Reunited with the Rancher

by Brenda Minton

  “He’s an optimist if he thinks he can turn this town around.”

  “He’s giving people jobs,” Isaac said, the toothpick in the corner of his mouth. “I guess it’s more about faith. And if that’s the case, I’m an optimist, too. The others are saddled up and ready to go.”

  “How many of us?”

  “Four are riding. Matt is on an ATV. He doesn’t care for animals too much.”

  They headed through the stable to a back door and a small corral. Two horses were saddled and tied to the fence. Two people were already on their horses and a third was outside the corral on a four-wheeler. He waved a prosthetic arm and grinned.

  “Matt on the ATV.” Isaac nodded in Matt’s direction. “Jules is on the Appaloosa.”

  “Hi, Jules.” Carson walked up to them. Jules extended a hand to shake his. She had burn scars down the side of her face.

  “Tyler on the road,” Isaac said as he mounted the horse tied near the gate. Carson shook hands with the younger man, and then he started for the gray that had obviously been left for him.

  “You remember how to make that thing go, right?”

  Carson untied the gray and ignored the question. As if it hadn’t been years, he swung himself into the saddle and reined the horse in the direction of the men who were waiting. Unfortunately, the horse had other plans.

  Carson barely had time to gather up the reins before the horse started to snort and raise its rump in a halfhearted attempt at bucking him off. He clamped his legs around the animal’s middle and the horse gave a good buck, twisting as he did.

  He soon became somewhat aware that the other men stopped to watch. He heard a few chuckles, then he clearly heard Isaac yell, “Ride ’em, cowboy!”

  Carson held on, talking quietly as the horse began to settle beneath him. The quest to throw him from the saddle ended with a big shuddering shake that started at the horse’s head and went all the way to its tail. After that, the animal took a few halting steps and began to walk.

  “Was it entertaining for you?” he called back to Isaac.

  Isaac rode up next to him, still laughing. “Yeah, but I honestly didn’t think you’d be able to hold on. Spud is always kind of a beast when you first get on him.”

  “Payback,” Carson warned him.

  “Yeah, I reckon I’ll get mine. I deserve that.” Isaac glanced back at the house. “I was just trying to help you out. Kylie would have been all upset and tended to your wounds if you’d actually gotten thrown. I’m taking it the two of you knew each other, before.”

  “Yeah, we knew each other. How long have you known her?” Carson gave Isaac a quick look but he didn’t quite trust the horse enough to let down his guard.

  “Four years. Since she moved to the ranch. I know she lived down the road twenty years ago. That was a couple of years before my time.”

  Carson relaxed a bit in the saddle as he and the horse got used to each other. “How long have you been here?”

  Isaac nudged his horse in to a trot. “Got here the first time about seventeen years ago. And I came back about five years ago.”

  The conversation fizzled as the men started through a gate and rode toward a herd of cattle. It gave Carson something to think about. He felt as if his life, Jack’s and Isaac’s were all part of the same puzzle but with pieces missing. And Kylie belonged in there somewhere. He just wasn’t sure what part she played.

  He aimed to find out. And soon.

  * * *

  Kylie led Andy and Maggie down the stairs. They were dressed, hair brushed and ready for the day. Well, Andy’s hair wasn’t really brushed. The dark strands stood a little on end, but she’d done her best.

  “Daddy is at work?” Andy asked, not looking at her as he did.

  “No,” Kylie assured him. “He went outside, but he’ll be back soon. I’m going to fix you breakfast. Do you like biscuits?”

  Maggie clapped her hands and jabbered about gravy, the words all running together. Andy bit down on his bottom lip and walked to the door.

  “You have to stay inside, buddy,” Kylie told him.

  He nodded but she saw his hand fidgeting at his side, as if given a chance he would open the door and leave. The house phone rang and as she answered it she kept a close eye on Andy. She wouldn’t lose him again. As she ended the call, she took the little boy by the hand and led him to the table. “Let’s sit right here, Andy.”

  Maggie had already crawled up and sat down in another chair.

  The door opened and Kylie’s roommate Eve Vincent entered, her gaze immediately going to the children. She waved a gloved hand at them.

  “What’s for breakfast?” Eve stopped next to the children. “This must be Maggie and Andy. Wow, you can see the family resemblance. I saw their daddy getting on a horse earlier.”

  Eve grinned. From the flicker of amusement in her eyes, Kylie didn’t have to ask which horse they’d given Carson.

  “Please tell me it wasn’t Spud,” Kylie groaned as she dished out eggs, sausage and biscuits smeared with butter and jelly. She set a small plate in front of Andy and one in front of Maggie.

  “Yeah, Spud. But he handled him fine.”

  Andy shook his head no as he looked at the plate of food.

  “Picky eater?” Eve asked.

  “Sensory issues. The key is finding what food agrees with him.”

  “Isn’t that just being picky?” Eve queried.

  “No, there’s a difference. It’s about tasting food differently than you or I would.” She cut up the biscuit and Andy continued to shake his head. “What about the eggs?”

  The little boy took a bite, made a face but continued to chew. Eve laughed at his reaction.

  “I don’t blame him. You’re a good cook, Kylie, but eggs aren’t your specialty.”

  “I make very good eggs,” she countered.

  “Hold on, I just remembered something,” Eve said as she studied Andy. “Mind pouring me a cup of coffee and I’ll help you get him to eat. I’m kind of a pro with kids.”

  “You’re a pro with kids?” Kylie didn’t mean to sound skeptical but her friend was either hiding something or making up skills she didn’t possess.

  They’d known each another for three years. Both of them were from completely different worlds. Eve had joined the military against her parents’ wishes because she’d wanted some independence, and to prove herself. Kylie hadn’t seen her mother since she’d been taken into foster care. After turning eighteen, the Army had seemed like the best option.

  Eve now grinned as she spun her wheelchair around. “I’m sure I am a child expert. I’ve spent almost zero time with children, but look at me, I’m on wheels. That has to make a difference. Let me try to feed him something.”

  “Go for it.”

  Eve obviously thought she had a trick up her sleeve. She went to the fridge and pulled out taco sauce and ketchup.

  “Watch and learn.” Eve dropped the items in her lap and zoomed across the room at a reckless speed.

  “What are you doing?”

  Kylie followed her back to the table where Maggie had scooped the last of her eggs into her mouth. Andy was sitting in his chair staring out the window. Kylie peered over his shoulder and saw what had captured his attention. In the distance she could see the men on horseback riding herd on about fifty head of cattle, bringing them in to the corral to work them.

  “Your daddy is riding. If we eat breakfast, we can go see him when they get back,” Kylie said as she glanced at Eve who was busy separating Andy’s eggs in to five piles. On the first she squeezed ketchup, on one she sprinkled sugar, the next pepper, one with taco sauce and the last with salt. This was her plan?

  “There we go,” Eve said, sticking her finger in the pepper and tasting. It made her sneeze.

  Andy wouldn’t try it but he laughed. When she tried the o
ne with sugar his eyes widened and he tasted the sugar but not the eggs. When he got to the one with taco sauce he looked more than a little skeptical but after a taste he began to eat.

  “Who would have guessed?” Kylie watched as the little boy ate the small portion of eggs and waited for Eve to wipe off the rest of the eggs and add taco sauce. “How did you come up with that?”

  “I had a lot of time for reading while I lived at the rehab facility. After I finished up all of the books, I started on magazines. I have a lot of useless knowledge. Guess some that isn’t quite so useless.”

  Andy finished eating all the eggs and he slid off the chair and headed to the door. “Hold up there, Andy. We have to all go together.”

  Kylie hurried to catch up to her young charge, scooping up Maggie as she did. She glanced back at the mess on the table.

  Eve motioned to her. “Go on. I’ll clean this up before I head back to the apartment.”

  “You don’t want to go with us?” Kylie asked.

  “No, I have to do some work.” Eve had been a translator in the military. She now did contract work from home. She said it paid the bills and kept her out of trouble. And she didn’t want to accept the help her parents offered.

  Kylie and the kids left the house together. Kylie held Maggie’s hand on her left and Andy’s on her right, as they walked down the path to the stable. The men had returned. The cattle, some Hereford and some Angus, were milling about. The cattle dog, a border collie named Buster, circled through the herd, keeping them in a tight group. One of the men whistled and called the dog out of the corral.

  Andy was enthralled. For that reason, Kylie didn’t let go of his hand, even when he pulled away a little. She led him around the corral to the group of men who were dismounting. He saw his daddy and hurried forward, flinging himself at Carson. Carson lifted his son up and held him tight.

  “Do you want to sit on the horse?” When Andy nodded, Carson sat the boy in the saddle and put the cowboy hat he wore on Andy’s head. Andy grinned from ear to ear.

  “Can I ride him?” he asked, speaking with more animation. She understood. Horses, dogs, all animals seemed to be great therapy for children and adults. They used a lot of animal therapy for the residents of Mercy Ranch.

  Animals and plain old hard work.

  Maggie reached out and Carson placed her in the saddle behind Andy. Kylie stretched her arm and rolled her shoulders. She’d never realized that one small child could be so heavy.

  At one time she’d been strong. A roadside bomb had done more than broken her bones, it had robbed her of muscle strength. It had taken away her ability to have children. The injuries she’d suffered had left the surgeons no choice but to do a partial hysterectomy. So each time Maggie wrapped those sweet arms around her, each time Andy smiled up at her with one of his rare smiles, she felt happiness, anger, loss.

  Carson being here with his children brought back more than memories of the past. She thought she’d dealt with everything, figured out the path her life would take and come to terms with what was lost and what she still had. Now, with their presence, a wave of longing swept over her, making her wish for things that could never be.

  Life wasn’t fair. It took things. Important things. But she knew how to survive. She knew how to find faith. She knew in time she would deal with how it felt to have Carson and his children on the ranch, small reminders of what she couldn’t have. And she would somehow smile through this and survive.

  Chapter Five

  After giving the children a short ride around the corral, Carson lifted them down and led the horse inside to unsaddle him. Kylie had taken control of Andy and Maggie, and they watched the process of removing tack, brushing the horse and giving him a good portion of oats. It had been a while since Carson had lived this life and when he had, it hadn’t been quite like this. The ranch as he’d known it had been neglected, the barn falling in, and Jack had been a strict task master.

  The West children had learned to do things the right way. Now that he was older, Carson could give his dad credit for that. Jack had taught him to work hard.

  Jack had changed. The ranch had changed. Carson’s father met them in the yard as they were walking back to the house. He appeared stronger than he had the previous day but Carson saw the tight lines around his mouth, he also noticed telltale signs of Parkinson’s. Jack West wasn’t a healthy man. Carson guessed that was the reason for the sudden need to make amends with his children. Having children of his own, Carson got that. As a father, he couldn’t imagine letting so many years separate him from Maggie and Andy.

  “I thought you’d be back in that fancy SUV and heading north as fast as you could go,” Jack said as he reached to tousle Andy’s hair. “Hey there, cowboy. Are you having fun?”

  Andy looked up at Jack and nodded, his gray eyes as big as saucers.

  “I wanted to talk more about the service dog,” Carson admitted. And he definitely had considered leaving. Early in the morning, when the house had been quiet and he’d been plagued by the gut feeling that if he stayed one day it would turn into three.

  And each day they stayed would make it more difficult for his children when they left. It had been hard enough to leave Dallas, leaving everything familiar behind. They’d left the only home they’d ever known. They’d left friends, their longtime nanny, everything familiar. He didn’t want to have to separate them from this place, from these people, as well.

  “Kylie is the expert when it comes to the dogs.” Jack smiled at the woman standing nearby.

  “I do have a dog that I think will work well for Andy.” She spoke softly as she looked down at the child who had hold of her hand. “I thought we might wait until tomorrow to make the introductions.”

  “Tomorrow?” Carson blurted out in surprise. “Why not today?”

  She still held Andy’s hand and Carson watched as his son studied their joined fingers. His small and slightly darker hand in Kylie’s slightly larger, paler hand.

  “I have meetings today, and this will give Andy a chance to feel relaxed here on the ranch before we start something new.”

  He understood and he was thankful that she seemed aware of what Andy needed. But it meant another day spent here, at the last place on earth he wanted to be.

  “How about a trip to town for a milkshake and curly fries,” Jack offered with a smile for the children and then to Carson. “I could show you the clinic?”

  The offer of milkshakes immediately grabbed Maggie’s attention who clapped her hands at the suggestion and even reached for Jack’s hand. Andy wasn’t quite as sure. He looked at Kylie and earned one of her smiles.

  “You’ll have fun,” Kylie assured him. “I have to work but you go have a shake. I like chocolate.”

  “We can bring you one,” Carson found himself offering. He told himself he offered because it was the right things to do, and because she’d managed in twenty-four hours what few people ever did. She’d made a friend of his son.

  “That would be nice.”

  She left them standing there, and Carson had to admit to feeling a little bit out of his element on the ranch, with her and with Jack. But if he truly thought about it, he wasn’t. He’d been here before, standing outside a barn after a long day of hard work and hearing Jack announce they were heading to town for milkshakes and fries. Even if his sister, Daisy, had been in the house, they’d make sure to take her along.

  He tried to think of anything similar that he shared with his own children, and he couldn’t. The last few years he had been burning the candle at both ends. He’d worked long hours, then came home and tried to be both mom and dad to his two children. He’d had sleepless nights topped with more sleepless nights.

  The busyness of their lives had left little time for living their lives. He had missed out. Andy and Maggie had missed out.

  “Come on, you’re looking a little dow
n in the mouth.” Jack tossed him the truck keys. “You drive. I’m feeling a little shaky today.”

  “But you were up early and in town before the rest of us even had coffee.” Carson picked Maggie up and deposited her in the back seat of the truck. “I have to go get the car seats for the kids.”

  “No problem. I need to make sure I have my medicine, anyway. I had to get to town early before the heat got too bad. They’re rewiring the cabins at Lakeside Resort. I wanted to make sure a few other things were finished first.”

  It only took a few minutes, then they were heading to Hope, and to Mattie’s Café. It was a five-minute drive but it took Carson back twenty years. The town hadn’t changed much, other than getting a little older, a little more tired. The highway going through town had maintained a few businesses. A small sportsman’s store with hunting and fishing equipment, the grocery store that had been around for fifty years, a local fast-food place and a pharmacy lined the main road. He slowed, taking in the familiar sights, and the not so familiar. A newer metal-sided building with a gravel parking lot sat in what had once been an empty lot. The sign at the edge of the drive read “Hope Medical Clinic.”

  He pretended not to see. Jack cleared his throat as they drove past. It was a bait Carson didn’t plan on taking.

  Once he turned down Shoreview Drive, things changed. Mattie’s Café had once been a general store. It had the big windows, the inset door, all marks of a building nearing a century in age. Mattie had maintained the building, giving it new siding on the front facade and a new awning that covered the front porch.

  Across the road from Mattie’s were the old storefronts, businesses that had been boarded up and forgotten.

  Today there were people working on the buildings, trying to bring them back to life, he guessed. Carson slowed to watch the progress. If a person could call it that. Some things were better left alone. He couldn’t imagine trying to bring this old town back to life.