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“I don’t have anywhere else to land right now, so I don’t think selling is in the cards. I’ll probably stay here, see what needs to be done, and set to work.” He also had a ton of questions about his uncle that he hoped he’d eventually find answers to. Maybe once he was able to look around inside, he’d find something.
“Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything,” Luther said. They shook hands, and then he and his dad took off, leaving Rafe alone with his inheritance. He unlocked the front door and let himself inside. The house was musty, so Rafe opened windows as he went, airing the place out.
“Well, look at all of you,” he said with a smile when he reached the back porch. Three dogs bounded over one another. They were all German shepherds. He opened the door, and they hurried forward for pets and scratches, their tails wagging. Thankfully they each had a tag with their name: Riker, May, and Lola. They were obviously good dogs and all settled around him. Rafe found bowls and water dishes on the porch, fed each of them, and set out fresh water. Once they’d eaten, he let them outside to run in the yard.
Once the dogs were looked after, Rafe wandered through the rest of the house. One room had been set up as an office, and Rafe figured he would start in there. Maybe he’d figure out how the ranch was doing without much digging. The walls of the living room, office, and dining area were decorated with horse pictures—some recent and others faded with age. Rafe guessed they were animals his uncle had had over the years. The furniture was old and well worn but still comfortable. He checked out the bedrooms and found one set up as a guest room with an empty closet and dresser drawers. God, Rafe hoped his uncle hadn’t spent his entire life all alone.
Everything was neat as a pin in his uncle’s room. The bedside tables held a book and lamps. The dresser top was spotless. When Rafe lifted his gaze, it fell on an old, faded framed picture, and he found himself looking at his twelve-year-old self. In the image, he wore a huge smile, his uncle standing next to him.
The dogs suddenly began barking out front, so Rafe pulled himself out of his thoughts, then strode through the house and stepped out into the cooling November air.
He whistled, and the dogs all hurried over as a horse and rider drew nearer. The horse had to be one of the most beautiful animals he had ever seen, and it moved with a grace few horses ever achieved. Rafe’s gaze shifted upward to the man on horseback, and he swallowed. He had seen stunning men in his time. He’d worked around cowboys all his life, men who built their bodies through hard work and hard living. But none of them held a candle to this man, with eyes the color of the clear Colorado sky and blond hair that fell to his shoulders from under a cowboy hat that was the same reddish chestnut of the horse he rode.
The man pulled to a stop and dismounted. He seemed to glide over toward Rafe as he moved.
“Can I help you?” Rafe asked.
“Rumor has it that they found Mack’s long-lost relative.”
The tone set Rafe’s teeth on edge. “And you are?” The guy might have been stunning enough to stop traffic, but his manners left a lot to be desired. Still, it was difficult to take his gaze off him. And there was something familiar about him that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
The man’s eyes grew wider for a second, as though he expected Rafe to know who he was.
His hesitation told Rafe there was something he’d missed. “Russell Banion,” he answered.
Russell? Of course. Rafe extended his hand. “It’s good to see you again. It’s been a real long time.” He shook Russell’s hand, remembering them pony riding together as kids when he’d come to visit Uncle Mack. The Banions always had a big summer cookout, and Rafe had gone with Uncle Mack a few times. There had always been plenty of kids, but Russell had been the only boy his own age. They had spent a lot of time together back then, the way boys did when they were thrust together. But those memories had long been dulled by time and distance. “I just found out about this a few days ago.”
Russell let his hand fall back to his side.
“I used to ride with your uncle every couple of weeks. Our places abut one another. My ranch is to the south, if you remember.” Rafe turned in that direction, remembering what Arthur had told him about one of the mega ranches being in that direction. He figured Russell’s family must own it or something.
“I see.” He blinked as those intense blue eyes bored into him. He tried to remember details about Russell, but the memories were faded, and he couldn’t recall a great deal. Still, the image of a swimming hole with a rope swing and Uncle Mack looking on as they played came to mind, and he felt his wariness subsiding.
“You could say that your uncle and I were friends.” Rafe and Russell had been friends of a sort as kids, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Those blue eyes remained skeptical. “He never spoke about his family much other than to say that he hadn’t talked to them in years. And yet, now here you are.”
This guy’s jeans were snug, and his white shirt and jacket stretched over his chest, but maybe he had taken to wearing a hat one size too small, because he was wound way too tight.
“He left me the ranch. I’m not here to try to steal it,” Rafe snapped, feeling defensive. He let out a long breath. Arthur’s words, as well as his own guilt about how his parents had treated his uncle, had obviously gotten to him. Russell wasn’t his enemy. And from the sounds of it, he had been Uncle Mack’s friend. “Look, I have no idea why he did that. I’m still trying to figure it out myself.”
He turned back to the house. It looked so sad. “One thing I do remember—the place used to be a light tan with white trim, and Uncle Mack always had these huge rose bushes in front that climbed up the house and bloomed in late June.” Why he was sharing any of this with Russell was beyond him. “Did Uncle Mack have a lot of friends?”
Russell paused. “I don’t really know, but I doubt it. Oh, your uncle knew everyone around this area and they all knew him, but I don’t know if your uncle would call any of them friends. He was well acquainted with them, though.” The horse nuzzled Russell’s shoulder, and he stroked his nose and down his neck.
Rafe wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but anyone who was so loved by his horse couldn’t be too bad. And the dogs had all settled on the grass, stretched out in the sun, so they obviously weren’t bothered by Russell either.
Rafe felt himself smiling slightly. “I see…,” he said to fill the void.
“Somehow, I doubt you do,” Russell said as he turned away. He stretched his legs and mounted the horse as though it was the most natural thing in the world. “But I’m sure you will soon enough.” He paused and reached into a jacket pocket, then handed Rafe a business card. Then he smiled, and it was like the sun had just parted from behind storm clouds. “Just in case.” He turned the horse and they rode off, heading south.
Rafe told himself that he wasn’t going to watch him go, but he did it anyway.
Chapter 2
“DID YOUmeet our new neighbor?” Russell’s father asked when he strode into the entrance hall of the log mansion. “Is he going to sell?”
Russell could almost see his father breaking out the checkbook.
“I don’t know,” Russell told him as he hung up his hat and took off his boots. He placed them in the holder near the door. “The guy… I don’t know. I knew Rafe as a kid, but the man he is now is a mystery.”
