A Rancher to Love

by Trish Milburn

  Or protection. She knew that’s what he really meant but didn’t want to say in front of Maddie or within earshot of the other restaurant customers.

  Should she do it? Could she? Yes, she’d been fine with Tyler the night before, but he was someone she cared about deeply. She felt safe with him because he’d shown her he could be trusted. But she wouldn’t know the people who would come through her door. The idea of inviting strangers into her home threatened to resurrect her panic.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said, mainly so they could move on to another topic of conversation.

  Later that night, after Maddie was tucked away in bed, Leah sat with Tyler on his front steps enjoying a cooler breeze blowing ahead of a thunderstorm rolling in from the west.

  “I’ve got an appointment with an attorney tomorrow to see what I need to do to gain custody of Maddie,” Tyler said after they’d been sitting quietly, holding hands, for a few minutes.

  “That’s good,” she said. “Maddie really has come alive here. It seems to be a good place for that.”

  “I just want you both to be happy and safe. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to ensure that.”

  She wanted so much to tell him that she loved him then, but something held her back. Maybe the fear that this would all somehow be ripped away from her, that it was temporary. Plus, guys were weird about those three little words. It had taken Jacob forever and a day to tell Reina he loved her. Leah had begun to wonder if he really did when he’d finally said the words Reina had been dying to hear.

  “What I said today about you being part of the arts and crafts trail, I meant it. I was thinking we could even convert one of the bedrooms into a little shop and put an exterior entrance to it so that no one has to come through your personal space.”

  “I don’t know. Part of me likes the idea, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for that.”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Whenever you are, just let me know.”

  She leaned back and looked up at him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “My life has changed so much since I moved here, all for the better. I’m afraid I’m going to wake up to find it’s all been a dream.”

  He cupped her face and lowered his mouth close to hers. “It’s not a dream.”

  Then he kissed her, and something about the kiss was different from any they’d shared before. It felt...more important, filled with deeper feelings. Or was that only wishful thinking on her part?

  When he broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I want you so much right now.”

  “But we can’t with Maddie here.”

  “I don’t want to do anything that could jeopardize my chances of becoming her legal guardian. I know there’s no one around, but—”

  “You don’t have to explain. I totally understand and agree with you.”

  But when she locked the door behind her at the bunkhouse, it seemed so empty without him.

  * * *

  LEAH HUMMED ALONG to the song playing on the grocery store’s sound system as she made her way up the pasta aisle. It took a remarkable amount of willpower to keep from adding some dance moves to the mix.

  “You certainly sound happy.”

  Leah turned to see India smiling at her. “Are you stalking me? Everywhere I go, there you are. I didn’t see people in my apartment building in Houston as much as I see you.”

  India laughed. “One of the perils of small-town life.”

  “Another thing to get used to.”

  “Seems you’re getting used to Tyler pretty well.”

  Leah thought about brushing India’s observation off but realized she didn’t want to. “He’s a very kind man.”

  “For whom you have feelings.”

  Leah nodded. “I do.”

  India smiled as she leaned forward to hug Leah. “I’m happy for you.”

  “I don’t know if it’s going anywhere.” She was afraid to allow herself to think too far ahead.

  “Hon, none of us know that when we first get involved with someone. We just take it day by day.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “Just go with it if it feels right. After what you’ve been through, I’d say it’s a positive sign if you’re comfortable with Tyler.”

  That’s what Leah had been thinking, but it was nice to have the same thing said by someone not involved in the situation.

  India’s words played over and over in Leah’s head as she drove home. Sometime recently when she’d not really been paying attention, she’d started thinking of the ranch as her home. Even Tyler’s house was feeling more that way with as much time as she was spending there having meals, watching Maddie while Tyler went out on a couple of jobs, watching movies, playing games and engaging in some mighty excellent kissing. She’d been there to comfort him when he’d second-guessed himself after meeting with the attorney about becoming Maddie’s guardian.

  She and Tyler had also made love a couple of more times, but always while Maddie was at school. It felt decadent to be in bed with Tyler in the middle of the day when they both should be working. They’d even let time get away from them one day and had still been naked when a customer had arrived with a couple of horses he needed shoed. Leah had giggled as Tyler raced to get his clothes on.

  He still hadn’t mentioned anything about love, but she was content with how things were between them. It felt safe and thrilling at the same time.

  She made the turn into the ranch, remembering how foreign everything had felt the night she’d run to the ranch from her car. Now the turn brought her the happiness of coming home to a place and people she loved.

  Her smile disappeared when she pulled within view of the house and saw Tyler and another man fighting in the front yard.

  “Oh, my God!” She hit the accelerator and sped the rest of the way then skidded to a stop beside Tyler’s truck. Fear rushed up within her, making her shake, but she had to help Tyler. He was a big guy, but the other man wasn’t small. And he looked mean. Already she could see blood on Tyler’s face.

  As she forced herself out of her car, she dialed 911 on her phone, telling the dispatcher she was Conner’s cousin in case that helped get the sheriff’s department out to the ranch faster, before something truly horrible happened.

  She felt so helpless, and bile rose in her throat and chills broke out all over her body when she remembered the last time she’d felt like this. Refusing to let it overwhelm her again, she picked up a large piece of gravel. When the other man tripped Tyler, she threw the rock with all her strength. Though she’d been aiming for the unknown man’s head, she hit only a glancing blow to the back of his neck. But it was enough to draw his attention.

  “Stupid bitch.” He made only one step toward her before Leah saw the fury on Tyler’s face a moment before he kicked the guy in the side of his knee, taking him down with a howl.

  “No, I don’t want to go!”

  Leah’s attention shot to the front of the house where a thin woman was dragging Maddie down the steps. The sound of the girl’s hysterical crying broke something free inside Leah, something primal and fierce, willing to do whatever was necessary to protect Maddie.

  Having to trust that Tyler could hold his own, Leah stalked toward the woman. “Let her go!”

  The woman who looked at Leah was Kendra, a version that had obviously lived hard judging by the lines on her face, the dark circles under her eyes and the way her body barely looked strong enough to carry her own thin frame let alone drag a crying, resisting child against her will.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  “Someone who isn’t going to let you hurt Maddie anymore. You’ve put her through enough.”

  Maddie used her mother’s distraction against her and broke fre
e. She ran straight to Leah, and she pulled her close then behind her so she could act as a shield between mother and child. Over all of the commotion, Leah could hear Baxter and Felix going crazy barking inside the house.

  Kendra pointed at Leah with a bony finger. “You give her back to me.”

  “No.”

  Anger contorted what had once been a pretty face, could be again if Kendra would just turn her life around. “No? You have no right to deny me my child.”

  “I do if I think her life is in danger. You’re not fit to take care of yourself, let alone a child.”

  “You’re the one who did it, aren’t you? Made my own brother try to take my baby girl away from me?”

  “You did that all by yourself. Maddie is happy here. She’s taken care of, has friends, a good life. Things you can’t give her, not unless you clean yourself up.”

  “God, why does everyone think they can tell me how to live my life?”

  “Because you’re ruining it, and if you aren’t careful, the road you’re on will dead-end.” She stared hard into Kendra’s glassy eyes, hoping somehow she could get through to the other woman before it was too late. Leah wanted that so much for Tyler and Maddie. They deserved to have their sister and mother back.

  Leah realized Kendra wasn’t ready to hear anything contrary to her own self-centered worldview when she started stalking toward Leah.

  “Please don’t let her take me,” Maddie said from where she held tight to the back of Leah’s leg.

  “I won’t, sweetie.”

  “You can’t keep my daughter from me.”

  Leah heard sirens in the distance. “I’m pretty sure the sheriff will see that differently.”

  Kendra jerked her head toward the sound of the sirens then back toward Leah. “You called the cops?”

  She didn’t wait for an answer, instead running for her car. Her boyfriend barely had time to dive into the passenger side before Kendra peeled out, spitting gravel so that it hit both Tyler’s truck and Leah’s car.

  Tyler came toward them, breathing hard, his face bloody. “Are you two okay?”

  “Yes,” Leah said, though her panic was building by the moment. She’d thought she’d gotten away from the kind of violence that had sent her fleeing Houston. Though she knew it was unreasonable, seeing Tyler’s power unleashed made her want to get in her car and flee yet again.

  As Tyler came closer, she held up her hand to stop him. Not wanting to admit her own fear of him getting too close, she instead nodded toward where Maddie had her face pressed into Leah’s side crying, then indicated the blood on Tyler’s face.

  He looked at her for a moment, and she wondered if she hadn’t hidden her own fear as well as she’d tried to. But then he nodded.

  “Take Maddie into the house. I’ll take care of things out here,” he said, indicating the two sheriff’s department vehicles now racing toward them up the driveway.

  “Come on, sweetie.” Leah bent and picked up Maddie, who clung to Leah as if afraid her mother would come back and steal her away.

  Leah understood that feeling of needing to cling to something safe, something that would protect her. So she didn’t release Maddie when she got inside, instead heading straight for the couch and continuing to hold Maddie close.

  “Shh, it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  “I thought she would take me and make me go back. I’d never see you and Uncle Tyler again. Or Baxter and Felix.”

  At the sound of their names, the pups parked themselves at the edge of the couch. Baxter propped his front paws on the edge of the couch cushion and whined.

  “I think someone wants to see if you’re okay.”

  Maddie turned to look but didn’t immediately release Leah’s neck.

  “I’m right here,” she said, reassuring Maddie that simply letting go of her wouldn’t make her and her ability to protect Maddie disappear.

  Maddie reached over and lifted Baxter onto her lap. Seeing poor little Felix down on the floor, unable to pull himself up yet, Leah mirrored Maddie’s action and lifted Felix onto her own lap. They were all still there, taking comfort from each other, when Conner and Tyler came inside a few minutes later. She could hear Sheriff Simon Teague outside talking into his radio. Though she couldn’t make out the words, she suspected it had to do with Kendra and her brute of a boyfriend.

  “I see you all are in good hands,” Conner said with a smile. “Or should I say paws?”

  Maddie shrank closer to Leah’s side.

  “It’s okay, sweetie,” Leah said. “This is my cousin, Conner. He’s a deputy sheriff.”

  “Is that like a policeman?”

  Conner smiled as he crouched on the other side of the coffee table. “Exactly. You’re a smart girl. So smart that I wondered if you knew the answer to a couple of questions I have.”

  Conner asked if Maddie knew her mom’s boyfriend’s name or the names of any of her mom’s other friends. Maddie shared what little she knew.

  “Very good.” Conner pulled out his ticket book and wrote something in it. Then he ripped it out and gave it to Maddie. “The next time you’re in town, have your uncle or Leah bring you by the sheriff’s department. I’ll give you a tour and then I’ll treat you to an ice-cream cone. How does that sound?”

  “Good.” Maddie’s voice sounded so small that Leah worried she might go silent again.

  Leah caught the slight motion of Conner’s head toward Tyler, who’d washed his face clean of blood before coming inside, though it was still obvious he’d been in a fight.

  Tyler walked toward the couch and sank to one knee in front of Maddie. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go upstairs so Leah can talk to Conner, okay?”

  “Is Mommy going to come back to take me?”

  Tyler’s big hand swallowed Maddie’s knee when he placed it there. “I won’t let anyone take you. I promise you that.”

  Leah hoped that was a promise he could keep. Surely after what had happened, no court would send Maddie back to her mother. But would they take her away from her uncle? Not if there was any justice in the world.

  Maddie looked up at Leah then back at Tyler. “Can Leah spend the night with us tonight?”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Tyler said, surprising Leah. He’d been so careful not to do anything that might hint at impropriety while he sought to get custody of Maddie.

  “I—”

  “That is a good idea,” Conner said. “I suspect they’re long gone, but just to be on the safe side.”

  Leah met her cousin’s gaze and she saw his concern. He was probably wondering how the events of the day were affecting her considering her previous brush with violence.

  “I’ll be okay,” she said, but even she heard the waver in her voice.

  “I’d feel better if we were all under one roof tonight,” Tyler said.

  “Either that or I’m taking you to Mom and Dad’s,” Conner added.

  Though she felt they were ganging up on her, she had to admit the idea of going back to the bunkhouse tonight made her want to vomit.

  Maddie placed her little hand on Leah’s thigh. “Please stay here. Baxter and Felix want you to stay, too.”

  Leah smiled and scratched both pups between the ears. “Well, how can I say no to that?”

  Conner waited until Tyler had taken Maddie up to her room before he sank onto the coffee table in front of Leah.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Shaken, but I was more concerned about Maddie.”

  “And Tyler?”

  “Of course. He’s the only steady person in Maddie’s life.”

  “That’s not what I mean, and I think you know that.”

  She ran her fingers back through her hair. “Is that why you said I should stay here tonight? You playi
ng matchmaker, too?”

  “No, my first concern is your safety, and I trust Tyler to provide that. But if there’s something else going on, I’m okay with that, too.”

  Leah felt weird talking to Conner about her love life, so she changed the topic. “Do you really think Kendra and her boyfriend won’t come back?”

  “If she has a lick of sense she won’t.”

  “I’m not going to place money on that.”

  “Tyler will have this place locked up tight tonight, and I’m going to make sure we have regular patrols out this way all night. We’ve already got an APB out on them.”

  “Did they legally do anything wrong? I mean Kendra is Maddie’s mother and has custody.”

  “We can charge them with child endangerment. Tyler told me he’s trying to get custody of Maddie. Simon and I will do whatever we can to make sure that happens.”

  “Thank you.”

  After Conner had her recount the events from her point of view, he stood and headed for the door. She followed him so that she could lock it behind him. Conner paused halfway out the door and met her gaze. He nodded toward the stairs.

  “Tyler is a good man, willing to protect those he loves. You deserve that. You deserve to be happy.”

  As she listened to Conner drive away, his words echoed in her head. Just that morning, she would have gladly agreed. But in the wake of the violence in Tyler’s front yard, with him taking part, she had to wonder if the idea of a calm, peaceful life with a man she loved was nothing more than an unobtainable dream.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tyler looked across the table at Leah. How quiet she’d been since Conner left reminded him of when Maddie had arrived at his house. When he’d come back downstairs, leaving Maddie to color in her room, she’d been in the kitchen fixing a quick dinner of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. He thought of the menu as more suitable to a winter day, but he didn’t say so. She’d seemed to need something to do, so he let her.

  When he’d asked if she was okay, she’d nodded and quickly answered, “I’m fine.” It hadn’t been very believable. He’d been left standing there wondering what the right move was—press her to talk or let her process what had happened at her own pace, deciding on her own when or if she wanted to talk about it.