Discovering Dani (River's End Ranch Book 20)

  Discovering Dani

  Cindy Caldwell

  Copyright © 2017 by Cindy Caldwell

  All rights reserved.

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  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

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek

  Also by Cindy Caldwell

  Chapter 1

  Dani Weston pressed “L” as the elevator doors closed. She’d been at the hospital for hours, and she leaned her head against the cool metal of the wall and closed her eyes.

  Her breath hitched, and she squelched it, knowing full well that if she started to cry she might not stop. She was relieved that her brother, Wade, was going to be fine and that the heart attack they’d thought he’d had was just a panic attack, but she and her siblings had been worried, nonetheless, most of the day. Very worried.

  She reached in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, flipping through her contacts until she found “parents”. The elevator doors opened as she rolled over in her mind what she was going to tell them—she didn’t want to worry them too much, but also wanted to make sure they backed off requests of Wade. As general manager of the family’s resort, he’d been pulled in a million directions and it wasn’t helping with his stress level. Obviously.

  “Ouch,” Dani said as she headed out of the hospital elevator and ran right into the chest of her brother, Wyatt, who stood at least a full head taller, maybe more.

  The lobby of the hospital would normally be empty at this time of night—well past midnight—but it wasn’t. Wyatt shoved his hands in his pockets and Dani took a step back as Wes, Will and Kelsi stood—Kelsi’s husband Shane helped her up, her pregnant tummy getting in the way—and they all crossed over to the elevator. They’d left Wade’s room a while before so that she and Wade could plan to cover for his time off, and she’d assumed they’d all gone home. She should have known they wouldn’t have.

  “How is he?” Kelsi asked, her Weston blue eyes rimmed with red.

  Dani shoved her phone back in her pocket—she’d have to place the call to the folks later when it was quiet.

  “Good, good,” she said as Shane wrapped his arm over his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close.

  Belinda walked up and softly squeezed Wyatt’s hand, her own belly swelling with another Weston on the way. Amber looped her arm through Wes’s, and Will reached out for Ellie as she joined the group by the elevator. Dani looked from concerned couple to concerned couple, and an odd sensation flitted through her own belly. Each one of them had married in the past year, and she realized with a start that she and Wade were the only single Westons left.

  She cleared her throat and held up her hands. “Look, I know it was really scary when we didn’t know what was wrong. But now that we do, we can manage. He’s going to just take time off. We can handle it.”

  “You can, maybe,” Kelsi said as she rested her head on Shane’s shoulder. “Thank you, Dani.”

  “Yeah, Dani, thanks,” Will said as he ran his hand through his hair that even in the dead of winter looked like it should be on the water somewhere. “You know the most about what Wade does. Really appreciate it.”

  Wyatt put his cowboy hat back on and wrapped his arm around Belinda. “You know if there’s anything we can do to help, we’re able and ready.”

  “Of course,” Belinda said. “Just holler.”

  Dani looked down at Belinda’s hand resting on her growing lump and smiled. “I think we’ll be good. We talked about Bernie helping out—she’s got a degree in hospitality and can do way more than Wade the control freak has let her do.”

  Wes laughed and squeezed Amber’s hand. “Good point. But seriously, just let us know. Anybody talked to Mom and Dad yet?” He glanced at his siblings and they all shook their heads, except for Dani.

  “I hope not,” Dani said. “I mentioned earlier I’d call when we knew something and I was just getting ready to do it. Thanks for waiting.”

  They all murmured thanks and Dani laughed. She hadn’t imagined any of them would be chomping at the bit to call their parents, anyway. They’d likely just get another assignment. She’d been the one who’d tried to get their parents to back off before, ease up on the projects, and she actually was happy to have an excuse for them this time. All of her siblings and she had agreed they needed to just enjoy their first year of retirement, and having them trapped in their motorhome—named the Blizzard—in Florida for the moment suited her, for one, just fine.

  “He just needs rest,” Will said as they all filed out the door into the parking lot, snow falling softly, the quiet a stark contrast to the beeps of the hospital.

  “Right. I’m going to see what kinds of other things he can do to relax while he’s off,” Dani said as they headed toward their respective vehicles.

  “What about massages with Maddie?” Kelsi asked. “I bet they’d help a lot, and I know he’s been to see her several times. Probably would be open to it.”

  “Good idea,” Dani said, making a mental note to call Maddie first thing in the morning.

  “She’s a sweet girl, and they’ve been friends for a long time,” Kelsi added as she wiggled her eyebrows.

  Will laughed. “Nobody say anything to Jaclyn. Last thing Wade needs is the stress of a relationship right now.”

  “I beg your pardon? Stress,” his new wife said as she poked her elbow into his side.

  “And if Maddie’s right for Wade, Jaclyn will already know. You know how that goes,” Belinda said.

  Dani laughed at her siblings. As long as she could remember, they’d teased each other and now, even with this stress, was no different. It helped them—they were all very close, and this had been a major event. Laughing helped.

  “I’ll call her first thing in the morning. Meeting with Wade, and I’ll let you guys know what’s happening,” she said as she closed the door to her truck.

  She waved as they all turned onto the road and headed back to River’s End Ranch. She peered up and out the windshield when the ice melted, grateful it wasn’t snowing too hard. She hated to talk on the phone while she was driving, especially at night. Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, she added three hours in her head. Three o’clock in the morning in Florida. Her parents would probably have quite a scare if she called them now.

  She took a deep breath and called anyway, glancing up at the stars in the cold, clear night as the phone rang in her ear.

  “Dani?” Her mother’s voice was soft, and she knew she’d woken her. “What’s the matter, darling?”

  “Hi, Mom,” Dani said before she rushed into her account of the past day, from Wade’s ambulance ride to the outcome they’d decided on—that he’d take some time off to rest and Dani and Bernie would cover f
or him.

  “Oh, goodness. I know your brother’s been working hard. All of you have. I didn’t realize...”

  “I know, Mom. Wade’s got pretty big shoulders and I don’t think any of us knew how much he was keeping to himself.”

  “No, no. I suppose that next project—”

  “Can wait a while,” Dani cut in. “Let’s just get through Christmas, and see what things look like. He’s going to give Bernie more responsibility, and this will be good practice for him.”

  “Yes, yes. I suppose so. What about you? Should your father and I—”

  “No. Absolutely not,” Dani interrupted, knowing how much this trip meant to her parents. They’d been planning it their entire lives, and were now all the way across the country. None of her siblings had pressed them to come back for their weddings—Kelsi had flat out kept it from them—and she didn’t want to change that now. “We’ve got it covered for now. I’ll let you know if we need anything.”

  Her mother sighed. “I know you all have everything handled. We never would have left if we didn’t think you could manage,” she said. “Wilber, Wade’s okay. Dani says we don’t need to come back.”

  “Tell her about—”

  “No, she doesn’t need to know about that,” her mother interrupted.

  “Mom, I have to go. I’m almost to the ranch and I need to get some sleep before everything gets crazy tomorrow.”

  “Of course, honey. But you take care of yourself. Your father and I are rooting for you. Give Wade a kiss for me, and we’ll send some help.”

  “Mom, we don’t need any help. We’ve got everything—”

  “Of course you do, sweetheart,” her mother said in the way that only she could. “Sleep tight, darling, and don’t worry about a thing. Help is on its way.”

  Dani breathed a sigh of relief as she ended the call. She tossed her cell phone on the seat beside her and rolled her shoulders. She blinked a few times as headlights came toward her and she slowed, erring on the side of caution on the icy roads this late at night.

  She hit the brakes hard as a truck turned right in front of her and she fought the urge to honk. The maroon Dodge Ram turned in to the Starry Night Motel and she waited for it to clear the curb before she started again.

  Her heartbeat slowed and her thoughts turned back to Wade. In the blink of an eye, everything had changed—and she headed for home hoping that nothing else would change for a very, very long time.

  Chapter 2

  Dani tightened the laces of her boots and tried to blink away the sleep from her eyes. She stood and stretched, rolling her neck and shoulders. Her hair was a little longer than she liked it but it spiked again as she ran her hands through it and stumbled toward the bathroom. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get a haircut anytime soon, from Kelsi or anybody else.

  It had been after midnight by the time she got home from the hospital and fell into bed. On the ride home, she’d wondered how long it would take her to fall asleep after the horrible scare they'd all had. But when her head hit the pillow, the next thing she knew, the light was peeking over the mountains surrounding River’s End Ranch and through the blinds of her small bedroom of the cottage she’d moved into not long before.

  Normally, she wouldn't be up and out this early. Since her job at the ranch didn't really run on a time schedule, occasionally she slept in after having been out on a search and rescue mission, or if she was up early she’d go out for a ride after badgering Wyatt at the stables for a while. But today, she needed to get some coffee — and fast. If she was going to cover for Wade for a week while he rested and recovered from his heart attack scare, she was going to need coffee. A lot of it.

  She opened the refrigerator and peered inside, not completely surprised that it was just about empty. She shoved aside the milk that was dated two weeks prior, glanced at the date on a carton of yogurt, and verified that the vegetable and deli drawers of the refrigerator were empty as well before she closed the door and turned back to look at her small cottage.

  "Oh, I suppose you’re going to want something too," she said as she spotted something under a blanket moving on the corner of the sofa. She reached up into the cupboard over the stove, pulling out a bag of dry cat food. As the kitten she’d recently rescued and spooned milk into brushed between her legs, she looked down at the cat and back up to the bag of cat food. "You look exactly like the cat on this bag," she said, thinking that she must have somehow adopted the most average-looking cat on the entire planet.

  The kitten purred as she set the small bowl on the floor. She rummaged around on the kitchen counter, shuffling around the unopened envelopes and a newspaper she’d thrown there.

  "Where are the keys to the truck?" she asked out loud as she shuffled the stack to the side. She turned over a picture frame that had fallen, probably knocked down by the cat. Dani tilted her head as she gazed at the group of people standing in front of the Main House at the ranch. It was the last picture they’d taken as a family before their parents set out in their motorhome to see the country, leaving the guest ranch in the hands of their children. She smiled as she looked at her four brothers, their piercing blue eyes staring and their hands resting on the shoulders of their twin sisters.

  As her eyes fell on her oldest brother, Wade, she squinted. Twenty-four hours ago, she would never have thought that something might happen to any of them. Not a single one. But since she’d followed the ambulance yesterday with Wade in it, holding her breath until she found out what was wrong with him, something had changed. Not exactly as if the world was a different color, but maybe kind of like that. Something was definitely different.

  When the doctor told Wade he needed to take a week off, Dani hadn’t thought twice before stepping in, telling him she’d assume his management duties along with her own. All she could hope for was that there wasn't a search and rescue mission required this particular week.

  She set the picture back on the kitchen counter and called over her shoulder, "I'll see you tonight. I’ll try to bring some canned cat food, too," to the cat as she trudged out into the snow. She crossed the distance to the café as quickly as she could, turning her collar up against the cold wind. She shoved her hands in her pockets and made a beeline for the door of Kelsey’s Kafe.

  "Oh, Dani, I'm so glad you're here.” Kelsi rushed over to Dani from behind the counter of the cafe as soon as she stepped in the door, her arms wide.

  "Everything's fine, Kelsi. You know Wade didn't have a heart attack. He just needs to take a week of work." Dani took a quick step backwards to dodge her sister’s hug and shrugged off her coat, tossing it on the rack by the door.

  "Dani Weston, a hug wouldn’t exactly kill you,” Kelsi said as she shoved her hands in the pocket of her uniform. “We used to be able to do stuff like that.” Kelsi rounded the counter and reached for a mug, filling it and sliding it in front of Dani as she took the first stool closest to the door.

  Dani warmed her hands on the mug and glanced up at her sister. Kelsi rubbed her tummy and Dani closed her eyes. She and Kelsi had been close once, and connected at the hip. Their mother even dressed them the same for years, until they got tired of being mistaken for one another. Things since then hadn’t been quite the same—although that twin connection had never really gone away, as much as Dani had tried over the years.

  Personality-wise, they were night and day. Kelsi was a bundle of energy, loved people, believed in Bigfoot and was happily married. At this moment, they couldn’t really be further from each other, but Dani had never wanted to hurt her sister. Just avoid her, if possible, so she said, “I know, Kels. We’re all worried, me included.” She smiled as Kelsi turned, her bright blue eyes shining.

  “Does that mean I can have a hug?”

  “No,” Dani said as she leaned back and sipped her coffee. “I’ve got a lot to do. Shane’ll hug you, I’m sure.”

  “Of course he will, but that won’t be until lunchtime.” Kelsi reached for a towel and wiped down the counter.
“Did you talk to Mom and Dad?”

  Dani leaned forward on her elbows, remembering the odd conversation she’d had with her parents. “Yes, I did. They made a little noise about coming, but I re-directed.”

  Kelsi frowned. “You don’t want them to come? I’m sure hoping they get here before Blackbird is born.”

  Dani couldn’t quiet her laugh. “Blackbird? Is that her name today?”

  Kelsi raised her eyebrows. “We’ll see. But I don’t want to have my baby without Mom and Dad here. It’d be like having no family at all.”

  Dani recognized the jab. “No family? What am I, chopped liver?”

  Kelsi folded her arms over her belly and cocked her head. “If the shoe fits...” she said as she turned away.

  Dani hadn’t spent any time at all around babies, and knew she’d love her niece but wasn’t quite comfortable with all the baby talk. That was Kelsi’s domain, and she was content to leave it at that for now. “Now that you mention it, you still have my boots,” she said and was glad she could make Kelsi smile.

  “With your attitude, you may never get them back,” she said as she topped off Dani’s coffee. “They’re still getting the Blizzard fixed in Florida, I take it?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t ask. They offered to come, offered to send help but I declined. The last thing Mom did say, though, was that she’d send help anyway.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” Kelsi said. “The last time she said that, she sent Bobby Blakely and we all know that was a mistake.”

  “Hey, watch what you’re saying,” Bob, the cook, said from the order window. “I’ve never been happier. Best thing that ever happened to me, when it was all said and done. And I didn’t even have to marry one of you two.” He winked at Dani as he slid a plate onto the stainless steel pass-through.