Hometown Hearts
“Daddy, did you see?” Julianna rushed up, pleasure pinked her cheeks. “I love cows and they love me.”
Don’t even start. The words rang in his mind and formed on his tongue. We’re not getting a cow. But his daughter’s shining joy stopped him.
“I want to be just like Cheyenne when I grow up.” She grabbed his hand, her fingers small compared to his, so very small. Her pigtails were askew and tiny bits of grass were embedded in the soft brown hair. Her summery shirt had a big wet spot from some cow’s adoring lick. She tipped her head, chatting on merrily. “I’m gonna be a vet so I can fix birds like Tomasina and take care of dogs like Cheyenne does and so I can find every lonely animal their very own home.”
“I’m sure you will be very good at it.” He remembered what dreams were, so precious like twinkling stars that gave light to a vast night of darkness, dreams that could shine so bright if fed with hope and encouragement.
What had happened to his dreams? Where had they gone?
“Aunt Cady’s not going to believe it happened again, that more cows were on the road.” Jenny bounded up to the car door and yanked it open. “I get to tell her first this time, Julianna. You always do it and it’s my turn.”
“I do not,” Julianna argued gleefully. “Okay, maybe I do but I don’t mean to. It just comes out. I can’t stop it.”
“Well, try.” Feigning annoyance, Jenny rolled her eyes and plopped onto the backseat.
Adam felt a tug of awareness, the realization that Cheyenne Granger was near. Vaguely, he noticed Julianna release his hand, scamper away and climb in beside her sister. He reached for his open door, finding his knees a little iffy. Weak knees, damp palms—the woman was a hazard to him.
“The cows are safely contained for now, although how long that patch job holds is anyone’s guess.” Cheyenne padded toward him in hiking boots, and he realized the shirt she wore had Wild Horse Animal Hospital scrawled across it in looping white letters. “I called the Parnells, so one of them should be out in a jiffy to do a better job with that fence. They send their apologies for inconveniencing you.”
“I didn’t know what to do. Next time I will.” Near to her, he felt awkward, too tall, too big and too dark, as if the sunlight didn’t touch him. “Honking didn’t seem to work.”
“Goodness, no!” She laughed. “That only made them more curious. I don’t know why cows are so fascinated by the road, but most times when they get out they don’t head for the hills kicking up their heels and enjoying their freedom. They stand in the road.”
“I noticed.”
“I suppose if I was a cow in a field watching the traffic go by, I might want to go where all the action is, too.” She looked down at the crumpled and empty feed bag she still clutched, as if it held answers for her there—or perhaps he was making her feel awkward again.
Yes, that was it. He was staring at her too much. Definitely too much. He cleared his throat and turned his attention to the cattle. A few vied for the last of the treats while the rest of the herd had turned around and noted the gap in the fence had been repaired. Sorrowful moos rang out and several animals leaned against the wire.
“Isn’t it supposed to be electric?” he asked. “Shouldn’t that hurt?”
“Tall grass must have short-circuited the current somewhere. It happens.” She shrugged, taking a step backward. “You probably don’t run into this problem very often in midtown Manhattan.”
“Can’t say that I do.” She was funny, he realized, and almost smiled. “You have quite a skill when it comes to cattle.”
“I’ve been around them all my life. You’ve met my dad. He grew up on our family ranch just like I did. My earliest memories are being in the barns with him, walking between the stalls, going from animal to animal doling out treats, food, formula and medical care as needed.”
“It must have been a nice way to grow up.”
“It was. God incredibly blessed me with the life I have.” Love for her life, that was something that would never change. She shook her head at the cows leaning over the fence, begging with their Bambi eyes and tragic moos for more of those yummy treats. She held up the empty bag so they could see. “That’s all I have. No more.”
They surely recognized the words no more. The cows appeared shocked at how that could possibly be true, and then even more sad as their moos began again.
“Persistence is the key to more treats,” she explained. “Every pampered animal knows it.”
“I look at you and see what I’m in for. Julianna just told me she wants to be a vet.”
He must mean it kindly, but it was hard to tell from the stoic expression etched on his granite face.
“A vet? Well, that is a noble calling. It’s the best way to spend your life, in my humble opinion. Taking care of animals all day, every day. Complete and total heaven.” She flashed him a smile because he looked as if he needed one. Maybe he didn’t realize his wounds were showing; then again, she had a knack for sensing them.
“Guess I will see you all at home.” She tossed him an encouraging smile. “Mrs. G. has been cooking and baking up a storm. Her sons were all too busy for her to visit, so she’s spending the holiday with us, and can she cook! It will be a treat, I promise.”
“Dad.” The window rolled down, and Jenny poked out her head. “How much longer? Can we go yet?”
“Patience, Jennifer.”
He would have sounded gruff except for the faint twinkle in the doctor’s eyes—really amazing brown eyes.
Not that she should be noticing. Adam Stone wasn’t as dour as he wanted everyone to think as he turned those dazzling eyes on her.
“Thanks for clearing the road.” He held his hand up to shade his eyes. “You may have saved my car from serious damage.”
“No problem. I noticed just a little spittle, nothing to worry about.” She backed away, long locks bouncing. “If this ever happens again, and in this part of the country it probably will, don’t let them near your car. They can be quite enthusiastic.”
“I noticed.”
“Get out and lead them off the road. It helps if you have something for them to eat. Oh, and call the sheriff. Ford Sherman knows how to deal with them. He was a city boy and he learned. I imagine you can be taught, too.”
“Me, taught? That is one rumor never proven to be true,” he quipped, surprised by the flutter of lightheartedness behind his sternum.
“I have faith in you, Adam.” She climbed into her dark green truck and the tinted windshield hid all but the faintest silhouette of her behind the wheel, lovely and brilliant and amazing.
Not that he thought so on a personal level. It was merely an observation.
“Dad! We’re waiting,” Jenny called out the window. “It’s getting hot sitting here.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Julianna chimed in. “Aunt Cady said we were going on a horse ride. She promised they wouldn’t leave without us. It’s gonna be a real trail ride!”
The green pickup passed in the oncoming lane with a toot of the horn and a wave of one slender hand. He couldn’t move or respond as he watched Cheyenne’s truck go by, engine rumbling, equipment in the bed rattling, the trailer hitch glinting as it caught on a ray of sun.
He was in shadow. Life had become incredibly serious and the wounds from living had cut deep. He felt darker as Cheyenne’s pickup pulled into the lane ahead of him and rolled farther away. Over the past few years, he’d been consumed with the demands of running a household, raising his kids and meeting the challenges of his career. He hadn’t stopped to think about the man he had become.
He didn’t like who he was turning out to be. He’d lost hope, he’d lost touch with his soul, he’d forgotten what living was for.
Sunshine tumbled merrily across brilliant green pastures dotted with daisies. The cows across the road chorused a string of pleading moos in one last-ditch effort for attention. Life was big and his spirit had become so small. He wasn’t quite sure when that had happened.
How did I get off track, Lord?
Sorry for it, he folded his six-foot-plus frame behind the wheel, closed the door and followed the ribbon of winding country road, fearing the answers he would get to that question.
Chapter Four
“Cheyenne! Cheyenne!” Julianna bolted from the sedan the moment the car rolled to a stop. She hopped and skipped like a purple butterfly across the gravel. “Are you gonna go on the trail ride, too?”
“That’s the word.” The girl looked so excited, that if she kept hopping like that she might rocket off the earth and take off into orbit. “Dad and Scotty promised they would have the horses saddled and ready to go by the time I stepped foot back on the ranch. And guess what? Both of my feet are on Granger land.”
“So, what horse do I get to ride? Do you know?” Julianna bopped around, hopping backward, to keep an eye on her older sister and her father who were following at a normal pace.
“It’s a surprise.” She could not forget the shadows she’d seen in the man, although they were hard to see now in the full light of the sun as he gave Jenny a tight smile and clicked his remote to lock his car.
“Who are you expecting to steal your car?” she called out, unable to resist. “One of the cows?”
“Actually, you look a little shifty.” He slid dark glasses onto his nose, hiding the humor threatening to sparkle in his eyes.
She laughed. The doctor was definitely not as dour as he seemed. “Yes, the time I spent out of state at vet school was a ruse to hide my notorious stint as a car thief.”
“You may have everyone in this town fooled, but not me.” He almost smiled again, that handsome half hook in the corners of his mouth.
Handsome? Was she really using that word again? She needed to stop thinking about him like that. Honestly. It wasn’t as if she were in the market for a boyfriend. She rolled her eyes and accompanied Julianna around the bend in the walkway. The backyard came into sight, shaded by the big maple where her family waited, sprawled out in chairs and chaises, taking it easy for a change.
“There she is. About time, too.” Dad launched off a patio chair on the shady grass. “We’ve been waiting on you, girl.”
“And on us, too!” Julianna hoppity-hopped to Cady and gave her an enthusiastic hug. “Guess what? Jenny changed her clothes eight times and there was a whole herd of—”
“Cows!” Jenny interrupted as she marched into sight a few steps ahead of her father. “Julianna, you promised I could tell.”
“Oops. Sorry. I forgot.”
The sisters were too cute. Cheyenne headed up the porch step. “I so relate to you, Jenny. I had a little sister not so different from Julianna.”
“I was a cutie-patootie, wasn’t I?” Addy bounced off the picnic table where she’d been sitting. Dimples framed her grin as she turned her attention to Julianna. “Adorable, sweet as pie, a real keeper. That was me.”
“Not me.” Julianna wiggled away from Cady’s hug and grabbed her dad’s hand. “I’m nothing but trouble.”
“That’s what you are, little girl.” Adam tugged a bouncy brown pigtail, his affection showing through the stony cast to his features. “Trouble. I’m thinking of packing you up and taking you to the post office.”
“Will you mail me to Hawaii?”
“That’s not far away enough. I was thinking Antarctica.”
“I think there are penguins there. That would be okay.” She tilted her head to glimmer up at her father and there was no mistaking the depths of the child’s adoration.
Cheyenne swallowed hard, remembering looking up at her dad just like that when the man had been so impossibly tall, a giant to her little-girl self, her true anchor in the world. He still was.
“Are you ready to roll, missy?” Her father’s hand settled on her shoulder, a light but comforting weight that made her feel cozy and safe. That was her dad, always taking care of his kids, even if they were all grown-up. He leaned in with concern. “You aren’t going to stay here in case a call comes in, are you?”
“No, I’m taking my cell with me. I can’t miss a Granger family trail ride.” She dropped her bag beside the bench and stole her Stetson off a wall peg.
“The family is a mite bigger than last year.” Dad sounded pleased with that. “Hey, Hattie! What are you still doing in the kitchen?”
“Just packing up a bag of treats for the trail.” Cheerful and sixtyish, Mrs. Gunderson zipped the Baggie she’d just filled with snickerdoodles and stuffed it into the saddlebag lying on the kitchen island. “I don’t want anyone getting hungry. I put in a few treats for the little tykes. Now, if you just want to take this with you, Frank, I’ll get the thermoses to Cheyenne.”
“You are coming with us, right, Mrs. G.?” Cheyenne did her duty and snatched the two silver thermoses from the counter.
“Lass, I don’t belong on the back of a horse. No, my place is right here on solid ground.” A smile wreathed her apple-dumpling face and twinkled in her gray eyes. “I’ve got a few things to do in the kitchen and then I’ll be happy to put my feet up in the shade for a spell.”
“Not gonna happen.” Dad flashed his dimples at her. “You’re an honorary member of this family and we don’t leave family behind.”
“I’ve never ridden a horse and I don’t aim to start today.” Mrs. G. handed over the pack. “No, I’ll be waiting right here when you get back.”
“That’s not the way this is gonna work.” Her dad glanced at her for help. “What’s your opinion, Cheyenne?”
“If you don’t go, Mrs. G., I don’t go.”
“That’s not what I want at all.” Distress crinkled prettily on her round face, enhancing her soft beauty. “You go along, Cheyenne.”
“No, I’ll stay and keep you company. Addy will, too.” She knew Mrs. G. had a special fondness for the youngest of the Granger clan. “She was really counting on taking you riding, but I guess she will have to be disappointed.”
“Very disappointed,” Dad piped in.
“Oh, you two do not play fair.” Mrs. G.’s gaze strayed to the big picture windows where the family and friends gathered at the edge of the lawn. Saddled horses were tied to a rail fence, and a half dozen cattle lowed on their side of the field, begging for attention. Addy had Julianna by one hand and six-year-old Owen by the other, walking between the horses, chattering away.
Adam. He stood like a statue a safe distance away from the horses, the chiseled wonder of his masculine face furrowed with unmistakable apprehension. Cady closed in on him, making conversation. Ooh, what she would give to be a fly on the fence post so she could hear them. Had he just realized that Scotty their ranch hand had saddled a horse for him, too?
“Life isn’t fair, Hattie, and I aim to do whatever it takes.” Dad tossed the saddlebag over his shoulder like a Western hero of old and headed for the door. “You come along with us. You’ll have a good time. You have my word.”
“I’m holding you to that, Frank Granger.” But an interested twinkle sparkled in her eyes.
“It’s settled, then.” Pleased, Dad strolled out onto the porch. His gaze arrowed to Cady and the love that took him over was a sight to see. His deep, abiding affection for Cady shone too brightly to hide.
“Lass, will you show me what to do?” Mrs. G. followed down the stairs.
“I may have my hands full with another greenhorn.” Why was she smiling? It was because of the adamant way Adam shook his head. His no-way-are-you-getting-me-on-a-horse manner made her chuckle. She winked at Mrs. G. “At least you won’t be the only first-timer. You may have to set a good example for the new doctor in town.”
“Cheyenne! Cheyenne!” Julianna bolted across the lawn, running full-out. “Guess what? Dusty and Princess are here. Frank trailered them over from the inn. We get to ride ’em!”
“You look happy.” The homeless and abused horses that the inn had taken on were thriving, thanks to cousin Sean and his fiancée Eloise’s care and the Stone girls’ pampering. Two of the horses had taken a shine to each of the girls. Seeing the way the golden mare lifted her head to always keep an eye on little Julianna spoke of a growing bond. She gave a light tug on one of Julianna’s ponytails. “Do you think you can show Mrs. G. how to mount up?”
“I sure can! It’s real easy.”
“Oh, is that a good idea?” the housekeeper asked, dimpled and merry. “She’s such a little girl.”
“With a big heart, and besides, she knows how to ride.” Cheyenne felt Adam’s gaze land on her like a touch to her chin. Her skin buzzed with a strange sensation. Maybe a bug had landed there. She rubbed her jawbone but nothing flew away.
“Don’t worry, Hattie. I’ll help, too,” Scotty called out from beside an older bay mare, the gentlest horse in the Granger inventory.
“All right, then.” Mrs. G. chuckled as Julianna pulled her away.
She ought to be joining her family, reining Wildflower down the trail, leading the way. She should be contributing to the family’s merry conversation and banter, but they seemed incredibly far away. Adam stood front and center, a few safe paces away from the few remaining horses. With the brush of the wind through his dark thick locks and the kiss of the sun on his bronzed complexion, he appeared intensely male and as polished as if he’d just walked off the covers of an outdoors magazine.
Not that she was attracted to that. Puzzling how she kept noticing him.
“Daddy, you haven’t got in your saddle yet.” Julianna’s button face lined with worry. “Don’t you know how?”
“Sure I do.” He straightened his spine, becoming more tall and powerful.
The fact that her heart kicked into an alarming arrhythmia was a complete coincidence. In fact, she wasn’t going to wait on a city boy like Adam Stone. She strolled over to Wildflower and rubbed her nose. Her old friend nickered softly, bumping her velvety nose into Cheyenne’s hand in an obvious request for more petting. Hard to refuse that. She leaned her forehead against Wildflower’s cheek and savored the sweet company her mare offered.
“I guess staying here and reading the book I have in the car is out of the question.” Adam’s deep baritone held a chord of emotion—a note of amusement and a softer one of resignation.
“Dad, that’s so not what you agreed to do.” Jenny’s dark gaze held a plea, one mirrored by her younger sister.
Not that the Stone family dynamics were any of her business, but she’d grown fond of the girls and she couldn’t seem to keep her attention away from the man. He was a good father. He might be thinking the stoic cast to his face came across as stern, but she could read the affection for his daughters beneath the surface and the look of love that said how much he wanted to please his girls.
Glimmers of admiration flared to life within her as she patted Wildflower’s neck. So, she was a softy for a man with a good heart. She liked him despite all the reasons she shouldn’t. He was remote, he was abrupt and she got the strong impression he didn’t like small-town life or country living. She couldn’t fault him for the look of trepidation he gave the waiting horse. He kept back, apparently mostly clueless what to do with the animal.
“Should I help him, Wildflower?” she asked her beloved mare. “What do you think?”
Wildflower nickered, her chocolate gaze approving of the man.
“All right, fine,” Cheyenne whispered. “But if it doesn’t work out, it’s your fault.”
Wildflower nodded, apparently good with that. Cheyenne patted the mare’s sun-warmed flank as she circled over to lend Adam a hand. He definitely looked as if he could use it. The poor man squinted at Scout, one of her brother’s horses, as if getting up on that gelding was about as appealing as catching a case of the bird flu.
“Look at Mrs. G.” She nodded toward the long line of horses and riders mounting up. “She’s never been on a horse before and she’s having a lot of fun.”
“I don’t do fun.”
“True, but you could fake it just this once.”
“I know what you’re trying to do.” He glanced over just in time to see the housekeeper give a hoot of surprise as the ranch hand gave her a boost into the saddle.
“Way to go, Mrs. G.!” Cheyenne cheered.
The older woman rose up in the air, swung her leg over the back of the horse and landed in the saddle with a surprised plop. “Oh, my! This is much higher than I thought. How do I keep from sliding right off?”
“First you need to wear this.” Scotty handed up Autumn’s extra Stetson, which he must have thought to bring from the barn.
Was that a sparkle of interest in Scotty’s gaze? The strapping ranch hand, also in his sixties, leaned in, lowered his voice and gave Mrs. G. a bit of advice.
“If she can do it, I’m sure you can.” Cheyenne sidled up to Adam. “It’s not difficult. Honestly.”
“For you, sure. You’re one of those animal people. You’ve probably ridden a horse since before you could walk.”
“True, but I’ll help you out. How about that?” The turn of the corners of her pretty rosebud mouth could have been meant to tease him, but the kindness glimmering quietly in her bright blue gaze did not.
“Daddy, please?” Julianna clasped her hands together, steepled as if in prayer. There had been so much he hadn’t been able to give her over the past few years—her mother’s return to their family, her mother’s full-time interest and a way to make her pain ease. But this he could do. His daughter wanted him to go on a horse ride with her. How could he say no?
Remembering his single, very bad experience with a horse when he was a boy, how could he say yes?
“Dad saddled up Scout for you. Scout is a real gentleman.” Cheyenne probably thought she was reassuring him as she led the way toward the horses, her light auburn hair spilling over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. It will be a piece of cake.”
Sure, like last time. He tried to erase the images rising into his mind like a DVD player in slow motion. The pony baring his teeth and snapping as he tried to mount. The nick of teeth stinging his upper arm. Squaring his shoulders, he took one step forward toward the few horses still tied to the rail. Most folks had mounted up and the big crowd of Grangers were milling around, saddles creaking, steeled hooves striking the ground, all eyes on him.
He probably looked like a coward, or at the very least a disagreeable man who didn’t know how to have fun. He felt the shadows within him. Fun wasn’t something he’d been inclined to have since the divorce, when life had become incredibly serious.
“Dad, this will be so much fun. You’ll see.” Jenny, more child than teenager at the moment, loped ahead of him with deerlike grace. “You can ride with me.”
“Uh-huh, he’s gonna ride with me!” Julianna argued cheerily from atop her little gold mare.
“The trail is wide enough that he can ride with both of you.” Cheyenne cheerfully untied reins from the fence board. A cow rambled up to investigate, a daisy stuck in the tuft of hair between her ears, something his girls must have done. “I wish you could come along, too, Buttercup, but you’ll have to stay here.”
The bovine had a similar pleading gaze as Julianna, wide eyes and hopes impossible to disappoint.
“I’m sorry, girlfriend.” Cheyenne stroked the cow’s wide nose before turning to him. “Are you ready to saddle up?”
He was more inclined to take off at a dead run, but cowardice had never been a flaw of his. If only so many gazes weren’t tracking his progress as he strode up to the horse, the menace on four legs. At least, that was his memory of being on horseback.
It will be better this time. That was the only thought that kept the fear at bay. Lord, I hope this isn’t a disaster, he added in prayer, because he would need all the help he could get.
The big behemoth studied him with friendly cocoa eyes. The horse’s nostrils rounded as he breathed in and out in a low-throated sound that could have been a growl.
Man up, he told himself but he couldn’t stop the DVD player part of his brain. The memory froze in this exact spot when he’d been four at his own birthday party. His heart had been pounding then, too, from excitement, not an impending sense of doom. But instead of the grizzled old man holding the reins, Cheyenne posed beside him, awash with sunshine and beauty, looking like everything good in the world.