Home to Wyoming

by Rebecca Winters

  “You’re right.”

  With his full head of thick light brown hair and his well-defined physique, Buck Summerhayes was undeniably an attractive man—and he had a way about him that had charmed her granddaughter. She suspected he charmed most females. Alex hadn’t seen a wedding band. Since he hadn’t mentioned a wife or children, Alex presumed he was still a bachelor.

  “I have something to tell you that will make you happier, but you have to turn over so we can look at each other.”

  Jenny flipped over on her back. “What is it?”

  “When we go home, I’m going to tell Frank I’m not ready to marry him yet.”

  She sat up straight. “You’re not?”

  “No. You and I need more time.” Tonight’s outburst in front of a stranger had given her ample proof that it was too soon for any more changes in Jenny’s life.

  The girl’s slim arms caught Alex around the neck in a powerful hug. “I love you, Nana!”

  “I love you too, sweetheart. How does your tummy feel now? Would you like a soda?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Good. I’ll see what I can find.”

  Alex went in the other room and opened the minifridge. There were a variety of drinks. She drew out a ginger ale and a cola. Before she went back to the bedroom, she checked on the fire. It was burning down. With the screen in place, she didn’t need to worry about sparks catching something on fire.

  “Here you go.” Alex sat on the other twin bed and pulled out the brochure that had been included with the letter she’d received from the dude ranch. Together they made plans for the next day while they drank their sodas.

  She knew Frank was waiting for her to call him, but for the first time, she didn’t feel like talking to him. He hadn’t wanted her to come to the ranch, and Jenny was thrilled to be there. Alex felt as if she was in a tug-of-war. It took too much emotional energy. Instead of calling, she reached for her cell phone and texted him that they’d arrived safely but were exhausted. She’d phone him tomorrow. Alex meant it about being worn out.

  With that decision made, she and Jenny opened their suitcases to get out the things they’d need for bed, including the framed photograph of Jenny’s parents that Alex placed on the telephone table for her.

  “We’ll put everything else away in the morning,” she said. After brushing their teeth, they said their prayers, and then she turned out the lights and they climbed under their comfy quilts. Alex liked their yellow-and-white-checkered design. The whole log cabin had a cheery ambience. There was no doubt that she and Jenny needed a little cheer in their lives.

  In her heart of hearts, she was relieved about the decision she’d made where Frank was concerned. Alex had refused to wear his engagement ring yet because deep down she’d known Jenny wasn’t ready. She’d seen the signs, but tonight’s incident had crystallized things for her.

  Marriage was a big step for anyone, but an even bigger one for a woman who’d be forty-one in a few months and had never been married. Frank was fifty-five but looked fifty because he played a lot of tennis and kept fit. They’d met when she’d started working at the bank where he was the vice president. After he lost his wife to cancer, they became friends. That friendship deepened following Christy’s death and they fell in love.

  She liked his two married children and grandchildren. He had a maturity and stability that were especially appealing to her. Jenny liked him fairly well, but the mention of marriage was something else. Obviously it was too soon after her daddy’s death for her to imagine a man living with them under the same roof.

  Alex knew it would come as a blow when she got home and told Frank she couldn’t marry him yet. For her, intimacy was out of the question until their wedding, because she refused to anticipate their vows as she’d done with Kyle when she was seventeen.

  Although she hated the thought of disappointing Frank further, Jenny had to come first. Alex had raised one daughter, and now she was raising another. The responsibility was enormous. Frank would help her, but not until Jenny was ready. And as much as Alex was looking forward to marriage, they had to get past this problem first. She guessed she was going to find out how patient Frank could be.

  With a troubled sigh, she turned on her other side. When Jenny had been in the first grade, Alex had arranged various playdates for her. One girl named Mandy was turning into a friend Jenny really liked. They got along great, but she needed more friends. She hoped that she would make some friends at the ranch for the time that they were there. Maybe there would be some other families with a girl. And Buck had mentioned a boy....

  She and Jenny had been through so much in the past year, but if there was any consolation, it was that her daughter and Daniel were together in heaven. Alex loved her granddaughter and was determined they were going to have a wonderful life and enjoy this special week, which had come as an unexpected gift.

  To her surprise, her thoughts drifted to the handsome ex-marine who’d flown on the plane with them to Jackson. Who would have guessed he was one of the owners of the dude ranch.

  Buck’s words rang in her ears: There’s something about this ranch that gives you a new perspective. She had the feeling he’d been speaking from personal experience and prayed it would be equally true for her and Jenny.

  * * *

  “NANA? Somebody’s knocking at the door. Do you think it’s Buck?” Jenny asked with an eagerness that surprised Alex.

  “I have no idea.” Alex had awakened thinking about him and how good he’d been with Jenny last night. She knew married men who didn’t handle their own children’s fears as well as the way he’d handled Jenny’s. She shot up in bed and brushed the hair out of her eyes to check her watch. It was five after eight.

  There was another knock. “Can I get it?”

  “Go ahead.” Alex had slept in her sweats and felt decent enough as she followed Jenny into the other room. Her granddaughter had inherited the best features from both Christy and Daniel. She looked so cute in her Sleeping Beauty pajamas. Alex thought she was the most adorable girl on the planet.

  When Jenny opened the door, they were met by a brown-eyed, brown-haired boy in a black Stetson and cowboy boots. He wore a holster around his hips and was holding a cap gun in one hand. Alex decided she was looking at the most adorable boy on the planet.

  “Hi! I’m Johnny Lundgren. Are you Jenny?” Her granddaughter’s green eyes widened in astonishment before she nodded. “Do you want to have breakfast with me?”

  She turned to Alex. “Would that be okay with you, Nana?”

  “Of course.” She moved to the door. “Hi, Johnny. I’m Alex.”

  “I know. You’re her grandmother.”

  Alex couldn’t help smiling. He had amazing confidence for his age. “That’s right. Last night Buck told us you’re Mr. Lundgren’s son.”

  “Yep.”

  “We’re very pleased to meet you.” She shook his hand. “We understand you have a pony named Goldie.”

  “Yep. I’ll show you to her after breakfast. Do you want to see me ride her?”

  “Yes. I want to ride, too.”

  “Okay. We’ll go after we eat. I like Fruit Loops. What about you?”

  Jenny thought for a minute. “Do they have Boo Berry?”

  “I think so, but it makes your mouth blue.”

  “I know.” Both children laughed at the same time. A small miracle had occurred with her granddaughter. Buck Summerhayes wasn’t the only male around the ranch who had charm. “Come on in, Johnny. We’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Where did you get your cap gun?”

  “In Jackson. Maybe your nana will buy one for you.”

  Jenny turned to her. “Would you?”

  “We’ll see. First we need to get dressed.”

&nbs
p; “Okay.”

  Alex hustled Jenny into the bedroom. They took turns quickly showering, and then both dived into their suitcases for jeans and tops. She guessed that Buck was behind this and knew what he was doing. Here Alex had been hoping there’d be a girl for Jenny to play with, but Johnny Lundgren was so cute and interesting that he had her granddaughter mesmerized. Better strike while the iron was hot.

  In fewer than twenty minutes, they’d freshened up and brushed their hair. “I think we’re ready.” They joined Johnny and the three of them stepped out of the cabin. The Teton mountain range rose majestically in the distance. The sight of it in the sunshine took Alex’s breath away. You would never have known there’d been a storm last night.

  “There’s the big mountain!” Jenny cried, pointing to it. You couldn’t miss it.

  “Yep. That’s the Grand Teton.”

  “What does Teton mean?” The question didn’t surprise her. Her granddaughter was the most observant, curious person Alex had ever known.

  Johnny looked puzzled. “I’ll have to ask Dad.”

  “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful, sweetheart?”

  “I didn’t know it was so tall!”

  Alex looked all around. There were a few other cabins besides their own, and they were all surrounded by sagebrush. A distance away, she could see the main ranch house—a big rustic two-story affair with a copse of trees to the side. It was the type of home the man on the horse in the Great American Cowboy ad might live in. Alex was being fanciful, but this ranch was the kind of place dreams were made of.

  The children moved ahead of her as they walked along the road.

  Johnny turned to Jenny. “Do you want to camp out on the mountain?”

  “Have you done it?”

  “A couple of times.”

  “Is it scary?”

  “Only once, when we got caught in a storm.”

  “I don’t like storms.”

  “It was okay. Dad was with me. We stayed in our tent and drank hot chocolate until it was over.”

  Alex caught up to them. “That sounds fun.”

  Jenny’s expression sobered. “I don’t have a dad anymore.”

  “I know.”

  Her blond head lifted. “You do?”

  “Yep. I know all about you. Your daddy was a marine like mine, and they both got killed in the war.”

  “But I thought you said you went hiking with your dad.”

  “I meant my new dad.”

  After a pause, Jenny said, “Your mom got married again?”

  “Yep. To Carson.”

  “Do you like him?”

  “He’s my favorite person in the whole world besides my dad.”

  Alex knew what her granddaughter was thinking. Frank wasn’t her favorite person in the world, but she didn’t say it out loud, for which Alex was grateful.

  Suddenly a lovely blonde woman in a blouse and jeans came walking around the side of the building where Alex could see half a dozen vehicles of different kinds were parked. “There you are, Johnny. I was just coming to look for you.”

  “I’m afraid it’s our fault.” Alex smiled at her. “Jenny and I needed to get showered and dressed while he waited for us. You must be Johnny’s mother.”

  “Yes. I’m Tracy Lundgren and you have to be Alex Wilson. Welcome to the ranch.” They shook hands.

  “Thank you. Your son makes a wonderful guide. We’re thrilled to be here.”

  “No more than we are to have you.” She walked over to Jenny. “Buck told us you just had your seventh birthday. Johnny’s turning seven next week. It’s an amazing coincidence. You’ll have to come to his party. We’re going to go into Jackson to the Funorama. They have all kinds of slides and games, and you can eat all the pizza you want.”

  Johnny eyed Jenny. “Do you like pizza?”

  She nodded. “It’s my favorite food.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “I like pepperoni.”

  “Me, too.”

  Alex and Tracy exchanged amused glances. Johnny’s mother was probably in her late twenties and seemed so friendly. Christy would have liked her. Alex’s heart ached for what her daughter was missing, but today wasn’t the time to be sad. Johnny’s arrival at their front door had brought its own brand of sunshine, something they badly needed.

  “Which tree does Moppy live in?”

  Johnny looked surprised. “How do you know about her?”

  “Buck told me last night.”

  He ran over to a big fir. “See that hole?”

  Jenny moved closer. “Do you think she’s inside?”

  “I don’t know. When she hears voices, she hides. We’ll come back after breakfast and sneak up on her.”

  “Okay.”

  They rounded the corner to enter the main doors of the lobby. Suddenly Jenny cried, “Look, Nana—”

  Alex turned in time to see what had to be the biggest moose head ever. It was mounted above the door frame. “My heavens—he’s enormous.”

  Johnny tilted his hat back. “Dad calls him Mathoozela.”

  “Mathoozela?” At this point Jenny’s eyes had rounded. “I never heard that name before.”

  “It’s because he was so old when he died.”

  By now Tracy’s shoulders were shaking along with Alex’s. She put an arm around her granddaughter’s shoulders. “The Bible says Methusela was the oldest man who ever lived.”

  “Yep. Dad says he lived to be 969 years. He thinks maybe that’s how old this moose got to be.”

  “Maybe he’s even older,” sounded a male voice behind them.

  “Dad!”

  Alex watched as the attractive dark blond Stetson-wearing cowboy gave his stepson a bear hug before picking him up. “So, introduce me.”

  “This is Jenny Forrester and that’s her nana, Alex. My dad’s name is Carson.”

  Carson Lundgren smiled, his eyes a bright blue. “Welcome to the ranch.” He coughed. “We’ve been waiting for you, especially when we found out your granddaughter was the same age as Johnny. The more kids around here, the better.”

  Alex agreed. “We’re very excited to be here.” What wasn’t there about these people to like?

  “Our other partner Ross would be here, but he’s on an overnight pack trip with some of our guests. You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

  After the greetings were over, Carson put Johnny back down and curled an arm around his wife’s waist. They appeared to be crazy about each other. Alex remembered being in love like that with Christy’s father once, but once she told him she was pregnant, she never saw him again.

  Jenny looked up at him. “Is Buck here?”

  “Did I hear someone say my name?”

  At the sound of the deep, familiar male voice, Alex spun around to see the former marine walk toward them from a doorway beyond the front-desk area. Last night he’d been wearing a jacket and chinos. This morning he was dressed in cowboy boots, a Western shirt and jeans that molded his powerful thighs. His rugged good looks caused her pulse to race for no good reason.

  “I did.” Jenny smiled up at him. “But we didn’t see Moppy this morning.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll catch her after dinner when she doesn’t think anyone is watching. Have you had breakfast yet?” Jenny shook her head. “Are you hungry?” She nodded. “Good. Then let’s go in the dining room. We could eat the three big trout I caught early this morning.”

  “You did?” Jenny looked amazed.

  “Do you know what a trout is?” Johnny asked her.

  “Yes, it’s fish.”

  Alex was glad her granddaughter could hold her own on something. Mirth filled Buck’s green eyes as he lifted them to Alex, bringing on an unexpected rush of adrenaline. What on ear
th was wrong with her? “How about you?”

  “One medium trout sounds delicious.”

  His low chuckle traveled to her insides. “I caught a couple of those, too.” He turned to Carson. “Are you going to join us?”

  “I’m afraid I’ve got a meeting with the stockmen, but I’ll try to catch up with you at the barn later in the day.” Alex remembered reading that the dude ranch was also a cattle ranch. These men led busy lives. He hugged Johnny again. “Have you got a pony picked out for Jenny yet?”

  He whispered to his father. Carson nodded. “Good choice.”

  “Hey, Dad? Jenny wants to know what Teton means.”

  Suddenly both men broke out in wide grins. “I’ll leave that to your mom to explain. Got to run.”

  “Coward,” Tracy said to her husband with a grin as he kissed her. “Come on, everyone. We need to eat breakfast while we still can.”

  The five of them walked through the great room with its floor-to-ceiling fireplace and entered the main dining room. Wagon-wheel chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Alex saw several families seated with older teenagers. Only one table was empty. All of them were covered in red-and-white-checked cloths with white daisies forming the centerpieces. Alex loved the decor.

  Once they were seated and had been served their orders, Buck looked at Alex and Jenny. “Last night you were too tired for me to tell you much about the ranch. Carson Lundgren’s great-great-grandfather purchased this land in 1908 and turned it into the Teton Valley Ranch where they ran cattle and we still do, today.

  “His grandparents raised him and he became a rodeo champion known as ‘King of the Cowboys.’ Since I went into business with him and Ross Livingston, we’ve also begun operating the ranch as a dude ranch for tourists who make reservations with us and are paying guests. But once a month we use part of the money to invite one war widow and her children to stay with us. You two are our honored guests for this week and have access to all the facilities free of charge.”

  “We’re thrilled to be here,” Alex exclaimed. “Jenny and I read the brochure. You offer so many activities we can’t believe it. I think it would be impossible to do them all.”

  He chuckled. “Most everyone wants to try horseback riding, so you’ll probably want to invest in some Western gear. We also offer fishing. If you want to go down the Snake River in a raft or a kayak, we’ll take you. Some people want to do mountain climbing or go hiking.