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“Yes. Another couple of groups went fishing with him. Did you know that by this evening we’ll be all booked up?”
“That’s the kind of news I like to hear.”
Like most ranches, the cattle operation on the Teton Valley Ranch had little, if any, margin. But the value of the land kept rising faster than the liability from raising cattle. It was either sell the hay, grass and cows to someone else, or borrow on the land when the market was down. In time he hoped the dude ranch idea would bring in its own source of revenue.
“Johnny Baretta was asking about you this morning. He can’t wait for another horseback riding lesson.”
That news pleased him even more. “Do you have any idea where he and his mother might be?”
“I heard him and the Harris children talking about going swimming. You should have seen how cute they all looked in their cowboy outfits when they came in for breakfast.”
“I can imagine. Talk to you later.”
He walked outside and headed around the other side of the house to the pool area. The swimming pool had been Buck’s idea and was a real winner for children and people who simply wanted to laze about. The kids’ shouts of laughter reached his ears before he came upon the two families enjoying the water.
“Carson!”
Johnny’s shriek of excitement took him by surprise and touched him. “Hey, partner.”
The boy scrambled out of the pool and came running over to him. Above his dark, wet hair he saw Tracy’s silvery-gold head as she trod water. Their eyes met for a brief moment, causing a totally foreign adrenaline rush. “Can we go horseback riding now?”
“That’s the plan,” he said before breaking the eye contact.
Like clockwork, the other two children hurried over to him dripping water. “Will you take us riding, too?”
He chuckled. It brought on another coughing spell. “Of course. Anyone who wants a lesson, meet me at the corral in fifteen minutes!” he called out so the parents would hear him. They waved back in acknowledgment. As he turned to leave, he heard Rachel ask Johnny why Carson coughed so much.
“Because he breathed all this bad stuff in the war.”
“What kind of stuff?” Sam wanted to know.
“Smoke and other junk.”
“Ew. I hope I never have to go.”
“I wish my dad had never joined the Marines.” Johnny’s mournful comment tore Carson apart.
He hurried back inside the ranch house to grab a bite of breakfast in the kitchen. While he downed bacon and eggs, he phoned Bert and asked him to start saddling Goldie and two of the other ponies.
After they hung up, he packed some food and drinks in a basket. In a minute, he left through the back door and placed the basket in the back of the truck, then climbed in. The interior still smelled of acrid smoke.
If the kids wanted some fun after their lesson, he’d let them get in the back and he’d drive them to the pasture to see the cattle. When he’d been a boy, he’d enjoyed walking around the new calves and figured they would, too.
When he reached the barn, he saddled Annie, but held off getting more horses ready for the Harrises. They might not want to ride, only watch their children.
Another lesson for Tracy and her son ought to be enough for them to take a short ride down by the Snake River tomorrow. With enough practice, they’d be able to enjoy half-day rides around the property.
If Johnny could handle it, they’d camp out in the Bridger-Teton forest where there were breathtaking vistas of the surrounding country. Even if the journey would be bittersweet, he longed to show them his favorite places. Since joining the Marines, he hadn’t done any of this.
Once Annie’s bridle was on, he grasped the reins and walked her outside to the corral where Bert had assembled the ponies. In the distance, he saw the children running along the dirt road toward them. All three were dressed in their cowboy outfits.
Johnny reached him first. “Do you think Goldie missed me?”
“Why don’t you give her forelock a rub and find out?”
Without hesitation he approached the golden palomino. “Hi, Goldie. It’s me.” He reached out to touch her. The pony nickered and nudged him affectionately. “Hey—” He turned to Carson. “Did you see that? She really likes me!”
While Burt grinned, Carson burst into laughter. It ended in a coughing spasm, but he didn’t care. “She sure does.”
“I’m going to feed her some oats.” Seizing the reins without fear, he walked her over to the feed bag.
Knowing Bert would keep an eye on him, Carson approached the fence. Beneath the brim of his Stetson, his gaze fell on Tracy whose damp hair was caught back with a hair band. This morning she wore a tangerine-colored knit top and jeans her beautiful figure did amazing things for. “Are you ready for your next lesson?”
“I think so.” Her smoky green eyes smiled at him before she entered the corral.
“Would you like some help mounting?”
“Thank you, but I’d like to see if I can do this on my own first.”
This was the second time she hadn’t wanted him to get too close. The first time he might have imagined it, but the second time led him to believe she was avoiding contact. He forced himself to look at the Harrises, who’d just come walking up.
“Should I ask Bert to saddle some horses for you?”
They shook their heads. Ralph leaned over the fence. “We’ve been riding before. Right now, we just want to see how the kids do.”
“Understood.” He turned to Johnny. “Hey, partner—why don’t you help me show Rachel and Sam what you do before you get on.”
“Sure! Which pony do you guys want?”
“That was a good question to ask them, Johnny.”
Sam cried, “Can I have the brown one with the black tail?”
“Bruno is a great choice.”
“I like the one with the little ears and big eyes. It’s so cute.”
Carson nodded. “That dappled gray filly is all yours, Rachel. Her name is Mitzi.”
The children loved the names.
“Okay, Johnny. What do they do now?”
“They have to rub their noses so the ponies will know they like them.”
The next few minutes were pure revelation as Tracy’s son took the kids through the drill, step by step, until they were ready to mount.
Ridiculous as it was, Carson felt a tug on his emotions because Johnny had learned his lesson so quickly and was being such a perfect riding instructor. He glanced at Tracy several times. Without her saying anything, he knew she was bursting with motherly pride.
Soon all four of them were astride their horses. They circled the corral several times and played Follow the Leader in figure eights, Johnny’s idea. Carson lounged against the fence next to the Harrises, entertained by the children who appeared to be having a terrific time. Since Tracy rode with them, Carson had a legitimate reason to study her without seeming obvious.
He threw out a few suggestions here and there, to help them use their reins properly, but for the most part, the lesson was a big success. Eventually he called a halt.
“It’s time for a rest,” he announced and was met with sounds of protest. “Bert will help you down. I know it’s fun, but you need a break and so do the ponies. I’ll give you another lesson before dinner. Right now, I thought you might like to ride to the upper pasture with me and see some Texas Longhorns.”
Johnny looked perplexed. “What are those?”
“Beef cattle.”
“We’re not in Texas!” Sam pointed out.
“Nope, but they were brought from there to this part of the country years ago. Want to get a look at the herd?”
“Yeah!” they said with a collective voice.
He turned to the Harrises. “I’ll bring them back for lunch. You can come along, or you’re welcome do something else.”
Ralph smiled. “If you don’t mind, I think we’d like to take a walk.”
“Good. Then we’ll meet you back at the ranch around one o’clock.”
While they talked to their children about being on their best behavior, Carson walked over to Tracy who’d once again gotten off her horse without assistance. “Are you going to ride with us?”
“Please, Mom?” Johnny’s brown eyes beseeched her.
Apparently she had reservations. Maybe she hadn’t been around other men since her husband’s funeral and didn’t feel comfortable with him or any man yet. Operating on that assumption he said, “I was going to let the kids ride in the truck bed. If you’re with them, you can keep a close eye on what goes on. Those bales of hay will make a good seat for you.”
She averted her eyes. “That ought to be a lot of fun.”
Johnny jumped up and down with glee. “Hey, guys—we’re going to ride in the back of the truck!” The other two sounded equally excited.
Pleased she’d capitulated, Carson walked over to the truck and lowered the tailgate. One by one he lifted the children inside. Before she could refuse him, he picked her up by the waist and set her down carefully. Their arms brushed against each other in the process, sending warmth through his body. After she scrambled to her feet, he closed the tailgate and hurried around to the cab.
With his pulse still racing, he started the engine and took off down the road, passing the Harrises. The children sat on the bales and clung to the sides of the truck while they called out and waved. Through the truck’s rear window, Carson caught glimpses of her profile as she took in the scenery. Haunted by her utter femininity, he tried to concentrate on something else. Anything else.
There’d been a slew of women in his life from his teens on. One or two had held his interest through part of a summer, but much to his grandfather’s displeasure, he’d never had the urge to settle down. It had been the same in the military.
Carson couldn’t relate to the Anthony Barettas of this world, who were already happily married when deployed. Though foreign women held a certain fascination for Carson, those feelings were overshadowed by his interest in exotic places and the need to experience a different thrill.
Then came the day when his restlessness for new adventures took a literal hit from the deathly stench of war. Suffocation sucked the life out of him, extinguishing former pleasures, even his desire to be with a woman. Of no use to the military any longer, he’d been discharged early but had returned to the ranch too late to make up to his grandfather for the lost time.
Since he’d flown home from Maryland, the idea of inviting the Baretta family and others like them to the ranch had been the only thing helping him hold on to his sanity. Giving them a little pleasure might help vindicate his worthless existence, if only for a time.
Never in his wildest imagination did he expect Tony Baretta’s widow to be the woman who would arouse feelings that, to his shock, must have been lying dormant since he’d become an adult.
Somehow, in his gut, he’d sensed her importance in his life from the moment they’d met at the airport. Nothing remotely like this had ever happened to him before. He couldn’t explain what was going on inside him, let alone his interest in one little boy. But whatever he was experiencing was so real he could taste it and feel it.
Next Saturday they’d be flying back to Ohio. He already felt empty at the thought of it, which made no sense at all.
Chapter Four (#ulink_7f2f1f36-ed4f-5ba4-b609-a6939ef6ae41)
After passing through heavily scented sage and rolling meadows, the truck wound its way up the slopes of the forest. The smell of the hay bales mingled with the fresh fragrance of the pines, filling the dry air with their distinctive perfume.
To the delight of both Tracy and the children, they spotted elk and moose along the way. Carson slowed down the truck so they could get a good look. Rabbits hopped through the undergrowth. The birdsong was so noisy among the trees, it was like a virtual aviary. Squirrels scrambled through the boughs of the pines. Chipmunks chattered. Bees zoomed back and forth.
Tracy looked all around her. The earth was alive.
Life was burgeoning on every front. She could feel it creeping into her, bringing on new sensations that were almost painful in their intensity, sensations she’d thought never to experience again.
For so long she’d felt like the flower in the little vase Johnny had brought home from school for Mother’s Day. The pink rose had done its best, but after a week it had dried up. She kept it in the kitchen window as a reminder of her son’s sweet gift. Every time she looked at it, she saw herself in the wasted stem and pitiful-looking petals—a woman who was all dried up and incapable of being revived.
Or so she’d thought....
After following a long curve through the trees, they came out on another slope of grassy meadow where she lost count of the cattle after reaching the two hundred mark. They came in every color. In the distance she saw a few hands and a border collie keeping an eye on the herd. Carson brought the truck to a stop and got out.
“Oh,” Rachel half crooned. “Some of the mothers have babies.”
Tracy had seen them. With puffy white clouds dotting the sky above the alpine pasture, it was a serene, heavenly sight of animals in harmony with nature. “They’re adorable.”
Carson walked around to undo the tailgate. Beneath his cowboy hat, his eyes glowed like blue topaz as he glanced at her. “Every animal, whether it be a pony or a calf, represents a miracle of nature. Don’t you think?”
“Yes,” she murmured, unexpectedly moved by his words and the beauty of her surroundings.
Johnny’s giggle brought her head around. “Look at the funny calf. She’s running away.”
“Buster won’t let her get far.” Carson lowered the children to the ground. Tracy stayed put on her bale of hay. “Wouldn’t you like to walk around with us?”
“They won’t hurt you, Mom.”
She chuckled. “I know. But from up here I can get some pictures of you guys first.” Tracy pulled out her cell phone to make her point. “I’ll join you in a minute.” She didn’t want Carson’s help getting down. To her chagrin she still felt his touch from earlier when he’d lifted her in.
After she’d snapped half a dozen shots, she sat down on the tailgate and jumped to the ground. The children had followed Carson, who walked them through the herd, answering their myriad questions. Why were some of the calves speckled and their mothers weren’t? How come they drank so much water? He was a born teacher, exhibiting more patience than she possessed.
Soon the dog ran up to them, delighting the kids. Tracy trailed behind, trying not to be too startled when some of the cows decided to move to a different spot or made long lowing sounds.
Carson cornered one of the beige-colored calves and held it so the children could pet it. Their expressions were so priceless, she pulled out her camera and took a couple of more pictures for herself and the Harrises, who would love to see these.
The hour passed quickly. When he finally announced it was time to get back to the ranch house, the children didn’t want to go. He promised them they could come again in a few days.
“Do you think that calf will remember us?” Johnny wanted to know. All the children had to run to keep up with his long strides. Luckily their cowboy hats were held on with ties and didn’t fall off.
As Tracy looked at Carson waiting for his answer, their gazes collided. “I wouldn’t be surprised. The real question is, will you remember which calf you played with?”
“Sure,” Sam piped up. “It had brown eyes.”
A half smile appeared on Carson’s mouth, drawing Tracy’s attention when it shouldn’t have. “I’m afraid they all have brown eyes. Every once in a while a blue-eyed calf is born here, but their irises turn brown after a couple of months.”
Rachel stared up at him. “Do you think there might be one with blue eyes in this herd?”
