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The boy’s head came up, surprised that she wasn’t talking to him.
“Dogger, I’m jealous,” she whispered, leaning toward the dog. “It took you close to a month to offer me your friendship and here you are hanging out with a new person immediately.” She sighed. “What am I to think? That you like him more than me?” Continuing to stroke the dog’s head, she looked up. “He plays hard to get most of the time.”
The boy’s eyes widened.
Beth decided not to push her luck, patted Dogger’s head, stood and walked into the stables. She turned around to watch the boy’s reaction. He looked over his shoulder, a frown furrowing his brows.
She chuckled and turned around and ran smack-dab into a wide chest. She bounced off it, knocking her hat off. Instantly, the man’s hands shot out to steady her. She looked up into Tyler Lynch’s deep brown eyes.
“I need to put a bell on you, you know that?” The words popped out of her mouth before she thought.
Tyler’s eyes widened, then a deep-throated chuckle rumbled through his chest. The sound filled the dim interior of the stables.
Feeling the electricity to her toes, she smiled back. “I do seem to be in the wrong spot for you, don’t I?”
“I’d say so.”
He continued to hold her arms, and she wondered if he realized what he was doing. Sadly, his hands fell away and he stepped back.
“Sophie said you brought the young man who is sitting outside. What’s his name?”
The humor drained out of his face to be replaced with pain and sadness. “Riley Carter.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “His brother was in my unit in Iraq. He was killed disarming a bomb.” The words sucked the lightness from the air.
No wonder the kid had an attitude. “I’m so sorry, Tyler.”
“Riley took his brother’s death real hard. His mother is worried about him and troubled by the chip on his shoulder. Paul told me he was real close to Riley after their father’s death. I thought this place might help. I know I’ve seen some pretty amazing things over the weeks I’ve been here.” He shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”
Admiration welled in Beth’s heart. His concern for his friend’s younger brother spoke well of Tyler. “I think you’ve got a bit of work ahead of you from the looks of things.”
Tyler looked out the open door, again, his expression turning grim. “Yeah, I know.”
“Take heart. This ranch is a miraculous place. If it could reach my brother with as bad an attitude as he had when I brought him here, it can work with anyone—” she looked over her shoulder out the open doors “—that young man included.”
“You brought Zach here?” Surprise rang in his voice.
Her brows wiggled. “I did. And a pricklier male you’ve never seen, but he promised me he would try once. I knew Sophie from college and knew she was helping to establish a program for veterans, and I kind of volunteered Zach.”
Tyler’s brow arched. “How’d he feel about that?”
Beth grinned. “Annoyed. But once he stepped through the breezeway and saw horses, he was hooked. And he got a wife in the bargain.”
“I hope it’s that easy with Riley—with the exception of the wife thing.”
“Ah, there were a few bumps. You might not realize it, but Riley’s bad attitude is encouraging. I think he’s fighting a battle within himself. He’s curious, but that male pride thingie is standing in his way. We’ve got to figure out a way he can save face and start exploring things here.”
“What do you mean, that ‘male pride thingie’?”
Beth laughed at his indignant tone and reached down, picking up her hat. “I rest my case.” With those words, she put on her hat and walked to the tack room to get Charming’s bridle. She’d let Mr. Macho wrestle with the ideas she just floated. Riley wasn’t the only prickly male around the stables.
* * *
Beth finished with her last rider of the day, Chelsea. The little girl had the heart of a lion, enduring surgery after surgery to correct the damage done in the car accident. Her legs, broken in multiple places, had healed, but her gait was still awkward. Since she’d started riding, her attitude had changed and her coordination had improved.
Beth helped Chelsea off the horse. The eight-year-old grinned from ear to ear.
“I love Brownie.” She patted the horse’s side.
“Why don’t you go get a carrot for her?” Beth asked.
The little girl hurried to the carrot barrel and grabbed a short one. She fed it to Brownie. Chelsea’s mother smiled at her daughter.
“It’s a miracle,” she said to Beth, her eyes glistening with emotion. “She can run, even if it is slowly.”
Beth knew the feeling. “It is.” She tied Brownie to the iron ring in the wall by the mounting stairs and walked out with mom and daughter. Turning, she expected to see a pouty Riley, but the bench stood empty. She’d tried several times this afternoon to involve Riley in some small way with the horses and riders. She suggested giving a carrot to one of the horses or getting bridles from the tack room, but the kid steadfastly refused to be interested in anything. She’d gotten only grunts and one-word answers.
Looking around the ring, Beth tried to spot Riley, thinking he might have broken down and gotten interested in something. He’d been a fixture on the bend for the past three hours, glaring at all the people who came close to him. She fought down the panic and rushed down the breezeway on the far side of the office that led to the parking lot. Scanning the cars, she saw no sign of the boy. Turning back to the yard, she realized she didn’t see Dogger, either.
Running back to the office, she opened the door. “Sophie, have you seen the kid that Tyler brought?”
Sophie stood and glanced out the office window. “No. Why?”
“Because he’s not over there, and I can’t find him anywhere.”
Sophie hurried out from behind the desk. “Okay, I’ll get Ollie and Zach and see if we can find him.”
“Great, I’ll check with Tyler. Maybe he took the kid home.”
The women headed in different directions. Sophie walked out into the ring where Zach worked with a rider, while Beth headed back into the stables. She found Tyler behind the stables moving sacks of feed into the storage room.
“I can’t find Riley. Is he with you?”
He stopped. “No.”
“He’s not sitting on the bench, and I’ve looked around and can’t find him. Dogger’s also missing.”
Tyler took off his leather gloves. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I tried to get Riley to help this afternoon with some of the clients, but he refused. He was there when I started working with my last rider.”
Tyler shoved his gloves into his back pocket. The pulse in his neck throbbed, but his voice didn’t reflect any panic. “I’ll check the corral behind the stables. Have you looked through each stall in the stable?”
“No. I’ll check them.” She raced back to the stables, praying they’d find the boy.
* * *
Tyler fought back the alarm gripping his heart. Fear never led to good results, as the Army had taught him. He needed a clear head. His military training came flooding back. He surveyed the corral behind the stables sprawling out before him. He found himself whispering a prayer under his breath. He figured that God wouldn’t be offended if he prayed for the boy.
There were two horses out in the corral, but no sign of Riley or Dogger. Thinking of his dog, some of his alarm eased. Dogger would take care of the kid. The dog’s instincts had saved Tyler in the field more than once.
He walked down the path to the river beyond the riding corrals, making his way along the path. There was no sign of the boy.
He spotted Zach and Sophie through the trees. “You see anything?”
“Nothing,” Zach called back. “You know how long he’s been missing?”
“I saw him sitting on that bench less than twenty minutes ago.”
“He can’t have gone far.” Zach stepped on a rock and his artificial leg folded under him. He caught himself on a tree branch.
Sophie’s face lost all color. “Are you okay?” she asked, putting her arm around his back.
Zach nodded.
Tyler appeared by Zach’s side. He didn’t offer his help, but was there if Zach needed anything. Zach pushed away from the tree and met Tyler’s gaze. Zach nodded his thanks.
“I think my dog’s with Riley,” Tyler said getting back to the subject. “He’ll take care of the kid.”
“How did this happen?” Sophie asked. “How could he have disappeared so quickly? I looked out the office window not ten minutes ago, and he was there, his frown firmly in place.”
Sophie glanced at Tyler, her embarrassment clear in her blush. “Ugh—sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tyler reassured her. “It’s the truth. I’d hoped…” There was no point in explaining.
They turned and walked back to the stables. Tyler heard Beth’s voice floating outside through the open doors.
“There you are, Dogger. Have you taken up with your new friend?”
Tyler hurried into the dark interior of the building, dread riding him hard. He understood Riley’s heart, understood the fear and resentment the boy held on to as if it were a talisman. Riley hadn’t verbally said how he felt, but Tyler recognized the emotions coloring the boy’s eyes. And Tyler knew if Beth rained all over the kid, he’d retreat further into himself, where no one would be able to reach him.
Tyler strode down the center aisle like an avenging angel, ready to do battle to protect the boy. He scanned the area for Beth and Riley. He heard Beth, but didn’t see her.
“I missed you guarding that doorway,” she continued. “Then you went off, wandering around with Tyler’s friend.”
Her voice came from the second to last stall before the open double doors, leading to the back corral. He made it close enough to see the floor of the stall. Beth sat beside Dogger. Riley sat on the other side of the dog.
He opened his mouth, but Beth beat him. “You’ve got to be a great guy,” she told Riley as she scratched the dog’s head.
Riley glanced at her, his mouth hanging open.
“I told you Dogger’s might-y selective about his friends, and if he’s hanging with you, I’d say you have his seal of approval. Can you tell me your secret?”
The youth’s eyes widened.
“You see, I’ve got other kids coming here to ride, and I’m hoping that Dogger can help them as much as the horses do. You seem to have charmed him, so what’s your secret?”
Her question surprised Tyler as much as it did Riley. What happened next surprised Tyler even more. The boy smiled shyly and glanced at her. He shrugged his thin shoulders. “Don’t know.”
Beth scratched Dogger’s side and he rolled onto his back to give her better access to his belly. The dog did that with Tyler or Paul, but with the other guys in Tyler’s unit the dog never showed them that level of trust.
He heard another person enter the stables. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted Zach. When Zach opened his mouth, Tyler shook his head.
“C’mon,” Beth urged. “Think about it. You’ve got a talent, so maybe you can share it with others.”
Riley reached out and rubbed Dogger’s stomach. One rub, then he snatched his hand back. “I let Dogger come to me.”
Beth nodded her head. “That makes sense. Come to think of it, I did that, too. I didn’t try to pet him at first, but let him think about it, and when he was ready, he approached me.” Beth’s smile brought light to this corner of the stables. “So, I’ll warn the kids to let Dogger approach them.” She rested her back against the wall. “Thank you for that insight.”
Another miracle occurred. Riley’s chest puffed out and he reached out again and rubbed Dogger’s stomach.
“How she does that I don’t know,” Zach whispered.
Tyler glanced at his friend. Zach motioned for Tyler to join him outside. The two men walked out into the sunlight.
“Does your sister do that often?” Tyler asked, impressed by how Beth had handled the exchange between Riley and herself.
Shaking his head, Zach laughed. “When we were growing up, she had a talent to read Ethan and me, then rat us out to my folks. Of course, when it came to the guys she dated, she was useless, but that may be the brother in me talking.”
Before Tyler could comment, Susan Carter rounded the corner of the office. “How’s it going?”
Tyler didn’t have the heart to explain about losing her son for a brief time. “I think we’ve made a little progress. My dog’s attached himself to Riley. And Riley smiled.”
“Really,” she whispered, relief lighting her face. Her gaze went from Tyler to Zach. He nodded the truth of Tyler’s statement. “Oh, I’ve prayed and prayed.”
Tyler swallowed. “Come with me and I’ll show you.”
* * *
“Are you upset?” Beth asked as she stopped by Tyler’s side. He was brushing down Charming. Susan and Riley had left close to a half hour ago.
His hand stilled on the horse’s flank. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you upset about me talking to Riley?” She craned her neck so she could see his eyes. Her head almost rested on Charming’s side. Tyler met her gaze.
“No.”
Oh, that male mind-set, say as little as you can to get yourself out of trouble. “Would you care to expand on that?”
He went back to brushing the horse.
She didn’t move, blocking his access to the horse’s front shoulder. She had two brothers and knew how to outwait a stubborn male, and she wanted an answer.
“What do you want me to say?”
Progress. “I saw that panicked look on your face when I was sitting with Riley. You looked like I was fixin’ to put my foot in it and scare the poor kid.”
He flushed. “You saw that?”
“I did.”
