Her Rugged Rancher by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online Page A

chipmunks and a seat where he often drank his morning coffee.
    While he positioned the patties on the hot grill, Bella ambled a few feet away where the forest opened up to a view of bald desert mountains in the distance.
    â€œAre those mountains on Jett’s land?” she asked.
    It surprised Noah to hear her call it Jett’s land. He’d always suspected that she was a partial owner in the ranch, but apparently he’d supposed wrong.
    â€œNo. They look close, but they’re at least ten miles away. Why do you ask?”
    â€œJust curious. This is going to sound silly, but there are places on this ranch that I’ve never seen. Especially since Jett and Sassy bought the adjoining land a few years ago.”
    â€œYou obviously knew your way to the cabin,” he said.
    â€œThat’s right. My grandparents built the cabin,” she told him. “And when I was a little girl, my grandmother and I would come up here in the summer and pick wild berries.”
    â€œI met your grandparents back before Christmas, when they came up to see little Mason after he was born. Nice folks.”
    â€œYes. I keep promising to drive down for a little visit with them, but it seems like I can never get that many free days in a row to make the trip to California.” She turned and strode back to the shaded area where he was standing. “One of these days I’m going to clear my work schedule and go anyway. My grandparents aren’t getting any younger and I want to enjoy them while they’re still around.”
    â€œMelvin talked to me about the little ranch he owns now. I’m glad he’s still healthy enough to have horses and cattle.”
    Ignoring the chair, she sank onto the pine truck and crossed her ankles out in front of her. Noah closed the lid on the cooker and took a seat in the lawn chair a few feet away from her.
    â€œDo you have grandparents, Noah?”
    He said, “The only grandparents I ever really knew have passed on. Mom’s parents were never around, so I have no idea if either of them are still alive or where they might live.” The look of surprise in her eyes prompted him to add, “I don’t know where she or my dad are, either. They divorced when I was thirteen. After that, Mom left and never came back. Dad stuck around for a few months, then left me to be raised by his parents.”
    Just as he’d expected, she looked stunned. And that was exactly why he’d revealed that part of his upbringing to her. He wanted to make sure she understood the sort of background he’d come from. That he’d been a child his own parents hadn’t wanted and his grandfather had merely tolerated.
    â€œOh. I didn’t know. Jett never mentioned the circumstances of your parents to me.”
    â€œThat’s because I’ve never talked to Jett about them. Your brother and I mostly talk about the present and the future.”
    â€œYes. Well, Jett has some pretty awful memories of his own that he’d rather leave in the past. Most of us do.”
    She smiled at him and Noah was surprised to see she was still looking at him as though she liked him, as though he was someone she wanted to spend time with. He could only think she was either a very bad judge of character, or a very special woman.
    The scent of the cooking beef began to fill the air and Noah got up to check on the progress of the burgers.
    While he flipped the meat, she asked, “Do you like living here in the cabin? Away from everyone?”
    â€œI’m a simple guy, Bella. I have everything I need or want right here.” At least that was what he’d been telling himself since he’d arrived in Nevada. But there were plenty of days Noah still felt the nagging need for a place of his own, and even more nights when he imagined himself with a wife and children to nurture and love. Yet once he’d left Arizona, he’d vowed to live a solitary life and so far,