Rocky Mountain Hero

by Audra Harders

  She blinked as the gentle man stepped out from behind the pulpit and the music started. Take the yoke? Hadn’t she been doing that? Caring for Jason. Alone.

  The service concluded, and folks started gathering their belongings.

  “Follow me. I know where they keep the good cookies.” Gabe winked at her as he guided Jason through the crowd. They threaded down a hallway packed with people. Gabe smiled and greeted everyone. They rounded a corner where a table sat with plates of cookies and cups of juice.

  “Wow, those look good.” Jason stepped closer to Gabe. “Can I have one?”

  “Better grab two—the crowd will be here in no time.” He leaned close to her, a hint of peppermint teasing her as he grinned. “Nick, Zac and I learned to grab cookies first, then go back and talk.”

  “Gabe, I thought I saw you had guests.” A willowy strawberry blonde held out her hand. “I’m Jennifer O’Reilly.”

  Arched brows and sable lashes framed the most gorgeous green eyes that twinkled when she laughed. Melanie smiled back. “Melanie Hunter, and this is my son, Jason.”

  Jason waved from the cookie tray, his lips edged with chocolate chip crumbs. Jennifer waved back. “Nice to meet you. Are you here for a visit?”

  “Melanie and Jason are staying at the Circle D long enough to pull together the Fourth of July barbecue.” Gabe stepped back to the table and snagged a couple of cookies, offering one to Jennifer and one to Melanie.

  Her jaw dropped open. “How in the world did he palm that off on you? He’s been trying to get someone to take over for him since his dad insisted it was part and parcel of the auction. Oh, Melanie. We’ve got to talk.”

  Her animated words drew Melanie, yet brutal memories cautioned her. She longed to just accept people at face value. Longed to have others accept her for the same.

  A tinge of red spread across Gabe’s cheek. He turned toward the boys who had collected around the cookie table with Jason. “Hey Toby, Ben. This is my friend Jason. How about if you guys show him around?”

  “Melanie, glad you made it to the service.” Shayna squeezed through the throng of people. “That sticky paper worked wonders on the plants. Only a couple of pesky gnats left in the whole place.”

  “Glad I could help.”

  “How are you feeling, Squirt?” Jennifer came up and hugged Shayna. “Only a month or so left, right?”

  “Longest six weeks of my life.” Shayna hugged, then pushed away, her hands working to fan herself. She offered a halfhearted smile. “Only June and I’m so hot. Glad Dad has the fans going. Won’t turn on the air-conditioning. Thinks it’ll hurt Buster if I get chilled.”

  Melanie liked the ladies despite the warning voice in her head. Jennifer and Shayna didn’t treat her like a stranger. They chatted with her like she’d been part of their circle forever. “How about at home? Does your husband feel the same way?”

  Shayna snickered as Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Husband? If that worthless bum dares show his face in town ever again, he’ll have to deal with us all.”

  Melanie froze in confusion. “But…”

  Jennifer touched her shoulder with in-the-know fingertips. “High school sweetheart ran for the hills as soon as Squirt here started feeling sick.”

  “When I told him I was pregnant,” Shayna cut in, “he dumped me faster than a load of manure. Had the whole town pestering him to do the honorable thing until he couldn’t take it anymore and moved to California to live with his dad. A couple of months later, his mom left to live with her mother. The whole family ran out on me.”

  “Their loss.” Jennifer shook her head, a frown forming across her brow. “Not a problem, though. Hawk Ridge is waiting to spoil little Adam rotten.”

  Her stomach soured as Melanie digested the circumstances. Shayna. Pregnant. Alone. Melanie looked around at the smiling faces surrounding her and sensed the protective shell the congregation had wrapped around their little wronged lamb.

  Melanie’s life had run the same course, yet her friends and family had dropped her like a hot potato. She’d been shunned by her peers and continued to shoulder the pain and guilt of her parents’ shame.

  Here in Hawk Ridge, the community stood by anxiously for the arrival of their bundle of joy. Back in Melanie’s day, everyone she’d turned to had only wished her situation gone.

  As simple as black and white.

  “So, are you ready to brave the ladies’ planning committee tomorrow?” Jennifer nudged her. “Are you all right?”

  Melanie needed space and quiet to deal with all the old feelings that were rising to the surface. She thought she had everything under control. She thought they were getting along fine.

  Just her and Jason.

  “Tomorrow? Sure, tomorrow’s fine. The sooner I get started the better off I’ll be.” Melanie looked around the crowd. “I haven’t seen Jason in a bit. I better go find him. Excuse me?”

  “See you then.” Shayna waved.

  Names and faces mulled together as she wove toward the door. Outside, Gabe’s strong voice and ready smile spread across the crowd like spun sugar. She relaxed. She had just needed air.

  “I see you’ve met the ladies.” Grace Davidson hooked her elbow and indicated the edge of the parking lot. “If I don’t get you away from them, you won’t have an ear left for the rest of your visit.”

  “A welcoming bunch. Hard to find a group in Colorado Springs as friendly as this.”

  “Uh-huh. In a few days, we’ll discuss what you really think of them.” Grace grinned in conspiracy. “Martin said his shoulder hurt, so we’re just biding our time over here under the tree. Come join us.”

  They walked across the parking lot toward the shade. Martin sat on a rough-hewn bench, a thin layer of perspiration on his forehead despite the slight breeze in the air.

  “Are you comfortable?” Melanie gave him a quick once over. “I could call Jason—”

  “Don’t pay my aches and pains no mind.” Martin rolled his shoulder and nodded to indicate the crowd. “Yep, the ladies are all ready to help you, I see. To watch Gabe milling about now, you’d never suspect he’d avoided the good ladies of Hawk Ridge for the last few weeks. Hates crowds, he does. Now that he’s passed the baton for the picnic, he can relax and jaw around.”

  She shrugged. “He seems very good at running the ranch. Sounds like he knows what he wants.”

  “Gabe still has lots to learn before he calls himself boss. He’ll get there in time.” Martin ran his fingers over his mouth and down his jaw. “Once he settles down and can focus on ranching, I ’spect the Circle D will do just fine.”

  “Good for him. Good for you.” She noticed Jennifer join the crowd. Jennifer laughed at some comment, clutching Gabe’s sleeve with one hand, covering her mouth with the other.

  For a moment, Melanie flashed back to a time when she’d laughed at Paul’s comments and snuggled closer when he wrapped his arm around her. The memory poured icy thoughts down her back. She hadn’t thought about Paul so much in years. Why now? She didn’t want to think so hard today. “Do you see Jason around?”

  “He ran around behind the church with the Wheeler boys. They’re probably showing him the ropes.”

  “Hmm, I better learn some roping while I’m here, too.”

  Excusing herself, she took off and rounded the corner of the church. Squeals rang high as she saw Jason in a swing being pushed by one of the boys. The ropes of the swing suspended from a steel pipe secured between two pine trees right at the edge of a cliff. With each push, Jason swung higher and higher out over the drop-off that fell forever.

  Her stomach sank as she quickened her step. She hadn’t been paying attention. In a strange place, who knew what could happen? If Jason got hurt, she’d never forgive herself.

  He was all she had.

  Gabe excused himself as he watched Melanie head to the back of the church. Though the building sat on a solid rock foundation, it perched on the edge of a ridge. He didn’t want her to misstep and injure
herself.

  Just as he turned the corner, he heard her gasp. Between the pair of ramrod-straight pines, Jason swung way out wide. Gabe took one look at the terror written on Melanie’s face and rushed past her, flagging down the boys. “There’s a lot of power in that swing, boys. How about if we go easy on the newcomer?”

  Ben grinned as he bumped the seat of the swing, sending it straight into Toby. Toby caught the rope and Jason got dumped from the plank seat to the ground. “We asked Jason if he’d ever swung over the world before. He said no. So we wanted to show him what it was like to fly.”

  Jason stood up and wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans. “Way cool. Mom, wanna try?”

  Gabe gathered the boys and urged them back to the church. “I think your mom might try it another time. Bud, could you please find my folks? It’s probably time to go.”

  “Jason,” she rasped. “You could have—”

  “—touched the branch overhead with your toes.” He blocked Melanie from the boys as he approached her. “Come here, let me show you.”

  The boys took off running.

  “Wait, Jason.”

  “They weren’t in any danger. Do you think the church would keep the swing up if we thought anyone would get hurt?”

  Melanie jerked away, not bothering to look. “Don’t tell me not to worry about my son. I’m the only one who does. I thought he was going to fall off and tumble down to who-knows-where.”

  “You can trust—”

  “Trust?” She shot him an incredulous look. “I haven’t known you long enough to develop that kind of confidence. All I saw was my son swinging on a rope and board way over the edge of a cliff.” Tears brightened her eyes.

  “Melanie, I wouldn’t have let anything happen to him.”

  “I’ll determine what’s safe and what’s not.” She forced the words through tightened lips. Wiping her cheek on her shoulder sleeve, she hardened her glare. “Just leave us alone.”

  She turned and stalked back toward the church, her steps jarred as she stomped on stones.

  Lord forgive me, I wasn’t thinking. He’d treated Jason as he would’ve any of the town kids and overstepped his bounds. Now he desperately prayed for a way to fix it.

  Chapter Seven

  Lower than a snake’s belly in a rut, her grandpa used to say.

  Melanie paced back and forth across the back patio of the cabin. How could she explode like that? Sure, Gabe had no right to determine what was safe for Jason, but he was after all the man holding the purse strings. Where would she be right now if he nixed the deal and just sent them off the ranch? How was she going to pay for the truck repairs?

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  “Mom, what are you doing?” Jason popped his head through the door. “Let’s go for a hike. There are lots of places to explore around here.”

  “Be with you in a second, honey.”

  Jason disappeared. She hung her head and studied the pine needles scattered beneath her bare feet on the back porch. She would have grounded Jason for a week if he’d behaved as poorly as she had. A door slammed at the other end of the cabin as she reached for the door handle. An afternoon hiking with Jason sounded like an excellent idea.

  “Jason?” The air remained cool inside despite the warm, summer temperatures. Flies buzzed against the screen door, and a breeze carried the scent of fresh outdoors throughout the rooms. Under normal circumstances, Melanie would have loved the rustic, homey feel of the cabin. Instead, she couldn’t wait to put on her hiking boots and get as far away from her thoughts of Gabe Davidson as she could.

  Tying the laces of her boots, Melanie heard Jason squeal outside the door. A familiar male voice filtered through the door. A knot formed in her stomach. She had a feeling the walk they’d planned just ran into a hitch.

  Jason bolted into the cabin as the screen door slammed behind him. “Mom! We’re going horseback riding!”

  She continued to work her laces. “I thought we were going for a hike.”

  “Gabe’s taking us!” Jason sprinted back out the screen door with a whoop, earning another slam in the process.

  “Gabe is not taking us anywhere,” she muttered to herself, as she finished tying her other bootlace, grabbed a jacket and followed out the door.

  Not a soul in sight, Melanie trekked down to the ranch house. Gabe and Hank stood by the corral fence. She marched down to the group, her lips pressed together. Gabe took off his hat.

  “I don’t believe my work week has started yet.” Melanie tried not to sound harpish. “Jason and I had plans.”

  “I think the young man here got his signals mixed up,” Gabe explained. “We came up to invite you for a ride. I told him it had to be okay with Mom, or maybe we could do it another time.”

  Three hopeful faces stared at her. She wanted to sink into the dirt for all the rash assumptions she’d been making lately. “A trail ride?” Grace…tact…humor… “Sounds like fun.”

  The fact that sincerity didn’t match her words fell on deaf ears. Jason whooped like a convict released on parole. He ran up to Gabe, grabbed his hand and started tugging him toward the gate. “Can I ride a black horse? They’re the coolest…”

  Saddled horses stood patiently in the warm summer sun, their tails swatting flies in rhythm to each other. Grace and Martin stood inside the pen adjusting tack on a pair of horses.

  “What took you so long?” Martin tightened the cinch on a handsome bay. “Sun’s going to set before we even get going.”

  “Which one is mine?” Jason hiked up a rail on the fence. A black-and-white paint stuck out his nose to nudge him on the shoulder. He laughed and held his palm out for the horse to smell. “Hey, want to go for a ride?”

  “That’s Nipper. He’s a good horse for you to get your riding legs.” Gabe ducked into the corral, grabbed the reins and led the horse out. “Bud, why don’t you hold the reins and talk to Nipper for a second, just let him get used to you and your voice.”

  Gabe explained the basics of riding to Jason before disappearing into the barn. Hank mounted up, as did Grace and Martin. Gabe led a golden mare across the corral and placed her reins in Melanie’s hand. “Belle knows the trail. She’ll be a good ride for you.”

  Thank you stuck in her throat, so all Melanie could do was nod. Belle was beautiful, all golden with white mane and tail. She stood still as Melanie set her foot in the stirrup and swung up. Gathering the reins, she sat still and watched Gabe help Jason on Nipper. Gabe whispered something that got Jason grinning, and then showed him how to hold the reins. A second later, Jason walked his horse over to her.

  “Look, Mom, I’m riding a horse. All by myself! Wait until I get home and tell Robby!”

  “Good job, Jay.” Melanie grinned. Jason’s friends were going to hear this story over and over again.

  Gabe rode up on her other side. His gray gelding stood taller than hers. “All right, Bud, fall in line.”

  Grace and Martin led them along a wooded trail. Jason rode beside Hank. At the end of the line came Melanie and Gabe. She tried to retain her anger, but out in the gorgeous afternoon, lulled by the steady rock of the horse and faint buzz of nuisance insects, she could only sigh.

  “I thought I was a goner,” Gabe muttered under his breath.

  His quiet admission sent a tingle through her. The butterflies in her stomach outnumbered the ones flitting about the wildflowers a hundred to one. She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

  “I thought you were, too.” She kept her gaze straight ahead. “Lucky for you I’m a goner when it comes to trail rides.” She snuck a peek at him and grinned. “Don’t do it again.”

  He tipped his hat at her. “Scout’s honor.”

  They followed a steady incline for over an hour. Pine trees as dense as thicket lined the trail. Wildflowers fringed the low-growth bushes, making them look like bouquets waiting for a wedding. When the other horses pulled to a stop, Melanie rode up beside Grace and stared into the most beautiful contrasts of nature she
could’ve ever imagined.

  Never-ending sky as blue as cobalt paint set as background to snow-tipped mountain peaks. The valley meadow below, carpeted in thick, green grasses with white and yellow flowers, added a lacy shimmer over velvety patches. Far below, a stream rumbled, the sound of rushing water bouncing up the rock walls on the other side.

  Solid, majestic pines dotted the field, growing denser as they wound up hillsides until a forest of trees rimmed the land much like a frame captures and exhibits a fine painting. Tiny chipmunklike pika scurried across a cropping of moss rocks, playing in the summer sun.

  Melanie rested her forearm on the saddle horn. “I’ve seen lots of mountain meadows, but nothing as perfect as this.”

  “Water company wanted to pipe along the tree line a couple of years ago.” Martin removed his hat and wiped his forehead. “Wanted to put a housing development in a few miles up the road. Said they couldn’t build without water.”

  He put his hat back on his head and looked out across the valley. “Didn’t get his water. The development didn’t get built. Guess the fella knew what he was talking about.”

  “How do you get water, Mr. Martin?” Jason sat tall on his horse right beside the older man.

  “My grandfather dug a deep well.” He winked at the boy. “It ain’t never gone dry.”

  “Enough for the horses and all the cows, too?”

  “The Lord provides for everyone.” He leaned back in his saddle and gave Jason a long look. “Nothing better than a summer Sunday afternoon spent fishing. What do you think, young man?”

  Within an hour, after weaving their way down from the craggy overhang, around groves of aspen trees and outcroppings of moss rock, Jason held a fishing pole in his hands and bobbed the tip of the line. Serious concentration pulled his blond brows together as Martin tugged on the line and pointed out spots in the river. Gabe smiled. If he’d worried about wrecking Jason’s summer with a few weeks of work here on the ranch, he should have remembered his folks and their penchant for entertaining.