Lone Star Father
He got out of the truck and strolled along the town’s main thoroughfare—Chuck Wagon Drive. A handful of brick buildings dated back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. The feed store had closed its doors and boarded over the windows before Reid had graduated from high school. He could barely make out the words For Sale that had been spray-painted on the side of the building decades ago.
His gaze swung across the street. The old Amoco filling station had been converted into a farmer’s market. A pickup was parked in the lot, its truck bed piled high with produce. Next to the station sat the Corner Market. When he was a kid, his grandfather would drop him and his brothers off at the store to buy candy.
He continued up the next block. The town looked depressed. Tired. The white bench that had always sat in front of the National Bank and Trust was missing and weeds grew through the cracks in the sidewalk near the door. On the other side of the street the shadows of the missing letters in the Bucket of Suds Coin-Operated Laundry sign remained visible against the gray cinder block.
From the few texts he’d exchanged with his brothers over the last year he knew his grandfather was trying to sabotage Amelia’s efforts to restore the town—he just didn’t know why. He agreed with the matriarch that the place needed a face-lift. If she wanted to dump her millions into Stampede, why should his grandfather care?
Reid put the brakes on and backpedaled to Millie’s Antiques & Resale—or what used to be the business. The old rocker that had sat in the display window for decades had been replaced with an industrial-style desk and a hanging light made from plumbing pipes and old-fashioned Edison light bulbs. Lydia’s Interior Design was etched into the window glass.
Gunner hadn’t told him that his wife had opened a business in town. The canary yellow door and red flowerpots overflowing with white and purple pansies was the lone bright spot among the dreary buildings on the block.
Reid reached the Saddle Up Saloon and drew in a steadying breath. Then another. And another. But no amount of oxygen would clear his thinking enough to fabricate a reasonable excuse for ignoring his family all these years.
He entered the building, pausing inside the door to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim interior. He looked toward the bar expecting to see his brothers parked on the stools, but the seats were empty.
Reid recognized the bartender dusting off liquor bottles. JB’s ponytail was longer and mostly gray now. He wore a beige T-shirt with a picture of a saddle on the back and the bar name printed in bold, black letters. When JB recognized Reid, the corner of his mouth lifted in greeting, then he tilted his head toward a table in the back corner where his siblings and his grandfather had gathered.
Reid approached the group and waited for an invite to join them. His grandfather nodded and Reid pulled out a chair and sat. JB placed a bottle of beer in front of Reid, then refilled his grandfather’s coffee cup before returning behind the bar.
He might as well get the tongue-lashing over with. Staring at his older brother he said, “Give me your best shot.”
Logan didn’t hesitate. “You’ve treated us like lepers for years. Don’t think you can waltz back into the family as if you never left.”
“I doubt you missed me that much,” Reid muttered.
Logan’s eyes widened.
“I’m no saint.” Gunner spoke up. “I’ve done my share of letting everyone down, but I’ve never deserted the family.” He pointed to their grandfather. “Gramps took care of us when our parents didn’t. He deserved better from you.”
Reid stared at his grandfather and braced himself.
“Did I do something or say something to make you believe you weren’t part of this family?”
Reid clenched his jaw and looked away from the sadness in the old man’s eyes. “I’d rather not talk about the past.” What good would it do to list his grievances? Donny Hardell was dead and his brothers had moved on. Why couldn’t he?
“Why’d you come home?” Gunner asked.
Tell them the truth. “I didn’t know where else to go for help.”
“You having some kind of early-life crisis, boy?” Gramps asked.
Reid pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. Despite his belief that his brothers could have done more to protect him from their father’s verbal abuse, he’d missed his grandfather’s cantankerous personality. “If you consider instant fatherhood an early-life crisis, then yes, I’m having one.”
Gunner looked at Logan, then back at Reid. “What do you mean, ‘instant fatherhood’?”
“I met Jessie for the first time six months ago when social services contacted me after her mother died.”
“The girl’s mother is dead?” Gramps asked.
“Stacy died in a workplace accident. My name was listed on Jessie’s birth certificate. A DNA test confirmed that I’m her father.”
Gramps sipped his coffee. “Where’s Jessie been all this time?”
“El Paso.” Reid rubbed his brow. He’d never learn why Stacy hadn’t reached out to him after she discovered she was pregnant. Her reasons had been cremated along with her body.
“I don’t remember any Stacy that we went to school with,” Logan said.
“She wasn’t from here.”
“Where did she live?” Gunner asked.
“I don’t know. The subject never came up at Jason Zelder’s house party where we had sex. Once.” Stacy had latched onto Reid when he’d walked through the front door and hadn’t let go until after they’d made out in his grandfather’s pickup in the driveway. “Stacy left the party with her friends and I never heard from her again.”
Gramps thumped his fist on the tabletop and they all jumped. “Why’d you wait six months to tell me about my great-granddaughter?”
“I wasn’t sure Jessie wanted anything to do with me.”
“What do you mean?” Gramps asked.
“The social worker suggested a six-month probation period for us to get to know each other. I quit my job in Albuquerque and moved to El Paso. At the end of six months Jessie agreed to leave her foster parents’ home and go with me.”
“So you got custody of her,” Gunner said.
“Temporary custody. The caseworker will reevaluate our situation in the next couple of months and either recommend that a judge give me permanent custody or place Jessie back into the foster-care system.” If he wanted to keep his daughter with him, Reid had to provide Jessie with a stable home life and a decent place to live. Right now they had neither of those things.
Logan crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m surprised you’d want anything to do with your daughter after the way you wrote off your family.”
Reid’s knuckles turned white against the beer bottle. “I think it’s the other way around.”
Their grandfather sliced his hand through the air, ending the tit for tat before it escalated. “How do you plan to show the social worker that Jessie belongs with us?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the first thing about being a father.” And growing up, his father hadn’t been a good role model.
“I won’t be any help. As a first-time daddy I’m flying by the seat of my jeans.” Gunner nudged Logan’s arm. “You’ve been a father longer than I have.”
“Only by a few months,” Logan said. “I love the twins as if they were my own, but they’re a lot younger than Jessie. And they’re boys. I wouldn’t know what to do with a preteen daughter.”
“I got plenty of experience riding herd over teenage troublemakers,” Gramps said. “How long are you staying?”
“If I can find a job and a place for Jessie and I to live, then we’ll stay until the social worker makes her decision.”
“What about school?” Logan asked.
“Jessie’s mother and foster mother homeschooled her. I don’t know anything about that stuff, so she’ll have to go to the middle school in Mesquite.”
“We can make room for you two at the ranch,” Gramps said.
Logan raised his hand. “I need to check with Sadie first to see if it’s okay with two more people moving into the house.”
Reid didn’t want to add stress to his brother’s marriage and he didn’t want to kick Scarlett out of his grandfather’s bedroom. “If you can put Jessie up at the house, I’ll stay at the motel.” He nodded to Gunner. “I’ll pay for the room.”
“How are you supposed to bond with your daughter if you’re not living together?” Gramps asked.
“It’s only temporary,” Reid said. “Once I find a job, I’ll rent an apartment.” Living a few miles away from his family would give him a little breathing room.
“You’ve finally come home after all these years,” his grandfather said. “I won’t have you living in another town.” He rubbed the whiskers on his chin. “What about bunking down in the old hunting cabin at the back of the property?”
“I appreciate the thought, Gramps,” Reid said. “But it might be easier—” and less stress on the entire family “—if we find an apartment.”
“If you want our help,” Gramps said, “then you and Jessie should live at the ranch.”
Reid liked the idea of Jessie being closer to family and if they used the cabin, he’d be closer to Scarlett, who he hadn’t stopped thinking about since yesterday. And suddenly the thought of running into Scarlett on a regular basis appealed to Reid.
“What do you say?” Gramps said. “The cabin needs a good cleaning, but Jessie would have her own bedroom.”
“Sure. We’ll give it a try.”
Logan hadn’t said a word and Reid suspected his brother wasn’t thrilled with the living arrangements.
Gramps changed the subject. “Gunner, what time are you bringing Lydia and the baby home from the hospital tomorrow?”
“At noon,” Gunner said. “Why?”
“Stop by the ranch on your way into town. The women are cooking up a surprise party for the baby.”
“You weren’t supposed to tell Gunner,” Logan said.
Their grandfather scoffed. “Men don’t care about parties.”
“I need to get back to the hospital.” Gunner stood and pushed his chair in. “Thanks again for the car seat, Logan. It was easy to install.” Gunner turned to Reid. “Welcome home.”
After the youngest Hardell departed, Logan stood. “I’ve got to get back to the ranch. A group of trail riders arrives in a couple of hours.”
Reid wanted to learn more about the changes at the ranch but kept his questions to himself. If he and Jessie were moving into the cabin, he’d find out soon enough why a cattle ranch had been turned into a tourist attraction.
Logan placed his cowboy hat on his head. “You leaving or staying, Gramps?”
“I got a meeting with the town council at the library.”
“Town council?” Reid looked at his grandfather.
“Gramps is the mayor of Stampede,” Logan said. “You would know that if you’d come home before now.” He walked out of the bar.
“Don’t mind your brother. He’s a Hardell. We’re all too stubborn for our own good.”
Reid swallowed his pride. “I’m sorry.”
“Growing up in this family wasn’t easy. I know that.” His grandfather braced his hands on the table and pushed himself to his feet. “You don’t have to like any of us, but family is family and we’re all you’ve got.”
Reid sat alone in the saloon long after his family had deserted him. Again. Gramps and Gunner had been more forgiving than Logan. Reid had some fence mending to do with his older brother.
Chapter Three
“We’ve been waiting for you, Reid,” Jessie said after he pulled up to the house at Paradise Ranch Saturday afternoon. “Scarlett’s gonna give us a tour of the petting zoo.”
In the six months that they’d known each other, Jessie hadn’t called him Dad, even though she referred to him as her dad when she spoke with other people. Maybe she just needed a little more time.
He studied his childhood home. His grandmother’s rosebushes looked healthy and lush—a big change from his last glimpse of the sickly shrubs as he’d left for the military. Fresh gravel covered the road leading to the highway and the swing hung on the porch again. The window trim had recently been painted and the white rockers were new. He attributed the homey feel to Logan’s wife, Sadie.
“What’s the matter?” Jessie asked.
“Nothing.” He cracked a smile. “I haven’t been here in a while and the place looks different.” The barn sported a new coat of red paint and the white corral rails gleamed in the sun. Across from the old storage shed was an enclosed barnyard where a handful of animals congregated. A sign reading Paradise Petting Zoo hung above the entrance.
“You’re here.” Scarlett joined Jessie on the porch. Her smile reached her eyes, and the sparkle warmed his insides. He’d desired his share of women through the years and he felt plenty of below-the-belt temptation for Scarlett, but when their gazes locked all that heat traveled upward into his chest, making his heart pound faster.
Jessie descended the steps. “Uncle Logan said he had to take care of the horses.”
A bitter lump lodged in Reid’s throat when Jessie referred to his brother as Uncle Logan. Returning to Stampede was supposed to help him and Jessie grow closer, not Jessie and his brothers.
Tommy flung the front door open and he and his brother raced past Scarlett. “I want to show Jessie my chicken.”
“Me, too,” Tyler said.
Taking a look at the hunting cabin would have to wait until after they toured the barnyard. “Lead the way,” he said.
The twins grabbed Jessie’s hands, then Tommy said, “C’mon, JJ. I’ll show you Captain America.”
“And Superman,” Tyler said. The boys and Jessie cut across the yard.
Scarlett descended the steps and they followed the kids. “JJ?” he said.
“Tommy kept complaining that Jessie was a girl, so she told the boys to call her JJ for short because it sounded like a boy’s nickname.” Scarlett peeked up at him. “What’s the second J stand for?”
“Jones.” He lowered his voice. “We haven’t talked about changing her last name to Hardell.” He figured his daughter needed time to get used to the idea of him being her father.
“Maybe she’s waiting for a signal from you that you want her to take your surname.” Was Scarlett speaking as a friend or a social worker?
“Jessie said the two of you didn’t meet until after her mother died.”
He didn’t want to talk about Stacy—mostly because he felt bad that he couldn’t remember much about her.
Scarlett pulled on his shirtsleeve and they stopped walking. “I’m prying because I care.” She glanced ahead at the kids. “I’ve helped hundreds of girls like Jessie. I’m here if you have any questions or just want to talk.”
Coming from anyone other than a social worker, Reid would have ignored the person, but Scarlett’s offer was sincere and empathy shone in her brown eyes. “Thanks.”
A wrinkle appeared across her brow. “It can be challenging bonding with a child you don’t know well.”
He almost asked if she had any tips on setting boundaries for a twelve-year-old but changed his mind, not wanting to appear totally inept as a parent. They strolled through the empty barn, then walked out the rear door into the petting corral.
“Watch this, JJ.” Tommy chased a rooster whose comb looked as if it weighed more than the bird.
“Superman’s hungry.” Tyler pushed the button on the feeding machine attached to the corral rail and pellets spilled into his hands and onto the ground. He offered the treats to the goat and giggled when the animal licked his palm. “He likes his magic food.”
“That’s a weird-looking chicken.” Jessie pointed to a bird with a feather duster attached to its back end. “The tail is longer than its body.”
“That’s an Onagadori chicken. It was first bred in Japan,” Scarlett said. “I didn’t know a thing about chickens before I came to visit, but thanks to Tyler’s chicken-and-rooster books I’m an expert.” She patted a miniature horse. “This is Ruby.”
“We got Ruby from a newspaper,” Tyler said.
Jessie rubbed the mare’s nose. “What do you mean, you got her from a newspaper?”
“Ruby’s owner couldn’t take care of her,” Sadie said. “He put an ad in the newspaper, hoping someone would adopt her.”
“Our grandpa lets us ride her.” Tommy took Jessie’s hand. “Wanna see Wilbur?” They zigzagged between chickens and stopped in front of a doghouse. “Come out, Wilbur.” A pink snout appeared in opening.
Jessie knelt down. “Come out and play, piggy.”
Tyler squatted by his brother and grunted like a pig. Wilbur left his house and nudged Jessie’s hand with his nose. Her laughter warmed Reid’s heart.
“The twins have a new best friend.” Scarlett nodded to Jessie. “I hope they don’t annoy her too much.”
Reid watched the trio play with Wilbur. His family had accepted Jessie into their fold. Time would tell if they rolled out the welcome mat for him.
“How long did you plan to stay in Stampede?” Scarlett asked.
Apparently no one expected him to stick around.
What else are they supposed to believe when you’ve kept your distance all these years?
“I don’t have any intention of leaving soon,” he said. “Jessie and I are moving into the cabin on the other side of the property.”
“You don’t sound excited about bunking down out there,” she said. “My offer to stay at the motel still stands.”
“The cabin will be fine.” He wasn’t pushing Scarlett out of the house. He needed an ally close by. He hoped he and his family could move forward because his daughter was making herself at home on the ranch and if they had to leave, she’d blame him for things not working out.
“Aunt Scarlett?” Tyler patted Scarlett’s leg. “Can we show Jessie our tree house?”
“Check with your mom first.” Scarlett glanced at Reid. “Logan built the boys a tree fort not too far from the garden alongside the house.”
“Jessie, keep an eye on the boys,” Reid said.
“I will.” She followed the twins out of the barnyard and across the lawn to the back door of the house.
“When did you plan to look at the cabin?” Scarlett asked.
“Right now. You want to come along?” He winced at the eager note in his voice. He was still bruised from the dressing-down his brothers had given him earlier and it was nice to be with someone he didn’t have to keep his guard up with.
“I don’t have Lydia’s eye for interior design or Sadie’s talents in the kitchen and garden, but I know what girls Jessie’s age like and don’t like.” They left the corral and Scarlett secured the latch on the gate. “I’ll tell Sadie where we’re going and meet you out front.”
Reid walked back to his truck and listened to the radio while he waited for Scarlett. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the music and gazed out the windshield. As a kid he’d raced down the gravel road to the highway hundreds of times to catch the school bus. He thought he’d never return after he’d caught the bus that had taken him to boot camp. Life sure had a way of turning the best-laid plans upside down and inside out.
* * *
“WHERE’S EMMETT?” SCARLETT asked when she entered the kitchen.
“Upstairs changing clothes.” Sadie poured dish soap into the sink and ran the water. “Fang raced through the room a few minutes ago and tripped Emmett. When he caught himself on the counter, he tipped the bowl of cake batter onto his pants and shirt.” Sadie pointed to the mess on the floor.
“I’d help clean up, but Reid’s waiting for me in the driveway.” Scarlett stepped over the splatter. “We’re going to check out the cabin he and Jessie are staying in.”
“I don’t know why Gunner and Logan suggested the cabin.” Sadie shut off the water. “It’s silly to have them living on the other side of the ranch away from the rest of us.”
“I think you need to let the guys figure out the logistics.” Scarlett went into the laundry room and grabbed a small cooler from the shelf above the dryer.
Sadie followed her. “Are you telling me to mind my own business?”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Sadie laughed. “Yes, you would.”
“You’re a mom and you like to fix everyone’s problems.”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” Sadie said. “You’ve made a career out of fixing kids’ problems.”
“And my professional opinion is that it’s important for Jessie and Reid to have their privacy while they get to know each other better.” She returned to the kitchen and removed two bottles of water from the fridge, then put a handful of grapes into a plastic baggie.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing a picnic lunch.” Scarlett ignored Sadie’s arched eyebrow. She’d never told her cousins that Reid had kissed her the day of their great-uncle’s funeral or that he’d crossed her mind through the years and even more often after her cousins had married his brothers.
“Are you treating this trip to the cabin like one of your family welfare visits?” Sadie asked.
“If I said no, would you drop the subject?”
Sadie’s eyes twinkled. “Yes.”
“Then, no.”
Sadie went back to the sink and began wiping up the cake splatter. Scarlett knew her cousin had stopped her interrogation because she was glad Scarlett was showing interest in a man. After her horrible breakup with Dale, Scarlett had refused to get back into the dating game. Her cousins had suggested an online dating site, but she hadn’t been ready. Now she wondered if she’d been ready all along but just waiting for the right guy—a guy like Reid.
“There’s leftover chicken salad in the crisper,” Sadie said.
“Good idea.” Scarlett dished a scoop into two plastic bowls, then covered them and tossed in a pair of plastic forks. “I’ve got my cell,” she said. “Call if anything comes up with the kids.”
“We’ll be fine.”
Sadie followed Scarlett to the front door. “What about supper? Emmett’s making fried chicken and Aunt Amelia is joining us. Should I plan on Jessie and Reid, too?”
“I’ll let him know that everyone expects him for dinner.” Scarlett hugged Sadie. “After the kids go to bed tonight, I’ll help blow up the balloons.” She stepped outside and closed the door preventing Sadie from following her onto the porch.
“What’s that?” Reid asked when Scarlett set the cooler on the floor and climbed into the passenger seat.
“A snack if we get hungry.”
Reid shifted the pickup into Drive and took off. “We can get to the cabin faster using the highway,” he said.
“I didn’t know there was another way to get there.”
He nodded. “A couple of dirt roads intersect the ranch, but I don’t know what shape they’re in.”
Scarlett stared at the passing scenery. “Texas is so different from Wisconsin. I’m used to cornfields and bean fields. Down here all you see is hay or cattle.”
“Do you like the winters up north?” he asked.
“I enjoy the different seasons but the older I grow, the less I like the cold. We got a lot of snow this past winter and there were a few days I couldn’t drive in to work.”
A commercial came on the radio and when they both reached to turn the volume down at the same time, their fingers bumped. Scarlett looked away first because she didn’t want him to see her blush like a schoolgirl. “Sadie and Lydia mentioned you settled in Albuquerque. How’d you end up there?”
“I landed a job as a mechanic for a trucking company.” He slowed the pickup and moved over to the shoulder, then turned onto the property. “It looks like my grandfather had fresh gravel put down on this road, too.”
Scarlett sensed Reid didn’t want to talk about his life in New Mexico so she dropped the subject. “I can’t believe my cousins married your brothers after my great-aunt warned us girls to steer clear of you boys.”
“Amelia was right to be concerned about Gunner and Logan, but not me.”
She laughed. “Maybe I imagined it was you who kissed me at the church that day.”
He grinned. “That was pretty bold, huh?”
“You were my first kiss.”
He glanced at her. “No way.”
“Yes way.”
“The guys in Wisconsin must have been dumber than the dairy cows up there not to try to steal a kiss from a girl as pretty as you.”