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“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
And it was. He could tell that Maggie appreciated the view of the mountains from the guest bedroom, the balcony off the room with several lawn chairs and a table, the big log bed and the brightly striped Hudson’s Bay blankets that he’d acquired over the years.
There were several items handed down from his grandparents—his mother’s parents—that impressed her. He’d carefully preserved them in shadow boxes that he’d made and displayed them throughout the house.
His grandmother’s baskets and several pieces of clothing with her original beadwork, medicine bags—none of it escaped Maggie’s attention.
“And these photographs…fabulous.” She seemed to be talking to herself, then she turned to him. “Who is the photographer?”
“My dad. My mother is a travel reporter, and my father was a rancher and a stock contractor. I learned the business from him. But on the day I graduated from college, he drove up the driveway with a mammoth motor home, handed me the keys to this house and said that all five thousand acres were mine—and he was going to see the world with my mom.”
“Five thousand acres?” Her eyes grew wide. “He just walked away from all of this?”
“After I tried to talk him out of it, he confessed that he liked being on the road and seeing the world with my mother, that he’d grown tired of the ranch. And of course my mother was thrilled.”
He’d thought three people loved the ranch as much as he did—Ellen and his parents.
Damn, had he been wrong!
And what was wrong with his judgment of people?
The ranch meant everything to him. It was the reason he woke up every morning and the reason he went to bed exhausted each night. He knew every blade of grass, every animal and every tree on the property. It was his life’s blood.
Someone like Maggie could never understand that, so he wouldn’t even try explaining it to her.
“I’ll let you get settled then,” Joe said, then eyed her fancy blouse, slacks and strappy shoes. “I hope you brought some work clothes. If you’d like to change into something warmer, I’ll give you a quick tour of the ranch before the sun sets.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll wait for you in the living room.”
He settled into his favorite overstuffed chair and prepared to wait a long while for Miss Broadway, but to his surprise she appeared just a handful of minutes later. Obviously she was used to quick costume changes.
And change she had. Her dark blue jeans fit her snugly in all the right places. A pastel plaid blouse and a sparkly belt topped off her outfit, and it looked like she had on brand-new black cowboy boots.
He gave a long whistle. “You look like you’re ready to go out on the town. You’re dressed a little too fancy for Cowboy Quest.”
“Oh.” She shook her head. “My whole wardrobe is like this. I bought out Bloomingdale’s.”
“Maybe you could go shopping.”
“There are department stores here?”
“Sure. The Mountain Springs Feed and Sundries has a whole bunch of clothes next to the fertilizer and tractor parts.” He winked.
She laughed. “Let’s go.”
“You think I’m kidding?”
“I hope you are.” She picked up Calico and rubbed his ears. The cat snuggled up against her neck, pushing and rubbing her head against Maggie. The pure pleasure on Maggie’s face tugged at his heart, yet it troubled him to see the sadness in her eyes.
“We’ll get to be good friends, Calico. Won’t we?” she asked.
Calico purred his agreement.
“I’ve always wanted a pet,” she said. “But my schedule just doesn’t…” She scratched the cat’s ears. “I can’t even take care of Danny.”
“Yes, you can,” Joe said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve both been through a terrible loss—it takes time to adjust.”
The lost look in her eyes made him want to take her into his arms, but Joe forced himself to get back to business.
“We’ll use the golf cart and follow the Silver River,” Joe said.
“Sounds good to me.”
A few minutes later, when she settled in next to him in the golf cart, he caught the scent of some floral perfume that suited her perfectly. The light breeze tossed her blond hair around her face, and he liked it when it brushed his shoulder. Too soon, she restrained it with some kind of clip.
He reminded himself again that this was business, not pleasure and that thinking about her perfume and hair wasn’t appropriate.
To make matters worse, the ground wasn’t level here—it was a jarring ride. Maggie kept bumping into him, not that he minded, and every now and then she’d shoot him an embarrassed glance.
Joe pulled up alongside of the river and drove slower. “Do you have any questions about the program?”
She looked straight ahead and he heard her inhale. “My only priority is making sure that Danny is okay. The other thing I need to do is to help him satisfactorily complete your program or he’s headed for placement in a juvenile facility, and I don’t want that.” She took a deep breath, and bit down on her bottom lip. “And I’m supposed to come up with some kind of plan for better supervision of Danny when we get back home and a way to spend more time with him. That’ll be a challenge. If I could have found a better plan, I would have instituted it.”
That lost look crept into her eyes again. “You’ll come up with something, Maggie. Maybe I can help.”
Joe knew that he had been given a lot of power over her and her relationship with Danny, and if he were Maggie, he wouldn’t like it either.
“It’s going to be hard trusting anyone with Danny,” she continued. “You see, I’ve had custody of him for the past two years. You’ve known him for—what?—twelve seconds?”
“I understand your concern. I do. But Cowboy Quest met with one hundred percent success the first time. This is our second run.”
“Define success,” she said, suddenly cooler.
“On paper, I’d say success would be all the boys completing all the requirements. But what I’d really want would be for them to use the components of it—the practical and character lessons—for a lifetime.”
She crossed her fingers. “I really hope that happens.”
“Me, too.”
“I read in your pamphlet that you have a master’s degree in special education,” she said.
“With a minor in psychology.”
She folded her arms in front of her. “And those cowboys in the bunkhouse? What are their credentials?”
“Believe it or not, a couple of them have graduate degrees, most have bachelor degrees, but more importantly, they are good men and good role models. And they care about each and every kid.”
“That’s good to hear,” she said. “How did you get into this, Joe?”
He rubbed his chin. Where to start? “My own father wasn’t around much when I was growing up. Either he was busy hauling livestock around the country, or he was traveling with my mother, taking photos for travel books. If it weren’t for Mr. Dixon—my pal Jake’s dad—I would have been placed in a juvenile correctional facility and never let out. He helped me in more ways than one. I guess I’m paying that back.”
He was worried about his program this time around. He had shared with his staff that the twelve boys they were getting seemed more difficult than the first group, and they all had a history of running away, including Danny. They’d all have to be extra vigilant.
But he was going to think positively. He had a good team.
“And if someone fails to complete the program?”
“No one has yet.” Joe studied her. Her brows were almost touching, and her hands were clasped tightly on her lap.
“But you’ve only had one run of Cowboy Quest so far. Danny’s future hinges on an almost untested program.”
“I suppose you could put it that way.” He met her worried look. “But Cowboy Quest has been under a lot of scrutiny from the state and county. It’s being studied as a model for other, similar programs.”
Her lips were pinched now, and she was looking away from him. She was definitely anxious.
“Maggie, don’t worry. Cowboy Quest is not about the riding or the livestock. It’s about problem solving, maturing and working as a team. We use the Cowboy Code as a guide for basic rules of living. So don’t worry. The boys and I will do everything possible to get everyone through the program with flying colors.”
Her grass-green eyes pooled with unshed tears and once again he felt the urge to comfort her.
The only reason he’d send in a negative report to Judge Cunningham on Maggie and Danny was if they didn’t make some attempt to resolve their issues, but he wasn’t going to tell her that yet. He needed to wait and see just how things played out, and just how hard Danny and Maggie worked on their relationship and solving the problems between them, logistical and otherwise.
From what he could see, Danny was a thirteen-year-old who couldn’t be trusted to attend school and not run the street.
Maggie was trying to work and support the two of them, in a job with horrible hours, and in his current state, Danny needed more—if not constant—supervision. He needed a parent.
Somehow in all that there needed to be a plan for their future together, or they would spend their future apart.
“Remember, Maggie, I have a vested interest in making sure that all the participants are successful. We have a good program here—but we’re under a lot of scrutiny from the state. I don’t want to give them any excuses to shut us down.”
“So you might lose your program, and I might lose custody of Danny.” Maggie took a deep breath. “Then we’d both better make Cowboy Quest a success.”
Chapter Three
Maggie tried to stay optimistic as she leaned back against the cushioned seat of the golf cart and watched the sun set over the rugged, snow-capped mountains in the distance. A sweet, unfamiliar heat washed over her. She was sure that it was caused by her new tour guide’s hard, muscular thigh pressed lightly against hers.
She enjoyed listening to Joe talk about his ranch. She could hear the pride in his voice when he pointed out which animal won Bull of the Year from the Professional Bull Riders Association and which ones were up and coming.
But she couldn’t forget how much power Joe had over her. With one report to the judge, she might lose Danny forever. And here they were, both fish out of water, trying to fit into a program that they didn’t have a clue about.
But as Joe said, it wasn’t about the livestock or the riding. That they could probably muddle through with a little luck and a lot of help. It was the bonding between her and Danny that was going to be the hardest. There was a lot of hurt between them. But she had faith in Danny. She’d loved him since he was born, and she still did. Somewhere in that teenage mess was the Danny who loved her back.
As they neared a hillside pasture, she could see the silhouettes of bulls grazing in the distance. Beautiful horses graced the corral; more were in a lower pasture.
“Would you like to see the barn?” he asked.
“Sure.” Actually, she really didn’t. She wanted to curl up somewhere and sleep. It had been a long traveling day.
He pulled up to the corral and several horses came to inspect them. He took a bag of sugar cubes from the glove compartment and handed some to her. “Keep your hand flat. You don’t want to lose any fingers.” He jumped out of the vehicle and led her into the barn.
Lights blazed inside. As Joe walked past the stalls, he called all the horses by name, and she petted them.
“You sure look at home in a barn, Maggie.”
“As it happens, I grew up on a dairy farm in northern New York.”
His eyes grew as wide as his belt buckle. “Well, I’ll be. And here I had you pegged as a bona fide city slicker.”
“Hang on. I am a city slicker. I’ve lived in Manhattan longer than I lived on my parents’ farm. Besides, I didn’t particularly like it. My sister, Liz, was the one who loved it.”
“And Danny is Liz’s son.”
“Yes.” Even though Liz had been gone for two years, Maggie missed her every day. Danny looked a lot like her.
“And you think you’ve failed Liz because Danny is in trouble,” Joe said, pausing with a bucket of water for the next horse in line.
“Was that in the probation report, too?”
He nodded. “It said something to the effect that you felt like you failed Liz because Danny was arrested.”
Maggie felt like she was under a microscope.
He was here to run Cowboy Quest—not to analyze her. She was here to save her nephew. End of story.
They got back into the golf cart. Ominous clouds had darkened the sky, and the breeze had grown rough and cool. “What’s Danny doing now?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Ronnie is giving him a tour like I’m giving you. If the other participants have arrived, they are all touring together.”
“Danny’s probably hungry,” Maggie said, her own stomach giving a little growl. “It’s been a long day, and he didn’t eat much.”
“He’ll be fine.” Joe checked his watch. “Dinner is in an hour.”
Just as they pulled up to the ranch house, the skies opened with a crack of thunder. Rain came down in a noisy torrent. They dashed inside. Joe lit a fire in the living room and they sat to warm themselves.
“You know a lot about me, Joe. Tell me more about yourself,” she said.
“There isn’t much to tell.” He shrugged. “I was a fairly mediocre student in high school. My parents weren’t around much then so I practically moved into Jake Dixon’s house. It was Mr. Dixon who suggested that I could work my ranch, expand my stock contracting business and still do something with my master’s in education. One day, I came up with the idea for Cowboy Quest.”
He paused and diverted his eyes, clearly uncomfortable talking about himself.
“Don’t stop,” Maggie urged.
“Jake Dixon, our pal Clint Scully and I all help out on Jake’s Gold Buckle Ranch. He runs several programs for kids during the summer, so Cowboy Quest fits right in. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon handle most of the administrative duties.”
“And you handle the program part,” Maggie stated.
He nodded. “The three of us go way back to Mountain Springs Grammar School. After high school, we rodeoed together for years. The only one still chasing rodeos is Clint.”
