He glanced at Finn and realized two pairs of eyes watched him. Trinity’s narrow with speculation and Finn’s shiny with eagerness.
His frown deepened. What had he missed?
“So we’ll see you tomorrow for our closing campfire?” Trinity asked.
He nodded slowly. He’d rather go another round with his uncooperative stallion than spend an afternoon in Trinity’s company. The instincts that kept him safe on the range all hollered at him to stay as far away as possible from the stunning speech therapist. His jaw clenched. But for Finn, he’d do anything.
Chapter Two
‡
“When we get to the pond remember to swish your net in a figure of eight so you can catch plenty of water bugs,” Trinity said to the excited group of children who surrounded her. She made sure the small boy on her right, Charlie, looked at her as she spoke. Finn may have no auditory processing concerns but Charlie did. She paused to give Charlie time to understand what she’d said. When his blond head nodded, she spoke again. “Remember also not to lean over too far, we want the bugs swimming not us.”
This time she stared at a larger red-haired boy who used the end of his net to poke the pigtailed girl in front of him in the back. “And anyone who uses their net for anything other than catching bugs can sit beside me the whole afternoon, even during the campfire.”
The boy lowered his net with an exaggerated sigh.
The children to her left turned to follow the college student volunteer along the grass track that led from the summer camp complex through the pine trees to the pond. Instead of turning too, Finn stared past Trinity.
His face broke into a beaming smile before he waved. The hairs on Trinity’s arms lifted. There could be only one person who made Finn’s face light up brighter than Main Street at Christmas. Zane. She turned.
Dressed in another bleached shirt and ripped Wranglers, this time his clothes were at least dust free. Grey eyes expressionless, he lifted his Stetson as he stopped in front of her.
“Trinity.”
“Zane.”
Warmth softened his eyes as he bent to hug Finn.
Trinity adjusted the strap of her backpack. There was no reason why her pulse should skip and her skin heat. She’d known she’d see Zane at the campfire, after all, the thought had slipped in and out of her subconscious all night. She turned her face into the breeze that brought with it cool relief and the faint scent of leather.
Zane released Finn and glanced at her, his expression guarded.
“I’m sorry I’m early. I finished my chores in Marietta and when I called the camp office to double-check what time campfire was, Lois suggested I come and help with your pond outing.”
He looked to where red-haired Josh left the path to jump off a nearby rock.
“Thanks, another set of eyes would be appreciated,” Trinity said as she headed off to talk to risk-taker Josh.
Soon the grass track opened into a shady meadow dominated by a large round pond. Three wild ducks took off in flight as the children ran from the treeline to sit at the wooden picnic tables. Leg swinging and smiles wide, they waited for Trinity to give the go-ahead to approach the water.
Trinity smiled as she and Josh joined the main group. The majority of her year might be spent in an office one-on-one with small clients but in the summer she spent as much time as she could outdoors. It wasn’t only the natural beauty of the Montana mountains and meadows that she loved. She loved living in the small town Marietta community where everyone knew each other’s names and had each other’s backs. She loved attending the Copper Mountain Rodeo and local fair and seeing the children she helped live healthy and active lives. She might have grown up in the city but the Big Sky Country was where she belonged.
She sat the backpack on the table. “Okay. Let’s find some bugs.”
The children cheered.
While each child dipped their small green nets in the pond, she kept a close watch on Josh and unpacked her backpack. Every so often her gaze strayed towards the width of Zane’s shoulders as he helped a child or bent to point out something special in the water. A group of children flocked around him and followed him along the pond edge as if he were the pied piper. Happy laughter drifted on the light breeze. Zane might be taciturn and a man of few words but the five-year-olds had no trouble understanding him.
She forced her attention off Zane and back onto setting out the water trays, plastic spoons and magnifying glasses on the wooden tables. She needed to stay on task and to not let him distract her. She was no child and wouldn’t be so easily swayed. She knew exactly what she wanted from life and what type of man suited her. It wasn’t the strong-willed, scruffy and inarticulate cowboy winning over her students. She needed to retain control, of both herself and her future. She hadn’t gained her independence and freedom from her family, only to sacrifice it now for Mr. Wrong.
A yell drew her attention to where Josh stood at the pond edge, his small body leaning over the water. But before he could topple forward, Zane scooped him into his arms. Trinity tried and failed not to be impressed by the taut ridges of muscle that stretched Zane’s faded shirt tight. To Trinity’s surprise Josh lay still in Zane’s arms as he carried him over.
“There you go.” Zane sat a lip-chewing Josh at the table and untied his water-logged trainer. “Your shoe will soon dry in the sun.” Zane’s eyes briefly touched hers. “I’m sure Trinity has something to keep you busy until it does?”
“I sure do, Josh. I’ll fetch the water and then you can help me half fill the trays ready for the bugs.”
Her gaze lingered on Zane as he grinned at Josh. No longer were the cowboy’s features carved, stiff lines. Instead, she glimpsed the warmth and humanity of the man beneath. The man the children saw.
A sliver of a thought formed and then vanished before she could catch it. When Zane smiled he reminded her of someone.
It wasn’t long before water darkened the top of the wooden table, black water bugs swam in the trays and eager little eyes peered through magnifying glasses examining them.
She straightened from helping Josh scoop a bug with a plastic spoon into a smaller container. Beside her Zane assisted Finn and his new friend, Andy. Zane too straightened as the boys no longer required help.
He settled his hat more firmly on his head and folded his arms signaling that small talk wasn’t on their conversation menu. Trinity examined the tight line of his jaw. What was it about Zane’s life that had turned him into a man whose default setting was reticence and silence? He was so good and so warm with Finn and the other children, she was sure beneath all his brooding intensity lay a river of words waiting to be spoken.
“Finn’s having a good day, he said hi to Andy when he arrived,” she said softly.
Zane nodded.
“Thanks too for grabbing Josh. He had a near miss yesterday too, except both his trainers filled with water that time. He’s a funny kid. He’s such a risk-taker but he doesn’t like wearing wet clothes.”
Zane again nodded.
“At least it’s summer so things will dry easily. I’d hate to take five-years-olds catching water bugs in winter.” Her chin lifted. This wasn’t going to stay a one-sided conversation. She’d ask Zane a question he couldn’t answer with a nod. “So are you a summer or winter man?”
He slowly turned to look at her. “Both.”
She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “Okay. How about night owl or early bird?”
“Both.”
She raised a brow.
His lips twitched. “I wake up early and go to bed late.”
Her own lips curved. “Actually, I do too. How about … sweet or salty?”
“Both.”
She shook her head. “You have to choose.”
For the briefest second his gaze dropped to her mouth. “Sweet.
It was her turn to answer but she too glanced at his mouth, a mouth far more decadent than sweet, and all words evaporated.
Josh tu
gged on her hand to show her another bug and the world zeroed back into focus.
*
What was wrong with him? Zane stared unseeingly at the water bugs swimming in Finn’s tray. He’d come to the Marietta Mad Scientist School to spend time with Finn and to reassure himself that there was a chance he’d be ready for school in the fall. Zane released the breath he’d been holding. What he hadn’t come to do was to drown in the green eyes of a woman who was pure trouble.
Trinity was dressed in cut-offs, a blue T-shirt with her brown hair pulled into a thick braid that lay over her shoulder, and he couldn’t stop looking at her.” She monopolized his attention as much as insects did Finn’s. The sooner the campfire was over the sooner he and Finn could return to the ranch. No good would come of noticing how the sun picked out red glints in her braid or how pink and smooth her lips were. The scar tissue that criss-crossed his heart reminded him to never trust a woman.
To his relief, the pond expedition drew to a close. The bugs were returned to the water and the backpack Trinity had carried again contained the tray and microscopes. She zipped it closed but as she swung it onto her back, he caught the strap.
“Here, I’ll take it.”
He glanced to where their two hands rested side-by-side on the black strap. His looked so big and clumsy compared to her fine-boned grip.
“Thanks, I’ve got it.” She shot him a firm glance.
He nodded and slowly lifted his hand. He should have known better than to help independent Trinity but Hank hadn’t raised him to be impolite.
She settled the backpack onto her back and looked around until she saw Josh.
Zane started walking. He’d make sure he and Finn stayed well ahead of Trinity and Josh. Zane prided himself on his self-control but any man with a pulse would be tested by the way Trinity’s backpack straps pulled her blue T-shirt tight across her full curves.
The group retraced their steps to the summer camp building. After hands were washed and Josh’s trainer left on the porch to continue drying, the students sat on the floor watching Trinity. Zane found a small chair near the back of the room. Every so often Finn turned to check he was there and Zane gave him a wave. With every wave the warmth in Zane’s chest increased. He couldn’t imagine his life without Finn being a part of it.
Trinity poured a variety of juices into a blender. She then added ice, two bananas and two cups of something green. Before she flicked on the switch, she smiled. “As a special treat for catching bugs so well, we can now all have some … swamp juice.”
Zane bit back a smile as the blender whirled and the ingredients turned into a green liquid. Josh’s face appeared almost as green as the so-called swamp juice.
Trinity turned to a high cupboard and stretched to collect a tower of cups. Her T-shirt lifted and Zane caught a glimpse of the tanned plane of her midriff. He ground his teeth and looked away. Trouble didn’t even come close to describing Trinity. Being around her was more torturous than sitting in a perfumed hair salon and having Mandy Wright cut his hair.
Trinity poured a small amount of green liquid into a clear plastic cup. “Okay, who’s brave and would like the first drink?”
No small hands shot into the air.
Finn turned to look at him. He withheld a sigh and came to his feet. “I will.”
The class giggled.
“It won’t turn me green, or into a swamp monster, will it?” he asked as he crossed to the front of the room.
The class giggled a second time.
He took the cup from Trinity and her smile of appreciation made him willing to drink five cups just to have her smile at him like that again.
He took a sip and pretended to choke. Her smile slipped as she stepped near to see if he was okay. He lowered the cup and grinned. Her eyes widened and then darkened before she stepped away. He wasn’t sure if she was amused or angry but the young brunette college volunteer to his left flashed him a wide smile.
This time when he took a mouthful of swamp juice, he swallowed in silence before draining the cup.
The children cheered and many hands shot into the air.
Once the swamp juice was all gone, Trinity settled the group for the last activity before the campfire. Paper and stamp pads were passed around and tiny fingers printed colorful fingerprints onto paper. Antennae, legs and faces were all added with a marker to create an assortment of bugs.
Zane gazed around the room filled with the hum of contented chatter and quiet laughter. What he would have given to have once been part of such a camp. He’d have loved the chance to make friends and to have a teacher smile at him as though, in that moment, he was the only person in her world. He couldn’t rewind the past, all he could do was ensure Finn lived a childhood full of everything he and his brothers lacked by living on an isolated all-male ranch.
Trinity strolled around the room, a container of baby wipes in her hand. Red and blue ink was everywhere, transferred from small fingers to chins and smudged on bony arms.
She stopped beside him and offered Finn a wipe. Zane curled his fingers into his palm. Trinity had some ink on her chin that called for him to smooth his thumb along the fine line of her jawbone. Even without touching her he knew her skin would be petal-soft.
“Nice trick with the choking,” she said, shooting him a brief glance.
He nodded. He still wasn’t sure if she was amused or cranky.
Outside the door, boots sounded on the porch floorboards. Other parents had arrived for the campfire.
“I thought you were serious and really were choking.”
This time he didn’t miss the sharpness of Trinity’s tone. “Sorry.”
The second look she shot him lingered. “You surprised me. That doesn’t happen often. I wasn’t excepting you to fool around. The kids thought it was funny though.”
He nodded again. Finn looked up from where he was drawing legs on a long caterpillar and nodded too.
A smile turned Trinity’s eyes a brilliant green.
Finn gazed at her. His yearning to have someone other than a father to hold him tight and to tell him everything would be all right was palpable.
The once soothing room suddenly felt claustrophobic. The fun of searching for water bugs ebbed. The contentment of giving Finn a good childhood faded. The campfire would soon be over and Trinity would no longer be in their lives. Zane stifled an unexpected stab of loss. But that was the way it had to be. The more Finn saw of her the more attached he’d become.
And the more Zane saw of her the more he’d court the trouble he knew she’d bring. When he was around her, he ceased to be the man he needed to be. He talked more, he made jokes and he … felt. It had to stop.
The one thing he couldn’t give Finn was a mother. To do so would require trust, and he’d never risk his, or Finn’s heart, by indulging in that emotion again. The wounds of the past remained raw and could never heal. Marlisa’s leaving with Russ hadn’t inflicted the deepest cut. But her deception had. For almost five years she’d concealed a secret. A secret that ensured that whenever he looked at Finn he was reminded to never again trust.
He locked his jaw as pain bit deep.
For Finn … was his son.
Chapter Three
‡
“Tell me again why we’re all visiting Zane?” Rhett Dixon’s deep voice sounded above the country music filling the pickup cabin. He glanced past Ivy to where Trinity cuddled Milly, the Jack Russell, on her lap.
Ivy winked at Trinity and placed her hand on Rhett’s denim-covered thigh.
“Because honey, you’re going to see Zane about a horse and Trinity, Milly and I are going to see Finn about some bugs.”
At hearing her name the little Jack Russell wriggled and attempted to climb over Ivy to lick Rhett’s forearm. Trinity managed to keep hold of her tan and white body and return the energetic dog to her lap.
Ivy smiled and squeezed her fiancé’s thigh. “Besides, it was either have us ride with you or be left with an empty pickup a
nd no excuse to not collect the huge pile of wedding books Peta has waiting.”
Rhett groaned but the wide and loving smile he shot Ivy said he’d do anything for her. Even wade through the wedding books his organized eldest sister had amassed at Bluebell Falls Ranch.
Trinity stroked Milly’s soft head and stared unseeingly at the pine-clad mountains. She couldn’t be happier that Ivy had moved to Marietta and in the process of reclaiming her life, had fallen in love with her rancher neighbor, Rhett. Their fall wedding was going to be one special day. But it was getting harder to cling to the hope that her own Mr. Right was out there somewhere.
Her chin lifted. But if he wasn’t, too bad. She’d fill her life another way. She wasn’t standing around holding her bridesmaid bouquet waiting for the perfect man. Just like she wasn’t settling for someone who ticked all her parents’ boxes. She’d spent too long fighting for her shy and stammering sister to be a passive bystander in her own life.
Rhett glanced at her, dimples flicking as he smiled. “Trinity, what did Zane say when you called to let him know he was about to be invaded?”
She grinned, giving no indication the simple action of calling Zane had looped her stomach in knots. She didn’t know what it was about the reserved rancher but the prospect of hearing his deep voice again had rendered her breathless.
“Had I spoken to him I’m sure he would have been thrilled. I mean who wouldn’t want to be visited by two cookie-carrying women and one hyperactive dog? But Finn answered and said he’d tell Zane we were coming.”
Rhett nodded and turned off the road to drive beneath a high wooden arch. Iron letters hung from the arch announcing they’d arrived at Hollyhock Creek Ranch.
Forested foothills gave way to rolling green pastures, intersected by rows of arrow-straight fences. Wooden jackleg fencing, with its crosses and straight rails, ran beside the drive into the homestead. Zane Nash might look as unkempt and as wild as an Old West outlaw but his ranch was as tidy and ordered as her slightly OCD-neat Marietta home.
Her Big Sky Cowboy Page 2
