Ranch at River’s End

by Brenda Mott

“He’ll be all right. Anything happens, they’ll call you at work. Just like they do any other parent. Let go, Darci. You’re going to start meeting people through your job and through the school. Not everyone will be against you. You’ll see. Getting out there will help you and Chris become part of the community a lot quicker than if you both hide out at home.” She nudged Darci. “Chin up.”

  Darci nudged her back. “Okay, Aunt Bossy.”

  “Moo,” Stella said, then laughed. “Say, why don’t you leave Chris with me and Leon for a couple of days, since it’s a long weekend? He can go riding tomorrow… help Leon putter around the place a bit. School’s out till Wednesday, right? We can even take him to the fair if he wants.”

  The county fair was always held over the Labor Day weekend and ran until the middle of the week. Because so many of the local students were also 4-H members who showed livestock, the kids got an extra long holiday from school.

  “That would be nice,” Darci said. Chris used to love the fair and the ranch…not just riding but mending fences with his great uncle. Would he still?

  Stella smiled. “We’ll have fun, plus it’ll give you a chance to settle into your house.”

  Could she do this? Darci thought. Start over with her new job, a whole new set of friends? She hoped her aunt was right, that she and Christopher would eventually feel welcome here.

  “All right,” she said. “Maybe I can get some more unpacking done.”

  “There you go. So stop frowning.”

  “Sorry. I’m still a little worried. I just wish I knew who defaced our garage. What if a kid does something to Chris at school?”

  Stella bopped Darci on the head with a half-full bag of barbecue chips before clipping the rolled top shut with a clothespin. “Like I said, don’t go borrowing trouble, ’cause Lord knows it finds its way to us quick enough.”

  As if on cue, a red-and-white mottled dog darted out of nowhere into the backyard and snatched a leftover burger from the plate beside the barbecue grill.

  “Hey!” Chris shouted. The basketball hit him smack in the face as Leon bounced it his way, realizing too late that Chris wasn’t paying attention. His nose started to bleed, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he raced off after the dog.

  “Christopher!” Darci shouted. But if he heard her, he ignored her. Nothing new there.

  She got up and ran down the block after him, calling his name again.

  “She’s got puppies,” he said over his shoulder, as if that explained everything.

  What on earth?

  Feeling every one of her thirty-five years, Darci lagged behind as the mama dog scurried into a yard a few houses down.

  Oh, boy.

  Her pulse picked up speed.

  It was Jordan’s yard, and the dog raced around to the back of the house.

  Chris hesitated only a moment before turning up the front walk.

  “Christopher Lee, you stop right now!”

  Something in her voice must’ve told him she meant business, because Chris stopped and turned to face her, jogging impatiently in place. “Come on, Mom! She’s got pups.”

  He’d been bugging her for a puppy when they lived in Northglenn, and she’d pacified him by saying they might be able to get a dog once they moved, if his behavior improved. And she’d told Stella she was considering getting a dog. But a guard dog, not a puppy.

  As Darci stopped to catch her breath, Chris opened the chain-link gate and headed up the walk, clearing the porch steps then knocking on Jordan’s door.

  JORDAN CHOPPED FRESH cilantro, whistling as the knife thumped against the cutting board. Tacos were his daughter’s second favorite behind pizza, and he enjoyed making them, complete with his own homemade salsa. He was glad Michaela had invited Jenny over for supper and to spend the night. It would take her mind off the earlier incident with Darci.

  A knock sounded at the door and he figured it was Jenny. “Michaela!” he called, sliding the cilantro from the cutting board into a bowl.

  “I know!” she hollered. She thumped down the steps to the front door and swung it open without the safety chain.

  But it wasn’t Jenny’s voice Jordan heard. It was a boy. Ben? Had Jenny’s twin brother come with her for some reason? Wiping his hands on a towel, Jordan started toward the foyer.

  “—puppies.”

  “How do you know my dog has pups?” Michaela’s voice held a defensive note. “Were you in our yard?”

  “No! Your dog stole a hamburger off our grill.”

  “She wouldn’t.”

  “She did.”

  Jordan strode to the door as he recognized the boy’s voice.

  “Hello, Christopher. What can I do for you?” He could see Darci, hanging back a few steps from the fence. She was wearing denim shorts and a pink tank top and her blond hair was tousled, as if she’d been running. He wasn’t sure he liked the way she seemed to stir something inside him, but he waved her into the yard. “Darci, what’s up?” Then he noticed Christopher’s nose was bleeding. “What happened to you?”

  The kid brushed the back of his hand across the smear of blood. “Nothing. I mean, it’s no big deal. I—uh—wanted to know if I could see your puppies?”

  “Well, Chewy’s a little protective of them right now. But you’re welcome to come back when they get their eyes open and start walking around. How’d you know about them?”

  “I followed your dog. I could tell she’s nursing a litter.”

  “Ah. Sherlock Holmes.” Jordan stepped out onto the porch.

  “She came into our yard,” Darci added, standing beside Christopher now. “And she did steal a hamburger. But it’s no big deal.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jordan said. “She’s a stray we adopted, so she’s not really trained.”

  “So, how long before their eyes open?” Chris asked, his own eyes wide and eager. “I really want to get a dog.”

  “About another week. And since you’re the first person to ask for one, I guess that means you get pick of the litter.”

  Michaela scowled, and Jordan put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, wondering what was wrong. She was never unfriendly.

  “That is,” Jordan added, “if it’s all right with your mom.” He looked at Darci.

  “We’ll see,” she said. “Chris, we haven’t really discussed this.”

  “Please,” he begged, clasping his hands together.

  “I said we’ll see. Now let’s go. Uncle Leon and Aunt Stella are probably wondering where we ran off to.” She turned to look at Jordan. “Thanks for the offer. I’ll let you know. I hope we didn’t disturb you.” She hesitantly acknowledged Michaela, no doubt remembering how she’d upset her earlier.

  Jordan knew he should explain, but this wasn’t the time.

  “Not at all,” he said. “I’ll see you Monday, Darci.” No long weekends for hospital staff.

  “Yeah,” she said. “See you. Bye, Michaela.”

  “Bye,” Michaela said, with obvious reluctance. She turned to go inside.

  “Hold up a minute, Mac.” Jordan closed the front door behind them. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t like them.”

  Jordan sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside him. “Why not? You don’t even know them.”

  “And I don’t want to.” She chewed her lip. “I talked to Jenny earlier, and she told me what Christopher did—why he had to leave his old school.” She was shaking now, and Jordan grew concerned.

  “What did he do?”

  “He took a gun to school and threatened some kids in the lunchroom.”

  “What? Are you sure?” And then he recalled a story that had dominated the news last year. It was about a twelve-year-old boy who’d taken a replica gun to school and scared a cafeteria full of students and teachers. No one was hurt, Jordan recalled, but people were extremely upset about the whole thing. Understandable after the terrible shootings that had occurred at Columbine High School some years ago.

  “That�
�s what people at school are saying,” Michaela went on. “I don’t want him to have one of Chewy’s puppies.”

  “We’ll talk about that later,” he said. “I’ll speak to Chris’s mom.”

  If it really was Christopher who’d threatened his classmates, maybe he’d changed in the months since it happened.

  Then again, maybe he hadn’t. Jordan’s first instinct was to protect his daughter, but at the same time, he couldn’t help wonder why Chris would have done something so awful.

  He had to have had a reason.

  Didn’t he?

  So that would explain the graffiti, and why Christopher was seeing his sister Nina, a psychologist.

  He wished he could ask Nina about the boy, and knowing he couldn’t left him feeling restless. There was always the good old gossip mill. Shirley, the hospital receptionist, would likely know something.

  Then again, he could always just ask Darci.

  THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY, Darci awoke early, anxious for the auction. It would be fun to help Stella and Leon pick out horses. She showered and dressed, then went to wake up Christopher.

  “Mo-om,” he groaned. “It’s Saturday. I want to sleep in.”

  “Nothing doing, buddy. You’re not staying here alone, and you’re not making me miss this auction.”

  Christopher covered his head with a pillow. “I’m thirteen, for crying out loud! When are you going to stop making me feel like I need a sitter all the time?”

  “When I decide you’ve earned the privilege to stay by yourself. Now get up and get dressed. We’ll have fun.”

  But a part of Darci felt guilty as she left his room. Was she being overprotective, not letting her son stay home alone? She couldn’t help it. After all that had happened, she felt she needed to keep a close eye on him. Darci sighed. Maybe Nina Drake could shed some light on the matter. Chris’s first appointment with her on Thursday had gone well. He liked Nina, and so did Darci. She’d gotten to know the woman a little better the couple of times she’d seen her at the Shadow S this week, and had made an appointment to talk with her one on one. Darci had some issues of her own that weren’t yet resolved, and talking to her son’s counselor might benefit both her and Chris.

  To Darci’s surprise, Christopher actually had on his boots and jeans when she went downstairs. “Hey, you’re wearing your boots,” she said.

  “Might as well. We’re going to a horse auction, aren’t we?”

  “Yes, we are. Now how about some pancakes before we take off?”

  Darci made apple-cinnamon pancakes from a mix, and even got Christopher to help clean up the dishes without too much complaining. Then they were off.

  The auction barn was located at the edge of town, not far from the feed store. Trucks and trailers were parked everywhere when they arrived in Stella and Leon’s extended-cab Chevy, towing a four-horse trailer. Leon found a spot just a few spaces down from a familiar black Ford Explorer.

  What would Jordan be doing at the horse auction? But there was the Honor Student bumper sticker, and as Darci walked toward the holding pens out behind the auction barn with Christopher and her aunt and uncle, she found herself looking for Jordan.

  It wasn’t long before she spotted him. He was with Michaela, checking out the rows of horses fenced off in pipe-rail pens.

  “Isn’t that Dr. Drake?” Stella asked.

  “Yes, it is. I’m going to go over and say hello.” Darci brushed past a group of cowboys who’d gathered outside a pen of Appaloosas, and walked down the aisle toward Jordan and Michaela.

  “Hey there,” she said. “Fancy meeting you here, Doc.”

  “Hi, Darci.” Jordan glanced at her with mock torment. “My daughter dragged me here, our monthly ritual.” The auctions were held the first Saturday of every month. “She’s determined to talk me into buying her a horse, but I’m not sure my nerves can take putting my kid on the back of an eleven-hundred-pound beast. For today, we’re just looking. Isn’t that right, snicker-doodle?”

  “But we might find a good, safe horse this time, Dad,” Michaela said. “One you can’t resist.” She smiled shyly at Darci and said hi.

  “And you?” Jordan asked. “You horse shopping?”

  “Sort of. I’m here with my aunt and uncle. They’re looking for lesson horses.”

  “Ah. Well, there sure are a lot to choose from, aren’t there?”

  “A lot of head, that’s for sure,” Darci said. “But you’ve got to be careful you don’t pick a lemon.”

  He laughed. “Kind of like buying a used car off the lot, eh?”

  “Something like that.” Darci willed her heart to stop beating so fast. Jordan looked handsome in his usual boots and jeans, a ball cap perched low over his espresso eyes. “You know, before you think about buying Michaela a horse, you might want to consider letting her take some riding lessons. It might help ease your apprehension, and Aunt Stella and I give lessons out at the Shadow S. We’d be happy to have her.” She smiled at the girl.

  And obviously won a few brownie points.

  “Can I, Dad?” Michaela asked, eyes wide and eager.

  “Slow down there, kiddo. We’ll have to see.” He addressed Darci. “We’re just here for fun today. Nothing definite yet.”

  “I understand. Just know she’s welcome anytime.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.” He nodded toward the sale barn. “Guess we’d better get a seat before all the good ones are taken.”

  “Right,” Darci said. “See you inside.” She cringed inwardly, hoping she hadn’t overstepped. She’d only meant to help—not make things difficult for Jordan. She knew how it could be, having a kid want something you weren’t sure they were ready for. Christopher’s earlier plea to stay home alone came to mind.

  Darci backtracked and found Stella and Leon. “See any you like?” she asked.

  “That little buckskin mare looks promising,” Stella said.

  “Yeah, and I kind of like the overo paint gelding.” Uncle Leon nodded toward the beautifully marked, tri-color paint.

  “There’s a couple of others we’re considering,” Stella added. “So what say we get inside before the bidding starts?”

  In spite of his earlier grumblings, Christopher seemed to brighten once they had their seats and the horses were being run through the sale ring. Darci knew he loved horses way more than he was letting on.

  She glanced around and spotted Jordan and Michaela one row up and a few seats over. She nodded and smiled, and Jordan smiled back and tipped the bill of his ball cap at her.

  Darci felt herself blush all the way to her toes. Dear God, the man was good-looking!

  She faced forward, concentrating on the horses. When the buckskin mare came up, Stella made a bid, and ended up buying her for a fair price. But when the overo paint’s turn rolled around, Leon was outbid by a cowboy seated near the corral-like enclosure where the horses were being auctioned off.

  “Well, darn it,” Leon said. “Guess I’ll try for the next one on my list of picks.”

  Following the tricolored paint, a black mare that looked to be a quarter horse was run into the ring. She seemed shy, spooking a little at the crowd, but something about her caught Darci’s attention. The horse’s ebony coat was shiny in spite of the fact that she was underweight, and her wide, brown eyes seemed kind even if she was a bit skittish at all the activity around her.

  “That mare looks nice,” Darci said, leaning over to speak to her aunt. “She’s got a pretty head.”

  “Nice conformation, too,” Stella said.

  The auctioneer gave a brief description of the mare, who turned out to be only five years old, then started the rapid-fire bidding.

  The older cowboy sitting on the opposite side of Leon spoke loudly enough for Darci to hear. “That mare’s been abused. I know the people she came from. They didn’t feed her right, and anytime the fella’s temper flares when he’s working a horse, he takes it out on the animal.”

  Immediately, Darci’s back went up. Who co
uld abuse such a beautiful animal? Or any animal for that matter. “She looks so sweet,” she said, leaning toward her aunt and uncle. “Bid on her, Uncle Leon. I’ll help you work with her.”

  He grinned. “Softie.”

  She nudged him good-naturedly. “Look who’s talking.”

  “All right. She is a good one, and I think the price will be right.” Rumors about the animal’s treatment were obviously circling the sale barn, and Darci noticed a few people shaking their heads. Lots of folks didn’t want to bother with an animal that would require rehabilitation, but it wouldn’t be the first time her aunt and uncle had taken in a horse in need.

  Within minutes, Leon had purchased the black mare for a bargain price. Darci looked over her shoulder and caught Jordan’s eye. He gave her a wink and a thumbs up, and she returned the gesture.

  By the end of the auction, Stella and Leon had acquired two Appaloosa geldings in addition to the buckskin mare and the black quarter horse. Darci and Christopher walked with her aunt and uncle to the office, where Stella wrote a check to pay for the animals, then they all went outside to collect the horses. Christopher seemed particularly animated at the prospect of loading the newly acquired animals into the trailer, and Darci was glad to see him so involved.

  “That’s a nice black mare.”

  She turned to find Jordan and Michaela behind her.

  “Yeah, she is. I guess she was abused.”

  Jordan nodded. “I heard that, too.” He shook his head. “I’ll never understand people.”

  “That makes two of us.” Darci watched as Leon approached the quarter horse. The mare rolled her eyes in fear, pinning her ears in trepidation rather than anger. She whirled around to face the fence, doing her best to avoid Leon and the nylon halter he held.

  “Whoa, babe,” Leon said in a low, reassuring voice. “There’s a girl.” Stella joined him, the two of them gently corralling the black into a corner. The mare trembled, but allowed them to approach. Softly, Stella placed her hand on the animal’s shoulder, stroking the horse as she talked soothingly to her. After that, it didn’t take much for Leon to slip the halter over her head, and the mare walked into the trailer willingly enough.