“No.”
“What then?” Cash asked.
“Winston says she fell and sprained her ankle but is much better and not to worry,” Tracy said and blinked to clear the tears gathered in her eyes.
“Is Winston your ex?” Cash asked. She didn’t reply, almost as if she’d floated so far away his words hadn’t reached her. “Doesshemean your daughter?”
“No,” Tracy said as if his second question had finally registered. “I’m not here to burden you with my problem, Cash. Everything will be okay.” Though her turquoise eyes belied her words, her vulnerability had vanished. She stood up. “I’ll try to be more punctual and focused. I promise.”
“Two heads are better than one,” he said. “Let me help.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Idon’t need help.” Tracy wasn’t accustomed to lying and that was a whopper. “But thanks.”
Cash Cooper was a good guy with an appealing bad-boy edge.
Tracy liked that about him. From the timbre of his deep, steady voice to the intelligence and savvy it took to run his ranch, to the confidence he exuded in everything he said and did, Tracy knew Cash could help her. At the very least, she might bounce the situation she was dealing with off him. For a male point of view.
“Okay,” Cash said and stood up beside her. “Maybe you have parents or siblings or a best friend who you can talk?—”
“I don’t,” Tracy admitted.
Cash shrugged. “If you change your mind, my offer to help stands.”
“I didn’t mean to sound abrupt, and I do appreciate your offer. But I’m kind of a loner from way back.”
“I kind of got that,” he said, mimicking her a bit. “Who taught you to drive a stick shift?”
Tracy smiled. “Believe it or not, my grandmother.”
Cash chuckled. “Good for you and your grandmother.”
“About my grandmother?—”
“Is this a private lunch?” Donna interrupted, her bosom jiggling in a low-cut neckline as she walked to them.
“No, of course not,” Tracy said, watching Donna smile up at Cash. She couldn’t blame the woman. Cash was not only handsome, he exuded masculine charisma. She’d noticed Natasha and Michaela appreciating his exceptionally good looks and undeniable sex appeal too.
“Ready to roll, boss?” Sam called from a few yards away.
“Yeah,” Cash grumbled, clearly irritated by Donna’s intrusion. “Let’s ride.”
Donna, apparently oblivious to Cash’s signals, walked beside him chatting him up all the way to the horses. Deep in thought, Tracy followed along and untethered the sweet filly named Cinnamon. As they rode back to the ranch, the wranglers veered off here and there taking their guests on various routes back to the ranch. Donna stuck to Cash like glue and Tracy had to smother a laugh when Jacob rolled his eyes. All too soon, they were back at Triple C-East. Dismounting near the stables, Cash and his wranglers showed the guests how to unsaddle their horses. For some the saddles were too cumbersome, but Tracy managed hers.
The ladies were given free time to rest and refresh, snack and snooze or while away the time however they chose before the chuck wagon bell summoned them to supper. With a glance over her shoulder at Cash who had headed toward the store as Beau called to him, Tracy made her way to the log cabin she shared with Donna. On the outside, the five cabins were rustic and on the inside they were modern with of course, a Western flair. Crossing the wooden porch and opening the door, she took one step into the living room. The living rooms stretched across the front of the cabins, each boasting a stone fireplace. Between the two bedrooms, both furnished with two queen beds, was a bathroom. On the western side of the cabins a bay window had a distant view of the mountains. On the eastern side of every cabin was a Dutch door.
Donna had arrived in the cabin first and taken thebedroom with the mountain view. Tracy opened the top half of the Dutch door to the gentle air of a Chinook breeze. The Chinooks, meaning snow eaters, were famous winds in Colorado. In the winter they melted the ice on roads, leaving snow on evergreens and grass. On a summer evening, like this one, an occasional Chinook provided a pleasant respite from the sun and heat.
Tracy sat down at a desk, took out her laptop, and began transferring her daily notes onto it. She glanced at Donna who flounced into the cabin and plopped onto the couch in front of the floor-to-ceiling stone hearth. Tracy wasn’t really sure how or why the magazine had sent Donna on this assignment as she’d not contributed much of anything so far.
“Are you going to make a move on Cash Cooper or what?” Donna asked from the couch. “Just about everybody else is. I think I will too.”
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?” Tracy asked, looking up from her laptop to Donna. “Moving on him?”
“Yeah.” Donna shrugged. “But I’m not getting anywhere. I’m going to step it up.”
“Don’t forget we’re here on an official job for the magazine, Donna,” Tracy advised.
