The Rancher's Homecoming

by Arlene James

  “Yep.” Woody squinted up at him. “Dean Paul Pryor’s a good cutter. But there’s the planting to start, you know. The late sorghum goes into the ground now, and the rye sows in early September, the barley just after. Then there’s the late alfalfa harvest.”

  “We’ll let Dad handle the rye and barley and what comes after,” Rex decreed, gathering his reins up short.

  “If you say so.”

  “That’s how it has to be,” Rex stated flatly.

  He couldn’t have been clearer. He wouldn’t even entertain the idea that Wes might not be well enough to handle the fall calendar, and he had no intention of staying on the Straight Arrow past the end of summer. Callie didn’t know why that message pierced her; she’d known all along that Rex didn’t plan to stay around War Bonnet. Still, some part of her, one of which she had not even been aware of, had apparently hoped that he would change his mind. Maybe it was seeing all those folks coming to him for advice these past couple weeks. Or maybe it was just her own foolishness.

  The ranch hands drove off, bumping across the rough terrain in their half-loaded trucks. Rex let the vehicles get some distance away before swinging his bay toward a stand of trees at a little distance.

  “There’s a pond over here where we can water the horses before heading back to the house.”

  “We’re not going to inspect the third barn?”

  “No need. I’ll check it later just for form’s sake, but I trust Woody.”

  Callie dutifully nudged Diamond to follow in his wake. They reached the stand of cottonwoods in moments. Rex swung down, loosened the saddle girth and tethered Soldier’s reins to a log at the water’s edge, leaving the horse to drink before coming to free Bodie from her bonds. The baby immediately reached for the brim of his hat, babbling. Dodging her grasp, Rex returned the favor, releasing the chinstrap on her helmet. Bodie used both hands to shove the thing off her head. It hit the ground with a thud.

  Rex laughed and again dodged her attempt to seize his hat. “No trades, sugar.”

  Thinking that he was asking for a kiss, Bodie planted one on his chin. Laughing, Callie slid to the ground.

  “Sugar means kisses to her.”

  “Right.” He wiped his chin. “I should’ve figured that out by now. She’s hot. Let’s get this vest off her.”

  He held her out at an angle, her feet planted against his belly. Callie unbuckled and removed the vest. Bodie clapped her hands.

  “Let’s have a drink,” Callie said, digging into Diamond’s saddlebag.

  She found a bottle of water and took Bodie, carrying her over to sit on an exposed tree root jutting out of the bank of the pond while Rex saw to the horse. Bodie greedily sucked down the entire eight ounces of water. Then she lay back on her mom’s lap and idly kicked a foot, rubbing her eyes with her fists.

  “Someone wants a n-a-p.”

  “I shouldn’t have dragged you both out here,” Rex apologized, carrying over two plastic bottles of sports drink. He’d removed his sunglasses, dropped them into the crown of his hat and left them both sitting in the fork of a leafy branch.

  “No, it’s okay,” Callie told him, taking a bottle after he twisted off the cap for her. She drank long and deep, though she really didn’t care for the stuff. He drank as well, one booted foot propped on the tree root next to her. “Woody is right. Your dad’s going to be pleased,” she told him after a few minutes.

  Rex smiled. “Still lots to do.”

  “He’s very proud of you already.”

  Squinting into the distance, Rex said, “I know. Not sure why, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged and looked intently at his drink. “I sort of rejected the life he meant for me. Then I married poorly. Wound up divorced. And I haven’t exactly been faithful with my church attendance. I let my career take precedent, and I’ve paid the price for that.”

  “Maybe so, but at least you know it, and you’re here now when he needs you most.”

  “I just have to hope that’s enough,” Rex said, tilting back his head and finishing off his drink.

  In other words, he wouldn’t be staying on the ranch and had every intention of going back to the career that had derailed him in the past. Callie trusted that he would be wiser now. But he would still be far from War Bonnet. He’d probably go back to Tulsa or maybe Oklahoma City.

  “We should get back,” he said, nodding at Bodie, who drowsed in her mother’s lap.

  “I’m going to use the shawl to make a sling and carry her against my chest,” Callie decided. “She’ll be safe enough that way, and she can sleep on the ride back.”

  “Let me take her,” Rex offered. “The brim of my hat will give her some shade.”

  Callie looked down at her sleepy baby. “All right.”

  He tightened the cinches on the saddles again while Callie fashioned a sling for her daughter. Bodie whimpered a mild protest as they slung her sideways against Rex’s chest, her head nestled in the hollow of his shoulder, but then she reached up a little hand and laid it against his throat, as if feeling the beat of his pulse was all she needed to lull her to sleep.

  Callie heard herself whisper, “She loves you.”

  “I love her, too,” Rex said softly. He looked up then, his blue eyes as pale and warm as the summer sky. “I’ll miss the two of you if you leave the ranch.”

  If, not when. Confused, Callie dared not reply to that. Anything she said would lay bare her heart, and that simply was not wise. Neither was standing there as he shifted closer, lifted a hand to cup Callie’s face and kissed her while her child lay slung across his body between them. Callie kissed him back, falling into the sweetness of it, her hands finding his strong shoulders. She wanted to smile but came closer to weeping. After several long, lovely moments, he broke away and pressed his forehead to hers, breathing deeply.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” he whispered raggedly. “But Meredith will be here soon.”

  Callie nodded. Meredith would come, and she would go. She already dreaded the day, but putting it off would only make it harder for everyone when he went away again, for when that happened, she and Bodie would not be going with him. Even if he should ask—and he wouldn’t—they would not go. Callie knew herself well enough to know that she couldn’t live the way he wanted to live.

  She was a small-town girl with a small-town heart, and she wanted nothing else for herself or her daughter. Bodie might choose otherwise when she was grown, and that would be fine, but Callie wouldn’t wish it on her. Like Wes, she would understand and endure the choices of her child, but she wouldn’t participate.

  Sadly, she fetched his hat and sunglasses. He put them on and carefully mounted the horse. Bodie struggled a little, then settled in to snooze. Rex smiled down at her.

  “There’s a cowgirl if ever I saw one.”

  Chuckling, Callie climbed onto Diamond, the extraneous gear and empty bottles safely stowed. She took out her phone and snapped some photos, thinking it was too bad that Bodie wouldn’t remember this. Then she pushed her sunglasses into place and turned the bay for home.

  They ambled into the horse barn about half an hour later, chatting about the possibility of purchasing a four-wheeler to go where the trucks could not, and the horses were too slow to take a busy man. Rex passed Bodie to Callie. Bodie woke enough to protest noisily, then settled with her head on her mother’s shoulder. Leaving Rex to deal with the horses, Callie carried her daughter and her wet diaper toward the house, only to draw up short when she saw her father’s vehicle parked in the drive.

  “Oh, no.” She turned back to the horse barn, calling, “Rex, come quick. My dad’s here.”

  He dropped the saddle he was carrying and jogged toward her. “How long’s he been here?”

  “I have no idea. Go to Wes.”

&nb
sp; “Woody and Cam are still in the red barn. Ask them to take care of the horses, will you?”

  She nodded. “Go.”

  He went off at a run. She carried Bodie to the workbench in the red barn and called for Woody, who hurried to her.

  “Was my father here when you got back?” she asked, quickly beginning to change Bodie’s diaper.

  “Nope. He drove in about ten minutes ago. I tol’ him Rex wasn’t around, but he and that idiot Dolent insisted on goin’ inside.”

  “All right. Will you and Cam see to our horses? Rex has gone to run interference, and I need to get in there.”

  “No problem.”

  “Thank you.”

  He doffed his battered, sweat-stained hat. She picked up Bodie and prepared to leave, but he stopped her.

  “Miz Callie.”

  “Yes?”

  “Rex has done good here, real good.”

  “I know.”

  “Make him stay.”

  Floored by that comment, Callie felt her jaw drop. She hugged Bodie to her. “How would you suggest I do that?”

  Woody gave her a droll look. “You’re a smart cookie. You’ll figger it out.”

  “It’s not my place to figure out anything around here,” Callie declared.

  “Huh,” Woody retorted, a world of skepticism in that one syllable. “Seems to me you’ve made a good place for yourself here, too.”

  Shaking her head, Callie muttered that she didn’t have time for this and hurried to the house. Make him stay. As if. Even if she’d had any influence, her father had surely destroyed it in the time it took her to get inside. She heard the shouting before she even reached the porch. Bodie reacted by wailing.

  “Now look what you’ve done,” Rex declared, as if he hadn’t been shouting, too.

  “Me?” Stuart bawled. “You’re the one sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong!”

  “Those people came to me,” Rex said as Callie carried Bodie into the kitchen. “I didn’t go looking for them, and if you were more ethical in your personal business practices, you wouldn’t be sued.”

  Callie caught her breath and gaped at Rex. “You’re suing my dad?”

  “No.” He parked his hands at his hips. “I’m not suing anyone. I’m not even representing anyone who is suing anyone.”

  “You’re not lily-white in this!” Stuart accused.

  “People have come to me with contracts they’ve signed with your father,” Rex explained to Callie. “I advised some of them that they had reason to seek redress. They went to other lawyers, and some of them have sued. Knowing that he’s in the wrong, Stuart has settled most of the cases out of court.”

  “Some of them won’t settle!” Dolent exclaimed.

  “Then maybe the offer is too low,” Rex countered.

  “You’re trying to break me,” Stuart growled.

  “I’m doing no such thing,” Rex retorted, while Wes, Callie noted, sat calmly at the table drinking a cup of coffee. “You’re just not used to being beat at your own game,” Rex went on. “You’ve taken advantage of folks around here for so long you think it’s your right to do so. Well, it’s not. There are laws.”

  Stuart shook a meaty finger at Rex. “You’re not getting away with this, Billings. You hear me? I don’t push.”

  “No one’s pushing you,” Rex said reasonably. “People are just tired of being taken advantage of.”

  “So now they’re paying you to tell them I’m scamming them,” Stuart sneered.

  “No one’s paid me a dime,” Rex pointed out. “Your problem is not with me, Crowsen. Your problem is that you’ve had your way for too long. You began to think that you always would, that the law didn’t apply to you personally. But it does.”

  “Your problem is that you think you’ve got pull around here,” Stuart scoffed, puffing out his chest, “but you don’t.”

  “All I’ve got is a working knowledge of the legal system,” Rex said, “and the trust and friendship of my neighbors.”

  “I’m thinking,” Wes put in quietly, “that may be more than you’ve got these days, Stu. Maybe you ought to consider that.”

  “Maybe you ought to consider just how difficult I can make life around here if I’ve a mind to,” Stuart snarled, nodding at Callie. “Just ask my daughter.” With that, he stomped from the room, leaving Dolent to scurry along behind him.

  Callie sighed, struggling to hold a fractious Bodie. “He can, you know. When Bo first started asking me out, he was associate pastor at the church in town. Dad got him fired. That’s why Bo took the ministry in Turner Falls.”

  Rex and Wes traded looks. Then Rex stepped forward.

  “I’m so sorry he did that, Callie, but Bo was right not to let Stu discourage him.”

  Wes nodded in agreement. “Stu holds no power over us, Callie. If he did, he’d have used it already.”

  “He’ll find a way to come at you,” she warned, looking at Rex.

  He shrugged. “What can he do? The Straight Arrow doesn’t need Stuart Crowsen to survive. We’ll be fine. He’s just upset, like I said, because someone’s finally beat him at his own game.”

  Callie wished it was that simple. She didn’t doubt that Rex was correct about the contracts; her father wouldn’t settle if he hadn’t been caught dead to rights. Nevertheless, Stuart Crowsen did not take kindly to being thwarted, and he had a long memory. Rex’s advice had cost him money and pricked his pride. Stuart would not let this go. Somehow, someway, he’d find a method to strike at the Billings family—and ultimately it would be her fault.

  “I have to bathe Bodie,” she said, needing to think.

  She hurried away, telling herself that she couldn’t let harm come to these good people. She just wasn’t sure how to stop it now. Rex had already advised those people about their contracts, and it wasn’t as if he’d been wrong about his advice. She’d never expected him to get the better of Stuart like this, though, and for a moment she wondered if Rex and her father were too much alike.

  Bo had been her father’s exact opposite. That’s what she had loved about him, that he was so very different from Stuart. He’d been compassionate and giving, and his quiet, calm strength had flowed from that. Caring nothing for money, unconcerned about security, he’d lived in the moment, trusting God to fulfill each need as it arose. He’d been brave enough to risk his life for others but strong enough to walk away from a fight.

  Rex seemed intent on battling her father on Stu’s own terms. That being the case, perhaps it was best for everyone that Rex didn’t intend to stay around War Bonnet once Wes was strong enough to take over the Straight Arrow again. Doing so would only antagonize Stuart.

  Callie didn’t even want to think about what might happen to the ranch if Wes didn’t recover his health. The idea of it passing out of the family appalled her, but it was none of her concern, no matter what Woody said. Like Woody, Cam and Duffy, she was nothing more than hired help around here, despite that kiss beneath the cottonwoods today.

  In any event, it would be best if Rex left. It was certainly best for her, because the longer he hung around here, the greater the risk she ran with her foolish heart.

  Chapter Ten

  The skies poured rain on Thursday, just as the forecast had predicted. With the hay all safely stowed beneath metal roofs, Rex hung around the house, playing chess and cards with his father while Callie used the computer in the study to research straw bale gardening. It was too late to get started for that year, and she wouldn’t be around for the next growing season, but she had the idea that she might be able to grow a little garden for her and Bodie with a couple bales wherever they wound up.

  When Rex came in to see what she was doing, he showed surprising interest in the subject. The next thing she knew, he was sketching a plan for his m
om’s old garden spot out behind the house. Callie couldn’t help wishing that she could be there to see his garden plan come to fruition, but in truth neither one of them would likely be on hand for that. Still, planning the garden passed the afternoon in a fun, imaginative way, and she learned that Rex loved pickled beets, fried okra and mashed turnips but had no use for Brussels sprouts or kale.

  On Friday, while Rex checked to see when the custom cutter might be able to get his equipment into the field of oats, Wes asked Callie to help him shave his head. His hair had started coming out in small chunks, thanks mostly to the pills that Wes took daily, according to Dr. Shorter. Callie made sure to keep Bodie in the room so she could see the transformation taking place and not be shocked by Wes’s appearance later. Strangely, Wes looked younger without hair, but his eyebrows had receded to pale, thin lines that looked odd over his light blue eyes.

  Rex joked about it when he came in.

  “You’re going to look younger than me before we’re done.”

  Wes chuckled, running his hand over his smooth scalp. “We’ll see. Dr. Shorter says there’s no telling what color it will be when it comes back in. My eyebrows, what there is of them, are white. If my hair comes in white—”

  “You’ll look like a white-haired kid,” Rex finished for him, but Callie had seen the sheen of tears in his eyes when he’d first caught sight of his newly bald dad.

  “No fear of that,” Wes retorted, rubbing a jaw going smooth. “Your sisters are going to freak out.”

  Nodding, Rex snapped a picture with his cell phone and texted it to them, saying, “Best not to blindside them.”

  Wes nodded, looking tired. Rex’s phone rang, and Callie assumed it was one of his sisters, but to her surprise, he frowned before he answered. “Dennis? What’s going on? Yeah, I remember the Shallot case. What do you want to know?”

  He carried the phone into the other room, saying he would check his computer files. Wes looked at Callie, his slight eyebrows rising.

  “Sounds like his former boss and father-in-law.”