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Monty frowned as he digested that information. “Well, we’re glad she’s okay.”
John nodded, then glanced past him to where Heather stood, hugging her sister. The lights from the ranch house spilled out, casting them in stark relief.
Ellen stood to one side, her arm around Heather’s shoulder, her neck brace preventing her from doing more than that.
When the two girls drew apart, Heather kissed her mom carefully on the cheek. Then John saw Ellen gently wipe her adopted daughter’s face, her own features looking pained. “Oh, baby girl,” he heard her say. “We missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too.” The broken note in Heather’s voice troubled him. She had never been one to share her emotions. To see her so vulnerable created a push-pull of tangled emotions. He shook his head, then turned back to Monty.
“I better get going. Adana is still sleeping, but she’s probably hungry. Never did make it to Saddlebank for dinner with Kim and Rex.” His in-laws were leaving on a cruise and had hoped to see him and Adana before they left tomorrow. It was too late to go back now.
“Would you like to join us?” Ellen asked.
Heather’s head swung toward him the same time he looked her way. It wasn’t too hard to see the alarm on her features. Seemed as if she was as anxious about spending time with him as he was with her.
“It’s okay,” he said, holding up a gloved hand. “I’m sure you have lots to catch up on with Heather. I don’t want to impose.”
“Oh, since when are you imposing?” Ellen protested. “You eat here plenty.”
“And that’s why I should let you have some time alone.” Sitting with Heather in the truck had been harder than he wanted to admit to himself. She was part of his youth, his past. She’d only ever been his girlfriend, unlike Sandy, who had been his wife.
“Thank you for that,” Monty said. He leveled John a steady look, and behind that gaze John sensed an unspoken question.
Was Heather’s presence going to cause a problem?
Monty had always been very protective of Heather, a legacy of her troubled past, most likely, and John had always tried to tread carefully where she was concerned. That’s why, back in high school, he had waited to date her. That Mitch had beat him to it was poor luck and bad timing. However, when John had finally worked up the nerve to ask her out, it was with fear and trepidation of what Monty would think. Whether he was worthy enough to date the boss’s daughter. But once he did, he and Heather had fallen hard for each other. And started making plans.
He had always wondered if the Bannisters had encouraged Heather to go to college precisely to forestall their plans.
Adana’s wails from the truck reminded him of his other obligations. His main priority.
“I better get her back to the house,” he said, taking a step away.
He caught Monty’s nod of approval, and as he walked to the truck John found he had to stifle his frustration. Did Monty still see him only as the foreman’s son?
But in spite of his feelings, in spite of their time apart, he couldn’t help glancing back at Heather.
Their eyes met and held, John feeling the too-familiar ache in his heart.
He shook it off, turning his attention to Adana. He had his little girl to think of and she needed security and stability in her life.
Heather represented anything but that.
* * *
“Got clean tights, diapers, sippy cup, pacifier.” John marked off the checklist as he went through the diaper bag. Though his home wasn’t that far from the main ranch house, he always liked to make sure Adana had enough provisions for the day.
“Want to go,” his daughter said, as he packed up. She scooted away from him toward the back door, as if she knew exactly what was happening next.
“Yeah. I know, munchkin. I’m coming,” he said. They were running a little later than usual this morning. After breakfast John had cleaned up the house, did a load of laundry and organized the diaper bag. All in an effort to put off going to the main house.
Monty and Ellen always invited him in for coffee when he brought Adana over, and he always accepted, but Heather was there now.
He hooked the bag over his shoulder, scanning the house to make sure that everything was in order. This was the home he had grown up in, as the son of the foreman. It was compact and simple, and it was home for him and Adana.
It was a cozy place, he reminded himself. Sandy had never wanted to move back to Saddlebank after they got married, preferring their life together in Great Falls. However, there were times he’d imagined the two of them living here, after Monty had offered him a job working on the ranch. But Sandy never wanted to live in their hometown, so the dream had never materialized.
His eyes fell on her photo, sitting by his Bible, both resting on a table by his easy chair. He took a moment to pick up the picture, smiling down at it.
He had taken it a month before Adana was born. Sandy stood in profile to the camera, her hands cupped around the swell of her stomach, her short brown hair teased away from her face by a gentle breeze. Her head was tipped to one side, as if she’d been contemplating the new life growing inside her.
Compared to Heather’s sophisticated allure, Sandy looked almost plain, with her freckled complexion and large green eyes. No stunning beauty, she’d always had a beauty of spirit, which had more staying power than Heather’s breathtaking looks.
And each moment he’d spent with Sandy, he had grown more and more in love with her.
John touched her picture, sorrow welling up in him at the horrible loss he’d faced when she’d died. Leaving her behind in the hospital while he took his squalling baby home was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He still wasn’t sure how he had gotten through the empty months afterward. If it wasn’t for his parents, and their invitation to come back and stay with them at Refuge Ranch, he was sure he would have fallen apart. Their support, and Monty and Ellen’s help, had brought him through that dark valley to where he was now.
On solid ground with a daughter he loved fiercely.
Sandy’s little girl.
“I miss you,” he whispered to the beloved image in the photo. He waited a moment, as if listening for the giggly laugh that would bubble up every time he tried to get mushy with her.
But the only sound he heard was the happy slap of Adana’s hands on the window of the porch door.
He set the picture frame down, straightened it and gave his wife’s image a smile. “I told you I would take care of Adana and I will.”
He spoke the words aloud, as if to remind himself what was most important right now.
He would need every bit of resolve to get through the unwelcome distraction of Heather at the ranch. It was a good thing she was around for only a week, he thought as he walked toward his daughter, now tugging on the porch door. John could manage if he avoided Heather, which shouldn’t be too hard. Cows needed vaccinating before calving. The barn needed to be made ready. Corrals, chutes, gates and fences needed to be checked over and repaired. There was plenty to keep him busy while she was here.
“I go outside,” Adana called out, her hands landing on the window again with a carefree splat. She gave John a crooked grin.
“Yes, yes, we’re going.” He scooped her up in his arms, then held her a moment, looking into her smiling face, her bright blue eyes with their thick lashes, reminding himself that this precious bundle was his main focus.
He gave her a tight hug, holding her close. For a moment she laid her head in the crook of his neck and he inhaled the smell of her—baby shampoo mixed with newly laundered clothes.
“I love you, little girl,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her soft cheek.
Then she giggled and squirmed away from him. Time to go.
He made quick work of getting her jacket and winter hat on. A few minutes later he was dressed as well, and they walked across the yard toward the ranch house, Adana in his arms and her diaper bag slung over his shoulder. The sun was gaining strength, he thought, looking across the yard to the mountains beyond, cradling the basin. He could feel the promise of spring in the warmth on his back and the sound of water trickling across the driveway as the last of the snow melted.
He heard cows bawling, gathered in the lots. They would be calving in a month. If things went well, and Monty accepted his proposal, John would soon be a partner in the ranch. He would have a personal stake in the success and health of the calves.
He wasn’t going to jeopardize that in any way.
With that in mind, he headed directly to the main house. Tanner’s truck was parked in front. Obviously, Keira’s fiancée had come by to see Heather.
John got to the front door and Adana banged her hands on his shoulders, squirming away from him. “No. Not go to house. Go on the wagon,” she protested, as he struggled to hold her wriggling body while he opened the door.
As soon as he stepped into the house and tried to set her down, she started crying loudly. The diaper bag slipped off his shoulder and fell to the floor, the contents spilling out.
“Do you need some help?”
John was crouched down, Adana still crying, sitting on his knee as he tried to gather up the cups and diapers, so he had to look up at Heather.
Her hair hung loose today, the morning light from the windows beside the door making it shine. She wore a simple white blouse and blue jeans, and had an empty laundry basket resting on her hip.
She looked so much like the old Heather that his traitorous heart did a slow flip.
He hid his reaction to her by grabbing the diapers, dismayed when he realized that they had been lying in a puddle of melting snow from another pair of cowboy boots.
“Here, let me help you,” Heather said, setting the laundry basket on the blanket box and picking up various items that had spilled out. “We’ll need to clean these up.”
“Pwetty, pwetty,” Adana called out, her mood switching with lightning speed.
Except now, instead of reaching for the door, she was leaning toward Heather, arms outstretched. The sudden shift made John wobble on his feet.
“Can you take her?” he asked, trying to not drop everything again as he straightened. Wouldn’t that be just amazing, if he ended up on his backside right in front of her.
“Um. Sure.” He didn’t have time for her hesitation. He shifted his arm, pushing Adana toward Heather. She took the little girl just in time and he managed to regain his balance and keep his pride.
“Guess I can just throw these away,” he muttered as he picked up the remaining diapers.
He glanced again at Heather, who held Adana in an awkward grip. He knew Mitch wasn’t the kid type. He had made that loud and clear at his bachelor party. But John had always thought Heather would want children.
Her forced smile and the self-conscious way she held his little girl showed him quite clearly how different Heather was from the girl he had once dated.
“I’ll take her now,” he said, setting the diaper bag back on the floor and reaching for his daughter. “Come on, sweetie.”
But Adana ignored him. Instead, she had her hands planted on Heather’s shoulders, grinning as she babbled away, clearly fascinated by her. “Pwetty, pretty,” she said.
“I think she likes my earrings.” Heather seemed uncomfortable, her expression hesitant.
But Adana wasn’t looking at the pearls hanging from Heather’s ears; her eyes were on Heather’s face.
“Probably,” John agreed. He caught Adana under the arms and was about to pull her away when she screeched her objection.
“No! No, Daddy! Pwetty!” She leaned away from him, then laid her head on Heather’s shoulder.
Heather shot him a flustered look. “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t know why his daughter had suddenly formed this attachment to a woman she didn’t know. Adana was an easygoing girl, but she didn’t quickly go to strangers.
Heather turned then, shifting her arms so that John could more easily take Adana from him.
“Hey, you two, are you coming in or are you going to keep yapping?” Tanner called out from the dining room.
Heather gave John an apologetic look, then walked into the kitchen. With Adana wriggling in his arms, he followed her.
“Hey, John.” Tanner leaned back in his chair, grinning as Heather sat down. “Coffee’s on. May as well join us. Monty’s in no rush to head out to feed cows this morning.”
John glanced around the room. Tanner, the son of the neighboring landowner, Monty and his two daughters were all sitting around the table.
And there he was, the son of the foreman, standing awkwardly, feeling like the outsider.
“Sure. I’ll join you,” he said, as Keira got up to take Adana from him.
“Hey, muffin,” Keira said, cuddling the little girl close. “You’re as cute as ever.”
John walked over to the coffeepot, grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured himself a cup. He knew his way around this kitchen as well as his own.
“So, John, what’s Monty got you doing today?” Tanner asked.
“Got some fences to fix,” he replied. “The corrals need a few repairs.” He looked to Monty. “You still figure on processing the cows on Saturday?”
“I got that part for the hay bind coming in on Saturday morning first thing, but yeah. After that we can get ’er done.”
“I’ll have the cows ready to go, then,” John said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“You know, I could use a capable guy like you at my place,” Tanner said, grinning at him. “Why don’t you quit working for this character and come work for me?”
“You trying to poach my best hand?” Monty protested.
“Never hurts to ask,” Tanner said with an unapologetic shrug.
“John’s a Refuge Ranch man,” Monty said, with a broad grin. “Just like his daddy before him.”
John tried to tamp down his reaction to the banter between Monty and Tanner. Right now that was his reality. He was only the foreman like his daddy before him.
He thought of the proposal sitting in Monty’s office. Now that he was so close, he wanted it done. Then he glanced over at Heather, just as she looked up at him. Their eyes met and she looked away. But even in that brief moment, he was disappointed at how quickly the old feelings taunted him.
He turned to his daughter, feeling a need to get back to work. To keep himself busy. “Hey, muffin, Daddy has to go to work. Wanna sit with me before I go?”
Adana looked at him, then her eyes skittered to Heather. “Wanna sit her,” she said, wriggling away from John’s outstretched hands.
“C’mon, honey. Come sit with Daddy,” he coaxed.
“Sit her,” she insisted. Before anyone could stop her, she slid off Keira’s lap, scooted around John’s chair and headed straight to Heather.
“Guess you got dumped by your own daughter,” Tanner teased.
John was far too aware of the irony of the situation. Getting dumped by his daughter in favor of the woman who had dumped him.
He caught the look of wariness on Heather’s face as Adana toddled up to her, then her discomfort as the child tried to climb up on her lap.
John was just about to rescue his daughter when Heather finally picked her up. But Adana wasn’t simply content with sitting on her lap. She had another mission in mind.
