by Jen Peters
Dad suddenly shaded his eyes and peered into the distance. “What’re they doing?”
Adam looked over to where ranch hands were working on the fencing. “We talked about this, Dad. We’re replacing the top and bottom strands of barbed wire with smooth, and we’re putting vinyl flags on it. Too many deer and elk are getting hurt on it.”
Dad grumbled. “So they can get in and eat our pasture, huh?”
Letting out a long sigh, Adam said, “So they can move where they need to, Dad. Aren’t you tired of finding a cut-up deer hanging on a fence?”
Dad grunted.
“Besides, hurt animals only draw predators. You wouldn’t want more bear or mountain lion down here, would you?”
“Hmmph.”
Adam loved his father, but the old man was so frustrating sometimes. They were butting heads on several things besides fencing—the solar wells being another. He hoped they worked as well as they were supposed to, or Dad would never let it go.
Needing to lighten the mood, he nudged Mister into a jog. “Come on, let’s see how they’re doing.”
Five minutes later, Adam leaned on his saddle horn while he spoke with the ranch hands. It wasn’t terribly hard work, but most of them were grateful for the pause, taking a moment to take a long swig of water. “That is water, isn’t it?” he asked.
One of the cowboys nodded. “Want some?”
Adam shook his head. “Ty?”
Ty shrugged, tucking a flask back in his hip pocket.
“I’ve warned you, Ty. No liquor while you’re working.”
Dad reached a hand in Adam’s direction. “Later, son,” he said firmly.
Adam fumed, but kept silent. He wasn’t going to lessen his father’s authority in front of the hands. Mister took a step sideways.
He looked at the markers now sitting on the top wire—nice and visible for any kind of animal. “Looks good. You guys need anything?”
Another ranch hand spoke up. “If it’s not too much hassle, I could use another pair of gloves. Kind of ripped these to pieces.”
“Been here a year and still learning about barbed wire, huh?” Dad joked. “I’ll send someone out with them.” He nodded and turned Cobbler back towards the homestead.
Adam caught up with his father. “They’re doing a pretty good job,” he said.
“I know,” Dad said. “And I’ll talk to Steven about his drinking this evening. Not something you need to deal with until you’re the big boss.”
“Steven? You mean Ty.”
Dad waved his hand. “Of course, Ty. Want to stretch these horses’ legs a bit?” He pushed Cobbler into an easy lope.
Adam and Mister followed suit, the wind rushing past Adam’s face and threatening to blow his hat off. He clamped it down with one hand, grinned, and pushed Mister into a full-blown gallop. He wasn’t too old to have a little fun.
When the horses were cooled off and brushed down, Dad turned them out in the pasture while Adam walked back to the admin office. His mind filled with fencing plans and the solar-powered wells. If they could get water into areas without river access—
He came to a quick halt in the main room. Maddy stood in the hallway, one hand on Mia’s shoulder and the other over her mouth as she looked into her office. Thumps and muttering came from inside. Maddy backed up as Caleb stepped carefully out, plaster dust in his hair. “It looks pretty bad,” he said.
Adam strode forward. “What’s bad? What happened?”
Maddy stepped back quickly, pulling Mia with her. Did she do that to make room for him or because she was afraid of him? He cleared the regrets from his head and peered inside.
Her office looked like a tornado had come through. Chunks of drywall covered her desk, the floor, and everything in between. Maddy’s chair was bent awkwardly, and a torn box lay on its side. The ceiling was mostly a dark, jagged hole, except for where he could see the edge of another box. Was it teetering?
Adam whipped his head around. “Were you in there? Are you hurt?”
Maddy shrugged. “Mia and I were cleaning,” she paused and looked at some streaks of color in the corner, “so I wasn’t at my desk.”
He looked her over. Her face was three shades paler than normal, and her hair and clothes held bits of debris amongst the chalky dust. He felt her eyes on him as he turned to her daughter and hunkered down.
Mia leaned away from him immediately, clutching her mother’s hand.
“I’m sorry I yelled the other day, Mia,” Adam said softly. “Are you okay now? The ceiling didn’t hit you?”
She shook her head solemnly.
“I’ll bet you were brave,” he said.
Mia shook her head again. “I cried. And Mommy did too.”
Adam nodded. “But even though it was scary, you’re not crying now. To me, that’s brave. Do you want me to see if I can get it cleaned up?”
She nodded. “But I don’t want to go in there again.”
“We’ll see what we can do about that.” He stood and found Maddy with a soft smile on her face, and Caleb with his eyebrows raised to the ceiling. Whatever.
“Right, then.” Adam knew his voice was authoritative again, but so be it. That was how he rolled. “Caleb, go round up a couple hands and supervise the cleanup. Someone not on calving duty. And Maddy, if you and Mia want to head home for the night, I’ll see about finding you a new space for tomorrow.”
Maddy walked Mia back to the cabin, dumbfounded over it all. The ceiling had caved in, but not until they had moved to the other corner. Caleb had stopped by just in time to help them out. And Adam had actually been nice. Rather bossy, but nice.
God was being very good to them.
By the time she had Mia cleaned up and into fresh clothes, her daughter was recounting how it had sounded, how it was dusty to breathe, how she had to step on a wobbly piece to get to the door. If the youngster could chatter about the adventure, she’d be just fine.
And Maddy? The scariest moment had been when the second box had landed with a crash, toppling her chair over. Now she was filled with what-could-have-happened imaginings and what-should-she-do-now questions. She supposed she could work through the tax returns in the main room there. She’d have to ignore the cowboys who came and went, and keep confidential information locked in the file cabinet.
When they returned the next day, Adam motioned her back to the large office he shared with his father.
Their huge partner’s desk sat to one side instead of the center of the room, and they had rearranged chairs to make room for a computer desk by the other wall. She had a printer table, her file cabinet, and a small table for a work surface.
Which held a vase of daffodils.
Her heart melted. “Adam, this is wonderful. And I love the flowers.”
He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “I’ll take credit for the desk and the old computer—I hope it runs what it needs to—but the flowers are my dad’s doing. He thought you needed something to make you smile.”
And smile she did. One thoughtful, older gentleman and one handsome man who might turn out to be a nice guy, plus a place to work—it all gave her a lot to smile about. Being under the eye of two bosses might be stressful, though.
With Mia settled on a floor pillow with her book, Maddy ignored the weight of Adam’s gaze and opened up the old computer. She groaned as it booted up. Windows Vista! She wasn’t sure it would even run the current software.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked.
Maddy could only shake her head. “I’m not sure how much I can do on this. I’ll let you know.”
Adam didn’t answer directly, but the next thing Maddy heard was him on the phone. “Hey, Brad. Any chance you can speed up the work on the computer we sent down? This old one isn’t going to work out… Uh huh… Well, do what you can.”
Wow. This was one cowboy who didn’t mess around. “Thanks,” Maddy said when he hung up.
“I’m sorry. Cattle and horses I can handle. Computers, not so much.
” He tapped his pen against his desk and frowned.
“That’s all right,” she said, smiling. “Everything’s backed up to the cloud, and I can do the tax worksheets online. That deadline is more important than the pile of invoices.”
Adam nodded and turned back to the article he was reading.
By the end of the day, though, Maddy knew it wasn’t going to work. Not that she couldn’t concentrate while Adam was on the phone or talking to his father—headphones would work if she needed them. But her curious daughter was another story.
“What are the trophies for, Mama?”
“Where did Mr. Black go, Mama?”
“What’s a bull exam?”
“Who is Mr. Adam scolding?”
No matter how much Maddy urged Mia to read or color, the questions kept coming with every small happening in the office. At three o’clock, the end of Maddy’s workday, she took her daughter in her arms. “Sweetie, we’re going to go down to the school tomorrow.” She turned to Adam. “Do you mind if I only work a half day?”
Adam gave a rather bemused smile. “Take what you need.”
Maddy drove Mia to school herself Wednesday—riding the bus could start the next day. Mia’s chatter didn’t distract her from her nerves, though. What if the principal wouldn’t agree? What if they insisted on using Mia’s real last name? Even if the school wouldn’t release her to Brock’s custody, Maddy couldn’t trust that a secretary wouldn’t slip and confirm that she was a student there.
Brock was a master at manipulation. He could be understanding, polite, sincere, all to get you to do what he wanted. She could just hear him: “Does Mia Johnston have enough lunch money today?” And of course someone would look it up and tell him.
His abuse should have kept him locked up for a long time, but he’d been able to talk his way out of everything except the blatant violation of the restraining order. And ever since he’d been locked up for those months, all he could think about was getting back at her. If taking Mia would make Maddy give in, she was sure he’d do it.
Thankfully, the principal agreed to put “Mia Ricciolino” on all their records except a confidential file. With a lightened heart and a major worry off her shoulders, Maddy walked Mia to her new class before treating herself to a mint chocolate ice cream at Two Scoops. So what if it added to her curves? Then it was back to the ranch, humming all the way up.
Country roads, take me home… The Black Rock Ranch was feeling more and more like home.
4
When Adam finished checking the soil samples and returned to his office Tuesday, the admin building was quiet. Dad was at the house, and Maddy must still be in town.
He settled in at his desk and tried working out a lease offer to use the Watkins’ land, but kept getting distracted by memories of yesterday. Young Mia’s questions about anything and everything. Maddy’s problems with the wretched old computer. Heck, he’d had problems with it when it was new!
And then trying to concentrate with Maddy sitting only a few feet away.
Why? He’d only met her a few days ago. And sure, she was pretty, but there was something else about her. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.
He gave a shake of his head. He didn’t have time for this—there was too much paperwork to do before he could get back outside.
Adam tried again to concentrate on the proposed lease. He dozed a bit, then jerked upright, barely catching himself from tipping over. Stupid chair. He really ought to get a new one.
“Do you do that often?” came Maddy’s amused voice.
“What?” he growled. “Fall asleep or tip over?”
“Either. Both.”
“It’s calving season. I do both on a regular basis.”
Maddy’s brow furrowed, creating two small lines between her eyebrows. “No one can work 24/7.”
Was she being critical or caring?
“The hands do most of it, but I like to know what’s going on.” So he was a bit of a control freak. But he couldn’t head off problems if he wasn’t there to catch them early on. Being out with the cows in the middle of the night might leave him worn out, but he wasn’t going to give it up.
“Mia’s all set up for school?” he asked as Maddy settled in at her desk.
“Yup. And when I explained, they even—” Her words broke off, and she stared at the computer screen as the Windows logo slowly appeared.
“They even what?”
She just shook her head. “Nothing. Mia’s teacher seems nice.”
Adam watched her, but she said nothing else. Her private life was her own, though, so he turned back to his papers. He wondered if he would have followed in his father’s footsteps so eagerly if he’d known how much desk work it entailed.
He flipped his pencil in the air and gave up half an hour later. Between watching Maddy and trying to work with a bleary mind, he wasn’t getting anything done. “If Dad comes in, tell him I’m out riding.”
“Hey, Mister, want to get out of here for a bit?” Adam crooned as he offered the bay gelding his piece of carrot. He rubbed behind Mister’s ear, then rested his forehead against the horse’s neck. There wasn’t much that time with a horse couldn’t make better.
He saddled Mister, and they headed out. Past all the expectant cows, past the ones with new calves at their sides, even past the yearling heifers. He ought to stop and check them, but other than a quick glance for anything amiss, he just wanted to ride.
He closed the last gate, then reined Mister to the right fork of the trail, past Black Rock and up toward the high lake where a pair of bald eagles were raising their chicks. He couldn’t wait until they fledged and he could watch them soar with their parents. There was something about the freedom and fluidity of watching eagles fly that thrilled his soul.
Adam breathed deeply, letting his cares wash away. Despite his enjoyment of Sunday church services, this was where he came to feel close to God. He just wished the Lord would send him some help once in a while.
If ranching only had to do with animals and pasture, he’d be in heaven. But there were people, too. People who came with issues.
He wondered if Ty was going to be a continuing problem, and if so, what he should do about it. Drinking at his cabin was Ty’s right, but if he was drinking on the job… The animals they handled and the equipment they used could both be dangerous. Dad really should be the one pulling Ty aside for a serious conversation, but Dad seemed to be letting the hard stuff slide.
His father was pushing seventy, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Sometimes Dad sort of zoned out. He had checked the fence line the day before, and Adam wondered if he ought to run past it himself on the way back.
He lifted his face to the sky. “You could help me out a little, God. I wouldn’t mind. Really.”
And then Maddy’s face was in his mind. Totally unexpected. Was she his help? He rolled his eyes at the idea. She might be a good accountant, but she didn’t know the first thing about ranching. What’s a tag? she’d asked.
He laughed at a different thought. On Sunday, Pastor Rich had suggested that it was trials that made people strong and developed their character. Maybe Maddy was here to be a trial, to develop his character. She could certainly frustrate him, no matter how quietly she sat at her desk.
No, time would tell whether she was a trial or blessing, if either.
He ducked under a branch and thought of what else Pastor Rich had said: Leaning on the Lord through trials deepened a person’s relationship with Him, and the Lord could then use that depth and strength for His purposes. Usually to help someone else.
Adam snorted. Their biggest trial had about broken them instead. Adam had been sixteen when the phone call came saying that Mom had been in an accident. She was dead by the time they got to the hospital, killed by a drunk driver.
It hadn’t made them stronger people. They were just like they had been, now with a massive hole in their lives.
Aunt Sarah had come to take care of them, especially
with Lacey so little back then, but even when she left, Adam didn’t think Dad had ever considered remarrying. He didn’t talk about Mom, either, and the brothers had all taken their cue from him—she was a treasured memory but not an open conversation. Which was fine.
Since then, Adam worked hard to make sure there were no unexpected difficulties, especially the type that Pastor Rich claimed would make someone stronger in his faith. Maybe the thing he should take away from the pastor’s words was to lean on the Lord more through his current trials, instead of trying to do it all himself.
The lake sparkled ahead, blue against the snow lining the banks. He’d have just a few minutes to enjoy it before he needed to head back, but it had been worth it.
Dismounting, he kept a loose hold on Mister’s reins and found a large enough rock to sit on. His thoughts meandered from Pastor Rich back to his mother, to Maddy, to what his mother would think of Maddy. She’d probably like her, and especially envy her curls—Mom’s hair had been curtain-straight.
Mister shied suddenly, and the reins jerked against Adam’s hand, pulling him backwards. He scooted to his feet, following the motion of his horse. “Whoa, boy, easy there.”
But Mister kept backing up, eyes wide, nostrils flared.
“Come on, nothing’s going to hurt you.” Adam looked to see what could have spooked him. Was there a predator around? But as he moved to keep up with Mister, one boot twisted on a piece of a branch.
Gasping as pain shot up his leg, he pulled harder on the reins. “Stop it, silly, you’re fine.” His voice wasn’t as calm as it should have been, but he couldn’t help it. He limped after his horse, finally getting him to stand still.
Mister blew harsh breaths, and his eyes were still a bit wild, but he stood long enough for Adam to mount. With difficulty. Standing on a twisted or sprained ankle while he got the other foot in the stirrup had him gritting his teeth and keeping a close hold on the swear words that wanted to come out.
He grunted as he settled in the saddle, keeping a tight rein on Mister. “Thanks for nothing, bud.” His ankle throbbed. It would be swollen tight by the time they got back to the homestead, and he would not be happy if they had to cut his boot off.