Rancher to the Rescue

by Arlene James

  “Your hair is quite lovely and I am certainly pleased to meet you, Miss Clementine.” Rue offered a hand in greeting. “I’m Miss Rue.”

  “Rue. That’s a nice name, too.” Clementine shook Rue’s hand and smiled, obviously delighted by the grown-up gesture. “Mr. Cowboy is going to show me horses.”

  Rue lifted her gaze to Tripp. “Oh, are you, Mr. Cowboy?”

  He knelt down next to the little girl. “You can call me Mr. Tripp.”

  “Mr. Tripp.” She scrunched up her face and looked hard at him. “You are a cowboy, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Do cowboys keep their promises?” Clementine asked.

  “Always.” He stood and turned his attention to the television screen on the wall. “What’s going on with the storm?” he asked Rue.

  “Funnel touched down on Route 66. No damage reported. Looks like we’re safe. For now, only thunderstorms.”

  “I like rain,” Clementine said.

  “So do I.” Rue smiled at the little girl and then turned to Hannah. “You’re here to see the Maxwells?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did they know you were coming?”

  “Um, no.” Hannah adjusted the purse on her shoulder and clasped her hands together. “This was sort of spontaneous. I drove straight from Denver.”

  “That’s a long drive,” Rue returned.

  “Yes. Thirteen hours.”

  “We paid our respects,” Clementine interjected.

  Rue’s eyes rounded, reflecting confusion and surprise at the comment. “How did you say you know the Maxwells?”

  “I’m a relative.”

  Rue blinked. “I wasn’t aware that they had any living relatives.”

  “Neither was I... I mean, until recently,” Hannah stammered, her attention on Clementine.

  “So how is it you’re related to the Maxwells, dear?”

  Tripp kept his eyes on Hannah Vincent. She took a deep breath and looked up. Her gaze moved from Rue to him.

  “If you don’t mind, I thought I’d discuss it with the Maxwells,” Hannah continued.

  “Of course. I don’t mean to pry.”

  Hannah offered a hesitant and awkward nod.

  Rue glanced at Tripp and he returned her searching expression with a slight shake of his head. If she wanted answers, she was looking in the wrong direction. He didn’t have a clue and he didn’t want to know, either.

  “How about a cup of coffee?” Rue asked Hannah. She picked up her own mug from the table and smiled. “Fresh pot.”

  “May I please have a glass of water?” Hannah asked.

  “Certainly. We’ve got chocolate muffins in the break room. Our Emma is quite the baker.” She cocked her head toward Clementine. “Would that be okay for...?”

  “Yes. Thank you very much,” Hannah returned.

  “Come help me, Tripp,” Rue said.

  He narrowed his eyes at the good doctor, but she ignored him and started down the hall. When they entered the kitchenette, Tripp released a breath. “I smell a scam.”

  “Oh, don’t be so cynical.” She paused. “Colorado is where their parents died, and where the kids went into foster care.”

  “Okay, so why didn’t she call and schedule an appointment? Why surprise them on a Friday afternoon?” he asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  “I’ve known the Maxwells for eight years. I was their first employee. If they had family, I would have heard about it by now.” Tripp began to pace back and forth across the tiled floor as he continued to mull the situation.

  Rue shrugged and reached for two glasses from the cupboard. “They’ll be here shortly, and I guess we’ll find out.”

  Find out? He didn’t want to find out. This entire situation made him uneasy. Tripp pulled off his cowboy hat and ran a hand through his short hair. All he wanted to do was go back to the stables and be left alone.

  He froze at the sound of the big glass door of the admin building opening and then closing with a whoosh and a dull thud. Boots echoed on the tile floor, along with soft murmuring. The Maxwells had arrived.

  It was like the still before a tornado, and after thirty-four years in Oklahoma, he knew better than to stand in the path of a storm minutes before everything was getting ready to break loose.

  * * *

  Hannah swallowed hard as she faced the Maxwell siblings seated across the conference table from her.

  Lucy, Travis and Emma in person. All dark-haired with dark eyes and generous mouths accustomed to smiling. And they were smiling now, which was a good sign. The Maxwells were accompanied by their spouses.

  Jack Harris, Lucy’s husband, was an attorney. Emma Maxwell Norman’s husband, Zach, a former navy SEAL, sat next to his wife. The man looked like he could break her in two with his pinky.

  Travis sat holding hands with his wife, AJ, a pretty blonde in a denim jacket who’d entered the room with a straw cowboy hat on her head. She was clearly very pregnant.

  Though Rue was entertaining Clementine in another room, they’d asked Tripp Walker to stay. The man was just like family, Lucy Maxwell Harris, the oldest, had said. Pretty scary family, in her opinion. He wasn’t smiling and hadn’t since she’d met him, except when he was speaking to Clementine.

  The man baffled her. He’d been nothing but a gentleman when he had rescued them. And when she’d struggled to climb into the cab of his truck, the cowboy had held her arm and easily helped her. His touch was surprisingly gentle for such a big and disapproving man.

  Right now, the cowboy’s cool blue eyes were nearly ice as they pinned her. Hannah tugged her sweater close against the chill in the room and looked away.

  A tiny niggle of excitement churned inside of her. Excitement even Tripp Walker’s less than warm welcome couldn’t dispel.

  She’d started over many times in the last seven years, but this was different. For once, she wasn’t hiding or running away from something. No, for the first time in her life she was slipping from the shadows into the light and searching for her future.

  And maybe she had found it.

  This could very well be her family sitting around the table. Except they all sat on one side while she sat on the other.

  She silently prayed for help and grasped for a scripture to cling to. Her grandmother may have been misguided in many ways, but when Hannah was growing up she’d made certain they both were in the pew every Sunday.

  Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

  Yes. That would work.

  Lucy cleared her throat and smiled. “I have to admit we’re all shocked to find out we have a relative. Travis, Emma and I went into foster care after our parents died because we were told we had no family.” She pushed her short dark cap of hair back and folded her hands on the table.

  “Are you related to our mom’s cousin? She’s the one who adopted us,” Emma, the youngest Maxwell, asked.

  “I believe I’m related to your father. Jake Maxwell.”

  Travis grinned and leaned forward in his chair. “You’re related to Dad? Really? How?”

  Hannah hesitated, then met his gaze. “I think Jake Maxwell was my father.”

  Travis’s grin faded away at the same instant that Lucy’s jaw sagged. She turned to Emma, whose eyes were round with shock.

  The silence in the room was even louder than Hannah expected. She let her gaze slide to Tripp. Stormy blue eyes met hers before he looked away.

  Hannah held her hands tightly in her lap and willed her heart to slow down. She tried to relax her clenched jaw. In the last ten minutes, she’d destroyed years of orthodontic alignment.

  “Do you have proof? A birth certificate maybe?” Lucy asked.

  “My birth certificate says my mother is Anne Bryant and the name of my father is noted as declined.”

/>   The siblings looked at each other. Hannah could practically read their minds. They were doing the math. But she had already done that in Colorado and knew only too well that she was a year younger than Emma.

  “I’m confused,” Lucy said.

  “Believe me, I am, as well,” Hannah said. “I was born twenty-nine years ago last month. My mother died when I was too young to ask who declined was, and my grandmother wouldn’t discuss my father.” Hannah took a deep breath. “Clementine and I were in Denver for my grandmother’s funeral. Until the reading of the will, I thought she was my only living relative.”

  “We’re so sorry for your loss,” Lucy said gently. “We know what it’s like to lose everything. But what led you to think...” She gestured with a hand.

  “I inherited a chest of my mother’s things after she passed.” Hannah paused for a calming breath. Again, she reminded herself that she hadn’t done anything wrong. “There was a Bible with photos of my mother and Jake Maxwell tucked inside.”

  “Surely there’s more than one Jake Maxwell in all the world,” Lucy said.

  “I compared the photos to the Denver Public Library microfiche files with your father’s obituary photo. That’s also what led me to Big Heart Ranch.”

  Lucy grimaced and nodded.

  “Could we see the photos you have?” Travis asked.

  “Yes. Of course. They’re in the trunk of my car.”

  The eldest Maxwell’s gaze moved out the window to the pasture of tall grass in the distance. Then she slowly turned back to face Hannah. “I want to be sensitive to you, but this still doesn’t prove that he’s your father.”

  Hannah stared down at her tightly clasped hands for moments, recalling the letters she’d read over and over again.

  Dearest Anne, you are on my mind constantly...

  She raised her head to face the Maxwells. “There are also dated letters from Jake to Anne that indicate a very close relationship.”

  Lucy’s face paled as she released a soft, anguished sigh and covered her mouth with a hand.

  “I’m sorry,” Hannah murmured.

  “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Travis said. “This has to be as difficult for you as it is for all of us.”

  “We could do a DNA test. Couldn’t we?” Emma asked while looking at Jack Harris for a response.

  The attorney reached out to hold Lucy’s hand. “Sure, but as I recall, without paternal or maternal DNA, the results won’t be absolutely conclusive, though they will show if you’re family.”

  “I think we should talk to a lab and find out how to proceed,” Emma returned.

  “This is a lot to take in, Em,” Lucy said. “That Dad had a relationship outside of his marriage.”

  “Four years before they died,” Travis murmured.

  Emma turned to her siblings. “We can’t begin to presume to interpret the past. I don’t think we should even try. I say we deal with facts. Hannah is here and for her peace of mind and ours we should find out if we are indeed family.” She offered Hannah a sad smile.

  Travis, too, offered a sympathetic nod. “All of our lives are affected if it’s true.”

  Lucy met Hannah’s gaze. “I have to be clear. The ranch is a charity. The land was given to us by our mother’s cousin. The woman who adopted us. Big Heart Ranch is a sanctuary for orphaned, abused and neglected children. This ranch is our life mission, but we have no inheritance. Nothing.”

  Hannah’s gut clenched at the words. Inheritance? If only they knew she’d already walked away from one. What she longed for was to find her place in this world.

  “I’m here for the same answers you want,” Hannah murmured. “Period.”

  Once again, an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

  “Where are you staying?” Lucy asked.

  “I saw a motel on the way in.”

  “The Rooster Motel?” A horrified look crossed Lucy’s face. “Oh, you don’t want to stay there. We have a nice bed-and-breakfast in Timber.”

  “That’s not really in our budget, but thank you,” Hannah said without looking at any of them.

  “Well then, I’d like to invite you to stay at Big Heart Ranch, at the very least until we can figure all of this out,” Lucy said while she looked to her siblings for confirmation.

  Hannah held her head high. “I don’t do charity.”

  “Of course not. We can always use help on the ranch,” Emma said.

  “What about Clementine?” Hannah asked.

  “There is a licensed daycare at the ranch now,” Lucy said. “How old is she?”

  “Clementine is five. Almost six.”

  “It’s May. Isn’t she enrolled in school?” Emma asked.

  “We’ve moved around a lot,” Hannah said. There was no point sharing further details. Her past had nothing to do with the Maxwells other than when it intersected with theirs.

  Emma frowned. “I handle childcare at the ranch and I can tell you that kindergarten is mandatory in Oklahoma.”

  “It’s not in Texas, Kansas and Missouri.”

  “You certainly have traveled,” Emma murmured.

  Traveled. Hannah nearly laughed out loud. Not quite. She had been running from her grandmother’s reach for nearly seven years. Staying one step ahead of the wealthy woman who insinuated that she could take Clementine away from Hannah if she so desired.

  “I’m sure we have some area you could contribute to on Big Heart Ranch.”

  “What’s your background?” Lucy asked.

  “Recently, I’ve been a bookkeeper, cashier and mostly a cook.”

  “All useful skills.” Travis shook his head. “Can you ride?”

  “Yes, absolutely. I have an extensive background with horses. I’ve been riding since I was a kid. I worked in children’s camps and equine clinics when I was a teenager and in college.” Hannah paused and swallowed. “However, there’s something you should know.”

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I’m pregnant.” Hannah sat straight and proudly. Yes, she was a single mother whose husband had left her not once, but twice. But she refused to give in to the whispers of shame fueled by her grandmother that had dogged her for the past seven years.

  “Congratulations,” Travis said. He grinned like a preening peacock as he put his arm around his wife. “AJ and I have a baby due in August.” He glanced over at Emma. “And Emma and Zach are expecting a baby in December.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Hannah said.

  Emma chimed in, “When is your baby due?”

  “Late December.”

  “Congratulations,” Emma added, her face lighting up with genuine pleasure. “Oh, my, we’re due at the same time.”

  “I’ll add my congratulations, too,” Lucy said. “As you can see, we love babies around here. Your...um, partner is with you in Oklahoma?”

  “I’m recently divorced.” She cleared her throat and once again focused on her hands, running her thumb over a ragged hangnail. Recently divorced because once he’d found out she wasn’t going to be a wealthy woman, he’d walked away.

  An awkward silence stretched before Lucy cleared her throat.

  “You do understand what we do here at the ranch, right?” Lucy asked.

  “Not exactly,” Hannah admitted.

  “We create a new normal for the children who come to live with us at Big Heart Ranch. We have two ranches here, the boys’ ranch and the girls’ ranch. The children are placed in a real house with house parents, not a dormitory. Though they aren’t a biological family, they are a family of the heart. A forever family. Our children have daily devotionals, lessons, homework and chores, just like any other child.”

  Lucy looked to Travis. “We have been promising Tripp an admin to do the paperwork, scheduling and ordering supplies for about two years now, haven�
�t we?”

  Travis nodded with enthusiasm. He turned to Tripp, but the equine manager’s face remained stony. The blue eyes flickered and his jaw twitched, though he didn’t utter a word.

  “We’d still have to run a background and fingerprint check,” Emma chimed in. “It’s ranch policy.”

  “Would you consider staying?” Lucy asked.

  “I don’t know...” Hannah murmured with a glance at Tripp Walker.

  “Tripp?” Emma nudged the silent cowboy.

  “If the Maxwells welcome you, then so do I.” The words were a slow drawl, his gaze cautious, revealing nothing to indicate he’d changed his opinion about her.

  Hannah was silent. So what if the horse manager didn’t like her? This wasn’t about her. She wouldn’t knee-jerk and make a decision based on pride. Clementine and her unborn child deserved to be around family, if that’s what the Maxwells really were.

  “Thank you. I’ll stay...for now.”

  She glanced around the table for a moment. Did she dare to hope that Big Heart Ranch might be the end of the road? A place where she and her children would be welcomed unconditionally? Or would she always be searching for home?

  It’s in Your hands now, Lord, she silently prayed.

  Copyright © 2019 by Tina M. Radcliffe

  ISBN-13: 9781488042706

  Rancher to the Rescue

  Copyright © 2019 by Deborah Rather

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.