Carla Cassidy - The Colton Bride

He only had to take a couple of steps out of the stable and he knew she was someplace nearby. The scent eddied in the air, rising above the smell of animals and hay and oiled leather.

She was probably at the petting barn. He glanced at his watch and noted that it was nearing dinnertime. He wondered if she knew how late it was getting.

Although his usual pattern was to avoid being anyplace where he thought she might be, he decided to walk over to the small barn and let her know that it was almost time to eat.

He knew she often lost track of time when she was tending to the ranch’s animals. She’d always loved the creatures of the earth and was a natural at nurturing all the ones in her care.

As he ambled toward the small barnlike structure, he steeled himself to see her. He’d believed he’d cast her out of his head, out of his heart in the five years that he’d been away from Dead River Ranch and working on a ranch in Montana.

Four years ago when his father, the former ranch foreman, had become ill, Gray had come back to Dead River Ranch and when his father had passed, Gray had become the new foreman.

In all that time there were moments he almost forgot that he’d once loved Catherine Colton, there were increments of time that he almost forgot the depth of her betrayal. But, seeing her always wrought myriad emotions in him, emotions that he consciously schooled to indifference.

She had no place in his life and he had none in hers. He’d learned that lesson when he’d been eighteen years old, a hard lesson that he was likely never to forget.

Any indifference he might have felt for her fled as he rounded the corner to the petting barn and saw her slumped on the ground against the fence.

Adrenaline roared through him as he raced to her side, his gun pulled and at the ready. Had she been attacked? He hadn’t been that far away in the stables and he hadn’t heard her cry out, hadn’t heard anything that would warrant action or warn of any danger.

It took only a quick assessment to assure him that she didn’t appear to have any wounds anywhere. He tucked his gun back into the holster, sat next to her on the ground and pulled her into his arms.

“Catherine?” Everyone around the ranch called her Cath, but when Gray had returned to Dead River Ranch, he’d decided he’d never call her by that affectionate nickname again. He also refused to call her Miss Catherine as all the other staff did. Cath had been a woman he loved. Catherine was just one of his bosses.

He felt the side of her neck, where her pulse was steady and strong. “Catherine,” he said louder, as if by the sheer strength of the command in his deep voice alone he could bring her around.

It worked. She drew a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. For just a moment he was eighteen years old again and she was seventeen. Her indigo-blue eyes held sweet softness and her long blond hair spilled over his arm like a sheet of honey-colored silk. As if in a trance, her lush lips turned up in a smile of such pleasure it ached deep inside him.

Like a time warp, it was as if they were both momentarily trapped in the past, in a time when they’d loved one another more than anyone else in the world, in a time when he’d been foolish enough to believe that a wealthy Colton might really choose a future with a dirt-poor ranch hand.

The moment snapped and she bolted upright at the same time he released her and quickly rose to his feet. “What happened?” he asked. Reluctantly he held out his hand to help her up, unsure if she’d accept his aid or not. They hadn’t exactly been on friendly terms for the past few years.

She slipped her small hand into his and he pulled her up, both of them breaking the physical contact instantly once she was on her feet.

She looked around, as if momentarily confused. “I don’t know. I guess I fainted.” She frowned and her hand went to her stomach. “I got really light-headed and sat down and that’s the last thing I remember.”

“Why would you faint? You’ve never been the fainting type before.” He looked at her in disbelief.

A new tiny frown danced in the center of her forehead. “I...uh...didn’t sleep well last night and I missed lunch.”

His disbelief deepened. A night of little sleep and a missed meal wouldn’t make somebody as healthy and strong as Catherine faint. There had to be something else going on with her.

“I’m pregnant.” The words blurted from her lips. Her eyes widened as she slapped a hand over her mouth. She slowly raised her hand to her hair and twirled a strand of it, a remembered indication to him that she was upset. “I took a test just a little while ago and it was positive. I’m going to have a baby.”

A whole new host of emotions flew through Gray. “I’m sure Dirk must be very happy. Is there a wedding planned for the near future?” He knew she’d been seeing society playboy Dirk Sinclair for the past six months or so. Their pictures had graced the society pages more than once in recent months.

“There won’t be a wedding,” Catherine said as she started walking toward the house. “Dirk and I broke up two months ago when he discovered I wouldn’t get my inheritance until I turned thirty years old.”

Gray fell into step beside her. Everyone who lived and worked at the ranch knew that Catherine’s father, Jethro, had stipulated that all heirs had to live at the ranch until they turned thirty years old and only then would they receive their inheritance, a substantial amount of money.

“Only my sisters know about the baby and I’ve sworn them all to absolute secrecy. Dirk will never know. He made it obvious to me that he was courting my money, not me, and I don’t want him in my life for any reason.”

“I’m sorry about you and Dirk,” Gray said, only because it was expected of him.

“I’m not.” She raised her chin. “I’m just grateful he showed his true colors before I accepted his stupid proposal.” Her hand slid down her light blue sweatshirt and lingered on her stomach, her eyes darkening. “This is my baby and nobody else’s.”

Gray’s stomach clenched with an unexpected tightness. He was surprised to discover that it bothered him more than a little bit that she carried another man’s baby. It was a stupid reaction that he refused to give weight. He was never meant to be the father of her children. Far better men than him were destined for that particular role in her life.

What her information did do was make him recognize that this would make her a particularly desirable victim to any kidnapper with a brain...two Colton heirs for the price of one.

“If you’re smart you’ll keep this a secret for as long as you possibly can. It puts a huge target on your back,” he said and then hurriedly added, “not that it’s any of my business.”

He thought she saw a faint flinch etch across her pretty features. “You’re right, it isn’t any of your business,” she replied coolly, making him wonder if he’d seen the flinch or just imagined it. He couldn’t imagine that there was anything he could say to her that would actually hurt her.

Whatever he’d thought they had together years ago had been nothing but an illusion and in the four years that he’d been back at the ranch she’d dated a variety of men befitting a Colton, confirming to him that she’d never really cared about him anyway.

Still, when they reached the back door where she would enter and he would continue on around the mansion to the entryway for staff, he took her by the arm.

He wanted to ask her what in hell was she thinking? There was danger all around them. This was the worst time to let people know a new Colton heir was on the way. It had only been three months since somebody had tried to kidnap the youngest Colton heir, Cheyenne, the first time. A second attempt had been made less than a month before, thankfully both unsuccessful, but the first attempt had left his best friend’s mother dead.