Single Dad Cowboy

Chapter Two

Harmony stood in the old barn that had been a part of the Cross Ranch for as long as she could remember. Her parents had bought the place twenty years ago, when her dad had first made a name for himself in Nashville. They’d wanted a place to go where life was still normal. Where the Cross kids could be kids and the family could do what other families did. Attending church on Sunday, rodeos and the local diner.

And because Harmony needed to find that part of herself that still believed in something, in who she was, or wanted to be, she had returned to Dawson and to the old farmhouse with all of its good memories.

She loved this place because it hadn’t changed. No matter what else happened in life, this house remained the same. Her parents had updated it, but they’d kept it as original as possible. The barn was solid with red-painted wood siding, a hayloft, a few stalls and a chicken pen off the back. The chicken pen was empty, and there hadn’t been animals in the barn for years. There were cows in the field only because the Coopers leased the land.

Even though the barn had stood empty, it still smelled of cedar, straw and farm animals. Today there would be a horse. She smiled as she opened one of the few stalls. It had a door that led to the corral and it was roomy.

She’d found one bale of straw, probably left over from the fall decorating her mother had done the previous year. She broke up the bale and scattered a few flakes in the stall for bedding.

After she’d left the Tanner’s she’d stopped at the feed store in Dawson and ordered some grain and hay to be delivered. It was already stacked in the feed room. She was all set. But her heart was a little jittery as she thought about what she was taking on and why. She knew the dangers of getting involved with Dylan Cooper. Her heart couldn’t handle his charm, and she knew he was best left alone. Her dad used to say the same thing about poisonous plants and poisonous snakes. Leave well enough alone and you won’t get hurt, he’d warn.

In the peaceful country stillness she heard a trailer rattling up the driveway. She stepped out of the stall, closing the door behind her. When she walked out of the barn, Dylan nodded a greeting as he pulled past her.

He backed the trailer up to the gate of the corral. The horse stomped and whinnied his displeasure at being moved. Harmony stepped a little closer as the truck stopped moving. The horse pushed his nose out of an opening of the trailer and whinnied again.

“It’s okay, boy, we’ll get you fattened up and you’ll be happy to be here.” She reached to pet his nose and he pulled back. She got it; look but don’t touch.

“You think he’s going to be all happy that you rescued him?” Dylan walked around the trailer and opened the gate. “Because all men fall at your feet, Harmony Cross?”

“Maybe I was wrong, maybe you haven’t changed.”

He smiled a little and she saw the lurking sadness again.

“Oh, I think we’ve both changed.” He swung the back of the trailer open. “And I’m sorry for baiting you that way. Old habits and all.”

“You’re right. Maybe we should call a truce?”

A truce? They’d had an adversarial relationship for years. He’d once loosened the cinch on her saddle just to watch it slide as she tried to get on her horse. She’d put mud in his boots. All in good fun. But it had gone a long way in cementing their relationship.

A truce would mean, what? Being friends? The idea felt a little bit dangerous.

The horse wasn’t coming out of the trailer. Dylan backed up and whistled. The poor animal stood his ground, trembling. Harmony stepped a little closer and spoke softly. The horse listened, his ears twitching and his head moving just the slightest bit to look at her.

“I’m not sure exactly why we need a truce,” Dylan said as he stepped up into the trailer and reached for the gelding’s tail. “Come on, Beau, head on out of there.”

“His name is Beau?”

Dylan nodded, stepping back and pulling a little on the scraggly black tail. The gelding backed out of the trailer, his hooves clanking on the floor. When he hit firm ground he turned and trotted across the corral. He might have kept going but he noticed the green grass and immediately lowered his head and started to graze. He would pull at a mouthful of grass, and then look around at his new surroundings, ears twitching.

“He’ll settle in.” Dylan closed the back of the trailer and then the gate. “You understand you can’t ride him.”

“You understand that I’m very aware of what I can and can’t do.”

“Is that your idea of a truce?” He shook his head and exhaled loudly with obvious impatience. “I don’t mean to tell you what you physically can and can’t do. I’m telling you, that horse can’t be ridden.”

“Why?”

“Why are you so defensive?” he countered.

She watched the horse for a minute. From inside the truck she heard the lilting voice of the little girl, her Texas accent a welcome distraction.

“Well?” He pushed for an answer.

“Because I’m here to get away from people who feel I need to be told at every turn what I can and can’t do. Since I got home from the Tanners’, I’ve had three phone calls. One from your mother, one from my mother and one from my older brother. I’ve been warned three times that I have to be careful with the horse.”

“So what you’re saying is, you’ve had all of the advice you can handle for a lifetime?” He smiled. “I guess we have more in common than you’d like to admit.”

She didn’t want common ground. “So, about this horse...”

“He was a saddle bronc horse that Terry bought from a stock contractor. Terry had ideas that this horse was special.”

They both looked at the dark horse with the white splotch on his rump and little to recommend him other than a pretty-shaped head and nice eyes, even if they were a little wild at the moment.

“Well, whatever the reason he bought Beau, I’m glad he did. Beau might not be all that special, but I think we need each other.”

“It happens that way sometimes.” He glanced at his watch and then there was a cry from his truck. “I have to go.”

“What are their names?” She should have let him leave but she followed him to the truck. There was something about his situation that gave them a bond.

“Callie, she’s four. Cash is almost two.” He looked in the window at the two kids in the backseat.

Harmony stepped close to his side to get a better view. Cash smiled past the thumb in his mouth. Callie gave her a seriously angry look. The little girl still held that kitten from Bill and Doris Tanner’s. Both kids watched them with big blue eyes. They were sweet, perfectly sweet.

And he was raising them. Alone.

“I’m sure your family is a lot of help.” She meant it as a good thing. He gave her a serious look.

“I don’t know, do you consider your family trying to help a good thing?”

She shrugged and her attention refocused on the two kids in the back of his truck. “It can be. And sometimes it’s overwhelming.”

“Yeah, exactly. I know they mean well, but sometimes a person needs to be able to breathe and think about their next step.”

Maybe they had more in common than she’d realized. “That’s why I came to Dawson,” she admitted, “but it seems I can’t escape, because even here there’s a steady stream of people knocking on my door.”

Not that she didn’t appreciate the offers. She really did.

Dylan reached for the door of his truck but paused, his hand dropping to his side. He smiled and she didn’t know what to think. His smile worried her. And it shifted her off balance. All at the same time.

She needed all the balance she could get these days.

“We could throw them off our scent, you know.”

“What does that mean?” She really shouldn’t have asked. She knew Dylan. As a kid she’d gotten in trouble more than once because she’d gone along with his crazy schemes.

“We could team up. If they think we’re in each other’s lives, helping each other out, they might back off.”

It took her a minute to really get the meaning of his plan, then she shook her head. “You must really think I’m desperate if you think I’m going to pretend we’re in a relationship.”

“I don’t think you’re desperate, Princess.” He used the old nickname and winked. “I just think that you’d like a little peace and quiet to get your life together. Like me. I’ve been taking care of Cash and Callie by myself for a year, but now that I’m back in town, people think I don’t know one end of a diaper from the other.”

“I have to admit I wouldn’t think you knew that.”

He laughed easily, something that she envied. “I’m a Cooper, Harmony. I have eleven siblings. Our home has been the stopping point for more foster children than I can count and I have tons of nieces and nephews. Of course I can change a diaper. My mom never believed in separate duties for the males and females in our family. She’s an equal-opportunity chore giver.”

There was a lot to admire about Angie Cooper, a lady who could command a family as large as hers with love and grace. Harmony’s own mother was just as loving, but a family of three children had seemed tiny compared to the Coopers.

“So?” Dylan nudged her arm.

“No. There is no way I’m going to ‘team up’ with you.” There was no way she could handle Dylan in her life. Her heart couldn’t handle it if she let him down. Or those two children. She’d hurt too many people already. The other reason would make more sense to him. “Dylan, I’m working hard to be a recovering addict. And one of the goals for myself is no lying.”

“I’m not asking you to lie. I’m offering an exchange of services. I’ll be here to help you out when you need me. And you help me out from time to time. Everyone is satisfied. And I’ll no longer be pegged as the bachelor in town most in need of a wife.”

“I think the answer is still no.”

He sniffed his shirt. “But why? I don’t smell bad.”

“You’re nothing but trouble, Dylan Cooper.”

“I promise, no one is going to ground us.” He reached for the truck door again. “Think about it. We don’t have to lie. We just have to team up. We’ve already called a truce, right? So if we help each other out, that’s a handy excuse when someone calls to check on us. You can say Dylan has it covered. I can say you’re helping with the kids.”

“And I’m still saying no. I’m here if you need me, but needing space is about needing space.”

He climbed up inside the beat-up old truck cab and started the engine. “I’ll see you around then, Princess.”

She stepped back and watched him drive off. No, she wouldn’t see him around. She was going to hibernate here on the ranch and give herself time to find her life again. She wasn’t in Dawson to get involved in the lives of the people she’d once known. The last thing she needed in her current condition was a distraction.

Dylan Cooper, with his hazel eyes and bad-boy smile was just that, a distraction. His dark, curly hair was a distraction. His swagger, all cowboy with faded jeans, also a distraction.

She walked back to the corral, proud of the way she’d made it through the day. Each day got easier. She used the cane less. She cried less. More and more she believed she might survive. Today she’d managed to smile more. She’d even laughed.

Because of Dylan and those two children. She could admit he’d brought a lightness she hadn’t felt in a long time. Because Dylan didn’t allow her to be a victim.

In the first few months after the accident, she’d wanted to die. She’d wanted to give up. She’d found ways to numb herself to the physical pain, and to the emotional pain that often hurt worse.

Her best friend had been driving the night of the car accident because Harmony hadn’t been sober enough to get behind the wheel. She stood at the corral watching the horse graze on what grass there was in the small enclosure. It wasn’t enough to hurt him. She’d have the vet come out tomorrow to check him and make sure he didn’t need more than grass and grain.

Beau turned to look at her, his ears twitching as he sniffed the air. She whistled softly and he took a few steps in her direction but the grass distracted him again.

It didn’t take long for her back and legs to give out. Harmony limped back into the barn and sat down on an upturned bucket. She leaned her head against the wall and waited for the pain to subside, at least enough to make it to the house. Her mind filled with thoughts of Amy. She kept her eyes open, because if she closed them she would see the flash of lights as a truck ran a stop sign. She would hear the crash of metal and see her friend, lifeless in the driver’s seat.

In the silence her heart moved toward God, praying for peace and strength to get through.

When she finally walked out of the barn, the sun was a hazy fixture hanging in the western sky. As she crossed the lawn toward the house, she heard a child laughing and realized it came from the little house just across the field from her place. The house sat on Cooper land. And even from a distance she could see Dylan Cooper in the front yard.

She watched them, smiling when Dylan lifted Callie to his shoulders. She could hear the faint laughter, carried on the breeze. A truck pulled up her drive and stopped. She smiled at Wyatt Johnson, pastor of Dawson Community Church, and his wife, Rachel. It was their second visit this week. She knew she had her dad to thank for that. Since getting to town she’d also had visits from various members of the Cooper family.

“Hi, Wyatt, Rachel,” she greeted them as they got out of their truck.

“We were on our way home from town and thought we’d stop by and see if you need anything.” Wyatt’s gaze fixed on the corral and his eyes narrowed. “Is that the horse from over at Bill Tanner’s? Terry’s horse?”

“It is.” She looked back at the horse that hadn’t stopped grazing since they unloaded him.

“How did you manage that?”

She shrugged, telling him the short version of the story. The version that didn’t include Dylan. “I think Bill realized it was time to let the horse go.”

Rachel moved next to her husband. “And the memories.”

“Yes, the memories.” Harmony smiled.

“We wanted to check on you and make sure everything is okay out here. If you need anything at all, let us know.” Wyatt made the same offer he’d made days ago when she first arrived in Dawson.

“I know where to find you,” Harmony repeated her line from that conversation. “And church starts at eleven.”

Rachel smiled at that. “I think she’s got it, Wyatt.”

“I know she does.” Wyatt shrugged and looked a little sheepish. “But you’re here alone and your dad...”

A guilty flush tinted his cheeks.

“My dad wants to make sure I’m okay. I know.”

Wyatt didn’t smile this time. “We’re all family here, Harmony. I think we all want to know that you’re okay.”

“I appreciate that, Wyatt, I really do. And I promise I’ll call if I need anything.”

He slipped an arm around his wife. Harmony felt the tiniest twinge of envy at the easy gesture. She wondered how it would feel to be part of a couple, part of a team. But she wouldn’t know because she wouldn’t allow herself a relationship, not a real one, not for a very long time. Not until she was positive she could do this life thing without letting anyone else down.

Rachel stepped away from Wyatt and gave her a quick hug. “I’m just about a mile down the road if you ever want coffee.”

“That’s an invitation I won’t turn down. Thank you.” She heard the quick laughter from across the field, Dylan and the children again. She pretended not to notice and smiled at the couple standing in front of her. “And Dylan came by earlier. He offered to help out if I need anything. It just made sense, because we live so close.”

Wyatt gave her a steady, questioning look and she wanted to look away. Of course Wyatt, long a resident of Dawson, remembered her adversarial relationship with Dylan Cooper. She smiled and hoped he wouldn’t ask questions.

“That’s good of Dylan. He’s had a lot on his shoulders and I’m sure he could use the help, too.”

“He seems to be handling parenthood.” The easy words slipped out, because it was the truth. “But I’m here if he needs anything.”

Wyatt’s face wavered between curious and concerned, but he shrugged and then offered an easy smile. “There’s another reason I stopped by today.”

“Okay.”

“I want to start a recovery program.”

Harmony bit down on her lip and nodded, unsure what to say. She was involved in a program that offered anonymity. She craved it because for a long time it seemed as if everyone knew that Harmony Cross was addicted to prescription drugs. Did they know how easy it was to get those drugs? A toothache, headache, stomach pain, the list was endless. No one really asked questions. No one delved deeper. And when the prescriptions ran out, an addict knew how to find the person with pills to sell.

“Harmony, I know this is tough.” Wyatt had shifted his arm from his wife’s waist and now held her hand but his direct gaze focused on Harmony’s face. “I know that you came here to shed the focus people were putting on your life, the attention and probably some suffocation by people who mean well.”

She smiled at that. “You have talked to my parents.”

“I understand how much you want to hide and how much you want people to stop asking if they can help or if you’re okay.”

“Bingo.” She hoped that didn’t sound too harsh. She knew Wyatt’s first wife had committed suicide, leaving him to raise two little girls alone and deal with the loss of a woman he loved.

“It isn’t easy to get back to life.” Wyatt looked down at Rachel. “Sometimes we need a person who leads us back into the light.”

“I’m not looking for a person.” The answer came easily. “I’m not ready for relationships. I’m not ready to step in front of a group of well-meaning church people and tell them I’m an addict.”

“I think you’ll find this group of people pretty supportive and ready to help each other through some tough times.”

“I know,” she said. “But I need time. I’ve had all of the sermons thrown at me. God allowed this to happen to get me back in church. Or if I hadn’t walked away from God, this wouldn’t have happened.” The one that hurt the most was that God had a reason for taking her best friend. Not her. “I believe, Wyatt, I’ve just had a pretty big crisis in faith. I was hoping if I came back here...”

Wyatt filled in the rest. “That God would be waiting?”

“Something like that. I thought I’d find the old Harmony, the person I used to be.”

“I think you will. I remember her as a girl who never backed down.”

She hoped she’d be that person again. “The one question I really need answered is, why Amy? Why not me?”

She hadn’t planned to say the words out loud. She shook her head, blinking away the quick sting of tears. Wyatt started toward her but she backed away because one touch and she’d lose it, the way she’d been close to losing it for days. Amy, her best friend, had been one of the kindest, most decent people Harmony had known.

“No one on this earth has that answer, Harmony, and I’m not going to try to guess the reason. But I do know that God has a plan for your life, and that plan isn’t for you to give up.”

“Thank you.” She wiped at her eyes and managed a weak smile. “I’m not sure if I can say I’m glad you stopped by.”

“I don’t blame you. And I’ll let you know when we start this group. In case you change your mind.”

And then they left, waving goodbye as they climbed in the truck.

She waved back and headed for the house. She made it to the front porch and sat down on one of the old rocking chairs that had been recently painted a pretty poppy color. Her mother loved bright colors.

The chairs matched the brightly colored geraniums and gerbera daisies blooming in the flower beds. Everything looked cheerful. It looked the way it had years ago when she’d spent happy summers here.

She rocked, enjoying the soft, late summer breeze that blew across the porch, cooling the air. There were no more sounds of laughter from across the field.

Only silence.

For a moment it felt like peace. And in the midst of that peace she remembered that she had just aligned herself with Dylan Cooper. She guessed eventually she’d have to tell him that she was accepting his offer.

* * *

Dylan pulled in to the parking lot of the Mad Cow Café and immediately spotted the Audi driven by Harmony Cross. The only empty space was next to the silver car. He groaned to himself, because if he groaned out loud, he’d have to explain why to Callie. These days she asked a lot of questions. Her favorite words were why and what and how.

When he’d left Harmony an hour earlier, he hadn’t expected to see her back in town so soon.

“Dylan, why are you frowning?”

He glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled at the little girl that he’d known since she was a baby. She smiled back. He couldn’t hide anything from her. She was always watching and saw a lot more than most kids.

“No reason. Just wondering what I’m going to have for supper. What do you want?”

“Chicken strips. And Cash wants tater tots and green beans.”

“Green beans?” He laughed. “Why do you get chicken strips and he has to eat the green beans?”

“Because he’s little.” She said it with the appropriate roll of her eyes that basically told him even a moron would know that a little kid needed green beans.

“I think you should both eat green beans.” He climbed out of the truck and pushed the seat forward to reach in the back. He really needed to get a car or a new truck, one with an extended cab and four doors. The two doors had been fine when it had been just him and a dog traveling around the country.

Car seats and kids changed everything.

He unbuckled Cash from his seat and Callie unbuckled herself. She came in real handy, that kid did. She was his little helper. He hiked Cash onto his hip and reached to help Callie down from the truck. Together the three of them headed toward the diner. And then he heard the door of the Audi open. He hadn’t realized she’d still been sitting in that car.