Her Rancher Rescuer. DONNA ALWARD

      Chapter Three

      Jack sincerely hoped he wasn’t making a colossal mistake.

      He looked over at Amy, who kept staring out the window of the Citation. He hadn’t realized that she’d never flown before. When she’d said she had a passport, he’d assumed she’d traveled a little, but she remarked that she’d only had one for the odd trip across the border. When she’d discovered that he’d chartered a private plane for the trip, her usually big eyes got even bigger. And he’d thought she was about to swallow her tongue when he offered her breakfast once they were settled in the plush leather seats. It had only been coffee and croissants, but it didn’t seem to matter to her. Everything was an adventure.

      Her innocent surprise and pleasure made him feel about ten feet tall. Which was weird because he wasn’t really into ego stroking. Maybe it was more that his life had gotten so busy that he tended to forget how special things were. He was worried about what was waiting for him in Montana. Amy was enjoying the journey.

      Hmm. Maybe he needed to do a little more of that.

      “What are you looking at?” he asked.

      “Clouds. Isn’t that amazing? We’re above the clouds.”

      “And when we start our descent, you’ll be able to see the ground. Mountains and everything.”

      “This is so cool. I never dreamed we were taking a private plane.”

      He chuckled and sat down beside her. “Hey, it’s not like I own it.” Though to be honest he’d considered it. He did enough traveling that it might be worth it. He could always lease it out to help cover the cost.

      “Doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not,” she said. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

      Her smile was bright and contagious. She was going with him to help out, but he got the feeling that seeing her experience things for the first time was going to be fun. There were lots of things to do in and around the ranch. Maybe they could carve out some time for more than just work.

      More than just work. The agreement was purely business, wasn’t it?

      He wanted to think so. Amy had asked him if he had a rescue complex and he’d denied it, but her question had hit rather close to home. Maybe he did. It had been years since Sheila and the following scandal, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d tried to help. Tried to offer Sheila a way out. Rationally he knew it wasn’t his fault she hadn’t taken it. It didn’t stop the guilt, though.

      The truth was, he had stepped in at the wedding for two reasons. First, he’d seen the hurt on Amy’s face. She’d looked first surprised at Rhys’s put-down and then defeated, and he hated that. And then there was the fact that he was going crazy beneath the polite smiles and required happiness for Callum. Not that he begrudged his brother a thing. Avery was awesome and Callum’s daughter, Nell, was sweet. But it was a stark reminder of what Jack might have had if things had been different, and Amy had been the perfect distraction.

      He’d played it cool back in Cadence Creek. Slowed things down the night of the wedding, hanging out with his parents instead of having a private toast for two in his room. Why, he couldn’t say. He was pretty sure that if he’d pressed the issue, things might have ended in the morning rather than before midnight. But there was something innately sweet about Amy. She hadn’t dug in her claws or tried to make the most of the situation.

      And then there was the kiss. The one on the dance floor had whetted his appetite, a small amuse-bouche giving him a taste of what was to come. The kiss in the parlor of the B and B had been different. And still he’d shown restraint. Walked her home. Kissed her good-night at her door.

      Then Christmas Eve had arrived and she’d been like a ray of sunshine in the midst of his stress. He’d convinced himself that they could just be friends. Especially when she came up with a very practical solution to his problem.

      He frowned as he took another sip of coffee. They were going to be alone at Aspen Valley and now that they were on their way he was reminded of how very beautiful she was and how kissing her had left him wanting more. Much more.

      Dammit. He was going to have to be careful, wasn’t he? There was helping and then there was getting in way over his head....

      They arrived at the small airport in Whitefish before lunch and transferred into his SUV that he’d left parked. It had snowed on Christmas Day and while the highways were fairly clear, the side roads were more snow-packed and he took his time. The sky was a clear, clear blue, the perfect backdrop for the mountains in the distance. When they finally turned onto the lane leading to his place, he heard Amy catch her breath.

      “This is so beautiful. How far until we get to your ranch?”

      He grinned, relaxing more and more as they got closer to home. “We’re on it.”

      “All this is yours?”

      He nodded, enchanted by the awe in her voice. “Most of it. It extends down past the valley there,” he said, pointing. “We’re bordered by a creek on the south side.”

      “How on earth do you look after it all? And run your company?”

      He shrugged. “When I bought this place, I kept the foreman on staff, and most of the hands, too, to run the stock operation. They know way more about ranching than I do and so we all play to our strengths. I have a team in place to do the heavy lifting with Shepard Sports, so I can spend a lot of my time here.” He grinned. “I couldn’t give Callum a hard time about farming. I know exactly why he loves it. I’m enjoying the ranch far more than I expected.”

      Indeed he did. In the months after Sheila’s betrayal and his devastating injury, he’d been lost. His heart had been trampled on and his dreams of Olympic gold ripped away. Even building Shepard Sports hadn’t given him the fulfillment he’d expected. It was the ranch that had finally done it, where he felt like himself again.

      “And the outdoor adventure part?” she asked.

      “Satisfies my thrill quotient.” He laughed a little. “The trail rides and cattle drives we do from here. For other events I either hire locally or partner with other businesses. It’s good for the local economy.”

      “Things like the zip-lining? Are you still a daredevil, Jack?”

      He shrugged. “Maybe, just a bit. I like the adrenaline rush, you know? There’s that, and powder skiing, and rock climbing. There are other fun things, too, that are less hair-raising. You’ll learn pretty quickly. Scheduling and confirming those activities are going to be on your to-do list this week.”

      She smiled back. “I feel like I’m in another world.”

      He turned his attention to the road. It was odd how her words so accurately reflected how he’d felt the first moment he’d arrived here, too. Like it was a world so completely detached from his crazy everyday life.

      The lane widened at a break in the trees and there was the house, two and a half stories of wood siding stained a dark cherry, and a wraparound veranda surrounded by pristine white snowbanks.

      Home.

      The tension seeped out of his body as the car crawled up the drive and around the circular driveway to stop in front of the house. There was something about this place. Something that spoke to the deepest part of him. Whenever anything went wrong, when business was too crazy and the demands never-ending, a weekend here was all it took to center him again. When he needed solitude