A Rancher’s Love: The Stones of Heart Falls: Book 4

by Vivian Arend

  On the trip home, Tucker and Alex sat in silence until they were nearly in sight of Silver Stone.

  “I’m an idiot,” Alex offered.

  Tucker wasn’t even sure what the big picture problem was between Yvette and Alex, but he didn’t need to know, not to share one bit of advice.

  “Maybe,” Tucker replied. “But knowing you’re the problem is more than half the battle.”

  Alex snickered, then nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

  A peaceful quiet resumed, and Tucker breathed deep.

  It was a solid ending to a good day.

  14

  Saturday was warm enough that when Ginny crawled out of bed and looked outside, she decided it was time to take a page out of her sister Dare’s book.

  She made herself a cup of tea, bundled up, and went to sit on the porch as sunrise slowly stretched golden fingers over Silver Stone.

  Last night had been amazing, and she’d only been on the periphery of the magic. Watching Yvette at work reminded Ginny what the woman had said about finding what she wanted to do for the rest of her life that made her happy.

  It was clear Yvette had not only chosen well, but she was also making others happy because of her choice.

  Two beautiful animals that might not have survived, three possibly, considering their mama had been in danger as well, were all safe and sound in the warmth of the barn.

  Ginny held onto her mug a little tighter. She had no skills like that. Nothing that could truly make a difference, and that lack tugged places inside.

  But as her nieces poured out of the homestead and headed for the nearby hill, toboggans in hand, Ginny pushed aside her momentary blahs. Enough moping. She was blessed beyond belief and able to enjoy some pretty sweet choices.

  Somewhere along the line she’d find a way to make a difference.

  Meanwhile, she needed to spend a little time dealing with the puzzle. If she didn’t, Dare would be poking at her with another reminder like the one she’d gotten the previous night.

  Dare: I love you, Truth. Solve any puzzles lately?

  Ginny: I love you, Dare. Go away, you’re annoying.

  Dare: This is your subconscious speaking. Send me a copy, girl. Don’t make me come over there.

  Ginny: Like that’s a threat. The door is always open.

  Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded paper covered with cryptic drawings.

  She thought at first it was something like a rebus puzzle. But while she was usually smart enough to solve those, this one still made no sense.

  Twelve different images, including the one with some sort of equine animal—it was unbelievable to think it was a horse because surely her father could draw better than that.

  She tried writing down what each symbol made her think of at first glance. Then she tried her own hand at drawing them in stick figures to see if any of that turned into letters or words.

  A half-dozen attempts later, her tea was cold and she was no farther ahead than she’d been at the start when a small voice interrupted her.

  “What are you doing, Auntie Ginny?”

  Ginny glanced up in surprise to discover Emma standing at the base of the porch. “Hey, kiddo. You snuck up on me.”

  Emma shrugged, the pom-pom on her pink toque bouncing as she wiggled on the spot. “You were reading your book.”

  “I suppose I was,” Ginny admitted. She glanced around. “Where’s Sasha?”

  Her niece looked at the ground but didn’t answer.

  “Emma?” Ginny repeated, more sternly this time. “Is Sasha somewhere she’s not supposed to be?”

  Emma nodded, still staring at the ground.

  Drat. But also hurrah that the kid was willing to squeal on her sister.

  Ginny put her things down and held out a hand to her niece. “Come on. Show me where she is, so we can maybe stop her before it’s too late.”

  The little girl spoke softly, the teeny bit of the flashback to the hesitancy she’d had so many years ago. “I don’t want to get Sasha into trouble.”

  “I know, sweetie, but sometimes we get people we love into a little bit of trouble to keep them out of even more.” Ginny squeezed little fingers as Emma tugged her toward the barn. “It’s in the sister rule book. Honest.”

  “Did you ever get your sister into trouble?”

  The first time Dare had decided to hold a wake for her family flashed to mind. Ginny had made a choice and called Luke to squeal before her sister could get too drunk to walk. The same night, coincidentally, that Ginny had gathered her courage and seduced Tucker, which meant the memory was all the sweeter.

  She jerked back to attention and nodded seriously at her niece.

  “All the time. Even now, when we’re all grown up,” Ginny said. She grinned at the shocked expression on her niece’s face. “Because I love her very, very much, you know.”

  Which pulled a giggle from Emma before she added seriously, “Sasha wanted to see the baby horses. Papa said he would take us after lunch, but she said she wanted a quick peek now.”

  They should’ve realized the draw of two foals would be too much for Sasha to resist.

  Thankfully, while Sasha had chosen to disobey the standing order to stay out of the horse barn unless she was accompanied by an adult, she’d done it in the smartest way possible. Ginny spotted her ponytail poking up over the edge of the loft as she stared into the horse pens from a safe distance. Well away from the traffic of the ranch hands, and nowhere near enough to spook Strawberry Delight.

  Ginny took Emma up the old side ladder to the loft. They paused, looming over Sasha until she rolled and gasped in surprise.

  Then she blinked guiltily and offered Emma a dirty look. “Tattletale.”

  Oh, no. Nipping that one in the bud. Ginny lifted a finger and spoke quietly. “Tell me what you did wrong.”

  Her oldest niece curled up to a sitting position. “I came into the horse barn without permission.”

  “That was your second mistake,” Ginny informed her. “The first and more serious crime was expecting your sister to lie for you.”

  Sasha’s eyes widened. Emma pressed her lips together.

  Ginny glanced between them, still speaking softly enough that no one else would know they were there. “You two are best friends as well as sisters, which means you need to look out for each other. That’s what Emma did. If you can’t trust each other to do the right thing and always take care of each other, even when it’s hard, you’ll miss out on something magical and special.”

  Sasha’s lower lip trembled. She scurried back from where she sat and rushed to hug Emma tight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” Emma sniffled.

  Ginny did her best to not grin, because the whole conversation was a flashback to moments between her and Dare, and damn if she didn’t want that same wonderful friends forever for these two kiddos.

  Sasha gave Ginny a hug as well and apologized. Then Emma had to give her a hug, and Ginny had to kiss them both and wipe away their tears.

  After all that was done, they once again shuffled to the edge of the loft and looked down at the two perfect little foals snuggled in with their mama.

  “Can we go pet them?” Sasha asked.

  Ginny shook her head. “Let’s leave that for your dad to get to do when he thinks it’s right.”

  Sasha looked disappointed, but she nodded obediently.

  “We could, however, go find some kittens,” Ginny offered.

  Emma’s smile flashed from ear to ear, and suddenly Ginny was being tugged over the bales and into corners in search of the slightly larger-than-last-time kittens.

  They were in the middle of furry cuddle time when Emma caught the paper as it fell from her pocket.

  ”You dropped something, Auntie Ginny.”

  Ginny took it from her and opened it up. “Maybe you can help me solve the riddle,” she said in a mysterious tone of voice.

  Sasha leaned in,
nose wrinkling as she stared at the paper. “Is this a puzzle game?”

  “I have no idea what it means,” Ginny admitted. “But can you guess what any of these are?”

  “That’s a goat.” Emma stabbed a finger at one picture and nodded decisively. “I drew a picture of Meany that looked just like that.”

  Ginny grinned. “Well, Meany is very handsome then.”

  And it appeared artistic talent did not run in the Stone family.

  There were a few other guesses, but nothing absolutely shocking. Sasha thought one of the things looked like a fancy candelabra. One they guessed was a ball with legs.

  It was Emma, other than the goat suggestion, who made the most amazing discovery. She pointed a finger at one picture. “There’s numbers in there,” she said.

  Ginny peered closer. “Where?”

  Emma put a finger against the paper and traced the numbers as she recited. “Five. Twelve. Thirty. See, there’s little lines between them, so I think that means it’s not just one big number.”

  Ginny pressed a kiss to Emma’s temple. “Smart little girl. That is a wonderful discovery.”

  Absolute approval rushed from Sasha. “Emma is very smart. She’s the best at math, and someday she’s going to work for Silver Stone and do all of the accounting.”

  A fact which would make Caleb ecstatic, Ginny decided. “If that’s what you want to do, that’s wonderful.”

  Not to be outdone, Emma had to share as well. “Sasha wants to train the horses.”

  Her sister made a face. “But I’m still too little,” Sasha complained.

  “Too little to train the rodeo horses, definitely,” Ginny said firmly. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t practice training right now.”

  Sasha and Emma looked at each other with wide mouths and surprised eyes before turning back to Ginny.

  “How?” demanded Sasha.

  Ginny shrugged. “I thought you were training the goats.”

  Sasha made a rude noise. “Goats aren’t horses.”

  “I should think not, but if Emma wants to do the accounting for the ranch down the road, do you think she knows everything she’ll need for later? Even though she knows her numbers really well, and things like adding and subtracting and multiplying.”

  Emma wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have all of them memorized yet,” she confessed.

  Sasha nodded slowly. “If I get really good at training Eeny, Meany, and Miney, that’ll help me train horses?”

  “Plus, we have lots of ranch dogs,” Ginny pointed out. “It’s always a good idea to train them to be better behaved.” She tapped her niece on the nose. “It will all add up, a little bit at a time.”

  Emma turned to Sasha. “Like Mr. Tucker. He knows lots of things, but Papa says he’s going to ’prentice with Mr. Ashton until he gets really good as a foreman.”

  “I want to apprentice with someone,” Sasha said seriously.

  “You should tell Papa,” Emma said. She caught Sasha’s hand in hers. “I’ll come with you. And if you have to practice lots, I’ll come and help you practice. Because you’re my big sister, and I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Sasha said.

  Then the whole thing dissolved into another round of little girl hugs. Then Ginny was being tugged into the fray, and the paper with the doodles was put back in her pocket because being in the middle of so much current happiness and joy was more important than solving a mystery from the past.

  After setting things up so he could take Ginny dancing, or at least innocently ask her to dance while they were all there in a crowd, Ashton messed with Tucker’s plans. They headed out on Thursday night to the Pincher Creek area where the Stones’ Uncle Frank had land.

  Tucker still didn’t like the other man very much. He was pretty sure Frank didn’t like him either, simply because Tucker had witnessed the first time Caleb took charge and refused to cave to his uncle’s requests.

  Thankfully, it was a short visit, and Tucker only had to work on being cordial for a few nights.

  When they got back, another weekend had passed, and the end of January approached. It had been more than a week since he and Ginny had touched base for their last Operation Prove It meeting, and Tucker had every intention of another happening sooner than later.

  The next thing he knew, it was the afternoon and he was seriously wondering if he’d see her before the spring.

  “There you are.” Luke poked his head into the office where Tucker was pouring over employment records. A room which, thank God, had a window facing toward Big Sky Lake. Luke patted one of the piles of the papers on the desk in the ranch office. “Looks ominous.”

  “Ashton gave me the dubious privilege of taking over the portion of payroll he’s been responsible for up until now. I might like spreadsheets, but I already know this will be one of my least favourite tasks,” Tucker shared. “Thank God, I’m nearly done.”

  Luke slapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Good. Because we’re going fishing.”

  Tucker eyed the to-do list open beside him. “Maybe.”

  “Come on,” Luke said. “I know you’re busy, but someone really smart recently made a comment about making sure we took the time to do the things that are important. Which means if Ashton’s been doing the job of two men, you need to think about hiring somebody else as an assistant.”

  “Damn if I want to look as if I can’t keep up this close to the beginning,” Tucker complained.

  “Bro, you put in full days. You’re allowed to take some time off.” Luke dropped the joking and spoke far more seriously, which cut through Tucker’s wavering.

  “You’re right.”

  Luke winked. “Finish up. I’ll pack what we need.”

  “I’m game, but I don’t want to go anywhere too far into the bush or be gone overnight,” Tucker insisted. He was determined to see Ginny today, even if he had to burn the midnight oil to make it happen.

  “Fishing right in our backyard.” Luke gestured out the window where the sunlight reflected on the frozen surface of the lake. “We’ll drill a few holes and drop in a line.”

  Perfect. “You’re on. I need half an hour to finish here, then I’ll bring the whiskey.”

  Luke slapped him on the shoulder. “Good man.”

  Ice fishing less than ten minutes from home seemed a decadent experience but one that Tucker could fully get on board with. The ice was thick enough Luke hauled out a fishing tent and a heater, and two comfortable camping chairs were lined up at the edge of the hole.

  Luke held his coffee mug forward and waited until Tucker poured a healthy measure of whiskey into it. “There we go. By the way, Ginny calls ice fishing Canadian Pong. You know, that drinking game when you try to get ping-pong balls into red solo cups?”

  Tucker snickered. “How on earth does she connect the two?”

  Luke thrust his coffee cup in the air. “The less luck you have bouncing balls, the more you drink. The less luck you have catching fish, the more you drink. Canadian Pong.”

  A laugh escaped. “She’s a hoot.”

  “She is. I’m glad she’s back,” Luke said seriously. “Something didn’t feel right when she was gone. Even though she’s never done a lot with the livestock, she’s always somehow been in the middle of every major event.”

  Because she’s always taking care of everyone. The thought came instantly.

  It was time to change the topic off Ginny before Tucker said something he shouldn’t. “You plan to finish the basement of your house anytime soon?”

  Luke eased back in his chair, gaze fixed on the bobber floating in the hole in front of them. “Definitely. I hired Dustin and Shim to pound some nails over the next while. Figured if they got the framing done, I can hire someone to do the drywall and mudding—hate those parts of the task.”

  “What’s the story with Shim?” Tucker asked. It was a question that had constantly slipped his mind as he dealt with everything else.

  “Dustin had him as a pen
pal during high school, if you can believe it. His parents are both college professors. Sounds as if they’re rather horrified that their son is spending time daily dealing with manure.”

  Tucker raised his cup in the air. Professors and researchers had a lot in common, it seemed. “To parents who have no clue.”

  Luke blinked. “That’s right. And it’s not that I forgot, but it’s just that you never talk about them. Are your parents still as out of touch as they were when you were growing up?”

  “More,” Tucker admitted. “Only now it’s fine. I think they’ve decided the experiment of having a child has been completed. They raised a fairly productive member of society, so now it’s on to the next thing.”

  His friend frowned. “That sucks.”

  “No, really, it’s fine. If they’d been more attentive while I was growing up, I wouldn’t have gotten to spend as much time with you. Getting to hang out with Uncle Ashton, and your parents, made a huge difference in my life, and I appreciate it so much. Heck, for years your parents phoned me while I was at home to check in with me. I probably talked to Walter as much as I talked to my father some months.”

  “I remember you telling me that,” Luke said. He offered a wry smile. “I remember Dad sometimes knowing what you were up to before I talked to you. Just made him more God-like and know it all.”

  Tucker smiled at that. “He was a good, good man. I think about him and Deb often, and the things they taught me. Makes me even more appreciative that my parents don’t try and interfere in my life now.”

  “Your folks still kind of suck,” Luke insisted.

  Tucker chuckled. “Fine. They kind of suck.”

  Luke narrowed his eyes. “Are you managing me?”

  “Heaven forbid.”

  “Because I don’t need to be managed,” Luke said, amusement rising. “You’re such a jackass.”

  “Okay. If that’s what you think.” Tucker hid his smile behind his cup.

  “Damn, I’ve missed this.” Luke eyed Tucker. “Not the part where you’re being a jackass.”