Her Guardian Rancher

by Brenda Minton

  “What did he want? Did he stop you here?” Boone was reaching for his phone.

  She put a hand on his to stop him. “My truck engine blew. He actually stopped to help. And I don’t know, maybe to warn me. Or ask for money. I’m not sure.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He’s in with some bad people and he owes them money. I’m not sure why that would worry me, but he acted as if it should.”

  Boone continued to watch as Pete turned on his vehicle and left. “Yeah, it should worry you. If he’s in with the wrong people, it should worry us all. I don’t get how someone gets into that stuff. But they do. Good families, dysfunctional families, it can happen to anyone.”

  “Yes, it can. I told him he needed to get help.”

  “He isn’t interested?”

  “Not at this point.” She pushed the truck door open. “My phone is dead. I’m supposed to pick up Jamie from Breezy’s. And now this.”

  He wrapped her in a friendly hug. “I’ll call a wrecker and we’ll go get Jamie.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “It’s been a long day.”

  “A long year. Or three?”

  “Yeah.”

  Boone pulled out his phone, made a couple of calls as he paced the shoulder. “The wrecker will drag the truck out to your place. Unless you have somewhere else you want it taken?”

  “No, have him take it to my place. It isn’t going to get fixed for a while.”

  She wasn’t going to say how worried she was. She needed this truck. It was her only transportation to work. But she still had the steers. She could use that money to get this truck fixed or get a decent older truck. They would get by.

  “I can loan you one of our farm trucks,” Boone offered as he opened the passenger door of his truck for her.

  “We’ll be fine.”

  “I know you will, but I’m offering.”

  She nodded and blinked back the moisture that welled in her eyes. She wouldn’t cry.

  And she wasn’t going to allow herself to wish that Daron McKay was in town. She’d never felt this before, this need for someone, to lean on them. She had her granddad. She had Jamie.

  So why did she feel so lonely? Why did she want to call Daron and tell him about her rotten day?

  * * *

  The screen door of the camper banged shut. Daron rolled on the couch and covered his face with the blanket. Or tried to. The blanket wouldn’t budge. He yanked on it and tried to move, but a heavy weight held him pinned.

  “Get, you smelly mutt.” He didn’t remember letting the dog in, but he’d been so tired when he got home that morning he hadn’t really paid much attention.

  The dog groaned, and then something hit his foot. Hard. Daron sat up, pushing the dog to the floor in the process. He reached fast for his sidearm and then he flopped back on the miniature couch.

  “Go. Away,” he snarled at Boone as he dragged the blanket back over his face. “I drove straight home from Houston after the event was over last night.”

  “Why didn’t you stay in Houston and rest up?” Boone took his customary place in the recliner and kicked back, hat low and arms crossed over his chest. It looked like a casual pose. Daron knew him well enough to know it was anything but.

  “I wanted to get home.” He didn’t want to go into reasons. He didn’t want to talk about missing Emma Shaw. Just thinking about it made him feel like the worst kind of man.

  “Okay, well, did your rush to get home have anything to do with Emma?” Boone asked.

  “What? Emma? No.” Daron paused for a moment. Then he went on. “Is she okay? Is Jamie okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s fine. I just gave them a ride home.”

  “A ride home?” Daron reached for his boots and pulled them on. He pushed the dog away. The collie had a thing for lying on his shoes.

  “From what I could tell, her truck engine blew out. She’s fine. No transportation now, but she’s okay. She’s about the toughest woman I know. When I left her, she was heading to the field to hay their cattle. Art’s down with a cold.”

  “You didn’t offer to help?” He was already pulling on his jacket. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Boone grin. He got a little suspicious. “What?”

  “Nothing.” Boone raised his hands. “I offered her a truck. She said no. I offered to help her feed her livestock. She said she does it every day.”

  “I have a farm truck at the ranch. I’ll take her to get it.” Daron had a hand on the door, but he remembered his manners. “Thanks for letting me know, Boone.”

  “Anytime. One more thing.” Boone pushed himself up from the recliner and followed him out the door. “Pete was there when I found her on the side of the road.”

  “Maybe you should have started this story with that, rather than finishing it?”

  “I’m telling you now, so relax. She said he kept mentioning he’s in trouble with some bad people.”

  “Great. Leave it to Pete to get in with some drug cartel. He needs to go to rehab.”

  “He needs money. Sounds like he owes someone a lot of money, and it’s probably the type of person who doesn’t like waiting for it.”

  Daron sighed out loud. “I’m going.”

  “Figured you might. Call me if you need anything.”

  “Will do.”

  Daron climbed into his truck and headed down the drive. On the way to Emma’s, he told himself it was nothing personal. He was doing the same thing he’d been doing for the last few years, keeping his promise to Andy.

  But he wasn’t good at lying, not even to himself. Something major had shifted. For the last three years he’d kept her solidly in the category of “client.” He’d managed to keep his professional distance.

  He’d blown it the day he kissed her.

  Big-time.

  Fifteen minutes later he was pounding on Emma’s door. She didn’t answer. Art opened the door looking a little worse for wear and none too happy. The older man stood on the inside of the screen door and glared out at Daron.

  “Is there a reason you’re pounding on my door, Daron McKay?”

  “Sorry, Art. Boone told me about Emma’s truck breaking down. I wanted to make sure she’s okay.”

  “That’s a lot of pounding for a blown engine. She’s out in the field. One of her mama cows didn’t come up at feeding time. I offered to go with her, but Jamie is sleeping and Emma seems to think I need my beauty rest. I told her I’m not getting any purtier to look at.”

  “I’ll go check on her.”

  “Go on with you, then. But you might not want to ruffle her feathers.”

  “I reckon no matter what, her feathers are gonna be ruffled,” Daron said, managing to keep a straight face.

  Art chuckled. “You do manage to bring out the best in her.”

  Art started to cough and Jamie peeked around his legs, her thumb shoved in her mouth. Daron felt a change of plans coming on as the older man doubled over with the force of the cough, and Jamie seemed worried, unsure, her blue eyes filling with tears.

  “I have an idea. How about if I stay here with you and Jamie? If Emma doesn’t show up soon, then I’ll go looking for her.”

  Art finally managed to catch his breath, but his face was red. “I guess that’ll suit, since you don’t seem to think we can manage without your help.”

  “I’m not meaning to interfere, Art.”

  “I know you’re not. Jamie here is supposed to be napping.”

  Daron picked up the little girl. “Then I’ll read to her and maybe she’ll go to sleep.”

  He carried Jamie to the living room and covered her with a quilt. She curled on her side and grinned as she shoved her thumb in her mouth. “Read the princess book?”

  “You got it, kiddo.” Daron looked aroun
d and spotted a horsemanship magazine on the table. “This has pictures and I don’t see a princess book.”

  “I like horses.” She closed her eyes. “And princesses.”

  Art walked through the room, shaking his head.

  Daron sat on the edge of the sofa and started to read about a mare that had a good showing at a national event. The horse had been an underdog, not favored to win. The breeding wasn’t the best. The training was local and the rider was the owner. But they showed everyone. The page was dog-eared more than once.

  He showed Jamie the picture of the horse. She told him it was a bay. He agreed. She knew her colors. He turned the page and showed her another horse. “Chestnut,” she said when she saw the pretty red filly. They played “name the color” for a while.

  Every few pages he glanced at his watch and then out the window.

  Jamie was dozing when the front door opened. He winked at Emma. It was a flirty gesture and probably wasted on a worn-out cowgirl whose braids were coming undone and whose daughter needed heart surgery.

  “Boone told you, didn’t he?” Emma asked as she stopped in front of the woodstove to get warm.

  “He did. Jamie and I have been reading a magazine about horses, waiting for you. Unless you need help. I didn’t want to get in the way.”

  “I found the heifer I was looking for and put her in the corral. She’ll probably calve tomorrow. Or maybe tonight. She seems prone to orneriness.”

  “I have an extra truck for you to use,” he said, glancing down at Jamie. She was sound asleep. “If you want, I’ll drive you out to get it.”

  Emma sat down in a nearby rocking chair. Her forehead was furrowed, and after a long moment, she finally nodded. “I want to say I don’t need your truck. But that would be my pride talking. I need to be able to work and take care of my daughter.”

  “Then we’ll leave Jamie in Art’s capable hands and run over to get the truck.” He stood, letting Jamie nestle into the couch as he pulled the blanket up around her. “Will the two of them be okay together for fifteen minutes or so?”

  Emma had moved from the rocking chair and she leaned over her sleeping daughter. Lightly she brushed a curl from Jamie’s brow. It was easy to see her concern for her child. She didn’t have to tell him. He doubted if she talked about it much with anyone. In the next couple of months, though, her daughter would possibly undergo open-heart surgery. It wasn’t an easy thing to think about.

  “They’ll be fine,” she said as she moved away from the sofa and the sleeping child. “Let me tell Art where I’m going and I’ll grab my purse. If you don’t mind, I need to stop by the feed store in Martin’s Crossing.”

  A few minutes later Art was in the recliner in the living room, Jamie was still sleeping and Daron was following Emma to his truck.

  “What are you going to do about Pete?” he asked as he pulled onto the road. “He’s no longer just a stupid addict looking for money. He’s probably involved in things he wishes he could get out of. If he’s coming to you for money, he’s desperate.”

  “I don’t think he’ll hurt us.”

  “No, maybe he won’t. But you don’t know who he’s involved with. Emma, these people don’t care who they hurt. They just want their money.”

  She covered her face with her hands. “I’m so tired. I’m tired of Pete dragging us into his problems. I’m tired of trying to make everything work for everyone else. I’m just tired.”

  “I know,” he said quietly, giving her a minute to pull herself together.

  “I’m fine. I really am. And I’m not sure what to do about Pete. I would really like for life to be simple again.”

  He pulled into the parking lot of Martin’s Crossing feed store and backed his truck up to the loading dock. “I do know.”

  She turned that dazzling smile on him, the one he hadn’t seen too often. She’d spent more time frowning at him than smiling. He’d gotten on her nerves, always hanging around. Now it seemed as if the two of them had become a habit. She was used to him always being around. He was used to her telling him to go away. But all of a sudden, she wasn’t too eager to run him off. And he wasn’t too eager to leave.

  As they got out of the truck and headed to the entrance of the store, he caught sight of a familiar truck. Pete.

  Nothing about this felt right. And leaving Art, Jamie and Emma alone and defenseless, that didn’t set well with him. She wasn’t going to like it, but her life was about to get a lot more complicated.

  Chapter Nine

  The truck Daron loaned her was about ten years newer than her old farm truck. It shifted easily, started without pumping the gas and didn’t die going up hills. On Saturday morning she drove through the field looking for the cow she’d expected to calve. She parked and got out. There were several head gathered under a tree. She walked the area, checking behind brush.

  She found a section of fence that the cattle had ridden down, pushing their heads through to get grass on the other side. After all, it was always greener over there. She headed back to the truck for tools and work gloves. She pounded the posts back into the ground, made sure they were sturdy, then tightened the few strands of barbed wire.

  The sound of a cow in distress caught her attention. She stood still, listening. No. No. No. Not the heifer. She hurried back to the truck and drove in the general vicinity she thought the sound came from. As she pulled up to a stand of trees, she caught sight of the black cow stretched out on her side. She was heaving, raising her head to cry out and then heaving again.

  “This is not how I wanted this to go, Mama.” Emma knelt beside the heifer. “I’d prefer you do this on your own.”

  She got up and hurried back to the truck, but then remembered, it wasn’t her truck. She didn’t have her calving jack, gloves or anything else she might need to pull a calf. She did find some rope. She could make do if things didn’t happen on their own.

  When she got back to the cow, she was heaving, pushing. The calf’s hooves were out. The cow looked as if she’d been at it a long time. She was worn slick, too tired to really try.

  “Listen, Mama, I understand. Really I do. Twelve hours of labor, all alone. Believe me, I get it. But you’ve got to get this baby out or I’m going to lose you both. And I don’t want that.”

  Obviously the cow didn’t really care what she had to say.

  “Okay, you push, I’ll get these ropes around those hooves and we’ll do this together.”

  On the next push she got a loop around each hoof of the calf. It wasn’t going to be easy without the calving jack to wench the baby out, but she’d done it this way before. It took muscle, and probably more strength than she had. But somehow her adrenaline kicked in. Fifteen minutes later the calf was curled up on the ground and the mama cow found a little energy to clean her up.

  Emma sat down on the cold ground a short distance away. She was too exhausted to care that it was damp. She didn’t really mind the cold. It was a good morning, watching that new baby get up on her legs, wobble a bit, then find her first breakfast, safe at her mother’s side.

  A truck idled up. She turned, not surprised to see Daron McKay. He got out of his truck and a few minutes later he was sitting next to her.

  “Art was worried.” He leaned back to watch the heifer and her baby. “Can’t see something like this in the city.”

  “No, probably not. But it’s an amazing thing to see. I’ll text Art.” She sat a few minutes longer. “What are you doing here?”

  “Good to see you, too, Emma.” He sat with his knees up, his arms resting on them, his gaze focused on the cow. “I have a crew at your house, putting new shingles on that section of roof.”

  She started to tell him he shouldn’t have. But the new Emma was trying to be grateful. She’d been praying about it, about allowing people to help her. She couldn’t do it all
on her own. And Granddad was getting too old. It was time to admit that maybe it was okay to accept help.

  Pride was a difficult thing to let go of.

  “You’re not going to tell me to stop interfering?”

  She bumped her shoulder against his and then rested it there. And it felt good. “No.”

  “That’s good. Because there’s something else I have to tell you.”

  “I don’t like the way that sounds,” she admitted. The calf finished nursing and took a few awkward steps.

  “No, you probably won’t. But I want you to hear me out. I’m worried about Pete and what he’s involved in.”

  “Me, too,” she said.

  “I’ve asked Lucy to stay with you all for a while. Just to keep an eye on things. She’s between jobs and she doesn’t mind.”

  A stranger in her home, watching over them? She bristled at the idea. “I can watch out for my family just fine, Daron.”

  “I know you can. But I’d feel better if she was here.”

  “We are not your problem. I know you believe you are responsible for Andy’s death. You’re not. An IED killed him. It injured you and Boone. You don’t have to do this.”

  “I know I don’t.” He sat there, arms crossed over his knees, and then he slowly looked at her. “I’m doing it for you.”

  Her heart thawed just a bit. There were dozens of reasons to pull away from him, and only one reason to lean toward him, to kiss him on his cheek. Because he was kind.

  So she kissed him and then she stood, because she needed to go to the house, to let her granddad know she was okay. She needed space from this man because he was burrowing into her heart, and she thought that when he left there would be a Daron-size piece of it missing.

  “I have to go check on Jamie. We have a doctor’s appointment Tuesday. In Austin.”

  He stood next to her. “I know. When I left she was sitting with Boone telling him all about the Christmas tree and what she wants for Christmas.”

  “She wants ponies and kittens and puppies.” Emma knew the list by heart. “Oh, and an elephant.”