“Mom,” Sam said, breaking into her thoughts. “I’ve got to go get Cisco now. Mr. Ransom said to.”
“Oh, okay. But remember to walk slowly.” She smiled down at him as he again moved off at a snail’s pace. Carefully, she approached the corral, too, thrilled that Addie only gave her a suspicious look before turning her attention to Caleb once again.
“Caleb, what are you giving her?”
“Sugar. Turns out she’s got quite a sweet tooth.”
“Hmm.” She tilted her head to the side. “So it seems that you can be sweet when you want to.”
He looked at her, the corner of his mouth hitching up in that crooked way that never failed to catch at her heart. “Let’s keep that a secret, okay?”
Sam called out from the barn, snapping the two adults back to the moment.
“He’s going to be more obsessed than ever with horses and cowboys. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,” Laney said.
Caleb grinned again. “I’m a quick learner.”
He made his way to Sam, seemingly unbothered, this time, by the usual hesitation in his step. “We’ll be back in a while,” he said over his shoulder. “Parkey’s bringing another horse out this afternoon. He said he’d bring the mama cat back, too.”
Laney waited to see what would happen and a few minutes later the two of them trotted out on Cisco, Sam seated in front of Caleb, a huge, happy grin on his face. His small hands were wrapped around the saddle horn. Caleb held the reins with one hand, twitching them to the right so that the big horse would turn in that direction. His other hand rested on Sam’s stomach, holding him steady. His right leg stuck out, but it didn’t seem to bother him.
Something about the way Caleb protected her son brought a lump to Laney’s throat. As they rode by, Sam lifted his hands in the air and flexed his muscles as he shouted, “’Bye, Mom! We’re going to move cows!” She laughed, wondering if he had a mental image of himself lifting a cow up and carrying it around.
Caleb’s eyes met hers and they shared a moment of silent laughter.
She watched them ride away, thinking how much things had changed since she and Sam had first met Caleb.
* * *
MONETTE LOOKED AT the stack of forms she’d unearthed from the pile on her desk. They were all forms related to the Reynolds boy’s case file. She’d driven out there today to check on things. She hadn’t seen anything amiss, but that didn’t necessarily mean everything was all right.
Looking at the completed forms, she felt satisfied, but she didn’t know where all these other papers had come from. She frowned as she looked at them and then glanced out the open door. Some of the others in the office had come in here and messed up her desk, thrown things around, stolen her calendar to make her look bad. They were jealous because she handled more cases than anyone else and did it really well. Well, she wasn’t going to let them get to her. She had an important job to do. As soon as she found her calendar.
The changes in the system were good. Too many cases of child abuse, neglect or endangerment had gone uninvestigated, and the new procedures were designed to prevent that. People in her office were struggling with the new forms, the new way of doing things, but Monette knew she was doing everything right. Others in the office were jealous because she had adapted so quickly and mastered the new procedures. That’s why they were trying to make her look bad. She wasn’t going to let them annoy her. She could handle anything. As soon as she found her calendar.
“Good morning, Monette. Could I speak to you in my office, please?”
Monette started violently and looked up from the pile of papers on her desk to see her boss, Susan Martinez, waiting in the doorway to her office. Had she been there a second ago? Monette didn’t think so.
Susan was smiling and Monette tried to smile back, her lips flickering up then down. “I have a lot to do,” she mumbled, her gaze darting to Susan’s crisp, tailored slacks and top to her own gray suit. Monette always tried to look neat and professional. But wait—were those spots on her skirt? Where had those come from? She’d been looking for her calendar, and...
“I know,” Susan said. “You’ve been working so hard. This will only take a minute.” She turned and moved down the short hallway to her office.
Monette stared after her in dismay. The only thing she could do was follow.
Standing, she brushed her hands down her skirt and tried to tuck in her blouse, then she did as she was told.
Once she was inside Susan’s office, she took the chair indicated for her while Susan closed the door to ensure their privacy.
“Would you like a bottle of water, Monette?” Susan asked, watching her, still smiling. “It’s summertime in Arizona, and we can’t let you get dehydrated.”
Monette shook her head; a quick, hard shake. “No, uh, no thanks. I had some water.” Hadn’t she? Or maybe that had been earlier. There had been a bottle of water on her desk and she’d had some with lunch. She’d eaten lunch, hadn’t she? Blinking, she waited.
“Monette, when was the last time you took a day off?”
“Um, I don’t know. I don’t need a day off.” Her fingers began picking at her skirt, trying to fold pleats over the dirty spots that had appeared from nowhere. Folding, smoothing, folding, smoothing.
Susan leaned forward and clasped her hands lightly together on top of her spotless desk. “It was last January. Now it’s July and you’ve worked every day and most weekends.”
“My job is important.”
“Yes, it is and you’re a valuable employee. But we can’t let you get burned out.”
“I’m not!” Monette sat forward urgently. “I have lots to do right now, but when I get ahead of it, I’ll take a vacation. I’ve been thinking about going to Hawaii.” That was someplace people went on vacation, wasn’t it? She didn’t know. She’d never taken one.
Susan smiled again, apparently relieved. “That’s a great idea. Lie on the beach, relax...”
“I’m not going to get burned out,” Monette said again as if her boss hadn’t spoken. “I’m fine. I like working. Our clients need me.” Monette forced down the panic that fluttered in her throat, threatening to choke her. She had to work. What would she do if she didn’t come to work every day?
“Yes, they do, but we, as a department, have a huge responsibility to our clients, and we have to be at our best.”
“And you don’t think I’m doing my best?” Monette sat forward and grasped the front of Susan’s desk, her fingertips whitening as her grip tightened. “I am. I do my best every day. You can’t deny that I handle more cases than anyone else.”
“But you don’t need to, Monette. There have been some complaints from some of our other caseworkers that you’ve interfered with their cases, and some calls from the public.”
“Who?” Monette jumped to her feet, fury surging through her. “I work harder than anybody. Who’s been complaining about me?”
“You know I can’t say.” Susan stood, too, and came around to place her hand gently on Monette’s arm. “I need you to get your case files together before Friday the twenty-first, and we will disperse them to the other caseworkers so that you can take some time off to rest.”
“But I don’t need time to rest.”
“It’s very obvious that you do, Monette, and I’m insisting that you take at least two weeks off. You’ve been very stressed for the past three months.”
“No more than anyone else,” Monette said defensively.
“Yes, much more,” Susan responded, still in her gentle tone. “Did something happen in April that caused...”
“No. I’m fine.”
April, she thought. April six. Sean’s birthday. The day that little girl had been found—
She jerked her thoughts back to what Susan was saying.
�
��You need a complete break—take that trip to Hawaii you were just talking about. Get your case files organized by a week from Friday and—”
“I can’t.” The panic she’d been fighting overwhelmed her. Sweat broke out on her face. “But this is Tuesday. That only gives me...”
“A week and a half. Plenty of time to get things together.” Susan put her arm around Monette’s stiff shoulders. “Would you like some help?”
“No.” Monette’s stomach heaved. “I can do it... I don’t want anyone in my...” Her words faded away as the enormity of the situation faced her. Stumbling a little, she turned around. “I’ve got to go. There are cases to finish and there’s one...” Clutching at the door frame, she scrabbled for the knob and shuffled out the door.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CALEB HAD TOLD Laney to make herself at home, so she took her schoolbag from the Jeep and carried it inside. Bertie followed, padding into the kitchen to see if anything interesting had magically appeared in his food dish. When he saw that it hadn’t he slurped some water and returned to the living room to turn a few circles, then crumple on his rug.
Laney laughed at him and began arranging the items she’d brought with her. She soon had her laptop set up on the kitchen table, and books and papers scattered over its surface. It took her a while to get down to work and focus her mind on the ninth-grade English curriculum because her thoughts kept wandering to her son and especially to Caleb. From the first time they’d met, she’d spent much more time thinking about him than was probably necessary for someone who was a neighbor. But he was more than a neighbor, and the fact that she’d let her son go off with him on horseback was proof. She trusted him and thought he trusted her, something that his initial hesitation around her and Sam told her was difficult for him—though things had certainly changed since he’d reinjured his leg.
Laney stared at the blinking cursor on her laptop screen. She had revealed much of herself to Caleb last night. She’d told him about her mother and about James, her history of abandonment. She hadn’t been looking for pity, but for understanding, because Caleb was becoming important to her in a way she hadn’t experienced since she’d become infatuated with James. Her incredibly bad judgment in that situation had resulted in her becoming a single mother when James had run out on her and their unborn son. She couldn’t imagine Caleb doing that. When he’d told her last night that he hadn’t spoken of his friend, Berman, since the man’s death, she’d felt the depths of his despair. He carried Berman’s memory with him, and probably others of his men, as well. He couldn’t leave the memories behind, forget about those men.
Realizing she’d spent enough time thinking about Caleb, she focused on the work in front of her. Just before noon, she cleared the table, found everything she needed for sandwiches and prepared lunch. Sam and Caleb rode up a few minutes later, turned Cisco loose to graze on the small patch of grass in front of the house and came inside, their boots—and Caleb’s cast—thumping on the hardwood floor.
“Mom!” Sam shouted, petting Bertie, then running to her. “We moved a hundred cows and they didn’t like it, but we made ’em go.”
Laney hunkered down to hug him and meet him at eye level, then glanced up at Caleb, who held up the fingers of both hands and mouthed the word ten.
She kissed Sam, who didn’t seem to mind this time, and said, “I’m proud of you for showing those cows who’s boss. Now go wash your hands for lunch.”
He trotted away and they heard him singing at full volume while he soaped and rinsed.
Caleb crossed to Laney, reached down and hauled her to her feet. Clamping one arm around her waist, he pulled her close. Surprised, she tilted her head back to look at him and he took the opportunity to close his mouth over hers, as if he’d been waiting all day for the moment.
The kiss was sweet and fast, and she barely had time to react before he released her and stepped away. He gave her a wink and headed to the bathroom to wash his hands as Sam came pounding back into the kitchen and climbed onto a chair. Her son launched into an excited recitation of their “big roundup,” as he called it. Her lips still tingling, it took Laney a few moments to focus on what he was saying.
Caleb returned to the kitchen and they sat at the table to eat. Sam chattered on and Caleb provided clarification whenever Sam’s tale became a little too far-fetched.
As they were finishing their sandwiches, Don Parkey’s truck rolled into the yard, pulling a horse trailer behind it. They went out to greet him, but the three of them stopped, startled, at the thumping and banging noises coming from the trailer. It sounded as if the horse was trying to break out.
Don jumped out of his truck and hurried over to them. He was holding the cat carrier, which held a very disgruntled mama cat.
“She doesn’t look very happy,” Caleb said, peering into the carrier.
“Don’t worry about her. Her troubles are over. She can get back to chasing mice,” Don answered, handing the carrier to Laney. “It’s this horse I’m worried about. I don’t know about him, Caleb,” he said. “Been traumatized by people and wants nothing to do with any of us, or any of his own kind, for that matter. I think we should put him in a corral or pasture by himself and then just leave him alone for a while.”
With a nod, Caleb pointed to the corral at the far side of the barn, which opened onto an empty pasture. Don climbed back into his truck, turned in a wide circle, then backed up to the corral gate.
Laney told Sam to stay where he was on the porch then hurried to the barn with the carrier and released the mama cat, who immediately streaked up to the highest rafter, then looked down angrily at the interfering humans before settling down to wash her paws. Laney barely spared her a glance before rushing back outside to grab the gate and give it a mighty opening swing.
The men had lowered the trailer ramp and opened the trailer gate. The horse, instead of backing out, kicked at Don, who vaulted off the end of the ramp, out of danger. Laney was sickened to see the long, vicious scars on the animal’s rump, as if he’d been beaten many times. He had a reason to hate humans, she thought.
“How did you load him, Don?” Caleb asked.
“With great difficulty.” The veterinarian sighed. “It took the guy who found him, his wife and me nearly an hour to get him into the trailer. I hope it doesn’t take us that long to get him out. I’ve got other patients I need to see.”
Caleb stepped up to the end of the trailer and began speaking to the horse in a low, soothing tone. She could see the animal tossing his head. After several minutes Caleb took a step closer, lifting himself onto the ramp. The horse’s hooves danced, clattering on the floor of the trailer, the animal obviously unsure of this new human approaching him. Caleb’s voice never changed as he continued to talk in his soothing tone.
At one point Caleb reached out a hand but the horse tried to kick, causing Caleb to hobble back.
“Misjudged his fear,” Caleb said easily, and started all over again.
Laney glanced over her shoulder to see that Sam and Bertie were still on the porch. Her son’s eyes were wide as he watched. She tried to control her anxiety as Caleb stepped in closer. Her gaze went automatically to his injured leg, fearing the horse would panic again and kick him there. Caleb seemed to have forgotten his own injury as he worked to calm the animal.
“You’ve been mistreated, big fella, I get that,” Caleb was saying. “I know you don’t trust us. I wouldn’t trust us, either. Some people suck. They didn’t deserve to have a beautiful boy like you, but you’re free from them now. We’ll treat you better than they did.”
Laney wasn’t even sure he was aware of what he was saying; only stringing words together in a kind of patter to calm the horse.
As she watched Caleb, her mind flashed back to everything that had happened in the weeks she had known him, from the day they’d met and he’d rescued Sam from bei
ng trampled by a mare, to their adventures with her lively son, to the cattle trampling her flowers, the cat that needed to be spayed, the terrifying encounter with the mountain lion, and his own broken leg. She had seen this gentle side of him before; last night when he’d carried her son to the truck and put him to bed at home. He understood this wounded, scarred horse because the same thing had happened to him.
Caleb Ransom had been badly hurt and he’d survived. Slowly, he was beginning to take an interest in life again, in those around him.
And she was in love with him.
Laney stood perfectly still, holding on to the corral gate as the realization sank in. Blood rushed to her face and her heart pounded in her ears as she came to terms with it. She didn’t know how this had happened. They’d only known each other for a few weeks. They’d never been on a date, spent time with each other’s families, anything that couples usually did. And they certainly weren’t a couple, she reminded herself. They were only friends—or had been until right now when she’d realized she loved him.
She didn’t know if she could trust this feeling, because she’d been so wrong about James. But, somehow, the comforting things Caleb was saying to the horse eased her mind, too, making her think it was possible to have faith in him.
Still, in love with him? Hadn’t she told herself that if she ever fell in love again, it would be with someone she really got to know first? Someone who shared her interests and values? She wasn’t going to make the same mistake she’d made with James, was she? She couldn’t do that, especially not now that she had a child to consider.
And most important was that Caleb hadn’t given any significant indication that he was romantically interested in her, beyond a few kisses. Her experience with James had taught her that kisses meant something different to a man than they did to a woman.
Confused and dismayed, she went back to watching Caleb working with the horse, seeing the easy, slow movements, listening to the lulling tone of his voice. This was one of the things that confused her about him. So many times there had seemed to be a war raging inside him, and other times, such as this one, he was as calm and peaceful as a forest meadow. She wasn’t sure which was the real Caleb Ransom, so how could she be in love with a man like that?
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