Her Cowboy Dilemma Read online

  In the meantime her café was being operated by Winnie’s best friend—and Cassidy’s new sister-in-law—Laurel. Laurel Sheridan had flown in from New York for Brock and Winnie’s wedding and had ended up extending her stay to take care of Winnie’s café while her friend was convalescing. She’d also fallen in love with Corb and the two had been married last September in New York City.

  Then in March they’d had a baby—adorable little Stephanie Olive Lambert was another reason Cassidy was stopping at the Cinnamon Stick. Hopefully Laurel and the baby would be there.

  She was dying for a cuddle with her new little niece.

  Cassidy parked, hopped out of her truck, then paused to stretch her back and her arms. One thing about older trucks—they sure weren’t built for comfort. Still, she patted the hood affectionately before heading toward the café.

  A hand-painted sign hung over the door, and two wooden benches promised a place to sit in the sun and enjoy your coffee once you’d placed your order.

  Inside she was welcomed by the scent of freshly ground coffee beans and the luscious aromas of butter, sugar and cinnamon. She’d come during a lull and the place was quiet. Two older women sat at one of the two booths, engrossed in conversation. Behind the counter, Laurel was softly singing a silly song about hedgehogs. She had her back to the door, busy with dishes, but she spotted Cassidy’s reflection in a carefully positioned mirror and broke into a big smile.

  “Cassidy! You’re home!” Laurel stopped to scoop up her two-month-old daughter from the playpen. “Look who’s here, Steph. It’s your auntie Cassidy.”

  Cassidy was already holding out her arms for the bundle. “I hope she isn’t making shy yet.”

  “Oh, she’s still too young for that. Besides, she’s getting used to new faces. We just got back to work last week and I swear our business has tripled. It seems everyone in the area is finding an excuse to drop in for a coffee and to say hello to the newest Lambert.”

  Cassidy listened to all of this with a smile, at the same time noticing how happy her sister-in-law appeared. Pretty, too. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but it seemed thicker and glossier than ever. And her fair skin was literally glowing.

  Laurel deposited a kiss on Cassidy’s cheek as she handed over her daughter, who had gained several pounds since Cassidy had seen her last.

  “Oh, you’re so cute! Look—she has Corb’s dimple.”

  “I know. Isn’t it adorable? And only on the left cheek, just like her dad.”

  Cassidy sighed as Stephanie cuddled in, soaking up the smooches that her aunt couldn’t resist planting on her downy soft head. Her wispy hair was coming in orange. And curly.

  “How are you doing, precious? Do you like working with your mommy in the café?”

  The baby looked up at the sound of Cassidy’s voice, and Cassidy was amused to see that she had the Lambert green eyes, as well. Stephanie was staring at her intently, and only when she raised her little hand, awkwardly reaching up, did Cassidy realize she was entranced by the sunglasses that were still resting on her head.

  “She’s just started noticing her hands a few weeks ago,” Laurel commented. “Sometimes she stares at them for minutes at a time. It’s so cute. But here I am, talking endlessly about my wonderful baby, again.” Laurel rolled her eyes. “What’s new with you? How were your final exams?”

  “They went well, I think. I won’t have my marks for a few weeks.”

  “Can I get you a coffee and a cinnamon bun for the road?”

  Hearing the door open behind her, Cassidy moved out of the way so the newcomer could enter. “You read my mind, thanks.”

  “Make that a double order, Winnie,” said a deep voice behind her. “And leave some space for cream in the coffee.”

  Cassidy knew that voice. Slowly she turned, holding Stephanie like a shield between her and the tall, broad-shouldered man who’d just entered the café.

  Sure enough, there stood Dan Farley. The local vet had some Native American blood, which accounted for his high cheekbones, jet-black hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes. Though he’d spoken to Winnie, it was Cassidy he was looking at, with cool dislike.

  “Hey, Farley.” Darn her voice for coming out so soft and weak. She lifted her chin. “How are things?”

  “Busy.”

  He knew she’d been going to college in Bozeman, and must have noticed the suitcases and boxes in the back of her truck, but he didn’t ask about her studies or show any interest in whether or not she was moving back to Coffee Creek. Stepping past her as if she were nothing more than an inanimate obstacle, he made his way to the counter, where he pulled out his wallet.

  Heck and darn, but the man had a way about him. Cassidy glanced at the two women at the back to see if they felt it, too. Sure enough they both had their eyes on Coffee Creek’s sexy vet. One of them pretended to fan her face with her hand. The other laughed and winked at Cassidy.

  Cassidy didn’t wink back.

  He wasn’t that good-looking.

  She gave him another glance, seeing only his profile and long, muscular build.

  Okay, maybe he was that good-looking.

  Still, he probably hated her and she had only herself to blame.

  Winnie set two coffees in to-go cups on the counter, then bagged them each one of the homemade cinnamon buns baked fresh every day by ex-bronc rider Vince Butterfield. A veteran of the rodeo circuit and a member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Vince had licked a lifelong dependence on alcohol and in his sixties had begun a new career as a baker. His mother’s old recipe for melt-in-your-mouth sticky buns, thickly topped with frosting, was his new claim to fame.

  Five minutes ago, Cassidy had been craving one of them desperately. Now her stomach churned at the thought. What were the chances that she and Farley would happen into the café at the same time? Pretty darn slim. So slim, in fact, that she hadn’t run across him here once in the past four years.

  Other than at the church last July, she hadn’t seen him anywhere else, either.

  If he was called out to the ranch when she happened to be home, she always made herself scarce. She’d avoided him at the funeral. If his name came up in conversation with her brothers, she tried not to listen.

  And now here he stood, just a few feet away. Making it very hard not to remember... But no. She would not think back to that night. She couldn’t bear it.

  “So where are you off to now, Farley?” Laurel asked, her tone friendly. Everyone in the Coffee Creek area called the vet by his last name. Probably to avoid confusion with his father, also named Dan, whom he’d worked with before the elder Farley and his wife had retired to Arizona.

  Farley glanced briefly at Cassidy again, before answering. “Coffee Creek Ranch.”

  Though there were plenty of reasons why the vet might have been called out to her family’s ranch, Cassidy’s first thought was for Sky. At fourteen years of age, every day was a blessing. “What’s wrong?”

  “Your mother’s young palomino is sick. Sounds serious.”

  “Lucky Lucy? Oh, no.” She was glad Sky was okay, but this news was almost as bad. Her mother had bought the beautiful three-year-old palomino just this year and Cassidy loved her. Lucy had a wild heart but a gentle soul. Though she was her mother’s horse, Cassidy had felt a special connection with the mare from the first time she’d ridden her.

  “Any idea what the problem is?”

  “From the symptoms Jackson described, sounds like strangles.”

  “Really?” In all of her twenty-five years they’d never had a case of strangles on the ranch. She didn’t even know that much about it, other than it was a highly contagious, serious infection of the nose and lymph nodes.

  “I’ll have to examine the horse and run some tests to be sure.” He added a generous amount of cream to his coffee, fitted the cup with a lid, then grabbed one of the bagged cinnamon buns. “See you later, Laurel. And thanks.”

  No word to Cassidy, whose ranch he was heading for. She migh
t as well be an empty bar stool for all the attention he’d paid to her. Wordless herself, she watched as a half-dozen long strides took him out the door.

  The café fell silent then, and Cassidy realized that Laurel was looking at her, eyebrows raised.

  “What’s up with you and the vet?”

  Cassidy shifted Stephanie to her other arm. She’d planned on staying for a while to visit, but the bad news about the ranch had her suddenly anxious to get moving again.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Are you kidding? Sparks were flying here, and they weren’t the good kind. Farley isn’t the chattiest of people, but I’ve never seen him be downright rude before. And the way he all but ignored you? That was rude.”

  Yes. It sure had been.

  “I guess he figures he has his reasons.” Cassidy went around the counter to deliver Stephanie back to her playpen. She didn’t seem very happy about being set down until her mother wound up a musical mobile that had been affixed to the side of the playpen.

  “How do you get any work done with such a cute distraction around?” Cassidy bent to give her niece one last kiss.

  “It’s taken some adjusting, by me and the staff. Eugenia and Dawn have been great. And even Vince has taken a few turns at rocking Stephanie when she’s being fussy.”

  “That I’d like to see.” Vince was the epitome of the tough, silent cowboy from another era.

  “I know. Isn’t it amazing what babies bring out in a person?”

  “It sure is.” Though Farley hadn’t seemed moved by the baby at all. Of course, if she hadn’t happened to be there, he probably would have been much friendlier to Laurel and her daughter. “Is there anything I can do to help you before I leave?”

  “We’re fine,” Laurel assured her. “Eugenia’s shift is starting in about half an hour. That’ll give me a chance to take Stephanie upstairs, feed her and put her down for her nap. She’s a great sleeper, thank goodness. Gives me a couple free hours every afternoon.”

  “Sounds like a good system.” Cassidy counted out money for her order, then picked up her drink and her pastry. Now that Farley was gone, her appetite was returning. “I’d better get going.”

  “Wait one minute. You’re really not going to give me the scoop on you and Farley?”

  “Nope.” Cassidy gave Laurel a warm hug. “I’ll be back to have a longer visit in a few days. Or I may drop in on you and Corb at the ranch one evening.”

  “I’ll look forward to it. But be warned. Next time I see you, you better be ready to tell me what’s going on with you and the vet. He’s considered the most eligible bachelor in town, you know.”

  Cassidy wasn’t surprised. The guy had presence. And those eyes...

  “The single women of Coffee Creek needn’t worry,” she assured Laurel. “I’m not going to be any competition where Dan Farley is concerned.”

  She was out the door before Laurel had time for a comeback. Not that it mattered. She was so not going to tell Laurel about the history between her and Farley. She’d never told anyone and she’d bet Farley hadn’t, either.

  Chapter Two

  Dan Farley settled his coffee cup into the holder of his truck, then wolfed down the cinnamon bun in two minutes flat. Sweet and spicy...just like Cassidy Lambert.

  The little witch.

  So she was back in town. Judging from all the baggage in her truck, she was done with school. Would she be staying in Coffee Creek? Or moving on? Corb had mentioned she was studying accounting and thinking of working in Billings, but that her mother had other plans.

  He didn’t really care how it panned out. The little minx was trouble. And he intended to keep his distance.

  For the longest time she’d been nothing but the cute younger sister of his best friends B.J., Corb and Brock. With no siblings of his own, he hadn’t really minded when she tried to tag along with them—but Brock was always looking for ways to get rid of her.

  He said she talked too much. Which was true.

  He complained that she tried to boss them around. Also true.

  But she had redeeming characteristics, among them a soft, yet courageous heart. So many times she’d come to him and her brothers expecting them to help a baby chick that had fallen from its nest, a fawn struggling with a lame leg, a farm cat with distemper, eyes weeping from disease, matted fur over a scrawny body.

  Brock and Corb would brush her off, but he’d always done what he could to save the animal.

  And then Cassidy turned twenty-one and the person who needed saving was himself....

  An incoming call prevented him from dredging up further unwanted memories. He pressed the button on his steering wheel to patch it through.

  “Hello?”

  “Farley?” It was Liz Moffat, his right-hand woman at the office. Besides being his receptionist, the thirty-three-year-old mother of four also did a pretty good job of running his private life, as well. “I just had a call from Maddie Turner.”

  “I’m on my way to Coffee Creek Ranch right now.” The Lamberts’ place was only fifteen miles from Silver Creek Ranch. Maddie Turner and Olive Lambert were sisters, though they hadn’t spoken to one another in over thirty years.

  “When you’re finished there, could you swing by Maddie’s place? One of her cows is having a difficult birth.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  “Oh, and Amber wants to know about tonight. If you think you’ll be able to make it in time for a movie.”

  He wanted to say yes, but knew better. “Tell her probably not. I still have to check out the Harringtons’ lame cow.”

  “Maybe things will go well at Maddie’s and you’ll be able to do both.” Liz had fixed him up with Amber and was lobbying hard for the relationship to work.

  “Maybe.” But he doubted it. Maddie Turner didn’t have the head for business that her older sister did, and she’d been struggling financially for the past five years. She wouldn’t be asking for his help if the situation with her cow and unborn calf wasn’t dire.

  But first he had the situation at the Lamberts’ to deal with. And maybe another chance to see Cassidy?

  No. If she knew he was there, she’d avoid the barns, the way she usually did.

  * * *

  CASSIDY WAS DRIVING about ten miles over the posted speed limit on the secondary road out of Coffee Creek. Plus, she was taking sips of her coffee. And nibbling on her cinnamon bun. So she couldn’t claim to be the injured party when she saw the flashing lights of a patrol car behind her five minutes after leaving town.

  She pulled to the side of the road, turned off her music and waited.

  Sun beat in warmly through the windshield and she could hear a meadowlark’s song drifting on the fragrant spring breeze that wafted through her open windows. Ahead of her the pavement curved and she tensed as she saw the flower wreath affixed to the simple white cross that marked the spot of the accident where Brock had died last July.

  She’d been so busy thinking about Farley—and feeling unjustly hurt at his obvious disdain for her—that she’d almost passed right by the scene of Brock’s accident without noticing.

  In her rearview mirror, she saw an officer step out of the patrol car. Her nervousness increased when she recognized Savannah Moody.

  The last time she’d seen Savannah had been at Brock’s funeral. Savannah hadn’t stayed long, but she’d paid her respects. Now Cassidy took a deep breath as the sheriff stooped so she could look in the open window.

  “Hey, Cassidy. On your way home from Bozie?” Savannah wore her long hair in a braid when she was on duty, but even without her thick chestnut hair framing her face, she was stunning. She’d been blessed with large, thickly lashed eyes and smooth olive skin that she’d inherited from her French Canadian mother.

  “Yes. Just finished my exams yesterday.”

  “I’m sure you’re anxious to get home, but slow down, okay? I’m not giving you a ticket this time. Just a friendly warning.”

  Her gaze shifted up the road a
bit, and Cassidy knew what she was thinking. Knew, too, that the warning shouldn’t have been necessary.

  “You’re right. I’ll be a lot more careful in the future.” She studied the wreath again, noting that the flowers appeared fresh. “Is Maddie Turner still tending that?”

  Maddie was her mother’s estranged sister. No one in the family knew the whole story behind the family feud, but they’d all grown up understanding that their mother would consider it a grand betrayal if they acknowledged their aunt by so much as a smile or a word of hello.

  By the same token, none of them had understood why Maddie was being so diligent in tending Brock’s memorial tribute, until Corb took it upon himself to drive up to Silver Creek Ranch and ask her.

  Apparently Brock had been in the habit of visiting their aunt every now and then and had even helped her out with some handyman work on occasion.

  No one knew why he’d done this. But if any one of the Lambert kids was wont to break their parents’ rules, Brock was definitely the one.

  “I guess so.” Savannah patted the side of her truck. “I’m not a fan of roadside memorials, myself. Anything that draws your eyes off the road is a potential hazard.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Cassidy promised again.

  “Good. Say hi to your mom for me, Cassidy. And welcome home.”

  She was gone before Cassidy could tell her that this wasn’t a true homecoming. She was just going to stay a few weeks until she found out about the job she’d applied for in Billings. Her first interview had gone well. Now she was hoping for a second, soon to be followed by an offer of employment.

  Josh had applied to the same accounting firm, and he felt they both stood a good chance of being hired since their marks leading up to finals had been the top of their class. Competition was tight, though, since the accounting firm was only looking for three new articling students, and at least five other members of their graduating class had applied, including the woman who’d been president of the business club.