by Lois Richer
He left the room knowing the housekeeper would check on them. The two males would be well looked after. It was just that he had a constant, nagging need to be sure he’d covered every detail. He didn’t want Ed having a relapse on his watch. The responsibility weighed heavily.
Abby waited in the kitchen, bundled up in a thick, warm coat his housekeeper had found for her. Cade escorted her to the truck and soon they were on the road.
“It’s going to be hard on your father when Ivor returns to school,” Abby mused.
“When will that be?” he asked.
“Ivor seems to think the sooner the better. I overheard him ask Marsha if he could go back tomorrow. I didn’t realize she’s his temporary guardian.” She nodded at Cade’s look of surprise. “I expected her to have made me his guardian but apparently she sees this as some kind of test case with the authorities.”
“So why didn’t she take Ivor to her house?” Cade asked.
“With her husband so ill, Marsha can’t take Ivor home. But she did tell him today that the bus will pick him up for school at the end of our lane. I’m sure she’ll phone later to let us know the rest of the details.”
Cade nodded.
“I didn’t get the impression that the relatives he was with over the weekend are stepping up to take him.” Abby tilted her head to one side. “I think the routine of getting back to normal at school will be good for him.”
“I don’t know how normal his life will be, but he’s welcome to stay on the Double L,” Cade told her. “He’s good for Dad. Somehow the two of them really communicate. I wish I could manage that feat with my father.” He couldn’t mask his wistfulness.
“Why can’t you?” Abby grinned when he rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say it would be easy, but if that’s what you want, you have to at least try.” She tilted her head so she could study him. “You should make the first move, Cade.”
“How?” he demanded.
“You know him better than I. You’ll figure out something.” The way Abby fiddled with her seat belt told him she wanted to ask him something. It wasn’t long before she said, “Did you, uh, find out anything about my money?”
“Not yet.” Trying to get answers about Abby’s money had gone as badly as his meeting with his potential buyer. But getting passed around the various government departments forced Cade to appreciate what Abby had gone through. “I’m still working on it.”
“Thanks.” She stared out the window, blinking rapidly. He hated seeing Abby so emotional.
“Can I ask you something?” When Abby looked at him with her expressive green eyes, a cinch tightened around Cade’s heart. It’s none of your business. “Never mind.”
“No, go ahead. Please ask me whatever you want.” She waited, her glossy walnut curls sparkling in sunshine reflected off the snow.
“Why don’t you wear Max’s rings anymore? Is it because they remind you of him too much?” Cade wished he’d kept silent when devastation filled her eyes. “You don’t have to tell me.”
Abby remained silent for several moments. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet, he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.
“I pawned them. Isn’t that awful?” she whispered, tears shining in her eyes. “I pawned my dead husband’s rings.”
“Abby, I—” Cade was so shocked he couldn’t think what to say.
“They were my dearest link with him.” She stared down at her knotted hands. “But I had no money and I had to pay the bills or they would have turned off the gas. I kept the thermostat as low as I could, but the house was old and drafty and it cost a lot to heat, especially since this winter has been so cold.”
She was apologizing for keeping warm! Cade’s anger ballooned. If he’d toyed with any doubts about trying to recover her money, they now dissipated. But he didn’t say a word. He simply let her talk.
“I’ve only got a month left before the man at the pawnshop is legally entitled to sell the last of my stuff,” she continued in a very quiet voice. “I keep hoping and praying my money will come in time to recover my most precious things, but— I’m leaving that up to God.” She gulped, surreptitiously brushed away a tear and forced a smile. “Tell me about your horses that are having babies.”
So for the rest of the journey into town Cade babbled about mares and foals and how he raised them, but his mind wouldn’t let go of the grim fact that she’d had to pawn her jewelry to stop from freezing to death.
Cade figured he must have told a good story about ranching because by the time they arrived at the seniors’ center, Abby’s eyes danced with anticipation.
“I want to be there when the horses give birth,” she insisted. In the short time she’d been on the ranch the sallow tone of her skin had been replaced by a lovely rose that gave her cheeks a healthy glow. The big, generous smile he remembered from when Max had introduced them seemed back to stay.
Cade still had doubts about bringing Abby to the ranch, but at the moment he was fiercely glad he’d taken her away from her drafty house, the bill collectors and those who smeared Max’s sacrifice by withholding the payments she was due.
“Looks like half the town’s here,” he said, irritated that he couldn’t park nearer the entrance.
“Good. It’ll be even more fun if the whole town gets involved in making the adoption agency happen.” She gathered up a stuffed satchel she’d brought and reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” he ordered. “I’ll help you.” But by the time he got to the other side of the truck, Abby was reaching down with one toe, trying to feel her way onto the truck’s running board. “You are a stubborn woman,” he told her as he helped her descend.
“That must be hard for you,” she agreed, grinning as she peeked through her lashes at him. “Especially since you’re just as stubborn.”
Cade couldn’t stifle his shout of laughter as he walked her inside the building. A second later he choked it back, intimidated by the group of people who turned to stare at them.
“Abby, I’m delighted you came. And you brought Cade. Just the man we need for several jobs.” Mayor Marsha swooped down on them and drew them both forward.
Cade almost groaned. He didn’t want any part of this. He had his own work to do, including finding a buyer for the ranch. But how could he refuse to repair the loosening banister the mayor showed him? Or ignore the loose carpet corner that very well might trip Abby? Seniors needed those things in a center they used frequently and Cade couldn’t find any excuse not to complete the other items on the list the mayor handed him.
It would be churlish to refuse and downright silly to drive all the way back to the ranch and then return to pick up Abby, so Cade got to work. But in spite of his refusal to get involved, he couldn’t help listening to the discussion as he worked.
“I want to announce that Wanda Scranton has purchased the old hotel with the intention of opening an adoption agency which will also be a place where moms-to-be can come as a sanctuary, a kind of home to stay and await the birth of the child she wishes to give for adoption,” Marsha informed the group after she’d called them to order.
Applause mingled with surprise and almost everyone clapped.
“As a building, it should work very well. The rooms are a nice size with those big, old-fashioned windows that let the sun in,” Marsha continued. “Wanda is already speaking with builders about renovations the government requires. She’s hoping it won’t cost too much to make changes.”
A sense of excitement rippled through the room. Abby, head bent, doodled on a pad she’d brought along.
“On the staffing side, Holly Janzen, our nurse practitioner, has agreed to act as midwife if the birth mom wants that rather than hospital. Holly’s fully qualified, of course, and she can call Doc Treple for backup. He’s agreed to that. Wanda will need other personnel, of course, but for now she
’d like suggestions on what you think needs doing to make her agency a Buffalo Gap success.”
“I think it will take work to make that place homier, less institutional,” Karina Denver said. “I had this idea that handmade quilts might lend that touch to the rooms. Maybe we could even give them to the birth mom or send them home with the child.” She grimaced and shrugged. “Of course, I have no idea how to make quilts.”
Muted laughter filled the room.
“I know how. I could teach you,” Abby volunteered. “I’ve quilted since I was eight.”
“You’re sure it’s okay in your condition?” Karina asked with a tentative glance at Abby’s stomach.
Cade frowned. Everyone in town knew how badly Karina wanted a baby. But she and Jake were childless and Abby was obviously pregnant. Wouldn’t working with Abby make it harder for Karina? His reservations were smothered by the excited responses of others gathered around the table at the mention of quilting.
“I’m perfectly fit to quilt,” Abby insisted, her cheeks bright pink now that everyone’s attention was on her. “There are many patterns to choose from. How many rooms will there be?”
“Twelve.” Mayor Marsha frowned. “But I don’t know if Wanda can afford fabric for that many quilts.”
“Maybe she won’t need to.” Abby remained silent for a moment, then smiled. “Why not put out a call for leftover fabric? We can make scrap quilts.”
“That’s a lot of quilting,” someone else said, echoing Cade’s reservations.
“It is. I wish I still had my mom’s long-arm quilting machine,” Abby mused, a faraway look in her eyes. “It would make the quilting part go much faster.”
Just by glancing at her face, Cade knew she’d pawned it along with her rings. His gut burned at the thought that she’d been forced to part with things she must treasure. But Abby didn’t look gloomy or depressed.
“We’ll have to leave it with God and see what He works out.” That sparkle was back in her eyes. “Or...” she dragged it out for maximum impact. “We could have quilting bees.” She grinned at the others’ obvious approval. “We could set up a frame at someone’s house and get together to quilt like they did in the old days. With all of us working together, it won’t take long.”
“Years ago we had a group like that in Buffalo Gap but we kind of lost interest.” Mayor Marsha was obviously intrigued. “Do you have a quilting frame, Abby?”
“No.” Abby’s head lifted and her eyes met Cade’s. “But I know someone who could make one.” She winked at him. “Leave it with me.”
Cade added build a quilt frame to his to-do list.
“Those are wonderful ideas. Now let’s move on to the next piece of business,” Mayor Marsha decreed.
Cade had no idea what a quilt frame even looked like, let alone how to build one. But thanks to Abby, he had an idea about how he could find common ground with his dad.
* * *
“So I thought maybe we could figure out a way to get back Abby’s rings and her mom’s quilting machine,” Cade said to his father later that night after everyone had gone to bed.
How? Ed scrawled across his pad.
“That’s the part I need your help with,” Cade admitted. “But it seems to me that since Max gave his life for our country the least we should be able to do is help out his wife. So will you think about it, let me know if you come up with any ideas?”
Ed studied him for several minutes, then shrugged and nodded.
“Thanks, Dad. And don’t tell anyone. I’d like to keep this between us if I could. Abby’s proud. I don’t think she’d want anyone to know she had to pawn her things.” Cade sipped his coffee, knowing he couldn’t stay much longer. He had to get back to the horse barn. “It looks like we’re going to have a new foal tonight,” he told Ed.
For the first time in ages Cade actually felt comfortable talking ranch with his father. Maybe Abby was right; maybe this relationship could be salvaged.
Raise the foals? his father wrote on the pad.
Cade shook his head.
Why not?
“Justine Brunfeld has already given me a deposit for the first six foals we get that aren’t thoroughbreds. She’s asked me to halter break them. She intends to add them to her riding academy.” Cade hadn’t promised because he wasn’t sure he’d still be here. He sighed as his father jerked upright in his chair. “I know you don’t want to sell, Dad, but we need the money.”
We need the foals to build our herd.
The herd we’re going to sell? Cade didn’t say it because of the carved lines of age and worry deepening around Ed’s dark eyes.
“The Double L has always raised thoroughbreds. I don’t want to weaken our brand and the foals aren’t thoroughbreds,” Cade explained. But it was no use. His father didn’t feel that should be his decision alone. They’d been over this topic a hundred times before. “I have to go back to the barn,” Cade said, rising. “We’ll talk about it more tomorrow.”
I decide. Ed shook the yellow tablet to emphasize his displeasure.
The truce was over. There would be no reconciliation this night.
“You can’t run the ranch until you’re up and walking, Dad,” Cade said in his quietest voice. “And if you won’t do your exercises we both know that isn’t going to happen. So in the meantime, I’ll decide. You gave me control, remember?”
His father’s face turned red and he opened and closed his mouth powerlessly.
“I’m doing what I think is best,” Cade told him. “I’m sorry if that’s not good enough.” While his father stabbed the black marker against the yellow pad in a series of angry words, Cade turned away. “Good night, Dad,” was all he said before he walked to the kitchen.
He rinsed his coffee mug in the sink, wishing it didn’t have to be this way, wishing God would change something. But then God hadn’t answered his prayers in a very long time.
“Bad night?” Abby sat wrapped in a blanket on the corner window seat. “Coffee won’t help you sleep.”
“I hope not.” He smiled at her curious look. “I’m drinking it to keep me awake. I think we’ll have some new foals by morning.”
“Can I come and see?” Her emerald eyes stretched wide with excitement. “Please, Cade? I promise I won’t get in your way.”
“Abby, it’s cold out there—” But she cut him off.
“I’ll dress warmly and bring a blanket. I’ve never seen anything born.” Her voice was part awe, part reverence. “And I want to so badly. Please let me come, Cade.”
Against his better judgment he acquiesced. How could he deny such a simple pleasure to this woman who’d had to give up so much?
“Go put on the warmest clothes you have,” he ordered. “I have to gather some stuff. Meet me back here in ten minutes. Okay?”
“Yes.” She rose, her smile huge. “Thank you, Cade,” she said before she hurried from the room.
How did Abby’s smile have the ability to thaw the part of his heart that had always been frozen, the part that had always yearned for love?
Chapter Five
“You’re going to take pictures?”
Abby smiled when Cade’s wide-eyed gaze swung from the camera around her neck to her face.
“I want to capture every marvelous moment of this birth,” she explained. He didn’t say a word but his expression spoke volumes. “If I get anything good, I might blow it up. Maybe we could use it to decorate the walls in the adoption agency. I’d call it Moms and Babies.” He just kept looking at her. It unnerved Abby. “You think I’m being silly.”
“I didn’t say that.” He dragged open the door and waited for her to enter the barn.
You didn’t have to, she thought. I’m beginning to understand what your expressions mean.
“I don’t know how go
od your photos will be because you’ll have to stay outside Recitation’s stall,” Cade warned. “For your safety. I piled up a couple of bales for you to sit on so at least you can put your feet up.”
“Thank you.” Abby accepted his hand to climb onto the thick blanket he’d spread over the bales. A feeling of coddled protectiveness swelled as he laid another blanket over her legs and tucked it around her. “I’m warm as toast,” she told him, deeply touched by his consideration.
“Good.” Cade’s gaze rested on her stomach for a moment, lifted to meet hers, then slewed away. He turned, opened the gate and stepped inside a large pen in which an anxious black horse paced. “Hello, beauty,” he said, his tone oozing reassurance.
The horse pricked her ears as she looked at him, snorted once, then bunted him with her sweaty head. Abby snapped a shot. “She doesn’t look upset.”
“She isn’t.” Cade twisted his head to grin at her when the horse whinnied. “The lady has done this before. She’s reminding me she wants peace and quiet while she’s preparing for birth.”
Cade’s blue eyes roved over the animal while his big palms gently smoothed over her flanks, checking for signs that the birth was progressing normally. All the while he murmured soft encouragement. When the horse nudged him away, he stepped back.
“Is she okay?” Abby asked anxiously.
“She’s fine, though she’d prefer Dad to be with her right now. He raised Recitation from a filly so she favors him. Guess she’ll just have to tolerate me instead of Dad tonight.” Cade sat down on a bale in the corner. “You’re doing well, Mama, so I’ll leave you alone,” his voice brimming with affection.
“Leave her alone? That’s it?” Abby flushed when Cade chuckled at her disgusted tone.
“I don’t like intervening with foaling unless absolutely necessary. Recitation knows what she’s doing.” He shrugged. “I’m here just in case.”