Rancher Daddy

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“Uh-huh. And Abby and her family and Hilda and whoever else shows up. I kind of left the invitation for a spring picnic open.” She chuckled at his raised eyebrows. “Well, it’s really hard to know where to stop. This is the kind of place where everyone drops in. At least they did when Dad was alive. I don’t want that to end.”

“I wonder if Henry’s ever had a wiener roast,” Luc mused aloud.

“You haven’t talked to him since the Ornery Joe incident?”

Luc shook his head. “No.”

“Why?” Holly asked with a frown. “Have you changed your mind about adopting him?”

“No way. I want to adopt Henry very much.” Luc couldn’t come up with the right way to say it so he blurted it out. “I felt like you thought I should stay away from him.”

“What? No.” Holly’s eyes narrowed. “If you’d asked I’d have suggested you keep seeing Henry as much as you can. You need to build your relationship so that the two of you will grow comfortable with each other.”

“But—” Luc shook his head. “That’s not the impression you gave that night we found him with Ornery Joe.”

“I was worried, Luc. I thought that Shelly was looking for a reason to give you a black mark and I think I was right. Abby confirmed privately that Shelly suggested to her that you coaxed Henry to visit you, thereby superseding the authority figure she’d chosen—Hilda. But I don’t think you need to worry about Shelly anymore.”

“Why not?” He loved the way her face glowed when she was excited or trying to keep a secret. “What happened?”

“Abby told me today that Henry’s case has been transferred from the Calgary social worker to Family Ties. Abby’s the case worker now thanks to Mayor Marsha’s daughter in Calgary who is credited with getting the case moved here.”

“And that means?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“That you don’t have to worry about Abby because she’ll give you a fair shake.”

“This town,” he said in pretended disgust. “You have to be in on the rumor mill to find out anything.” In truth he loved that aspect of small-town life. Well, most of the time.

“Yep. Sometimes being the town mascot is good,” she joked.

“The good citizens of Buffalo Gap do not think of Holly Janzen as a mascot,” Luc scoffed. “More like a goal every child should strive to attain.”

“I hope nobody tries to be like me,” she said, her voice harsh. She fell silent for a while, her thoughts on something he couldn’t share. But after a few moments, she snapped out of her bad mood to smile at him. “Now you need to solidify your case. Abby won’t go against you, but she will take into account the efforts you make to get to know Henry. She’ll probably be the one to do your home study, though I don’t think that will happen for a while.”

“That’s a relief. I’m not finished with the spare room yet.”

“Redecorating is a good idea.” She sipped her lemonade. “It’d be different if you were adopting a newborn, but with an older child, I think placement officers will like the idea that you’re making a special place for him, that you’re preparing your world for him to be part of it.”

“I don’t know where you get all this knowledge,” he said, studying her. “The internet?”

“Um, yes.” Holly seemed startled by his question. “And Abby.” She paused for a moment. “You should ask her lots of questions. She loves to explain.”

“I don’t think I can ask Abby how I’m supposed to mesh with Henry.” Luc had thought adoption would be straightforward, but he kept coming up against more and more uncertainties. He hadn’t realized he’d have to prove himself capable of fatherhood in so many ways. “She’d expect me to know.”

“So?” Holly’s blue eyes widened. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that I don’t have a clue how to mesh with Henry,” he said, feeling inept.

“Sure you do.” She rose. “You talked about taking him swimming when it got warmer. Maybe he’d like to fish. Or learn how to ride. What did you like to do as a kid?”

“Marbles.” He followed her into the house, almost bumping into her when she suddenly stopped and turned to look at him.

“Marbles?” One eyebrow arched and she gave him a look that said “stop teasing me.”

“I played marbles all the time,” Luc told her. “And usually won, though I don’t have a trophy for every time I excelled, like some people.” He grinned when she groaned.

“Stop it, will you?” Holly said, her voice cool. “I don’t have that many trophies.”

“Are you kidding me?” Luc snorted. “Lady, I just moved boxes of them from your spare room. Horsemanship, curling, baseball, friendship leader, junior citizen of the year, debate team, valedictorian, highest science test scores—to name a few.” He stopped ticking them off his fingers and faked a sigh of exhaustion. “Is there anything you didn’t win a trophy for?”

“Dealing with men who promised to renovate my spare room then ended up talking too much,” she shot back pertly.

“Low blow.” Luc clutched his chest and pretended to swoon.

“Can we get back to Henry? Maybe he’d like to learn to play marbles.” Holly stored her drinking glass in the dishwasher with his and checked the clock. “I think we could get the rest of the paneling out before I have to start putting together dinner for my guests.”

“How hard can it be to put together a few hot dogs?” Luc knew the minute he said it that it was the wrong thing to say. She glared at him then plunged her hammer right into the middle of a sheet of the despised paneling. “Um, I could help you with—whatever,” he offered.

“I’d appreciate it, but let’s finish this first. Then we’ll see how much time we have left.” Holly’s no-nonsense tone told him she wasn’t ready to forgive his comment.

Luc liked the way they worked together, each anticipating the other’s moves. In no time the room was stripped, except for her father’s big trunk in the corner. He looked from her to the trunk and back again, eyebrows raised in an unasked question.

“You have an obsession about that trunk.” She scowled at him. “I’ll sort it out.”

“Just not today, right?” He shrugged. “Fair enough. How many more days off do you have?” he asked as they hauled out the last of the trash and threw it in his truck bed. He’d get rid of it later.

“Only two and that’s if the hospital doesn’t call me in.” Holly sighed. “And then there’s Family Ties. Abby phoned to tell me a new girl arrived yesterday. Seth Treple was called in to examine her and he feels she’s close to her due date so I’m on call.”

Seth was the local GP who’d agreed to handle Family Ties’ patients, both mothers and children when Holly couldn’t.

“Seth can’t deliver the baby?” Concern tugged at Luc as he noted the weary lines around Holly’s eyes. It didn’t seem as if she was getting the rest she needed. “You’ve been covering for him a lot. I know that as a nurse practitioner you’re more than qualified to do most things he does, but you’ve been logging a lot of hours lately. You deserve your days off.”

“Babies don’t fit a schedule. Besides, Seth needs a couple of days off to visit his sick mother in Calgary.” She shrugged. “It’s fine.”

It wasn’t fine that she was almost dead on her feet. Maybe this demolition was too much for her, on top of everything else in her life. But he noticed Holly admiring the empty area.

“Soon all this will be sewing workspace.” She sounded enthusiastic.

“Hopefully.” Luc checked his watch. “I’m guessing we have about an hour until your guests will arrive. What do you need to do to get ready?” There was no point in telling her to relax for a minute. Holly did what needed to be done. Tiredness wouldn’t stop her but maybe he could ease her load.