especially since Delia wouldn't even consider raising cattle specifically for beef.
Zoe grinned at this. It was okay to raise the cattle for other ranchers who would eventually sell for beef. As long as
The plan was to start small, which was the reason they'd taken less money from Ty than he'd wanted to loan them.
The equipment and repairs had been costly, far more so than she had estimated, though Ty had warned her.
And she still had to hire several ranch hands because she needed help.
So much work, and yet all she could do was look at the mountains and think of the tall, powerful, intensely passionate man who'd turned her world upside down. A man she'd chased away yet again with words and actions while her heart had secretly cried in protest.
She wanted him, she admitted, and it wasn't for the physical attraction, but for the way he made her feel. Special. So why did she keep pushing him away?
Easy. It was her past, and wrong as it was, she couldn't help it. Until she knew who she was and why she'd been left in the group home, she wasn't free to follow her dreams.
The mountains were every bit as wild and fierce as Ty, she fretted as she stared at the triple peaks. Even now, in late June, the tops of them were still covered with snow. Unforgiving, unrelenting. Lethal.
People died on those mountains.
'He'll be back.' Cade stopped at her side, turned his gaze from the mountains and smiled at her.
She brushed her dusty hands on her jeans. 'I'm not really worried.'
'Is that right?'
She shrugged. 'Well, maybe I am. A little, sort of. In the same context as I worry about the wolf spiders eating all the mosquito hawks.'
Cade laughed. 'You sure you and Delia aren't blood relations? You're both stubborn.'
'Cade…' Zoe took a deep breath and plunged. 'I need you to find my mother.'
'I've been trying, Zoe, believe me. For Constance-'
'Not for Constance. For
'Mostly.'
'I want to know about my mother. I
He grimaced and reached for her. 'Zoe-'
'No, don't. I'm fine.' She forced back all emotion, not quite meeting Cade's gaze because she couldn't stand the sympathy she found there. 'Can you help or not?'
Her sharp voice didn't chase him off. He merely smiled at her. 'I can help.'
'But so far you've found nothing?'
'Only that she disappeared the day she dropped you off.'
Zoe looked to the mountains and again felt that inexplicable yearning to see a tall, dark, gorgeous man mysteriously appear. She didn't even care if he gave her that crooked, cocky smile, she just wanted to know he was safe, damn him.
Cade followed her gaze. 'Probably much cooler up there.'
'What does he think about when he's climbing? It looks horrifying.'
'He probably thinks of you,' Cade said casually.
'No,' she said firmly. 'It's not like that between us.' Ty wanted her, she knew that. But as for anything else, anything deeper, he'd been close-mouthed. Was it any wonder she doubted his motives?
No, that wasn't fair, she allowed. He'd made no secret of wanting their land, and still, he'd done everything in his power to make sure they didn't lose it.
'I've known Ty since Constance first hired me, Zoe. We both came from a big city, we're both relatively new to the country. I understand him. He's not always so… well…' Cade looked at her with true compassion. 'Let's just say only a man who cares deeply would have such a hard time controlling his emotions.'
After a while, he left her alone to stare at the wilderness of peaks, at the canyons and the river, and wonder if she wasn't fooling herself.
If she and Ty both didn't care far more than either of them wanted to admit.
Late the next night, Zoe couldn't sleep. She was thinking too much, and while she was at it, she was feeling too much, as well. It made her angry.
And being angry was hungry business. She headed for the kitchen, walking through a dark house so she wouldn't wake anyone up. Not that she minded sharing her snack, but Maddie would worry and Delia would tease, then they'd fight and Maddie would worry some more.
It just seemed easier to deal with her stress alone tonight. Gathering up a bag of chips and a Coke, she crept into her office.
The books were there and she opened them up, happily munching as she studied the numbers. There was plenty of room for failure, but Zoe couldn't help but smile even though they hovered firmly in the red. She was accustomed to hard work, they could do this. They'd never been closer.
She was home, for the first time in her life.
When her bag of chips was empty, she tossed it in the trash and sighed. It was then that she noticed a small brown paper bag on the corner of her desk. Inside was a brand new compact adding machine, equipped with an electrical cord and a roll of adding paper. A small thing, really, not an expensive one, but Zoe clutched it to her chest, eyes bright.
Had anyone ever had such a thoughtful, caring, smart-ass sister? She didn't deserve either of them, Zoe thought. Didn't deserve the love they showered on her constantly; Delia with her tough concern and secret gifts, and Maddie always plying her with motherly affection and really great fattening food.
Love bubbled and overflowed, but so did guilt, for Zoe didn't tell them nearly enough how she felt.
That would change, she vowed then and there.
Then she plugged in her new machine and happily balanced their dangerously low checking account.
It was early, he was tired, and he was an idiot to boot. For the first time since Ty had come to Idaho, he ignored the spectacular sunrise, which was the highest-rated show for three hundred miles in all directions.
Shaking his head at himself, he got out of his truck, then reached in for his little, squirming burden.
'Mew.'
'Shh,' he told the kitten, who popped its little red head out from beneath the blanket. 'You're supposed to be a surprise, dammit.'
He had no idea what he was doing, only knew when he'd found the deserted kitten crying in his barn, with no brothers or sisters or momma in sight, that his insides had gone to mush.
Immediately he'd thought of Zoe, and how she continued to sneak into his barn to watch Danny grow. She loved babies almost as much as she loved to hide herself from him.
His entire body was tense at the prospect of seeing her again. Little of his frustrated fury over her inability to accept what was between them had faded.
It probably wasn't a good time to come here, when he was still aroused and aching from last night's dreams about her, but he'd punished his body good over the past few days in the mountains. What was the difference if now he punished his mind as well?
Tucking the kitten under his arm, he strode to the side door of Triple M Ranch, intending to quietly enter the kitchen and leave his surprise.
But the surprise was on him. In formfitting stretch pants and a T-shirt, her hair loosely tied back, Zoe opened
