Ever Loving

by Carolyne Aarsen

  “Actually, I feel more comfortable taking the girls with me,” Mia said, looking from Nate to Evangeline.

  “Feeling a bit protective?” Evangeline asked with an understanding smile.

  Mia nodded as she set the girls down. “And I’m sorry the kitchen isn’t cleaned up yet.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Nate put in, stepping past her to help her gather up the plates the boys had used. “Besides, isn’t cleaning a house with kids in it as helpful as brushing your teeth while eating a chocolate bar?”

  Mia shot him a quick look, then burst out laughing.

  He could see resolve drifting and he pushed a bit more. “It’s your call about the girls,” he continued. “If you take them out, you’ll have to stay outside the corrals. I can’t watch the boys, the horses and you.”

  “The boys?”

  Nate nodded. “If we’re doing this, we should include Josh. That way Nico doesn’t feel singled out and Josh doesn’t feel left out. It will seem more natural.”

  “That makes sense,” she said, seeing the wisdom in his actions, pleasantly surprised at his perception. “Thank you for thinking this through.”

  “Hey, I’m not just a pretty face,” he said, carrying the plates to the counter.

  Just then she heard the boys’ bedroom door open. As they came down the stairs and she saw what they were wearing, Mia wanted to close her eyes in pain. Josh had on a hot pink shirt with orange flowers paired with blue plaid shorts. Nico, a neon yellow T-shirt emblazoned with the name of some computer game and orange jogging pants.

  “Whoa, those are cheerful clothes,” Nate said, humor threading his voice.

  “We took them out of all those bags that the man and lady brought last night,” Josh said, smoothing his hand over his shirt, beaming with pride.

  “Do the boys have boots?” Nate asked Mia.

  “No. Just running shoes,” Mia said, glancing down at Nate’s worn, slant-heeled cowboy boots.

  “Boots for what?” Josh asked.

  “Nate will be teaching you boys how to ride a horse,” Mia said, breaking the news to them.

  “Really? A horse?” Josh’s grin almost split his face, but it was the shine in Nico’s eyes, the huge grin on his face that dispelled any doubts Mia had.

  “You guys will have to get your shoes on and we’ll get you set up.”

  “A horse. We’re going to ride a horse.” Josh grabbed Nico’s hand and without a second glance at Mia, ran out of the door. Mia was about to follow when Nate stopped her.

  “I got the boys. You take care of the girls.” His easy smile made his eyes crinkle and her stomach flutter.

  Mia watched them leave, her heart hitching at the sight of the tall cowboy leading her two sons by the hand.

  That should have been Al, she thought, though even as she formulated the thought she knew it was wishful thinking. Al had never been a hands-on father. Once in a while, if pressed, he would play with Josh, but seldom with Nico and, of course, he hadn’t even seen his daughters.

  “Looks cute, doesn’t it?” Evangeline said, coming to stand beside her.

  “Looks dangerous.” The words popped out before she could stop them.

  “Dangerous? How?”

  Josh danced alongside Nate, his one arm waving as fragments of his chatter drifted back on the early-morning air. She saw Nate drop his head back as he released a deep belly laugh. Then he turned to Nico, his voice lowered as he spoke to her other son. Nate’s dog, Socks, joined them, his plumed tail waving his joy, completing the Norman Rockwell picture.

  “My boys are already too attached to him,” Mia said, the hitch in her heart deepening. “What am I going to do when he leaves?”

  Evangeline’s gentle sigh underlined Mia’s concerns. “Like you’ve always said, just take it one day at a time,” she said.

  “I’ve tried to take it one day at a time,” Mia returned. “But sometimes several days come flying at me at once.” Then she gave Evangeline a smile. “But you’re right. I need to take my own advice.”

  “I think he’s a good guy,” Evangeline said.

  “And that’s the trouble.” And on that cryptic note, Mia left to take care of her other children.

  Chapter 7

  “I’m slipping. Help me, Nate,” Josh called out from atop the horse he was riding.

  Mia clung to the top rail of the corral, her other arm clutching Jennifer. She could do nothing but watch her oldest son clinging to the mane of the horse he was astride, sliding sideways off his saddle.

  “Mom. Help,” he called out.

  This was a mistake, Mia thought. Josh was going to fall, get hurt and be even more afraid. He had just survived a fire. How much more could he deal with?

  Mia glanced back at Grace, who still slept in the stroller, and was about to climb over the fence, still carrying Jennifer when Nate called out. “I’m coming, Josh.” Nate lifted Nico and set him on his hip, then strode over to Josh’s side and set him straight. “There you go, buddy. Good as new.”

  Josh took a few quick breaths, his eyes wide. “I got scared.”

  “I saw that,” Nate said, patting him on the shoulder. “But you did good.”

  Josh gave Nate a feeble smile. “Really?”

  “You really did. Most kids would have screamed and let go, but you didn’t. You’re a real cowboy.” He turned to Nico. “Is it okay if I set you down, buddy?”

  Nico nodded, his expression solemn.

  Nate let him slide down to the dirt, but Nico didn’t move from Nate’s side.

  “So let’s see how we can stop that from happening again,” Nate was saying to Josh. “First off, you have to make sure you don’t lean to one side or the other. And see these?” Nate held up one of the stirrups, shortened to as far as it could go. “You have to keep your feet in these and the best way to do that is to keep your heels down. Not too hard or the horse will think you want him to go. Just enough that your toe isn’t pointed down. That way your foot won’t slip through the stirrup.”

  Nate gave Josh a few more pointers, his voice low, quiet, reassuring.

  The horse Josh rode whinnied, shifted his feet and Josh wobbled again in the saddle.

  Mia’s heart jumped up her throat as Josh started sliding again.

  She was about to call the whole thing off, when she saw Josh grab the saddle horn, right himself and then, to her surprise, heard him laugh out loud.

  Mia released her grip on the rail of the corral and let her own shoulders relax. Her son looked so small astride that huge animal. But Josh didn’t seem as afraid as Mia knew she would be. Horses gave her the willies.

  For the first half hour of the lesson Nate had introduced the boys to the horses and let Nico and Josh lead them around with a halter rope. He helped them with tight turns, wide turns, stopping and going. The horses were amazingly compliant, but it had been difficult for Mia to watch her boys being followed by animals ten times their size and weight.

  After that Nate had shown the boys the tack and what each piece did. Then he saddled and bridled the horses and got the boys to lead them around again.

  Only then did he put them up on the animals.

  Mia had watched the first part of the proceedings from her spot beside the girls sleeping in the stroller. Socks had been content to lay beside her as Nate had ordered him to.

  But then Jennifer woke up and Mia had taken her out just when Nate put the boys on the horses. And all she could do was watch.

  “So just sit right there and I’ll get Nico on his horse,” Nate said, “and then I can lead you guys around the corral, okay, cowboy?” Josh nodded. “You’re doing great. Nola will stay where she is because she knows you’re on top of her, okay? Remember how you led her around with the bridle? How you were the boss? You still have the reins and you are still the boss.” Josh nodded and slowly his fearful look was replaced by a faint smile.

  “All right, Nico. Let’s get you settled on Bella.” Nico’s horse was smaller and had a muc
h smaller saddle than Josh’s. Nate introduced Nico to the horse, Bella, let him pet her on the face, then asked if he was ready. Nico nodded. As Nate put Nico’s feet in the stirrups and told him the same thing he had just told his older brother, Mia saw Nico listen intently, hanging on every word Nate said.

  “Great. You make a good cowboy,” Nate said, squeezing Nico’s shoulder lightly. “Now I’m going to lead your horse toward Nola and Josh. Make sure you pet her once in a while so she knows she’s doing a good job.”

  Nate caught the reins of Nola, Josh’s horse, clucked to the animals and then led them slowly around the corral. The ensuing silence was broken only by the rhythmic footfalls of the horses and Nate’s low, reassuring voice.

  And in spite of her own misgivings, an unforeseen peace fell over Mia’s soul. They made a turn in the corral and Mia’s heart expanded when she saw the wide smiles on both boys’ faces and the excitement in their eyes. Nico was nodding in time to the gentle rhythm of the horse’s hooves, his eyes flicking from his horse to Nate. A couple of times he patted Bella’s shoulder, still grinning.

  This was the most animated Mia had seen Nico since before the fire. And in that moment she felt the first tremble of hope.

  “How are you boys doing?” Nate asked, walking toward Mia, looking back at them.

  “This is so fun,” Josh called out. “Look at us, Mommy. We’re cowboys.”

  “You sure are,” Mia said, giving them a small wave. Jennifer burbled and waved, as well.

  Nate looked ahead and in the shadow of his cowboy hat she caught the glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes. He’s enjoying this, too, she thought, surprised at the idea.

  “You going to join us, Mia?” Nate asked as they came closer.

  “No, thanks. Me and horses...” She waggled her hand like an airplane to indicate her ambiguous relationship with the beasts.

  Nate just grinned, his teeth a white slash in his tanned and dusty face. “Horses are a man’s best friend.”

  “I thought that was dogs,” Mia returned, looking down at Socks, who had lain quietly at her feet ever since Nate had pointed to the ground beside Mia and commanded him to stay.

  “A dog won’t take you up into the mountains,” Nate said, still smiling. “Or carry your gear.”

  “A dog won’t kick you and potentially break a leg,” Mia returned.

  “True enough.” Nate grinned as he made another circuit of the corral. Then he stopped in front of Mia. “Hey, Dimples,” Nate said. He touched Jennifer’s cheek with one gloved finger. “You want to take a turn next?”

  “You’ve called her that before. Why?” Mia asked.

  “’Cause of the dimples at the corner of her mouth. And Grace has this cute nose. That’s how I tell them apart.”

  Mia shot him a surprised look. “You can tell them apart? Most people can’t.”

  “Can we go again?” Josh asked.

  “I don’t want you boys to get stiff and sore,” Nate said. “So we’ll make a few more turns around the corral and then you can go play.”

  Josh protested again.

  “Honey, you have to listen to Nate—”

  “We’ll go again tomorrow—”

  Nate and Mia spoke at the same time, stopped at the same time and exchanged a wry smile.

  “Sorry about that,” Nate said, giving her an apologetic look. “I didn’t mean to cut in on you.”

  “That’s okay.” She returned his look with a smile.

  And once again a connection rose up between them, as real and tangible as a touch.

  Look away. Look away. Nothing to see here.

  Other Mother’s annoying voice cut in and the moment was shattered by reality.

  She looked away, fussing with Jennifer just as Nate turned and led the boys a few more times around the corral. She set her little girl in the stroller beside her sleeping sister and turned them away from the sun, pushing the stroller back and forth to keep Jennifer quiet.

  Jennifer squawked a few more times but then Socks stood up, looking over the edge of the stroller, his tongue out, his soft eyes looking so friendly. Mia had to smile and Jennifer started laughing.

  Nate’s animals—keeping my kids happy and entertained, Mia thought, shooting another quick look over her shoulder at Nate. He was tying up the horses, joking with the boys, telling them silly stories.

  He puzzled her. The first time she met him he seemed turned off by the fact that she had kids. When Nico had glommed on to him at the hospital, he looked genuinely uncomfortable.

  Yet here he was, chatting with Josh and Nico like he had known them forever and was able to tell her girls apart. Something not even Evangeline, one of her best friends, could do.

  “Mommy, did you see me? Could you see me? Did you take a picture?” Josh clambered over the fence, his words spilling out in a stream of pure joy.

  “No, honey, I didn’t take a picture.” Another loss squeezed her heart. Her digital camera, and the past year’s moments had been lost in the fire. If she was willing to enter the twentieth century as Evangeline liked to tease her she should, Mia could have used the phone tucked in the girls’ diaper bag. But she still used a flip phone that hadn’t been able to take pictures for the past couple of years.

  “But you always take pictures,” Josh said, puzzlement threading his voice.

  “I know, honey, but my camera—” And goodness, if her voice didn’t break just as Nate and Nico climbed over the fence to join them.

  She gripped the handles of the stroller, determined not to show her weakness in front of this man, who was slowly taking up space in her mind. And then she felt his hand on her shoulder, as if he understood what she was grieving.

  She swallowed, then swallowed again.

  “So, boys, we’re done. Why don’t you go and play?” Nate suggested, his deep voice quiet.

  To Mia’s surprise they simply nodded and ran off, Josh still talking excitedly about their adventures of the past hour.

  “Are you okay?” Nate asked.

  Mia waved off his concern, but to her consternation, he kept his hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. “I keep forgetting how much you lost in that fire,” he said.

  She released a hard laugh. “Everything but the clothes on our backs, the stuff I had in the girls’ diaper bag and my minivan.” Then she caught herself, and drew in a long, slow breath, centering herself on what was important. “I’m thankful for what I have and I’m thankful for the support I’ve gotten from my friends. God is good.”

  Nate’s brows lifted in surprise. “You can say that in spite of everything that’s happened to you?”

  His mouth quirked up in an uncertain smile.

  “He is,” she returned. “Things haven’t been great and I’ve questioned what has happened to my life, but through it all I’ve felt God near me, supporting and strengthening me.”

  Nate’s eyes narrowed. Seemed to sink back and retreat. “That’s a blessing. I wish I could say the same with as much conviction.”

  She caught the tail end of an old bitterness in his voice. A resignation toward some past event. “What do you mean?”

  Nate seemed to contemplate her gentle probing. Then he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I better go take care of the horses.”

  He vaulted over the fence in one easy motion, striding toward his horses, his gait full of purpose.

  But she guessed from his abrupt movements, the faint slouch of resentment in his shoulders, that what was “done” hadn’t been completely eradicated from his life.

  She knew he was a foster child. It didn’t take much of a step to presume that the reason he’d been put into Denny’s family haunted him still.

  Don’t delve into his life. You’ve got enough going on in yours.

  Mia knew that this time Other Mother was right.

  As she walked away, pushing the stroller over the rough ground, she couldn’t help a quick glance over her shoulder.

  She was dismayed to see Nate, clutching the reins of the
horses, watching her, his features shadowed under the brim of his hat.

  “Easy, Sierra.” Nate clucked to Denny’s horse. He nudged him in the side, urging the large chestnut bay through the gate leading from the cattle pasture to the horse pasture. Sierra balked and spun around as if to go back to the cows they had just checked on. Nate turned him around to face the gate again.

  Sierra turned, as if to head back to the horse pasture to join the other horses. “You need to learn some manners,” Nate said, making the horse stay. Sierra tossed his head and jumped, but Nate kept firm control of the reins. “I’ll need to work with you later,” Nate warned as he finally let him go back to join his and Denny’s two other horses.

  Mia had spent time at the corrals the morning before, being a much larger distraction than he counted on. Each evening, though Denny invited him to join them for dinner, he demurred. A combination of keeping his distance from Mia and trying not to get too enmeshed in Josh and Nico’s lives.

  Yesterday and this morning Mia had stayed away from being with him and the boys. The twins were sick, Josh had told him, which suited him just fine. He needed space from her. Space to center himself.

  The other day, seeing her by the corral fence, watching him work with the boys had created a curious sense of connection. It felt right somehow.

  He knew helping Nico would be a complication for him, but how could he say no when the kid needed so much? When the boy’s mother could use every bit of help sent her way? But he hadn’t counted on the attraction that sparked between him and Mia when they were together. It was as if she filled a place in his heart he hadn’t known was empty until he met her.

  And that scared him.

  So the distance was good.

  He dismounted, quickly unsaddled Sierra, brushed him down and then led him back to the pasture where the other horses whinnied in greeting.

  He tugged his truck keys out of his blue-jeans pocket and checked his shirt pocket for his cell phone. A quick brush of his hands over his jeans and he was ready to go. He didn’t figure on being back at the ranch until after supper again.