Magic Wand Ranch

by Caroline Mickelson

  "Good job, guys. Now please just color quietly for a moment." Satisfied they were done squabbling, he went to the back of the diner where he could still see the boys but they couldn't overhear his conversation just in case it was bad news about his brother-in-law. "Okay, Bethany, what's up? Is something wrong with Rob?"

  "No," she hastened to assure him. "He's okay. It's not about him, it's about me." She blew out a long breath. "I want to stay here another three weeks."

  This wasn't what Cody had expected to hear. He didn't have time to respond before his sister rushed into an explanation.

  "Listen, Cody, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. And believe you me, I miss the boys so badly that I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need to stay here for a few more weeks. I'm making great progress but I'm not ready to come home. Can you help me out and keep the boys a tiny bit longer? Please?"

  She had him at please. Neither Bethany nor her husband Rob had ever asked Cody for a thing, but he'd virtually lived on their couch before he bought his ranch. He owed them. Tucson could wait. "Absolutely, you take as long as you need." He glanced in the direction of the booth. Mitchell, now in possession of a blue crayon, was coloring a strand of his brother's hair. "Don't you worry about a thing," Cody assured his sister. "I've got the boys covered."

  "That I'd love to see." He could hear the relief in her laughter. "But seriously, thank you so much, Cody. I wouldn't ask if I didn't really believe I needed to do this."

  "Hey, I know how hard it is to do what you're doing."

  Bethany laughed again. "Oh, right, Mr. Six Pack Abs, what exactly do you know about trying to lose a hundred pounds? You're all muscle."

  He grinned. "Aw, shucks, and here I thought you were going to say I was all heart."

  "Well, that too. But we need to talk about the rodeo."

  Cody took a deep breath, counted to five, and exhaled before he responded. "Tucson's not a big deal."

  "Yes, it is," she countered.

  "No, it's not." Cody ran a hand through his hair. "Look, sis, you mean more to me than the circuit. I can head up to Durango next month after you're back. Colorado is just as good as Arizona. The kids come first."

  "It means the world to me that you'd say that but you don't have to make a choice."

  Cody motioned across the restaurant for Brian to sit down. He could have sworn that last time they'd eaten here he'd told the boys that the booth wasn't a trampoline, especially not with their boots on. He turned his attention back to his conversation with his sister. "What were you saying?"

  "The boys are being awfully quiet. Is everything okay there?"

  "Yeah, absolutely," he assured her. And it was true enough, if pouring the contents of the salt shakers into a root beer bottle could be considered acceptable behavior. "We're just three bachelors out for a bite to eat. But I should probably wrap this up soon."

  "I'm sending someone out to the ranch to help you out."

  "I don't need any help," Cody protested. A vision of the mountain of laundry waiting back at the house popped into his mind, followed by an image of the stack of dishes in the sink. "I'm keeping up."

  "I know, and I'm not trying to cross a line into your business, but we both know your sponsorship deal is on the line. I couldn't live with myself if I was the cause of you losing it. Can you honestly tell me that the deal will come through if you don't win in Tucson?"

  Cody scuffed at the linoleum floor with the toe of his boot. "What kind of help are we talking about?"

  "You remember me telling you about Tessa, one of the women I've met here? Well, she and her new husband Liam introduced me to a co-worker of his named Fiona. She's willing to come out and give you a hand."

  Cody closed his eyes. He didn't want to miss the rodeo but neither did he want to leave the kids with a babysitter he didn't know. "I don't know."

  "What if I pull rank as your big sister and tell you that the decision is out of your hands?"

  He quickly saw that this was a battle he wasn't going to win. Best to give in without a fight. A bucking bronco he could handle. His sister when she had her mind set on something, not so much. "They're your kids, so finally it's your call. I trust you." But even if he went along with her plan, it didn't mean he had to like it.

  "I adore you," Bethany assured him. "So do the kids."

  They wouldn't for long, Cody reckoned, not once he got back to the table and took away the spoons they were using as drumsticks. Lucky for him, the waitresses and other patrons seemed to think the boys were adorable. Still, he needed to get over to the table and get things under control. "So you'll set it up?"

  "Absolutely. I'll text you when Fiona's on her way."

  Fiona. Cody couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. A vision of a stone-faced, female prison warden popped into his mind. "What if the boys don't like her?"

  Again, Bethany laughed. "Trust me, you're all going to like her. A lot. Consider her an extra pair of hands and just accept the help, okay?"

  After a quick goodbye, Cody powered off his phone and slipped it into his back pocket. He slid into the booth and fixed a stern stare on his nephews. "Guys, settle down. And put those hot dogs back in the buns."

  Mitchell grinned. "They're not hot dogs. They're our swords."

  Cody shook his head. His sister might think all they needed was an extra pair of hands but nothing short of a fairy godmother was going to work with these kids.

  Chapter Three

  Fiona and Liam landed in a whirl of gold glitter. As it began to settle around them, Fiona wiped the remaining sparkles off of her shirt sleeves and shook out her hair before looking around. Her eyes swept across flat stretch of grassy pastureland. A few lone trees stood in defiance of the barren landscape, but the overall effect left Fiona feeling like she'd landed on another planet. She snuck a glance at Liam. To her annoyance, he stood, hands in his pockets, calmly surveying their surrounding as if they'd just landed on the most interesting place on earth. This 'calm under any circumstances' attitude was so Liam. And so not her.

  "Well, what do you think?" he asked.

  "You don't want to know." Fiona flicked a gold sparkle off of her arm. "Please tell me that this is a pit stop."

  He laughed. "Nope, it's your final destination."

  She held up her hand. "Correction, London is my final destination. This is only temporary." When he didn't immediately respond, she resisted the urge to shake him. Instead, she blew out a long breath. If there was ever a time to exercise self-control, this was it. "So where exactly are we?"

  Liam gazed around without answering.

  "You do know where we are, right?"

  He turned back to her and grinned. "I do. I was just admiring the place. If I wasn't on my honeymoon, I wouldn't mind hanging out here for awhile."

  Which made exactly one of them.

  "But," he continued. "It's not exactly the kind of place that I think Tessa might like."

  This observation Fiona wasn't going to touch with ten foot pole. Liam's high maintenance witch of a new wife was not her concern right now. "Liam, where exactly are we?"

  "Welcome to the Flat Iron Ranch."

  She pivoted around slowly to make sure she hadn't missed something. She hadn't. "I don't see a ranch."

  "That's because we're in the middle of two hundred prime acres of Texas grassland. The main house is over there."

  Fiona pushed her sunglasses up onto the top of her head and squinted into the bright sunlight but still she didn't see anything. Exasperated, she turned to her boss. "Is this all some sort of ruse to drive me mad so I can't go to London?"

  Liam's face broke into a wide smile. "No, based on the trust in each other we've built over the years, I promise that this is a short-term assignment." He reached out and slung an arm over her shoulder. "As you well know, our whole purpose of being a Fairy Godperson is based on our desire to help people out of a pinch. By pitching in here for a short time, you're being a massive help to more people than you realize." He squeezed her shoulder
s. "I'm grateful to you."

  "Hmmm," was all she could manage to say while still staying sincere. "Let's do this then. I guess we head up to the house first?"

  Liam shook his head. "Not we. You."

  Fiona's eyes widened. "You jest."

  "Nope. I'm going to leave you here."

  "Don't you dare." Panic and frustration warred for top billing in Fiona's mind.

  Liam reached out and laid a gentle hand on her arm. "Fiona, my dear, you've faced far greater challenges than this, with much aplomb and much success, I might add." He leaned in and brushed a gentle kiss across her cheek. "Just remember to have some fun."

  Fiona watched as he reached for his keychain that doubled as a magic wand. "Wait, don't go just yet." She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Can't you at least give me a bit of gold sparkle? Just in case I run into something I can't handle?"

  "There's nothing here you can't handle. I promise you." Liam's smile was kind.

  "But-"

  Liam took a step back from her. "No buts, Fiona. You've got this." He tapped his keychain and metallic sparkles began to swirl around his ankles. "Call me when you get to London."

  And then he was gone.

  ***

  Cody waited until the kids were finished slurping up the last of their root beer floats before he broached the subject of leaving them with a stranger. "Does your mom ever leave you guys with a babysitter?"

  They exchanged a quick glance before Brian spoke. "We're not babies."

  "I know, you're proper little cowpokes, but I just wondered who stayed with you back at home when your mom went out." He studied their faces for a signs of distress at the thought of being left, but they certainly didn't look worried. "When I was little, and Grandma had to go somewhere, she always left your mom in charge of me. So that's why I wondered who she left you with."

  "We go everywhere with her," Mitchell said.

  "Everywhere," his little brother agreed.

  And this might well account for his sister's exhaustion.

  "Except this time," Brian said. "This time we're with you."

  Cody nodded. Why was this so hard? More importantly, why wasn't his sister the one having this conversation with the boys? It wasn't like she was in prison and limited to one phone call a day, for crying out loud. She was at a health spa. "Well, that's the thing, there's been a slight change of plans."

  "We're going somewhere?" Mitchell's eyes were wide.

  He shook his head. "Nope. I am." He couldn't help but smile at their incredulous expressions. "Your mom asked a friend to come and stay with you while I'm gone."

  "What friend?"

  "Fiona."

  "Never heard of her." Mitchell's response was emphatic and his expression dubious. He looked at his little brother. "You?"

  Brian shook his head. "Are you sure about this, Uncle Cody?"

  And there was the crux of things. He wasn't sure at all that this was a good idea. Or the right thing to do, despite Bethany's assurance that it was. How was he supposed to hitch up and pull out with these two little buckaroos left behind with a woman he didn't know from Eve? "Well, I trust your mom to make the right choice by you two."

  "Where are you going?" Mitchell demanded. "And why can't we come with you?"

  "I've got to head out to Tucson for a rodeo. It's a big one and I need to be there."

  The boys exchanged surreptitious glances. "We love Tucson," Mitchell said.

  Brian's nod was enthusiastic. "Love it."

  Cody took a sip of his coffee in an effort to hide his smile. "You guys have been there?"

  Again with the nods, but this time they avoided looking at him. Exactly what he'd thought. "Guys, a rodeo isn't a place for two little boys to be unsupervised. I'll be too busy to keep an eye on you."

  "We'll supervise each other," Mitchell promised.

  "And we won't try to ride any bulls," Brian offered as an attempt to sweeten the pot, not realizing that he'd just driven the final nail into the coffin. "Honest."

  Cody forced himself to smile. "No can do, guys. We've got to do this your mom's way."

  "What did you say the stranger's name was?" Mitchell asked.

  "Fiona."

  The boys each pulled a face that didn't bode well for his sister's choice of sitters.

  "Hey, none of that now," Cody said, as he motioned for them to slide out of the booth. "Let's at least give her a chance."

  He was talking to himself as much as he was to the boys.

  ***

  Fiona picked her way through dirt, patches of mud, and assorted piles of proof that this was indeed a working cattle ranch, as she made her way up to the main ranch house. When she passed a pen of horses, they neighed loudly enough that she swore they were mocking the way she was tip-toeing through the dust. She stopped and stared at a brown horse. "Don't look at me like that. These espadrilles are less than a week old." She stared down at her shoes in dismay. They were so caked with mud that it was impossible to see that they'd recently been a lovely shade of green. "Now they're ruined."

  The horse snorted, swished its tail from side to side, and then, clearly bored, walked away.

  Fiona sighed, picked up her suitcase, squared her shoulders, and trudged toward the house. She had no doubt that the shoes were only the first of several sacrifices she'd need to make in the days ahead. But she could handle this, even without the use of her magic. And she could get new shoes once she was in London.

  She'd just climbed the front porch and knocked on the front door when she heard the loud rumble of a diesel engine. Curious, she turned and watched as a huge pick-up truck bounced up the driveway, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. She'd never imagined that Texas would be so...well...dusty. She craned her neck to get a better view but the setting sun hit the windshield at an angle that made it impossible to clearly see the occupants of the truck.

  She leaned against the porch railing and watched as the pick-up pulled to a stop in front of the house. A man slid out of the driver's side and slammed his door shut. His boots crunched over the gravel as he made his way toward her. In the time it took for him to reach her, she couldn't help but notice how perfectly his blue jeans fit him, how the white of crisp cotton shirt accentuated his suntanned skin, and that his belt buckle was as big as her fist. Realizing that she was holding her breath, she forced herself to exhale.

  The cowboy stopped at the bottom of the three wooden steps and took off his hat. His eyes, the color of a blue summer sky, met and held hers for a full moment before he spoke. "Evening, Ma'am."

  And with those words, Fiona realized one more thing.

  She was in trouble.

  Chapter Four

  Cody watched as the stranger standing on his front porch blinked rapidly several times in response to his greeting. He glanced backwards at the truck and was relieved to see his nephews sitting quietly just as he'd asked them to. He turned his attention back to the pretty brunette that stood between him and his front door. "Can I help you?"

  She stared at him for another full minute before she nodded her head. "No." Reversing that answer, she then shook her head from side to side. "I mean, yes."

  "Yes?" he prompted her when it appeared that was all she was going to say. "What's wrong? Are you lost?" Heaven knew she looked it.

  "I don't think so." She looked over his shoulder in the direction of the truck and then back at him. "I'm Fiona Cantrell."

  He took the hand she held out and shook it. "I thought as much." Although he'd not expected her to be this young. Or this pretty. For some reason, it unsettled him. He'd have much preferred it if she'd resembled the battle-axe he'd imagined her to be. "I'm Cody Proctor. But you already know that seeing as how you know my sister."

  But when she opened her mouth to respond, her words were interrupted by a blaring honking sound coming from his truck. He flashed her an apologetic grin. "Let me just grab the boys," he shouted over the noise.

  He jogged over to the truck and yanked open the passenge
r side door. "That's enough, right there," he warned Brian, whose right hand was poised to strike the steering wheel.

  "But I didn't get my turn."

  Cody reached in and swung Mitchell out of the truck's cab and onto the gravel. He then leveled as stern a look as he could manage at Brian. "Next time. Right now we need to get a move on."

  This appeared to be an insufficiently convincing explanation to Brian. "I wanna honk it this time." But his interest was quickly diverted as he leaned backward to see past Cody. "Who's that pretty lady that Mitchell's talking to?"

  Cody whirled around and saw that Mitchell was no longer standing right next to him. He shook his head. His nephew could be louder than a raging bull at times and yet quieter than a cat at others. He held out his hand to Brian. "Come meet her yourself."

  "Is she your girlfriend?"

  "No, and that's enough questions. Let's move." He stood back when Brian insisted on jumping out of the truck by himself. "Now mind your manners," he whispered as they approached the porch.

  But he needn't have worried because Brian marched straight up the porch steps, stuck his hand out for Fiona to shake and introduced himself in a manner that would have done his mother proud.

  Cody watched as Fiona knelt down so that she was at the boy's eye level. She'd lost her deer in the headlights look, and the smile she directed at his nephews was friendly. Perhaps his sister did know what she was doing by sending Fiona here.

  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mitchell," Fiona said. "I'm a friend of your mom's. I've come to spend a few days with you and your brother."

  Mitchell nodded seriously. "I know. My uncle told us."

  Fiona shot Cody a quick glance but he couldn't read her expression. "Did he, now?"

  "He also said-"

  Cody took that as his cue to move them all in indoors. "Boys, let's invite our guest inside." He slipped past the boys and unlocked the front door. "Here, Mitchell, you hold the door for Miss Cantrell while I take her bag."

  But this arrangement obviously didn't suit their guest. She snatched up her suitcase and he could swear her knuckles were practically white the way she was gripping it. He met her gaze.