Page 1 of The Rancher’s One and Only

Chapter One

Jax Noble didn’t have time to deal with a trespasser. He was already running flat out, and had way more to do than he wanted to deal with. He, Rowdy and Dakota had so much work to do before they could move on to the next phase of getting their dude ranch up and running, and the last thing he wanted was to go creeping around the back forty of his own land trying to figure out what was going on.

And yet, here he was. Doing it.

“There is definitely someone here,” he sent a voice message to Rowdy and Dakota.

You armed? Rowdy texted back.

“With my left and right fist,” he said back.

He sighed and stopped the truck, right there in the middle of the road. Three Brothers Ranch was remote. That was putting it mildly. And that was the idea. What they were offering people was a chance to have a real wilderness experience. They’d been working on accommodations that ranged from luxury to a real Oregon Trail experience for the last two years. They had just about burned through the money they’d saved up for the place, to get it going, and of course, there were a few hiccups with the launch, so everything was feeling a bit spread thin.

But it was all happening. Probably. Most likely.

The trouble was, they were all a lot more used to life handing out hard knocks than prizes.

So the truth was, all three of them were waiting for the other cowboy boot to drop, every step of the way.

And last night, when Rowdy was pretty sure he spotted a tent set up when he was looking through binoculars to check out some of the mountain goats on the side of the hill at the back of beyond, Jax knew that he needed to check it out today.

And so, check it out he was.

There was a small tent. Very small. Red and dilapidated, one of the sides bowed in. It looked shabby—actually, that was a kind description. There was a cooking pot, and the remains of a campfire. And whoever had done this was damned lucky it wasn’t fire season, or he would’ve lost his temper.

Well, he was perilously close to losing his temper either way. This just wasn’t the time. But then, it was really never the time to try him. He’d been through enough. And now he was beginning his real life. He’d spent years in the MMA fighting circuit, which was a ridiculous way to spend your time, and it had left him richer, but a little bit beaten up. He, Rowdy and Dakota had all earned their fortune in different ways, and they had kept the promises they had made to each other about getting a ranch. A piece of land. About staying family.

They had been foster brothers, and then later had been moved into a group home together. They were the only consistent things in each other’s lives. And they decided that they were going to make a real life for each other. A real home. And so they’d done it.

Here in Clear Lake, Oregon. Out hundreds of miles from anything, a tiny town within view of the Idaho border surrounded by volcanic landscape, vast, barren mountains, glorious painted hills.

And apparently, trespassers.

He approached the tent slowly and without real trepidation. The truth was, he might’ve gotten out of the fighting game, but there wasn’t a single random person on the street he had to worry about beating him up. That wasn’t even realistic.

He was a champion. And he’d made his millions. Of course, they’d sunk millions into this place. All in the name of a dream and togetherness.

Maybe they were idiots. Yeah. As he approached the tent, he had to allow for the fact that they might be idiots.

“Hey there,” he said.

There was no response.

He paused and heard the sound of metal on rock. But he couldn’t see where it was coming from. The tent was pitched at the base of a large shale rock face. But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out where the noise was coming from.

And then, he saw her.

The trespasser was a woman.

She popped her head up from behind some of the rocks, like a prairie dog. She had large glasses and straight brown hair. Then she grimaced, her eyes going wide when they saw him.

Her teeth were kind of large too.

The prairie dog comparison was apt.

“Oh.” She pushed her glasses back on her nose. “I’m so sorry. I really am very sorry.”

“This is private property, ma’am,” he said.