A Rancher for Their Mom (Rodeo Heroes)

by Leann Harris

  “Okay. We went back several years. Vernon loved the rodeo but loved his ranch more.” Jack shook his head. “Kinda funny how his daughter-in-law took to ranching like a duck to water, but his son—

  “Vernon said he never saw someone love ranching like April. She was a natural. There was nothing around the ranch she wouldn’t do, or try to do, which surprised him.

  “Too bad his son wanted nothing to do with the place. But Vernon and Grace never regretted Ross marrying April. They got the daughter they wanted and the grandbabies they’d hoped for.”

  Joel wanted to ask more, but he saw the gleam in Jack’s eyes. “I asked if they were coming to the rodeo, but April—”

  “April?” Jack again poked him, enjoying himself way too much.

  “Mrs. Landers said no. Well, what she really said was ‘we’ll see,’ which the boys knew was no. So I thought you could throw in tickets for both days of the rodeo. April’s got a couple of budding cowboys there that need encouragement. If that’s a problem, I’ll pay for the tickets.”

  Jack’s smile widened. “No, it’s not a problem.”

  There was way too much satisfaction in Jack’s answer.

  “Yo, Jack, I need to talk to you,” Graham “Shortie” McGraw shouted across the arena. “Now.”

  “Coming.” Jack turned back to Joel. “See you later.”

  As Jack strode across the arena, Joel wondered at his boss’s reaction. What amusement did he find in Joel calling Mrs. Landers April? It was her name. Now, if he called her sweetie or punkin like his grandmother had called his grandfather, then Joel could’ve understood Jack’s reaction. And why did giving away the tickets to the rodeo feel as though he’d made some deep commitment? They were tickets. That was all. So what had made Jack smile?

  * * *

  “He was way cool, Mom,” Todd said, his spaghetti spilling out of his mouth. Sauce dotted his chin.

  “Todd, keep your mouth closed while you’re eating. It’s polite.”

  Todd’s fingers pushed the spaghetti back into his mouth. Wes snickered. She’d made the boys’ favorite meal, hoping to take their minds off Joel Kaye.

  After swallowing, Todd continued, “Did you see how Mr. Joel handled Helo and Sadie? He was so good, making friends with them first.” He looked at his brother. “And Mr. Joel’s birthday is in March and he’s a real good cowboy.”

  Todd wasn’t going to let go of his brother’s false claims anytime soon.

  Wes shrugged off the comment. “He was good with the lasso. I want to learn how to do that, too, ’cause you have to do that to be a cowboy. Opa was good. He started to show me how to throw, but—” Wes fell silent.

  “Maybe Mr. Joel could show us,” Todd suggested, his eyes going wide.

  Wes perked up. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. He threw as good as Opa.”

  Cora clapped her hands together, squishing a strand of spaghetti between them. “Yeah, cowboy.”

  The boys hadn’t stopped talking about Joel since he’d left this afternoon. Of course, maybe that was a good sign, since the incident with Mr. Moore stepping on the pitchfork and knocking himself out had given them all a scare. Both boys had gone white, but Todd had seemed particularly shaken.

  “I don’t know if Mr. Joel will have the time to teach you. He’ll be here to plant crops and do other chores that Mr. Moore would’ve done.”

  The boys fell silent, then traded calculating looks.

  “Okay.”

  Why did Wes’s okay worry her more than a protest?

  April needed to stop any shenanigans before they got out of hand. “Maybe Mr. Waters could show you how to whirl a lariat after church sometime. He used to compete in the rodeo.”

  Todd rolled his eyes. “He’s ancient, Mom. He must be fifty.”

  “No, eighty,” Wes added.

  Todd’s brow crinkled. “Yeah, and I don’t know if he would remember how to throw.”

  April choked on her spaghetti and quickly took a sip of tea. Andrew Waters was only thirty-eight.

  “I don’t know, boys. I don’t want you to bother Mr. Joel while he’s working.”

  The boys’ faces fell.

  “Aw, Mom.” Wes put his fork down and frowned. He made it sound as if she’d just stomped on his dream.

  Todd stared down at his plate, too, his posture only emphasizing how much the boys wanted Joel Kaye to teach them how to throw a lariat.

  “I promise I’ll check with Mr. Waters to see if he’ll teach you how to throw.” Her words went over like lead weights on a rubber raft.

  “May I be excused?” Wes asked.

  “Me, too,” Todd added.

  She felt lower than a snake’s belly, stomping their hopes. She nodded and the boys slipped away from the table. Cora frowned, reaching for her brothers. April pulled Cora from her booster seat, wiped her hands and mouth, then set her on her feet. She hurried after her brothers.

  “Good job, April,” she murmured to herself. “No one’s happy.” And that included her.

  * * *

  April poured herself a large iced tea and wandered out onto the back porch. An hour and a half ago, she’d put three subdued children to bed, and those sad little faces had nearly brought her to her knees.

  Scanning the bare fields behind the house, April felt a ray of hope and a huge helping of pride.

  When Joel had told her the boys hired him, it’d taken her a moment to understand what he was saying. That her boys understood she needed help and wanted to provide it made her chest puff out with pride. It also disheartened her that they knew the ranch was in trouble.

  With the death of her husband and in-laws over the past three years, she was now the only adult left on this ranch. Her neighbors had helped for a couple of months after Vernon’s death, but they had their own ranches to care for. Lately, several of the ranchers at church had offered to rent her fields to plant their own cash crops.

  She’d toyed with the idea, but it felt as though she’d be giving up on the ranch, on her dreams. She loved this place and had never thought that she’d be in this position.

  Her father’s job as a rig manager for a major oil company had kept them on the move throughout her life. She’d lived on several continents and in some exotic places, but none had felt like home until they moved to this place in the Texas Panhandle. When her father had been transferred to Lubbock her junior year in high school, she’d found her heart’s desire on the Llano Estacado and the Caprock.

  Added to the feeling of coming home, the first day in English class she’d met Ross Landers. He’d smiled at her and she’d been smitten. Ross had introduced her to all his friends, but it was when he brought her home to this ranch that she knew she was in love.

  A home.

  Roots.

  And something that lasted. The Landers family had ranched this piece of land since the 1880s. Over five generations, through good times and bad, through times of plenty and drought, the family had persevered. That legacy flooded her with purpose and direction. She could do this. Needed to do this.

  April and Ross had married a week after graduating from high school and he’d immediately gone to work on a rig out in West Texas, which had surprised her, since Ross had never mentioned he didn’t want to stay on the ranch. He visited home often while she was pregnant with Wes but missed the baby’s birth. Two years later, when she got pregnant with Todd, Ross immediately got one of the treasured jobs as a roughneck on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that her father oversaw. His excuse for taking that job had been that the extra money he’d receive would help with the expenses of the new baby.

  Ross never came back for any length of time after he left. He made it home sporadically for the next four years. When his mother, Grace, was diagnosed with breast cancer, Ross came home that Christmas. That gave April hope that he’d changed, but she quickly learned that wasn’t the case. Ross refused to take his mom to any of her chemo sessions. He did promise to attend Wes’s first-grade Christmas pageant, but he didn’
t show. Instead he got drunk with other oil field workers from West Texas. With Todd, Ross would either throw the four-year-old around as if he was a rag doll, hold him upside down by his feet or ignore him, which confused the boy.

  When Ross took the assignment on a new rig in the Gulf, Vernon, Grace and April all breathed a sigh of relief that his disruptive presence was gone. Six weeks later Ross died in a freak accident. After they buried him, April discovered she was pregnant with Cora. The money she’d received from Ross’s life insurance, which her in-laws insisted she save and use for her babies, was now almost gone.

  Her father-in-law had had to borrow against the ranch to help finish paying for Grace’s care and meds in the last months of her life. She’d died a year ago Christmas. Vernon died the following September. Now April had to come up with a plan to pay off the loan or lose the ranch. Would the money she made on the sunflowers and hay be enough? Did she need to rent out the other fields on the ranch?

  She turned her eyes to the fallow field. Would she survive?

  “Lord, I know You have the answers to this problem, but—”

  “Mom, what are you doing out here?”

  She looked up and saw Todd standing by the back door in his superhero pajamas, his feet bare.

  “Thinking. Praying.”

  “Are you mad we hired Mr. Joel? He can do Mr. Moore’s job since he got hurt.”

  “No, I’m not mad. I’m proud of you and your brother for thinking about the ranch. Opa would be pleased, too.” Her solution to the problem wouldn’t have been to hire Joel, but she couldn’t ignore her sons’ solution. It still amazed her that Joel agreed to the deal for a dollar thirty-seven. Why’d he do it?

  A grin curved Todd’s mouth. “I’ll help Mr. Joel. So will Wes.”

  “I know you will.”

  “But I’m kinda worried about Sadie and Helo. Are they scared being in a new place?”

  “You’ll have to ask Mr. Joel tomorrow how they’re doing. He’ll know.”

  Todd thought about it, nodded and tore down the hall to his bedroom.

  Watching her younger son disappear into his room, she knew her boys would keep her on her toes with creative thinking all through school. Teenage years promised to be...a challenge.

  She retrieved her tea off the porch rail. Wouldn’t Vernon and Grace be proud of their grandsons? She knew they would.

  Would their father?

  * * *

  Joel lingered over his coffee, the empty plate that had held his barbecue sitting before him. Working with Jack Murphy doing whatever needed to be done around the rodeo helped defray his expenses on the road and kept him busy. What had he done when he was eighteen, traveling with the rodeo, and had the day off? Shoot the breeze with the other young cowboys or brag about his latest score in the different rodeo events? Of course, things hadn’t changed since he was eighteen. Cowboys still bragged about how good they were and how they would capture the ultimate prize of the championship belt buckle given to the number one cowboy in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, or PRCA.

  “You need a refill on that coffee?” Hank Calder asked. Hank ran the concessions for the rodeo. He also cooked for the rodeo workers. If any cowboy wanted a meal, they could buy it. Of course, meals were included with the deal Joel had struck with Jack and his boss, Steve Carter.

  “Sure.”

  Hank topped off the coffee and sat opposite Joel at the picnic table.

  “So, how’s it going? You enjoying this vagabond life?” Hank grinned. The instant Joel joined the rodeo, he and Hank had struck up a friendship.

  “I was just thinking about that. When you’re young and green, the traveling and excitement of being in a different city every week is appealing.” He shrugged. “Then you grow up.”

  Hank grinned. “I hear ya. I’ve got aches and pains in places I didn’t know existed. And I find new ones every day.”

  Joel couldn’t help but smile. “You got that right. I’ve worked beside my dad and gramps since I could sit in a saddle and didn’t experience these aches and pains.” He fell silent. “I didn’t feel old when I put in an eighteen-hour day at the ranch. What happened?”

  “When you get bucked off a horse or bull, it feels like you’ve been run over by a truck, which is different than a hard day’s work on a ranch.”

  “You’re right.”

  “So why’d you come back on the circuit?”

  Good question. “Circumstances. My sister recently married and I wanted the newlyweds to have some time together on the family ranch.” Of course, Gramps was still there. “Too many bosses. She married Caleb Jensen.”

  “It was your sister he married?”

  “Yup. She came home and helped put together that charity rodeo that helped all the ranchers west of Fort Worth. She and Caleb got to know each other, and—” He shrugged.

  “He was a mighty good pickup man, but I understand how the rodeo can wear out a man.”

  “I wanted to see if rodeo life was as much fun as it had been at eighteen.”

  “And?”

  “I’m still checking it out. But the longer I go and the more points I get, the ache becomes secondary.”

  Hank chuckled and walked back into the kitchen.

  After cleaning up his dinner plate, Joel visited Helo and Sadie. He wanted to be prepared in case April’s boys asked about their horses. The new horses recognized him and came to the edge of the corral. Sadie bumped him with her nuzzle.

  “Sorry, girl, I didn’t bring you anything. I just wanted to check on you so I can answer the questions I know I’ll get.”

  Smiling, Joel thought about those little boys who’d barged into his life and thrown him a curve he hadn’t seen coming. It was just supposed to have been a run-of-the-mill rodeo run to pick up horses. Instead, he’d run headlong into a situation that laid him out flat. As ridiculous as it sounded, he welcomed the job offer. For the balance of the week, he’d be ranching and helping April, a woman who managed to yank his heart in a way it hadn’t been yanked before.

  It was the Western thing to do to help someone in distress. It was also the Christian thing to do.

  He could help her this week, but...

  Sadie poked her muzzle in his face again.

  He held up his hands. “I promise you, I don’t have a thing.” He stroked her neck. The horse nuzzled his hands, then dipped her head toward his pockets. Discovering no apples or carrots, she turned and joined the other horses in the corral.

  “Not interested in me. Just wanted a treat?”

  Jack stopped beside him.

  “It looks like I’m losing my touch with the females,” Joel grumbled, nodding to Sadie.

  “I doubt it.”

  “Don’t see any ladies lining up beside my trailer.”

  “That’s ’cause you have a not-interested sign written all over you that even the other cowboys can read.”

  Joel opened his mouth to argue, then swallowed his words.

  “Good, you’re not going to deny it.”

  “I’m here to compete.” What Joel wanted was a championship belt buckle and to finish out a dream. Nothing more.

  Jack rubbed his chin. “You sure it was the boys who hired you and you just didn’t volunteer?”

  The question took Joel by surprise. “No, I didn’t volunteer. Why would you ask that?”

  Jack shook his head. “You’ve been restless lately.”

  “What are you talking about? I’ve been doing great in my events and gaining points.”

  “True, but there’s something—”

  “You sound like my sister, trying to look into my head and tell me what I’m thinking, and she’s going through training to become a counselor.”

  Jack raised his hands in surrender. “Forget it. I didn’t mean to step in that snake pit.”

  What on earth was Jack talking about? He was on course for winning that championship belt buckle.

  “How old are those boys?”

  “Six and eight.”
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  “I’d like to meet those entrepreneurs. If you have time, bring them by the rodeo this week.” Jack started toward his trailer.

  “Not a problem. Once I mention it to them, wild horses wouldn’t keep them away.”

  The question was, would their mother go for it? He didn’t know, but he hoped she would. Maybe it would help April relax and open up. He found he wanted to know more about this woman.

  Chapter Three

  Joel felt as awkward as a high-school freshman with his first crush as he drove to the Landers ranch. Before he could get out of his vehicle, the boys scrambled down the porch stairs and raced toward him.

  The screen door slammed. April, along with Cora, stood on the porch. “Have you eaten yet?”

  “No, just grabbed a cup of coffee before I did chores.”

  “Well, I’ve got eggs, bacon, hash browns and biscuits. And lots of coffee.”

  His mouth watered. “Your stock fed?”

  “I got it.”

  “I helped,” Todd proudly announced.

  Joel smiled at the boy. “And I know your help made things easier for your mom.”

  Wes didn’t speak up, but Joel knew he wasn’t going to let his younger brother outdo him. Joel winked at Wes, acknowledging him.

  The smell of bacon and eggs drifted out the screen door, making Joel’s stomach rumble, which was heard by all. “Then let’s feed the workers so we can get this day rolling.”

  Laughing, Todd raced inside, Joel following.

  Wes and Cora were already seated. Todd pulled out a chair.

  “Wash your hands, young man.”

  “Aw, Mom.”

  “I need to wash my hands, too.” Joel held out his hands.

  “’Kay. Follow me.”

  Todd led Joel through the living room to the hall beyond. The first door stood open and Todd walked in. He stepped up onto the stool and turned on the water.

  “Mom’s strict about washing our hands.” He grabbed the soap, lathered up and passed the bar to Joel.

  “I know. My mom was the same,” Joel whispered, bending close. “And I had to have an inspection. But you know what was worse?”