Page 16 of River Legacy (Powder River #5)

Were they really that foolish that they thought they’d seen the last of her? She owned a huge ranch with her family next to the Powder River. And she wasn’t the kind of woman who, even after being knocked down, wouldn’t get up again.

If anything, she was surprised that she’d stayed away for so long. She’d lent her house to the McKennas after theirs had burned to the ground. She’d escaped a prison sentence herself before she’d left town without a word of explanation.

Rumors had run rampant. Her friend Elaine had kept her informed in the time she was gone. “She’s sick,” one wife of a rancher had been overhead saying at the general store. “Mayo Clinic, I heard. It’s bad.”

“I heard she checked herself into rehab for alcohol abuse,” another said. “I would have been driven to drink too if I had son like CJ.”

“With her kind of money, I’d bet if she checked herself in anywhere it would be a five-star hotel or a spa,” another offered. “She’ll be back looking so great that Holden McKenna won’t be able to resist her. That’s what she really wants. To ruin that man’s life even more.”

But another argued, “I doubt that woman even knows what she wants.”

Charlotte would have found the conversations amusing except she did know what she wanted, what she had secretly always wanted.

She just wasn’t sure she could have it since she’d spent so many years denying it.

She pushed thoughts of Holden McKenna away and thought of her children instead.

Maybe later she would entertain the idea of again being with the man she loved.

Right now, she was worried about Tilly, she thought as she turned into the McKenna Ranch where her oldest daughter lived.

She wasn’t sure what kind of reception she would get—if her daughter even opened the door to her.

Not that she could blame Tilly.

Charlotte had played favorites with her children and was now paying the price. As her son CJ would have said, she’d bet on the wrong horse when she’d put so much of her love and hope into him.

She parked and hurried to the door, feeling a sense of urgency she couldn’t explain. After ringing the bell twice, she began to worry that she was too late. Maybe Tilly had been taken to the hospital to deliver her baby already. Maybe she’d missed the pregnancy and the delivery.

Charlotte heard a sound inside the house. A moment later, Tilly opened the door, her hand going to her hugely protruding stomach as tears filled her eyes.

“You haven’t had the baby yet,” Charlotte said with relief.

For a moment, the way her oldest daughter was looking at her, she thought Tilly would tell her to go away.

When she didn’t immediately, Charlotte held out hope that maybe the past could be forgotten.

That Tilly could forgive her for missing so many of the important events in her life because of some overblown feud between her and Holden McKenna.

So many regrets rushed over her in that instant.

She felt so foolish that she’d fought Tilly marrying Cooper McKenna.

How could she explain how hard it was to see the man that she had loved all those years ago, Holden McKenna, walking her daughter down the aisle to marry his son?

She hadn’t been able to breathe, the pain threatening to kill her with jealousy.

That should have been her and Holden up there at the altar all those years ago.

Now because of her foolishness, she’d almost missed the birth of her first grandchild. She would never have forgiven herself if she had. She could see in her daughter’s green eyes, so like her own, that Tilly wouldn’t forgive her either.

“What are you doing here?” Tilly said in a whisper, tears spilling from her eyes.

“I couldn’t miss the birth of my grandchild,” Charlotte said. Her throat had gone dry, her heart a cramping ache in her chest. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. I’m so sorry about everything. I had this feeling that you were going to have the baby today. I had to tell you before—”

She stopped as her daughter’s face crumbled, and took a step, falling into her mother’s arms. Charlotte closed her arms around her child, something she hadn’t done in years. Her body trembled with her own unshed tears as she rocked Tilly, letting her daughter weep.

Suddenly Tilly pulled back, her expression one of surprise. They both looked to the floor as the liquid that ran down her daughter’s legs began to pool at her feet. Tilly began to cry harder in huge gasping sobs. “I’m finally having this baby.”

“Where is Cooper?” Charlotte asked.

“I insisted he leave to take care of a bull that was coming in today on the train,” Tilly answered, gasping the words out. “I had contractions, but I’ve had so many false alarms I thought I was never going to have this baby.”

“Well, you are now, so let’s get you out to my SUV and to the hospital.”

A few minutes later, Charlotte had loaded her daughter and her suitcase into the SUV. Sliding behind the wheel, she started the engine as she called Cooper to meet them at the hospital. The hospital was ten miles away in Powder Crossing. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you there.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here,” Tilly said as she tried to compose herself.

“You would have been fine,” she assured her. “You’re the strongest and most capable woman I know.”

Her daughter cried harder at that assertion. “I used to be. But...” she waved a hand over her stomach “. . . now I’m not so sure.”

“Don’t worry, you’re going to make a great mother.”

Sixty minutes later, Charlotte held the precious infant in her arms. Her granddaughter had been eager to get out into the world—once she got around to it. “Oh, Tilly, she is beautiful.”

Eyes bright, her daughter nodded from the bed. “Thank you.”

“I’m just glad I was here,” Charlotte said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. Did you enjoy any part of the pregnancy?”

“Buying cute baby girl clothes in secret since we didn’t tell anyone the sex. But the morning sickness and the rest...” She shook her head, looking exhausted.

“Well, you did great,” she said as Cooper came rushing in, going first to his wife, then turning to her. Thank you , he mouthed, and Charlotte held out the baby to him. “Your daughter. Congratulations.”

If he seemed surprised to see her, he hid it well as he took his daughter in his arms and moved over to the bed with Tilly.

Charlotte slipped out to call Holden to let him know he was a grandfather.

“I’ m doing it!” Victoria cried excitedly as the truck moved forward without all the herky-jerky starts and stops she’d been struggling with. She couldn’t believe that she’d finally gotten the hang of driving—let alone driving a stick shift.

She shot a look at Ryder. He was grinning, where earlier he’d been grimacing. “I knew you could do it,” he said.

Victoria had to laugh at that. There was definitely a point where she hadn’t been so sure about that. It hadn’t come easy. All that clutch and brake and gas stuff, she thought and again wished she could share this with her friends.

But even as she thought it, she knew they wouldn’t really appreciate what she was doing.

Their lives were in the city with shopping, lunches, club-hopping and parties.

It was about being seen. She’d certainly fallen into it as well, always worried about what she was going to wear because she had a reputation to uphold.

Now all that seemed... silly, she thought as she caught her reflection in the rearview mirror. Here she was wearing secondhand clothing that didn’t quite fit like it should. And she could have cared less.

Brand pounded on the top of the cab, and she slowed up so he could throw off more hay.

“Nice,” Ryder said as she pulled it off perfectly.

She couldn’t help being touched by his encouragement.

There’d been some tense moments and some hilarious ones, but she’d finally driven the truck.

True, there had been a lot of stopping and going with Brand pounding on the roof and almost falling off the flatbed more times than he would want to remember.

But he’d been able to toss out bales to the cattle, and once she’d figured it out, it was fun.

Brand pounded again, signaling that they were all finished, and it was time to drive back to the ranch. She couldn’t help smiling all the way back as she drove.

“I might have to get my license when I get home,” she said. “Bet I could talk my father into buying me a car. Or maybe a pickup.”

“You did a great job,” Ryder said.

She caught something in his tone and shot a look at him.

She realized, her heart dropping, that she shouldn’t have mentioned her father or home.

They’d been having a good time, and she’d spoiled it.

Both her father and the fact that she would be leaving soon had been an unwelcome reminder to them both.

She’d done it earlier too, but both her father and this very short weekend were a fact, one neither of them should ignore.

Once she’d parked the truck and turned off the engine, she said, “If you still want to go into town for dinner, I’ll go get cleaned up.”

Ryder nodded. “I’ll help Brand with a couple of things and get cleaned up myself. Meet downstairs at six?”

“Sounds good.” She met his gaze. “Thank you so much for teaching me to drive the truck. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.

” It was true, and that drove home how routine her life was in Dallas and New York too.

She used to think she couldn’t live without social media from the first thing in the morning until the last thing she checked at night.

It surprised her that she hadn’t even missed her phone, let alone social media. She reminded herself that it had only been a day. She’d probably feel differently by the end of the weekend. She had to keep reminding herself that this was temporary.

She thought about how patient and kind Ryder had been, given his brother was cursing in the truck bed behind them. She could laugh now, but if it hadn’t been for Ryder, she would have been too nervous and given up.

As she raced up the stairs and started to go into Tilly’s room, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway behind her.

She turned, expecting to see one of the household staff.

But the moment she saw the man’s face, she knew he had to be a Stafford.

He was tall, blond, green-eyed and looked enough like Ryder and Brand that he had to be their brother CJ.

“Who are you?” he demanded as he gave her the once-over through hooded eyes. “And what are you doing in Tilly’s bedroom?”

Victoria couldn’t believe that she was actually face-to-face with the infamous CJ Stafford. But Ryder had said she wouldn’t be seeing him because he was on parole and not allowed to come to the ranch. Apparently, CJ hadn’t gotten the memo.

“I’m Victoria Forester,” she said as she sized him up. “And you’re CJ Stafford. I heard they let you out of the slammer.”

He cocked his head at her. “You seem to know a lot about my business. Again, what are you doing going into my sister’s bedroom?”

“I’m a guest of Ryder’s.”

“Really?” he asked, looking amused. “Good for Ryder. Apparently, everyone gets a run of this house but me. You his girlfriend?”

She couldn’t help herself. “Fiancée, for the weekend.”

His eyes widened. “You said Forester . Any relation to Wendell Forester?”

“He’s my father.”

“No kidding? I tried to contact him a while back about the ranch. I was curious what it was worth on the open market.”

“That’s probably how the Stafford Ranch came on his radar, then,” Victoria said. “Your brother will be delighted to hear that. My father’s been trying to buy the ranch ever since.”

All the color had bled from CJ’s face. “Buy it? Is Ryder thinking about selling it? The ranch isn’t for sale, is it?” He sounded scared and upset.

“I would say definitely not.” She saw the change in him immediately. He let out a breath, looking relieved.

“So you’re Ryder’s fiancée.” He raised an eyebrow. “I guess I underestimated him. Your father must be very pleased.”

She shook her head. “It’s just for the weekend.”

“Wise, since you look like someone who isn’t cut out for ranch life.” With that, he turned and headed back down the hallway to what she assumed was a back stairway before she could tell him otherwise. She could now drive a large truck with a stick shift, she wanted to call after him.

She watched him go, thinking about what he’d told her. Ryder would be furious and not just about CJ being on the ranch. After contacting her father, he’d put the ranch in jeopardy, since Wendell Forester always got what he wanted, one way or another.

Victoria shuddered at the thought, remembering that he wanted her married to the man of his choice.

She was surprised, now that she thought about it, that she hadn’t heard anything from him.

That didn’t bode well, but maybe more surprising she hadn’t heard from Claude, she thought as she went into Tilly’s room and locked the door, suddenly not feeling as safe as she had before meeting CJ.

Her father wasn’t going to give up on the Stafford Ranch or marrying her off to Claude. She hated to think that the two men might be together plotting against her.