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After lunch Colt dropped Leah back at her place. He watched her walk away from him, her long dark hair swaying from side to side with each stride. She gave him a final wave before getting in her truck to drive back to her mother’s.
He ought to be pleased with how the day had gone. He’d made his apologies and atoned for his rude behavior by helping Leah move into her new home. They’d cleared the air between them, and agreed that they were better off staying just friends.
But he didn’t feel pleased. He felt…restless and a little, well, unhappy. The feeling wasn’t a new one. But it was becoming more pervasive. Used to be he’d have a couple of good weeks, maybe even a month, when he’d be happy to be back home after a series of rodeos. Now it didn’t seem to matter where he was…he was always wishing he could be somewhere different.
Colt drove back downtown to the post office. He parked, then reached for the stamped envelope he’d put in the glove box earlier. He could have set up automatic payments with his bank, but he got some satisfaction out of this monthly ritual. He went to the drop box on the wall of the post office, hesitating for a moment, then releasing the letter into the capable hands of the U.S. postal system.
He liked knowing that in a couple of days the letter, with his handwriting, would be sitting on their kitchen counter. Tangible evidence of his existence.
Colt returned to his truck and headed back to the ranch. He wished he could feel enthusiastic about something. Anything. Spending time with his family, working with the horses, checking in with Uncle Josh on the cattle side of their operation. But he didn’t.
The source of the problem went back twelve years. His father had still been alive then, and Colt had considered going to the old man for advice. But the timing had been bad. Ace had just been accepted into veterinary college and their parents had been so pleased. So Colt had kept everything to himself, and done what had seemed to him to be the right thing at the time.
Only ever since then, and especially in the last few years, he’d started to wonder if he’d been wrong. Dead wrong.
Last night Leah had said something to him about being proud of her decision, of knowing she’d done the right thing.
And that was the crux of his problem, Colt realized. He wasn’t proud. In fact, he was damned ashamed.
* * *
THE DAY HAD TURNED unseasonably hot, almost eighty degrees Colt figured, as he strode across the pasture looking for Midnight. He could feel the prickle of sweat under his hat, and thought longingly of a swim in the family’s pool.
But first he needed to talk to his mother. She hadn’t been in the house, so the office in the barn was his next guess. He figured he’d say hello to Midnight on his way.
The stallion and Fancy Gal were grazing laconically in the shade of an aspen grove. As soon as Midnight spotted him, he snorted and tossed his head. Almost as if he were trying to say hello.
“You are one fine-looking animal,” Colt said as he drew closer. “And no, Fancy Gal, I am not speaking about you.” He gave the mare a friendly scratch on the side of her neck and when she nuzzled up to his shoulder, he laughed.
“You know what I have, don’t you?” He pulled the AB Horse Treat out of his shirt pocket and broke her off a piece. The rest he offered to Midnight.
The stallion was more stand-offish than the mare. He thrust his head back and glared at Colt with his dark brown eyes, before condescending to take the food.
Once he had the cookie, though, Midnight backed off. He munched through the treat in no time, then gave Colt another look. This time Colt felt as if the animal were pleading with him. And not for another cookie.
“What do you want, Midnight Express?” Colt didn’t think he was projecting his own emotions on the animal, when he sensed a certain restless longing in him. Maybe he should find out more about Midnight’s history and see if there were clues to why he wasn’t settling in more easily.
Colt left the horses, then made his way to the equestrian barn. “Mom, you here?”
“In the office, Colt.”
He found her behind the large oak desk, glasses settled halfway down her nose, frowning at the adding machine. “Darn thing just keeps making mistakes today.”
Colt noticed several of the filing cabinet doors were open. Some of the papers had spilled onto the scarred plank floor. He bent over to pick them up. “What’s this? Some kind of cash-flow statement?”
“It’s a condition of our bank loan. We’re supposed to send them these reports every quarter. This one is due at the end of the month.”
Colt couldn’t have asked for a better lead-in. “Well, interesting you should say that, Mom, because I was just talking to someone who’s setting up a new bookkeeping business in Roundup and she’s looking for clients.”
His mother peered at him over the top of her glasses. “Go on.”
“The… Well, the woman is Leah Stockton. Do you remember her?”
“Sure do. She and Cheyenne Sundell were the competitors to beat back in Dinah’s barrel racing days. She used to ride that beautiful paint.”
“Country Girl,” Colt recalled. Leah’s horse had not only been a beauty, but she’d also been light on her feet, too. He’d never seen a horse make tighter turns around a barrel.
He moved toward the whiteboard on the wall where they kept track of the rodeo bookings for the bucking stock. “Looks like a busy schedule.”
“Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t too busy. If our breeding program is as successful as Ace thinks it could be, maybe we could afford to slow up a little next year.”
“In the meantime, it seems like a smart idea to get you some office help. You know, Leah doesn’t barrel race anymore. She has two little kids to support.”
“I did hear about that. She married some cowboy she met at the Calgary Stampede, but they ended up divorced. Her mother is pretty upset about it.”
“Well, that’s life. Bad things happen.”
“Unfortunately that’s true.” His mother glanced at the papers scattered over her desk, then frowned again at the adding machine. “Does Leah have any experience doing books for a ranch?”
“I’m not sure. But she does have an accounting diploma so she must know something.”
“I suppose I could give her a chance. Lord knows I’d be happy to spend less time in here.” She glanced at the far wall, where a couple of shelves held some of her children’s and even a few of her husband’s rodeo trophies. “Give her a call and see if she can make it here for Monday morning.”
* * *
LEAH EXPECTED settling the kids to sleep that evening in their new bedroom would take longer than usual. She’d done her best to make the small room feel like home. They’d unpacked toys together and she’d hung many of the pictures from their old rooms in Calgary, including several of their dad. The twin beds were made up with Davey’s Thomas-the-Train and Jill’s Dora-the-Explorer comforters.
They’d already had showers and brushed their teeth in the new bathroom. Now Leah asked them to put their dirty clothes in the hamper, then climb into their beds. As they scampered around the room collecting socks and underwear, her phone chimed.
She pulled it out of her back pocket and saw a text from Colt.
Mom wants to meet with you about the job. Tomorrow good?
Leah smiled, then slipped the phone back into her pocket. “Who wants to read Melanie Mouse’s Moving Day?”
“I do!” Jill went to the large wicker basket where they’d unpacked their books and pulled out the well-worn picture book.
“Me, too.” Davey scrambled up beside his sister, leaving room in the middle for Leah. She accepted the book from Jill, glad she’d had the foresight to buy a hardcover, since they’d been reading this story a lot lately. Neither one of the kids seemed to get tired of it. Usually at the end came lots of questions, which Leah patiently answered, over and over. Her children had been through many changes with the divorce and the move and she wanted them talking to her about their feelings, not bottling them up inside.
Today, though, Jill had a new question for Leah.
“Why couldn’t we stay at Grandma’s house, Mommy? She wants us to.”
“Well, when I was a little girl, like you, I lived with your grandmother, because she was my mom. But I’m an adult now. And once you’re an adult, you’re too old to keep living with your parents.”
“I won’t ever be too old to live with you,” Jill said.
“Me, too,” Davey said, giving her a fierce hug.
“You can stay as long as you want,” Leah promised.
“But if we left, would you cry like Grandma does?” Jill asked.
This was news to Leah. “Did you see your grandmother cry?”
Jill nodded. Davey leaned in close and whispered. “She was sad.”
“Really?” Leah swallowed, feeling some tears of her own welling up. “We’ll have to give Grandma lots of hugs and kisses the next time we see her so she’ll be happy again. Just like this—” Leah put an arm around each of her children and took turns kissing one, then the other. Soon, they were tumbling on the bed and giggling.
Which wasn’t exactly calming them down for sleep.
But she didn’t want them going to bed sad, either.
She decided to read them another book, a silly, fun book by Dr. Seuss, and then finished with the classic Goodnight Moon, which the children read to her since they knew it by heart.
“I love you, peanuts. Sleep well.” She gave them final kisses, pulled up their covers, then left the room, door open, night-light glowing.
She would have liked a little time to relax with a cup of tea and the latest episode of The Good Wife, but she still had her own bed to make and clothing to unpack. She was crossing the hall when her iPhone rang. She answered quickly, not wanting the chime from Modern Family to wake the kids.
“Hello, Mom.” She fought to keep her tone friendly, even though she was upset at her for crying in front of the kids. Her mom had been a big help since she’d moved back to Roundup. And she did appreciate that. But her children needed less drama in their lives. Not more.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you this earlier, Leah, but Jackson called the house today.”
“Really?” She hadn’t heard from her ex in over a week.
“He wants you to phone him back.”
“Did he talk to the kids?” They hadn’t mentioned anything, so Leah would be surprised if he had.
“No. They were napping, so I never thought to mention it.”
It shouldn’t have been up to her mother. Jackson should have asked.
“Leah, you will call him back?”
“Yes. I’ll dial him on Skype tomorrow morning so the kids can talk to him, too.”
“Maybe it would be better to call him tonight while they’re sleeping. So the two of you can have a private chat.”
“Mom, there is nothing private to be said. The divorce is final. Our only connection now is our children.”
There was a long silence. Then her mother said, “This wouldn’t have anything to do with Colton Hart helping you with the move today, would it?”
“Mom, no! I haven’t seen him in years. We just happened to run into one another at the Open Range last night.”
“Is that where you stormed out to? I thought I could smell stale beer on your clothes when I put them in the washer.”
Oh, my Lord. Give me patience. Her mother was making her feel like an adolescent again.
“Yes, Mom, I went to the bar for a few drinks last night.” Leah opened the black garbage bag that held her bedding and pulled out her sheets. She pressed the speakerphone option, then set the phone on her nightstand so she could start making up her bed. “I am thirty-two, remember? And since I know you’re about to ask—no, there is nothing romantic going on with Colt and me.”
Not anymore, there wasn’t.
“I’m relieved to hear that. The Harts are a good family, but everyone knows Colt is the black sheep.”
Really, Mom? Black sheep? Leah bit back a sarcastic comment, knowing there was no point in starting an argument she couldn’t win.
“The real reason I was talking to Colt was because I wanted him to ask his mother about me doing some bookkeeping for Thunder Ranch.” Her mother knew about her plans to run her own home business. She’d shocked Leah by actually being supportive.
“That’s a good idea.”
“Thank you. I just received a message that Sarah Hart wants to interview me tomorrow. Is there any chance you could watch the kids for me, again?”
“I have coffee plans with some friends in the afternoon, but my morning is free. I’d be happy to have them for a few hours. Would that be enough time?”
“Lots. Thanks so much, Mom. I’ll bring them over around nine-thirty.”
Leah sat on her bed and picked up her phone to end the call with her mother then typed a reply to Colt’s message. Great! Tomorrow at ten, okay?
His reply came a few seconds later.
That works. Now you owe me, darlin.
Chapter Five
Efforts to reach Jackson on Skype the next morning were not successful. Leah ended up leaving him an email message, asking when the best time to talk to him would be. The kids miss you, she added, hoping that would provide incentive for him to answer promptly.
Putting her ex-husband out of her mind, Leah connected her computer, then checked the directions to Thunder Ranch. When she was sure she knew where she was going, she loaded the kids into the truck and drove to her mother’s.
As soon as she saw her mother’s face, however, she could see that she wasn’t well. “Do you have a migraine coming on, Mom?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Leah kept a hold on Davey and Jill, who had been about to run to their grandmother to give her the hugs and kisses they’d talked about yesterday. “Hang on, guys. Grandma’s head is hurting today. Don’t touch her, okay? And try to be very quiet.”
She took a closer look at her mom. “Have you taken your pain meds?”
“Yes.”
“And have you eaten anything today?”
“Toast and coffee.”
“That’s good. Why don’t you lie down in your room, and I’ll bring you some water.” She went to the kitchen, took out a glass and filled it with ice-cold water from the tap.
“I’m so sorry about this, Leah. I know you have that appointment at Thunder Ranch. Maybe if you turn the TV to some children’s programming, the kids and I will make out okay until you return.”
“No way, Mom.” She felt guilty enough already about how much her mother had been helping her. Maybe she was pushing it and that was why she’d come down with the headache today. She didn’t get them often, but when she did, they were dreadful.
