Hitching his hands on his hips, he breathed in a steadying breath and tried to ignore the apple scent of his wife’s shampoo. He knew the vacation request was just a cover for something they wanted more, something else he hadn’t been able to give them. A family repaired, unified.
But they’d gone past that point. Years of hard work and loss had worn them down until they were worse than angry. They’d both gone numb.
Boots pressed into the slick soil, leaving craters in his wake. Pretty much like his life. Holes everywhere.
His kids deserved to have their family stay intact. Even if he and Nina had somehow lost their way to loving each other under the weight of bills and work, he still wanted to keep them all under one roof, for the sake of their daughters.
“That sure was a sucker punch.” He hated thinking of the girls longing for the perfect family vacation. He wasn’t so sure he could make that happen at even some supposedly magic ranch.
Nina sagged back against the roughened trunk of a pecan tree, her forehead furrowed, her mouth thinning with tension. “I can’t believe they’ve been planning this all along with the dog washing, making us believe it was for charity.”
“Or that they think we are some kind of charity.” A point that stung more than a little.
“Well,” she said, hugging her arms over her damp top and shivering, “they aren’t wrong that we’re in trouble.”
He shrugged out of his jean jacket for his wife, remembering too well the days when he would have draped it over her shoulders and tucked her against his side. Now there was nothing more than a phantom warmth for what felt like a lifetime ago. Those days were past. “We’ve been careful to shield them from the worst.”
During the virus scare, so many contracts defaulted. Restaurants closed. Conferences were canceled along with their big power meals full of heavy creams and cheeses. Forget about farmers’ markets.
But he’d tried to be a good man in hard times. Rather than dumping their milk, they’d given away farm goods to other families in need. Still, none of it helped him numb the blow to his pride over how much he was failing his wife and kids.
Notes of a lone songbird cut through the forest. A sad, subdued call that echoed through the trees. His life had fallen apart and he had no idea how to make it right.
Nina touched his arm lightly. “Just because we haven’t told them doesn’t mean they haven’t sensed it.” She took the jacket from him warily and hugged it to her chest. “We live under the same roof.”
“Not for much longer,” he said softly. “That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
Her honey-brown eyes went so very sad. “We both know it’s inevitable.”
“Do we?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking, from hoping there was some way to salvage his family. Even if he and Nina had lost the love they’d once shared, at least he wouldn’t lose his kids.
She lifted a hand in protest. “Oh, Douglas, you know there’s nothing left for us to try.”
Pain lanced through him. He knew it, and yet couldn’t possibly bring himself to admit it out loud, because what kind of life would he have without her?
One deep breath in of Archer land sent him back to another time on this path, the day he met Nina during her photography project. She’d laughed freely with him, the spark between them so strong and new.
An idea formed in his mind, taking root with each breath. “Then prove it.”
“What do you mean?” She straightened from the tree, her blond ponytail sliding and calling to his fingers.
“Let’s give the girls what they want.” The more he said, the more certain he become that this was the right approach. “Let’s tell them we’ll go to the Top Dog Dude Ranch.”
Her jaw went slack with shock. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Completely.”
She shrugged into the jacket, avoiding his eyes, jaw tight. Then she exhaled one of those resigned sighs he’d heard more often than not of late. “Even if I agreed, a place like that must have a waiting list a mile long.”
Probably. But that wouldn’t stop him from trying to buy more time to salvage the mess he’d made of his marriage. “Then at least the twins will hear that we didn’t tell them no. That’s one less disappointment for us to heap on them.”
“What if the place actually does have an opening and we can somehow afford it?” Her voice grew with exasperation. “Do you intend for us to go through with the trip? Even if that means we have to pretend we’re a big happy family?”
“If there’s an opening and we can somehow pay for it—” Even saying those words chewed at his pride. “If all lines up, we can give them the vacation they want. And when we tell them their parents might be splitting—”
“Are splitting,” she interjected.
He stifled the urge to just walk away. It was hard to be around each other when she was so quick to remind him he wasn’t worth sticking around for.
“Fine,” he conceded, reaching over her to grip a branch, catching a handful of yellowing leaves. “To tell them that their parents are splitting. They will have seen that we can still be civil to each other.”
“And you believe we can be civil to each other?” she pressed him, fine brows arching. Skeptical. Wary.
He hated that they’d come to this.
Sighing, he gave the only answer he could. “I hope that we can. If we can’t, we have to figure out how.”
He just prayed those words wouldn’t be needed. Although he also knew it would take every bit of magic the Top Dog Dude Ranch had to offer for him to figure out a way to repair his marriage.
But he’d already lost all the family he’d had: his parents and then brother. Nina had lost hers as well.
He refused to let either of them suffer one more loss.
* * *
Nina sat on the edge of the stone hearth, the only spot available with the great room so full of suitcases and duffels. She jabbed the needle through the tear in Kacie’s sleeping bag. Shock still had her nearly speechless, leaving her almost a zombie going through the motions of packing.
This space had always been the hub of the family, so much so, she’d struggled with how to put her stamp on the space. Then they’d moved the table from the big picture window to put a hospital bed for Tyler at the end, to keep him a part of the family moments. The bed was gone, but they still hadn’t brought the table back.
She shook off depressing memories and focused on the present.
By some crazy miracle, they would be at the Top Dog Dude Ranch only seven days after learning of the girls’ request. A mixed blessing. The girls had gotten their wish to have the family together, but at what cost?
Right after telling the twins they would try to go, Nina had contacted the ranch. Not only had there been a last-minute cancellation, but the family that canceled had also requested their prepayment be applied to another family. Their entire trip was free. She would have sworn it was a setup, orchestrated by the girls, but the lady taking reservations genuinely did not seem to know who they were.
It was surreal. A coincidence beyond believing. So either it had to be a setup, or the biggest piece of luck she’d ever experienced. That made her insides skitter with nerves. Wary of when the rug would be pulled from under her, when this little bit of happiness for her family would crumble, too.
Douglas had been as shocked as she was. He didn’t reveal much about his feelings, but she’d been able to see the surprise in his eyes. And the relief. It was so sad to think how long it had been since news of any kind had made her husband appear anything less than weighted down by worries. Not that it changed anything between them, but she still empathized with how hard life had been for him, too.
Once the girls let news about the trip leak to their dog-washing clientele, neighbors had reached out with offers to watch their place for free. They’d insisted that it
was the least they could do after all the free milk and beef when the town had been struggling.
Her eyes watered even now at their generosity, especially after she’d felt so alone out here for so long. Those tears threatened to well over altogether at the notion of leaving those friends and neighbors behind when she took the teaching job in the next county. While they would still be close in miles, she and the girls would be very far away from their dreams.
She shifted on the stone hearth and took in the sight of her daughters across the family room. Kelsey sat cross-legged on the floor with an inventory list and a pencil. Kacie was all motion, digging through the suitcases, backpacks and canvas bags, shouting out items to check off. Clothes, gear, snacks for the road. An unbelievable amount of luggage, as if packing wasn’t already awkward enough when she and her husband wouldn’t even be sharing a bed. The irony wasn’t lost on her that there was no need for a vasectomy when they weren’t even having sex.
Kelsey sorted granola bars into four lunch boxes. Measured. Methodical. “I can’t believe we really get to go the dude ranch.”
Nina inspected the stitched hole in the sleeping bag and found it tightly sealed. “It’s what you wanted, what you worked for. And yes, it’s really happening.” She looped the thread into a knot, then snipped it off. “Well, it will if we can ever finish packing.”
Kelsey read items off the list, chewed yellow pencil in hand. “Boots. Gloves. Hat.”
“Check,” Kacie confirmed. “I packed those first off.”
“And I packed extra wool socks. It’s colder there than here.”
“Great. Do you think you could have picked somewhere warmer when you researched?”
Kelsey set down the list on the old hickory coffee table, yellow pencil rolling. “There’s fly-fishing and archery.”
“Huh,” Kacie mumbled, stringing an imaginary bow. “Are you the target?”
“Girls, that’s enough.” She should have known their truce would be short-lived.
Nina hated seeing them fight like this. They’d had little tiffs in the past, but nothing like their tussles of the past few months. She couldn’t help but wonder if the blame lay in how much she and Douglas argued, all the tension that came in the aftermath. If so, why would the twins want to spend even more time together?
Suspicion teased at her. “Why did you decide to push for this trip, to this particular place?”
The twins fell mute, glancing from one to the other with that air of the unspoken language of twins. Utterly unified in this moment by a bond that defied any dispute.
Finally, Kacie took a step forward. “Like we said. We wanted a family trip since it’s been such a long time.”
Kelsey concurred with a tight nod.
“Still, girls, there are other dude ranches around that are a lot less expensive.” She raised a hand quickly. “Not that I’m complaining about the price, since everything worked out better than we could have hoped. I’m just curious what made you pick this particular place. Come on, the more we know the more we can help you with whatever you’re planning.”
Kelsey pushed aside the bags and climbed over a vintage suitcase to sit at Nina’s feet. “They have other classes, too.”
Kacie interrupted, “They call them pack-tivities. Get it? A group of dogs is a pack? Pack-tivities.”
Kelsey continued, “There are even pack-tivities that are indoors, that help people get along better. We think that would be good, uh, for me and for Kacie. Maybe you and Dad could join us.”
A sigh of resignation pushed through her. She’d suspected something was up, but this was so much more heart-tugging than she could have guessed. What child asked for something that amounted to therapy? Not many. Which told her just how hurt and desperate they were.
She looked at the vintage suitcase, a relic from her days in foster care. Life had stretched before her with that old green suitcase in hand, finally in control of her own life. Possibilities as numerous as blades of grass. She’d had such hopes for building a family of her own someday, only to let her girls down.
While the outcome wasn’t going to be what they hoped, they truly could use all the healing help the Top Dog Dude Ranch had to offer.
She held out her hand. “Pass me the printouts. I want to start marking which events we’ll be attending.”
Chapter Three
Douglas draped his wrist over the steering wheel, his truck eating up the miles in the two-hour drive east from his farm to the Top Dog Dude Ranch. The fall palette outside was a blur of oranges, yellows and reds he hadn’t taken the time to appreciate in longer than he could remember. His head was still spinning over how fast this trip had come together.
Seven days ago, he would have never guessed he would get a second chance to keep his family. Mountains dipped and rose as he guided the truck along the winding road. Steady hands for what he hoped was an equally steady future. He didn’t intend to blow the opportunity.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, he checked on the twins, who were unusually quiet. Kelsey held her school-issued Chromebook, plowing through homework the teacher had sent with them. Kacie even had her Chromebook out as well, except one quick glance showed she was studying roping techniques rather than arithmetic. But at least they were quiet and happy, earbuds in place and unable to overhear anything he had to say to Nina.
He shot a look at his wife sitting across the bench seat in his old Ford. She rested her forehead against the passenger-side window, looking even more beautiful than the first day he saw her. She still stole the air from his lungs.
Back when they’d first met, she would have seized every moment of the journey with her camera, her gaze and lens capturing the most humbling, beautiful moments tucked away into landscapes and crevices of everyday life.
Now, she just looked...
Lost.
He scratched a hand over the ache in his chest and searched for something to say. He tucked his tongue against his cheek until he settled on something safe, easy. “What all did you and the girls bring?”
The truck was jam-packed full of luggage.
She jolted before looking back at him, then glanced over her shoulder, blond hair sliding over her cheekbones. “Kelsey swore it was all on the list.”
“I think we may be overprepared.” He checked the rearview mirror as a low-slung red sports car accelerated, then whipped past on the narrow country road.
A smile almost tugged her lips upward. Almost. “I think you could be right.”
He sent a grin her way, enjoying the shared levity for once rather than their usual arguments—or worse, silent tension. His grip tightened on the steering wheel as he guided the pickup on a hairpin turn, a wall of rocks dotting the mountainside. “Thank you for agreeing to come along. It means a lot to me to be able to offer this to the girls.”
Shadows whispered through her eyes like dark clouds muting the sky. “You have to know I’ll be sure you have time with them.”
Custodial visitation? He definitely didn’t want to talk about that. Sidestepping the version of his life where his family fractured, he nudged the conversation. “I’m still blown away by how the town rolled out to help watch over the farm so we could come here. They all have their own lives and businesses to look after.”
“They seemed glad to have a way to show their gratitude for the milk and beef during the pandemic.” Her hands splayed on her knees, scratching along denim as she did when trying to hold her emotions in check.
“That was your idea.” He didn’t know why he’d been surprised when she suggested it. She loved the people of their small town. He’d just kicked himself for not thinking of it himself. “I don’t deserve any credit.”
“You would have come to the same conclusion,” she dismissed. “I just thought of it a second before you.”
He didn’t intend to waste this time together arguing. “I feel like w
e haven’t had a chance to catch our breath since then. These couple of weeks away could be a good thing.”
“Good in what way?” The question came out as more of a plea. She hugged her lined jean jacket tighter around her. “Other than giving the girls a happy memory before we pull out the rug from under them.”
“Are you regretting the decision to take the trip?” He turned the heater vents in her direction. Streams of warm air lifted her hair around her face.
“Not regretting it so much as just worried about how they’ll handle what’s coming afterward.” She checked the rearview mirror that showcased the twins still glued to their screen time. Nina looked back at him. “Did we just use this trip as an excuse to delay telling the girls about our split?”
Uh, yeah, he had. But he wasn’t admitting that to her. “The twins asked for this and by some miracle it’s actually happening. Let’s not question that. Can we agree to be in the moment and just enjoy our time at the ranch?”
A long sigh shuddered through her. “I’m sure determined to try.”
If only he could hold her to that—to enjoying the moment and not worrying about what the future held—that opened a whole world of possibilities for him. When was the last time he’d romanced his wife? He needed to dust off his skills if he wanted any shot at keeping his family together. When they’d been dating, she loved nature hikes, ending with romantic picnics. Her favorite had been wine with fresh goat cheese from his farm.
So simple. And yet somehow, he’d let even the simple joys in life slip away. How had they gone from being a happy family to such a hot mess? “I, uh, saw on the brochure that they have quite a few hiking options.”
She glanced at him in surprise. “That would be nice. The place is called Moonlight Ridge, after all.”
A moonlight walk? That was promising. “What are some things you’d like to do? You should make the most of the vacation.”
“Well, there’s an ice cream parlor the girls would—”
Last-Chance Marriage Rescue Page 3