Her Hill Country Cowboy

by Myra Johnson

  He wouldn’t deny it. Because he couldn’t. So he didn’t say anything, just spun on his heel and walked out.

  * * *

  Christina adjusted the greenery around a glass hurricane shade. She’d tried to tell Seth this wasn’t her area of expertise, and now everyone at Serenity Hills Guest Ranch would realize it, too. With a groan of futility, she gathered up the leftover centerpiece materials and packed them into a crate.

  Peering up the sloping path, she looked for signs of Seth’s return. He’d stormed off so fast that he’d forgotten to take the utility wagon with him. Christina wondered when, or if, he’d return with his load of firewood and then help her get these crates back to the storeroom.

  “Guess we’re on our own, Gracie.” Gripping the wagon handle, Christina dug deep for the strength to tow the unwieldy contraption up the hill.

  By the time she reached the storeroom, her back and shoulders ached and her left hip was cramping again. She moved one of the crates to the floor and sank onto it while she waited for the ache to subside.

  Bryan Peterson appeared in the doorway, a concerned frown creasing his weathered face. “You okay, sweetheart?”

  “Just taking a short break.” Christina tried to smile as she massaged her hip. “Is there anything else you need me to do right now?” Please say no.

  “We’re in good shape. Marie might need a hand in the kitchen later, though. She’s cookin’ up a storm for the barbecue.”

  “I’ve been smelling the brisket all morning.” Christina’s stomach underscored her remark with a loud growl.

  Bryan guffawed. “I’ll take that as a compliment!” He ambled over to a shelf and poked around. “Say, that dog of yours sure made a hit with Joseph. Just came from the house, and he had to tell me all about how Gracie kept him from being scared while Omi doctored his hand.”

  Christina’s chest warmed. She bent to give Gracie a hug around the neck and inhaled the comforting, musky-sweet scent of dog fur. “She’s sure been a blessing to me.”

  Tugging a flat, oblong box from the shelf, Bryan asked, “How long have you had her?”

  “Ever since I got out of rehab after the accident.” Glancing away, Christina exhaled slowly as the memories resurfaced. “For a while, I was terrified to even ride in a car, much less drive again. But with Gracie beside me...somehow she keeps the fear at bay.”

  “Interesting. Sorry to say I didn’t know much about service dogs for your kind of trauma before Marie explained how Gracie helps you.” Lips skewed, Bryan looked toward the open door. “I worry about Seth’s kids. Worry about him, too.”

  “That’s understandable.” Christina hesitated. “I guess you know in my former life I was a social worker. My specialty was children and families.”

  “Yeah, Marie mentioned it was on your job application.” A nervous look flickered behind his eyes. “Best you don’t bring it up around Seth, though. He’s not too keen on social workers.”

  “Really? Why?” Christina couldn’t fathom why any parent with kids as emotionally wounded as Seth’s would refuse whatever help he could find.

  “Long story,” Bryan said with a sigh, “and I probably shouldn’t be telling it, but since Seth won’t talk about it, seems somebody ought to.”

  He set down his box, pulled over a step stool and plopped down. Speaking in hushed tones, and with repeated glances toward the door, he described how Georgia Austin’s career had taken off and she’d urged Seth to move the family to Minneapolis. He’d refused, insisting their home was here in Juniper Bluff, and if she truly loved him and the kids, she wouldn’t need a fancy job in a big city to feel complete.

  “Seth fought long and hard to save his marriage,” Bryan went on. “Fought even harder for custody of those kids. Then Georgia got sick, and that’s when a social worker stepped in. She convinced Georgia the kids would be better off with Georgia’s sister and her husband, who had a nice home in Tulsa and boy-and-girl twins a couple years older than Joseph.”

  “A ready-made family,” Christina acknowledged with a nod.

  “Exactly. A far sight better, in her opinion, than placing the kids with an angry, broken single dad and his aging grandparents on a barely-making-it guest ranch.”

  “Obviously, Seth won.”

  Bryan’s mouth hardened. “Almost didn’t. Between the social worker and the high-powered lawyers Georgia’s family hired, he had the fight of his life.” Groaning, he pushed to his feet and hefted the box he’d come for. With a kindly but pointed glance at Christina, he stated, “So, like I said, best not mention the social worker thing around Seth.”

  Left alone in the storeroom, she massaged her hip while pondering everything she’d learned about this troubled family in the three short days since her arrival. Her initial thoughts about God’s having brought her here for a reason now gave way to doubt, because she suspected Seth would never be open to the kind of help she’d been trained to give.

  For all the good her training had done her personally. The adage physician, heal thyself played through her mind. A master’s degree and four years’ on-the-job experience hadn’t prepared her for the aftermath of the accident that nearly cost her life—and not only hers but that of the innocent child in her care.

  A stabbing pain arced through her skull. Even with both fists pressed to her temples, she couldn’t halt the parade of images behind her eyelids, or the voices screaming in her head.

  “I’m taking Haley to the hospital, Mr. Vernon. Please don’t try to stop me. The police are on their way.”

  “She’s my kid! You got no right to lay a hand on her!”

  But the brute of a man already had, and more than once, judging from the blood and bruises. As Christina carried the sobbing child toward the car, the ominous click of a shotgun hurried her steps. She’d barely gotten Haley buckled into a child safety seat when the first blast from the gun rang in her ears.

  Before the second shot, she was behind the wheel, gunning the engine and barreling down the potholed lane.

  She never even saw the loaded dump truck bearing down on them, only heard the scream of the horn, her own terrified shriek, and the crunch of collapsing metal and shattering glass before everything went black.

  At Gracie’s whimpers and insistent nudges, Christina wrapped her trembling arms around the dog’s neck. Without the strength to stand, much less get herself to her cabin, she could do nothing more than hold on and wait—pray!—for the memories to pass. As she had every moment of her life since that day, she thanked God that little Haley Vernon had suffered only a broken arm as a result of the crash. The child now resided with a loving aunt and uncle in South Carolina, safely beyond her abusive father’s reach.

  From somewhere far away, a man’s voice penetrated. “Christina, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

  She lifted her head and met Seth’s worried gaze. Ignoring the high-pitched hum in her ears, she dredged deep for what little control she could muster. “I’m...fine. A dizzy spell, that’s all. I—I think I’m dehydrated.”

  Before she could blink twice, a bottle of water appeared in Seth’s hand—where it came from, she had no idea. Kneeling in front of her, he unscrewed the top and helped her tip the bottle to her lips. “Better? Honestly, you don’t look so good.”

  The kind and gentle Seth was back, but much as she appreciated this side of him, right now she’d have preferred a little more gruffness. If he were any nicer to her, she’d melt into a soggy puddle of tears. With great care, she forced herself to stand. “Really, I’m okay. I just need to lie down for a while.”

  “And eat something. It’s past noon.” He tucked a steadying hand at her elbow, which was a good thing because her legs felt like overcooked noodles. “I’m sorry I left you by yourself earlier. Let me walk you to your cabin.”

  If she refused, he might end up scraping her off the pat
h and towing her to the cabin in his utility wagon. To keep her dignity intact, she muttered a terse “Okay, thanks,” and hoped he didn’t notice how heavily she leaned on him. “Let’s go, Gracie.”

  Chapter Four

  For Seth, the reunion weekend went by in a blur. What with serving barbecue, leading trail rides, and acting as lifeguard for lake swimmers and kayakers—plus making sure to give his kids plenty of attention—he had little time to dwell on what had happened with Christina. He tried to be polite whenever they crossed paths in the course of their ranch duties, but after her meltdown on Friday, she seemed even more uncomfortable around him than before.

  Seth had to admire the woman’s work ethic, though. She’d toiled as hard as any of them, keeping the guest cabins in top-notch order and helping Omi with meal preparation and anything else that needed doing. Christina had proved herself a reliable employee and a master of efficiency, and since this was admittedly her first job as a maid, Seth couldn’t help wondering what she’d done previously. Since Omi wasn’t forthcoming, maybe one of these days he’d sneak a peek at Christina’s personnel file.

  The last of the reunion attendees left late Sunday afternoon, and by Tuesday morning the post-weekend cleanup was complete and Serenity Hills lay in restful silence befitting its name. While his kids slept, Seth carried his first cup of coffee out to the porch swing, where he could savor a melon-colored dawn as the sun crept over the barn roof. This was his favorite time of day, a few precious moments to himself before tackling the never-ending ranch work. He loved it, though. Loved the clean air with a hint of cedar on the breeze, loved spending time with the horses, loved watching the stress of city life slowly slip from the ranch guests’ shoulders as they basked in country hospitality.

  Most of all, he loved sharing all this with his kids.

  He would have shriveled up and died in Minneapolis. Or at least he’d have wanted to. And the certainty of it made his stomach clench. For the sake of his marriage, though—for the sake of his kids—he should have tried. Lord, I’m sorry. I should have tried.

  He doubted he’d ever forgive himself for his own stubbornness.

  Worse, he still struggled to forgive Georgia for leaving and then dying before he had the chance to fix things between them.

  The regrets stuck in his throat, and not even scalding-hot coffee could budge them. This was the downside of quiet moments, when the past intruded and all the what-ifs started playing through his mind. Best get to work and cast the memories aside.

  By the time Seth made it to the barn, Rafael, one of the ranch’s part-time stable hands, had already taken several horses out to their pastures and had started mucking stalls. Seth snapped halters and lead ropes on two mares, then halted outside the stall where Rafael worked. “Leave Tango in for now. I’ll ride her in a bit.”

  Rafael nodded as he scooped up soiled shavings with a pitchfork. “You want me to groom her for you when I finish here?”

  “That’s okay. I’ll enjoy doing it myself.” Seth had been raised to believe a cowboy should tend to his own mount. Besides, applying brush and currycomb to horse hide had a certain calming effect on his psyche.

  Leaving the barn, he led the mares down the lane to the pasture nearest Christina’s cabin. Her windows remained dark, which shouldn’t raise any red flags since Omi had given her the day off. Still, as hard as Christina had worked the past few days, Seth hoped she was only sleeping in and hadn’t suffered some sort of stress-related setback. He hadn’t forgotten how pale and shaky she’d been when he found her in the storeroom last week.

  Then a window lit up, and moments later Christina stepped out to the porch, the dog at her side. Noticing Seth, she offered a tentative smile. He acknowledged her with a nod as he latched the pasture gate. While he hung the halters he’d just removed over the fence rail, Christina and her dog ambled toward him.

  “Beautiful morning,” she called as she drew near. “But I’m sorry I slept through the sunrise. That’s been one of my favorite parts of working here so far.”

  “Not typically an early riser?” Seth took an inordinate amount of time looping the dangling lead ropes just so. Better that than getting distracted by sunlight on honey-gold hair. And he wasn’t referring to Gracie the golden retriever.

  Christina’s soft sigh mingled with the morning breeze. “I’ve been a little too pampered the last couple of years. Anyway, suburban sunrises aren’t quite the same.”

  “Guess not.” Tipping his hat, Seth stepped past her. “Best get to it. Enjoy your day off.”

  “Thanks, I was thinking I’d—”

  He didn’t hang around to hear the rest. Double-timing it back to the barn, he reasoned he’d performed due diligence by assuring himself of Christina’s well-being. Now he could put her out of his mind.

  Except he couldn’t. Now that things had settled down after the busy weekend, Seth found his thoughts drifting to the pretty new housekeeper a lot more often than he felt comfortable with. He’d like to chalk up his interest to idle curiosity—friendly concern at most. But his gut was telling him something different. Since Georgia, he’d pretty much closed off his heart where women were concerned. Not that relationship prospects were all that plentiful in a small town like Juniper Bluff, although there were two or three single gals he’d attended high school with who were quick to turn up the charm whenever he came around. They were nice enough women, if a little too marriage-minded, but he saw no kindness in giving them false hope.

  He’d gotten an earful from Omi more than once about how it was high time he took himself off the shelf, if not for himself, then at least so his kids could know a mother’s love again. If he ever did decide to take another chance on marriage—which he definitely did not see happening anytime soon—the only good reason would be for his kids’ sake. Omi and Opi weren’t getting any younger, and Seth depended greatly on their help with parenting. When they weren’t around anymore...

  Well, it didn’t bear thinking about.

  With Tango saddled up, Seth nudged the blue roan quarter horse into a trot and headed to the practice arena. He’d been training the mare for the Western Pleasure competition and had high hopes of placing in the next show. He planned to start breeding Tango next year, and successful showings would nudge up the value of her foals. Every dollar they brought would make it that much easier to keep the guest ranch in the black.

  “Her top line’s improving.” Opi stood with his bad leg propped on a fence rail. Joseph and Eva had climbed up beside him and watched with big grins as Seth put Tango through her paces.

  He circled closer to the rail. “She’s coming along. Still a little poppy in the rear, but not like she was when we first started training.”

  “Daddy,” Joseph called, “will you take us riding today?”

  “Maybe. Let me finish with Tango first.” Adjusting pressure on the right rein, Seth coaxed the horse to straighten her shoulder, then transitioned from the jog into a long trot and began a figure-eight pattern across the arena.

  When he came around again, he glimpsed Christina and her dog striding over. When Eva saw the dog, she screeched and clambered higher up the fence. The commotion caused Tango to shy and skitter sideways. A less experienced rider would have hit the dirt.

  “Easy, girl. Easy!” Seth used seat and reins to get the horse under control.

  Tightening her hold on the leash, Christina guided the dog several feet away. “I’m so sorry,” she called. “I just wanted to watch, and I—I forgot about Eva.”

  “Well, you can’t forget.” Jaw clenched, Seth dismounted and marched to the rail. He lifted Eva into his arms, putting a six-foot rail fence between his trembling daughter and the dog.

  Opi’s frown spoke his disappointment. “Christina didn’t mean any harm, Seth. Eva was just startled, that’s all. No need to overreact.”

  Overreact? Since w
hen was protecting his kids overreacting? While he bit his tongue to keep from snapping at his grandfather, Joseph jumped down from the fence and trotted over to Christina.

  Dropping to his knees, the boy hugged the big yellow dog around the neck. Over his shoulder, he yelled, “Look, Eva. Gracie’s being really sweet. She’s not mean at all. Remember how she helped me with my splinter?”

  Next thing Seth knew, Eva was wriggling out of his arms. She tiptoed to the rail. “If you bring her right here to the fence, would she let me touch her?”

  “Sure she would.” Joseph tugged on Christina’s hand. “Bring Gracie over so Eva can pet her.”

  “I don’t know, Joseph...” Worry lines creased the corners of Christina’s mouth. She met Seth’s stare with an uneasy frown.

  Didn’t seem to matter what Seth thought. Eva now stood within arm’s reach of the fence. As she shyly stretched her hand between the rails, Joseph guided it to Gracie’s head. “See how soft she is? Just pet her, Eva. She’s a good dog.”

  Seth prepared to swoop in and rescue his little girl at the first sign of trouble. Only there wasn’t any. He held his breath as Eva inched closer, using both hands to caress the dog’s floppy ears.

  “She’s so soft,” Eva cooed. Then she giggled. “Look, Daddy, I think she’s smiling at me.”

  “Yeah, it kinda looks like it.” Seth braved a glance at Christina, and the look she returned about did him in. Part apology, part I-told-you-so, part pure joy.

  Oblivious to her father’s internal struggle, Eva motioned him over. “Come pet her, Daddy. I bet she’ll like you, too.”

  Jaw clenched, he joined his daughter at the fence. One hand on Eva’s shoulder and dropping to one knee, he slid his other hand onto Gracie’s head. The dog whipped out a wet, pink tongue and swiped it across his wrist. Eva laughed louder, and when she held out her own fingers for the dog to lick, Seth couldn’t have been more stunned if his little girl had sprouted wings.