Redemption Ranch

by Leann Harris

  They checked in at the desk, and when Tyler looked up he saw Beth. They moved toward her.

  “Hey, Riley,” Beth greeted.

  “You’re back,” Susan commented. “Riley was worried that you might not make it.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed it even if I had to fix that fuel line myself.”

  Riley grinned.

  Tyler stood behind Susan and studied Beth’s outfit. “You’re going in that?”

  “I haven’t had time to change since I flew in, but I will. I have to be ready to beat y’all at bowling and golf.”

  “You’re going to try,” Riley answered.

  Beth slipped her arm around the boy. “You just watch and see.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Pastor Mike stepped forward and shook Susan’s and Riley’s hands. “Good to see you, Susan, Riley. We’re glad Riley came back for tonight’s fun.”

  “I just wanted to drop off my son and make sure I didn’t need to do something else.”

  “Not that I know of. We should be back at the church tomorrow morning around 7:00 a.m. We’ll have breakfast for them if they are still up for eating and don’t want to hit the sheets.”

  They all laughed.

  Pastor shook Tyler’s hand, then Riley’s. “I think you’re going to have a good time tonight.” He faced Tyler. “I hope you’re rested and ready for a full night. These kids are up to having a good time and want to blow all their energy for one final hurrah before school begins.”

  Beth wanted Pastor to quit talking. He was making it sound like they were going into battle.

  “I’ve been in the Army, Pastor. I’m ready for this.” Tyler’s no-nonsense answer brought chuckles all around.

  Despite the fun this night would be for the kids, Beth knew the work it entailed for the adults. The chaperones had to be on their toes, supervising and guiding the kids. Amazing, odd and indescribable things happen when you have close to a hundred teens together.

  Pastor smiled. “I’m glad you’re ready.”

  Riley held up his wrist. He had on what resembled a hospital ID. The yellow plastic bracelet had his name on it and a number and letter. “Why do I have this?”

  Pastor Mike laughed. “Ask Beth here.”

  “Pastor,” a voice called out.

  He looked over their heads and excused himself.

  All eyes turned back toward Beth, including the kids standing around Riley.

  “Are you going to explain?” Tyler asked.

  There was no way around it. “Well, my freshman year in high school, we went to the bowling alley and some of the guys were goofing off throwing water at each other. I accidentally stepped in between them and got hit with water from both sides. I went to the bathroom to dry off with one of those wall hand dryers. I didn’t hear the call to get on the bus and the bus left without me. I called my mother and she came and got me and took me to the next event. After that lock-in, the church developed this system of tagging all the kids and assigning them to a team. Each adult is responsible for a group.”

  Riley grinned at Tyler as if sharing a good secret. Tyler barely contained his mirth.

  Beth ignored them. “Another benefit of the system is the different places we go just look for the wristband to see who’s with us. We don’t want people joining who aren’t part of the church group. It’s for everyone’s safety.”

  Several members of the youth group joined Riley and Tyler in their laughter.

  After Riley finished laughing, he sobered. “That’s a good idea.”

  Relief made her smile. “It makes the parents feel better about the night.”

  “I like that precaution,” Susan added.

  Riley looked around at the kids gathered in the lobby of the multipurpose center. One of the boys Riley had met this morning came up and asked Riley if he’d like to hang with them. Riley accepted the invitation and moved off to another group of boys and girls.

  Tyler studied Beth.

  “What?”

  He grinned. “You caused this labeling system?”

  Resting her hands on her hips, she said, “Are you going to give me the same grief that my brothers did?”

  “Yup.”

  Beth tried to be outraged, but the humor in his expression got to her. “Okay, it was my fault, but you need to realize we’ve never lost one of our teens on a lock-in.”

  “Only you.”

  “Watch out, Tyler, because if you don’t, you just might get yours tonight.”

  “Are you threatening me?” From his tone, he wasn’t worried.

  “Nope, not me. I’m only stating facts.”

  “I can imagine your brothers’ reactions.” The sparkle in his brown eyes made her spirit soar. He had on a pair of jeans, boots and a blue shirt. The long sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

  She wanted to wrap her arm around his and invite him to talk to her. The man took her breath away. Over the past few weeks working on the ranch, in the heat of the summer, his skin had tanned and lighter streaks of brown ran though his hair.

  “I need to get going,” Susan said, bringing Beth out of her fantasy. “Would you two walk with me to my car?”

  “Sure, and I can also grab my bag and change.” She turned to Tyler, and he nodded.

  Susan waited until they were by her white crossover vehicle before she said anything. Tears gathered in her eyes. “Thank you, both.” She grasped Beth’s hand and Tyler’s. “After church this morning, Riley told me he was excited to come tonight. He even laughed at something one of the kids said to him.” Moisture trickled down her cheeks. “That was the first time I’d heard my son laugh since Paul died.”

  Beth slipped her arms around the woman and hugged her. When she stepped back, Susan gave her a watery smile.

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s not me. If Tyler hadn’t brought Riley—well, you should thank him.”

  “Tyler, you’ve been a godsend. Thank you for seeking us out when you came home.” She brushed a kiss across Tyler’s cheek.

  Tyler appeared uncomfortable. Even guilty. “I just wanted to help any way I could.”

  “And so have you,” Susan added, turning to Beth, squeezing her hand.

  Beth returned the squeeze. “Riley touched my heart. In a way, he reminded me of my brother, who was in a dark place after he lost his leg. I guess I’m just too much of a busybody to walk away. At least, that’s what my brothers say to me.”

  “Maybe God’s using both of you to help my son. It’s been so hard for him after Paul’s death. After my husband died, I had to go to work. I got a job as a secretary and worked my way up. Paul was fourteen when my husband died. Riley six.

  “Paul immediately got a job and contributed to the household. He also tried to be a dad for Riley. Paul even sent home most of his pay when he was in the Army. Riley was lost without Paul, more so than when his dad died. When I got an offer of a new job and a big promotion I thought the change of scenery would help us with a new beginning. I was afraid I’d never see my baby come back to me. Since Tyler’s been here and Riley’s been going to the ranch—”

  The buses started up.

  “We have to go.” Beth brushed a kiss across Susan’s cheek. “We�
�ll take good care of him.”

  Susan nodded. Beth and Tyler raced back inside with a brief stop by Beth’s car. Beth grabbed her bag and rushed into the bathroom to change. When she emerged, she had on jeans, a Second Chance T-shirt and running shoes. After stashing her bag in the church office, she came back into the foyer.

  Looking around, she saw Tyler leaning up against the wall, watching the milling crowds. A couple of girls saw each other and squealed in delight. Tyler pushed away from the wall, readying himself to react. When he saw the girls, he relaxed. Beth stepped to Tyler’s side.

  “Why’d they do that?” he muttered, nodding toward the squealing pair.

  “Because they’re girls.”

  He shook his head. The other teens around didn’t even notice the hubbub. They kept talking.

  Tyler looked as lost as her brothers in a Pink Pedals baby boutique, which they’d visited a couple of days ago because Sophie wanted to look at cribs. Zach hauled Ethan with him, claiming he wanted to share the experience.

  “Weren’t there any girls in your family?”

  “No.”

  How thoughtless of her. But before she could apologize, he added, “But now that I think on it, my foster sister and her friends did a lot of squealing. I was drinking a Coke, when one of her girlfriends came over and told her some secret. The shrieking made me spill my Coke all over the counter. The least females should do is warn people they’re going to do that.”

  Beth laughed at his disgruntled look. “It ain’t going to happen, friend.”

  Pastor Mike got on the bullhorn and called the teens to attention. “Okay, guys. It’s time to board the buses. On your tag, you’ve got a group number. The buses are labeled the same way. When you get out there, check in with the bus chaperone. First we’re going to go miniature golfing. Afterward, we’ll come back here for praise and worship, and pizza. Any questions?”

  “What if someone falls asleep?” a boy in the back called out.

  Pastor grinned. “The point, Ray, is to stay awake.”

  “What if he doesn’t make it?” another person in the crowd asked.

  “Well, last year, someone fell asleep and his hair got dyed green, so be warned.”

  The kids pointed at a teen. He raised his hands and said, “Okay, it was me, but I want to give that title to someone else. It took two weeks for it to wash out. Going to school the first day with green hair ain’t cool.”

  Laughter filled the area. Several of the kids around him patted him on the back.

  Tyler leaned down. “That happen in your day?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what color was your hair the first day of school?”

  Beth frowned at him, but inside she was overjoyed. She’d never seen Tyler so relaxed. He thought he’d gotten the upper hand when Beth had to admit that she was the reason for the tagging system. He was in for a big surprise.

  As they boarded the bus, Beth caught Tyler looking at Riley and a pain appeared in his eyes. What was that about? She intended to find out.

  * * *

  Riley turned out to be an unbelievable golfer. He got two holes in one and beat Tyler by ten strokes. And Beth had golfing skills that blew Tyler away. Although she had only one hole in one, she beat him by seven strokes. They finished their second round and walked to the picnic tables. The concession stand located at the center of the three putt-putt courses and the video arcade was open, and the church had arranged for them to have drinks.

  The night was beautiful, the breeze helped cool the heat of the day.

  “You want something to drink?” Tyler asked Beth as they walked toward the concession stand.

  “Water.” She settled down on a picnic table under the patio awning. A fan attached to the awning circulated the air, cooling things down even more than the breeze.

  Tyler picked up two bottles of water from the concession stand. From her perch sitting on the table top, she studied the kids finishing their rounds. Some of the boys found their way into the arcade.

  Tyler handed her the bottle and joined her sitting on the table top. “You skunked me.”

  “You didn’t ask if I played.”

  “And Riley beat us all.”

  Beth took a deep swallow from her bottle. “That was a surprise.”

  Tyler thought about it. “Paul told me he worked at a place like this when he was in high school. Riley spent a lot of time perfecting his game.” The memory brought sorrow with it, but not the blinding pain it once would’ve. Beth grasped his hand and squeezed. That she saw and understood his pain awed him. She didn’t probe but simply offered silent support, unlike what he’d had to deal with from his ex-fiancée.

  Beth released his hand quickly, and he knew she didn’t want the kids to see the adults holding hands. Beth had already broken up one young couple, warning them to keep their hands to themselves.

  She took another swallow of water. “Riley certainly has his admirers, and that’s what he needs.” He was finishing his third round with a different set of teens who challenged him. He also had several female admirers.

  Looking at Riley with the group, Tyler smiled. “He blew them away with his talent.”

  Riley made another hole-in-one on the last hole. The teens cheered, patting him on the back. They walked to the concession stand. Riley waved at them.

  Beth waved back. “I think maybe that’s what he needs, someone to admire his skill.”

  “Yeah.” Tyler watched Riley. “It’s amazing what a teenage girl’s admiration can do for a teenage boy’s self-image.”

  “Speaks a man of experience.”

  Looking down at her, he wanted to see if she was teasing, but her smile put his doubts to rest. “Okay, I remember a girl at church who was a friend of my foster sister, and she thought I was way cool because I played my guitar.”

  “You play?”

  He shrugged. “It was the one thing I could take with me from foster home to foster home.”

  “That was you I heard the other day at the ranch?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t want to talk anymore about his life. “So, how’d you get so good with your golf game?”

  She didn’t take her eyes off the kids as they moved to the video games arcade. Would she answer?

  “The youth group’s favorite pastime was playing miniature golf.” She turned over the water bottle in her hand.

  Tyler felt a pull to this woman. Nothing like the tempered emotions he’d felt when he was engaged. Of course, his heart and mind were still unsettled from the service this morning, and his talk with his foster family just added to his roiling emotions inside, so how could he make any sound judgment about anything? Too many changes bombarded him all at once, and he didn’t know how to deal with it.

  Riley laughed and the player of the game pounded the pinball machine.

  “Let me try,” Riley said. “I’m sure I can do better.”

  “I wish Susan could see her son now,” Beth whispered.

  One of the teen girls raced over to Beth and flopped down next to her.

  “Why are guys such jerks?” she asked.

  Tyler knew a minefield when he heard it. How was Beth going to navigate it?

  “Well, that’s kind of a broad
question.”

  “Keith knows I wouldn’t do what Jackie said I did.”

  Beth glanced over her shoulder. “Why don’t we take a little walk and talk?”

  The girl looked around Beth to Tyler. From the girl’s expression, she thought all men were lower life forms. “Okay.” They walked away.

  “You don’t mind, do you?” Beth asked over her shoulder.

  Tyler didn’t take offense. “No, go ahead, please.” Later he could ask how she fared, but honestly, he didn’t want to be involved in the teenage girl’s drama, nor was he qualified. His foster sister wasn’t into drama, but she had friends who came to the house to cry and pout. His foster brothers left the house when that kind of thing happened. Even his foster father left. It only took Tyler one time to understand the wisdom of that route.

  The memories brought peace. He hadn’t thought of those times in a long time. The Olaskys had given him rules, structure, but also an abundance of love. And they’d changed his life by taking him to church.

  A cheer went up from the boys. Tyler stood and walked to the pinball machine. The boy who’d just finished danced with victory.

  “Hey, Tyler, can you outdo Mick’s score?”

  Several of the other guys urged him to try. Riley nodded for him to play.

  “It’s not fair for the adults to compete,” he explained, trying to get out of it. It had the opposite effect. Looking around, he knew his words challenged every male.

  “You chicken?” one boy asked. Several other boys echoed that sentiment.

  Riley stepped forward to hear the answer.

  “All right, I’ll take you up on the challenge, but I don’t want any crying foul at the end of the game.”

  He looked around and each teen agreed to the terms. Tyler stepped up to the pinball machine, pulled back the plunger, sending the first ball into motion.