Ranch at River’s End

by Brenda Mott

  “Looks like she’s a good one,” Jordan said.

  Darci nodded. “All she needs is a little TLC.”

  “Well, it was good seeing you, Darci,” Jordan said. “Guess we’ll head on out.”

  Darci practically felt the ends of her hair curl at the silky way her name slid over his lips. She said her goodbyes, then caught up with Stella at the truck.

  “Looks like someone’s sweet on you,” Stella said.

  “What? No way. He was just being friendly.”

  “Uh-huh. If you say so.” Stella smiled. “Lighten up, Darci. It wouldn’t hurt you to go out on a date.”

  “A date! Who said anything about dating?”

  “Well, you’re both single, and Lord knows he could use some fun after what the poor man’s been through.”

  Darci frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Stella lowered her voice. “I thought you might’ve heard. His wife was killed in a robbery two years ago on Christmas Eve.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “OH MY GOD.” DARCI clamped a hand against her chest. “How awful. What happened?”

  “A couple of punks held up the convenience store. Sandra, Jordan’s wife, and little Michaela had gone there to get some last-minute items for their Christmas dinner, and they got caught in the crossfire.” Darci gasped.

  “That’s how Mac injured her hip, and her poor little face was scarred where a gunshot grazed her. She took three bullets, bless her heart. Was in the hospital for the longest time.”

  “Poor kid.” No wonder Jordan hadn’t wanted to use the convenience store pump when he’d had the flat last week. Or that Michaela was upset the other day when Darci had ribbed her about locking the front door. “Me and my big mouth.”

  “What do you mean?” Stella asked.

  Darci explained.

  “Well, you couldn’t have known.”

  “Still, I feel bad. I want to make it up to her.”

  “So, offer her a free lesson.”

  Darci brightened. “That’s an idea. Actually, I did mention riding lessons to Jordan. I think he’s worried she might get hurt.”

  “Give him one of these.” Stella rummaged around in her purse and came up with a bright blue business card for the ranch. On the back was a coupon good for a free lesson.

  “Perfect,” Darci said, pocketing the card. “I’m going to grab a hot dog for the road. Want one?”

  “I’M THIRSTY, DAD.” Michaela stopped in front of the snack booth outside the auction barn. “Can I have a Coke? Maybe some nachos?”

  “Boy, I don’t know, snicker-doodle. You’re eating me out of house and home.” Jordan pretended to pat his empty pockets.

  Michaela chuckled. “I’m a growing girl, what can I say?”

  Jordan walked with her to the snack bar, pleasantly surprised when he spotted Darci there. “We’ve got to quit meeting like this,” he said as Michaela went up to the booth to place her order.

  Darci turned to face him, a paper sack of what smelled like hot dogs in one hand, a drink in the other.

  “I thought you’d gone home,” she said.

  He grinned. “We had an emergency nacho stop.”

  “Actually, I’m glad I caught you.” Darci set the bag down on a nearby table and reached in her pocket. “I wanted you to have this. No obligation.” She held out a brightly colored business card after jotting something on it.

  Jordan read it. Her cell number?

  “Turn it over.”

  He flipped the card.

  “Well, that’s really nice of you, Darci, but like I said, I’m not sure if I want Mac to take riding lessons.”

  “No problem. The offer’s there if you want it. I wrote down my cell number. We’d love to have your daughter come out to the Shadow S if you change your mind.”

  “Change your mind about what?” Michaela spoke from behind him and Jordan cringed. He’d thought she was still at the booth.

  Before he could answer, Michaela zeroed in on the neon-blue coupon. “Nothing, Mac,” he said, attempting to shove the card in his pocket. Of course he dropped it on the ground, and following the law of dropped toast always landing butter side down, the card fell with the coupon offer facing up.

  Michaela squealed, diving for the business card. “A free riding lesson! Dad, can I?” She looked eagerly from him to Darci and back again.

  Jordan sighed. “We’ll see.”

  “Oh, please, Dad, please!” Michaela could barely stand still.

  “I said we’ll see,” Jordan repeated, suddenly irritated that Darci had even given him the card. He knew she meant well, but…

  “Don’t worry, the coupon doesn’t expire,” she said to Michaela. “Your dad is free to take his time.”

  Well, thank you very much. Then Jordan felt bad. Darci was only trying to be nice.

  “We’ll let you know,” he said. “Now come on, Mac. We’ve got things to do at home.”

  “Bye, Darci,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. See you later, Jordan.”

  He nodded.

  Michaela babbled a mile a minute on the drive home about lessons and horses and how much fun she and Jenny could have riding together once she got a horse of her own.

  “Whoa, whoa,” Jordan said. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “I just wish you’d let me take the free lesson, Dad. Darci seems nice, and so does her aunt.”

  “Nice? I thought you said you didn’t like her and Christopher?”

  Michaela’s face turned pink. “Well, I don’t like what I’ve heard about Chris. But Darci seems okay. I really, really want to ride, Dad. Will you please think hard about it?”

  “I said I would.” And Jordan planned to do just that, for as long as he could.

  CHRISTOPHER RELISHED THE BREEZE that kicked up and blew across his face as the horse galloped along. A feeling of freedom washed over him.

  He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed horseback riding. After the auction yesterday, he’d gone home with Aunt Stella and Uncle Leon to spend the night. It was heaven. Just like last weekend. No school. No mom to nag him about unpacking his stuff or painting a garage door. No cranky neighbors to make him feel like crap. Just the wide open space of Colorado’s western slope.

  Though his muscles were still sore from the long trail ride he and Stella and Leon had taken with the new horses last night, it was a good kind of ache. Chris had lain in bed, remembering the feeling of freedom he’d experienced whenever he’d ridden alone. The last time he’d visited the ranch, he’d been too small and was only allowed to ride in the arena, with his mom. Still, he’d felt such a rush to be on a horse by himself.

  So last night he’d made up his mind to get up at the crack of dawn and saddle up Dollar before anyone else was awake. He was afraid if he asked to go out alone, Uncle Leon and Aunt Stella would say no. But he needed some time by himself. He was pretty sure he’d be in the doghouse when they found him gone, even though he’d left a note. Maybe they were looking for him right now. He’d been riding all morning, stopping now and then to give Dollar a rest and a drink from one of the many creeks in the area.

  And he’d loved it.

  He’d spotted some minnows skittering through the shallows of a stream as he sat waiting for the horse to drink. A doe approached with her half-grown fawn, and Chris had frozen in place, watching the elegant creatures as they switched their tails at the deer flies, staring at him with wide, round eyes. They twitched the big ears that gave them their name, mule deer, trying to determine if he posed a threat. In the end, they’d moved upstream, springing away on pogo-stick legs.

  Chris had been enjoying himself so much, he’d lost track of the time. He knew he should head back to the ranch, but he had one more place to visit—his house. His mother hadn’t seen him on a horse in forever, and he wanted her to be proud of him for once. Proud of his abilities. He had another motive, as well. He planned to ride up to Michaela Drake’s house and show off a bit. He’d ov
erheard her talking at the auction, and knew that Jenny McAllister was going to be at her house.

  He had a crush on Jenny a mile wide, but his face burned every time he thought of the way she looked at him. Like she’d heard all about what he’d done at his old school. He’d show her, and he’d show Michaela. She’d looked down her nose at him as if she didn’t want him to have one of her puppies. Like he wasn’t good enough or something. No way could Miss Smarty Pants ride a horse, not with her limp and her cane.

  Chris felt a flush of remorse, but only for a moment. If Michaela Drake was going to believe rumors about him, he had every right to think mean thoughts about her.

  He took the trail that led over the ridge, down the mountain and back toward town, riding the county dirt and gravel roads until he came to the subdivision where he lived. A big meadow stretched behind the block, dotted with sagebrush and rock. Chris jogged Dollar along the dirt and grass shoulder of the quiet street that followed the meadow’s edge. As he neared the cross street that would lead to the front of his house, he let his gaze scan the row of backyards.

  He hadn’t realized that Michaela’s backyard led into a large rectangular field partially fenced with barbed wire.

  Was the field part of the Drakes’ property? If so, Michaela would have room for a horse right in her own backyard and she probably couldn’t even ride one with her limp.

  If only the rental house he and his mom had moved into had that kind of acreage. Then maybe he could talk his mom into a dog and a horse. Surely Uncle Leon would help them pick one out at the auction, or maybe he’d sell one of his and Aunt Stella’s quarter horses to Mom. Maybe even Dollar.

  But as soon as the idea came to him, Chris realized he was only dreaming. They probably wouldn’t even end up getting to stay in the neighborhood the way things were looking.

  Oh, well.

  Originally he’d intended to ride up to his front yard, but now Chris turned onto the dirt trail that wound along the meadow behind the subdivision, letting Dollar jog until they drew close to Mac’s property. He slowed the horse to a walk, riding alongside the barbed wire. Would Mac and Jenny see him? If not, he’d call their names—get them to come outside.

  Suddenly the dog they called Chewy came running out from a doghouse. Barking furiously, she cleared the backyard fence and streaked through the pasture. Chris recognized her as part Australian Cattle Dog. He’d studied the various breeds, reading book after book on dogs when he was younger. Now he pulled up on Dollar’s reins and gave a sharp whistle. The dog stopped short, ears erect, eyes alert as she took in the horse and Chris. She acted as though she wanted to heel the gelding, nip at his heels to herd him. She was definitely a red heeler. And that could mean trouble.

  Chris pictured himself falling from the saddle if Dollar spooked, not something he wanted Michaela to witness. He was just about to dismount when she appeared in the backyard.

  “Chewy!” she called. “Come here.”

  The dog looked at Dollar, tongue lolling, then back over her shoulder at the girl. Dollar shifted beneath Chris, but didn’t appear to be frightened of Chewy. Not yet, anyway. But if she came closer…

  “Chewy, come!” Michaela repeated.

  Leaning on her cane, she made her way toward the dog, a purse slung over her shoulder as though she’d been about to go somewhere. Maybe with Jenny? Was she still at Michaela’s? He held his breath. Sure enough, just as Michaela was midway across the pasture, Jenny came through the back door, staring at him. Her long, blond hair fell to her waist in a cascade of waves, and Christopher’s heart started to pound.

  She stared at him, looking no friendlier than Michaela.

  Great.

  Oh, well, he’d show them.

  As the girls drew closer, Chris gathered the reins, then squeezed Dollar with his legs, making the horse dance in place. Dollar was a beautiful animal, his blood bay coat a deep, shiny red, his silky mane and tail as black as a crow’s feather. And Aunt Stella and Uncle Leon kept their tack clean and well polished, the silver conchas on Dollar’s saddle and bridle gleaming in the noon light.

  Chris only wished he was wearing something better than the boots and jeans his mom had made him buy. But Uncle Leon and Aunt Stella had their rules. Still, Chris wasn’t a cowboy.

  Would Jenny laugh at him for not being a cowboy like her brother Ben? Would she think he was a fake for just wearing the boots? He wanted so badly for her to notice him in a good way.

  He let the reins out a little, allowing Dollar to lope. The big horse held his head high, snorting, his stride long and even as he leveled out his gait. “Easy, boy,” Chris whispered to him. “That’s right. Looking good.”

  They loped a few yards, then trotted, then Chris turned Dollar back the way they’d come, letting him prance again as he came even with the Drakes’ pasture.

  “Show off,” Jenny called out to him. “What are you trying to prove? That you’re a cowboy?”

  He was right!

  Chris glared at her. “Not hardly.”

  “Good, because my dad and my brother are real cowboys, and you’re nothing like them. I sure didn’t see you at the fair last week.”

  “The fair’s lame,” Chris fibbed.

  “Yeah, whatever.” Jenny tossed her pretty, white-blond hair.

  She was so cute. Too bad she was being such a witch.

  “Wannabe hick,” Michaela taunted. “Ew-ww, I’m impressed.”

  Christopher’s anger swelled. Jealous. They were only jealous. Dollar was an awesome horse.

  “You’re the wannabe,” he told Michaela. “You wanna be normal and ride.” He knew he was being mean, but he was through being picked on. He’d had enough of it back in Northglenn.

  He sent Dollar into a quick sprint, then hauled back on the reins. The bay horse tucked his hindquarters and slid, plowing up the dirt in a beautiful sliding stop. Yep. He still had it.

  “Ohh, look at the Rexall Ranger,” Jenny said, hands on hips, wagging her head side to side. “Whoopie.”

  “Wait,” Michaela said, reaching into her purse. “Let me get this on video.” She took out a pink cell phone and aimed it at Christopher. “Smile, little cowboy.”

  Instantly, a queasy feeling gripped Christopher. A memory crashed into his mind of another day and time that his mom knew nothing about….

  A kid had taken Chris’s cell phone and…

  Smile, turd face.

  The smell of the school locker room came back to him in a flash. Sweaty tube socks and T-shirts, a hint of soap. And the face of the boy who’d taken Chris’s cell phone out of his backpack and used it to make Chris’s life a living hell.

  “Knock it off!” he screamed as Michaela took his picture. No, a video. Even worse.

  “What’s the matter, wannabe?” Michaela said. “You can’t be a gangsta or a cowboy? So what are you, a freak?”

  Fury surged through Christopher. In one smooth motion, he swung off Dollar’s back, dropping the reins to the ground, and lunged at Michaela. The girl’s eyes grew wide as he closed in on her and grabbed for the cell phone.

  As he tried to yank it from her grasp to delete the video, she let out a scream that pierced his eardrums.

  One he was pretty sure the whole neighborhood heard.

  And then she tripped over her cane and fell down, taking him with her.

  Shit.

  DARCI’S CELL PHONE RANG as she pulled into her driveway, home from a short shift at the hospital. The personalized ring tone told her it was Stella. She and Leon were probably ready to have her pick up Chris. Darci only hoped he hadn’t been too much trouble, sleeping over at the ranch two weekends in a row.

  “Hi, Aunt Stella. What’s up? I was just going to change my clothes and head your way.”

  “You need to get here as soon as you can,” Stella said. “We can’t find Chris anywhere—we’ve been out looking for him all morning. Dollar’s missing, too.”

  “He took off on horseback alone?” Darci’s pulse picked up. “Why
didn’t you call me sooner?”

  “We didn’t want to bother you at work,” Stella said. “I really thought we would’ve found him by now.”

  “Okay.” Darci forced herself to remain calm. He’s out riding. No big deal. “I’m on my way.” She started the car’s engine and turned on the air-conditioning.

  “Hang on a minute,” Stella said. Darci heard her uncle’s voice in the background. “Leon just found a note. Breeze from the kitchen window must’ve blown it off the table. Chris did go riding, and at least he told us which trails he took. I feel better now, and I shouldn’t have worried you. Dollar’s a good, solid horse.”

  “No, you were right to call,” Darci said, the mother in her more than a little concerned. “Even if he did tell you where he was, Chris shouldn’t have taken off alone. Up until last weekend, it’s been a while since he’s done any extensive riding.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t let that bother you, either,” Stella reassured her. “He took right back to it like a city duck to a country pond. Leon had him out riding fence last week, and the three of us went for a pretty good trail ride yesterday evening. Chris hasn’t lost his touch.”

  Darci breathed a little easier. “Thanks, Aunt Stella. I’ll be there as quick as I can.”

  She’d no sooner closed the phone than it rang again. Jordan’s name popped up on the caller ID. Had he decided to let Michaela take riding lessons after all?

  Darci flipped the phone open. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I’m afraid Michaela had a run-in with Christopher.”

  “What are you talking about? Chris is out horseback riding.”

  “Yeah, I know. He rode over to the house and decided to harass Michaela and her friend Jenny. I was in the basement, but my neighbor, Louise, saw the whole thing. She came running over here. Said Mac and Christopher got into a scuffle. I’m outside with the kids now. Hey, you two calm down. I mean it!”

  What on earth was going on? Darci wondered.

  “Don’t you know enough to raise your son not to hit a girl?” he demanded.

  “No way!” she said. “There’s obviously been a misunderstanding.”