by Tanya Hanson
“Southeastern Idaho.” For a flash, he smiled and looked away, eyes brimming with memories. “My gram Adelaide? Well, her second husband, my step-gramp, passed his ranch on to his son Bernie. Uncle Bernie kept Gram on, loved her like his own. Took me in.”
Rachel was awed. The well-off Californian had ranch roots after all. It sure gave them something to talk about, although, she realized, there didn’t seem to be any awkwardness between them at all. Even after his date request and her faux pas. “A ranch boy? I’d have never thought. I just…”
“Well, whatever you hear about me, some fancy big city boy developer and such, well—” his grin would have sent her heart pounding if she’d allowed it. “—I’ve got plenty of country roots. And here I just feel I’ve found home again. This all is something else.” Voice full of awe, he raised his head to look out the window
“What happened to the ranch?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Still there. The Lazy T is just this side of Victor. Uncle Bernie finally married and had his own set of kids to leave it to. I got into rodeo, and after Gram passed, the circuit seemed the place to be.”
Rachel fiddled with a fork. “You’re still in touch with Uncle Bernie?” She had to ask, hoped she wasn’t nosy. Kin and family relationships were the driving force for the Martins of Hearts Crossing.
“Absolutely. He and Auntie Norma are Addie’s godparents.” A real smile broke over handsome white teeth before it faded. His eyelids fluttered for a moment. “That plane accident? Well, we were on our way home from seeing them.” Then he tried to retrieve his grin. “These days, we drive.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Brayton. I can’t even imagine.” Her voice shook. Brayton’s loss of his wife was as staggering as losing Nick. Only… Brayton as pilot held himself responsible for an accident. Nick’s death had been his own fault.
“Well, maybe you can.” Brayton looked straight at her. “You said…your husband died.”
“It was an accident, too,” she said, voice and heart dull. Maybe it was time. After all, Brayton had let his hair down just moments after they met.
“Nick had survived deployment in the Middle East” She heard her voice go as flat as her high school days, reading the morning announcements over the intercom. It had to or she would scream. “Comes home a hero with the Silver Star. But he had some adjusting to do. Myself, too, I can’t deny.” She couldn’t. Brayton would probably hear the gossip some time. “I honestly think Nick’s spirits were on the rise. Being named grand marshal of the Memorial Day parade last year helped. Then a few weeks later, he climbed down a cliff for a swim. Slipped and died.”
“No-o-o.” Brayton grabbed her hand, held it right. Brought it against his cheek.
“So you can see I bear anger, too. Against something that should never have happened. He was showing off and refused to use the rappelling ropes.” She let her hand linger, taking comfort from Brayton’s warmth. “A war hero who died doing something stupid in his own backyard.” She took another forkful and put it in her mouth. But chewing and swallowing stopped as the nightmare niggled again, and she couldn’t hold off the doubt and fear. She grabbed a glass of water, heart hammering. What if Nick hadn’t merely been showing off? What if he’d fallen on purpose? A war hero so full of survivor’s guilt he wanted to join the buddies he had lost?
What if he’d left her on purpose? Abandoned Matty... on purpose?
In her throat, the bite of cinnamon roll turned into a lump of clay. The silence in the room all but roared. Then…
“Well, I did something stupid and as a result my wife died.”
Brayton’s voice was as quiet as the air around them, and his pain reached into her soul. She took his hand as her own pain and bad memories took flight. Something special passed between them, making the conversation unique, meaningful rather than weird or inappropriate.
“Brayton, it was an accident. You’d never have taken off if you had any doubts. I mean, Addie’s life was at stake, too. Not to mention your own.”
She squeezed once as Brayton nodded. “Actually, the investigation was inconclusive as to pilot error. But what else could it have been?”
Her hand left his, and she knew he didn’t expect an answer.
“Well, we’ve got to be glad Addie came out of it alive,” she said. “And you, too. Little girls need their daddies.”
He harrumphed, and she recalled the strain between the two. “Little boys, too,” he said.
It hit her then. Both she and Brayton had children who would venture through life with only one parent. Her spirits hardened. “You got that right. Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever forgive Nick for being so...foolish.”
“Oh, forgive me. I wasn’t talking about Matty. I meant…my son.” Brayton took a quick gulp of coffee. “Luckily he wasn’t in the plane. We’d flown to Victor to leave him off for a visit. Try as I might, I can’t think of anything I’d done differently.”
A son? He had a son, too? It was time for the conversation to redirect before she let Nick intrude further. “I didn’t realize Addie has a brother.”
Brayton managed a smile. “Nate. He’s grown into quite a young man. Freshman at the University of Arizona.”
“You sure don’t seem old enough for a college age son.”
That attractive blush brushed his face. “Thanks. I guess. Um…I took Nate as my own when he was five and I married his mother. Marianne, well, her high school boyfriend got her in trouble then ditched her and the baby. I tried to make it up to both of them.”
Ah. So much for wondering if Brayton would reject another man’s child. She mentally slapped herself. Where had that thought come from? “How lovely for them.”
“So Nate was spared, but how I escaped the crash with nothing but a head injury, I’ll never know. Last thing I saw was trees coming at me.” Almost as if she wasn’t there, he recited in a toneless voice. “The investigators concluded that Marianne had unbelted herself to check on the baby. Adelaide—Addie—was fairly safe in her baby seat but…the impact did a job on her back. And me…” He looked at her with bleak eyes, and she knew he had never zoned out, he knew she was right at his side. “And me…after three days in a coma, I woke up with no further complications.” His forehead crumpled, and his eyes glazed. “And no idea of what had gone wrong.”
4
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Rachel’s voice soothed him. “I wasn’t there...when Nick died. I’ve always thought myself lucky that I didn’t...see.”
“Maybe. I just don’t know. I don’t remember and that tortures me. Not knowing if I could have prevented the accident.” Brayton clamped his lips tight, not against the awful memories, but with mortification. “Rachel, I don’t know quite what this is. Maybe it’s us being in the same position, both losing a spouse, I mean. And in such unexpected ways. I don’t know. But I just can’t seem to mind my tongue today.”
Her smile could light up a thunderstorm, and he knew she wasn’t just tossing one his way out of comfort against his embarrassment. She did understand.
“I know. I think I felt it, too, a minute ago. There are just some things I can’t share with anybody else around here. Even Ma.” She glanced at her knees while she stretched her long legs, and sighed. “I mean, she did lose Pa, but I can’t help but feel her situation is a bit different. You know, they were together over thirty years. Raised eight kids. Nick and I barely got a start.” Amazingly, her smile didn’t dim although she shook her head.
“You know, I’d like to clear my head.” He drained his cup and cleared his throat—gathered his courage. “I’d sure love a tour of the ranch while Addie finishes up. And some family history. If you don’t mind, that is. I’ve bored you enough with mine.” He looked straight at her. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. First time I saw you and learned you were single, well, I wanted to meet you.”
Rachel shook her head at him, her nose wrinkling cute as a button. “You silly city cowboy. Come on.” She stood and held out her hand, but
he read the gesture more like a friend than anything. “I’ll show you around. And I appreciate you being honest with me. But despite whatever connection we’ve been feeling, I’m not exactly on the market. If you know what I mean.”
He nodded, accepting the challenge to change her mind. He’d dated sporadically once the initial terror had healed, but Brayton could read most women easily, thanks to Gram Adelaide’s common-sense upbringing. Many women liked his money, the prestige of his reputation, but didn’t want to be a stepmother. Others wanted something casual in the bedroom that he morally opposed and wasn’t prepared to give. But Rachel was different; she didn’t want those things either.
Once outside, she unbuttoned her jacket. The day was warming nicely. “I guess we have time for a ride. What do you say, urban cowboy?”
He burst into laughter. “Now, now. I’ve got ranch roots deep as yours. You can’t blame me for taking a chance in the big city, can you?”
“Of course not.” Her boots clomped down the porch steps, and they hurried to the corral. She turned back with a smile. “Because you came back.”
“That I did.” And he intended to stay. The idea of moving from his Red Hill ranch in River Ridge into the condo he owned at Woodside Meadows loomed more important than ever. Of course Rachel had nothing to do with this decision, but he’d like being close enough to see her often. Most important, Addie could attend school in Mountain Cove. He’d homeschooled her since the move and considered hiring a tutor, but Addie had a personality that needed to be surrounded by friends and involved in a busy classroom. Of course, they’d get to Red Hill often. Addie did seem to enjoy the place.
“Come on. Let’s get some horses saddled up and ready to go.” Rachel interrupted his thoughts.
“Aren’t you going riding with Matty later?”
“Like I can’t do both? A trail ride is the best way to see our place. Come on.”
Riding has a way of making things better. Her earlier words slid into his mind, and he grinned at the truth of them as the warm air brushed his face. God was sure good this day.
After a quick goodbye to his busy daughter and Tiffany Martin, Addie gave him such a long, generous hug Brayton’s heart soared. “You have fun with Rachel, OK, Dad? I’ve got tons more I can do here with Tiffany.”
He frowned. “Don’t let her overwork you, Tiffany. You likely need your rest.”
“I’m healthy as a horse,” Tiffany grinned. “I’m not due for six weeks. I’m hoping our son comes a week later. Then he’ll be born on our second anniversary.”
Rachel’s nose crinkled again. “And I keep telling her she does not want to be late no matter what the reason. Come on, Brayton.”
“Take Alamo,” Tiffany ordered. “He isn’t getting as much exercise as he needs with Hooper gone. And Bragg’s busy with Rodeo College.”
Alamo, a sturdy paint, eyed Brayton with a dare more than once, but he knew horses. He and Rachel busied themselves saddling and mounting, and then headed down the gravel drive and underneath the ranch gate. On the crossbeam hung the ranch brand, two interlocking hearts with a cross where they intersected.
Brayton turned to stare back at it. “That brand’s as beautiful as it is distinctive.”
“Our ranch’s theme. Love and faith.” Rachel nodded. “Ma’s family has owned the ranch for over a century and a half. She was the last of the Martins. When she married Pa, she renamed the ranch and designed the new brand. Even had Pa take her maiden name.”
“Really? That’s enlightened.”
Rachel chuckled. “Ma is pretty determined to get her way and usually does. But they made up for it. They named their third son Kennedy, which was Pa’s maiden name.” They shared a laugh as they rode side by side, east on a rocky path then up a rise. A nearby alder reached for her hair.
“Ol’ Kenn helps lead our wagon train tours in the summer when he’s not teaching English at Mountain Cove High. He’s married to Christy who’s a landscape designer.”
Brayton remembered. They’d never met, but she was the landscaper for Woodside Meadows and had worked for his Tranquility Group in Los Angeles. Right now, however, wasn’t the time to reveal his plans to move. He needed to discuss it with Addie first. Christy might get a kick out of it, too. “Where are you in the lineup?
“Second. Hooper is oldest. You’d think Ma and Pa would have stopped right then, one son. One daughter. But no. Ma went through it all six more times.” She chuckled. “Lucky for me. I love my siblings.”
The mention of Hooper reminded him. “Where is Hoop?” Brayton had met the ranch foreman when he signed up Addie’s lessons. He patted Alamo’s neck, and the animal proudly shook his head. “Tiffany said this horse isn’t getting much exercise.”
Rachel’s face changed, just for a moment. “He’s in California with his wife. Mallie, and he, well, they’re both cancer survivors. He’s fine, but she’s got an MRI going on with a brain tumor specialist.”
From the way Rachel’s face tensed, he knew things were serious. But she smiled albeit a little uncertainly.
“We’re expecting great things.” Her tone strengthened. “We’ve just got to. They’ve got a little girl, Ella. I think you’ve met my other brothers?”
Brayton nodded. Pike, a large animal vet, had advised him on a new type of feed pellets, and CPA Bragg was in the lineup for Red Hill’s new accountant. “Your sisters?
“Kelley’s the chef with the cafe in town. She’s the one who made those cinnamon rolls, remember? Her husband Jason is…is the geneticist here.” Her voice hitched. “He came on board to take Nick’s place when Nick got deployed. Pa hired Nick ten years ago, and…that’s how we met.”
“I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “No, we had a good love story. Just not the happily-ever-after. And, um, my baby sister, Chelsea. Kinda like you, she did rodeo. Champion barrel rider, youth division, and is now in college at Boulder. She’ll be doing a study abroad in England next semester.”
Brayton nodded. “You’ve got quite a wonderful thing going here. You all work together, live close by. Seem friends as well as family.”
The breeze turned brisk, lifted Rachel’s hair. “I never was one for a posse of gal pals. It’s amazing what good friends I am with my sisters and sisters-in-law. Especially Tiffany. She actually came aboard to be my nanny and paralegal when Nick left for the Middle East. We’ve always gotten along great, and being sisters now is like the cherry on top. You know?”
“You all are really blessed. So many families get wrenched apart or somebody abandons somebody or they have squabbles they never let go.”
“I know. People can let their love die, let their relationships wither for stupid reasons—or even important reasons. But you fix it. Or at least try. Not like somebody dying and you never get another chance.” She looked straight ahead but turned back for one quick comment. “That’s why I don’t do any sort of family law. I’m not going to be somebody that helps rip apart a family.”
“What kind of law to you practice?”
Horses’ hooves clattered up a rocky rise stuck with spiky shrubs.
“When I first passed the bar, I worked for a big firm in Boulder that specialized in business litigation. Well, that wasn’t me, and I’m not a city girl to begin with. So I came back home.” She raised her eyes to the snow-brushed peaks and gave a half-smile. “Small-town specialty, I suppose. I work with tax law for many ranchers. Ours included. Contracts, wills and trusts. Once in a while a boundary dispute or a patent here and there. Now I’m part time. Tiffany still helps a little bit, but I can handle the lesser work load. I want to spend my days and years with Matty.”
“I know exactly what you mean. That’s why I wanted to come here. Simplify. Sort of start over, fix things with Addie. Especially with Nate almost on his own.”
“I get that. I suspect Matty will grow up on me before I turn around.” She chuckled, leaving behind a smile both beautiful and rueful. “But you. I’ve bored you to death. Now tell me the rest abo
ut you.”
For a while, he rode behind her before the trail widened and they came side-by-side. Unsure what to say. He’d pretty much hit on everything important, hadn’t he?
“I met Marianne while I got my undergrad degree at Pac-Arts.” He tossed Rachel a nod. “Pacific Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles. Started in architecture but ended up in urban planning and development. She was majoring in art history part time.” Talking with Rachel made him realize that, like her, he needed closure. He’d always wanted to build an art gallery in Marianne’s memory. That would be closure. Especially with a beautiful woman now at his side. “We had great years and great kids. Now what’s that?” A rustic cabin high up the trail caught his eye. With Rachel at his side he realized he had more life to live.
“Supply station for the mule-packing adventures Hearts Crossing now offers. Honest mountain-man stuff.”
“Jeremiah Johnson?”
She laughed. “Yep. Only in the flesh and real.”
His laughter joined hers. “Sounds like something Nate and I ought to try.”
“Sure. Tours will start first week of June. Mountain-manning aside, it’s equal-opportunity roughin’ it. The female persuasion is more than welcome.”
“You done it?”
“Not on your life.” Her laughter sparkled again in the cooling air. “Not yet, at least. But you never know what the future might hold.”
Brayton hoped she might be hinting at future association with him. He didn’t consider himself a vain man in the least, but he was confident, though, and knew she was interested.
Then the horses turned around a small, rock-strewn loop, the vista of Hearts Crossing sent a rush scooting down Brayton’s spine. East of the ranch, water sparkled in the sun.
“Wow.”
“I hear you. Gets me every time.” Rachel grinned, pointing. “Hawk Creek. And through those trees, down there, is Old Joe’s Hole. Come on, let’s get down. We can see better if we hike off the trail a while.”