Home For a Cowboy Christmas(85)

After reaching his brother’s place, Zane had spent the rest of the evening telling him all about Cady and their time together. Charlie had asked him point-blank what Zane was doing at his house instead of going to see Cady. After that, it was all Zane could think about.

He drove back to the ranch, but he didn’t go to the cabin. He couldn’t. Not without Cady. He threw himself into work for a few days, but not even that worked. The next thing he knew, he had booked a flight to Austin and boarded it just a few hours later. It didn’t dawn on him until he was on the way to Texas that he had no idea where Cady lived in Austin.

It took some digging and a few phone calls before he got her address. Once he had the rental car and was headed to her, he went over and over in his head everything he wanted to say. Then he got there, and his mind went blank.

Zane decided he needed to sleep and start fresh in the morning. He put the car in drive and headed to his hotel.



* * *



Cady’s hand shook as she pressed the button on the intercom at the entrance gate to the Z Bar Ranch.

“Can I help you?” a woman’s voice asked.

“I, um, I’m here to see Zane Taylor.”

There was a brief pause. “Your name?”

“Cady Adams.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. Would he refuse her? Would they tell her to turn around? Wou— Her thoughts halted as the gate began to swing open.

“Get a hold of yourself,” she said as she drove through.

The pictures on the internet didn’t do the ranch justice. It was sprawling and blanketed in white. Black fences were in direct contrast, and she tried to imagine what the place looked like in the summer when everything was green.

There was no mistaking where the house was. Though she wouldn’t call it a house. It was more of a mansion. A castle, even. But with Western architecture so the abode didn’t stand out against the beauty of the land but added to it.

Cady’s mouth was dry as she parked behind three other vehicles. She didn’t see the beat-up truck Zane had driven her to the airport in, but maybe that was at the cabin. This was the craziest, most ridiculous thing she had ever done. But her mother had been right. What if…? That question hadn’t left her mind since her mother had put it there. No matter what the answer was, Cady had to find out. Otherwise, this new leaf she had turned over would be for naught.

She had played it safe for so long. It was time to take the chances she’d once taken, to follow her heart without worry of consequences.

None of that, however, helped to calm the nervousness that made her shake and her palms clammy. She put the vehicle in park and turned off the ignition. She opened the car door and stepped out. The sight of a cowboy hat moving among the vehicles made her heart rate kick up a notch. She looked expectantly, thinking it was Zane.

Only to find a man in his fifties coming her way. He smiled at her in welcome. As he drew closer, she noted his dark skin, hair, and eyes that denoted him as a man of indigenous descent. “Hello,” he said in a deep, even voice.

“Hi.”

“Zane isn’t here.”

All her hopes melted away in an instant. She tried to hide her disappointment, but she knew she failed. “Oh.”

“So. You’re Cady.”

That made her frown. “I’m sorry?”

“I heard about your car getting stuck before Christmas and Zane finding you.”

“Yes, he did.”

The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Jacob, the ranch manager. Would you like a tour?”

“Uh…” She looked around, confused. “I’m not sure I should.”

He grinned at her. “Why? Do you have somewhere to be?”

That made her laugh. “I don’t, actually.”

“Then let me show you around.”

How was she supposed to say no to that? Besides, Cady was curious to see more of Zane’s life. Jacob didn’t take her directly to the house. They walked around to the back and down another drive to a barn. It was a good thing Cady had bought better clothing, a coat, and boots. Otherwise, she’d be shivering. Well, she was shivering, but it wasn’t as bad as it could be. When they reached the barn, she refused to go in once she saw the horses.

Jacob chuckled, shaking his head. “You really are afraid of them, aren’t you?”

Cady wondered if there was anything Zane hadn’t told Jacob. Just as they were walking away, a horse stuck its head over the stall door. She recognized Brego. A small part of her wanted to see the horse, but she quickly disregarded it.

Jacob took her back to the other side of the house, where they went into a side entrance. “I would bring you through the front, but this time of year, Zane rents out half the house to others.”

“He what?”

Jacob shrugged and briefly met her gaze as they stopped in a solarium. “It’s a big house, and with Zane here by himself, it’s too much. About three years ago, some rich guy who wanted to pay him an enormous sum of money to bring his family up here for Christmas contacted him. Zane accepted his offer, but with stipulations. Guests are prohibited from entering certain areas of the house. We got to work and put locks on the doors to the rooms that Zane wanted kept private. Six months later, Zane was inundated with calls from others asking to do the same thing. From mid-November until the first of January, he rents the house to whoever wants it.”