The Reluctant Wrangler

by Roxann Delaney

  “She loved making pottery.”

  “Did she teach you how?”

  “Yes, but I’m not nearly as good as she was.” Gently placing it aside, she then pulled out a polished wood carving of a horse and held it out to him. “My grandfather made this not long before he died.”

  Mac took it from her and admired the perfection of it. He knew enough about art to appreciate it. The wood was obviously hand polished and glowed in the artificial light in the room. It was as smooth as satin and warm to the touch. “This is priceless.” He glanced at her. “But, of course, you know that.”

  “He liked jewelry making better,” she replied, taking the carving and setting it behind her. “Silver, of course.”

  “And turquoise? Like your ring?” He pointed to her right hand.

  She nodded. “Whatever was available, but he often painted pictures on them, instead. Belt buckles, earrings, bracelets. I have a few, if you’d like to see them sometime. The Cherokee take pride in their artistry.”

  “I’d like that,” he replied. “Did you live on the reservation?”

  Shaking her head, she looked up at him. “There is no reservation. Those were disestablished years ago.”

  “Disestablished?” he asked.

  “Done away with,” she said with a shrug, and went back to her unpacking.

  Feeling he was no longer needed, he stepped back. “I’ll let you get your unpacking done.”

  Tilting her head to the side, she studied him. “Thanks for helping.” Then she turned her attention to the boxes.

  He left quietly, closing the door behind him, and went to the kitchen, but his mind didn’t stray far from her while he fixed a sandwich. He couldn’t deny the attraction he felt. He couldn’t explain it, either. Pretty or not, she wasn’t his type. He’d always preferred the more sophisticated, and there was nothing like that about Nikki Johannson. In fact, she was the antithesis of a sophisticate. But still…

  “It’s nothing serious,” he told himself as he walked into his apartment. The attraction was fleeting and wouldn’t last. Until then, he’d do as Jules asked and be nice to her, but that was all.

  “DO YOU HAVE THE LIST?” Mac stood at the passenger door of the pickup and waited until Nikki nodded before closing it.

  She watched him walk around the front, then she turned to look out her window as he climbed inside. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to help her into the truck—she could do it fine on her own—but she suspected it wouldn’t make any difference. He seemed to be the kind of man who did it automatically.

  Leaning back in the seat, she tried to enjoy the drive into Desperation. But even the fall colors of the countryside couldn’t distract her thoughts. How did a man like Mac come to work as a ranch hand in Oklahoma? He wore blue jeans, but no Western-style shirts. Instead of even a T-shirt, he wore knit sport shirts. Glancing at his foot on the accelerator, she wondered where he bought his boots. Most stores in Oklahoma sold traditional cowboy boots, but Mac’s weren’t traditional. His were round toed, not pointed, and without the common angled heel of cowboy boots. Even the leather was smooth. And she had never seen him wear a hat over his longish, light brown hair, much less a Stetson.

  No, he wasn’t a cowboy, but she had watched him work with the stock the day before, and there was no doubt in her mind that he knew horses. Whether he knew boys or not remained to be seen.

  “Have you thought about when you want to start the boys’ riding lessons?”

  Nikki jumped at the sound of his voice, then shrugged in answer to his question. “Being short on horses presents a problem, but I’ve been thinking it might be best to start with the basics.”

  “Such as?” he asked, glancing at her.

  “Saddling a horse, first of all. Just being around one, too.”

  “You’re right. The boys are pretty green,” he agreed. “Teach the basics first, before they ever climb on an animal.”

  “Any idea when the new horses will be here?”

  “Tomorrow or the next day would be my guess.”

  Nodding, Nikki was hesitant to dive into something Mac, as head wrangler, might not approve of, but if she wanted to get started, now was the time. “Maybe I can start this afternoon.”

  “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Surprised that he didn’t argue, she smiled. “I’ll only need one horse today, and I’ll leave the choice to you.” But Mac simply nodded in answer, and she chalked it up to whatever burr was under his saddle.

  As they approached the edge of town, Mac pulled up to the local grain elevator and backed the pickup to a loading dock. Nikki climbed out immediately, removing any chance for him to come around and open the door for her. They were working, so it wasn’t time for his gallantry, if it ever was, and she didn’t want anyone in the town of Desperation to think she was some kind of debutante. Not that one look at her would give anyone that idea.

  A man who appeared to be in his late fifties and was dressed in jeans, real cowboy boots and a blue work shirt came out of the office and joined them on the dock. “Morning, Mac,” he said, glancing at Nikki.

  Mac must have noticed, because he turned to her. “Nikki, this is Tom Hastings. He runs the place, so if you ever need anything here, talk to him. Tom, this is Nikki Johannson, the Bent Tree’s new housemother and riding instructor.”

  “Pleased to meet you, miss,” the man said, flashing her a smile.

  “Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Hastings,” Nikki answered.

  “Call me Tom. Mr. Hastings is my father.” He turned back to Mac. “How many horses you got out there, Mac? Jules wasn’t sure how much grain you might need, especially with the grass still a bit green.”

  “Five horses right now,” Mac said, and followed him into the warehouse. “Jules likes to have extra, and what’s in the bin is getting low.”

  Nikki lengthened her stride to keep up with the men and stepped into the chilly, semidark warehouse, where the smell of bagged grain greeted her. She was glad she’d chosen to wear a long-sleeved shirt. Too much grain dust kicked up her allergies and made her skin itch.

  “Tanner and Dusty will be back with a few more horses soon,” Mac was saying to Tom, “but I don’t know how many they’ll be bringing with them.”

  “I heard they were headed for a sale in New Mexico,” Tom answered before climbing on a forklift. “I’d say maybe twenty bags for now? You can always get more later if you need it. The O’Briens have always been good to their stock. If it’s too much, it can be saved or you can bring it back.”

  “Twenty sounds good for now,” Mac agreed. He motioned for Nikki to follow him, and they returned to the loading dock.

  She climbed into the bed of the truck to wait for Tom. When he drove the forklift out onto the dock, she worked with Mac, restacking the fifty-pound bags. It wasn’t long before Tom returned with the last load, and she and Mac finished the job quickly.

  “Where to now?” Mac asked Nikki as they drove away.

  She pulled the list from her pocket and unfolded it. “Cinnamon rolls?”

  “The Chick-a-Lick, then.”

  She looked at him as he started for the main street. “Chick-a-Lick?”

  He nodded. “Desperation’s café.” He turned to look at her. “Do you like cinnamon rolls?”

  “Doesn’t everybody?” she asked with a grin.

  “Then you won’t be disappointed in these.”

  Nikki stared out the window as they drove into the main part of town. It had been years since she’d been in Desperation. But before arriving at the Bent Tree to apply for the housemother job, she’d stopped in the small town and had immediately liked it.

  Main Street in Desperation wasn’t much different than other small towns, with buildings of varied architecture and color snuggled next to each other. It was a pretty town, clean and well taken care of, as if the people there loved it. Somehow she’d missed seeing the café, but she’d enjoyed a pleasant hour in the Sweet & Yummy Ice Cream Parlor, one of sever
al businesses housed in the historic old opera house. She’d been impressed with the renovations that had been done to the entire building.

  People she’d encountered while enjoying her ice cream had been friendly and open, encouraging her to visit again, as had those she’d asked for directions to the O’Brien ranch. She hoped she would be in the area long enough to consider it home. But that was something she couldn’t count on.

  She turned her attention to their destination as Mac pulled into a diagonal parking space in front of a building proclaiming it was the Chick-a-Lick Café. Nikki again quickly got out of the truck. He met her at the front and they stepped up onto the sidewalk together.

  “Dusty McPherson’s wife, Kate, makes the rolls and desserts they sell here,” he explained, opening the door of the café for her and letting her pass inside. “She’s a good friend of the O’Briens.”

  “And this Dusty is Tanner O’Brien’s partner?”

  “They own a rodeo stock company,” Mac said, his voice lowered, once they were inside.

  Although Nikki hadn’t learned a lot when researching the O’Brien family, she did know that she and Tanner shared the same parents. But while he had known his father, she hadn’t. Her mother hadn’t talked freely about her marriage to Brody O’Brien, only that she’d been far too young to get married and, even more, to start a family. That revelation hadn’t come until Nikki was in her teens and had begged her mother for years for information. Even her grandmother was tight-lipped about it.

  “Nikki, this is Darla,” Mac said as they reached the counter, and introduced her to the young woman behind it. “Nikki is the new housemother and riding instructor at the boys’ ranch.”

  A voice from the other side of the room reached them. “Some people don’t want those good-for-nothing boys anywhere near our town.”

  “Ignore them,” Darla whispered.

  Nikki greeted her, and while Mac gave the order, she looked around the café. It was typical small town, with several tables and a few booths along the walls. The long counter ran the depth of the room from front to back, with the cash register near the door. Two customers were sitting in a booth, both scowling, and another man sat on one of the swivel stools at the counter. She noticed he was looking at her.

  “Don’t mind those two old biddies,” he said, waving a hand at the booth. When she smiled at him, he nodded. “You’re new in town.”

  “Just this week,” she answered.

  “You working at the boys’ ranch?”

  “I’ve just begun, but I hope to stay a while.”

  “Well, now, you couldn’t ask for a better family to work for. Tanner and Jules are good people, and so are Rowdy and Bridey.”

  “I’ve only met Jules,” she explained.

  “That’s right,” he said, slapping his hand on his thigh. “Tanner and Dusty are off to a horse sale. You’ll meet the others soon enough, and I’d bet my life that you like them.”

  “I’m sure I will, if they’re anything like Jules.”

  On the other side of her Mac took two big boxes from Darla and joined them. “Rowdy is the Rocking O ranch foreman. Bridey is Tanner’s aunt and the one who stocks the refrigerator for us.”

  “I’ll have to remember to thank her.” She turned to Darla. “It was nice meeting you. Both of you,” she added, turning to the man.

  “You, too, Nikki,” Darla said, “and I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other. Jules could get the rolls and desserts cheaper if she’d go directly through Kate, but she likes to help keep us in business.”

  “You do fine,” the man said. “Not another town around has a café as popular as this place.” Turning to Nikki, he touched the brim of his gimme cap, emblazoned with the name of a hybrid wheat brand. “Gerald Barnes. If you need anything, you just let me know. I’ve lived here all my life and will probably die here. Suits me just fine.”

  Nikki smiled and thanked him, then followed Mac outside. “They’re nice people,” she said, climbing into the truck and closing the door.

  Mac set the boxes between them and then settled behind the steering wheel, his mouth pulled down in a deep frown. “Desperation has a lot of nice people, in spite of a few who have their own opinions about the boys at the ranch.”

  As he pulled away from the curb and headed the pickup down the street, Nikki wondered if she might be able to get some idea of how people in Desperation felt about her mother. If most, like Gerald Barnes, had lived there all their lives, someone had to remember her. Nikki hoped what they remembered wasn’t as bad as she suspected it might be. Sally Rains O’Brien had been a wild child, something Nikki knew her mother still regretted.

  LEANING AGAINST the top rail of the fence surrounding the corral, Mac watched and listened. He hoped Nikki wasn’t as nervous as he was about this first riding lesson. These weren’t simple schoolboys. Some of them had been in trouble with the law, and some of them came from troubled homes. Inexperienced with boys, he hadn’t spent a lot of time with them, although he’d been at the ranch a week before they’d arrived two weeks ago. Jules and Bridey had watched over them before Nikki had been hired. There hadn’t been a lot of time for Nikki to spend with the horses, either, but from what he could tell, she knew what she was doing.

  Nikki stood in the middle of the enclosure with the gentlest of the horses. The chestnut mare stayed steady as Nikki walked around her, pointing out the different areas of the horse.

  “When are we going to ride?” Billy asked.

  She gave him a smile that would have melted any boy’s heart. “It may be slow going for you for a while, Billy. I know you’ve spent time with horses, but I’d like to start with the basics for the others. The more we know about horses, the better we can ride them. Don’t you agree?”

  It was clear that Billy was disappointed, but after a quick duck of his head he looked up to smile at her. “Yeah.”

  Mac was impressed by the way she stuck to the basics, while somehow making it interesting, even for him. The boys seemed to hang on her every word, watching how she touched the animal, handling the mare with respect. He knew from his own experience that treating a horse well—whether it was a Thoroughbred, a quarter horse or even a mule—would bring out the best, not only in the horse, but in the rider.

  He watched as she demonstrated how to approach a horse, how and where to stroke it and even how to give a carrot treat without the risk of a finger getting in the way. Even Leon and Benito, who found everything either dull and boring or beneath them, seemed fascinated.

  “Do you know any tricks?” Kirby asked.

  Nikki turned to him, her smile softer with him than with any of the others. “A few.”

  “Will you teach us some?” Leon asked.

  “When you and your horse are ready.”

  “When we have enough horses, you mean,” Benito added, the disgust in his voice clear even to Mac.

  She glanced at Mac before answering Benito. “They may arrive this weekend, so it won’t be long.”

  His frown deepened. “We been here for two weeks.”

  Not meaning to, Mac tensed. Benito’s belligerence could escalate, and he doubted Nikki was prepared for it. He didn’t want to alarm her by stepping in, but he wanted to be ready the second it appeared she couldn’t handle it.

  “You’ve been feeding the horses, right?” she asked.

  “Yeah, every day,” the boy grumbled.

  “And you think you’re ready to ride?”

  Even standing still, there was a swagger to him. “Sure. Why not?”

  “Then go get a saddle.”

  For a second Benito stared at her, then he strode to the barn.

  She turned back to the others, who showed more interest in watching Benito’s exit than hearing instructions about grooming. Mac wasn’t sure what to think. The mare might stand still to have a saddle thrown on, but beyond that, there was no telling what would happen if Benito tried to mount.

  When Benito emerged, it was obvious the nearly grown boy
was struggling a bit under the weight of the saddle. When he reached Nikki, he dropped it at her feet.

  She stood away from the other boys and leaned closer to Benito, but Mac didn’t hear what she said. Benito’s head snapped up and he stared at her again. Mac held his breath. But instead of anything unfortunate happening, Benito turned for the barn again.

  Nikki continued with her instructions until Benito reappeared, a saddle blanket and a bit with reins in his hands. “That’s great,” she told him. “Go ahead and saddle her.”

  “But—” For a brief moment his bravado disappeared, then he planted his feet apart in the dirt, stuck his chin out in defiance and confronted her. “You know I don’t know how.”

  “Which is why we’re here.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, and her smile was sincere. “You all may think riding a horse is nothing more than getting on and riding away, but there are still many things to learn.”

  Mac gripped the fence in front of him, ready to intervene.

  “How’s she doing?”

  He hesitated to turn to look at Jules, who had walked up to stand beside him, and barely glanced at her before focusing on the activity in the corral. “We’ll know in a few seconds.”

  “Benito can be a handful,” Jules said, obviously having sized up the situation.

  Mac didn’t hear what Nikki said to the boy, but his stance immediately relaxed. So did Mac. “She’s doing okay,” he said as he watched Benito shrug and back away.

  Jules propped her arms on a fence rail. “It appears she is. I had a feeling she would.”

  “You had more faith than I did,” he grudgingly admitted. But as she’d said, Benito could be a handful, and time would tell if Nikki could continue to hold her own with him.

  Jules turned at the sound of her name being called. “Over here, Bridey.”

  Mac watched as Tanner’s aunt joined them. “Ah, the lovely Irishwoman,” he greeted her.

  Bridey Harcourt harrumphed. “And from a Scotsman, no less.” But her bright blue eyes twinkled merrily as they always did when they teased each other. “Is that the new housemother I’ve been hearing about?” she asked as she moved to stand beside Jules.