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“I have two sisters. Carla lives in Phoenix. She’s been divorced twice but doesn’t have any kids. Lea’s married with two boys. Recently my mother moved to Santa Fe to be closer to Lea and the grandkids.”
“And your father?”
“He took off when I was little.”
“Do you keep in touch with your sisters?”
“We talk every few months.” He’d phoned his sisters when he’d returned from Afghanistan but had passed up their invites to visit. He wasn’t ready to answer their questions about his time in the military.
Hannah slowed the truck when she passed a fifty-five-mile-per-hour speed sign. “Red Bluff Diner isn’t far from here.” The road forked and she drove west. “I recommend the bison steak fajitas.”
“What about regular beef?”
“They have that, too, but it’s not as tasty.” She smiled. “Try the bison.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Mind if I ask you a personal question?”
“Go ahead,” he said.
“What’s up with the hitchhiking? It’s not every day you come across a trauma surgeon thumbing his way through New Mexico.”
“I needed a break from all the chaos in the ER.” He winked when she looked at him. “They don’t call it trauma for nothing.”
“I thought all you military guys loved working under pressure. Taking a long walk can’t be near as exciting as saving lives.”
Saving lives only mattered if the people remained alive. “I like the fast-paced atmosphere of the ER, but the constant stress drains your energy.”
“How long do you plan to keep walking?”
“Don’t know yet.” Long enough to clear his head of all the bad memories stored in his brain.
She flashed a teasing smile. “You should have driven, then you’d see more of the countryside.”
“I saw enough countryside in Afghanistan to last me a lifetime.” Then he’d returned to the barrio in Albuquerque—another war zone, just different people and different reasons for killing each other. “What about you?” he said. “Did you always want to be a rancher?”
“I wanted to go to college, but things were crazy at home and someone had to be there for Luke.”
It occurred to Alonso that Hannah had been taking care of her brother most of her life. “What would you have studied if you’d gone to school?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe history.”
“Seriously?”
“Go ahead and laugh. I have no idea what kind of job I would have gotten with a history degree but I would have enjoyed taking all those classes.”
“I never pictured a woman being a rancher.”
“I never thought I’d be managing a ranch, either. But life throws you curveballs, and when I was forced to assume more and more responsibility, I grew attached to the land and the animals. And now I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
Hannah steered the pickup into a gravel lot and parked. The diner sat on the edge of a bluff overlooking a valley. Spotlights shone across the landscape, which was made up of broken mesas.
“Nice view,” he said.
“We’ll ask for a table with a view.”
When they entered the establishment, an older woman in Native American clothing greeted them. “Hello, Hannah.”
“Betsy.” Hannah nodded to her dinner date. “This is my friend Alonso. Betsy’s father owns the restaurant.”
“You’ve got a million-dollar view here,” he said.
“Follow me.” Betsy led the way to a table by the windows.
Alonso held out a chair for Hannah, then sat across from her. Betsy filled their water glasses and asked if they’d like to view the drink menu. Hannah ordered a glass of red wine and Alonso a beer. “It feels as if we’re sitting on the edge of a cliff.”
“Too bad it’s dark,” she said. “On a clear day you can see the Sandia Mountains from here.” When Betsy delivered their drinks, Hannah raised her wineglass. “To helpful strangers.”
He tapped the neck of his beer bottle against her glass. Hannah was the first person in longer than he remembered who he felt relaxed with—unlike his coworkers, who were high-strung and neurotic.
Hannah signaled Betsy over to their table. “Alonso has never eaten bison. I thought we’d try an appetizer first.”
“The nachos?” Betsy asked.
Hannah nodded. “I promise,” she said to Alonso. “These will be the best nachos you’ve ever eaten.”
Ten minutes later Betsy delivered the appetizer and Alonso experienced his first taste of bison. “This is good.”
“Told you so.” Hannah licked her fingertip and Alonso couldn’t tear his gaze from her mouth. Her lips spread in a smile.
“You’ve got a dreamy look on your face,” she said. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I’d like to—” kiss you “—order the bison burger.”
“That’s what I’m having.”
A surge of testosterone swept through Alonso’s bloodstream. He hadn’t experienced such sharp arousal since he couldn’t remember when. He’d gone on a few dates with nurses when he’d joined the hospital staff, but grew tired of always talking about the things that had happened on their shift—none of them had a life outside of the hospital.
“Did you like the nachos?” Betsy asked Alonso when she picked up the empty platter.
“They were fantastic,” he said.
“We’ll both have the bison burger,” Hannah said. “Make mine medium well, please.”
“The same for me.” Alonso handed Betsy his menu.
The burgers came out a few minutes later along with a special house-made barbecue sauce. After his first bite, he moaned. “I’ll never turn my nose up again when anyone mentions bison meat.”
Over dinner he and Hannah chatted about places they wanted to visit in the future. Favorite sports teams—Hannah was a big football fan and cheered for the Dallas Cowboys. They chatted about TV shows and movies—even the latest books they’d read. Not one time did the subject of gangs, murder, shootings or rape come up as it did when he socialized with the hospital staff. Hannah was a breath of fresh air.
“I’m glad you almost ran me over today.”
Her eyes rounded and he laughed. “It’s been a while since I’ve had such a charming dinner date.”
Pink color stained her cheeks. “I haven’t been out for supper in way too long.”
Over an hour later, Betsy delivered the check to their table. Alonso paid in cash and left a hefty tip. He didn’t want to return to the ranch and end the evening—not when he knew he had to leave in the morning. “Is there somewhere we could stop for a nightcap...maybe dance?” he asked when they left the restaurant.
“There’s a dive bar up the road.”
“Let’s go.” He held open the truck door for Hannah and they took off.
Dive was too nice a word to describe the doublewide Hannah parked in front of five minutes later. A pair of motorcycles and a 1995 Cadillac Eldorado sat outside Maloney’s.
“You sure this is a bar?” he asked.
“I’m sure.”
Once they were inside, Alonso was pleasantly surprised. The owner had torn down the interior walls, creating a large open space. The bikers and an older man sat at the five-stool bar to the right of the door. The rest of the room was filled with mismatched tables and chairs. A jukebox sat in the corner and a sign above a door at the opposite end of the trailer advertised a unisex bathroom. Neon beer signs and No Smoking posters decorated the walls.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked.
“Rico only serves beer or whiskey,” she said. “I better stick to beer.”
Hannah walked off to pick out a place to sit. He paid for their drink order, then carried the beers to the table.
“Thanks.” She swallowed a large gulp before setting her bottle down. Her eyes darted around the room. Maybe she was nervous.
“When was the last time you went out for a drink?” He really wanted to know when she’d last been on a date.
“I can’t remember. Do you go out often?”
“Sometimes after a long shift, the staff will head over to a bar near the hospital.” He’d tagged along the first few times but after that he’d bowed out, preferring to unwind in his quiet apartment in front of the TV.
“Blue Eyes” came on the jukebox, and Alonso said, “Willie’s singing your song.” He took Hannah by the hand and led her to the dance floor, where he pulled her close. She smelled sweet and fit in his arms perfectly. When she leaned into him, his body hardened at the contact. He thought about putting a few more inches between them, but Hannah snuggled closer, her pelvis brushing against his hardness. He buried his nose in her hair, thinking he could hold her like this for hours—just the two of them with Willie singing in their ears.
“Well, well, well.”
Alonso stiffened and Hannah stepped away from him.
“What are you doing here, Seth?” she asked.
“I saw your pickup out front and thought you were drinking alone.” He nodded to Alonso. “Who’s this guy?”
“Alonso, this is my neighbor Seth Markham. He and his father own the Los Pinos Ranch.”
Seth squeezed Alonso’s hand. “I’m also Hannah’s ex-fiancé.”
Interesting that Hannah had left that tidbit of information out during their dinner conversation. “Nice to meet you.”
“What business brings you to Paradise?” Markham asked.
“Just passing through.” Alonso slid his arm around Hannah’s waist. Markham’s eyes narrowed—for a guy who no longer had a claim on Hannah, he acted jealous.
Alonso wasn’t in the business of provoking people but Markham rubbed him the wrong way. He moved his hand from Hannah’s waist to right beneath her breast and swallowed a chuckle when Markham’s face grew red.
“How long are you just passing through for?” Markham asked.
Alonso stared at Hannah. “Haven’t decided yet.”
“We were about to call it a night,” Hannah said.
Markham followed them out. “Where are you staying, Marquez?”
“At the ranch,” Hannah said, then took Alonso’s hand in hers and they walked across the parking lot.
“I’ll drive,” Alonso said. Hannah offered the keys after he helped her into the passenger seat. He slid behind the wheel and took off. When he glanced in the rearview mirror Markham was standing in the parking lot. “Your ex seemed surprised you were with another guy.”
“Seth thinks he can change my mind about marrying him.”
“You want to talk about it?”
She was embarrassed to admit how naive she’d been to believe Seth had really cared about her. Thank goodness he’d shown his true colors before they’d walked down the aisle.
“A week after I broke off our engagement, I saw Seth with another woman.” On the heels of her anger came hurt then relief. In the end she knew she was better off without him, but it stung that Seth had only been using her. “I was on my way to get Luke from school when I saw him walk out of Maloney’s with a redhead clinging to his arm. On the drive back through town I spotted his truck at a motel.” She shook her head. “I may be a simple country girl, but even I know the only reason you check into a motel at three o’clock in the afternoon is to have sex.”
“You’re better off without him.”
Hannah offered him a smile. “If your medical career doesn’t work out, you’d make a good cheerleader.”
Conversation ceased when Alonso turned onto the dirt road that led to the ranch. He parked by the house but made no move to get out of the truck. “If my staying tonight is going to cause problems for you...”
“By problems you mean gossip?”
“I don’t want people to think badly of you because you allowed a hitchhiker to spend the night on your property.”
“You’re not a hitchhiker. You’re a surgeon.” And a darn good-looking one at that. “I don’t care what anyone says about me.” Besides, her family had been the topic of gossip for years in Paradise. Alonso would give them something new to chat about.
She glanced at the dark house. “Luke must be in bed.” For once he’d taken her advice.
“Hangovers will do that to you.” Seconds ticked by, then Alonso reached across the seat and brushed a strand of loose hair from her face. She didn’t want the night to end. Didn’t want to leave his side.
“Alonso?”
“What?”
“Do you ever get lonely?” Until she’d sat across the table from him at the restaurant, Hannah hadn’t consciously acknowledged the depth of her loneliness.
