The Cowboy's Texas Family

by Margaret Daley

  She caught his attention. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Corey. Neither is Nick.”

  He looked up at her, tears filling his eyes. “He must be drinkin’. He usually yells like that when he is.”

  As they mounted the steps to the porch, the door swung open and a boy about Corey’s age with brown hair and eyes came outside. “I was just coming to the barn. What happened?”

  “Let’s all go inside. Can you go find Miss Bea?” she asked the other kid.

  He nodded and raced toward the back of the house.

  “That’s my new friend, Aiden.” Corey’s face reddened. “I don’t want him to see my dad drunk.”

  “He won’t.” She guided him to the living room couch. It was in front of the window that looked out onto the porch. “We’ll wait here for Miss Bea.” After settling, Darcy put her arm around Corey and drew him close.

  Corey’s trembling body stirred maternal instincts in Darcy to protect this child at any cost. He stared down, eyes glued to his lap. Even when Bea hastened into the room, he didn’t look up but only curled closer to Darcy.

  “Aiden told me you needed to see me.”

  “Where’s Aiden?”

  “He’s worried about Corey. I told him to go to his wing and let one of their houseparents know I need to see them.” She closed the distance between them and sat on the other side of Corey.

  “His dad showed up in the barn. I think he’d been watching. He’d seen Corey going in.” Darcy lowered her voice. “He was drunk. Nick’s taking care of him.”

  Bea withdrew her cell phone from her pocket and placed a call. “Flint, I need you to go to the barn. Corey’s dad is there. He’s been drinking.”

  When the boys ranch’s director disconnected the call, Corey yanked his head up and said, sobbing, “He isn’t a bad man. Only when he’s drinking.” Then he buried his face against Darcy.

  No child should have to deal with that. Darcy wrapped her arms about him, sheltering him the only way she could.

  * * *

  Standing in front of the barn door, Nick held his palm out. “Ned, I’m driving you home. Give me your keys,” he said in a commanding voice.

  Red-faced, Ned glared at him. “You have no right to keep me from Corey.” He stepped back and swayed.

  “If you want to see him, I told you to go through the proper channels.”

  “I—I dunno...” Ned latched on to a post nearby. “I need a drink.”

  “No.” Nick prepared himself for a fight as he came toward the man with bloodshot eyes, who was frantically looking around. “Give me your car keys. You’re going home.”

  “You can’t—” Ned paused, blinking rapidly “—make me.”

  The barn door behind Ned flew open, and Flint rushed inside. Nick was relieved to have help. He’d seen Ned go off, much like his dad used to.

  Ned peered at Nick, his arms falling from the post. His hands fisted. He took one step toward Nick, rocked from side to side and then collapsed to the ground.

  As Nick knelt by Ned and checked for a pulse, Flint hurried to them. “Is he alive?”

  “Yes. Just passed out, which will make getting him into his car a little easier.”

  “Thank the Lord. It looked like he was going after you.” Flint squatted near Ned’s legs. “I saw an old Chevy outside next to your truck. Is that his car?”

  “Yep.” Nick patted Ned’s pockets until he found the keys. “I’m gonna drive him back to his house. Can you follow me and bring me back here for my truck?”

  “I wish I could. I have to attend a parents’ meeting about the baseball league. I’m going to coach Logan’s team. I could try to get out—”

  “No, don’t. I’ll see if Darcy is available. I didn’t get the impression that she had plans this evening.” For a second Nick was surprised that the person he’d thought of immediately was Darcy—not his uncle or someone else at the boys ranch.

  Flint gripped Ned’s legs, while Nick took his arms. The smell of alcohol was nauseating. “Are you sure?”

  “I can always get Uncle Howard to help if Darcy can’t. Ned might not be my friend, but I can’t let him stay here and sleep it off or drive somewhere else.”

  “You could call the sheriff to deal with the man.”

  A blast of cold air blew through the barn’s front entrance as Nick maneuvered through it. “He’s in enough trouble with the sheriff after what he did last week with Corey. Let’s put him in his backseat.”

  Flint dropped Ned’s legs and opened the car door. “Did Corey see his dad?”

  “No. I had him stay outside with Ginger.” After Nick and Flint wrestled to get Ned inside the Chevy, Nick climbed into the front. “Thanks for the help. I’ll drive up to the house and see if Darcy can follow me.”

  “There’s always the sheriff,” Flint said and jogged toward his place on the ranch.

  Even if Darcy couldn’t drive to Dry Gulch, Nick wanted to stop by the main house to see how Corey was feeling about his father being at the boys ranch.

  He left Ned sleeping his drunken stupor off in the back of the beat-up Chevy while Nick climbed the steps to the porch. The door opened before he could ring the bell.

  His gaze fixed onto Darcy’s concerned face. “How’s Corey?”

  “He went to his wing with his friend a couple of minutes ago. Where’s Ned?”

  Nick jerked his thumb toward the car parked next to Darcy’s Corvette. “In the backseat, passed out. I’m driving him home. Could you follow me and bring me back here for my truck?”

  “Sure. Let me get my coat and tell Bea I’m leaving.”

  Nick returned to the Chevy to make sure Ned was still asleep. He waited to get into Ned’s car until Darcy appeared a few minutes later and got into hers. He pulled away from the house, contemplating rolling down his window. The stench of alcohol brought back memories of taking care of his father after he would finally pass out, much to his relief. Now, Nick’s stomach roiled.

  The thirty-minute drive was thirty minutes longer than Nick wanted. Visions of his dad yelling like Ned just had paraded across his mind.

  When Nick drove into Ned’s driveway, all he wanted to do was get him inside and leave. As he climbed out and drew in a deep breath of fresh air, Darcy parked behind him.

  Approaching him, she asked, “Do you need help getting him out of the car?”

  “I can manage. It’s not far to his house. If you can unlock the door and hold it open, I’ll get him inside.” He gave her the set of keys. “I don’t know which one fits the lock.”

  While Darcy began working on opening the front door, Nick put his arms under Ned’s armpits and pulled him from the back. Then, clasping Ned’s upper body, Nick dragged him into the house and, with Darcy’s help, laid him on the couch.

  She picked up a blanket from the floor and covered Ned with it. Then she backed away and scanned the living room. “Was the place this bad when Corey was here?”

  “Yes.” He swept his gaze over the piles of clothes on the floor, the half-eaten food sitting on the table and two almost-empty bottles of liquor.

  He grabbed them, headed for the kitchen and poured the alcohol down the drain. Then he tossed them into the overflowing trash can.

  “Wow. What died in here?” Darcy asked from the doorway.

  “Probably more than one thing. Let’s get out of here before this smell is permanently ingrained into my mind.”

  She held up the keys on a chain. “What do you want to do with these?”

  “Hide them. Then he can call me to find out where they are.” Nick took them from Darcy, strode to the couch and stuck them under a cushion Ned slept on.

  A few minutes later, settled in Darcy’s Corvette, Nick finally relaxed his tensed muscles. “I hope that’s the last time I have to do t
hat, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up at the boys ranch again.”

  “Unless something drastic happens, I doubt Corey’s dad will change. In my job I’ve dealt with alcoholics on more occasions than I liked. They said they wanted help, but I never had but one follow through with what I arranged for them.”

  “They have to hit rock bottom before it really has a chance to work, and even then it’s a hard road.” Nick’s father never did reach this point. He lived in denial his whole life.

  He took out his cell phone. “Maybe you really don’t believe that as much as you think.” Then he called his uncle and told him the reason he was running late was Ned’s unexpected visit to the boys ranch. He needed to check on Corey.

  “I can save dinner,” Howard said. “I just started. I was with Morning Star. I think she’ll have her foal tonight. I’m going back and forth to the barn.”

  Probably, which meant a long night for him. “She’s due.”

  “If Darcy wants to come to eat with us again, I have more than enough for her.”

  What was his uncle up to? He would have to talk to Uncle Howard about the fact that Darcy was only in town temporarily and had a good life in Alabama. “We’ll see.” Nick hung up.

  “How’s your uncle doing?” Darcy asked.

  “Fine. He thinks Morning Star will deliver tonight.”

  “Really? How exciting. When I was a child, I was there when my dog had puppies and for a few days I dreamed of being a veterinarian. But Dad was a lawyer, so I went that route. You probably understand with your family ranch.”

  Love for the Flying Eagle was one thing his father hadn’t managed to destroy—at least he hoped so. “I wanted to be a cowboy ever since I can remember.” At first he’d been trying to please his dad, but later it became about much more. He was going to prove he could make it alone. “My roots are deep here. When I served in the army, I longed for Haven.”

  “I love where I grew up. That’s how I feel.” She slid a glance toward him and then turned into the boys ranch.

  He knew she did volunteer work in Alabama, but why had she become attached to Corey so quickly? Her first encounter with the boy was when he ran away from home. Maybe it was because she was used to dealing with people in trouble in her job. She had a big heart.

  “See, we have something in common. I knew we would.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we both care for Corey. Before you called your uncle, you said something about how I really don’t think people can change. I think they can or I would have given up on the one person I dealt with who was an alcoholic and did become sober. Still is.”

  “Who?”

  “My college roommate.” Darcy pulled up to the main house and parked. “You said something to your uncle about checking on Corey before you went home. I’d also like to. I’m hoping he won’t be so distressed now since we made sure his father got home okay.”

  “Sure. I’m glad you are. He’s feeling pretty alone right now. I know Bea and the staff will do what they can, but no matter how upset he was before he came to the ranch, his home in Dry Gulch was familiar to him, at least.” In his childhood, Nick had clung to that fact. He’d disappear for hours on the ranch when his dad was angry or drinking.

  “You think Corey should have stayed with his dad?”

  “No, but his emotions will be all over the place. However, the staff at the boys ranch has dealt with that before. And the place can give him one of the things he needs—to feel safe.”

  “That can really help him adjust more quickly. His close relationship with you will help too. You’re good with him.”

  “Thanks,” he mumbled, the compliment taking him by surprise. Her words touched a part of his heart he’d kept from others for years. He’d always wanted to make a difference in someone’s life and had thought being a soldier was the answer. Instead, all the death and destruction had isolated him even more.

  They both exited the Corvette and headed to the front entrance. Lana answered the door and let them inside.

  “I was just about to leave. I’m glad I waited. How is Corey’s dad? Flint told me he helped you get the man into his car.”

  “We left him on his couch sleeping it off.” Nick took his cowboy hat off and hung it on a peg.

  “Good, because Corey has been asking about him.”

  “We wanted to check on him. Where is he?” Darcy asked.

  “In the rec room with some of the boys. There’s a ping-pong tournament going on.”

  “Thanks, Lana. See you tomorrow for study hall.”

  Nick led the way to the rec room, a large open space with tables and chairs. Boys crowded at one end where two were playing ping-pong. He searched for Corey and found him leaning against the wall, not really paying attention to the game.

  “It’ll be hard to talk privately with him in here. Do you know where we could go with Corey? I noticed when we passed the living room there were several groups in there.” Darcy walked with Nick toward Corey.

  “There’s a small room near Bea’s office. She uses it for counseling and as a place where parents can meet with their child.”

  As they approached Corey, he stared at a spot on the floor between him and the group of boys. Nick remembered often retreating—if not physically, at least emotionally—from what was going on around him.

  He cleared his throat and gave Corey time to look up at him. “Let’s go talk.”

  Corey didn’t say anything until he’d left the rec room. In the hallway, he asked, “How’s Dad?”

  “He’s home safe and sleeping.” Nick clasped his shoulder.

  “It’s all my fault.”

  Nick waited to reply until they stepped into the small counseling room. “The only one at fault for what happened at the barn was your father. He chose to come here. He chose to get drunk.”

  Corey plopped down on a couch with Darcy sitting beside him and Nick across from him. “I ran away and he got into trouble for that.”

  “The state doesn’t take a child away from his parents because he ran away. Your dad wasn’t caring for you. Ten-year-olds aren’t meant to fend for themselves.”

  “But I can take care of myself. I know how.”

  And yet Nick had received various calls from Corey because he was afraid to be there by himself. “Do you feel safe being alone there at night?”

  “He never...” Corey dropped his gaze. “He was working to take care of me.”

  “The whole night?” Darcy asked.

  “Well, maybe.” Corey hunched his shoulders.

  There were so many times Nick had made up excuses for his father. “Corey, not from when you came home from school to the next morning.”

  The boy bent over even more as though he was trying to curl up into a ball. Darcy put her arm around Corey. “You’re a child. A parent has certain responsibilities that your father wasn’t living up to. He needs to get help.”

  “I tried to help him. He doesn’t want it. I asked him to stop drinking. He stormed out of the house and was gone for a day. I never said anything else about it after that.”

  Nick rose from his chair and stooped in front of Corey. “You can’t fix him. He has to do that himself. You’re here where you’ll be safe, have three square meals a day and guidance if you run into a problem. I’m gonna be here almost every day, and you can always call me if you want to talk. Even when I’m working at the ranch, I have my cell phone with me.”

  “I understand that this Saturday Nick is going to give you your first riding lesson. I can remember my first time on a horse at summer camp. I was so excited to be the first one to ride into the ring that when I reached to open the gate—” she paused and waited while Corey lifted his head and peered at her “—I didn’t let go while my horse went on inside. Much to my embarrassment, I was left h
anging from the fence.”

  Corey’s eyes grew round. “Did you get hurt?”

  “Nope. I was just taken down a notch. So remember, when you’re going through a gate, make sure you let go of it.”

  Corey giggled. “I know that.”

  “Good, because I’m going to be here to see you ride for the first time. I’ll be watching. No pressure there.” She ruffled his hair and hugged him.

  Corey’s cheeks turned beet red.

  Nick stood. “We need to go, but I’m just a phone call away. Okay?”

  Corey nodded.

  Darcy rose at the same time Corey did. “Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

  Corey closed the short space between him and Nick and threw his arms around him. Nick’s heart swelled in his chest. “We’ll continue the lesson on taking care of your horse tomorrow.” Nick gave him a quick hug and stepped back, his throat tight with emotions he didn’t allow himself to feel.

  A few minutes later Nick stopped next to Darcy’s car, tired but pleased that Corey had left them with a grin on his face. “Uncle Howard will have dinner ready at the ranch, and he wanted you to know you have an invitation to join us again tonight. I think he’s taken a liking to you.”

  “Just your uncle?”

  The heat of a blush, much like Corey’s, suffused Nick’s face. “I’d like you to come too. You helped me tonight, and the least I can do is give you dinner.”

  “Then, yes. I’ll follow you to your house.”

  While she started her Corvette, Nick hopped into his truck and turned toward the highway. On the drive to his place he couldn’t quit berating himself for prolonging the evening with Darcy. He did want to thank her for going to Dry Gulch to pick him up, but a simple thank-you would have been enough. No, he had to invite her to dinner two nights in a row.

  His restless sleep last night was playing havoc with his good judgment.

  As he drove onto the road that led to his house, he decided to park at his barn and check on the pregnant mare before eating. Darcy pulled up next to him.

  “I’m going to see how Morning Star is doing.”

  “I’ll come with you.”