Follow a Wild Heart: A Christian Contemporary Western Romance Series

by Natalie Bright

  “The best example I could give you, Lexi...or maybe she’s the worst example...is my birth mother. As a young girl she liked having a good time, hanging out with kids some people might call ‘wild’. She started rebelling against her parents, lying, staying out overnight, all kinds of things. Eventually, it caught up with her.”

  Lexi stared at Carli. “Like the Prodigal Son story?”

  “Yes, you might say that. The only thing is my mother didn’t have a happy ending. All that partying and rebellious behavior led to her getting pregnant, with me. She ran away to California and...I’m sorry to say she got addicted to drugs and died. I was raised by foster parents since I was a baby. My mother’s bad choices not only ruined her life but also made my life challenging. It’s taken all these years to come to terms with her abandonment of me. I’ve only been able to do it with God’s help.”

  Lexi looked very sad. All she could say was, “Wow. But what does that have to do with me?”

  “We all have choices, Lexi. Respect others, or not. Curse, do drugs, steal, or not. Have unmarried sex, or not. If we make bad choices, they could lead to bad consequences. Like my mother. The choices you make can affect others who care about you. Choosing the right friends is half the battle.”

  Lexi stared at her. “You mean Raven, don’t you?”

  “I don’t want to judge him. I thought he was disrespectful, reckless even, like the cigarettes. Is he a true friend?”

  Lexi remained quiet, thoughtful.

  “Why don’t we head back now? We need to brush the horses off, feed them dinner soon, and I need to drive you home before it gets too late. Okay?”

  “Sure.”

  "And, Lexi," Carli looked over to the girl, "I'm sorry if I sounded preachy. I'm not your mom. I just care about you and want to help."

  As they walked the horses back to headquarters, their quiet camaraderie was abruptly jarred by the sound of a vehicle motor and it was approaching fast. Carli looked back and saw a cloud of dust.

  “Hey, Lexi! I came to give you a ride home!” shouted a kid from the rolled down window.

  It was Raven and he wasn’t alone. Another young guy was in the passenger seat. His arm was hanging out his window and he appeared to be holding a beer can.

  “Slow down!” Carli yelled to them.

  Raven’s face took on an angry mask at the command.

  He yanked the steering wheel, and the sports car left the road and began circling the horses.

  “Easy, Beau.” She steadied the reins without pulling on them. If she stayed quiet, he would, she told herself.

  “Lexi, just sit back. Sally’s pretty calm.”

  “You boys have had your fun. Now please, leave my ranch.” Carli said it in a deep, commanding voice not letting the fear show in her face.

  “We ain’t no ‘boys’, lady!”

  Raven continued to drive recklessly. He pulled the steering wheel and shot off into the grass, making “donuts”, leaving the pasture torn up behind him.

  As they came around for another pass near the horses, the passenger boy yelled, “Yeehaw!” and threw something at Sally’s rear. That was too much for her and she gave a couple small bucks.

  “Hold on, Lexi. Sit back and try to gently pull her head up and to the side.”

  “Yeehaw! Ride ’em cowgirl!” the boys continued their taunts as Raven revved his motor.

  Before Carli could do anything to gain control of the situation, Sally turned her head towards the barn and headed that way in a brisk jog, then lope. Luckily, Lexi held on.

  And, Beau, who had become laid back during his stay at the Wild Cow after seeing cattle and coyotes, couldn’t stand it anymore—the boys’ wild antics, and then Sally’s bee-line home—so he headed that way as well. Carli thought about disciplining him and making him stand still, but she figured she may as well get going after Lexi and Sally to help if need be. But she wouldn’t let Beau run full out, uncontrollably, just an easy lope and she spoke reassuring words to him the whole time.

  They hit headquarters at a fast clip, and she reined Beau to a stop. Lank held Sally’s reins, and Lexi stood beside the horse, pale with tear marks streaking her face.

  Buck met Carli at the corral. “What’s going on here?”

  Carli answered before even dismounting from Beau. “You need to run off a couple of kids for me. I’ve asked them to get off my ranch. We could have been hurt. Lexi, are you okay? They threw a beer can at Sally’s butt! And they tore up the grass with that old sportscar.”

  Lexi said quietly, “I'm okay now, Carli.”

  “You held on and you’re a good rider. That could have been a bad situation. Now let’s take care of the horses and get ready to take you home.”

  Carli was more than a little relieved to turn over the situation to the men, but there was so much more she wanted to tell Lexi. She hated to keep hammering on the girl, but good grief. They could have been seriously injured. All she wanted to do was provide a place for kids like Lexi to come and ride. A safe place. No drama. Maybe this was another sign from God. Maybe she just didn’t have what it took to deal with teenagers.

  Lank and Buck hopped in a truck and drove off. Carli could see Raven’s car as it turned into headquarters. It stopped as Buck pulled his pickup truck alongside. She would have given anything to be a fly on the wall to hear that conversation.

  Carli and Lexi brushed and fed the horses and started to head to Carli’s truck to drive Lexi home when they heard a whimper, or something.

  “What was that?” Carli turned around sharply, frowning at the strange sound.

  They both tiptoed towards an empty stall. Peering over the top they discovered a bundle of black and white fur, whole body wiggling, and smiling canine face.

  “A puppy? What’re you doing in here?”

  “Awww, she’s so cute,” Lexi cooed. “Can I go in and pet her?”

  “Well, I’m not sure who she belongs to, but I guess you can.”

  “I wonder what her name is.” Lexi blossomed with puppy love.

  “L.J.” In walked Lank. “Lily Jane. I got me a dog.”

  Lexi’s arms were full of puppy, gyrating and licking her entire face.

  “Looks like she’s trying hard to make sure she can stay.” Carli couldn’t help but smile.

  “I’ll help take care of her,” Lexi offered a plea, full of excitement.

  “Just might be one of your first jobs on the ranch, but you’ll have to ask Lank first.”

  She studied Lank as he watched his puppy, fatherly pride beaming on his face. Carli was never allowed pets growing up, and after she moved out on her own, they just seemed like so much of a handful and extra time she didn’t have. Buck had told her that Lola was highly allergic, which is why they didn’t have a ranch dog. With everything else going on, Carli added high-maintenance teenagers and now Lank had a puppy. She shrugged. Oh well, the more, the merrier.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  It had only been a short month, but Carli poured most of her efforts into figuring out all what was needed to run an equine program for at-risk children. The weeks rolled by since that disaster on the first Saturday in April. Now it was the first Saturday again, and she was expecting a few new kids this time based on inquiries to the public page. Luckily, she found more horses for the students. Older, calm demeanor. She was anxious for the kids to meet them.

  The riding school preparation was in addition to learning about running the Wild Cow Ranch, and also doing some heritage searches for her birth father before closing her eyes at bedtime. Everything was zapping her strength, mentally and physically, but she also felt invigorated and enthused. She wanted to do all of it and felt driven towards her goals. Maybe, just maybe, she had figured out God’s plan for her life. But then hanging over her head was Nathan’s profession of love, and the argument between him and Lank. She still couldn’t figure that one out, even though she replayed the incident over and over in her mind.

  For the equine program, she contacted the
group in Oklahoma that had a similar one established for many years with lots of children participating. She also spoke to a woman with the Department of Family Services to get an idea about the kinds of kids she’d be dealing with, if her program ever grew. During the telephone conversation, Carli couldn’t believe her ears. How could parents hurt their children like that? Rage and enormous sadness welled up inside of her. This program might be harder than she thought. Could she handle it? That old self-doubt always reared its ugly head, but she had to learn to trust in her faith and push onward.

  As Carli walked towards the corral to get ready for the kids, her stomach did a somersault of dread at seeing the sheriff’s cruiser parked in front of the Wild Cow Ranch cookhouse. What now? But the idyllic scene of Buck, Lola, Lank, and the sheriff all laughing and playing stick tug-o-war with the new puppy immediately dispelled any worries.

  “What are y’all doing? Besides roughhousing with—er...”

  “L.J.,” Lank offered. “Lily Jane.”

  “Right, L.J. Hello, Sheriff.” Carli extended her hand.

  Sheriff Anderson stood and dusted off his khaki uniform. “I’m here about those kids who were acting up the other day on the ranch. Buck called and told me about it.”

  L.J. wiggled over to Carli and commenced to biting and tugging on the bottoms of her jeans. She tried to pull her leg away, then looked to Lank and just said, “Lank, your dog?”

  “Oh, sure, I’ll put her in one of the stalls.”

  “Thanks.” She surveyed the tiny bite marks and a new rip in the bottom of her pants. Great.

  Lank left but Buck and Lola stayed with Carli and the sheriff.

  “I found out more about that kid,” the sheriff started. “We know who Raven is. Real name is John Andrew Gibbons. Dropped out of school. Been in juvie trouble before. Rough home life. Dad’s not a good role model. Not sure who his passenger was but we can make an educated guess.”

  “I don’t want to get them in real trouble, Sheriff. Can you maybe put a scare into them, and make sure they don’t come back here? I’m also hoping to convince Lexi to stay away from them.” What Carli said was true. She didn’t want the boy to end up back in juvenile jail again, but he needed to understand he couldn’t drive around terrorizing people. And Lexi was way too young for him.

  “Young people have minds of their own," the sheriff said. "As much as their parents might warn against their choice of friends, sometimes they end up doing just the opposite.”

  “That’s for sure.” Carli thought of her own mother.

  “But, Carli, there’s something else you should know. Raven was picked up a few months back for possession of methamphetamine. Because he’s underage he was let off with community service and drug counseling, but it’s on his juvenile record. When he turns eighteen, all bets are off. If he’s still messing with that stuff by then, he could go to jail for quite some time.”

  “Oh, no,” Lola said quietly.

  Carli shook her head back and forth and pressed her lips together. “I had a bad feeling about that guy. I sure don’t want Lexi getting mixed up in his lifestyle.”

  “I’ll go find him and his buddy and try to put the fear of God into them about trespassing on the Wild Cow.” Sheriff Anderson tipped his hat to Carli and Lola before climbing back into his cruiser.

  “Good luck with that,” Buck said. They all waved as the sheriff drove away.

  In the barn Carli watched Lank cradling L.J. in his arms like a baby. A big baby, not a tiny puppy, which looked to be a couple of months old. He was nuzzling her and whispering. Her heart did a flip flop. The more she resisted him, the stronger the pull.

  “So, what’s the story with that bundle of fur, Lank?”

  With a handsome smile he glanced at her and then explained. “Sis found her on the side of the road along with a couple of siblings. No momma around. The pups are about eight weeks or more. A vet checked ’em out, but my sister can’t have any pets at her apartment. My nephews were devastated. Her friends took the other two, but she said this one looked perfect for me, on the condition my nephews can visit her any time.”

  “Boy, are you a sucker. Your nephews get a dog but you get to feed and train it.” Lank looked at her in surprise, as if the idea had never crossed his mind. Carli laughed at the expression on his face. “She is a friendly little thing.”

  “We’ll make her into a ranch dog. She’s a Border Collie, or at least that’s what she looks like. They’re really good at herding cows and earning their keep. And I heard you say something to Lexi about helping out with L.J. That’s a great idea.”

  At that the dog scrambled out of his arms and full body wiggled towards Carli.

  “And maybe you can help, too?” There was his mischievous smirk she found so hard to resist.

  The dog was on the attack again with Carli’s jean cuffs. “Hey, you little rascal! Quit it. You’re gonna tear a hole in my pants.”

  Scrambling to keep her footing, Carli gave up, landed on her bottom, and wrestled with the pup who still had some razor-sharp puppy teeth. She held its kicking paws in a vice grip. “I’m not gonna let you go, you wild thing!”

  Suddenly the black and white dog looked up into Carli’s eyes and relaxed its squirming as though it liked being held by her. Then slowly licked her chin.

  “Oh, boy,” Lank said, “you might be done for. I think L.J. is claiming you as her owner.”

  “What? No. I’ve never had a dog before. Wouldn’t know what to do with one.”

  “Well, you feed her, pet her, throw the ball or stick if that’s what she wants, pay her vet bills, and let her protect and love you. And you love her back.”

  Carli gazed into his gray-blue eyes and almost swooned but shook that silly feeling from her mind as best she could.

  “I thought she was your dog, Lank. You’re not trying to pawn off your responsibilities on me, are you?”

  “No, of course not. I’ll help. And Lexi will help. How ’bout we see how it plays out? See who L.J. chooses as her human?”

  The dog roused out of its temporary rest in Carli’s arms and started roughhousing again, so much so that Carli fell flat on her back with the dog jumping on her stomach and chest and licking her face again.

  “Quit, quit, you little rascal! Lank, don’t just stand there laughing. Help get your dog off!”

  “Now don’t tell me you can’t handle a little bitty puppy dog like L.J.” The beginnings of a smile tipped the corners of his mouth as he tried to grab the dog off Carli. He kneeled on the ground next to her.

  She kicked at him gently with her boot. “Stop laughing! You’re just egging her on.”

  But she couldn’t help smiling and soon they both were laughing as the dog went from one to the other.

  “C’mon, help me up. We’ve both got work to do.”

  “Since you mentioned work, I guess that means I still have my job.” Again, that charming smile.

  He reached out to help her up and yanked a little too strenuously so that she ended up with her palms against his chest. He held her arms to steady her footing. They both stayed in the embrace for a couple of extra seconds until Carli pushed back. He resisted for a minute. There was a boldness in his stare, and she felt an overwhelming urge to lay her head on his shoulder, but, of course, didn't.

  “Ahem, excuse me, you two. Carli, I think some of your kids are arriving,” Buck said.

  She felt her face grow warm at the sight of Buck standing there awkwardly looking at the ground.

  Then she gave Lank an angry scowl and pushed away.

  Lank released her and took a step back, but she didn’t miss the humor in his eyes. “You want to take your dog with you?”

  That smart-aleck smirk on his face she had seen more than a few times still irritated her.

  “No. She is not my dog.”

  Lank’s deep belly laugh followed her as she walked towards the cookhouse to greet her riding school students.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Lola re
sted an elbow on the corral fence and nodded her head when Carli walked her way. “Are you ready for this?” she asked.

  “After that last Saturday I’m not sure if this is what we should be doing. But it can’t go any worse, right?” Carli shrugged and leaned up against the fence next to her.

  Lola laughed. “You never know.”

  “I wonder if Bianca will be allowed to come back. Her mother wasn’t too happy that we had a Bible study.” Carli felt bad about offending someone, but she couldn’t change the past. “Maybe I should call Bianca’s mother and explain.”

  “All we can do is plant the seeds, but then it’s between that person and God. It’s in His hands now and we can certainly pray that Bianca is allowed to come back. Do you want to have a Bible study during your riding school?” Lola asked.

  Carli nodded her head.

  “Then, that's what we'll do.” Lola patted her arm.

  Carli wished she had Lola’s confidence and sense of self.

  Buck joined Carli and Lola as they watched a boy, about thirteen-years-old, step out of a van. Carli thought he looked like a feral animal, eyes darting side to side, head down, mouth clenched tight, but his eyes perked up when he saw the horses.

  Another car pulled to a stop and Carli watched a little girl, with a wild, headful of fuzzy curls, hop out.

  Carli walked closer. “Hi, my name's Carli. Who are you?”

  “I’m Shauna,” was the quiet reply. “I’m eight. Can we ride the horses now?” Excitement practically rushed out of every pore. She couldn’t stand still or stop the wide smile that covered her face.

  “Hang on there, young lady. We’ll get to that soon enough.” Buck laughed at the overeager girl.

  Carli turned to the boy. “You must be Jared.” She smiled at his mother.