Runaway Heart

by Amity Lassiter

  "Not many." He shifted, desperate to change the subject, lest she find out he was a fake and a failure. "Let's get your things."

  *

  Ren had hoped she would be able to unload the Jimmy on her own, without Dane seeing the meager offerings that made up the entirety of their worldly possessions. The four of them went downstairs and began unloading the few bags they had between them. She pulled a battered steamer trunk out of the back with the intent to carry it in herself. The cargo was too precious to entrust to anyone else, but when Dane saw her tugging at it, he stepped in.

  "Let me take that." He appeared beside her, taking one of the handles. She hesitated but then ceded to let him carry it, sliding a couple of duffel bags over her shoulders instead. Kerri carried her own backpack and duffle and Gage followed behind, insistent on carrying something. The teen had graciously bestowed her purse upon him with the hopes he would be satisfied by helping that much.

  They emerged for the second load of bags to find a man in the yard throwing a stick for Rex.

  He was dressed for ranch work and as tall as Dane, with the same sort of charming good looks. He had an open, welcoming expression and a smile that said he was in on the big joke that was life. His curly, dark hair was plastered to his forehead from the heat and his strong jaw was covered with what looked like a persistent five o'clock shadow, even though it was early morning. The man wiped his hands on his jeans and offered her one to shake.

  "You must be the new hand… I'm sorry, my brother didn't mention your name…"

  "Ren Maddock. The girl you just saw go in the house with Gage is my younger sister, Kerri. Good to meet you…"

  "I'm Noah, Dane's little brother. He's got me on every other detail while he looks after you." His words were loud enough for Dane to catch and he whipped around to give his brother a playful shove in the shoulder.

  "I can settle myself in if you have other things…" Ren felt acutely aware of what a big deal it was for Dane to be putting his work off to attend to her. She shifted uncomfortably—from the weight of the bag or the worry that she was being an inconvenience, she wasn't sure. Dane cut her words off easily.

  "You're my first priority today. I want you to feel comfortable here and I intend to be the one to make you feel that way. And besides, this is what I pay him for."

  The truth was, Ren wasn't sure she could feel comfortable here on the Baylor ranch with Dane around all the time, hovering near enough that she could smell the scent of clean linen and old leather on him, his dark eyes searing her to her core every time she turned around. She was determined to make this work though, for the sake of her sister and everything else.

  She offered a smile to the younger brother. "Well, Noah, hopefully I'll see more of you around, if he doesn't keep you too busy filling in for him."

  "Oh I'll keep him busy." Dane quipped, and gave his brother another playful shove as Noah winked and waved before heading off in the direction of the barns. The joviality between the two men made Ren smile. The sense of family around the Baylor ranch was clear and refreshing.

  So far, the Baylors were happy to have her, and had made it a point to make her feel welcome. She hadn't had any real sense of family apart from Kerri for quite a while and although it had been disarming at first, she could get used to this feeling of being wanted, appreciated, and welcomed. Now, if she could just keep herself out of trouble, which meant staying out of Dane's way.

  —SIX—

  It didn't take long for Ren to unpack her things; there wasn't much to put away. In addition to the fact that she'd never had a chance to go to college and only qualified for minimum wage jobs, the fewer things she had to throw into a bag when her mother found them and they had to uproot, the better. The most cumbersome thing they'd kept around was the small metal steamer trunk she'd filched out of her mother's home the last time she'd left.

  Inside, the trunk held what little was physically left of Declan Maddock, the man who had been Ren's unfaltering superhero. As she'd prepared to leave Anita Maddock's home, Ren had collected the contents of the trunk bit by bit—a tobacco pipe, a small record player with an oak box, a worn flannel shirt that still smelled of his cologne. The most valuable item in the whole box was the Simon and Garfunkel record she had listened to countless times on her father's knee. She had learned every word to Bridge Over Troubled Water by the time she was five. Her fondest and most vivid memories were of him putting her to bed when she was around eight, tucking her in and singing the verses over and over until she fell asleep. It had been a comfort to her when her mother had become unkind.

  Ren set the record player on one end of the long, wide dresser that took up most of one wall and plugged it in. She was just pulling out the worn record when a knock startled her and she turned to see Kerri standing in the doorway.

  "Can I see?"

  "Come on in." Ren moved to her bag on the bed and began to pull clothes out and look for places to put them in the walk-in closet. She was only sorry she didn't have more to put in there. Her t-shirts seemed strange hanging in a space that was obviously meant for much more, and her jeans folded over the hangers looked sad. She made a mental note to take some money out of her first pay to buy a nice dress, just so she could say she had one, and she could make the closet feel useful.

  Ren noticed that Kerri, for once, didn't have her headphones hanging around her neck. She cast an upward eyebrow at her younger sister's bare neck and Kerri shrugged with a slightly guilty look.

  "Gage is in my room listening to it."

  Ah ha, thought Ren—already a big improvement. The younger Maddock girl had been having trouble with relationships recently, and understandably so—it seemed like the minute she laid down any positive ties in a town, they would be forced to pack everything up and move again.

  "So what do you think?" Ren asked. The room was decorated in a rather unisex fashion but it was well appointed. The walls were a neutral beige and showcased a couple of pieces of framed artwork. The huge four poster bed she sat on had beautiful oak woodwork and a dark finish. A soft tan carpet enveloped her bare feet.

  "My room is nice, but this room…" Kerri took the room in, then cocked a brow at her older sister with a good-natured grin. "He must save this room for when the queen visits!"

  Ren rolled her eyes and nodded toward the door that led to the staircase.

  "And those stairs lead down to Gage's room."

  "No way!" Kerri started across the floor, pulling the door open. The staircase was well lit and covered in carpet. "I'm going down!"

  Ren followed her sister down the stairs. Dane was at the bottom of them and let out a rumbling laugh as Kerri almost barreled into his broad chest.

  "Figuring out the lay of the land?"

  Kerri nodded, looking over her shoulder at Ren. Obviously she was not at the same kind of odds with herself when she was in Dane's presence as her older sister, but he definitely flustered the young girl. Kerri was becoming aware of the male physique, and not just the young, mostly shapeless boy band version of it. Coming to her sister's rescue, Ren eased down the stairs into the small space of the landing with the pair of them.

  "Ren said this staircase came down to Gage's room." Kerri finally spoke.

  Dane gestured over her shoulder at the room to the left of the staircase. Large, colorful wooden letters were arranged on the outside of the door that said 'Gage'. The door was cracked slightly open and Ren could see a mess of toys and games on the floor. She made a mental note to help him organize and keep it clean since it seemed obvious by the rest of the house that Dane was not one for clutter or disorganization. Kerri poked her head in the room and nodded approvingly.

  "And this one is mine." The door to Dane's room was also slightly opened and Ren caught a glimpse of dark decor, including what appeared to be high quality, black sheets making up the king sized bed. Her stomach flipped and she averted her eyes quickly, embarrassed by the scorching images that crossed her mind without any warning. When she looked up, she wa
s trapped in his searing gaze; it conveyed a message without a single spoken word, the appropriate response to the naughty thoughts running through her head.

  *

  Damnit. It was Kerri who had run into him but with Ren this close to his room, all he could think about was drawing her inside and shutting the door behind him so they could lose themselves in bliss. He could envision her thick hair sliding across the Egyptian cotton sheets, her eyes closed, her mouth half open, the little sounds she would make, and the louder, more primitive sounds he would coax out of her. His heart rate hastened at the mere thought of it and he reached by her to pull the door shut quickly. He'd start behaving like an animal if he didn't check himself.

  Ren cleared her throat, breaking the eye contact with Dane and put a hand on Kerri's shoulder. "Why don't you go check on Gage, while I talk to Dane about the daily grind of things here?"

  Kerri nodded and took off up the stairs, leaving the pair alone. Ren jerked almost imperceptibly when Dane closed his hand around her elbow to guide her toward the kitchen. His fingers touched the translucent flesh in the crook of her arm, and he watched her from the corner of his eye, amused as gooseflesh rose on her skin. As much as he told himself he needed to restrain, he couldn't resist looking for these little reactions. It meant he wasn't alone. She took a couple of steps to get ahead of him to the kitchen and seated herself at the table, letting out a nervous breath.

  Dane sat opposite her and slid the offer of employment document across the table to her.

  "The job is pretty basic." He leaned back in his chair. "I think you probably get the general gist of taking care of kids."

  She laughed as she scribbled her signature across the informal letter.

  "I guess you could say that."

  "Basically, just add Gage to that roster. Treat the house like you would treat your own, come and go as you please. You have access to the sedan, I normally drive the truck."

  She raised a brow and he groaned inwardly. He had known that Jimmy would be a point of contention.

  "Trust me, it's easier on gas, and quite frankly… safer." He didn't want to put it into words, but he was essentially saying he didn't want Gage in that discreetly disguised deathtrap. The car had to have been at least as old as Ren. "Just park the Jimmy and use the car. Does that thing even have air conditioning?"

  Her indignant expression gave him his answer. She twisted the pen between her fingers. "Bob has been with me for a long time."

  "Bob?" Dane laughed out loud. The mood lightened and he was grateful. It was harder to think about the way his name would sound coming out of her mouth in the throes of ecstasy when he was considering she was that girl—the one who named her car.

  She lifted her chin in playful defiance. "He's been a very important guy in my life. He needed a name. Jimmy Bob. Bob for short."

  "Okay, well… Bob can take a hiatus. The cargo you'll be hauling around is pretty precious to me, and I suspect Kerri is the same to you, so we're going with safe, reliable vehicles."

  "Bob got me here from the East coast, thankyouverymuch."

  "Barely."

  She smiled and he knew he'd won.

  "Barely," she said.

  "And while we're on the topic of Kerri, I have no problems with her giving you a hand with Gage. As long as he's staying out of trouble." He made a mental note to check with his mother about a couple of hours a week at the store for Kerri, to make her own pocket change.

  "I think between the pair of us, we can probably manage. I mean, he's just a little boy, after all."

  "Don't let the sweet little boy act trick you. That kid is sneaky—take your eyes off of him for two seconds and he's...well, he's falling off of corral panels and breaking his arm." Dane laughed, because with a few days between him and the accident, and a kid who was completely back to normal except for the fiberglass cast, that's all he could do. "Would you like to see the rest of the property?"

  "Sure. I'll get the kids." Ren rose and called for Kerri and Gage from the bottom of the stairs. They barreled down like a herd of elephants, nearly landing in a heap at the bottom, followed closely by Rex who was never one to miss out on any excitement. "Dane and Gage are going to give us a tour of the ranch, Ker. Sound good?"

  The four of them put on boots and headed out into the yard. The ranch settlement consisted several barns of varying sizes, a rough cabin and a number of small outbuildings. The property steadily inclined behind the barns and as far as the eye could see to the mountainous horizon was pasture, some of it dotted with livestock. In addition to the buildings, a long rectangular corral was situated with a short fence and then a round corral about sixty feet across with a much taller fence, perhaps six feet at its height, between the house and the barn.

  Dane led them into the first barn, which housed several horses, who hung their heads out over the doors of their stalls, nickering amiably at their master as he passed. Each one had its ears pricked forward and looked genuinely pleased to see him. Here and there, Dane paused to stroke a nose or murmur a word of praise or warning to the horses. This barn housed the personal horses of the ranch, and Dane spent a lot of time here. If there was ever anything eating at him, even in the middle of the night, he'd find himself sitting on a bale of hay and listening to the horses' soft noises as they shifted and snoozed. There was an old adage that the outside of a horse was good for the inside of a man and Dane couldn't argue with it.

  Kerri was instantly riveted by a gray head poking out over the top of a stall. Long, shapely ears led down to intelligent looking globes for eyes and a velvety soft looking muzzle. An expanse of forelock and mane hung into the horse's eyes and Kerri immediately moved to brush it away. While the rest of the group carried on, she lingered until Dane noticed she was no longer with the group. She was still at the gray, stroking its nose and murmuring baby words to the horse.

  "Ah, this is Buckshot. He loves new friends." Dane approached and the horse turned his attention from the girl to the master. As soon as Dane reached out and stroked the gelding's forehead, he turned back to Kerri, clearly favoring the much more complete and thorough adoration.

  "He's one of my oldest buddies. He taught my little brother, Gavin, to ride." At the mention of Gavin's name, Dane paused for a moment, flooded with memories of his brother, legs hanging barely long enough down the horse's barrel to feel like much more than a mosquito perching on his back. He swallowed hard and slid his hand down Buckshot's forehead again, trying to bring himself back to the present.

  "Do you still ride him?" Kerri asked.

  Dane could hear a twinge of hope in her voice. He nodded. "I don't, but Gage rides him sometimes. He prefers his pony, Chessy, these days, so Buckshot's had a pretty lazy last couple of years."

  Gage's head bobbed affirmatively. "She's not as far to fall!"

  Kerri looked back at the horse wistfully and sighed. She was laying it on thick and Dane would have had to have been completely oblivious not to recognize where this was heading.

  "Would you and your sister like to learn to ride, Kerri?" Dane asked. The girl perked visibly at the question, and her fingers tightened against Buckshot's mane in excitement; he'd hit his mark.

  "Really? Yes! Can we, Ren?"

  Ren's big smile told him she was as excited as Kerri was. He, for one, couldn't wait to see her on a horse. These girls would fit in just fine.

  —SEVEN—

  By the time she had gotten Gage to bed and Kerri comfortably ensconced in her new accommodations, Ren's body was exhausted, but her mind was racing. She attempted to settle in for bed—it had been a long day with a lot of activity—but she couldn't quiet her thoughts, so after attempting to unwind, she got up and left her bedroom.

  Dane was nowhere to be seen, so she took an opportunity to tip-toe through the house, looking at the various pieces of artwork and decor in the hallways until she found herself in the living room. A huge leather couch flanked one side of the room, and a large flat screen TV that looked like it hadn't seen much u
se perched on the opposite wall. A fireplace with a variety of family photos upon the mantel was the primary focal point of the room. She turned the TV on for company, muted, and wandered over to look at the collection of framed images.

  Front and center was a photo of a toddler-aged Gage, sitting on the lap of a laughing couple. Ren picked it up for a closer look. The man was clearly related to Dane, with the same blond hair and stormy eyes both Dane and Ella had. The woman was pretty, with shoulder-length strawberry blond hair and a slight build like Gage.

  "I was hoping you were still up." Dane's deep voice startled her and she turned to find him holding two bottles of beer. He was freshly showered and wore a white t-shirt and plaid lounge pants. "It'll be nice to have some company in this house after Gage's bedtime. Another adult to talk to."

  He got closer and offered her one of the bottles, taking a pull from the one he kept. He inclined his head toward the photo.

  "Gage's parents, Gavin and June."

  "What happened?" It was rude to ask, not to mention none of her business. She was here to take care of the house and the boy, that was it, but the words slipped out before she could stop them.

  "They wrecked their rig coming home from a rodeo in Denver a couple of years ago." Dane swallowed hard and took another pull of his beer. Ren could see his eyes were glossy with emotion.

  "I'm so sorry." Ren's words were quick, sorry she had asked. She would have been as imposed upon if someone had asked about her mother. "So that's how you ended up with Gage?"

  "Gavin named me in the will. I don't know if he realized what he was asking. Best I can do is try not to mess things up too badly."

  Ren knew that feeling all too well.

  "Parenting when you aren't a parent can be a challenge, for sure."

  "It's been tough. I feel like it's about to get easier." He offered her a gentle smile, and gestured to the couch. They sat, one on each end, facing the other. "On the topic of parenting when you're not a parent..."