Daddy Wore Spurs (Mills & Boon Cherish) (Men of the West, Book 32)

by Stella Bagwell

  Sage reached over and placed a comforting hand on Mariah’s forearm. “I’m not sure I would’ve had the courage to call Mr. Calhoun and tell him about Harry. I’m afraid I would’ve kept the baby all to myself.”

  “My conscience wouldn’t let me do that,” she said ruefully. “Harry deserves to have a father.”

  “Will this Finn make a good one, you think?”

  Sage’s question caused images of Finn and Harry to flash in the forefront of her mind. She couldn’t deny that Harry had already bonded with Finn. And Finn handled the baby as though he were the most special thing on earth. “Finn will make an excellent father. I have no doubts about that.”

  She didn’t add that Finn was a wealthy man and would be able to give Harry every wonderful opportunity in life. That part of the puzzle hardly seemed important now. As he’d told her last evening: money didn’t equal happiness. And she figured if Finn didn’t have a dime, he’d still have a grin on his face.

  Sage said, “Well, that’s a relief. Uh—you haven’t really told me much about the man. Does he look anything like Harry?”

  Mariah shrugged. “Actually, the more I look at the two of them together, the more similarities I see.”

  “Hmm. Then he must be handsome. Because Harry is adorable,” Sage said. “You know, the more I think about it, the more I think you should have me over for dinner one evening. Before Finn goes back to Nevada.”

  Mariah rose from the long couch where the two women had been sitting and gathered up a stack of books and papers from the corner of a nearby table.

  Deliberately changing the subject, she said, “It’s almost time for the bell to ring.”

  “I’m right behind you,” Sage told her.

  They left the lounge and started down a wide corridor of the high school building. Teenagers were already scurrying past them, while others were opening and closing lockers lined along the walls.

  In spite of the stress that went along with teaching young people, Mariah loved her job. To her, the idea of helping a child develop into a productive adult made up for the long hours and minimal salary. The school was her second home and without it these past few months, she would’ve been truly lost.

  “You know,” Sage said wryly, “I don’t think you want me to meet Harry’s dad. That tells me he’s either really an ogre, or a dreamboat you want to keep to yourself.”

  Mariah’s chuckle held little humor. “He’s a cowboy, Sage. Not your type at all.”

  Sage’s grin was a bit naughty. “I’ll bet he’s your type, though. You—” She broke off as her gaze zeroed in on the silver cross dangling in the hollow of Mariah’s throat. “Oh, how pretty! It looks like a piece from that famous silver designer. Is it?”

  Surely not, Mariah thought. Finn wouldn’t have spent that sort of money on her. On the other hand, his concept of a lot of money would be quite different from hers.

  Unconsciously touching a finger to the cross, she said, “I have no idea. The necklace was a gift.”

  Sage’s brows shot up. “Your birthday won’t be for several months. Who—?”

  Thankfully, the bell sounded, giving Mariah the perfect excuse to leave Sage’s question dangling. “Gotta run. See you later.”

  *

  Back on Stallion Canyon, Finn was finishing the last of his lunch on the patio. Across from him, Harry’s nanny had taken a seat in one of the wicker chairs and settled the baby comfortably in her lap.

  This morning when he and Harry had returned from town, Finn had found Linda Baskin already here and waiting to take over her duties of caring for Harry. A tall, slender woman with a long blond ponytail threaded with streaks of gray, she appeared to be somewhere in her midfifties. Her complexion was ruddy and weather-beaten, her brown eyes crinkled at the corners. For the most part she was quiet and reserved, but friendly enough.

  Last night, Finn had tried to convince Mariah that the nanny was no longer needed. He could certainly take care of Harry while she was at work. But Mariah wouldn’t hear of it. She’d argued that he’d be wanting to spend time outdoors with the horses and he couldn’t do that with a baby on his hip.

  Yet now that Finn had met Linda, he realized that Mariah’s reasoning to keep the nanny around was much more complex than giving him free time with the horses. The woman was totally enamored with Harry. Another fact that nagged at Finn. Linda would also be lost whenever he took his son home to the Horn.

  Picking up a glass of iced tea, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his boots at the ankles. “Have you known the Montgomerys long?” Finn ventured to ask her.

  “Twenty years or more,” she said. “I met Ray and the girls when they first moved here. We all went to the same church, you see.”

  The baby was chewing his fist, while a stream of drool dripped from his chin. Last night Mariah had rubbed a soothing gel over his gums and predicted the tooth would be appearing soon. He wanted to be around to see Harry’s first tooth appear and the many other firsts the child would have. But then, so did Mariah. And this woman, too. Until this moment, Finn had never stopped to think about the connections a child created to all the people around him or her.

  “That’s a long time,” Finn commented.

  She handed Harry the green teething ring that Finn had purchased for him yesterday. The baby immediately jammed the piece of plastic in his mouth.

  “I watched the girls grow up and Ray work to make this ranch into a fine home.” She turned a wistful look toward the barns. “I never thought he’d die like he did. But then life is unpredictable, isn’t it?”

  Something in Linda’s quiet voice told Finn that she was more than just a family acquaintance to the Montgomerys.

  “That’s why we should enjoy every day,” he said, then asked, “Did you know Mariah is selling the ranch? She’s already sold the horses to me.”

  With her gaze still on the barns, she said in a flat voice, “Yes, I know about the ranch. And the horses, too.”

  Finn had been wondering if Mariah had anyone close that she could talk to about private matters. Obviously Linda was that person.

  “What do you think about her decision? About the ranch, that is.”

  “If it wasn’t for her, this place would’ve already been sold through a sheriff’s auction. She’s gone as far as she can go. I don’t like it. But that’s the way it is. For now, at least.”

  Finn gazed thoughtfully toward the paddock where the mares were pastured. Beyond it, a ridge of forest-covered mountains curved toward the east. He figured with a bit of rain the foothills would hold some hearty grasses.

  “Such a shame,” he said thoughtfully. “I haven’t seen much more than this area around the ranch yard, but what I see is beautiful.”

  Her features were stern as she looked at him. “Why don’t you buy it?”

  For a moment Finn was too stunned to know how to answer. “Me? I live on my family’s ranch. I don’t need this one.”

  She frowned. “Some men are independent and some aren’t. I took you for the independent sort. But then, I’m not always right about people.”

  Finn had never expected to be having this sort of conversation with Harry’s nanny, but now that she’d opened up, he couldn’t resist the chance to find out more about Mariah’s family.

  “Now that we’re on the subject, what sort of man was Ray Montgomery?” he asked.

  A soft light entered the woman’s brown eyes. It was the sort of look that was born from deep affection.

  “A good, simple man. This ranch, the horses and his girls. That’s all that mattered—all he wanted.”

  “Did you ever meet his ex-wife?”

  Her brown eyes suddenly squinted. “That’s a strange thing for you to be asking.”

  Finn shrugged. “I’m trying to get an idea of Harry’s maternal family. Especially since they seem to be out of the picture. Mariah tells me her mother lives in Florida, but she never sees her.”

  She sighed. “Selma decided she didn’t care for country lif
e. She left the family long before Ray and the girls moved here. And that’s the way it’s stayed.”

  Finn tried to imagine his own mother leaving her children behind, but it was impossible. Up until the day she’d died, Fiona had loved her five sons utterly.

  “It takes a strong woman to be a rancher’s wife,” Finn mused aloud. “But why turn her back on her daughters?”

  Harry began to fuss and squirm, prompting Linda to lift the baby to her shoulder and gently pat his back. “Because the girls wanted to live with their father and Selma never forgave her daughters for making that choice.”

  “Mariah hasn’t mentioned ever having a stepmother around. Guess Ray never remarried.”

  The stark expression that spread over Linda’s face spoke volumes to Finn.

  “No,” she said. “He remained single until he died.”

  Feeling as though he’d opened a diary that he had no right reading, Finn rose to his feet and gathered up the leftovers from his lunch. After putting the things away in the kitchen, he returned to the patio and picked up his hat.

  “Going back to the barns?” Linda asked.

  He tugged the brim of the felt low onto his forehead. “I have horses saddled and ready to be exercised.”

  “Be safe with those mustangs, Finn. I don’t think Mariah could survive if you had an accident.”

  Finn stared at her. Was Linda trying to imply that Mariah cared for him? The idea was ridiculous. Sure, she’d kissed him as though she liked it. But that hardly meant she had feelings for him.

  He chuckled sardonically. “Mariah isn’t all that interested in my safety. In fact, she doesn’t much care for men who wears spurs. And there’s no chance of me ever taking mine off.”

  Before Linda could make any response, Finn left the patio and headed quickly toward the barns.

  *

  Later that evening when Mariah returned home from work, she dropped her tote and handbag on the coffee table, then walked straight to the middle of the living room where Linda had spread a blanket on the floor in front of the television. She was sitting cross-legged with Harry lying on his belly next to her. The baby was doing his best to get traction with his toes and push himself forward.

  Bending down, she picked him up and cuddled him tightly against her shoulder. “How is my little man?” she crooned to the baby.

  “Give him two or three more months and he’ll probably be sitting on his own and crawling everywhere.” She studied Mariah’s drawn face. “You look drained. School must have been tough today.”

  “No more than usual.” Closing her eyes, Mariah pressed her cheek against the top of Harry’s head and tried to swallow away the tightness in her throat. The DNA test was off to the lab. Whether Finn was the father or not, once the results were determined, her life and Harry’s would never be the same. The idea left a perpetual knot in the pit of her stomach.

  Rising to her feet, Linda patted her shoulder. “It’s Monday. Tomorrow will be better. Want a glass of tea or something?”

  “Maybe later. I need to change clothes. Uh—how did you get on with Finn?”

  “We understand each other, I think,” Linda said, then gestured in the direction of the open doorway. “He’s been down at the barns since lunch. I hope you’re right about him being a horseman. That stallion isn’t safe to be around and it’s been four hours since I’ve seen him.”

  Concern fluttered in the pit of Mariah’s stomach. Finn might be an expert horseman, but that didn’t rule out accidents happening. “Finn should be able to handle himself around Rimrock. But I’d better go check on him just the same.”

  Mariah handed the baby over to Linda and quickly left the room. Once she reached the hallway, she didn’t bother going to her bedroom to change out of her dress clothes. Instead, she exited the house through the kitchen and made a beeline to the main horse barn.

  Along the way, her gaze desperately searched the ranch yard for a sign of Finn. As crazy as it seemed, he’d already become a part of her life. The image of him lying in the dirt, hurt or worse, sent a rush of icy fear through her. If something had happened to him, she’d be devastated.

  Quickening her steps, Mariah reached the shed row where the stallion, Rimrock, was stalled along with four geldings. The gates to all five stalls were swung wide with no horses to be seen. A hurried glance told her the stalls had been shoveled all the way to the dirt floor, but no clean shavings had yet been added. At the far end of the shed row, near the tack room, a shoeing stand, a rasp and hoof nippers were lying on the ground.

  Finn had certainly been busy. That much was clear. But where was he now? A glance at the paddock to her right told her the mares were all there, munching contentedly at a manger full of alfalfa.

  Suddenly the wind swirled from the north and with it came a cloud of dust from the other side of the barn. Mariah hurried around the huge building, then stopped in her tracks and stared in amazement at the training arena some fifty yards away.

  Finn was riding Rimrock in a slow lope, directing the horse in large looping figure eights. Dust boiled from the stallion’s hoofs, sending brown clouds swirling around animal and rider.

  Slower now, she walked over to the arena and stood just outside the wire mesh fence to watch. Finn was handling Rimrock as though he was a docile kid pony, instead of a high-strung stallion that hadn’t had a person on his back since her father had passed away.

  Only a few moments clicked by before Finn spotted her. With a short wave, he drew Rimrock to a walk and directed the horse in her direction. As horse and rider grew closer, she noticed Finn was wearing a pair of hard-worn chinks with hand-sewn buck stitching. The butterscotch-colored leather was scratched and scarred from the top of his thighs all the way down to his knees, while in some spots the fringe edging the legs was either missing or broken off to a shorter length. A pair of long shanked spurs with clover rowels worn smooth on the edges were strapped to his boots. Apparently he carried the tools of his trade with him at all times, she decided.

  One thing for certain, no matter what angle Mariah looked at him from, he was all cowboy. And the sight of him sitting astride Rimrock was more than enough to set her heart to pounding.

  “Hey, Mariah,” he greeted her with a grin. “How was school today?”

  Beneath the shade of his broad-brimmed hat, she could see his gaze traveling up and down the length of her. No doubt he was wondering why she was out here in the dusty ranch yard in a skirt and high heels. But she wasn’t about to confess she was so worried about him she’d hurried straight out here instead of changing clothes.

  Her heart suddenly hammering, she struggled to tuck strands of loosened hair back into the twist at the back of her head. “School was fine. From the looks of the stalls you’ve been busy today.”

  The saddle leather creaked as Rimrock took a restless side step. Finn gently touched his spur into the horse’s side to make him return to the spot where he’d initially reined him to a stop.

  “I’ve been occupied.”

  He rested a forearm across the horn of the saddle and Mariah could see he was as much at home on a horse as he was in a chair at the breakfast table.

  She said, “In case you hadn’t found them, the clean shavings are in the tractor shed.”

  “I found the shavings. But I’m in no hurry to spread them. I’m going to turn the horses out for a while. They need to graze and run. And they especially need to socialize with one another.”

  Mariah spluttered. “You’re letting them loose? I hope you’re not planning to put the geldings in with Rimrock. He’s wild. He might kill them!”

  Finn chuckled and Mariah’s backbone immediately stiffened. Aimee had often laughed at her, too. Her sister had considered Mariah’s knowledge concerning horses, and men, and fashion, amusing and even more lacking. It hurt to think that Finn considered her naive, too.

  “He doesn’t appear wild to me.” He patted the stallion’s neck. “Besides, the geldings have legs. If need be, they’ll scoot out
of his way. But Rimrock understands the geldings are not—uh, let’s just say, all men. So he hardly feels threatened by their presence.”

  Shading her eyes with her hand, she continued to gaze up at him. “Dad was the last person to ride Rimrock four years ago. He was very unruly then. How did you get him to behave like this?”

  A slow grin exposed his teeth and it struck Mariah that she’d spent half the day dreaming about those lips, while the other half had been on Harry. She could only hope she’d made sense while she’d been lecturing her students on California history.

  “I just told him we were going to be buddies. That’s all.”

  He climbed down from the horse and came to stand directly in front of Mariah. The fence between them did nothing to protect her senses from his overwhelming presence, and with each passing moment she felt her breaths grow slower and her heart beat faster.

  “That simple, huh?”

  He grinned and the warm light in his eyes sent pleasure spreading through her like a ray of sun after a long, cold rain. Being away from him only for a few hours had seemed like an eternity, and now that he was standing so near, it was all she could do to keep from reaching through the fence and latching onto his shirt. Just to touch him in any small way gave her pleasure. The kind of pleasure that was hard to resist.

  “I’ve been riding since I was just a wee tot. And everyone tells me that I have a kinship with horses. I’m sure your dad had it, too.”

  Ray Montgomery had been a good horseman, but he’d had to work hard to learn the trade. Mariah figured it all came natural to Finn. As natural as the dimples in his cheeks and the easy way his lips had moved over hers.

  In an effort to clear her straying thoughts, she drew in a deep breath and blew it out. “A tot? Exactly how old were you when you took your first ride?”

  “I’m told my grandfather carried me in the saddle when I was only a few weeks old.”

  “A few weeks! Your mother must’ve been going out of her mind with fear!”