by Linda Conrad
He pulled off his Stetson and led her inside the house to a small living room, like something out of an ancient TV sitcom set back in the fifties. “Kathryn? We’re here.” He ran the rim of the Stetson through his fingers and waited for acknowledgment.
“Come on back.” A pleasant female voice came from somewhere unseen. “We’re just finishing afternoon floor time.”
Nathan motioned for her to go ahead through a set of double doors. On the other side, she found another great old-school-style room with little girls’ toys spread all over the floor. And in the middle of the mess sat a pretty little girl of six or seven with long blond hair.
The girl didn’t turn when they came through the door. In fact, she didn’t acknowledge their presence at all.
Not so was the case of the woman with her. The nice-looking woman of about forty was getting to her feet, smiling at Nathan as they came closer.
“Glad you could stop by this afternoon before she gets too tired. Sara’s made a couple of emotional connections today, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Then the woman turned to Susannah and stuck a hand out. “Hi. You must be Susannah. I’m Kathryn Robards, and this is Sara Pierce.”
“Good to meet you.” Susannah took Kathryn’s hand but noticed the little girl did not even turn at the mention of her name.
Was this child mad that a stranger had come to visit?
Nathan dropped his hat on a nearby table. Then he folded all of his six-two or six-three body up and sat on the floor directly in front of the child.
“Hi, Sara. What are you playing with today?” He picked up a nearby doll and brought it up to his face. “This little princess? She’s one of your favorites, isn’t she? Want to play?”
Sara looked up at Nathan, and her eyes widened. She reached for the doll, still not smiling, but more animated than she’d been since they’d come into the room.
“Uncle Nat-ton. Jasmine, p…please.”
Nathan chuckled and handed her the doll. For a few minutes, he spoke softly to her about the toy. His voice stayed low and slow. But his face spoke volumes about how well he loved this child.
“Do you know much about autism, Susannah?” Kathryn spoke in a quiet tone while Nathan and Sara continued talking and playing on the floor.
“Nothing. She doesn’t look physically injured or ill in any way.”
“No, many autistic kids seem like perfect children on the outside, though unfortunately Sara is one who has gone through her share of physical challenges. But we’ve got most of those managed now. You might not know, but it’s a fact that some autistic children have high functioning intelligence. We think Sara may well be one of them. However, everything is all locked up inside her head. Nathan hired me a couple years ago as her companion and to work with her on ways to expand her abilities.”
“Does she go to school?”
“No, not yet. But we’re hopeful that someday she will. Would you like to talk to her?”
“Very much.”
“Then you need to know that she will appear disconnected, but she’s not. Autism robs these kids of the ability to use regular facial expressions. At first glance, the rest of us can’t tell if she’s happy or sad. That might make you think she isn’t clever, but she’s far from dull or mentally impaired.
“The rest of us just need to express things in a slow and steady way with her.” Kathryn gave Susannah a friendly and encouraging smile. “If you show you’re interested, she will be, too. You’ll do fine. Give her a chance. She managed to dress herself this morning. That’s a big breakthrough.”
Unsure of what she would do or say, Susannah nodded and went to sit on the floor next to Nathan. He introduced her again to the child with still no visible sign of acknowledgment from the girl. Susannah didn’t know what to expect. But in the next moment, Sara grabbed a baby doll off the floor and turned to her. Without looking directly in her eyes, the little girl offered the doll.
“Baby.”
Susannah was surprised that Sara had spoken, but she took the doll from her hand and looked it over. “Pretty baby. Does she have a name?”
“Baby.”
“Well, Baby’s a nice name. I have a baby, too. A real baby. But her name is Melody. Would you like to meet her sometime?”
Nathan interrupted. “I’m not sure Sara knows what a real baby means.”
“Real.” The little girl actually looked up into Susannah’s eyes. She could swear the child was smiling even though her lips never moved from their stationary position.
“Oh, yes.” Susannah rocked the doll in her arms. “Melody cries and eats and wets her diapers. She’s real.”
Sara turned to her uncle, and Susannah could swear she wanted to ask him something, but no words followed.
“I think Sara might like to meet Melody.” Nathan’s voice sounded raspy, full of sudden emotion. “We’ll see how the baby is faring tomorrow. In the meantime, it’s time for both Sara and Melody to eat supper, don’t you think?”
With silent encouragement from him, Susannah turned the doll around and gave it back to the little girl.
Kathryn came over and touched Sara on the shoulder. “Time to clean up, sweetheart.” She bent and began picking up the dolls and toys. “Maria is probably almost ready in the kitchen. Are you hungry?”
Sara dropped the doll and got to her feet. Suddenly disconnected from the rest of the world around her, she walked out of the room. Kathryn went after the girl, bidding her and Nathan goodbye over a shoulder.
Nathan spoke first. “Amazing. I’ve never seen Sara take to anyone so quickly. She actually looked at you almost right away.”
Susannah’s heart thumped and broke a little for the motherless darling. “Will she get any better? Poor child. Will she ever be able to go to school? Ever smile?”
Nathan stood and held out his hand to help her up. “I hope so. We’re doing everything we know how to do to see that she does.”
She let him pull her to a standing position. “Is it really okay if I come back tomorrow to see her?”
“If you like.” Nathan sighed. “It should be good for her. And maybe seeing the baby will help her, too. Bring Melody here as soon as you think it’s possible.”
“Thank you. I should probably get back to Melody now.”
“You’re welcome, Susannah.” He took her by the hand. “We’ll cut through the garden to the main house.”
Susannah felt a tingle at his touch. She’d liked the feeling it gave her when Nathan had smiled at her. Maybe she’d liked it a little too much. He was just being polite. She slid her hand out of his and stuffed it in her pocket.
“You know,” he began, “when you’re feeling up to it, feel free to scout around the house while Melody’s napping. We have a wonderful library and an office with a couple of computers you might find useful. Make yourself at home inside the house.
“But if I were you, I’d be careful outside,” he added thoughtfully. “Lots of ways of getting hurt on a ranch. And you never know when those Devotees might decide to show up again. Just ask a hand or Maria to go along if you want to look around outside. I’ll be available as often as possible. Okay?”
Better than okay. “That’s very nice of you. I hate to put you to all the trouble.”
“No trouble. You might as well find productive ways of spending your time while you’re stuck here.”
All of a sudden Susannah had a vision of one way she’d sure like to be spending her time—with those strong arms wrapped around her while she kissed him senseless.
But that was beyond crazy. She’d be lucky if the two of them could manage to build a friendship in the time she was here. Romantically, she was so far out of his league that she should stop even considering such a thing.
Still, she had a feeling that no matter what she told herself, he would be starring in all her daydreams from now on.
Tired and sweaty after spending the day on the range with the hands, Nathan stomped into the mudroom of the house, debating
whether or not to stop in the kitchen for a beer before he hit the shower. He hadn’t seen Sara since early this morning and hadn’t run into Susannah at all.
A beer wouldn’t help him with either female, he decided with regret.
“Nathan,” Maria called out to him from the kitchen.
Taking off his boots, he let her know he’d be right there. He sure hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with any household problems tonight. He had plenty on his plate already.
When he walked into the kitchen, he spotted his father sitting at the table, talking with Susannah. Great, just what he needed. His father hadn’t had a civil word to say to him in five years.
Maria handed him a cold, long-necked beer without asking. “Your father is back in town.”
“So I see.” He took a swig from the bottle despite his earlier decision against it. “How’d the auction go?”
“About like you’d expect.” His father sounded as grouchy as ever. But then he looked toward Susannah and smiled. He actually smiled.
“You’ve met one of our new guests, Dad?”
“Yes, Susannah and I were having a nice chat. I’m looking forward to meeting her baby when she’s awake.”
Susannah beamed. “I’m afraid that doesn’t happen too often. Melody needs a lot of sleep.”
His father reached over the table and patted Susannah’s hand. “Maybe I’ll sneak a peek while she’s sleeping, then. Babies are worth waiting for.”
Nathan took another swig of beer…and then another.
Maria cleared her throat. “Go on and clean up, Nathan. We’ll be eating early tonight. Kathryn tells me Sara is eager to join the rest of us for dinner, so the whole family will be at the table at the same time.”
“Even Derek?” Nathan was stunned. He could count on one hand how many times in the past year he hadn’t eaten alone. Did his brother even still reside on the ranch?
“Yes.” Susannah was the one who answered his question. “I met your brother earlier and convinced him to join us for dinner. He said he would set up a baby monitor so I could hear Melody here in the kitchen. I’m also afraid I may’ve been the one who suggested dinner with Sara. But Kathryn says she’s ready.”
Irritated at his impossible father and ghost of a brother, Nathan stared at Susannah as a myriad of things swirled through his mind. She’d certainly had a busy day for herself. He would like to talk to her about her opinions of Sara. And he would love to know how the hell she had gotten close to everyone in his family but him in such a short time.
Laurel, his deceased ex-wife, hadn’t been at all close to his father and brother, and she’d known them for years before she died. Was it because Susannah was sweeter and had a much brighter smile? The last few years of her life, Laurel had been unhappy most of the time. Or maybe it was because Susannah seemed so vulnerable. Any man, even his cold, distant father and his lazy, hermitlike brother would want to get close to Susannah in order to protect her. She sure brought those feelings out in him.
He stayed silent while finishing the rest of the beer, trying to figure her out. He’d planned on giving her a day or two to settle in before he tried the exit counseling techniques he’d reviewed over the past few days. But it looked like she was a lot quicker at settling in than he’d imagined.
Giving up on coming to any immediate conclusions about her, except for the fact that she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met and she didn’t seem to recognize that fact, he placed the bottle on the counter and took off toward the bathroom to clean up.
“Supper’s in fifteen minutes,” Maria called after him.
“I’ll be there.” He was confused, annoyed and lusting after an unattainable woman, but he’d be there.
After supper, Susannah came back to the kitchen after feeding Melody to find that everyone had finished and had already gone—save for Maria. The older woman stood working at the sink on a mountain of pots and pans.
“Can I help with the dishes?” She turned the baby monitor on but didn’t expect Melody to stir for a while yet.
“That’s all right, sugar.” Maria was one of the sweetest-natured people Susannah had ever met. “Nathan’s gone to tuck in Sara, but he said he’d be back to help dry.”
“I can dry.”
Maria shot her a grateful look. “Well, I don’t suppose it would hurt to get a head start on things. Thanks. Grab one of those dish towels and then stack the ones you finish over on the sideboard.”
“I like helping. It makes me feel useful and not so much like a leech.” Now, why had she said that? Those words were echoes of a long-ago time that she’d sworn to forget.
Maria didn’t appear to notice. She went right on washing.
“You sure made good impressions on Mr. Pierce and Derek.” Maria handed her a deep pot. “I don’t believe I’ve seen Mr. Pierce smile that much since before his wife died.”
“He’s a nice man.” Susannah had liked him right away. “Easy to talk to. I just wish Nathan was that easygoing. He sure seemed angry at me tonight, and I don’t know what I did.”
“Now, honey, he didn’t look angry to me. Just his usual tense self around his father. That’s all. But that has nothing to do with you.”
Susannah finished drying the pot and started on another. “They don’t get along? That seems odd. They’re so much alike.”
“They used to get along real well. But a crack opened up between them after Nathan’s grandfather died.”
She would’ve thought that might’ve brought them closer. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“It’s no secret.” Maria stacked another wet pan on the counter. “Nathan’s father took over as the head of the ranch when Derek didn’t want nothing to do with the day-to-day work of it. See, Derek inherited, but he’s not interested.”
“So Nathan thought he should have been the one to take charge? I sort of got the impression that Nathan does most of the work.”
“Yes, he does. But I don’t think Nathan would’ve cared much about his father grabbing the power if it hadn’t been for something Mr. Pierce did right afterward.”
This was getting too personal, and Susannah was almost afraid to ask, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“Um…what did he do?”
Maria stopped washing for a moment and turned to her. “He sold off the property around that old creek. The land wasn’t bringing in anything to the ranch. Too many trees and too rough for grazing. But Nathan dearly loved that piece of land. Used to fish the creek with his granddad.”
“The creek?” Suddenly it hit her. “You mean the one that runs behind the Cold Plains Community Center? The one that has healing powers? But that belongs to Samuel and the Devotees. It’s…”
A deep voice broke into her sentence. “There’s nothing special about that creek water.” Nathan appeared beside Maria. “Nothing except it still should belong to the Pierce ranch like it always has.”
“Nathan.” Susannah felt a rush at seeing him and nearly dropped the pan she held.
“The water in that creek has no special properties.” He nearly shouted at her. “It’s water, plain and simple. I don’t care what Samuel Grayson tells the suckers who pay good money for it.”
Oh, no. He was angry again. She felt lots more comfortable in his house when he wasn’t mad.
Whatever she was doing to set him off, she just had to find a way to smooth things over with him for good.
Chapter 5
Nathan jerked a dish towel off the counter and took one of the pans from Maria’s hands. He shouldn’t let talk of Samuel Grayson and the Devotees bother him this much—especially since he was determined to give Susannah exit counseling and needed to remain nonjudgmental, calm and loving. At least, that was according to the textbooks.
“I’m sorry if I said something wrong, Nathan.” Susannah looked at him through terrified eyes, as though he might strike her at any moment.
Dang it. Some counselor he was turning out to be. Not only did he need
her to look at him with respect and without all this terror, but someday he wanted to see her looking at him with a little of the same sexual tension he knew they both felt. At the moment he was acting more like a tyrant than a lover.
He took a breath and then forced a smile. “I’m not angry at you. It’s just the mention of Samuel Grayson that riles me. If you knew what I know about him, I think you might agree with my position.”
Her eyes went glassy, and she stood frozen for a moment too long.
Finally, Maria interjected a cheerful break in the tension. “Susannah, you might want to listen to what Nathan has to say. I’m sure if you do you’ll see a different side to some of the things going on around Cold Plains. It wouldn’t hurt to listen, would it?”
“I suppose not.” Susannah tried a half smile, but she didn’t look at all convinced.
“How about if I spend the morning with you and Melody?” he offered, working hard to sound polite and even-tempered. “I’ll take a few hours off so we can have a good talk.”
“I can’t ask you to ignore your work for me.” Another extremely sober expression schooled her face as she stood rooted to the spot. “I know as it stands you aren’t crazy about me being here. Please don’t do anything you wouldn’t ordinarily do on my account.”
That sounded like more of her cult programming coming to the surface—too timid, too apologetic almost to the point of paranoia. Her exit counseling might turn out to be much more than he could handle.
Still, he had to try while he had a chance with her. The last time, he’d been too late. He refused to accept those consequences with Susannah.
“Let me worry about my time.” He set down the pan he’d been drying and took her lightly by the shoulders in as friendly a manner as he could manage. “I would like to spend the morning with you and the baby. I want to.”
Whoa. Electric tingles spiked up his hand and down his spine from the spot where he touched her. Without warning, he’d wanted a lot more from her than just her trust. Sensual images of the two of them together nearly blinded him. Gritting his teeth, he tried to stem the sudden ringing in his ears and stood there like an idiot, pretending nothing was different.
