Londyn said that as a statement not a question.
“Yes.” Dana Tyler’s beautiful face was drawn, making her look older than her forty-five years.
Londyn slung the jeans over her shoulder and reached blindly into the closet for a button-down shirt.
She grabbed for a pair of her grandfather’s work boots and went to his dresser where she fished out a pair of socks.
“Londyn, talk to me.” Her mother touched her arm.
She glared at her mother. “That might not be a good idea right now. I’m so mad, I’m literally seeing red.” She left the room and stomped down the hall to the bathroom. The door was unlocked. Londyn pushed it open, dropped her armload of clothing onto the floor and closed the door again softly.
Her mother followed her down the hall.
Londyn couldn’t face her at that moment. She needed to get outside and breathe fresh air that wasn’t polluted by the lies that have been fed to her all her life.
She headed for the stairs and ran down them like the hounds of hell were snapping at her heels.
Her mother hurried after her, stopping at the top of the stairs. “Londyn, you need to know.”
I need to know now? Is she serious?
I needed to know from the day I was born.
Londyn didn’t stop running. She pushed through the back door and ran out onto the porch drawing in deep ragged breaths. It wasn’t enough. She ran to the barn and rushed in without looking where she was going.
She ran into Ben Standing Bear, who caught her arms and held her steady. The tears she’d held in check burst free. Ben looked down at her, his brow furrowed and concern written across his kind face. “She told you.” His words echoed through her mind.
Londyn looked up at the man, and the pieces of her life fell into place. Anger surged inside, burning hot and fast.
She pushed both hands against Ben’s chest, forcing him to release his hold on her arms. She stepped back and glared at the man. “It’s you. It’s been you all along. You lived right next door to us, and you never said anything. You never once tried to be a part of my life.”
“I didn’t know.” He raised his chin. “I suspected it, but I didn’t know until your grandfather told you to come to me for help. If I had known you were my daughter, I would’ve done everything in my power to be there for you.”
“Well, you weren’t. And my mother was too busy living the life of a celebrity in LA. I was a big winner in the lottery of parents.” She pushed past him and marched to the back of the barn where they kept the four-wheelers. She sat on the first one she came to and tried to start it. The engine wouldn’t turn over. Dead battery.
She flung herself onto the one beside it. This one started, the engine roaring to life. Londyn shifted into the gear and twisted the handle, sending the ATV leaping forward.
Ben stepped aside as she blasted past him and out into the barnyard.
Nash was half-way across the yard when Londyn blew past him and angled toward another gate.
“Londyn, wait,” Nash called out.
She only stopped long enough to dismount and open the gate. Then she climbed back onto the ATV and drove through the gate, leaving it open.
If Nash wanted to go with her, he’d have to hurry to catch up. If he didn’t catch up, it might be for the best. Londyn was angry and had a lot to digest.
Ben Standing Bear was her father. Her mother and her grandfather had kept that secret all this time.
Londyn raced across the pasture, heading toward the south fence where her ranch hands were working. She didn’t really want to talk to anyone. Not after learning her family had lied to her for her entire life. What family does that to the people they supposedly love?
She gave the ATV all the power, racing across the grasslands. The wind in her face and the power of the engine vibrating beneath her helped soothe the anger. When she climbed up a rise, she slowed to a stop. This was the place she loved most. The hills rising from the prairie grass gave her the best view of the grassland, with the Crazy Mountains in the background.
The ATV engine rumbled beneath her loud enough that she didn’t hear the approach of another four-wheeler until it was almost on her.
She turned to find Nash driving his vehicle up to park beside hers. For the longest time, he didn’t say anything; he simply reached out a hand.
Londyn took the hand and held on to it. “I don’t know who to trust anymore,” she whispered.
He didn’t respond. She was glad he didn’t. Most men she’d met always wanted to fix problems.
Londyn didn’t need him to fix the problem. She just needed him to be there. To hold her hand and maybe hold the rest of her.
“What are you going to do?” Nash asked softly.
She snorted. “I’m going to check my employees, the fences and the livestock. Then I’m going back to Yellowstone to finish what I started.”
“And your mother and father?”
Londyn stared at rolling hills and grassland. It never seemed to change. Everything else in her life had changed completely. “If you’re asking whether or not I’ll forgive them... The answer is probably. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to meet my biological father.” She sighed. “When Gramps died, I felt so alone. It made me realize that no matter how angry I get with my mother, I don’t want to lose her. She’s all the family I have left. Even if we don’t live compatible lifestyles, she’s still my mother.”
“And now that you know who your father is...” Nash prompted.
Londyn shook her head in silence. “All the years we could have shared…” She met his gaze. “All the years people didn’t believe I was Dana Tyler’s daughter because I don’t look anything like my mother…” She laughed without humor. “I look like Ben.”
Nash nodded. “So, what now?”
She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “I make my rounds, check things out and head back to Yellowstone in the morning. I want to know why Craig Ryland told the director I quit.”