“So what’s this big ask?” She had already been doing much of Macy’s work since the baby had been born and she had been pitching in helping Rhett at the summer camp, too.
“Help me run Red Dog Ranch and Camp Firefly.” He took a step toward her. “We got off on the wrong foot but I promise I’m not a total bear to work with and if I’m being honest, I need your help. We have campers arriving tomorrow and I want Rhett and Macy to be able to focus all of their attention on Silas instead of worrying about what’s happening here.” He tipped his head to the side. “So what do you say? We’ll probably have disagreements like we had earlier, but I’m committed to working through them if you are. That is, of course, if you’re comfortable working alongside me. I understand if you’re not.”
It wasn’t working with Boone that had her worried, but being more involved in Camp Firefly. As a child she had lived for the week during the summer when she got to come here. Each year, Camp Firefly had infused her with more faith and excitement about God. She had been led to believe He would rescue her from her circumstances. That He wanted to give her a home and a family.
But He never had.
And now Violet was getting pulled deeper and deeper into giving other foster kids the same false hope. It didn’t sit right with her. The last few weeks with Rhett, she had only been putting things together for him to implement but she had been able to stay away from Camp Firefly for the most part. However, Boone wanted her actually involved in running the camp.
But after all the Jarretts had done for her could she say no? The Jarretts needed her help, and they’d been more than generous in giving her and Hawken a place to live after their injuries. She would just have to find a way to be helpful while also not contributing to misleading any of the children. Violet would figure out how to do that. She had overcome worse.
“I ride a horse for a living,” Violet said by way of answering. “Next to controlling a thousand pounds of stubborn muscle, not much intimidates me. Least of all, working with you.”
“Glad to hear it.” Boone smiled. He had one of those smiles that was clearly hard won, but once it came out, it was a smile that made everyone who saw it grin back.
Including Violet.
She realized she was staring at him, so she dropped her eye contact only to notice huge wet spots all over the legs of his jeans. She gestured toward them and raised her eyebrows.
Boone glanced down. “Ah, that. On my way in I was hug-attacked by two very wet six-year-olds.”
Violet chuckled. “They can be a handful.”
“At least they’re the good kind of handful,” Boone joked.
Boone let her know he had to unpack his car and move his things into one of the open bunkhouses, but when he was done the two of them would need to sit down and come up with a plan since there were campers arriving tomorrow. Violet followed him out of the barn and watched him walk away, the whole time wondering what she had gotten herself into.
She hoped, to borrow Boone’s words, she was about to be busy with the good kind of handful.
Then again, Violet had given up on hope a long time ago.
Chapter Two
The next day, Hailey skipped beside Violet as they headed to the mess hall to catch a quick lunch before camp operations would need to begin. Already, the high school-and college-aged summer staff who served as counselors at Camp Firefly were moving into their assigned cabins for the week. Last night, Boone and Violet had sat down in the ranch office together and she had run him through the normal daily schedule. They had also started bundling items for each of the activities for the week so that everything would be ready to go for the next few days. Violet had found Boone eager to learn but also nervous and reserved.
The scents of brisket and cornbread casserole tumbled down the hill to greet them. Cassidy always outdid herself, but Violet especially loved this meal. Thankfully, in the summer Cassidy had four college students as kitchen staff members who helped her feed everyone at the ranch. They took turns setting up the Sunday lunch meal so Cassidy didn’t have to worry about whether or not she could attend church with her family. In exchange, Cassidy always gave them their Saturdays off, and she and Wade prepped all the Sunday food the evening before.
Hailey snagged Violet’s hand and swung it. “Will you sit by me at lunch?”
Violet gave her tiny hand a squeeze. “Of course, squirt. Don’t I always?”
“Well, my daddy will be there and you two did not like each other yesterday so I didn’t know.” She scrunched her button nose.
A six-year-old didn’t need to hear all the details about her and Boone coming to a truce yesterday. She would see that they were fine together today so Violet just smiled and said, “It’s a new day.”
If Violet allowed herself to, she could easily start to believe that she had finally found a place for herself. It’s what she had prayed for all those years ago when she was a camper here. Over the past few months she had been useful at Red Dog Ranch and now she was helping run major functions of the special place. But it was all a facade and she would do well to remind herself that Red Dog Ranch was not and never would be her home.
It was the place that had broken her heart and demolished her faith.
And once she could find a place for herself and Hawken and he was ready to be moved, she’d be gone.
The sun beat down on them and Violet wondered if it was just her, or if the hill up to the mess hall was somehow bigger and harder to climb this afternoon than it usually was. She felt sweat dotting her arms and forehead.
Hailey spotted Piper farther up the hill walking with her mom so she dropped Violet’s hand and took off running to catch up with her cousin.
“Ouch, ditched for Piper.” Boone’s rich voice came from behind her, full of teasing.
Violet shrugged. “Eh, it happens.”
“I’m just kidding.” He fell into step beside her. “She really likes you. Talked my ear off about you last night. She’s very impressed by the whole famous rodeo champion thing you’ve got going on.”
“It does up my coolness factor a few points, doesn’t it?” Violet joked.
Boone grinned. “Hailey could use a little cool in her life. Because my coolness factor is about at a zero these days.” He laid his hand over his heart. “Who am I kidding, it probably always was a zero.”
“Oh, it can’t be that bad,” Violet said.
“You know that motto, born to be wild? Well, mine would be more along the lines of born to be mild,” Boone said. “Just being honest.”
Mild was the last word Violet would have used to describe Boone.
Yesterday his T-shirt had been rumpled from traveling in the car all day. He had given off the air of someone who was visiting but didn’t quite feel comfortable at the ranch. Today that was gone. He had boots, jeans, a fitted T-shirt and a cowboy hat, and the whole look was more appealing than he had a right to be. Violet’s throat went momentarily dry. But she chided herself. Seeing a handsome cowboy wasn’t exactly a novelty for someone who worked in the rodeo world. Boone Jarrett was handsome, yes, but he was no different from all the other men she had brushed shoulders with over the last few years.
Although that wasn’t altogether correct. Boone possessed integrity and a moral fiber Violet hadn’t recognized in many of the rodeo riders she met on the circuits. Most men wouldn’t have apologized so readily after their spat—especially when she had been just as much to blame for the heated exchange. Last night Boone had said she had a big heart, but Violet had a hunch Boone’s heart for others was enormous. Which only made his decision to leave Hailey alone during her grief even more perplexing.
Violet cleared her throat. “I didn’t spot you at church this morning.” Not that she had been looking. Okay, maybe she had been looking. She had presumed he would attend the same church in town the rest of his family belonged to. But Hailey had arrived with Wad
e’s family and then they had headed to visit their mother, Mrs. Jarrett, who had recently been relocated to a retirement home that specialized in providing care for patients with memory issues.
But Violet had never seen Boone in the crowd. It wasn’t as if he could have stayed at the ranch for church either because the chapel was only used for services during the week when campers were present.
Boone rubbed his hand over his jaw. “I, ah, I went to the cemetery instead this morning.”
Violet’s stomach fell. She instantly felt horrible and insensitive. She had just been thinking about how handsome he was while he had been mourning his dead wife. Boone wasn’t just another handsome cowboy; he was a man who was struggling through one of the biggest blows that could happen in a person’s life. Violet needed to remember that.
Boone stopped walking so she did, too. “I hadn’t been there since I brought Hailey back after the funeral. It felt like it was time.”
“I’m sure you miss her a lot.” Violet could have kicked herself. What a stupid thing to say. Of course he missed his wife.
Boone put his hand over his mouth and looked toward the horizon. “June and I.” He swallowed hard and scrubbed his hand over his face. “She was always there, you know? We’d been together our whole adult lives. We started dating when we were sophomores in high school. We were twenty and nineteen on our wedding day.”
She hadn’t asked anyone how old Boone was, but Violet knew Rhett was thirty-one and Wade was twenty-six, so Boone was somewhere in there. If she had to guess she would say twenty-eight or twenty-nine sounded about right. Counting back from sophomore year in high school would mean Boone and his wife had been together for roughly thirteen or fourteen years of their lives.
Violet rubbed her hands up her arms. “It has to be great to find someone you love at such a young age.”
“Great until you lose them.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. You were being kind.” He blew out a long, loud burst of air. “It’s hard to explain. I just—I’m used to her being here.” His voice hitched. “I’m used to having her as a part of my life. I’m not quite sure how to navigate without including her in my decisions. I don’t know if any of that makes sense.” Boone closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. His shoulders sagged.
Violet might have been the least qualified person to have this conversation with Boone. She had lost her parents when she was Hailey’s age. After that she hadn’t allowed herself to get close enough to anyone to hurt if they left her life. It’s how she functioned for the sake of self-preservation. Being shuffled from foster family to foster family without any of them adopting her, she’d had no other choice. It was that or suffer through repeated heartbreaks. And she’d already experienced her heart breaking enough times in life to know that wasn’t the path she would ever choose again.
Hopefully Boone was having these sorts of talks with Wade, too. With someone—anyone—other than her.
Violet lightly touched his arm. “I’ve never had something like that with another person, so I don’t know. But I’m sure what you’re feeling is normal. You loved her and you’re hurting. Figuring out what your normal looks like now, that’s going to take time, Boone. It’s probably best to be gentle with yourself right now.”
“Maybe what you have is better. Not loving someone. Then this wouldn’t be happening,” Boone said.
Violet crossed her arms. “You don’t mean that. If you hadn’t loved June then Hailey wouldn’t be here.”
“You’re right. Of course you’re right,” he said quickly. “Hey, I’m sorry for all of this. I shouldn’t have—”
“You’re allowed to talk about her, Boone. I hope you know that.”
A sad smile touched his face and he nodded. “I appreciate you saying so. Sometimes it feels like I shouldn’t and that’s difficult.” He steepled his hands together and pressed the tips of his fingers to his chin as he thought. “Want to help with something for Rhett? I initially hauled it up the hill to ask you that.”
Relief washed through Violet at the change in topic. Helping was something she was comfortable wrapping her mind around.
Family and heartache, on the other hand...they made her run.
* * *
Boone kicked at the ground. He hadn’t been entirely honest with Violet.
While he had gone to lay flowers on June’s grave site this morning, he could have done it before or after church. His answer had been an excuse. Plain and simple.
The fact was, Boone wasn’t ready to head to the church he had grown up in and see all the happy, churchgoing couples sitting together with their children. He wasn’t ready to bump into June’s parents yet. He wasn’t ready for the sad looks from people he had known since childhood. And he certainly wasn’t ready for the matchmaking grandmas that flooded the place.
Boone’s wedding ceremony had taken place in that church.
It wasn’t time to go back.
Maybe he never would.
He gestured for Violet to follow him back down the hill. “I don’t think this should take too long. We should still be able to grab lunch before meeting with the counselors and if not, I’ll shoot Cassidy a text for her to put some food to the side for us.”
Violet raised her eyebrows. “What exactly are we doing?”
Boone glanced her way and couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was with her hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Violet definitely wore makeup but he could tell that even if she washed it off, he would have been just as captivated.
He stumbled a little as he took his next step.
During his marriage, as a way to respect his wife and honor his marriage, Boone had made a point of not noticing other women. He wasn’t blind, but he had learned to save his attention and admiration for June and June alone. It was strange to not have to do that any longer. He would never stare at a woman or consider her appearance for too long—he just wasn’t like that—but he was allowed to notice now. And that felt strange. It still felt wrong.
Yet he was definitely noticing Violet.
Boone coughed a little and forced himself to focus on the office building situated near the driveway. Since the last time Boone had been home, Rhett had installed a kennel and turn-out area alongside the office. Wade had let Boone know he would put Ryker in the first kennel today so he would be ready for pickup. Sure enough, a large black dog lolled in the grass in a patch of sunshine. Boone had to believe training a service animal took a lot of time and hard work. It was a wonder Rhett was able to fit it in, but Boone knew how much his brother loved working with dogs. When he had first inherited Red Dog Ranch, the eldest Jarrett had almost had to sacrifice the work he loved in order to save the family business. Macy must really support and champion Rhett’s dreams for his brother to be able to shoulder so much.
Boone’s gut twisted. Even after the pain he had been through, he still wanted that.
He was happy for his brother—for all his siblings and their healthy marriages. But it was odd to have the tables flipped. For eight years Boone had been the one married and they had all been single. Now he was the odd man out, left hoping one day he’d again have the companionship and love they all enjoyed. He knew it was a foolish, fleeting thought. Boone had found love as a teenager and now it was gone. He should be grateful for the time he had with June and that should be enough for him. It was greedy to want more and it felt as if he was being unfaithful to June’s memory even to consider the idea of a future with another woman someday.
It wasn’t time for these kinds of thoughts. He needed to focus on Red Dog Ranch and Hailey. He needed to figure out what life looked like as a single parent and what he was going to do after the summer—if he would complete seminary or take a longer break.
Boone focused back on the conversation. “Rhett used to train hunting dogs for a living. But after he took over Red Do
g Ranch, he was able to go to California and take a course on training service dogs. Someone there read about him after Macy posted about the ranch online and offered to train him, free of charge.”
A grin creeped onto Violet’s face. “What you’re telling me is Patrick is coming to pick Ryker up today?”
Right. Violet had been living at Red Dog Ranch the last few months so she would know all about Rhett starting to train service dogs and would have met Ryker already. They headed toward the office together and Violet reached the kennel first. Ryker greeted her with an excited series of whines.
“You finally get to go home today, handsome.” She affixed a service dog vest onto his torso, then scratched behind his ear. “You’re going to love being Howard’s best friend, aren’t you?” Violet looked up from her crouched position toward Boone. “Howard is Patrick’s son. He’s the one Ryker was trained for.”
Boone scanned the other kennels. “Does anyone know where Kodiak is?” There was no way Rhett had taken his beloved dog with him to Houston. But Boone hadn’t seen the large brownish-red Chesapeake Bay retriever anywhere since his arrival yesterday. Rhett’s dog was known to shadow his every step, so she had to be miserable with him gone.
Violet wiped her wrist across her brow. “She’s at Wade’s for now. Between Kodiak, Piper’s cat and the goose Shannon left behind, poor Wade’s running a zoo at his place anymore.”
Once Boone was more settled and had a handle on running camp, he would have to sit down with Wade and help ease some of the responsibilities his little brother had taken on. Because it seemed as if Wade was handling more than he had originally divulged. Including caring for and providing a place for Hailey to stay while Boone had been gone. Actually, his daughter was still staying at Wade’s place. She was settled there and it would take Boone a while to get his bunkhouse ready for her.
Two minutes later a large white van bumped down the driveway. Violet tossed her hands in the air and waved, signaling them to park close to the building. A thin man with an impressive mustache climbed out while a lift rose to assist a preteen boy in a wheelchair from the other side of the van. Patrick and Howard headed toward the office.
Starting Over in Texas Page 3
