Redemption Ranch

by Leann Harris

  The teens gathered around to watch. Tyler’s spirit felt lighter than it had in years. When was the last time he’d had fun?

  Chapter Nine

  They went back to the church for the praise service and a short sermon from one of the teens. After the worship, they moved to the fellowship hall and dove into a dozen pizzas that were waiting. There was also a salad bowl next to the boxes of pizza, bread sticks and dessert pizza covered in cinnamon and sugar.

  Riley piled his paper plate with four different pieces of pizza, bread sticks and dessert, but avoided the salad.

  Beth grabbed a paper plate. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

  Riley took several packets of Parmesan cheese. “It’s been great. Did you see Tyler with that pinball machine earlier?”

  “No, but I heard the roar when I was with the girls.” She had spied Tyler at the pinball machine with a crowd gathered around him.

  “He blew the top out of the game. He got the highest number recorded and made all the guys shake their heads. One guy tried to beat him, but none could. You know, some of them asked Tyler and me about if they could come to see the ranch?” Riley’s chest puffed out.

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I said I thought it would be fine. Tyler agreed and said he’d check with you and Zach.”

  “We could always use more volunteers.” Tyler’s tact with the kids impressed Beth. “Did you tell them about what we do?”

  “I kinda added to what Tyler said.” He grabbed a plastic cup filled with Coke. “The guys are wowed with Tyler being a soldier.”

  “And are the girls impressed with your work at the ranch?”

  He shrugged, but his neck turned red. He went back to his table.

  Beth wondered if it was Riley that volunteered that information about the ranch or if it was Tyler. She put a piece of pineapple and Canadian bacon pizza on her plate. As she added salad, she noticed the group of boys talking to Tyler. It appeared he had a fan club. Well, her plan certainly had worked well.

  “Your friends have won over the kids,” Pastor Mike commented, picking up a paper plate.

  “It’s a blessing to see Riley smiling. You should’ve seen him when he first showed up at Second Chance. The chip on his shoulder was so big, I’m surprised he could walk.” Tyler hadn’t been much better. “I prayed for Riley, and I think my prayers have been answered.”

  “Well, he certainly is connecting with the other kids.” Pastor helped himself to several pieces of pizza and salad. “I’m glad Riley’s enjoying himself, and hope he’ll start coming on a regular basis.” He grabbed a drink and went to sit with the teens.

  Beth settled next to one of the other chaperones and a friend from high school, Kelly Upton. Kelly had grown up in the church and was in the graduating class before Beth.

  “Well, I will say that you’ve certainly caused a stir among all the girls and guys,” Kelly said.

  “What are you talking about?” Beth dug into her salad.

  “The hunk.”

  “Okay, you’re going to have to be more specific.” But Beth knew who Kelly was talking about.

  “The tall guy with brooding eyes.” She pointed with her piece of pizza at Tyler. “I saw him this morning at service and had all sorts of ideas. But when he showed up tonight and attached himself to you, well, I knew he was taken.”

  Beth choked on her salad.

  Kelly patted her on the back. Beth grabbed her plastic cup and took a drink.

  “So who is he?” Kelly pressed.

  Beth studied the aforementioned male. She couldn’t fault Kelly for her attraction to Tyler. But oddly enough she didn’t want to share with Kelly.

  “So, you’ve laid claim to him.”

  If Kelly had kicked her under the table, Beth couldn’t have been more surprised. “What are you talking about?”

  Kelly put down her piece of pizza and covered Beth’s hand with hers. “It’s been a long time since high school, Beth.”

  The bottom fell out for Beth. Kelly had been the one person who had witnessed the incident with Gavin. Gavin and Beth had been the golden couple of their senior class. Gavin, the handsome, tall quarterback, with a dazzling smile and quick wit, had snagged Beth, the girl voted most liked in her junior yearbook.

  Gavin transferred in the last weeks of their junior year. When he’d asked her to the homecoming game and dance their senior year, Beth had been in heaven and the envy of every girl in school. Gavin’s charm offensive had so overwhelmed Beth that she fell head over heels in love with him. At first, she didn’t notice his subtle manipulation of her. They hung out with his friends, went where he wanted and did what he wanted. He came with her to church a few times and dazzled her friends, parents and most adults.

  It had taken months for Beth to wake up. Her normally bubbly outlook disappeared. She felt stupid. After she’d talked to a friend—a boy she’d known since second grade—at one school basketball game, Gavin told her he didn’t want her to associate with him anymore. He wasn’t good enough for her.

  That incident woke her up. That had been in early March. Beth spent the rest of that month and April trying to figure out how to end the relationship without people knowing why.

  They’d gone to the senior prom together. Afterward, they went out for ice cream at the local drive-in with several other couples. Kelly had been there, back from college. Beth wanted to know how the year had gone. When Gavin told her they were leaving, Beth told him she wasn’t finished talking to Kelly. He slapped her across the face for sassing him.

  Kelly had stood up to the football hero and asked if Beth wanted to ride home with her. Beth knew if Kelly took her home, the wrath of her brothers and dad would rain down upon Gavin. She told Kelly she was okay.

  When Gavin took her home, he told her he wouldn’t have done that if she hadn’t acted so badly. The boy never got near her again. Kelly had called the next morning, making sure she was all right. Beth told her she was done with Gavin and asked Kelly not to say anything to anyone.

  Kelly kept her end of the bargain. Luckily, they’d been done with classes and Beth didn’t have to be around Gavin again.

  Beth never told her parents what had happened. They questioned her about why she hadn’t seen Gavin off when he left for a summer vacation in Europe with his family. She never gave them a satisfactory answer. She saw the questions in their eyes, but they didn’t press her.

  After that incident, Beth’s heart closed down. It took the summer for her to recover her normally bright outlook on life. She eventually became comfortable around men. She even dated a couple of times, but broke things off before they got serious.

  “It’s about time,” Kelly said, bringing Beth around from her brooding.

  A frown gathered on Beth’s brow. “What are you talking about?”

  “You. You’ve acted like men are toxic for a long time.”

  Beth opened her mouth to protest, but Kelly held up her hand.

  “You had reason, friend. I understand that. Later, I heard from others they noticed how controlling Gavin could be. Even so, they were mesmerized by his charm.”

  “You didn’t say—”

  “I didn’t say anything, so don’t worry. Only you and I know. But when you visited church while you were at UNM and afterward, I watched you blow off a lot of nice guys. I heard someone say, if you want advice, talk to Beth. But if you want a date, don’t waste your breath. I’m glad you’re finally willing to step on out there.”

  Beth gaped at her friend.

  “It’s time.”

  Beth glanced at Tyler. He finished grabbing several pieces of pizza and a drink. He walked toward them.

  Kelly elbowed Beth. “And when you decided to dive back in, you did a good j
ob.”

  Tyler placed his plate across from Beth and sat. He nodded toward Kelly. “Tyler Lynch.”

  Kelly smiled back. “Kelly Upton.”

  “Nice to meet you.” He took a bite of his pizza.

  Kelly bumped Beth with her elbow. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

  “Beth volunteered me to chaperone tonight’s events.”

  “She did?”

  “He works for Zach and Sophie, helping with the horses and around the ranch,” Beth explained.

  “So you’re a ranch hand?” Kelly pressed.

  Beth felt Kelly’s amusement and she wanted to squirm.

  “I grew up on a farm, but I ran into Zach in Albuquerque and he offered me a job.”

  “Out of the blue?”

  “No, Kelly,” Beth answered. “Zach and Tyler were in the Army together, and we needed more help with all the veterans we are getting. You should come by sometime and see what we’re doing. Your company might want to become a corporate sponsor of the ranch. It’s good PR.” Beth motioned to the logo on her T-shirt.

  “That’s an idea. I’ll run it by my boss.” Kelly turned to Tyler and gave him a toothy smile. “So, Tyler, tell me about yourself.”

  He shrugged. “There’s nothing much to tell.”

  “Surely not.”

  Beth didn’t pay attention to the rest of the conversation, her mind too caught up in what Kelly had said. Was what Kelly said true? Had she emotionally hidden herself away, not allowing anyone close? Surely not. Kelly had got it wrong.

  Beth glanced at Tyler’s face. His closed-off demeanor was no longer there, and he was talking with Kelly, actually engaging in conversation.

  What had happened to that reticent man who had come to Second Chance several months ago? When had he changed?

  Maybe that’s why she’d been so attracted to him from the first, they were similar souls who’d been hurt. Or was it because she felt Tyler was safe? If he wasn’t willing to open up, then she wouldn’t have to worry about him getting too close.

  She shoved away the thought. Now wasn’t the time to wrestle with this nonsense. She was here to chaperone teenagers, not to dwell on her lovelorn status.

  Period.

  End of story.

  Too bad her heart didn’t buy the argument.

  * * *

  Tyler watched the boys race back and forth in the gym, shooting baskets. The girls were scattered throughout the room. Riley grabbed the basketball and dribbled it. Another boy grabbed the ball away from him. Riley snatched it back and shot the hoop. He made it.

  “Way to go, Riley.” Tyler whooped and clapped. Riley shot him a grin. Susan would be jumping for joy. Tyler knew he was keeping his promise to Paul. His heart eased.

  Pastor Mike entered the room and announced the buses would leave in ten minutes for Castle Rock Super Center. “Finish up your game, make pit stops. You need to be outside and ready to go. We’ve got bowling, wall climbing, bumper cars and more video games.” He walked out of the gym.

  The stampede nearly flattened Tyler. After the girls filed into the bathroom, Tyler walked back down the hall, passing the smaller sanctuary. The lead singer on the worship team sat with his guitar.

  Tyler paused at the door. “You’ve got talent.”

  “Thanks. You play?”

  “I do. It was the best chick magnet in high school.”

  The teen laughed. “Yeah, still is. You any good?”

  Tyler shrugged. “It’s been a while since I seriously played.”

  The teen held up his guitar. “Give it a shot.”

  Suddenly there was a longing in Tyler’s soul he couldn’t ignore. He walked down the center aisle, took the guitar and sat on the top step. His fingers began to strum the notes of the worship song they played at services in Iraq.

  * * *

  Kelly and Beth finished cleaning up the fellowship room after consolidating all the remaining pieces of pizza into one box. “You never know who might want a piece with breakfast.” Kelly grinned.

  “That’s gross.”

  “I ate my share in college. But I had coffee with it.”

  Beth shook her head. “I think I’d skip the pizza for breakfast.”

  Kelly stopped and looked around the room. “You know, in this day and age of enlightenment, guys should be in here helping us clean up.”

  “You don’t see any girls in here, either. As a matter of fact, there’s not a teen in sight.”

  “We did this wrong.”

  “When we do a review of tonight, bring up that point.”

  As they walked down the hall to the main entrance, the sound of a guitar and a wonderful baritone voice filled the air.

  “Who’s that?” Kelly asked. “He’s good.”

  Beth and Kelly stopped by the open sanctuary doors.

  Tyler sat on one of the steps to the stage, guitar in hand, singing the latest worship chorus by a popular Christian artist.

  Beth stepped into the room and joined in on the chorus.

  Kelly had joined Beth in singing the chorus. When Tyler paused, Beth said, “Don’t stop.”

  The kids at the doorway filed into the room. “Let’s finish it,” one of the boys said. He ran to the stage and jumped on it and picked up his guitar. Two other teens joined them on the stage and began to play the balance of the song. The lead singer sat at the keyboard.

  Tyler smiled at Beth and started singing the rest of the praise chorus. By the time they sang the last line of the chorus, every teen, chaperone and the pastor stood in the sanctuary, joining in the praise.

  When the last note died down, a silence settled on the group. Finally, one of the teens standing in the aisle said, “That was great. Maybe we should get together at eleven every Sunday night and do a little singing.”

  The atmosphere instantly changed, and several of the kids laughed.

  “On the buses, guys,” Pastor Mike announced.

  Several of the teens gave Tyler a high five as they boarded the bus. Tyler settled in the seat next to Riley. Beth took the seat across from them.

  “You’re good,” Riley commented to Tyler, a note of pride in Riley’s voice. “I think you won over some of the guys.”

  “I’m glad.” Tyler didn’t know why he’d picked up the guitar, but there had been a need in his soul. Last week, he’d picked up his guitar for the first time in months and tried some choruses. That’s when Beth caught him.

  Things were shifting inside him at lightning speed. Was he ready for that?

  “How’d you know the words to that song?” Riley asked.

  Beth leaned forward. “I was wondering the same thing.”

  He tried to remain casual. “That was one of the new worship songs our chaplain used in services.”

  Riley looked at Beth. “Wasn’t he good?”

  “He was, and he can sing. We’re learning all sorts of things about him tonight.”

  Not comfortable with the direction of this conversation, Tyler said, “Same for me. I now know not to challenge Riley or Beth to any games of miniature golf.”

  Riley grinned. “How are you in math? I’m going to need some help with algebra this year.”

  “I was better in shop.” Tyler turned to Beth. “You any good in math?”

  Beth gave them a thumbs-up. “I’ve got you covered.”

  Tyler bumped Riley with his elbow. “See, you’ve got help coming out your ears.”

  * * *

  The sounds of bowling pins being knocked down rang through the bowling alley part of the Castle Rock Super Center. Riley cheered Tyler’s strike. Castle Rock was a massive complex that housed a fifty-lane bowling alley, a huge video
arcade, a room of bumper cars and a room filled with four climbing walls.

  “Wow, that’s so cool. All those pins just rise up together and fall.” Riley stood up from his seat and gave Tyler a five-knuckled tap.

  Beth marked the strike. In the sixth frame, Tyler’s score was 94 through the fifth frame with his strike requiring one more roll to score it. He wasn’t doing too badly but the Army always had bowling alleys somewhere on base. Of course, in Iraq, the soldiers made their own bowling pins with empty water bottles and a small ball.

  “You’re making all the kids drool,” Beth told him.

  Tyler sat in the chair next to her. She wasn’t too bad herself with a score of 80. She hadn’t bowled this frame and had a spare last frame. He leaned over to look more closely at the overhead score sheet. Riley had 70, Sam 71 and Grace 66. “What are you talking about?”

  She raised her brow. “You might want to let one of them beat you.”

  “Seriously?”

  She looked at Riley throw his ball down the alley.

  Tyler leaned close, smelling the scent of orange blossoms on Beth, momentarily distracting him. He swallowed. “If I started throwing gutter balls now, the kids would know what I was doing. Besides, remember I told you you always play to your strongest card.”

  She turned her head and his lips were inches from hers. All he could think to do was move two inches forward. The kids yelling broke into the moment.

  Riley’s ball crossed the head pin and struck between the first and second pins. All the pins went down except the seven. It wobbled.

  “C’mon and fall,” Beth called out, jumping up as if her actions could change the tide.

  Shouts from his teammates urged the pin to fall, too. It wobbled and rocked, but hung on and didn’t fall down.

  “Aaah,” came the collective sound.

  “You can make that spare, Riley,” Beth called out, giving him a thumbs-up.

  Riley picked up his ball and went for the spare.

  Her encouragement of Riley warmed Tyler’s heart. This was a kid she didn’t know a month ago, and yet, Beth wouldn’t let him slip through the cracks back then or now. Her empathy and encouraging manner made him spill his guts when he hadn’t volunteered information to anyone else. What was it about this woman?