Free The Taylor Ranch: Cade by Vanessa Devereaux

THE TAYLOR RANCH: CADE
     
    Big Sky
County, 2
     
    Vanessa Devereaux
     
    Copyright © 2014
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    Cade
Mallory rarely paid attention to gossip, which most of the time fell into one
of two categories: either downright lies, or something that was in fact true,
but became embellished as it passed from one pair of lips to another. Current
tales circulating Pine Creek included Jacob Mead being in the Witness
Protection Program… Ida Smith and Henry Morgan thinking about running away
together… Ellie Jones carrying a baby that wasn’t her
husband’s. However, there was one that had to be true, because he had
proof of it in front of his very eyes.
    The
love of his life, April Dubois, was really back in town.
    Cade
sat in his truck, as spellbound as he’d been the first time he’d set eyes on
her five years ago.   He slipped on his
dark glasses, and was halfway to opening the truck door so he could say hello, when
he suddenly stopped. The last time they’d seen one another...well, it hadn’t
ended well.
    He
shut the door and leaned on the steering wheel, watching her load bags of
groceries into a truck. Even from this distance he could tell that she’d gained
weight again, which was a good thing because she’d been obsessed with staying
slim since ‘he who should not be spoken of’ had walked into her life. No––Ben
Parker didn’t walk. He strolled. No sign of Ben now though, which was lucky, because
the green-eyed monster had never been entirely put to rest.
    Maybe
the weight gain was due to a pregnancy, and she’d come home to have her baby in
Big Sky County where she’d grown up. Where she truly belonged . No, she couldn’t be pregnant
because the rumor mill would have picked up on that one immediately. Either
that or the news hadn’t reached him yet.
    He
watched as she shut the back of her truck and then walked into the drugstore next
to Pine Creek’s one and only grocery store. He had other things to do besides waiting
for her to come back out, but he wouldn’t think of leaving just yet. He shook
his head. She’d always had him under her magical spell, and he guessed the
passing of time hadn’t changed a thing.
    Five
minutes later, she walked out of the drugstore and headed back to her vehicle.
He had his binoculars somewhere in the truck. He’d take a quick look at her up
close because for all her knew this might be the one and only time he’d see her
again. Cade pushed his extra pair of cowboy boots aside and reached out until
his fingertips met with the edge of the binocular’s strap. He pulled them toward
him and hoped she hadn’t gotten into her car just yet, because he wanted to see
her up close. He was in luck, as when he turned back she was chatting with some
lady on the sidewalk.
    Putting
the binoculars up to his eyes, Cade realized he was spying on April and was
about to ogle some other man’s wife. However, it would be his little secret.
    Crouching
lower in the seat, he refocused the lens, allowing him to zoom in on her. She
still spoke with her hands, which no doubt had been her French grandfather’s
influence. No ring on the third finger of the left hand. No wedding band, no
engagement ring, and that thing had been hard to miss. It had burned into his
brain night after night.
    Slowly
aiming the binoculars up to her face, his heart skipped a beat. She was just as
pretty. No, that wasn’t true––now that she was older, she’d turned into a beautiful
woman. She still took his breath away. He was hooked all over again and he knew
how stupid it was. April was married to another man and she’d never be his.
    She
looked his way. Looked directly at his truck, as if she knew she was being
spied upon and that Cade Mallory was the one doing the spying.
    Shit.
    He
threw the binoculars down on the passenger seat and ran his hand through his
hair.
    She
was heading his way. Now what would he do? What did a man say to the woman who
had captured his heart and then broken