The Color of Forever: Book Two: Forever Cowboys Series Read online

  A Singing River Press Publication

  First published in the United States of America in 2015 by Singing River Press

  Interior Formatted by write.DREAM.repeat

  © Hope Whitley 2015. All rights reserved.

  The Color of Forever is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters are products of the author’s imagination. Any similarities to any person, living or dead, is merely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

  “What do you think, Sam, isn’t it just too beautiful?”

  Samantha O’Brien gazed at the snow capped mountains, the lush green grass of pastures dotted with sheep that resembled fluffy white clouds and the deeper but still gorgeous evergreen of the trees and had to agree … it was beautiful.

  But maybe just a bit too beautiful?

  “It’s beautiful, Mari,” she replied, agreeing with her best and oldest friend. “Very beautiful, but so very, very big and extravagant. I mean,” she went on, looking around her, “everything is almost over-the-top. The mountains are so huge, the trees and grass are such a vivid green and my gosh,” she glanced upward, “Just look at that sky! It’s the bluest blue I’ve ever seen!”

  Marielle chuckled at her friend’s comments. “Yeah, it’s a bit overwhelming at first but you’ll get used to it,” she assured Sam. “I felt the same way the first time I came out here to Wyoming. But even though I grew accustomed to the sheer scale of the scenery, I’ve never become so used to seeing it that I don’t still find it incredibly beautiful.”

  Sam turned around and gave Marielle a quick hug. “Oh you!” she said. “You’re a newlywed living in a fairy tale world of perfect bliss and seeing everything through rose colored glasses.”

  “Although,” she hastened to add, “I totally agree the view up here is nothing short of spectacular.”

  But, as she walked arm in arm with Marielle back to the sprawling ranch house that was her friend’s new home with her brand new husband, Samantha privately wondered if she could ever adapt to living out here as readily as Mari had.

  She was a New York City girl to the core. Her idea of the wilderness was Central Park and Brooklyn was as far out of town as she wanted to be. She grew up surrounded by skyscrapers, not towering mountains. So had Mari, she reminded herself. But Mari had always wanted to live somewhere rugged and remote, ever since she had visited here for a summer as a child.

  While they had much in common, this was one of the areas where they had long ago agreed to differ. Unlike her friend, Sam had no desire to commune with nature on an upfront and personal basis.

  Still, nothing would have kept her from coming out here to visit Marielle. She had actually been planning a visit anyway and news of Mari’s sudden wedding had her on the first flight out to serve as Maid of Honor. She had been dubious about Marielle’s decision to come out here and take over the ranch her uncle had left her in his will, but she had to admit that Mari had landed on her feet.

  Falling in love with and marrying the hunky owner of the neighboring ranch was truly like a fairy tale, Samantha mused. There was a time when she believed in fairy tales and hoped that someday she would meet her Prince Charming the way Mari had and they would live happily ever after.

  Sadly, experience had tarnished Sam’s visions of being swept off her feet by a knight in shining armor. So far, for her, instead of being a maiden fair who was swept up into the saddle by a handsome knight to ride off together into the sunset, she had been trampled by the horse’s hooves as her erstwhile knight rode roughshod over her.

  Seeing her friend so blissfully happy and gloriously in love was almost enough to make Samantha buy into the dream again.

  Almost.

  But a cynical little voice in her head was reminding her of the times she had thought the dream was coming true for her, only for it to be dashed to pieces along with her heart when her hero turned out to have feet of clay.

  Yes, she had been fooled before into thinking she might have the starring female role in a real life fairy tale. But, really, Sam asked herself, who had done the actual fooling?

  Could she honestly say that the guys she had been involved with when what began as a promising romance went south were guilty of deliberately fooling her? Or had she fooled herself?

  Samantha, ever a realist, had to acknowledge the bitter truth: She had fooled herself. The men hadn’t made a deliberate effort to deceive her, not on a grand scale, anyway. No, there had been big red flags in every one of her failed love affairs and she had chosen to ignore them.

  Why?

  She had given this matter more than a little thought and come to the conclusion that she had given men credit for qualities they didn’t possess, building them up to be the perfect man, ignoring every bit of evidence to the contrary. She had wanted to find the perfect Mr. Right so badly that she ignored all warning signs that a man was actually Mr. Wrong. Or at least all wrong for her.

  Her latest relationship had turned ugly after only a few months. Tony, her ex-boyfriend, had been a control freak as well as literally insanely jealous. At first Samantha had been flattered that he wanted her all to himself. But after a while his smothering and possessiveness had become alarming, even frightening.

  She broke things off with him but he refused to take no for an answer. First he tried bombarding her with gifts … flowers, candy, cards and romantic letters. After those tactics had failed to win her back, Tony had become increasingly hostile and aggressive. When he began stalking her and making death threats, she had convinced herself that he wasn’t serious and would soon move on to greener pastures and another girl.

  Unfortunately, that was not the case. Coming home from a night out on the town with some friends months after their breakup, she found Tony lurking in her apartment house hallway, waiting for her. He had shoved her roughly against the wall and then to her utter horror brandished a lethal looking switchblade knife, telling her he would ruin her beautiful face so no other man would ever want her.

  The threat made, he had turned heel and left, leaving Sam a quaking mass of sheer terror. She went to the police the following day and learned that Tony was “mobbed up” and had been under the scrutiny of the NYPD for quite some time.

  Oh great, she had told herself bitterly at the time. Just her luck. It wasn’t enough that he was a complete psycho, but a psycho with connections to organized crime to boot.

  The police detective had assured Samantha that Tony going away to prison for a long stretch was a done deal and only a matter of time. They were working to get enough on him to make a prosecution and a hefty sentence stick, so all she had to do was stay out of his radar until he was safely behind bars.

  That seemed like a good plan to Samantha. So, after getting the green light from Marielle, she had taken a leave of absence from her job at a large publishing house, sub-let her apartment fully furnished, packed up her personal belongings and headed to Wyoming to hide out on Mari’s ranch until Tony was off the streets and it was safe for her to go back home to New York.

  Mari had naturally moved in with Trey, so her little ranch house was just sitting there ready to be Samantha’s hideout for a while.

  It must be kismet, Sam decided. Taking a sabbatical of sorts away from New York, her job and last but not least—Tony—would give her time to take the first steps toward making her non-romantic dream come true.

  While Marielle had worked as an editor and was now la
unching a career as an illustrator for children’s books, Samantha wanted to try writing books of her own instead of editing what other authors wrote.

  If she could use this time well, it would provide a golden opportunity to find out whether or not she could write a book that at least some people would want to read. Although the Nightmare on Tony Street wasn’t fun, maybe it was fortuitous since it forced her to slow down and gave her a chance to write.

  “Hey Sam,” Marielle interrupted Sam’s vagrant thoughts, pulling her back to the here and now with the two of them sitting in rocking chairs on the porch of the big ranch house, sipping fresh coffee provided by Consuelo, Trey’s long time housekeeper and cook extraordinaire.

  It was chilly even though the porch sheltered them from the wind blowing down off the mountains, but the sun was shining brightly and it was pleasant to sit out here for a little while, especially with the hot coffee to warm them up.

  “If you want to live out your fantasies about a sexy cowboy, you couldn’t have come to a better place.” Mari told her. “In fact,” she said, smiling broadly, “Don’t look now but here comes as good looking a cowboy as you’re ever likely to run across. Besides mine, of course,” she teased.

  Samantha followed the direction of her friend’s gaze to see one of Trey’s friends she had been introduced to at the wedding getting out of his truck and approaching the porch.

  “He’s a game warden, not a cowboy,” Samantha replied.

  “Well yeah, Ben Connors is a game warden, Sammy, but he also has a large ranch and according to Trey, rode the rodeo circuit for a while. You can’t get much more cowboy than that.”

  Samantha looked at the man walking toward them. Tall, lean, and broad shouldered; he was definitely attractive. Sam had met Ben at the wedding and danced with him a few times, noticing then that he was extremely handsome and quite charming. They had exchanged lighthearted banter during the slow dances and she had found his sun streaked blond hair and singularly sweet smile appealing even though he wasn’t her type.

  “Hey ladies,” Ben addressed them with a broad smile that brought a pair of beguiling dimples into play. “Aren’t you cold?”

  “We wanted to enjoy this sunshine for a while before going back indoors,” Mari told him, returning his smile. “Besides, we’re still warm from the long walk we took.”

  “How are you liking our part of the country, Samantha?” Ben asked. “It sure seems to be agreeing with you,” he went on, eyeing her rosy cheeks and lips that the cold had accentuated. “You look even prettier now than you did at the wedding.”

  To her total surprise, Sam found herself blushing like a schoolgirl from his comment. Good grief, she upbraided herself silently. It wasn’t like she had never gotten a compliment before. Men frequently made positive comments about her shiny black hair and deep blue, almost violet eyes that were often compared to Elizabeth Taylor’s famous peepers.

  She had her Italian mother to thank for her dark tresses and slightly olive toned skin that looked tanned to a golden glow year round. As for her eye color, she had her Irish father to thank for that. Her curvaceous, hourglass figure wasn’t as svelte as current fashion deemed the ideal female body type, but she had never had any complaints from members of the opposite sex.

  “Thanks,” she replied briefly, for once in a long while struggling for words. Glancing up, she met Ben’s eyes and was immediately struck by how gorgeous they were. She had noticed his eyes to an extent during the wedding but as the reception was inside at night, she didn’t receive the full benefit of just how outstanding they really were.

  Blue … no … she amended, sneaking a peek. Not blue. More of a gray. But not exactly gray, either. Well, at any rate, she decided; they were beautiful no matter what color they were! And those eyelashes! It ought to be against the law for a man to have those extravagantly long, lush lashes, the kind many women would kill for.

  Samantha decided to evade Ben’s inquiry about how she liked it up here in the mountains. No need in antagonizing him by revealing her true feelings. He probably loved the place and would fail to comprehend how anyone could feel any differently.

  Ben Connors might be an excellent and entertaining diversion during her stay in Wyoming, she mused inwardly. He was definitely sexy and passed the blue jeans test with flying colors that she and Mari had joked about for years. Way back in high school, the two friends had decided that if a guy’s booty looked good in jeans he might be a winner and if not, he wasn’t date worthy. Adolescent nonsense for the most part, although they both admitted to taking it a bit seriously.

  She smiled up at Ben, fluttering her own lashes just a little in flirtation. No sense in letting this enforced time-out from the city be a total waste. She could work on her writing and indulge in a lighthearted, no strings attached affair with this handsome game warden/cowboy. Both would be putting her time to good use, she decided.

  “So, Samantha,” Ben said, “I think I heard someone say you’re staying in Marielle’s house?”

  “That’s right,” She replied. “Mari has made it so cozy and comfortable. I’m planning to settle in for the duration and enjoy my time off from work.”

  “How long do you plan to stay?” Ben inquired.

  Samantha hesitated. She didn’t want to outright lie, but wasn’t inclined toward telling Ben the truth: that the length of her stay depended on how fast the NYPD could make an airtight case against Tony and get him sent away for at least a few years. It occurred to her that she was faintly ashamed to admit she had been romantically involved with a man like Tony. She didn’t recall ever feeling reluctant to divulge any gory details of her numerous failed relationships or even feeling personally ashamed of them.

  But something about Ben Connors with his honest, open face and forthright manner told her that here was a man who might not understand how she got involved with a sleazy, psychotic criminal and now must hide in the mountains out of harm’s way.

  “Umm … I’m not really sure, Ben.” Samantha told him. “That depends on various factors. Maybe just a couple of weeks, maybe a few months. I’m playing it by ear.”

  She realized her answer was vague and ambiguous, but it couldn’t be helped.

  Ben flashed another wickedly attractive smile her way. “Well, I hope you’ll have time to let me show you around,” he said. “We don’t have any giant department stores or fast food joints, but you might be surprised at how Mother Nature has provided us with a lot of other attractions.”

  “I’d like that, Ben,” Sam assured him, smiling back. She would like it. Even if she wasn’t too keen on sightseeing, she would certainly enjoy the company of this sexy cowboy!

  “How about tomorrow morning?” he asked Samantha. “I have to go check on a couple of things over on Hangman’s Ridge and could stop by and pick you up to ride along with me.”

  “You mean ride as in riding in a vehicle or ride along on a horse?” Samantha countered. “Because if it’s on a horse, I have to tell you that I have never been on one in my life.”

  Ben chuckled. “I meant in my truck,” he replied. “But we need to do something about teaching you to ride. So many of the most beautiful places here can’t be gotten to except on foot or horseback.”

  “Mari, are you still keeping your horses at your ranch?” Ben asked, turning to Marielle.

  “Yes,” she replied. “We plan on moving them at some point but the truth is….” Mari grinned at Samantha and winked. “We left them at my place for now so Sam could learn to ride.”

  Sam reacted in mock horror. “Perish the thought, girlfriend. This homey ain’t gonna be ridin’ no horse.”

  Marielle laughed at her friend’s clowning. “Sam, she said, “I told you what a hard time I had learning to ride, but after I learned, I enjoyed it. Trey and I love to get out together and just ride. I think you’d like it too it if you gave it a chance.”

  “You and Trey are so happy together in your own little world you’d enjoy being staked out on a fire ant mound to
gether,” was Sam’s rejoinder. “But if Ben here will volunteer to give me some riding lessons, I’ll try.”

  Ben doffed his cowboy hat and gave an exaggerated, courtly bow in Samantha’s direction. “It would be my pleasure, ma’am,” he assured her. “Just let me know when you’re ready to start. In the meantime, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

  “Okay, sounds good,” Samantha replied, thinking that spending time with this extraordinarily attractive man sounded very good indeed.

  Ben took his leave and Sam did the same shortly thereafter, heading back over to Marielle’s place once the coffee was finished.

  Later that evening, as she was getting ready for bed, Samantha found herself thinking about Ben. He was one of the best looking males she had ever met face to face, but he seemed completely unaware of how devastatingly handsome he was. Most guys she knew

  back in the city with looks like that would be players in a big way.

  But Ben didn’t come across as a player at all. Just the opposite, in fact. He seemed so natural and down to earth. Courteous, charming, congenial … the whole package … Samantha decided that he remained unspoiled because he had led such an isolated existence up here in these mountains. Otherwise, she thought, he’d be busy using his looks and charm to his own advantage with the opposite sex.

  Well, he might be a babe in the woods when it came to women but he was still hot and she intended to make the most of being thrown together with him during her purgatory in the wilds of Wyoming.

  The next day dawned cold and crisp with bright sunshine, a deep azure blue sky and a brisk wind blowing. Standing on the front porch of Mari’s little house, Samantha was glad she had listened to her friend and packed appropriate clothes for the visit.

  On a day like today, her flannel lined blue jeans, thick sweater and puffy down jacket helped keep the chilly temps and cold wind at bay. Together with the hand knit wool hat that had been a Christmas gift from her sister Maeve, she felt ready for her outing with Ben.

  What kind of “attractions” did he have in mind to show her? If you weren’t a nature freak, or tree hugger as some of her friends called those who were passionate about ecology, preserving natural habitats and endangered species, what did some scenery have to offer?