The Texas Rancher's Return

by Allie Pleiter

  It had just the effect he thought it would. Audie stopped in her tracks, amazement rounding her mouth to the cutest little “oh” shape, eyes wide.

  “Yep. They’re not brown like the big bison. They’re a rusty-orange color. Gran says they’re cute and cuddly, but they aren’t. They’re wild animals, and their mamas can be as fierce as your mama.”

  “Oh, I know,” Audie said, taking the bait. “And you haven’t even seen my mama when she’s mad.”

  Gunner allowed himself the luxury of a long look at Brooke as they began walking again. “No, Miss Audie, I have not. Except, of course, when she gave Miss Daisy a few dark looks about blocking the road the other day.”

  Brooke’s eyes took on a glint Gunner felt in the pit of his stomach. “I was as polite as can be to that bison.”

  He chose not to hide the smile that crept up from that part of his stomach. “I never said you weren’t. But I’ve known plenty of women who could have fine manners and be fierce as coyotes at the same time.” They approached the far corral fence. “Remember what I said now—keep quiet, stay your distance, you do what I say.”

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Buckton.”

  * * *

  Brooke couldn’t quite work out where this side of Gunner Buckton came from. The kind man before her, the one who talked to Audie as if she was the smartest girl he’d ever known, as if her relentless curiosity was a gift instead of the trial it often was—this Gunner Buckton couldn’t be the same man who’d stubbornly dug his heels in and stopped his ears to any offers DelTex had made. The look in his eye as he caught her gaze just before they reached the fence made her breath hitch and her stomach do a flip it hadn’t done in years. And Audie’s face? Well, if that man blocked every single thing she and DelTex did from here on in, she’d still owe him one for her daughter’s joy today.

  The far corral where he’d put Daisy to calve was cool and quiet, shaded by a big oak and away from the rest of the herd. At the far end stood Daisy and a calf.

  The young bison looked to be the size of a collie, coming maybe to Audie’s waist, and bore a rusty-orange color just as Gunner had described. Cute probably wasn’t the right word, but the beast was fuzzy and friendly looking, new and cautious standing right up next to his mama.

  Gunner, Audie and Brooke crouched down along the fence. Daisy swung her head toward Gunner, and Brooke would have sworn she saw a mother’s protective vigilance in the bison’s big brown eyes.

  Audie cupped a hand to Gunner’s ear as if they’d known each other for years and whispered, “He can walk already?”

  “Stood up not half an hour after he was born and was running around that afternoon,” Gunner said. “Of course, he’s already shown he’s not the type to wait around. Most of the other bison won’t calve for a few weeks yet. Seems our little guy was impatient to get out into the world.”

  “But he’s okay?” Brooke’s friend had given birth to a precariously premature baby a month ago, and Audie clearly remembered those touch-and-go first days.

  Gunner’s smile was reassuring. “Fit as a fiddle, near as I can tell.” He caught Brooke’s eyes over Audie’s head again. “Billy says everything is fine, and Daisy isn’t worried one bit. I’d say the little guy must know it’s a big deal to be the first calf of the year.”

  “He’s smart,” Audie proclaimed. “He looks it. He wanted to be first.”

  “That’s what Billy says.” He peered down at Audie. “Do the bison talk to you, too?”

  That sent Audie into a torrent of hushed giggles that she tried to hide behind her hands. “No, silly. I’m just guessing.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the mama bison and her calf. Brooke found her gaze continually wandering to Gunner, an odd mix of puzzlement and wonder tumbling around her chest. This wasn’t the man she’d met in the road only a few days ago. This wasn’t the man Mr. Markham was prepared to battle for a slice of land. And then again, Gunner Buckton was that man, too, wasn’t he? There was a dark, lonesome edge to his features that spoke of the time he’d spent trying to put the ranch permanently in his past. If ever a man could look like a conflict, this man did.

  And yet Gunner looked perfectly at home on the Blue Thorn; born to it, bred to lead it, serious about his new role. Aware, it seemed, that not everyone was confident about his ability to handle this position. The people at DelTex treated him as Adele’s chosen heir, but not as his own man. Mr. Markham had encouraged her to craft a relationship with Adele rather than try to convince Gunner. Clearly, Mr. Markham thought Gunner immovable, but he didn’t seem to view that as an impossible obstacle since he believed that Adele still wielded control.

  When Gunner somehow sensed her gaze and turned to look at her, Brooke felt her cheeks redden at being caught staring. For a moment his eyes took on a bad-boy mischievous gleam, an “I caught you” superiority, but then it softened into a quiet curiosity. A questioning glance that told Brooke Gunner was having just as much trouble figuring out who she was.

  In that moment, it became all too clear that they were two people who weren’t supposed to like each other, stuck trying to work out what to do about the fact that they did like each other.

  With an eight-year-old thrown in for extra confusion. Complicated didn’t even begin to cover it.

  “We probably should go now,” Gunner said quietly.

  “I think you’re right,” Audie agreed in a very grown-up voice. “Oh, wait, wait,” she cried in a whisper as the baby calf took a few steps. “He’s moving.”

  The little orange calf began walking, as did Daisy. Gunner, Audie and Brooke were already standing, but stopped moving. Daisy gave a low moan, a commanding snort and then headed right toward them with the calf at her side.

  “Well, look at that,” Gunner said softly. “Nobody move.”

  Audie gave a little gasp as Daisy and her calf crossed the small pen to stand so close Brooke could have reached out and touched the beast’s enormous black nose. It felt as if Daisy was staring right at her—a hushed, wondrous moment that both frightened and fascinated her. The calf was eye to eye with Audie. Mama to mama and child to child—Brooke knew no one would believe her if that was how she described this surreal moment, but the connection was undeniable.

  “Mama,” Audie said quietly, her voice filled with awe.

  “I see it, baby. I feel it,” Brooke whispered.

  With a final great burst of breath, Daisy and her calf turned and began walking toward the other side of the pen.

  Brooke let out the breath she’d been holding. Audie whispered a muted squeal. Gunner put one foot on the pen fence and shook his head. “I don’t know what all that was, but I have never, ever seen anything like that happen before.” His voice reflected the amazing sensation that currently ran down Brooke’s spine. “She came right up to you.”

  “I think she was telling me to make sure I think up a really good name,” Audie said.

  “You think? Well, who am I to argue with that?” Gunner said, catching Brooke’s eye again. “Now I’m extra sure we have the right person for the job.”

  “I’m gonna have to think long and hard,” Audie said, her eyebrows scrunched up as if she was already deep into the task. “This is important.”

  As they walked back toward the house, Adele came onto the porch. Audie ran up to the woman as if they’d known each other for years. “Guess what, Mrs. Buckton? Guess what happened?”

  Brooke held back, half to let Audie describe the encounter to Adele on her own and half to talk to Gunner. “You want to tell me what just happened over there?” she asked.

  He looked at her as he ran his hand across his chin. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

  “I thought you said new mothers didn’t like human interaction when they calved.”

  Gunner adjusted his hat as he looked over toward Audie and Ade
le. “That’s just it. They don’t. I’ve got no more explanation for what we just saw than you do.” He stared at Brooke as if she were a puzzle to be solved. “She looked right at you. I mean right at you.”

  “I know,” Brooke said. Something important had just happened, but she couldn’t say what. Or why. “Does that happen to you, when she looks at you like that?”

  “That sort of sink-right-through-you feeling? Like she knows something you never told anyone?”

  It felt reassuring to have someone else put it into words. She wasn’t going crazy—at least not yet. “Yes. Gunner, this is too weird for me.”

  “What? You don’t want to be a bison whisperer?”

  Brooke stepped away. “That’s insane. There’s a rational explanation for what just happened over there, and I want you to give it to me.”

  Gunner sat down on one of the lawn’s picnic benches. “Most animals have a natural trust instinct, even wild ones. They’ll decide—sometimes quickly, more often over a long time—that certain humans can be trusted. You know when they say someone has a way with animals? That’s usually what it means. I’d say you just got a whopping dose under highly unusual circumstances.”

  Brooke sat down on the same bench. “So Daisy’s up and decided she likes me? After that standoff in the road earlier?”

  Gunner laughed. “I suppose you could say that. Could be that Daisy senses how much Audie likes her and the little guy. Animals can sense fear, so I reckon they can sense affection, too. You and Audie told her she could trust you with her calf.” Taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair, he added, “That’s the only explanation I got. I mean, Audie did it to me, too. I can’t tell you why I up and called you to come and see the calf. I just did. Mostly ’cause I knew how much Audie would like it. And...” He shook his head and didn’t finish the sentence.

  Brooke knew why.

  Chapter Eight

  Audie’s head bowed over her bedspread. “God bless Mama, and Daddy in heaven, and Nana and Grandpa in Oklahoma, and Hammie. Help Maria get over her strip throat, and Pastor Summers with his broken leg.”

  Her daughter’s bedtime prayers were often the highlight of Brooke’s day. Audie had such a tender heart, praying for everything from a friend’s “strip throat” to the class hamster to the pastor’s recent riding accident. Brooke could kneel beside her daughter and feel as if God had blessed her no matter how trying the day had been.

  “Take care of Daisy and her calf. Keep ’em safe and healthy and thank You for me getting to see them today. Thank You for Mr. Buckton and Grannie Buckton and how nice they are to us. And help me come up with an extra-special name for the baby bison. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Brooke agreed, smiling as she ran a hand through Audie’s fresh-out-of-the-bath curls. “You pray the best prayers, baby.”

  Audie hopped up into the bed and burrowed under the sheets. Right next to her on the pillow was the stuffed bison from Blue Thorn Ranch. “Grannie Buckton?” Brooke inquired as she tucked the linens in place around her daughter.

  Audie grinned. “That’s what Mrs. Buckton said I should call her. She says all her special friends call her Grannie.”

  “It’s nice to have special friends. Especially ones as nice as—” Brooke tried out the name, wondering if she needed permission to use it “—Grannie Buckton. That was a really nice thing she and Mr. Buckton did for you today.”

  “He’s really nice. He wasn’t at first, but he sure is now. I didn’t think he smiled much when I first met him, but you seem to make him smile more.”

  Brooke wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. “Sometimes people change when you get to know them.” It seemed safer to find a new topic of conversation than her changing opinion of Gunner Buckton. “Have you thought of a name yet?”

  “Well, just Rusty, so far.” Audie yawned. “But I don’t think that’s special enough.”

  “He does need a special name, I agree. You keep thinking on it, and I’m sure you’ll come up with just the right one. After all, Daisy’s given you the job as much as Mr. Buckton did.”

  Audie’s eyes lit up at the memory of that time by the pen. “She did, didn’t she?”

  “I sure think so.” Anything that made Audie feel special was a fine thing to Brooke’s thinking. She watched that wondrous moment when Audie began to close her eyes and nod off. Audie was such a gift, such an amazing little girl and so very much like her father.

  “Can we look it up in your ‘like word’ book after church tomorrow?” Audie asked through heavily lidded eyes.

  “Look up what, baby?”

  “Rusty. I need a special word for that rusty color.”

  Brooke laughed softly. “Sure thing. We’ll get my thesaurus out over lunch and look up any word you like.”

  Duly satisfied, Audie snuggled farther into her blankets, tucked the stuffed bison under her chin and drifted off. She’s such a gift, Lord—thank You for giving her to me, Brooke prayed as she settled the blankets and switched off the light. The cut tin night-light Jim had brought back from one of his trips filled the room with tiny glowing stars. “So that you dream of heaven,” he’d told Audie as a baby the night he plugged it in for the first time. She’s my shining star, my light in the dark. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I see Jim every time I look at her. Thank You that it doesn’t hurt so much anymore.

  All today was a gift, Brooke thought as she moved through the quiet house. The work week had been hectic, but today at Blue Thorn had been nothing short of amazing. Each time she drove out through those ranch gates, she found herself wondering when she could return. The affection she was coming to feel for the Bucktons and Blue Thorn Ranch would help her in keeping the conversation open with DelTex. She was coming to a valuable place where she could relate to both sides, and that was good for communication, good for a solution.

  But it’s more than that. It’s becoming personal. Very personal. And I’m not sure what to do about that.

  Putting a load of laundry in, Brooke dialed her mother’s number. “Hi, Gary, is Mom around?” she asked when her stepfather answered the phone.

  “Just putting away the ice cream,” Gary said, and Brooke could hear the smile in his voice. Dessert after dinner was a family tradition—one that still threatened her waistline to this day.

  “Hi, sweetheart” came her mother’s voice. “It’s nice to hear from you. Everything okay?”

  Brooke pretreated a nasty grape-jelly stain on one of Audie’s favorite shirts as she held the phone to her ear with one shoulder. “Everything’s fine. Audie and I had a bit of an adventure today. I wanted to tell you about it.”

  “Oh, well, let me get my bowl of fudge brickle and I’ll be all ears.”

  Brooke related the story of the visit and the calf, careful not to sound too surreal about the wondrous connection with the animals. “You should have seen Audie’s face when Gunner told her she could name the calf, Mom. I thought she was going to explode.”

  “Oh, I can just imagine. What fun for her!”

  “Mom...” Brooke stood still, wanting to get the words right. “Gunner’s mother asked Audie to call her Grannie Buckton. I wasn’t sure you’d be okay with that.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, you’re kind to ask, but of course I’m okay with that. A girl can’t have too many grannies in this world if you ask me.”

  “She calls you Nana, and she’s never known Jim’s mother, but still I wanted to ask.”

  After a bit of a pause, Brooke’s mother softened her tone. “Why do I get the feeling that’s not the real reason you called? Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Mom’s intuition when it came to her had always been dead-on. “Well, I suppose you’re right. Only I don’t know how to ask what I want to ask. What I think I want to ask, that is. I’m not even sure I should be asking in the first pla
ce.”

  Mom chuckled softly. “Why don’t you try just asking?”

  Brooke closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “When did you know?”

  “When did I know what?”

  Dive in, just dive in. “When you met Gary. When did you know you had healed enough from Dad’s passing?”

  “Oh, my. That is a big question.” Mom thought a moment, and Brooke could hear the spoon scrape against the ice-cream bowl. “I suppose it was when I met Gary, and I didn’t find myself comparing every little thing about him to your father. When I could see him as his own man, not just someone who wasn’t Bill.”

  Brooke tried to think of a reply, but couldn’t. This felt like such strange, new, scary territory.

  “It’s been two years, Brooke. You’re so much younger than I was. You deserve a chance to start again.”

  Brooke’s throat turned dry while her eyes welled up. “I’m not sure.” Some days Oklahoma seemed so far away—why hadn’t she moved back there when Jim died?

  “You haven’t even been on a date since you lost Jim. Discovering you’re interested in someone doesn’t mean everything has to change right now.”

  “It feels so big. Too big. I’m not sure I’m ready. And the situation—well, it’s less than ideal.” Brooke sank down onto the laundry room floor, her back up against the humming dryer. “It’s a complicated work thing. I feel like I can’t do complicated. Especially with Audie.”

  “Does Audie like this Gunner fellow? It is this Gunner fellow we’re talking about, isn’t it?”

  It felt dangerous to say it out loud. “Yes, it’s Gunner. And I think she likes him now. He was rather awful when we first met.” She’d already told her mother the whole story of Daisy and the standoff in the road. “But he’s been so different lately.”

  “Well, that certainly sounds promising. Has he asked you out? Shown any of that kind of interest?”