The Rancher's Family Wish

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“Yes, they do.” She couldn’t get over the difference he’d made. The room was warm and welcoming, inviting conversations in any of the casual groupings scattered around the big open space. Pale cream walls left no indication that redbird wallpaper—they had been birds, hadn’t they?—had once nested there.

“You think I wasted Burt’s money.” He sank onto the arm of a sofa, his face defeated. “Maybe I did. I hemmed and hawed over this decision a lot.” His tone grew somber. “It kept me awake thinking how many meals all this could buy for someone on the street.”

Sophie tried to mask her feelings. “But you went ahead anyway.”

“Yes, because of something Moses said.” A funny look flickered across Tanner’s ruggedly handsome face. “He asked me if I’d rather eat in a dump or a palace.”

“That makes sense.” But Sophie wasn’t swayed. She’d heard the same kind of rationalization from Marty too many times.

“Moses helped me realize that people who’ve known toughness and hurt appreciate comfort just as much as the rest of us. I want everyone who comes to Burt’s ranch to be comfortable.” He rose slowly. “I’m sorry you don’t approve.”

“Oh, Tanner.” Sophie hated that she’d spoiled his happiness. She touched his arm, wishing she hadn’t immediately thought the worst of him. Independence was a fine thing but it was time to realize that not every man was like Marty. “I didn’t say I didn’t approve.”

“You didn’t have to.” He seemed disappointed, his earlier joy gone. “It’s in your face and your voice.”

“I was just surprised. Anyone would love to come here. You’ve created a very comfortable, beautiful place.” Sophie smiled at him. “I’m overwhelmed by the change. It’s so different.”

“Thanks.” He looked relieved. “I particularly wanted this room perfect because further down the line, when things are more established, I hope to invite Social Services or some organization like that to come see what Wranglers can offer kids.” He made a face. “I doubt they’d be impressed by the former decor. If they one day agree to partner in a program for needy children, I want this place to be ready.”

“You’ve changed, also.” Sophie studied the bright glint in his green eyes. “When we talked before you seemed as if you were struggling to begin Burt’s dream but now you’re charging ahead full speed.” It wasn’t a criticism. More that she couldn’t quite define the change she saw in him.

“Because of you. You planted ideas that wouldn’t go away.” Tanner’s steady stare made Sophie blush. “God’s been working on me. I couldn’t see how Burt’s idea would work with me in charge. I still can’t. But I’ll start with your day camp idea and wait for God to lead me from there.”

“I hope He comes through for you.” How could she have imagined Tanner would be sidetracked by Burt’s money? Everything he’d done here was with a view to fulfill Burt’s dream.

“God always comes through, Sophie. It’s just that sometimes it’s in a different way than we expect.” He smiled, his straight, even teeth flashing. “At the very least I owe you dinner for helping me get started.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” No way did she want this man to think there would be more than business to their relationship.

“Yeah, I do.” His lazy smile was so attractive. “I want to repay you for helping me realize that I don’t have to have the whole plan up and running right away. Burt once said it took years for God to get him used to the idea of using Wranglers Ranch for kids. I’ll trust God to keep pushing me forward.”

“I wish I had your strength,” Sophie muttered, not intending him to hear it.

“Lady, you’re a lot stronger than I’ll ever be.” Tanner leaned against the door frame, his hand stuffed into his front pockets. “I could never handle a job, two kids, one of whom I homeschool—”

“Where’s Beth?” How could she have gotten so caught up in Tanner that she’d forgotten her daughter? Sophie glanced frantically at the work site where stone masons chiseled a patio.

“I’m here, Mama. I’m coloring.” Her daughter sat on the floor in one corner, a book in front of her, crayons neatly organized. “I didn’t bother you, Mama. So can we see the bunnies?”

“Sweetheart, you never bother me. And you’ve been very patient.” Sophie hunched down beside her child and pressed a tender kiss against her head. “Just a few minutes more,” she promised.

“Okay.” Beth happily returned to her crayons.

“She’s such a sweet kid,” Tanner murmured, his dark green gaze resting on Beth. “It must be great to have a daughter like her. She brims with joy no matter what.”

“Yes, she does.” Sophie wanted to hug him for saying that. So many people saw only Beth’s handicap, yet Tanner— She quashed her admiration for the rancher and returned to the reason she’d come here. “The homeschool group wants to plan an outing to your ranch, if you’ll allow them to come.”

“Sure.” His forehead creased. “When? And what kinds of things will you want to do? I remember you said that not all the kids would be able to ride.”

“For this first trip there’ll be no riding. Instead we’re looking for educational as well as fun.” Sophie laid out the board’s ideas: a nature walk, a discussion and perhaps a demonstration about a day on the ranch followed by refreshments. “Is that doable?” A leap of pleasure sprang inside at his nod.

“Provided you handle the refreshment part,” he said with a grin.

“No problem.” A wash of relief filled her at the ease of working with him. “When is a good time for you?”

Tanner consulted the calendar on his phone before giving her a choice of dates. She noted those, promised to get back to him, then glanced around.

“Is something wrong?” he said.

“Just wondering when the patio will be finished.” A dozen scenarios for using the area played through her head.

“By the end of tomorrow, I hope. That’s what they promised.” He smiled at Sophie’s surprise. “They’d better finish then because the youth pastor, Mike, is bringing some kids out on Friday evening and he wants them to have a sing-along around a fire.”

“So you’re already getting kids out here.” She grinned at him. “That was fast.”

“That was your daughter’s doing.” He glanced at Beth and chuckled.

“Beth?” Sophie liked Tanner’s smile, an open, sharing kind of expression, not the kind of cagey grin that made you worry about what would come next. “What did she do?”

“She spoke to Mike last Sunday. I don’t know exactly what she said, but apparently Beth is a great salesgirl. He called me up that night to ask if we could arrange something especially challenging for some tough kids in his group who haven’t been engaged by whatever he’s been arranging. He’s planning a mini rodeo for Friday.”

“Can you handle that?” she asked curiously.

“Oh sure.” Tanner winked at her. Sophie’s stomach dipped. “We’ll take out Jezebel, Obadiah and a few other old-timers for the kids to ride. They’re gentle and don’t spook. We won’t be setting any rodeo records but it’s all for fun anyway.”

“Jezebel and Obadiah, huh?” Sophie couldn’t smother her laughter.

“Yep.” He grinned at her. “Actually I intended to phone you to see if I could order some snacks,” Tanner added. His cheeks turned slightly pink when Sophie checked her watch and then raised her eyebrows.

“Tanner, today is Wednesday. Your event is Friday. I pride myself on freshly made delicious food, but I need time to make it,” she scolded. “I have an event on Friday night and another on Saturday.”

“I’m sorry. I got caught up in other stuff. Never mind. I’ll go to the bakery.” He looked so sad about it that Sophie’s irritation melted.

“And ruin Wranglers’ reputation for the best eats ever?” she teased. “How many kids and what kind of snacks?”

“You’ll do it?” Could a grown man’s eyes twinkle? “The church is supplying hot dogs and fixings. I thought I’d buy some chips so you’d only need to make treats. For around twenty, Mike said. I figured a couple pieces for each kid.”

“You don’t know kids’ appetites.” Sophie inclined her head. “I’ll make lots. If you have leftovers you can freeze them for another time or take them to church potluck.”

“Good idea.” His attention strayed to the patio under construction. “Will the homeschool kids eat here or would you rather have some kind of picnic elsewhere on the ranch?”

“The patio would be perfect. A smooth surface makes it a lot easier for kids in wheelchairs.” Sophie knew it was time to leave yet she lingered, savoring the lazy drape of the mesquite trees where they shaded the corner of the new patio. Neither the murmur of voices behind her as deliverymen finished filling the room nor the construction noise in front detracted from the peace of this place. “You’re so lucky to live here.”

“Blessed,” Tanner agreed, his voice coming over her left shoulder. “I thank God every day that Burt found me and brought me here.”

“I never heard the whole story. Will you tell me?” Sophie asked quietly, intrigued by the glimpse into Tanner’s past.

“Not much to tell. I was almost sixteen, living on the streets. I’d run away from my foster home.” He grimaced. “I was auditioning for membership in a gang when I met Burt.” His cheeks stained red. “Actually I was trying to steal his truck. He invited me out to lunch and I was starving so I went.”

“And that’s it? You came here?” she asked in disbelief.

“Not quite.” Tanner chuckled. “I ate the meal, even had seconds, but when he started talking about God I walked out on him. That didn’t stop Burt. He came back, again and again. I must have cost him a fortune in food but the man was relentless.”

“So eventually he talked you into coming to Wranglers.” Sophie nodded, then stopped at the look on Tanner’s face. “Not quite?”

“Not hardly. Burt had done some foster parenting years before so he had connections. He went to a social worker who was a friend of his and reported me.” Tanner grinned at her surprise. “She appeared with some cops to take me to a juvenile detention center unless I agreed to have Burt as my guardian. He’d talked a lot about his ranch and since I was keen on horses I agreed to go with him. I figured I’d spend some time at Wranglers, enjoy the food and let my bruises from a street fight heal. Then I’d run away again.”

“But you didn’t.” Sophie’s interest grew.

“I didn’t have the energy.” Tanner shook his head, his face wry. “That man about wore me out with chores around this place. When he wasn’t watching me, Moses was. I almost left the night before I was supposed to go to school, but I couldn’t get away from them. Then I realized some of the kids admired me because I lived on a ranch. Me! So I decided to stay for a while.”

“And you’ve never left.” Sophie had heard Burt speak about Wranglers Ranch but she’d never realized how much effort he’d put into his work with Tanner.

“God and Burt wouldn’t let me.” Tanner’s face grew pensive. “That man had a faith that astounded me. He prayed about everything and God answered. I couldn’t leave because I was desperate to figure out why that was. Because of Burt I finally accepted God in my life. I’ve never regretted that. God’s love changed my world.”

Tanner sounded so confident in his faith. Sophie wished she was. But somehow lately she felt out of touch with God, as if He ignored her pleas for a way to build her catering business, to help Davy, to enrich Beth’s life. And she still battled to be free of the condemnation her parents had heaped on her head when they’d first learned she was pregnant all those years ago.

Everybody pays, Sophie. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you break God’s laws, you have to pay the price.

So now she was a widow, broke and alone with two kids, one mentally challenged and one well on the path to trouble. When would she have paid enough?

“Mama? Can we see the rabbits?”

Sophie shook off the gloomy thoughts to smile at her sweet daughter. Beth wasn’t a penalty. She was a blessing. So was Davy.

“Why don’t you ask Tanner?” She tossed a glance at the man who was becoming her best customer.

But he couldn’t be more than that because Sophie wasn’t about to trust Tanner or any other man with more than simple friendship.

* * *

When Tanner caught himself straightening a cushion for the fifth time on Friday night, he knew he was fussing too much. Moses knew it, too.

“What’s bugging you?” the old man demanded from his seat on the patio. “You’re like a cat on a hot roof. Is it that lady?”

“Sophie?” He saw the gleam in the old man’s eyes and chided himself for taking Moses’s bait. “She said five. She should have been here by now.”

“That young pastor is waiting by the front gate for the second bus from the church. Guess I’d better go take the hooligans to the north pasture.” Moses swallowed the last of his water, then rose. “They’re playing a game about a flag.”

“Capture the flag,” Tanner said.

“That’s what he called it.” Moses nodded and pointed to the dust trail. “That could be your lady.”

His lady? Tanner didn’t have time to sort through the rush of excitement that skittered inside his midsection because Sophie pulled in front of the house and braked hard. She jumped out of her van and hurried to the back.

“Is anything wrong?” He strode toward her, noticing Beth’s tear-streaked face in passing. Davy didn’t look at him.

“Very wrong,” she muttered, handing him two large trays of assorted goodies. Her face was white, her eyes troubled. “But I don’t have time to go into it now. I’ve got to serve crudités at a black-tie event in half an hour.”

“The kids?” he asked, balancing the trays in each hand.

“Are staying with me,” she said, her voice tight. “They can sit in the corner while I work.” Clearly Sophie was steamed.

“Why not leave them with me? They can—” Tanner swallowed the rest of his offer when her dark brown eyes flashed a warning.

Sophie slammed the van’s rear door closed, nodded toward the house and, after ordering the kids to stay put, followed him into the kitchen.

“He stole from you.” Her fury showed in her stance, in the flicker at the corner of her mouth and in her lovely pain-filled eyes. “My son stole from you.”

“Ah.” Tanner clamped his lips closed and said nothing more.

“You knew?” If anything her anger burned hotter. “You knew and didn’t say anything?”

“Sophie, he made a mistake. He took the arrowhead without thinking and then he didn’t know how to put it back,” he said in a soft voice. “But he would have. Davy’s not a cheat.”