The Rancher's One-Week Wife

When she remained silent, he realized that she had fallen fast asleep. Kissing her cheek, he rolled them to their sides, pulled the comforter around them and held her close. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain why he hadn’t been entirely honest with her about owning the ranch or the fact that neither of them would ever have to work another day in their lives if they didn’t want to.

But it was past time he told her everything about himself and the reasons he’d felt compelled to keep the information from her. He hoped she’d understand his past experience with his gold-digging stepmother and the years she’d held his family’s ranch hostage in her attempt to get the most money she could out of it. He also hoped Karly would be able to do the same when he told her about that buckle bunny, the one claiming he had made her pregnant in an effort to extort money from him, and how it had left him deeply suspicious of women’s motives, as well.

When she murmured his name and snuggled into his embrace, he kissed her forehead. He wasn’t sure how she would react to his revelations. But tomorrow he was going to tell her everything, pray that she understood and ask her to stay with him for the rest of his life.

* * *

The morning after the barbecue at the Laughlins’, Karly sat at the table in the mansion’s library, staring at the screen on Blake’s laptop. She was supposed to be finishing up a purchase order for novelty items from one of the import companies in Hong Kong. But she couldn’t have cared less about cases of rubber ducks, plush finger puppets and inflatable plastic beach balls. Her mind was on what would happen at the end of the week when it was time for her to leave the Wolf Creek Ranch. Blake hadn’t mentioned anything about wanting them to stay married and have her remain in Wyoming with him. And she hadn’t told him that she would like to stay and be his wife.

Nibbling on her lower lip, she thought about her reasons for refusing to join him at the ranch after they left Las Vegas and how she felt about that now. After she and Blake parted eight months ago, she had returned to pack up her apartment and quit her job. And that had been when her doubts set in. She had worried that she might move to the ranch and discover that she couldn’t stand the quiet remoteness or that she would miss having a productive career. She had been so afraid of being unhappy that she’d convinced herself not to even take the chance.

But now that she’d spent time on the ranch, she found that she loved the peace and quiet. And it came as no small surprise that she found feeding a couple of orphaned calves much more rewarding than keeping a warehouse stocked with rubber ducks and plastic beach balls.

She sighed. She’d watched her mother sink into a deep depression after they returned to New York from the Midwest, especially after Martina hadn’t been able to resume her career in the fashion industry. Her mother’s misery had left a lasting impression on Karly and one of her biggest fears had always been that she would turn out to be as dissatisfied and resentful as her mother.

But looking at things objectively, Karly could never remember a time when her mother had been truly happy—not before they’d moved to the Midwest or after. Martina Ewing had been dissatisfied before her husband moved them away from New York. She’d been unhappy living in a small town in Middle America and when she and Karly returned to New York, she hadn’t been content there, either. It was a hard truth to face, but her mother had been one of those people who always searched for something to make her happy and when she couldn’t find it, blamed someone else. She had never discovered that true happiness comes from within and that just being with the people she loved was a real blessing.

But this time with Blake had convinced Karly of that truth. No matter where they lived or whatever job she needed to work to help with their finances, she knew she would be truly fulfilled as long as they were together. And she finally felt ready to create a life of happiness with him. She hoped he was ready for that, too.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where Blake is, would you?” a man’s voice asked from just inside the door.

Unaware there was anyone else around, Karly jumped and placed her hand on her chest as if that would slow down her racing heart. “Oh, dear heavens!”