The Rancher Takes a Family

by Paula Altenburg

  “Hey,” Jake called out. “Where is everyone?”

  “Right here,” Zack shouted from somewhere above.

  “Why aren’t you down here, watching Lyddie?”

  There was a long pause before his youngest brother appeared at the head of the stairs. Because Jake was a touch hard in appearance, and Luke sided more toward pretty, most people considered Zack the handsome one in the family. With his blue eyes and ginger hair, he was the sibling who looked the most like their sister. He was also good-natured and carefree. No one who didn’t know him well could figure out why he’d become an accountant.

  Zack, however, had a ruthless, pragmatic side, carefully hidden. If an apocalypse struck, as it had now, he was a good man to have on the team. He’d do what had to be done.

  Unless he could convince someone else to do it for him.

  He leaned against the oak stairwell, tousle-headed and shameless. “Nature called.”

  Nice try. They had two functioning toilets on the main floor—one in the laundry room off the kitchen for family and ranch hands and another right here in the entry for guests.

  “It’s calling again.” Jake lifted Exhibit A.

  Zack studied his nails. “I don’t know how to change a little girl.”

  “Google it. That’s what Luke and I had to do.”

  Zack shifted tactics. “Have mercy. I had steak and eggs for breakfast.”

  He was a good cook and Jake hated to mess with a good thing, so he was willing to bend, but within reason. “Fair enough. I’ll handle it this time, but what are you going to do if Luke or I aren’t around? Have you considered mouth breathing?”

  “I’ll take it under advisement.” Now that he was off the hook, Zack descended the stairs. He tickled Lydia under the chin and she grabbed at his fingers. “Once you smell all pretty and fresh, sweetie, you and I are off to meet the new neighbor.”

  “What new neighbor?”

  Zack’s eyebrows rose. “You need to get out more. Posey Davies? She bought the old McKinley house on the turn by the bridge. She’s got a little girl around Lydia’s age, so I arranged a playdate for them. Posey said she didn’t mind keeping Lydia for us while we meet with the lawyer this afternoon, too.”

  The name rang a faint bell. Jake scrounged up an image of a pale, colorless young woman with long hair so blond it appeared almost white. She reminded him of a whipped puppy, although he couldn’t say why since he’d never spoken to her. He hadn’t realized anyone had bought the McKinley house. The McGregors had looked into adding the property to their ranch when it went up for sale, since it bordered the Wagging Tongue, but discarded the idea because money was tight and they didn’t need it.

  He wasn’t sure he was okay with this plan. “You’re going to leave her with a complete stranger? I thought we’d take her with us.”

  “Relax, mama bear. Loosen those apron strings before you give yourself high blood pressure and heart disease. I nosed around first. Posey’s kitchen is baby-proofed and her little girl looks clean and well-fed. Besides, it’s only for a few hours. We’re not putting Lydia up for adoption.”

  Zack was right. They couldn’t take Lydia everywhere with them. Sooner or later they’d need a sitter, and having one right next door would be perfect. And if he’d already checked Posey Davies out and believed she was trustworthy, then Jake would accept his conclusion.

  It didn’t mean he wasn’t going to worry about it, however.

  “Come on, Lyddie,” he said. “Let’s go powder your nose and put a pretty dress on you so Uncle Zack can take you calling. I’ve got to get back to work.”

  *

  Lacey kept a close eye on the two Williams boys during recess and lunch.

  Finn did okay. He was a bit clingy, but so very cute that the two sixth grade girls helping out with the younger children on the playground enjoyed showering him with attention.

  Mac, on the other hand, was a powder keg waiting to blow. He picked a spot on the playground and staked out his territory. Anyone who dared venture too close was given the same stinky eye his uncle had mastered. Although he stuck to one spot, he didn’t stand still. He jiggled one leg, and his hands moved back and forth from his pockets to tight fists at his sides. His head shifted to keep Finn in his line of sight at all times.

  Before long, he’d be picking fights to work off his anxiety. That was how her brother had dealt with any situation he couldn’t control, and in her years as a teacher, she’d witnessed the behavior pattern over and over. The child needed grief counseling, and the sooner the better.

  No way would Jake McGregor, with his buck-up-and-be-strong, he-man mentality, get it for him. She’d have to intervene. If Mac belonged to anyone else she wouldn’t hesitate, so why hold back because of Jake?

  When the school bell rang at the end of the day, she’d made up her mind. She’d call Jake McGregor that evening and set up an appointment so they could talk.

  “Lacey?”

  She turned from the staffroom window where she’d been watching for a certain black, half-ton truck to appear.

  Neil Pierce, the third grade teacher, had come up behind her and she hadn’t noticed. She’d gone out with him a few times. He wasn’t broad-shouldered and tall. His hands weren’t work-hardened. His eyes weren’t green, either. They were a warm, comfortable brown—a shade darker than his neatly combed hair. He had “book nerd,” not “cowboy,” written all over him. So what if he didn’t make her heart skip or her pulse race?

  She liked him. He was nice, and a favorite with the students. Besides, it wasn’t anything serious between them. Pickings were slim in a small town like Grand.

  “Want to grab dinner and a movie Saturday night?” Neil asked.

  Jake’s truck swallowed a parking space in the lot next door to the playground, making her miss the question.

  “If I were twenty years younger I’d cook dinner for you,” Sue Anne Nylund, the school’s gray-haired secretary, interrupted, unable to resist an opportunity to tease. She’d been walking past the staffroom and overheard.

  Neil, however, had grown used to being the only male teacher on staff at Marion Street Grand Elementary.

  “Twenty years aren’t the problem,” he shot back, wisely not correcting Sue Anne’s number, which really, should be closer to forty. “I like older women. Sadly, you’re taken.”

  Lacey, her attention already occupied, ignored their banter. Jake rounded the corner of the chain-link fence, crossed the lane where the school buses were lined up for loading out front, and entered the school grounds. He wore a suit and tie, she noted, annoyed that her stupid pulse had noticed it, too. He cleaned up nice. The suit fit him well.

  Neil moved to stand beside her. “Well? How about it?”

  Lacey tried to recall what he’d asked her and failed. She tugged her gaze from the window. “How about what?”

  Warm brown eyes filled with humor. “Dinner? Saturday tonight?”

  There was a danger in dating a coworker in a small town like Grand that Neil, who hailed from Chicago, didn’t quite seem to grasp. If they weren’t careful they’d be pegged as a couple. And while he might like older women, she wasn’t as confident she was okay with younger men. At thirty-one, she had four years on him and she was tired of dating. Neil, she suspected, wasn’t done shopping around.

  “I can’t on Saturday,” she lied. Then, because she felt guilty, she added, “How about Wednesday instead?”

  “Wednesday it is.” Neil walked away with a smile on his face, whistling.

  She sighed, and then brightened. Maybe she’d introduce him to Mara. Mara could use a nice guy who wasn’t ready to make any commitments.

  She returned to the window. Jake was hustling the boys toward his truck. Little Finn had to take three steps to his one to keep up. Mac trailed in their wake, with Jake occasionally glancing over his shoulder to make sure he was there. When he wasn’t looking, Mac aped his stride. It was the funniest, most adorable thing Lacey had seen in a while—Jake and his mi
ni-me.

  Her pulse kicked in again. Her brain responded with horror. No.

  No, no, no.

  She banged her forehead against the thick pane of glass. Maybe she shouldn’t call him. Maybe he would come to the conclusion that Mac needed counseling all on his own. Maybe pigs would grow wings and fly.

  Because Jake was hurting too, and pain sometimes made people stupid and blind.

  “Believe me. I man up every morning.”

  The truck backed out of the parking space and bounced one tire over the curb on the way out of the lot. Two seconds later, it turned left at the lights behind a school bus and disappeared.

  Lacey collected her briefcase, car keys, and sweater. She had a stack of papers to grade and a long evening ahead. She’d make one phone call to Jake and ease her conscience.

  Him telling her to mind her own business was the worst that could happen.

  Chapter Three

  Lacey’s was the last voice Jake expected to hear when he answered his phone to an unfamiliar number, although she hadn’t been far from his thoughts.

  It was bath time at the McGregors and chaos presided. Jake’s job was to make sure Mac used toothpaste and soap and put his tablet away for the night. Luke’s role with Finn was more hands-on, and hair washing and towel drying were involved. Zack, meanwhile, was dunking Lydia in the kitchen sink and splashing water all over the counters and floor. Next up was a half hour of quiet time before bed. Luke had dug out a box of his old Marvin Redpost books from the attic and it was Jake’s night to read.

  The house, however, was far from quiet. Finn didn’t know the meaning of the word and Zack had Lydia squealing so hard it would be midnight before she settled down. Mac was in his room, supposedly donning pajamas, although Jake had his doubts.

  “Hi, Jake,” Lacey said, and Jake forgot everything else.

  “Lacey. Hey.” He ducked into Luke’s office on the main floor off the living room and shut the door behind him, his heart pounding his ribs. She’d made the first move.

  “I’d like to schedule a meeting with you. About Mac,” she added hastily, apparently afraid he might get the wrong idea.

  Which he totally had. Stupid.

  She was a teacher. This was about the kids, not him. What had he been thinking?

  “What about him?” he asked.

  “I’d rather discuss it in person. Could you come to the school one evening this week?”

  She sounded professional and completely unlike the sixteen-year-old girl who was stuck in his head. He fought an inner war. She might not be sixteen anymore, but this wouldn’t end well. She was going to tell him what to do and he was going to get defensive about it, because he wasn’t a complete idiot, even if he felt like one lately. He knew what was best for his nephew. Mac wasn’t so different from him. Besides, she wasn’t Mac’s teacher yet, so this couldn’t possibly be an official request, could it?

  He should make an excuse and say no.

  Except he suspected this was a conversation that was going to happen whether he liked it or not. Lacey wasn’t the type of woman who gave up after she’d made a decision. It didn’t have to be on her terms, however. If they were doing this, they were doing it in public where they could keep things polite and she couldn’t push.

  If she did, he planned to push back. Those children were his responsibility.

  “I’ve got to be in town Wednesday night on business,” he lied. “Could you meet me at the Wayside for coffee around seven instead?”

  The Wayside was a hipster café in the center of Grand’s downtown district, right on the riverfront. It stayed open in the evenings until ten, although its busiest hours were during the workday, thanks to office crowds. On a Wednesday night it would be quiet.

  Jake ticked off the seconds while Lacey made up her mind. God forbid anyone think they were dating.

  “I’ll see you at seven,” she said.

  This isn’t a date.

  It felt like one, though.

  She ditched you. She doesn’t want you, you moron.

  She hadn’t when she was sixteen. She wasn’t sixteen anymore.

  Jake disconnected the call with a flick of his thumb and opened the office door to be greeted by a damp, naked five-year-old holding a tattered paperback in his hands.

  His life had definitely changed. This parenting gig was going to take some getting used to.

  “Where’s Uncle Luke?” he asked.

  “Looking for my Batman pajamas.”

  Mentally, Jake ran through Finn’s wardrobe. “You don’t own Batman pajamas.”

  Finn held up the book. “Read me my story. Please,” he tacked on, wide-eyed and all innocence.

  Jake fought back a laugh. Poor Luke. Finn would do anything to get out of wearing pajamas to bed, including sending his uncle on a wild-goose chase.

  He took the boy by the shoulders, turned him around, and gave him a nudge to get him in motion. “First, you go get your PJs on. Tell Uncle Luke that Iron Man will have to do. Once you’re in bed, you get your story.”

  He stuffed his phone in his jeans pocket and followed his nephew upstairs. He should check on Mac, too.

  He found him in his bedroom, fully clothed, playing a game on his tablet. Jake held out his hand and Mac passed the tablet over.

  Unease tweaked at Jake’s gut as he stowed the tablet on the top shelf of Mac’s closet, then pushed the white, bi-fold door closed. He’d grown up with three siblings and couldn’t recall any of them giving in this easily when they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t. Mac never whined or complained.

  It might be a good idea to hear Lacey out, after all.

  “Pajamas,” he said.

  Mac rolled off the bed to obey.

  An hour later, the kids were all tucked in and asleep. The McGregor brothers convened in the living room for a discussion about that afternoon’s meeting with their dad’s lawyer.

  Nothing in Liam McGregor’s will had come as a surprise to Jake. Luke and Zack, however, had put no thought into inheritances because that had all seemed so far off, and they’d been blindsided to each be given 25 percent of the ranch. Jake had received the remaining shares to bring his stock up to 50 percent, leaving him the controlling interest.

  “I don’t want it,” Luke said, getting straight to the point.

  Jake had been ready for this. It was up to him to be practical and keep things running smoothly. Luke was a scholar, not a rancher.

  “I can’t afford to buy you out right now.”

  “You don’t have to buy me out. You and Dad worked hard to bring the ranch into the twenty-first century. You earned it, not me. The family business paid for my education. We’re square.”

  Luke wanted to do the right thing, which was good of him and no less than expected, but so did Jake. This was about honoring their father’s wishes.

  “When we borrowed the money to expand, Dad rewrote his will. I knew about it. We talked it over.” Jake had been buying shares in the ranch each year from his father with the goal of one day owning it outright, but shit happened. “He set money aside for Liz, but that goes into trust for the kids. Shares are all he had for us.”

  “He never really meant for Luke and me to own shares,” Zack weighed in. “Honestly, we can wait until the ranch is turning enough profit for you to buy us out. We have jobs. We’ll settle a figure now based on what the ranch is currently worth. Then you can start buying our shares at the same rate you would have bought them from Dad.”

  Zack. The pragmatic accountant.

  Jake was tempted. The offer was more than fair. He could carry on business as usual without having to ask for their input.

  It wasn’t what their dad had wanted, however. In his heart, Liam McGregor had hoped that one day his two younger sons would express an interest in the McGregor land. He would have sold Luke and Zack what remained of his shares—although Jake, as the oldest, would always retain controlling interest.

  “We’ve had a lot of change come at us
at once,” Jake said. “None of us was ready for this and it might be best if we don’t make quick financial decisions we’ll one day regret. Why don’t we give it a year and see how each of us feels then?”

  Luke inched his glasses up his nose with an index finger. “I won’t change my mind.”

  Zack spoke up again. “I think Jake’s right. But,” he added, looking at him, “if the ranch goes up in value because of the improvements you’ve made, which it should, you have to be prepared for the value of our shares to rise, too.”

  “Six of one, half a dozen of the other,” Jake said. “If that happens, my shares go up, too.”

  “Yes, but you aren’t planning to sell yours.”

  True enough. Jake understood business too though, and one year wasn’t likely to make any difference one way or the other—especially since the ranch was currently weathering a major disaster. “You’ll be taking the same risk as me. The value could as easily go down and then I’m the one getting a great deal.”

  Zack appealed to Luke. “Are we all in agreement we give it a year?”

  Luke didn’t look as convinced. He drummed his fingertips on the arms of their mother’s favorite chair—the one that faced the wide patio doors and her garden, now sad and neglected, beyond.

  “We agreed to stay for the summer, but it wouldn’t be right to walk out and leave Jake with 100 percent of the work and responsibility.”

  “You don’t have to stay,” Jake said. He hadn’t meant for his brothers to put their lives on hold. He’d simply wanted them to take the time to really consider what they’d be giving up.

  His brothers paid him no attention. Zack prodded Luke.

  “I can swing it if you can.”

  “I’m in,” Luke replied.

  Unexpected relief flooded through Jake. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been about looking after three kids and running a business all by himself. A year would give Mac and Finn plenty of time to adjust.

  And however he might feel about Lacey Anderson poking her nose where it didn’t belong, he was grateful Mac had a teacher who cared.