Page 5 of Cowboys Next Door

Or is this my preconceived notions of westerns again? Where’s the sky-high A-frame, the picturesque red barn?

But as a slender, white-haired woman comes to stand beside me expectantly, I know no mistake has been made, no kidnapping in progress. The smile illuminates her weathered face, but it’s her laurel green eyes that sell me.

They’re identical to mine.

This is Katherine Winterbourne, my father’s mother, my grandmother, who I had long believed was dead. She really had been living in Helena all this time.

“Rose?”

A weathered hand touches the glass, and I realize I’m gawking at her from inside the truck. I haven’t even bothered to step out of the vehicle yet.

Fumbling for the door handle, I let myself out and stumble toward her as she moves back to give me space, hardly believing we are finally meeting. If possible, her smile broadens more, the joy on her face infectious.

“I can’t believe you’re really here!” Katherine whispers, drawing closer, tears filling her rheumy but bright eyes. “You’re really his! I… I can see him in you.”

“My father?” I’m as dumbfounded as she is. A million emotions rush through me, some pleasant, others unsettling.

Katherine swallows thickly and nods, bowing her head. “I still can’t believe that Cory had a child, and I never knew about you.”

I shake my head and clear my throat, embracing her frail body, reminding myself that she is an old woman, lest I crush her with everything I’m feeling at that moment.

How could my piece-of-shit father never have told his own mother about her grandchild?

It isn’t the first time I’ve asked myself this question since learning about my grandmother, but I refuse to let it ruin this reunion. Cory Winterbourne is long gone, buried six feet under.

I can’t wonder about what would have happened if my grandmother had always known about me. Today is a new day for me and for Katherine.

“Dad had a lot of… problems,” I inform her softly as I release her. “It’s not your fault that you didn’t know about me.”

“You poor dear,” Katherine sniffles, hanging her head, the shame loaded in her words. “To be on your own all this time?—”

“No, please, Katherine—” I interject quickly. “Let’s not do any of that, okay? I made my peace with my parents’ choices, and I overcame them. I don’t want to rehash them with you or anyone else. I’m not here for them. I’m here for you, for us.”

She smiles through her tears. “You’re a brave girl, Rose. I can tell. Oh, you already remind me of me, accepting the hand that you’re dealt with dignity.”

I manage to keep my snort silent and maintain my smile.

I don’t know how much dignity I have left, but if you say so.

“Come inside. I want to introduce you to my neighbors. They’re so eager to meet you. I haven’t stopped talking about you since I got the email,” Katherine chuckles, leading me away from the car. “I think they’re starting to think I made you up.”

Instantly, I recall the sexy driver who picked me up.

I turn to look for Hudson, but to my disappointment, he’s disappeared somewhere. “Is Hudson one of your neighbors?” I hope my interest in him isn’t too obvious, but when a man is that freaking hot, it’s hard not to notice.

Katherine nods, her smile blossoming like a flower after the rain. It’s clear she has a lot of affection for Hudson.

“Oh, yes. He lives to the north. Isn’t he a darling?” Katherine coos, taking my arm and leading me toward the crumbling house.

I covertly glance at the dilapidated building and then the others in the background, thinking of how lovely this place must have been in its glory. I don’t have much time to envision it fully, but my imagination already begins taking off with me.

“Darling, yes,” I say distractedly.

That isn’t the word I would have used to describe my grandmother’s northernly neighbor, but the adjectives piling through my mind hardly seem appropriate to say aloud.

Rude. Aloof. Sexy as hell. But not darling.

“Is this the prodigal granddaughter?” a teasing voice booms out, steering my head toward the front of the house and away from my thoughts of Hudson and the wasted ranch around me.

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