The Rancher's Surrender Read online

He'd never had anything but.

  At their lack of motion, he looked around him at the land. "Constance tried like crazy to find her granddaughter over the years. It's hard to believe she didn't live long enough to see it through."

  Would a bad guy really show such insight? Zoe didn't know and refused to take a chance. But his voice mesmerized her as he continued to speak into the dark night.

  "She didn't even know her granddaughter's name, only the month and year of birth and approximate last sighting of her son's girlfriend."

  Los Angeles.

  Emotions tumbled through Zoe, and she knew it was no less for her sisters, for each of them wanted to know more about Constance, more about where they had possibly come from. Delia nudged her, and even in the darkness, Zoe had no trouble deciphering Delia's glare.

  Trust him.

  She wasn't ready yet.

  "You still there?" He craned his neck as he shifted, trying to see into the shadows where they huddled ridiculously together. "Well, what else can I tell you… Okay, from what I understand, you were all left in a group home at approximately the same time and age. Took poor Constance more than twenty years to get that much information, but she never gave up."

  The silence seemed to drown out the night noise, except for the ever-present rush of water. The crickets stopped. Even the owl went quiet. And there on the porch, surrounded by the only two people in the world who had ever cared about her, Zoe squeezed their hands tight and closed her eyes.

  Each of them had been a deserted three-year-old. The remembering hurt, when that hurt should have long ago been healed. But now they knew that one of them had had someone searching for her, desperately.

  That hurt, too, for Zoe could only imagine how different life would have been for the girl who might have been found by a loving, frantic grandmother.

  They had no idea which of them it was—Maddie, Zoe or Delia—but it didn't matter now. They were sisters of the heart and soul, and they'd stick together until the end.

  The ranch belonged to all of them, and together they'd learn more about their grandmother.

  "I'm guessing you're hoping I'll talk myself out and disappear." Slowly, Ty Jackson shook his head. "No can do, ladies. Cade told me your plane had been delayed, and he was worried about you getting up here at night, which by the way was a stupid thing to do, drive up here in the dark."

  Delia and Maddie shot a look at Zoe, who bristled. It was one thing to be stupid, but it was entirely another thing to have it pointed out to her by a stranger. She had her sisters to do that.

  "Cade wanted me to call him back." He shifted impatiently. "Can we get on with it now? It's late, and frankly, ladies, I'm tired of listening to myself talk."

  Zoe could feel her sisters' resistance melt away, but she held on to hers with all her might. Despite his obvious caring for Constance, he was big, he was a man, and he was barely managing to control his irritation at being bothered so late at night.

  Trust was a big issue for Zoe, it had been for as long as she could remember. Alone in this world except for Maddie and Delia, she had managed to eke out a calm, quiet existence. And if her life was a little, well … empty, if she'd never learned to really have faith in another human being since the day her mother had dumped her at age three, failing to come back for her as promised, she could live with that.

  Bottom line—Zoe rarely believed in another, especially a far-too-good-looking cowboy with a voice that could melt the Arctic.

  In the beam of light, he quirked a dark, challenging brow and continued to speak in that rough-timbered voice, the one Zoe imagined could convince a less-hardened woman to give him the moon.

  "You plan on sleeping there on the porch, that's just fine with me," he said with a shrug of those impressive shoulders. "But I wouldn't be neighborly if I didn't try to warn you … that wood there's littered with rats. Big, fat, hungry ones."

  With a muffled shriek, Delia launched herself toward the light, brushing and swiping at her legs, for if there was one thing that could shatter Delia's calm, it was a rodent.

  Maddie's mouth opened in a silent scream as she followed Delia in such a rush she nearly fell headlong into their "neighbor," who easily caught and uprighted her.

  Both women continued to shiver and squeak, placing themselves behind the man, who slowly rose to his feet, a grin firmly in place.

  Amid feet stomping and panting, huffy screams, Delia twirled in a circle, mindless, until the man reached out and touched her arm.

  "Safe," he claimed, not bothering to hide his amusement. "Don't worry, I think you two managed to scare them all away."

  Delia stopped screaming, and Maddie just gaped in surprise. Zoe knew why, for though it took Delia forever to get riled, it took just as long to calm her back down. No one, and most certainly not a man, had ever been so effective in quieting her.

  In the startling silence, the man who caused it winked at Maddie, who brought a hand up to her mouth.

  Still hidden by the darkness, Zoe stood quickly, for she knew Maddie's unease around strangers, especially men, but she stiffened in shock when she realized Maddie was holding back a smile.

  In less than ten seconds, the man had completely tamed her sisters. Unbelievable.

  "You okay now?" Ty Jackson asked.

  Delia smoothed down her clothes and shot him an apologetic smile. "Yes, sorry, but rats just get to me."

  "Understandable."

  "Now, if you tell me you have batteries in that truck of yours," Delia said, her smile warming, "you'll really be my hero, Mr. Jackson."

  "Ty." Any irritation at having been disturbed so late had apparently vanished, replaced by the pleasant surprise of a man who suddenly finds himself in the company of two beautiful women. He held out his hand. "And you are…?"

  Delia offered him a perfectly manicured hand in return, the one she'd spent an annoying amount of time this morning doing herself, nearly making them late for the airport. "Delia Scanlon. And this is my sister, Maddie O'Brien."

  He took each of their hands in turn as though they were at a tea party, not standing hundreds of miles away from nowhere on a battered, neglected ranch. From her perch in the corner, Zoe rolled her eyes.

  "It's a pleasure," Ty said to Delia. "And I always carry spare batteries." He looked pleased with himself, as though he'd invented the darn things himself.

  Zoe remained in place, thoroughly disgusted now. How could her sisters just cave like this? What had happened to their natural reserve of anyone and everyone?

  They'd stuck together through thick and thin, mostly thin, but in all that time, Zoe had never, not once, seen either of them let down their natural distrust so fast.

  Of course, none of them had ever been charmed by such a master, either.

  Fine. If she was the only one with a thought left in her head, so be it. She'd keep them safe.

  "I thought there were three of you," Ty said, squinting a bit as he searched through the darkness, easily focusing to meet Zoe's gaze again. "What happened to Zophina?"

  "Zoe," Zoe snapped, stepping into the light, having no idea why she was letting him get under her skin like this. He was just a stranger. "The name is Zoe."

  "Well, hello there. Zoe." That damn grin flashed again, the one that made her somehow want to smack him and melt at the some time. He tucked his thumbs into his front pockets in a stance of confidence … not to mention how his hands pretty much outlined the vee of his jeans in a way that showed off his … big build. "Can we go inside now?"

  "I'm sure we'll be just fine alone," she replied coolly.

  "I'm sure you will." He didn't so much as blink, but Zoe could have sworn he was laughing at her. "Maybe you'd like me to check it out first."

  "For more rats?" she inquired sweetly.

  He didn't look in the least bit ashamed of himself. "You never know."

  Before Zoe could suggest that there was a two-legged rat standing right in front of her, Delia firmly stepped between the two, her flattering, social