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Nate looked heavenward, wondered if God was laughing at him or punishing him, and then stalked toward the giggling, wiggling, chattering group.
Backs turned, they didn’t notice his approach. He planted his boots, his hands on hips and growled, “I guess you didn’t get my message.”
Six heads swiveled his direction. Yo-Yo leaped to his feet.
Nate’s scowl must have startled everyone except Pop, because he was the only one who spoke. Lowering his foot from the fence rail, his grandpop said, “Nate, boy, you made it back.”
Obviously. “What’s going on out here?”
“Rainy brought the children for a tour. Said you invited them.”
No use explaining to Pop that Rainy had twisted his arm until he’d yelled “uncle.”
“She told me what you done to help her yesterday,” Pop said. “When the young ones got scared. Mighty nice of you.”
Nate recalled squatting in front of a dark closet, assuring a shaking boy and girl that he was big and he could protect them. It was a lie. He couldn’t protect anyone, but they’d come crawling out anyway, trusting him, messing with his heart.
“I called,” he said, turning his attention to the guilty party. “Didn’t you get my message?”
Rainy hopped down from the fence, dusting her fingertips together in a feminine gesture that didn’t accomplish a thing but sure looked cute. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked fresh and pretty in jeans, sneakers and a blue hoodie that matched her eyes.
“What message?” she asked, smiling at him despite his obvious irritation.
“I left a message on your machine. Told you not to come, because I wouldn’t be here.”
One of her slender shoulders hitched.
“Sorry. I didn’t get any message.” She didn’t look sorry at all. Neither did the kids, who now huddled around her, eyes wide as they stared between Rainy and him.
“Don’t matter anyway, Nate boy,” Pop said. “I’ve had a fine time showing them around. I’d forgot how much I enjoy having kids running around the place.” His grandpa winked at Rainy. “Even if they are greenhorns.”
As if the two were old friends, Rainy made a face at Pop and then said, “Your ranch is really beautiful, Nate. And so big. Your granddad was kind enough to drive us over the fields in the hay truck.”
“We seen baby cows, too,” Joshua said. “They’re real nice. I petted one right on the nose and he licked me.”
The boy extended a hand as if the image of a calf’s tongue would be there as evidence.
Emma lifted a foot toward him, nose wrinkling. The bottom of her light-up pink sneakers was filthy. “I stepped in some…stuff.”
“But she’s not mad,” Joshua hurried to say. “Are you, Emmie? She liked it. We like everything about your ranch. Crossroads is a real good ranch. The best I ever saw.”
Probably the only one he’d ever seen, but at the child’s efforts to please, Nate softened. The deed was done. Rainy and the children had had their visit to the country and nothing terrible had happened. He should be thankful, he supposed, that Rainy had come while he was gone. Now he wouldn’t have to dread the visit. It was done. Over. Never more to return.
“So, you’ve had a good time then?” he managed, feeling a little guilty for his original gruffness. In truth, his bad mood had less to do with Rainy than his own family. No use taking his troubles out on her.
Rainy’s sweet-as-honey smile was his answer. “The best. A field trip of this kind is beneficial. They’ve loved it. Thank you so very much for allowing us to come. I can’t even express how special the afternoon has been.”
Rainy Jernagen was as nice as she was pretty. And he was a certified jerk.
He displayed his teeth, praying the action resembled a real smile.
“Great.” His head bobbed. “Glad you enjoyed yourselves.” And when are you leaving? If she kept staring at him with that sweet smile, he might start having crazy ideas about inviting her again.
And that was not about to happen. No way, Jose.
“So,” Pop said, clapping his hands together. “Why don’t we all adjourn to the kitchen? I got some banana bread in there somebody needs to eat. Maybe a glass of milk. Whatd’ya say, Will? Could you use a little sustenance?”
Will grinned but didn’t say anything. The rest of the group chorused their approval, so Nate had little choice except to fall into step. Yo-Yo, the traitor, didn’t even bother to say hello. He was too busy making a fool of himself over the children.
“Katie went all afternoon without screaming,” Rainy said to him.
“Good thing. That Hollywood scream might cause a stampede.”
Rainy stopped in mid-step, eyes wide. “Really?”
Her reaction tickled him. “No. Not really. You are a greenhorn.”
“Am not,” she said amicably, and Nate wanted to tease her again. He liked teasing her. Liked her gullible reaction. He looked ahead where four children pranced around his grandpa, yapping like pups. He was glad they were up there with Pop and Rainy was back here with him. And no, he wasn’t going to examine that thought too closely.
“Bet you wouldn’t know a stirrup from a saddle horn,” he said, baiting her.
“Guess I’m going to find out, Mr. Smartie.”
Something in the way she sparkled with energy gave him pause. “What do you mean?”
“Your grandpa invited us back next weekend.”
Nate battled back a cry of protest and more than a little panic. He shot a look at his grandfather’s flannel-clad back. “He did?”
“Sure did.” Rainy tapped his arm with one finger. “To go horseback riding.”
Like a punctured balloon, all the air seeped out of Nate.
Without upsetting everyone—including his grandfather, who would never let him hear the end of it—Nate couldn’t refuse. He wasn’t that much of a jerk.
Uneasiness crawled over his skin like an invisible spider.
Of all the dangerous ideas, Grandpop would have to come up with this one. Horseback riding. Small children on the backs of very large animals with minds of their own.
A recipe for disaster.
He sneaked a glance at Rainy Jernagen’s upturned face. His belly dipped.
From the moment she’d opened that red front door looking like a combination of mother earth and the bride of Frankenstein, he’d known she was trouble.
He should have run while he had the chance.
Chapter Four
Nate faced Saturday afternoon with a mixture of dread and anticipation. Long before Rainy’s minivan zoomed down his driveway, he worked the horses on a lunge line, rode every single one of them to get rid of any pent-up energy that might cause an issue with inexperienced riders and checked all the tack for wear. But any cowboy worth his boots knew there was only so much he could do to prepare. The rest was up to the riders and the horses.
He shut the door to the horse barn and leaned there a moment to whisper a prayer that none of the visitors would get hurt. A cool, meadow-scented breeze dried the sheen of sweat from his forehead.
“Quit your frettin’, boy, and come on. They’re here.” Pop came around the end of the barn from the direction of the calving shed.
Spring was calving time, and they’d gathered the expectant heifers into the lot for close observation. The old cows did fine birthing on their own most times, but the first calving heifers sometimes required attention. This crop of calves in particular was important to his expansion plans. He’d spent a fat sum of money on artificial insemination from one of the premiere Angus bulls. Sale of the calf crop would go a long way toward the purchase of the Pierson land next to his.
“We have better things to do today than entertain visitors,” he groused.
“You been saying that all week.”
“But you haven’t been listening.”
“Nope. Sure haven’t.” Pop clapped him on the shoulder. “Little relaxation won’t hurt you none. Don’t tell me a good-looking feller like you hadn’t noticed how pretty Miss Rainy Jernagen is.”
Nate kept quiet. Anything he said at this point would be used against him. Of course, he’d noticed. That was the trouble. But he didn’t want to be attracted to a woman whose entire life revolved around children.
“I like them,” Pop said.
Still Nate remained silent. Pop had decided to befriend Rainy and her pack of foster kids and nothing would stop him.
“Place needs a little noise. Even old Yo-Yo is tickled.” Sure enough, Yo-Yo had dashed away, furry tail in high gear, at the approach of a car engine.
“They’re your company,” Nate grumbled, refusing to be mollified. “Not mine.”
“Then I’m a lucky man.” Pop rubbed his weathered hands together. “Here they come.”
Sure enough, like a mama duck Rainy led her charges across the wide front yard. As soon as the kids spotted him and Pop they broke into a run, leaving Rainy to saunter alone.
Nate tried to remain focused on the children instead of Rainy, but somehow his eyes had a mind of their own. They zoomed straight to her.
Pop was right. She was pretty in a simple, wholesome manner. Not knock-your-hat-in-the-dirt, tie-your-tongue-and-make-you-stupid gorgeous, but pretty in a way that made a man feel comfortable around her. Made him want to know her better. Made his belly lift in happy anticipation.
Today she reminded him of the daffodils sprouting up in the front yard, bright and pretty and happy in a yellow fleece shirt above a pair of snug old jeans and black boots. He did a double take at her footwear and grinned. Rolled-up pant legs brushed the tops of a pair of spikeheel, zippered dress boots that sported a ruffle of fur around the top. Girly. Real girly.
“What you wearing there, Slick?” he asked, moseying out to meet her. He leveled a penetrating gaze at her fancy high heels.
“You said to wear boots if we had them.”
“Um-hum. Boots.” He angled one of his rugged brown Justin Ropers in her direction. They’d seen better days. “Real boots.”
“These are real boots.”
“Yep, if you’re walking down Fifth Avenue in New York.” His grin widened. “Or Tulsa. City slicker.”
The corners of her full lips tilted upward. “Are you making fun of my choice in stylish footwear?”
“Sure am.” In actuality, he thought they were feminine and sassy even if they weren’t the best boot for riding horses, but giving her a hard time was easier than a compliment.
She waggled a foot at him. “Laugh if you want, cowboy, but I already had them in the closet. After I shelled out money for four pairs of kid boots this week, I decided these would have to do.”
Hands fisted on his hips, Nate tilted back, his mouth twitching in amusement. “You bought the kids new boots for this one day?”
Rainy rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Your granddad said we could come out as often as we’d like, so I thought the boots a sound investment.”
Suddenly the joke was on him. “Pop said that?”
She grinned. “Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to get rid of us?”
Because I am. But he didn’t say that. He did, however, send a scowl toward his annoying, meddling grandfather. What was the matter with that old coot anyway? He knew Nate’s feelings about kids. He also knew the reasons his grandson never planned to have a family. He had one. One messed-up, constantly-in-need family was all he could handle.
“Nate, Nate!” Emma, the blond bombshell, barreled at him as fast as a first grader’s legs could run. She didn’t slow down until she slammed into his kneecaps.
“Whoa now.” Nate caught her little shoulders. Bright blue eyes the color of cornflowers batted up at him. She was a gorgeous little girl, already stealing hearts. Some daddy would have his hands full with this one.
His chest squeezed at the thought. Emma didn’t have a loving daddy to protect her.
“I got pink boots. See?” The little charmer twisted her foot this way and that for his perusal.
“Nothing but pink would do for Princess Emma,” Rainy said.
“They’re gorgeous, darlin’,” Nate said.
The child’s smile was as bright as Rainy’s sweatshirt. “Joshy’s got red ones and Will gots brown. He told Rainy he wasn’t having no sissy boots. Will wanted man boots like yours.”
Nate chuckled and glanced toward the corral, where Will and Joshua had gone. Both boys had their hands sticking through the fence. His smile disappeared. “You boys watch out doing that. If the horse thinks you have something in your hand, he might bite.”
Both children yanked their hands inside and turned stunned faces toward Nate.
“They didn’t know, Nate,” Rainy said softly.
“That’s the trouble,” he groused. “They don’t know anything about a ranch.”
His sharp tone brought a puzzled look. “I’ll keep a close eye on them.”
“See that you do.” He started toward the barn, where Pop was hauling saddles and tack out into the corral. Rainy kept stride, rushing a little as her fancy-heeled boots poked perfectly round holes in the soft earth.
“Will you teach us how to saddle the horses?” Hands shoved into her back pockets, yellow shirt as bright as the sunshine overhead, Miss Rainy’s face was alive with interest and enthusiasm. Was she always so…so…optimistic?
He slid her a sideways glance. “Why?”
“Learning new things is good for the kids.”
Yeah, so they could hang out on his ranch and bug him.
“And it will be fun, too.”
He made a huffing noise, but Rainy didn’t get the message that he was in a bad mood. She chattered right on.
