Home on the Ranch: Montana Redemption Read online

  A secret worth protecting

  Chelsea Logan has always had a weakness for bad boys, and Ryder Slade is no exception. She’s swept off her feet by the rugged cowboy. But that changes when Chelsea discovers that Ryder is out on parole after being convicted of killing his father. She can’t let an ex-con near her daughter or her reputation.

  Yet something doesn’t add up. The Ryder she knows is thoughtful, caring and wonderful with her daughter, who is deaf. The lawyer in Chelsea won’t stop digging until she figures out what really happened. But can she ever trust a man who won’t tell her the truth, even if it is to protect someone he loves?

  “I just hate the way everyone looks at you.”

  “Do you? Or do you hate the way everyone looks at you when you’re with me?”

  “Both.”

  Ryder hadn’t expected her to answer so fast. “Chelsea, I’m flattered you’ve taken the time to do this for me.” Ryder didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but he didn’t want to be her pet project either. “I appreciate everything, but please don’t do this again. I’m still trying to figure out why you’re risking your reputation. You need to accept me for who I am now. Not who you want me to be tomorrow. Besides, you have a little improvement of your own to do.”

  “Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?” Her foot tapped again.

  Ryder cursed himself for not keeping that last part to himself. “You told me the other night you don’t get out much. You need to make time. Forget the picture-perfect image you seem to compete with, and just be you.”

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the last book in my Saddle Ranch, Montana series. Writing this one was bittersweet. While I was delighted to tell Ryder’s story, I knew it would be the last time I sat down with the Slade family and the other townsfolk I had grown to love.

  Two years ago, I started this journey. Since then I’ve rescued animals with Harlan and Belle, celebrated Christmas with Dylan and Emma, gone dog sledding with Garrett and Delta, changed lots of diapers with Wes and Jade, and fallen in love with wild horses and donkeys alongside Ryder and Chelsea. I’ve created many memories living with these characters, and now they’ll live on through your time spent with them.

  This book is also my last one for what once was Harlequin Western Romance. I found my second home here back in 2012 when it was then known as American Romance. It was here that I discovered my love for writing stories about children...something I never thought I’d enjoy. While this may be the end of Saddle Ridge, I’m not going far. I’ll see you soon!

  I hope you enjoy Home on the Ranch: Montana Redemption. Stop by and visit me at amandarenee.com. I’d love to hear from you.

  Happy reading!

  Amanda Renee

  Home on the Ranch

  Montana Redemption

  Amanda Renee

  Amanda Renee was raised in the northeast and now wriggles her toes in the warm coastal Carolina sands. Her career began when she was discovered through Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. When not creating stories about love and laughter, she enjoys the company of her schnoodle, Duffy, as well as camping, playing guitar and piano, photography and anything involving animals. You can visit her at amandarenee.com.

  Books by Amanda Renee

  Harlequin Western Romance

  Saddle Ridge, Montana

  The Lawman’s Rebel Bride

  A Snowbound Cowboy Christmas

  Wrangling Cupid’s Cowboy

  The Bull Rider’s Baby Bombshell

  Harlequin American Romance

  Welcome to Ramblewood

  Betting on Texas

  Home to the Cowboy

  Blame It on the Rodeo

  A Texan for Hire

  Back to Texas

  Mistletoe Rodeo

  The Trouble with Cowgirls

  A Bull Rider’s Pride

  Twins for Christmas

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  For Ashley.

  May you run wild and free in the heavens above.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Home on the Ranch: Wyoming Sheriff by Rebecca Winters

  Chapter 1

  A backbreaking day on the ranch was better than his best day in prison. Ryder Slade welcomed hard work after getting paroled a week earlier. Unfortunately, his body had forgotten the punishing side of ranch life and he’d pay for it later. He wouldn’t complain though. It may be in his job description to help rescue and care for animals at the Free Rein Wild Horse and Donkey Sanctuary, but they were rescuing him. So was his ex-wife, Tori James.

  Despite their divorce and her subsequent remarriage, Tori had remained his dearest friend. She’d stood by him during his five-and-a-half-year stint behind bars, when most of his family had kept their distance. Not that he blamed them. After all, he’d been sentenced to ten years for killing his father. Confessing to involuntary manslaughter had been the best and worst decision he’d ever made. It had also had more consequences than he’d ever imagined.

  “How are you doing out here?” Tori braked beside him and handed him a bottle of water through the window of her seen-better-days pickup.

  Ryder used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, then thirstily twisted off the cap. “Thank you.” He took a long swig as he gazed out over the couple hundred acres his ex-wife had purchased after his incarceration. “I’m almost finished replacing this post, then I’ll head in. What time did you say the hay delivery was coming?”

  Tori checked her watch. “Around four, so you have an hour. I’m on my way to pick up Missy from school, but I should be back by then. And Nate will be home this weekend, so he can help you replace the remaining fence posts.”

  He still couldn’t believe Tori’s husband of two years had agreed to allow Ryder to live and work on the ranch while he stayed out on the road as a long-haul truck driver. “There’s more than a weekend’s worth of fencing to repair. For now, I’m choosing the absolute worst ones to keep the cost down.”

  Free Rein operated on a bare-bones budget, relying mostly on donations and adoption fees. That lack of funding affected his wallet too, but housing was a condition of his parole for the next three years and that meant more to him than a decent paycheck. Besides, Tori had been the only person in Saddle Ridge willing to hire him. Moving back to his hometown in northwestern Montana gave him a better chance to salvage any relationship he had left with his family...if a chance even existed.

  “I’m making tuna-noodle casserole for dinner, so be sure to come up to the house for a plate later.”

  Ryder’s mouth watered at the mere mention of his favorite dish. His mother had given Tori the recipe along with many others on their wedding day with a note reading: The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

  “We’ve already gone over this.” Ryder tightened his grip on the water bottle, almost crushing it. “As much as I appreciate the invite, you’re not responsible for feeding me.”

  “It’s the least I can do after the sacrifices you’ve made.”

  Ryder ground his back teeth. “Let’s not go there.”

  “Fin
e, I won’t force you to discuss it, but I wish you’d acknowledge what you’ve done.” A worn belt screeched under the hood of her truck. “And there’s another item on my list of things to do.”

  “I can replace it for you,” Ryder said, grateful for the subject change.

  “I just may take you up on that offer if Nate doesn’t get to it on Saturday.” She reached for her phone and typed in a note before tossing it onto the passenger side of the worn bench seat. “As I was saying, I don’t know anyone who would throw away their life for a crime they didn’t commit.”

  A chill ran down his spine at the memory of that fateful night. “Tori, please. You promised to drop it. I can’t risk someone else finding out. Not even Nate.”

  Tori paled at the mention of her husband. “About that.”

  “You didn’t.” Ryder gripped the pickup’s windowsill. “How could you?”

  “Because Nate wouldn’t have agreed to you moving into the old bunkhouse unless I told him the truth.” Tori’s amber eyes blazed, almost matching the fiery color of her hair. “We have a solid marriage and I want it to stay that way. But what man wouldn’t question his wife’s motivation for wanting to hire her ex-husband, let alone give him a place to stay? You can trust Nate.”

  Like I trusted you to keep my secret. “Go pick up your daughter.”

  She didn’t attempt to explain any further as the truck rolled forward. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Yep,” he mumbled as she drove off. An uneasiness settled in his gut. Ryder grabbed the shovel he’d left leaning against the four-wheeler he’d ridden out on earlier and jammed it into the ground, breaking open a blister on his palm. His newfound freedom threatened to destroy everything he had managed to protect. Now his families’ fate rested in Nate’s hands. A man he’d only met a few times when Tori visited him in prison. He seemed nice enough on the surface, but could he be trusted?

  * * *

  An hour later, Ryder stood on the back of a flatbed truck, tossing one hay bale after another onto a smaller tractor rack he’d driven into the barn to off-load. At almost seventy pounds apiece, they were more of a workout than anything he’d done in prison. How had Tori managed to run the ranch while Nate was away with only a handful of volunteers?

  A child’s laughter echoed in the barn’s entrance as a flash of blonde hair tore past him. “You’ll never catch me,” she sang as she rounded the front of the truck.

  “Hey, kid!” Ryder called out as he tossed another bale. He looked around for Tori and Missy. The girl couldn’t be over nine or ten years old. “You can’t play here. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Who is that?” the feed driver asked from the rack as he straightened the bales Ryder threw down to him.

  “Maybe she’s one of Tori’s daughter’s friends.” They were close to the same age, although Missy had been deaf since birth and unable to speak that well; this girl sang as clear as the wind. After off-loading the top row, Ryder jumped down and worked on the next. “Where did she go? I don’t see her.”

  “I think she’s under the bed.” The driver crouched down. “Nope, not there.”

  Ryder released the last set of straps and continued to off-load when the girl began singing again. He looked at the driver. “I thought you said she wasn’t under there.” He leaned forward, trying to see over the side without tipping the bales. “Get out before you get hurt.”

  “She must have been hiding behind the tires.” He shrugged and called to the girl as Missy ran past the truck. “Is that the deaf kid?”

  Ryder halted midlift and set the bale down. “Her name is Missy, and yes, she’s deaf.” He was fairly certain the driver hadn’t meant anything derogatory by his remark, but Ryder was extremely protective of the girl he’d help raise until his arrest. He’d been there the day Missy was born, much to the dismay of Tori’s boyfriend at the time. Good thing Ryder had been because the jerk took off the minute Missy failed the newborn hearing test.

  He’d learned sign language alongside Tori and even married her so she wouldn’t struggle as a single parent. He loved them both, but he’d never been in love with Tori. When their marriage finally fell apart, Ryder felt he’d let them both down.

  Ryder waved his arms to get Missy’s attention. When she looked his way, he attempted to sign before realizing he still had on his heavy work gloves. He tugged them off and heard the other girl’s laughter again before seeing her head poke out from under the bed between the truck and the rack.

  “Kid!” When she didn’t flinch at the sound of his voice, Ryder assumed she was deaf, as well. The side of his body hit the bales as he jumped off the flatbed, causing a three-high stack to lean.

  “Watch out!” the driver shouted.

  Ryder turned to see the blonde girl’s back to him, oblivious to the danger inches above her head. He wrapped his hand around her arm and yanked her out of the way a split second before the entire stack crashed to the ground, almost crushing her. She screamed, and Ryder worried he’d inadvertently hurt her. He spun her around to face him and signed, “Are you okay?”

  Blue eyes wild, she said, “Yes,” without signing in return.

  Missy ran between them signing, “We’re sorry. Please don’t tell my mom.”

  “I have to,” Ryder signed. “I need to tell her parents, too.”

  “No, my mom will get mad at me,” the blonde girl spoke as she signed.

  “What’s your name?” Ryder asked.

  “Peyton.” She finger-spelled each letter before demonstrating her name sign.

  “My name is Ryder. I’ll tell your mom it was an accident, but you have to promise to be more careful.” He turned to Missy. “And you know better.”

  “There they are.” Tori saw the fallen bales and rushed to the girls. “Did they do this?”

  “No, but Peyton could have been crushed,” Ryder said.

  Tori signed wildly to her daughter. “How many times have I told you not to play near the outbuildings or the animals if me or Nate aren’t around?” She turned to Ryder without waiting for Missy to respond. “What happened?”

  The driver groaned as he climbed onto the truck bed and began to off-load the hay alone. Ryder had too much work to do for a lengthy blow-by-blow. “I’ll let Missy and Peyton tell you and I’ll fill you in on any missing details when I’m done here.” He watched them walk away and thought about how lucky Peyton had been as he adjusted his back-support belt and grabbed the first fallen bale, forgetting his hands were bare. The sharpness of the baling wire bit into his blistered palms as he swore under his breath. He yanked his gloves from his back pocket and tugged them on as the truck driver laughed at him. “What’s so funny?”

  “Are you sure you’re cut out for this? Working on a ranch is tough.”

  “I grew up on one, thank you.” Ryder spat, annoyed at the insinuation he was too soft for the job. “I’ve just been away from it for a while. Give me time.” He was a patient man and prison had strengthened his determination. Nothing would stop him from regaining his life and earning his family’s forgiveness.

  Nothing.

  * * *

  Chelsea Logan enjoyed her evening drives to the horse sanctuary to pick up her daughter, Peyton. Seeing the wild mustangs run across the lush green pastures as she turned onto the ranch road was the stress relief she needed after a drama-filled day in family court. While most of her clients’ time spent before a judge set the steadiest of nerves alight, today had been particularly rough. Watching a parent lose custody because they couldn’t earn enough to support their child rankled her to the core. Especially when the ex-spouse had erected one roadblock after another. But, those injustices would make her fight twice as hard when she appealed the ruling.

  A rescued burro brayed near the adoption center as she parked her Chevy Impala in front of the corral fence. She stepped out of the car and inhaled the scent of fresh-cut hay. It was
only the third week of September, but snow already dappled the majestic Swan Range in the distance. She and Peyton had moved to Saddle Ridge a year ago from the bustling metropolis of Helena and she still hadn’t found the time to explore the area.

  She reached into her car for her bag when a pair of nice-fitting Wranglers and a Stetson caught her attention through the window. “Oh, that’s definitely not Nate,” she murmured as she watched the man saunter toward the barn. She stood for a better view and sucked in a breath as he turned toward her. Between his chiseled jawline and broad chest, she didn’t know where to look first. Instead, she settled on his belt buckle, which was a mistake when he followed where her eyes landed. The wave of heat warmed her cheeks as a slow, easy smile spread across his face. Have mercy.

  “Mama!” Peyton ran across the yard and hugged her tight. Instantly, she knew her daughter had done something wrong since her normal greeting consisted of a shrug and sometimes a wave if Chelsea was lucky.

  Chelsea tried to set Peyton at arm’s length, but her daughter refused to let go. A tactic she had learned after losing her hearing. In her daughter’s mind, she couldn’t get in trouble if Chelsea was unable to sign to her. Before she could pry Peyton’s fingers from her back and find out what had happened, the man had closed the distance between them.

  “Good evening.” He touched the brim of his hat in greeting. “I’m Ryder. You must be Peyton’s mom.”

  He was even more attractive up close. Blue eyes the color of a glacier pool coupled with a hint of sandy blond hair gave him a James Dean vibe that made her toes curl inside her high-heeled sling-backs.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Ryder. I’m Chelsea. I’d shake your hand, but I don’t think my daughter will let me.” Thank God for small favors. She shook hands all day with people, yet she suspected Ryder’s touch would leave her wanting more. Maybe it was time to download a dating app because drooling over her friend’s ranch hand could only lead to trouble. “Are you new here?” Peyton lifted her head to look at Chelsea, most likely sensing the reverberations from her voice. When she saw Ryder, her eyes widened. Uh-oh. Peyton had definitely done something wrong.