by Liz Isaacson
“Not even once?”
“Not even once.” The thought of going there, to “visit” her, made Walker feel put together wrong. She wasn’t there. She didn’t even know if he came or stayed away.
“So I’m not sure if that means I’ve let go or I haven’t.” Walker leaned his head back against the couch. “I’m sure my mother could tell you all about it.”
The mood lightened, and she asked, “Where is your family?”
“California. Born and raised.”
“And somehow you became a cowboy instead of a surfer. Interesting.”
“The ocean has never called to me,” he explained. “Fresh air, and mountains, and working with the earth. That’s what I’ve always liked.”
“It suits you.”
“You’ve never even seen what I do.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.”
Walker shifted away from her and their eyes met. “What does that mean?”
“It means you were a professional rodeo star at one point, Mister Thompson, and YouTube has a lot of videos on it.”
His heart battered his ribcage. “You looked up footage of me riding?” He wasn’t quite sure if he should be flattered or not. The warmth flowing through him urged him toward flattery though.
“Maybe once or twice.” Her voice sounded so false that Walker tipped his chin toward the ceiling and laughed.
“Once or twice.”
“Fine, a dozen or so times. You were great. Pro for five years. Why’d you quit?”
He lifted his arm and she sank right into his side. He secured her in place and watched the flickering lights on the television. “It was time. Libby was pregnant. The traveling was too much to bring a family along, and I’d be gone too long to leave them behind.”
“You ever regret retiring?”
“No,” he said firmly. “Sometimes I miss the circuit, sure. But I’ve got Michael, and I still have a taste of the rodeo life with Landon and Justin and Ted. We all rode the rodeo circuit together.”
“Sounds great.”
Walker didn’t tell her that though he was surrounded by loved ones, he still felt lonelier than ever—except for the past day. With her, he didn’t feel so isolated.
“You should come up to the ranch sometime,” he said. “Bring Graham. Maybe he’d like to ride or something.”
“I was going to ask you about that,” she said.
“Oh yeah?”
“Well, not that, specifically.”
“What, then?”
“Graham and Michael seem to get along really great, and I was thinking….”
Walker waited for her to continue.
“I was thinking maybe when school starts in a couple of weeks, you’ll send Michael home with Graham a few days a week.”
Confusion drew Walker’s eyebrows into a crease. “I’m not sure—”
“There’s fall soccer signups happening at the rec center right now, and Graham’s dying to play, but he wants Michael to do it with him. So they could go together. I could take them. You could come down from the ranch whenever you’re done working.”
“I don’t need a nanny,” he said, his first defense slamming the door on all of her suggestions.
She laughed. “Walker Thompson, you are so stubborn.” She lifted herself out of his embrace and looked him square in the face. “I’m not looking to be your nanny.” Her gaze was clear and her meaning as plain as day.
He cleared his throat as his gaze dropped to her full lips. He yanked his eyes back to hers, but he’d already thought about kissing her and he couldn’t go back now. “What are you doing then?” he managed to ask through a dry throat.
“Maybe a carpool arrangement,” she said with one sexy shrug of her shoulder. “You stop by in the morning and pick up the boys and take them to school. Michael can come home with Graham. They can go to soccer together, be boys, go fishing in the stream at Oxbow. Whatever. He can’t be getting much of that at Brush Creek.”
He wasn’t getting any of that at Brush Creek. Walker’s resolve slipped the teensiest bit. “A carpool?” he asked. “So we’re soccer moms now?”
She leaned in, closer and closer, until Walker had to close his eyes or go crosseyed. Her lips brushed his cheek. “You’re definitely not a soccer mom,” she whispered. “I can bring Michael home whenever you say. Maybe I’ll even bring you dinner sometimes, like you said. Visit the ranch, like you suggested.”
Walker liked the idea of Tess on the horse ranch. Liked it very much. “All right,” he found himself saying.
“All right,” she echoed, retreating and tucking herself back into his side. “This is a win-win, Walker, trust me. I like to sleep in, Michael gets to have time with friends, and you don’t have to worry so much.”
“Who says I was worried?”
“Megan,” Tess said, and boy, if that didn’t make Walker’s blood boil.
Chapter Four
Tess didn’t make it to church the next morning, but she sent Graham with Paige’s family. Walker texted her during most of the sermon, but he didn’t stop by afterward. A pin pushed into her heart, though she didn’t know why. They’d spent a few hours on her couch, talking. It wasn’t the most romantic event as far as first dates went. It probably bored him to listen to her talk about her two older sisters, or the many and varied food rules she had.
He had laughed a lot when she’d detailed those. “No cookies without milk?” he’d asked. “I guess that one’s okay. But why can’t you have cake without ice cream?”
She’d tried to explain her reasoning, but in the end, he’d simply said, “Whatever you want, beautiful,” and gone to meet the boys so they didn’t have to walk home in the dark by themselves.
School didn’t start for another three weeks, and Tess found herself trying to think of ways to get Walker down the canyon so she could see him. It was only a fifteen-minute drive up to the ranch, but she couldn’t just stop by. How would she even explain that?
I took a wrong turn….
She shook her head as she stirred Graham’s macaroni and cheese. “All done,” she announced, scooping some of the very orange food into a bowl for him. “Spoon or fork?”
“Spoon,” he said, and she produced one from the silverware drawer.
“How was church?” she asked.
“Boring.”
She laughed and reached for her phone as it chimed. Walker’s text read I’d like to see you again. Dinner tomorrow night? We can take the boys with us.
Her attention on her phone became singular as she typed Sure, what time? She stared at the words. Too forward? Too enthusiastic? Not enthusiastic enough? Should she use an exclamation point?
Sure! What time?
She shook her head, wondering when dating had become so dang complicated. In the end, she went without punctuation at all.
Sure what time
It looked so dysfunctional after she sent it, but she couldn’t take it back now.
Six-thirty?
Sounds great.
She pulled down a cookbook, her mind set on baking something chocolatey and delicious now that she’d gotten in a few more hours of sleep—and had a date with the cowboy of her dreams on the horizon.
You feeling better? Walker texted before she even cracked the spine of the cookbook.
A lot better, she confirmed. Making something ooey gooey and full of chocolate.
Sounds dangerous.
I’ll bring you some.
He didn’t text back, and worry exploded through Tess. Her stomach churned, and every recipe she looked at sounded disgusting. In the end, she left her phone sitting on the kitchen counter, and said to Graham, “I’m going to take a bath. Holler if you need anything.”
By four o’clock, she was washed, perfumed, and all done up. She had a chocolate cheesecake cooling in the refrigerator. Now all she needed was an excuse to get up to Brush Creek.
Not an excuse for herself—she knew why she wanted to go.
She didn’t need
an explanation for Walker—she said she’d bring him a treat.
No, she needed a reason for Graham, who wasn’t stupid just because he was young. For Paige, who had invited her to dinner at six. For Shirley and Alison, who would surely ask endless questions once they found out about the hand-holding and cheek-kissing with Walker Thompson.
Tess was surprised her friends hadn’t called yet. She gave all the credit to Paige, who probably wanted to get the juicy details for herself before sharing them with the other girls. “And that’s why she invited us to dinner,” Tess said aloud.
“What, Mom?” Graham’s attention flickered from the cartoons in front of him.
“Nothing, baby. Just talkin’ to myself.” She reached over and slung her arm around him. “Hey, you wanna go up to Brush Creek this afternoon? Maybe see what Michael’s doing?”
“Yeah, sure.” Graham didn’t seem suspicious or concerned about this irregular Sunday activity. And why would he be? He probably wanted to play with Michael’s dogs and run through the fields.
“Walker said you might be able to ride a horse. Would you like that?”
Graham reached for the remote and switched off the TV. “Maybe. I’ve never ridden a horse before.”
Tess smiled fondly at her son. “We’ll just see then. Go get your shoes on.”
Graham scampered away to do what she asked, and Tess gathered her wits and thumbed out a message to Paige that said she couldn’t make it to dinner. She didn’t explain why, but she knew Paige would ask.
Sure enough, the next text asked her how she felt, and maybe she could send Graham.
Tess decided to get the truth out of the way. No sense in hiding it from her support system. Paige would find out sooner or later, and it wasn’t like Tess needed to hide a budding relationship. She pressed the call button and headed into the kitchen. Paige picked up before the first ring ended. “Tess, what’s going on? Are you okay?”
Tess laughed. “Paige, I’m fine. What’s got you so worked up?”
“Well, I brought you a killer PB&J last night, and you were asleep. Then you send Graham to church alone, and now you can’t come to dinner. Something’s going on.”
“First, thank you for the sandwich. I ate it for breakfast, and it was the best PB&J I’ve ever had. I totally want that again for my last meal.”
Paige took her declaration of last meals much better than Walker had, sending a laugh through the line. “You’ll need to figure out how to get your hands on some of that white chocolate peanut butter then.”
“I bet I can find it online.”
“You can find anything online.”
“Online shopping is essential when you live in a small town,” Tess said, her tone only slightly defensive. Tess liked certain cleaners, and throw pillows that actually filled the shams, and having lots of clothing options. She adored Brush Creek, from the quaint parks, the old-town brick buildings on Main Street, and the friendly people who’d welcomed her with open arms. But the shopping wasn’t stellar.
Others like Paige stuck to what they could find in the aisles of Preston’s Furniture, and Lynn’s Market, and the single department store at the end of the block.
“Second?” Paige prompted.
“Second, I’m…I can’t come to dinner because I’m going up to Brush Creek.”
Paige gave her two seconds of silence before squealing. “I knew it! I knew something was going on with Walker Thompson when he opened your front door last night. Alison is going to owe me so many cookies.”
“It’s just so Graham can play with Michael. It’s such a beautiful day, and we’re all cooped up here.”
“Sure,” Paige said with more sarcasm than air in the word. “And Michael’s stunning father has nothing to do with this sudden and unexpected trip up the canyon, right?”
“Stunning?” Tess laughed. “I wouldn’t describe Walker as stunning.” She leaned against the counter and watched for Graham to come back downstairs. “Maybe gorgeous, or handsome, or dignified. Exciting, maybe. Sexy, sure. Strong, definitely. But stunning? Not sure it fits.”
Paige laughed and laughed, even when Tess said she had to go because Graham had returned, ready to go. Just before she turned to go up the canyon to Brush Creek, Tess got a text from Paige: I want details when you get back tonight! Have fun!
With her insides so knotted, she wasn’t sure fun was on the horizon. She crested the hill that ended at the sprawling Brush Creek Horse Ranch. On her right lay the large homestead. The house was rustic, but obviously upscale, with a low brick fence surrounding it. The landscaping was meticulous; the towering trees had leaves that fluttered in the breeze.
Horse barns and sheds, training facilities and the covered horse arena stretched beyond that. Tess’s prize sat on the left, where a lane led to another frontage road that ran in front of the six cowboy cabins. Walker’s sat in the middle and was by far the largest.
She found him and Michael in the yard, throwing a football back and forth. When Michael caught sight of her car, he jogged toward them. Walker pressed the football between both of his hands and stayed in the middle of the emerald-green lawn, his eyes bright and watchful.
A pair of dogs panted in the shade on the front porch, one a black lab and one yellow. They both stood as Graham leapt from the barely-stopped car and ran toward Michael. They both continued toward the dogs, whose tails wagged like Graham had shown up just to see them.
Tess got out of the car more slowly and took precious seconds to collect the cheesecake from the backseat. She wielded the dessert like a shield as she navigated the distance between herself and Walker.
“This should be in the fridge,” she said. “I can run it in, if you want.”
Walker licked his lips, which completely distracted Tess. “Sure, let’s go.” Walker led her inside his cabin while the boys wrestled with the dogs and threw a wiffle ball that the black lab always beat the yellow one to.
“Don’t mind Bruce and Wayne. They don’t bite.”
“Bruce and Wayne? Like Batman?” She giggled as she stepped into the blessed air conditioning. She wasn’t expecting the natural wood walls, the feature wall lined with bricks and sporting a fireplace. A piano stood against one wall, with a television on top of that, with a couch facing them both. The hardwood on the floor felt old and new at the same time.
The kitchen had stainless steel appliances, stylish tile, and dark oak cabinets. She whistled through her teeth. The soft gray on the walls and black pulls completed the look, tying everything together.
“Wow,” she said. “This place is really nice.”
“Built it myself.” He opened the fridge and stepped back.
“No kidding?” She slid the cheesecake onto an empty shelf, noting that there were several.
“Well, Landon and I built it. We built them all when I first moved here.” He let the fridge swing closed. “He bought all this extra land so he could house horsemen here, on-site.”
“So the other cabins are full?”
“Yep. Five cowboys, plus me.” He leaned against the countertop. “I’m the foreman.”
“Of course you are.” She grinned up at him, hoping her words sounded flirtatious enough. “You like chocolate, right?” She ran her hands up and down her arms, suddenly nervous and cold.
“Who doesn’t like chocolate?”
She giggled. “Believe it or not, I’ve met a few people.”
“Mutants.” He chuckled and gave her a sly smile that sent her heartrate skyrocketing. “I’ve heard you host a monthly chocolate club.”
“Life is short,” Tess said. “No sense in wasting a single day without chocolate.”
He nodded toward the fridge. “So can we have it now, or do we have to wait?”
“I thought maybe you’d show me around the ranch first.” She took a single step closer to him, reaching out and tiptoeing her fingers up his chest to his collar, where she fiddled with the buttons on his polo. “I like this shirt. I don’t see you in much more than a T
-shirt or a white shirt for church.”
He nodded toward the front door. “Well, you’ll have to stop by more often then. My wardrobe certainly has more than that in it.” He stepped toward the door and she went with him, almost desperate to be in the same space as him. The strength of her emotions sent shock and fear through her, but she went anyway.
She’d only made it a few steps down the front sidewalk before she blinked and the world didn’t come back to full color. Another blink, and the scenery around her went fuzzy along the edges.
“Walker,” she managed to say. He turned and the panic in his beautiful, midnight eyes was the last thing she saw before she fainted.
She woke up on an unfamiliar couch, with strange smells surrounding her, and a very hot hand touching her face. Voices echoed in her head—male voices. One female.
In those soft moments before she was all the way awake, before anyone noticed that she’d partially regained consciousness, she knew she needed to get back to the doctor in Evanston as soon as possible.
Dread settled like lead in her stomach, and her first thought was What will happen to Graham when I die?
She groaned, tears flooding her eyes as the ache in her soul radiated through her whole body. Dear Lord, please help me, she begged. Please don’t leave my son alone in this world.
“It’s okay.” Walker’s handsome face appeared in her line of sight. “Tess, you’re just fine. Tell me what hurts.”
“My head.” She tried to sit up, but he gently pressed one hand to her shoulder to keep her prostrate on the couch. “Did I fall?”
“I caught you.”
Of course he did. “I need to get to the hospital,” she said. “Will you take me to Evanston?”
Though he’d confessed that he hadn’t been back to Evanston since his wife’s death, there was no hesitation when he said, “Of course. Let me arrange care for the boys.”
Tess let him go, her eyes drifting closed again. She didn’t understand why this was happening now, the very day after she’d decided to branch out of her comfort zone and go out with a man for the first time in years. Was it a sign?
