Jules joined them. “Oh, Tanner, it isn’t going to hurt him. There’s only a little whiskey in it. Let him have a glass.”
“Better they have it at home than out with their friends.”
Everyone turned to look at Nikki, who ducked her head, obviously wishing she hadn’t spoken.
“She’s right,” Tanner agreed. “I had a few glasses of my own when I was his age.” He turned to his nephew. “Okay, Shawn, one glass it is.”
As they were all enjoying the heavy whipped-cream-and-macaroon dessert, the Rocking O ranch foreman arrived. “I heard a rumor that Bridey had fixed Irish Jig,” he explained as he made his way to the last glass.
“You missed the glazed Irish tea cake, Rowdy,” Jules told him with a twinkle in her eye.
He shook his head, his expression serious. “I’m betting Bridey saved me a piece,” he said as a smile spread over his face. “I’ll just take this on out to the barn. There’s a heifer having some digestive trouble, and I don’t want to be gone long.”
Mac set his empty glass on the tray. “I’ll be happy to give you hand, Mr. Thompson.”
A scowl appeared on the older man’s face. “I thought I told you it’s Rowdy, not Mr. Thompson.”
“That you did,” Mac replied, “so in that case, I’ll be happy to give you a hand, Rowdy.”
“No need,” Rowdy said before turning to leave. “I like my quiet time in the barn, and the old girl will be fine by morning. Beth Weston was out earlier and left a tonic.”
Having met the young veterinarian only days after he’d arrived, Mac had found her to be quite knowledgeable about the stock, and he knew the heifer was in good hands with Rowdy. As Bridey returned to the house with the tray of empty glasses, he turned to his hosts. “How can you stand all that great food Bridey feeds you?”
Tanner sat on one of the comfortable lawn chairs, laughing. “I am spoiled. Bridey has been here on the Rocking O since I was eight years old. I hardly remember a time she wasn’t cooking up a storm.”
When the others were seated, Jules turned to Nikki. “You’re doing a wonderful job with the boys.”
“Thank you,” Nikki answered with a smile. “I’m enjoying getting to know them. They were hard to get settled down, after the arrival of the new horses and the barbecue tonight. It was so nice of you and Tanner to invite them.”
Jules nodded. “We want them to know that we’re like family here, both at the Bent Tree and the Rocking O.”
“Knowing the boys aren’t accustomed to riding, Dusty and I chose the tamest horses we could find,” Tanner explained. “But riding is only a part of what they do here.”
Nikki replied, but didn’t look directly at him. “I’ve been making sure their schoolwork is done before riding lessons.”
“I may be city bred,” Jules said, “but I know from my own experiences that bonding with an animal, whether it’s a horse, a dog, or whatever, is something everyone should experience, especially these boys. Once they can trust an animal, then they’re more apt to trust humans.”
“And themselves,” Nikki added.
“Of course,” Jules agreed with a knowing nod. “We want the Bent Tree to be a success. Not so much for us, but for the boys who come here. It may take some time for all of us to reach the goals we’ve set, but if we work together, we’ll get there.”
Tanner reached for his wife’s hand and smiled at her. “Jules wants to help as many boys as she can. It’s been a dream of hers for a long time, even before I met her.”
“Which reminds me,” Jules said, turning to Nikki, “there’s a program I’ve heard about that you might find interesting and could benefit the boys. It’s called Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.”
“I’ve heard about it,” Nikki said, nodding.
“It’s only a suggestion,” Jules continued, “but I have some literature you can look through, if you’re interested.”
Nikki nodded. “I’ll be happy to.”
“We’ll talk about it more after you’ve had a chance to look it over,” Jules said. “How did the riding lesson go this morning?”
Nikki smiled. “They can saddle a horse now.”
“A wooden one, at least,” Mac added.
“Wooden?” Tanner asked, looking at each of them.
Mac explained how Nikki had used a saddle frame and how well it had worked. He hesitated to admit Jules had made a good decision by hiring her. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“I never doubted it,” Jules replied, smiling at Nikki. “Sometimes a person just knows when something is right. That’s how I felt about Nikki when she applied for the job.”
“Speaking of riding,” Mac said, turning to Jules, “when are we going to take that long, lazy ride you promised me?”
Jules patted his hand. “In due time, Mac, when things settle down.”
“That’s what you always say.”
Nikki looked at Jules. “I hate to break up the party, but I should be getting some sleep,” she said, standing.
“I need to be turning in for the night, too,” Mac agreed.
Nikki turned to Tanner. “Thank you for having us.”
“Thank you both for joining us tonight. I enjoyed it,” he told them. “Let’s do it again soon.”
Mac followed her around to the front of the house, wondering what had gotten into her, but after what had happened earlier, he wasn’t going to ask. “Looks like Rowdy might have a long night ahead of him.”
“Mmm.”
Mac slowed his steps as they walked under the wooden arch and onto the Bent Tree grounds, and he let her go on ahead of him. But he nearly ran into her when she spun around to face him, her hands on her hips.
“Just tell me one thing,” she whispered fiercely. “Is that what you call being comfortable with your employer?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, confused by her sudden anger.
“All that dancing and touching and teasing.”
He was speechless, unable to form a word to defend himself.
“Well? Is it?”
Gathering his wits, he chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
Noticing that her whisper was getting louder, he immediately sobered. “Nikki, Jules and I have known each other since we were kids. She and my younger sister competed on the same jumping circuit, and because our dads discovered they were fraternity brothers, Jules and I went to the same college. She’s like a sister to me.”
Nikki’s eyes narrowed and she frowned as she looked at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew her?”
She looked so cute when she was angry, the urge to touch her was almost unbearable, but he shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets. “I never thought about it. Or maybe I thought she’d told you. It doesn’t really matter, does it?”
For a moment she didn’t answer, then she slowly shook her head and turned around. “It was just so…so weird, that’s all.”
It was an effort to keep from laughing, but Mac managed to remain quiet as he walked with her back to the main building. Sensing that anything he might say would probably be wrong, he didn’t speak until they reached the doors to their apartments. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said without looking at her. But Nikki had already ducked inside her room and closed her door.
Stepping inside his own apartment, Mac collapsed onto his sofa. He could only imagine what Nikki had been thinking all evening. Was it possible she’d been feeling the tiniest bit jealous? He had to admit that if he’d been in her shoes, he would have.
CURIOUS ABOUT THE BOYS and thinking that being around them more might go a long way to helping him understand and know them better, Mac decided to join them for breakfast. He knocked on Nikki’s door before leaving for the boys’ dining area, but she didn’t answer. Checking the kitchen, he didn’t find her there and decided she must have gone ahead.
“Have you seen Nikki this morning?” he asked the boys when he discovered she wasn’t with them.
“She was here
earlier,” Benito answered around a mouthful of biscuits and gravy.
Mac frowned at the boy’s manners, but refrained from saying anything.
“She said she’d see us later,” Billy added, and Mac wondered what had tempted her away from the boys.
A few seconds later Ray spoke. “Are we going to get to ride today?”
“We’ll have to see,” Mac answered. He knew the boys were eager, but he couldn’t give the go-ahead without talking with Nikki first.
“But—”
“We’ll see,” he repeated more firmly.
Ray’s mulish expression would have been comical if Mac hadn’t been aware of how much the boys were looking forward to riding. With a glance at his watch, Mac took the last bite of his breakfast, finished his glass of juice and got to his feet. “Class time, boys,” he announced. “Better hustle.”
A collective groan went up from the group, but he ignored it. School hadn’t been his favorite thing when he was their age, so he couldn’t blame them, but he also knew the importance of an education. He hoped that when they got to be his age, they would appreciate what they’d learned and put it to good use.
When one of the teachers arrived to call the boys to class, Mac left the dining area and headed for the barn, hoping to find Nikki there. Maybe she’d heard something from Tanner about whether the boys would be allowed to ride later. But Nikki wasn’t in the barn, either, or anywhere near it.
With a shrug of his shoulders, he filled the feed bins. The six new horses Tanner and Dusty had brought to the ranch were doing well. He didn’t mind admitting that the two men knew their livestock, especially horses. But then, from what he knew about Tanner O’Brien, the man had been around ranching his entire life. Ranching and rodeo, according to Jules, had been Tanner’s life, all while raising his nephew, Shawn.
Mac hoped to do a more thorough evaluation of the new stock when Nikki was with him. She, too, had a way with the animals and seemed to know as much as Tanner did. His own experience was lifelong, from helping on his godfather’s ranch in Idaho during summers to his and his sister’s personal stock. He’d always enjoyed riding and was happy to be working where he could enjoy it, even though they’d not yet had the time to do that.
He was leaving the corral when he caught a glimpse of Nikki, heading for the main building from the direction of the boys’ cabins. Even from a distance she looked tantalizing. Her long dark hair was loose, and her jeans molded her trim hips and long legs. As she drew closer, he noticed the top she was wearing. He frowned. What was she doing wearing a top like that around a bunch of teenage boys?
He was surprised to find her waiting just inside the building when he opened the door to walk inside. “Where were you this morning? You weren’t at breakfast with the boys and—”
“I know I should have been, but… It’s hard to explain.” She stopped and shook her head. “I— Oh, never mind. I suppose I should tell you.”
Exasperated, he simply waited for an explanation.
She drew in a deep breath. “It’s… It’s about Kirby.”
“What about him?”
“I…” Another shake of her head before she tried again. “He—”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Nikki, get on with it.”
Her eyes widened, and then she nodded. “Last night after the boys were in bed, as I was coming from the office, I saw him.”
She didn’t seem inclined to continue, so he offered a verbal nudge. “And?”
“Well, it was dark in the hallway, and I wasn’t sure at first what I was seeing.” She hesitated, but continued when he nodded, as if he understood, which he didn’t. “He was coming out of the kitchen.”
“Out of the kitchen?”
She nodded. “And he was dragging something behind him. Some kind of sack or a bag of some kind. I couldn’t tell what it was.”
“Did you ask him?”
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t say a word. I was too surprised. He’d just gone out the main door when you came in and flipped on the lights.”
“You haven’t spoken to him about it?”
She shook her head again.
“What in the world would he be carting out of the kitchen?”
“Food.”
“Food? But why?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, but I think it should be addressed.”
He thought about it, trying to make some sense of it and failing. What kind of food would an eight-year-old boy steal? A boy who was given three meals a day and quite often a snack, too. “You’re sure it was food?”
“I went to his room while the boys were at breakfast and found a pillowcase in his closet. It had food in it.”
“What kind of food?”
“A box of crackers, a jar of peanut butter and two packages of cookies. None were open.”
Considering the items stolen, it wasn’t a big deal, but because some of the boys were at the ranch for reasons other than good behavior, he felt something needed to be done. “We can’t let this go,” he told her. “These boys are here because they have problems. He stole items that didn’t belong to him.”
“But why?” she cried. “They have plenty to eat here. Why would he feel the need to steal food? I think that’s what we need to focus on.”
“He should be disciplined,” Mac announced. When she shook her head, her lips a thin line, he knew he had a battle on his hands. Kirby was her favorite. “Look, Nikki, something needs to be done.”
“We need to talk to him,” she countered, “not punish him.”
“I agree that someone should talk to him, but there must be some kind of repercussion for stealing. And that’s what it was.”
This time her hair flew when she shook her head. She just wasn’t going to be reasonable, no matter what.
Sighing, he knew she had a point, but there needed to be more than talk. “He knows it’s wrong, Nikki. You know that, I know that.”
Her brown eyes flashed with anger. “Forget I mentioned it.”
When she turned for her room, he reached for her. She spun around to look at him, and he noticed her anger had reached the boiling point. “Calm down, Nikki. Maybe we should—”
“I can handle it myself,” she stated, pulling away from him and reaching for her door.
He raised his hands in surrender. “Fine. I’ll leave it in your hands. You talk to him. And while you’re at it, put some clothes on.”
She stopped, her shoulders stiffening before she turned back to him. “Excuse me?”
“That top you’re wearing,” he said, pointing to the multicolored strapless knit thing that clung to her like a second skin. “Find something else to wear or cover it up. Teenage boys don’t need that kind of encouragement.” It was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
Eyes blazing with fury, she stepped closer and tilted her head up to look at him. “I don’t believe you said that. I’ve worked with troubled boys, teenagers and younger, since I graduated from high school. No one has ever had a problem with my choice of clothing.”
Angry at her for being so stubborn and even more at himself for saying what he had, he shrugged. “Then I guess I had to be the first, but somebody needed to say it.”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened, but he didn’t stay around to hear what she had to say. She was one stubborn female, he thought as he strode out the door and pulled in a deep breath. But he never should have said what he did.
Chapter Five
Nikki managed to avoid Mac for the rest of the day. She noticed he kept his distance from her, too, and she was relieved. Anger wasn’t something she handled easily, and she didn’t trust herself to be around others when it had taken hold of her. Even the next morning, forgiveness was not a part of her vocabulary, and she was thankful when he didn’t show up at breakfast.
She kept watch and waited until she had an opportunity to find Kirby alone. Asking him about the food he’d taken wasn’t the time to include everyone. Still seething over Mac’s rudeness
, she had no intention of asking for his help again. She certainly couldn’t trust him. She would take care of it herself. His handling of the boys was too stern, and while they needed some of that, they also needed understanding and someone to guide them, not simply discipline.
“Kirby,” she called when she saw him headed for the boys’ cabins after morning classes. “Could you come help me in the barn?”
Even from a distance she could see Kirby’s shy smile as he turned and walked her way. “What are we gonna do?” he asked when he caught up with her.
“Just straighten up a bit. It isn’t hard work, but it’ll go faster with two of us working.”
He nodded and walked with her to the barn, but said nothing. Once they were inside, she pointed to a pile of saddle blankets she’d made sure were in disarray. “If you could fold and stack those on the shelf, I’ll get the supplies we’ll need in a few days when you boys will start riding.”
His eyes grew wide with a look of wonder, and his smile, sometimes hidden, grew, too. “Really?”
“In a few days,” she cautioned, “but we want to be ready, right?”
His head bobbed up and down, and he eagerly tackled the saddle blankets.
She waited only a few minutes, knowing Mac, who’d gone to help Tanner with Rocking O chores, could be back at any time. When she felt the time was right, she asked, “Kirby, why do you have a pillowcase with snacks in it in your closet?”
He didn’t look up from his work, but she saw his body stiffen before he answered. “I do?”
“Yes,” she said, watching and waiting.
Still without looking at her, he shrugged his small shoulders. “I don’t know.”
She’d expected him to deny it, but she also felt certain he understood that what he’d done was wrong. “Come sit by me.”
He glanced at her as she settled on the bench beneath the tack, and he hesitated. Without a word he placed the folded saddle blanket he held on the shelf with the others and slowly moved to sit next to her. He didn’t look at her, just sat silently, his head down.
The Reluctant Wrangler Page 6
