Harlequin Heartwarming May 2016 Box Set: Through the StormHome for KeepsThe Firefighter's RefrainTo Catch a Wife

by Rula Sinara

  While sorting through papers on the table in her apartment, she’d found the envelope with the certificate for the dude ranch that she’d won at the fund-raiser social. There was a time limit, so she’d called Caleb and they made a date to go a few days later.

  When Caleb picked her up, she noticed his baseball cap. “Nice cowboy hat.”

  “Isn’t it?” He laughed. “I would have worn my ten-gallon Stetson but it’s in storage.”

  He seemed to be relaxed and in good humor.

  They made small talk while driving the short distance to the ranch. A fancy wrought iron gate with running horses announced “Larson Dude Ranch” where they turned in. Sam Larson was waiting for them.

  “Hi there.” Sam shook hands with both. “Ms. Huber.”

  “Grace, please.”

  Then he turned to Caleb. “Professor Blackthorne, I’ve heard about your environmental classes from Heather Scofield.”

  “Caleb. Nice to meet you,” Caleb told him.

  Sam, an attractive man with the look of an authentic cowboy about him, showed them around and let them choose their mounts. There were several horses in the corral. A young man stood inside the door of a nearby tack shed, examining a saddle.

  “I like the paint,” Caleb said. “How about you, Grace?” Before she could answer, he told Sam, “Something nice and gentle.”

  Paying no attention to Caleb, Grace pointed out a frisky, bright-eyed chestnut mare with a white streak marking her face. “I’d like that one.”

  “Saddle up Cloud and Lightning, Logan,” Sam ordered the young man. “I’ll take Marengo, as usual.” He turned to the couple. “I don’t know what kind of ride you want—beginning, intermediate, expert?”

  “How about intermediate?” said Caleb. “That’ll probably suit us.”

  Grace didn’t know how much experience Caleb had but it may have been a while since he was on horseback.

  As if he knew what she was thinking, Caleb said, “I rode a lot on the rez growing up. I don’t do it as much now.”

  Sam and Logan tacked up the horses and Grace was the first to mount.

  “Take hold of the mane, not the saddle horn,” Caleb said from behind her.

  “I know.”

  Caleb was being his usual take-charge self. Though she appreciated his warm hands on her waist as he helped her mount Lightning.

  As soon as everyone was ready, Sam swung up on his own horse and led the way through a gate, then along a stretch of fence. They soon entered a beautiful, wide-open pasture.

  “Notice the grasses are longer than usual out here?” Sam said. “We’re letting it go back natural, only keeping the trail clear.” He added, “Constant hooves on it helps keep it free of growth anyway.”

  “Looks great,” said Caleb. “I see you have some original prairie species.”

  “I guess you would know,” said Sam.

  “We’re going to create some prairie areas at Green Meadows,” Grace said.

  “I’ve seen the place when I drive by,” Sam commented. “It’s looking great.”

  “Didn’t notice any ghost cows?” asked Caleb.

  Sam looked puzzled. “Ghost what?”

  “I guess you missed the ghost tour fliers claiming the land around Green Meadows is haunted,” said Grace. She chuckled. “By a ghost cow.”

  Sam admitted, “Logan said some guy from a haunted Wisconsin tour stopped out here and wanted to leave fliers. He didn’t. Not sure why Logan refused.”

  “Well, I appreciate that he did,” Grace said. “Green Meadows doesn’t need bad publicity. We already have someone pulling pranks out there, trying to prove something.”

  “Pranks?” Sam turned back to glance at her. “Such as what?”

  “Somebody built a contraption with reflectors for eyes and a white-splattered garbage bag for a body on the side of the road near the community’s entrance.”

  “Kids?” suggested Sam.

  “There’s one kid we’re checking into,” Caleb told him.

  Sam snorted and shook his head. “A fake cow might startle some people but I doubt anyone would take it seriously.”

  “I don’t know,” Grace said. “Some residents are starting to believe there might be a ghost.” She had heard rumblings when she visited the community that morning. “Even though the figure people saw sneaking around at night turned out to be a squatter, and the animal that knocked down a resident in the parking lot proved to be a very large, friendly black-and-white Great Dane towing his owner on a skateboard.” She’d checked with Randy Beaman and he’d shamefacedly admitted he’d accidentally run someone down at Green Meadows and was sorry about it.

  “Whoa, you’ve had a lot going on,” Sam observed. “At least it wasn’t deliberate sabotage—except for the cow contraption, maybe. I was having all kinds of problems with the ranch when I first opened up. Seems I had an enemy.”

  “Really?” This was news to Grace.

  “An old enemy. It’s unbelievable how low some people will stoop to get even.”

  Caleb, who rode behind Grace, brought his horse up beside her. “Do you have any old enemies?”

  “Not that I’m aware. I don’t even have any new enemies.” Unless she counted Lily. But she didn’t want to think of Caleb’s ex that way.

  Sam called back, “When we get to the top of this hill, past that tree, how about we loosen the reins and let ’em gallop?”

  Grace was about to say that sounded great when Caleb asked, “Will you be okay going fast?”

  “I’ll be fine.” His concern was unnecessary.

  “Lean forward when the horse takes off.”

  “I will...and I’ll post when we trot, don’t worry.”

  Grace put her heels to her horse when they reached the designated tree and felt the wind lift her hair as Lightning leaped forward. The mare’s gallop was effortless and steady. Caleb’s horse easily kept up, but Sam reined in Marengo after about half a mile. He turned and signaled for everyone to stop.

  “I thought you’d enjoy the view. This is the highest point on the farm.”

  Hills undulated around them and the sky stretched blue and bright from horizon to horizon. In the distance, above some trees, Sparrow Lake’s water tower was visible.

  Grace took a deep breath. “I love open land and fresh air.”

  “Me, too,” admitted Sam. “I could never be cooped up in a cubicle or some meeting room every day.”

  Neither could Grace. She wasn’t sure how she was going to adjust if she had to move back to Milwaukee. There were plenty of running trails and the shores of Lake Michigan but she wasn’t certain that would be enough.

  After they’d ridden for another half hour, Sam asked, “Race you both back to the barn?”

  “Whoa, I don’t know if...Grace wants to do that,” said Caleb.

  “You don’t have to protect me.” Grace had had enough. “I’ve been riding since I was a child. I even had my own horse when I was a teenager.”

  “Oh.” Caleb sounded a little sheepish. “Why didn’t you just say so in the first place? You sit on a horse very well. I guess I should have known.”

  It was an exhilarating gallop back to the barn. Grace won, though she figured both men had held back a little. After dismounting, she thanked Sam and told him she wanted to come back, soon.

  Caleb also seemed pleased but when they got into the truck, he said, “Why didn’t you tell me about your experience? I felt silly after trying to give you tips on riding.”

  “Why didn’t you ask?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I just expect you to share. I have the feeling that you don’t always say what you’re thinking.”

  “You could be right. I grew up with a parent who had plenty to say most of the time. When I didn’t agree, I usual
ly just kept things to myself. It was more peaceful that way.”

  “You might be better off speaking your mind more frequently.”

  “And you might be better off not telling me to speak my mind.” But she laughed.

  “Message received!” Caleb grinned. “As I said before, I’m used to telling students what to do and to raising a daughter on my own. I guess I can get a little officious.”

  And that might be one of the reasons Angela had become rebellious. Though Grace didn’t say so and wondered if she should. She decided it was probably too much of a sore point right now.

  “How’s Angela doing anyway?”

  “She’s been busy with school and working on the mural design. Plus she’s meeting her mother at her grandmother’s place.”

  “Has she seen Kiki?”

  He shrugged. “No time for that unless it’s at school. They may have talked on the phone.”

  “I wonder what kind of student Kiki is.”

  “Amazingly, I’ve heard from Angela that she’s passing.”

  “Well, that’s one good thing at least.”

  Grace hoped there were more good things about the girl. Kiki’d had a terrible start in life with her father dying and mother going to jail. Grace wouldn’t be surprised if the teenager was an emotional wreck.

  She prayed that they could find Kiki’s grandmother and that the woman would want to do right by her granddaughter. She was happy when Caleb brought up doing that internet search again. Obviously, she knew he had serious reservations about his daughter’s friend, but he was still willing to help her.

  A fact that made her like Caleb Blackthorne even more.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THE NEXT MORNING, Grace arrived at her office to find Carol wearing a glum expression.

  Uh-oh. “Dad around?” Grace asked, figuring he might be making problems.

  “Mr. Huber is still in Milwaukee.”

  “Good,” she said, then covered her relief with, “Er...are you doing okay?”

  “Well, the kids have driven me nuts lately...but that’s not what I need to tell you.” Carol had a newspaper spread out on her desk. “There’s an article about Green Meadows in the Kenosha Journal.”

  Grace picked up the paper.

  “It’s in the lifestyle section.”

  “Lifestyle? Instead of real estate?” Grace skimmed the page, stopping abruptly at the heading Haunted Green Community in Sparrow Lake.

  “Oh, no!”

  Accompanied by a large photo of the complex, the article went on for several columns about the history of the Whitman farmhouse, ghostly run-ins between current residents and some type of spook. The story included the parking lot incident and reports of glowing eyes in roadside foliage, along with quotes from Mr. Vincent Pryce, professional ghost hunter.

  “Who is giving this ridiculous information to a reporter?” Grace asked as much to herself as to Carol. She dropped the paper back on the desk.

  “Who knows? News spreads fast around here. Maybe the reporter got a lead from someone.”

  “Or maybe someone contacted the reporter just to make trouble.”

  “I saw that Spooky Tours bus drive through town last weekend,” said Carol. “It was loaded with tourists. I was going to tell you about it, but I forgot. The good thing about the article is that the final paragraphs are on the community itself. Nice description.”

  “Really?” Grace picked up the paper again and read the end of the article more closely. “It is a good description...solar panels, sustainable materials, walking paths through the woods, harmony with nature.” She sighed. “Well, I guess, if nothing else, we got some free PR.”

  “Might as well look on the bright side. You can’t sue them, right?”

  “Probably not, but I can complain.”

  Which led to several frustrating phone calls to the Kenosha Journal, a couple of which went to voice mail. The only person Grace found was a receptionist who told her that the reporter wasn’t available except by private cell number.

  Grace gave up then and decided she might as well buckle down to some work for the moment. That didn’t stop her from trying to figure out who had fed the reporter information and why.

  * * *

  MEETING WITH HER mother made Angela nervous, though she told herself Lily should be uncomfortable, not her.

  But Lily looked very composed seated across from Angela at Gran Maddie’s big dining table. Maddie herself was outside fussing with her herb garden, trying to give the pair a little privacy.

  “So you got the afternoon off from school?” Lily asked.

  “We only have a couple of weeks to go. I had English today and the teacher excused us so we could work on our final research paper in the library.”

  “But you aren’t in the library.”

  “I will be later. I only plan to be here for an hour or so.”

  “You want to limit our time?” Lily sounded disappointed. “I would think you have a lot of questions to ask me.”

  “Like what?”

  “Maybe things like what I’ve been doing. Where I’ve been. I’ve lived in at least six states, been to all kinds of powwows. Sometimes I perform as a dancer.”

  “Oh? What kind of dance do you do?”

  “Jingle dancing. For healing. Ever tried that yourself?”

  “No, but I know something about it.” Angela had seen dancers at the rez in the traditional single-color dress ornamented with rows of small metal cones. “Those outfits look heavy.”

  Lily smiled. “They’re not that bad. It can be difficult to sit down in them, though.”

  “And impossible to sneak up on anyone.”

  Now Lily laughed. “I like your sense of humor.”

  Her mother was very beautiful, Angela had to admit. She wished she’d taken more after her than her dad. The strong chin she’d inherited from him made her face look square.

  “Do you have any boyfriends?”

  “Uh, not right now.”

  “Really? When I was your age, I had at least a dozen guys after me.” Lily smiled. “It’s your personality that intrigues a man, you know, not just your looks. You have to know how to handle them.”

  “I’m not in a hurry.”

  And Angela wasn’t ready to discuss her most personal feelings with a woman she barely knew and still did not trust. She only talked about love with her best friend, Kiki. Besides, a dozen guys interested in Lily when she was fifteen? Wasn’t that when she’d been with Dad? When she’d been pregnant? Was that why she’d run away, because she hadn’t loved Dad?

  “Your father says you’re an artist. Are you going to create art for a living?”

  Angela shrugged. “I don’t think that’s possible from what Dad says.”

  “Oh? He’s still crushing dreams, huh?”

  “I wouldn’t say crushing them.” Angela felt protective of her father to a stranger, which her mother literally was. “He wants me to do something practical enough to earn a living.”

  “He was all about practical with me, too. That’s why we didn’t get along a lot of the time. I’m a dreamer. You ought to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I know a lot of people there. People who could give you a leg up in the art world.”

  “Really?” Angela couldn’t help feeling intrigued.

  “Sure.” Lily folded her hands and leaned on the table, looking intently at her daughter. “I have a friend who makes a fine living selling his work in New Mexico. He’s from Wisconsin originally. He would be a good mentor for you.”

  “Hmm, I’m not sure. I might want to just do my art as a hobby and go to school for something else.”

  Lily laughed. “Oh, honey, you are so innocent. You do what you want to. Follow your dreams. You know what’s best for you.” />
  Angela had always thought so. Until now. She didn’t like how Lily talked about dreams so easily, as if they didn’t actually mean anything. “Well, whatever I do, I want to go to college and then be successful at it, like my dad.”

  “But that’s all overrated, honey. It’s what people like your dad want you to believe. It just kills your soul.”

  “Dad worked hard to get where he is. He had jobs in construction and forestry, all kinds of stuff, before he got his degree.”

  “Uh-huh. Whatever.” Lily rolled her eyes. “You could hang back a bit and do just as well, or better. You need to use your brains for something else besides stupid books.”

  Angela didn’t agree, but she didn’t know enough to argue her point.

  “I’ll see if I can get hold of my artist friend. We could meet,” Lily said. “Meanwhile, we have to get my living situation straightened out.”

  “Did you find a job?” Angela knew Gran Maddie had given Lily some contact information.

  “Not yet. I think I’ll look for a place to stay, first. A two-bedroom would be best, don’t you think? A room for me and a room for you. Honey, I’d like you to live with me. We’ve had too many years apart.”

  “I didn’t agree to live with you.”

  “But with some money, some child support from your father, we could make it. You need to have fun. Your dad is a wet blanket. He just keeps you down.”

  “I love Dad.”

  “Well, of course you do. And he loves you.” Lily’s voice softened. “But I love you, too. And I’ll help you make your dreams come true, Angela. If you want to be an artist, just go out in the world and create art. I don’t believe in putting the practical ahead of a person’s desires. That’s backward.”

  An hour later, Angela left her grandmother’s house with very mixed feelings. She needed to talk to someone else, and neither Gran Maddie nor her father would do.

  * * *

  AT THE LIBRARY, Angela found a couple of resources to finish her English paper. She was almost done copying some quotes when Kiki appeared and slid into a chair beside her.