April's Angel

by Danni Roan

  As she changed and slipped into the comfortable double bed the quietness of the night engulfed her. The peace of the ancient ranch seemed to envelop her bringing a soothing balm to her soul and sleep to her body. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered about the founders of the Broken J and the history that was dug deep into the Wyoming prairie.

  ***

  “Angie, I’ve hardly seen you at all since you got here,” Mrs. Wade’s accusatory tone made Angie cringe. “Why last time you were here you hung out in the kitchen with me every day.”

  “I’m sorry Mrs. Wade,” Angie said. “I’ve been enjoying the weather.”

  “Mornin’,” Jace walked up behind Angie where she sat at a table closest to the kitchen. “You ready to ride today?”

  “Ride?” Mrs. Wade turned back from where she had been kneading bread. The wait staff was busy serving breakfast as fast as guests could eat it, and the matron of the Broken J’s hubb was using her time to begin preparation for the afternoon meal. “I thought you didn’t ride.” Her dark eyes flitted from Angie to Jace and back again.

  “Jace has been helping me get used to being on a horse.” Angie’s dark blush was telling, but Mrs. Wade didn’t say anything. “It’s one of the reasons I came back,” the young woman admitted. “I wanted to prove that I could do it if I tried.”

  “Well good for you.” Mrs. Wade gave a nod of her head making her short gray curls bounce. “You take good care of her now Jace, or you’ll be on peanut butter and jelly for the rest of the week.

  Jace’s gentle chuckle rolled over the table as he took a seat next to Angie. “I’ll look after her,” he said shooting a gleaming glance at the older woman, “but your threat won’t work. I happen to love PB&J.”

  “Oh get on with you then,” Mrs. Wade grumbled waving a flour-covered hand at the man. “Jim, get these two something to eat, so I can be rid of them,” she added with a grin, speaking to one of the servers. “They have better things to do with their time than bother an old woman.”

  A server, a boy in his late teens hurried to the table with a tray laden with bacon, eggs, French toast, and other breakfast goodies making Angie grin. The former school lunch lady was keeping the staff hopping, and the kitchen running straight. It was nice to know some things never changed even in uncertain times.

  “So how are you today? Are you up for this?” Jace asked as he loaded scrambled eggs on his plate. “If you aren’t, we can wait.”

  “No, I think I’m ready. Will I ride Ben again or does it have to be another horse?”

  “We can use Ben. Unless I choose to ride him on the trails, he doesn’t go into the rotation at the ranch as a mount. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, and I even have some cookies for you to give him today.”

  “Horses get cookies?” Angie’s eyes grew wide.

  “Sure, horses get treats just like dogs or cats. Ben is partial to the carrot and apple treats. Just watch him when you say the word cookie, he’ll be excited.”

  Angie laughed, now curious about how Ben would react to the word cookie. She had seen dogs who got excited about the word ice cream, so why not a horse and the word cookie. “This could prove to be a very interesting day.”

  “I hope so,” Jace gave her a wink. “I’ll saddle up one of the other horses as soon as we’re done eating then we’ll go for a little jaunt. Sound like a plan?”

  “Sounds like a good plan.” Angie smiled feeling content as she dug into her breakfast with gusto. She had loved seeing the wider reaches of the ranch as a teen and riding in the old pony cart with Michelle. This time she would see it from the back of a horse. Her stomach quivered with excitement, but no trace of the fear she had been experiencing seemed evident. She whispered a heartfelt prayer to heaven that it would stay that way.

  ***

  “All settled?” Jace asked an hour later as Angie guided Ben around the corral for the second time. “Do you feel like you’re ready to hit the trail?”

  Angie didn’t feel any pressure from the cowboy only a sense of care. He was letting her take things slow and gain confidence in guiding the horse.

  “I think I’m ready,” she replied. “Will Ben get another cookie when we get home?”

  The big buckskin paused in his turn flicking his ears up and facing Jace expectantly. “Oops, I guess I shouldn’t have said that out loud.” Angie couldn’t contain the laughter as she turned Ben back to his owner who pulled a cookie from his pocket and handed it to the buckskin.

  “If you keep saying that word my horse is gonna get fat,” Jace teased. He waited until the horse had finished his treat then walked toward the gate of the corral. “Bring him around here and then we’ll ride out.” He opened the gate and Angie guided Ben through. The old horse was so calm she was pretty sure her directions didn’t mean much to him overall. He seemed to sense what she wanted and moved easily from place to place with little prompting.

  Jace pushed the gate closed behind them and latched it then leapt into the saddle of a dark palomino in one smooth motion, making Angie gasp in surprise. She had seen that move in old westerns she had watched with her father, but to see someone do it in real life was a surprise.

  “I didn’t know people really mounted a horse that way,” Angie said eyeing him more closely. “It seemed almost effortless.”

  “When you’ve been all but born to the saddle it comes natural,” Jace said his neck growing red. He hadn’t thought about how his action would be perceived and hoped Angie didn’t think he had been showing off. He knew it was hard for her to have to be lifted into the saddle yet he loved the opportunity to hold her in his arms for those few moments before setting her on Ben’s back.

  “I was just surprised,” Angie said softly. “Now, where are we going?”

  Jace moved his horse in beside Ben and pointed down a dim trail. “There’s a nice trail that leads up into the hill behind the creek,” he said. “I thought it might be an easy ride, but away from the other guests. Will that work?”

  “It sounds perfect. I bet you can see a lot of the range from up there.”

  “It’s pretty nice.” Jace kept his horse at an easy pace and Angie had no trouble sitting tall in the saddle as Ben moved easily over the ground.

  “Jace, can I ask you a question?” Angie spoke after a few minutes. They had crossed the shallow stream where it broke away from the ranch proper and were headed across a trail in the green grass.

  “Anything you want,” the cowboy grinned.

  “If you weren’t here, working on the Broken J, where would you be?”

  The only sound for several minutes was the soft thud of horses’ hooves on the grass and the sharp call of a bird in a distant tree. Angie started to think she shouldn’t have asked the question. Just because Jace had been friendly and helpful didn’t mean she had the right to pry. She was about to apologize for the intrusion into his private life when he began to speak.

  “I can’t say I rightly know,” Jace said, his voice pensive. “All I’ve ever know is horses, cattle, and wrangling. I worked with my father on my grandpa’s ranch for a long time, then when he joined the military my mother and the rest of us moved around to different bases, but always ended up back on the ranch. When Dad was done with the military, he moved back home, but granddad couldn’t keep up with the ranch anymore, and it was subdivided among his children. Dad took a job as a wrangler with the rodeo, and we did that for a while before he and Mom decided it was time to settle somewhere. They took up the little patch of land left to them and kept a few horses. By then I was out of school and restless. I worked a few ranches then ended up here last year. My brothers and two sisters are all married and living throughout Wyoming, but I just can’t seem to find my space.”

  Angie nodded but didn’t speak. Something told her that Jace wasn’t done talking and that his ramblings would lead them back to the original question in time.

  “I like it here on the Broken J. The work isn’t hard. It’s all familiar, and I know the crew. Chase a
nd Phil are fair, and they trust the people they have working for them. It makes for a nice work environment. The pays all right, I have days off and time to visit family over the holidays. That’s always nice. I guess winter can be a little rough working with Kade to move stubborn cattle, but I’m not complaining.”

  Angie grinned. So far the man had only told her why he would want to stay at the Broken J and part of her could understand it. As a teen, it had been the best holiday of her life, and she had wanted to return ever since. Now she was here, and thanks to the man riding next to her, she was sitting on a horse without panicking. She couldn’t fault him for liking what he did. It must have been rewarding to help her achieve this goal.

  “As to where I’d like to be if I weren’t here, I don’t know. I think I’d like to help people. It was nice knowing you trusted me enough to get on old Ben there. I guess whatever I do I’d like to keep working with horses and people. I can’t say I’m anyone special, or that I have unique skills, but I believe that we’re here to help our fellow man in whatever way comes to us.”

  The horses topped the low rise they had been climbing for several minutes and Jace pulled his mount to a stop. Mirroring him Angie drew Ben to a stop and gazed out over the range. The green grass that swept over the prairie rippled in an early morning breeze like sea waves rising toward the shore. The bright morning sun kissed the mountains far off to the south and shimmered on peaks still dusted with snow. The scene was awe-inspiring, breathtaking, and beautiful.

  Angie drew in a breath as her eyes drifted over the plains taking in as much as she could see. Without realizing it, she reached for Jace’s hand and in a moment, it was clasped in his reassuring grip.

  They sat there for several long minutes, silently soaking in the beauty of God’s creation and thinking of a future they didn’t truly understand.

  “Jace,” Angie finally spoke her eyes still studying the far off hills.

  “Yes,” the cowboy’s voice was husky and she could tell he was touched by the land as she was.

  “Do you think someone like me could help others with injuries by using horses?” The thought had been at the back of her mind for so long that she barely realized how much her heart longed for it.

  “I don’t see why not,” Jace’s words were firm, full of conviction. “Maybe you wouldn’t be able to do some of what I’ve done for you, but you could ride along with them and show them how it works. Just the other day, Red was telling me how Jackson works in the saddle to continue to improve his spinal strength. He’s a rodeo cowboy who got tromped by a big old bull a few years ago. If Jacks can be up walking and raising horses with Chase, why can’t you help others use horses as therapy?”

  Angie felt the smile breaking over her face and sighed. This man knew horses, and he thought she could do the job she had her heart set on, she only hoped that the licensing boards would agree when the time came.

  “Would you mind helping me learn more and ride better?”

  “It’d be my pleasure,” Jace grinned.

  “I wish you could be there with me,” Angie sighed absently as her mind traveled toward the ultimate end of her path. Having someone like Jace around to back her up and help her when her physical limitations got in the way would make such a big difference, but she knew this was her path not his and she would have to trust God to get her there.

  “You ready to head back?” Jace asked after a few moments, making Angie start. She had been so lost in thought she had forgotten everything around her.

  “Oh, sorry,” she blushed prettily. “I guess I got lost in thought there for a minute. This has been lovely though, and you have helped me so much. I haven’t been afraid even once.”

  Jace nodded, turning his horse back toward the path then waiting for Ben to fall into step. He had been startled by Angie’s statement earlier. He could tell she had spoken without thinking, but still, the thought of being with her daily had a very real appeal. Perhaps he had only known her a few days, but he liked her and was proud to know a woman with such pluck and determination.

  All too soon, they were back at the ranch and Jace was standing next to Ben reaching up for Angie. She slid easily out of the saddle her body sliding the length of his before he scooped her up and carried her to her waiting wheelchair. For a moment, she didn’t want to let go and as he leaned forward to settle her into the all too familiar conveyance, she had the mad thought of kissing him.

  A hot blush raced up her face at the thought, but when his eyes met hers, her breath froze in her lungs. There was a questioning light reflected there, a hope, a promise, but it was gone in an instant, and once more, she was alone in her chair.

  “I’d head over to the spa if I were you,” Jace said rubbing his neck with one rough hand. “You aren’t used to that kind of work, and you’ll probably be sore.”

  Angie laughed lightly. “I’m not sure I did much of the work,” she said reaching out and patting Ben. “This old guy is the one carting my sorry hide around after all.”

  Jace smiled slapping the buckskin on the shoulder. “I guess he deserves a cookie.” Angie and Jace both said the word at the same time and the old horse swung his muzzle toward Jace expectantly. Laughter rolled over them and the awkwardness of a moment ago evaporated on the wind.

  Jace reached into his pocket and pulled out a crunchy biscuit-like disk placing it in Angie’s hand. “You give it to him,” he smiled. “After all he’s been carrying you around.” Jace winked and Angie beamed at him taking the cookie and offering it to Ben in her outstretched palm.

  “He sure loves these things,” Angie said stroking the horse’s neck while he chomped contentedly. “What about your mount, doesn’t it get a treat too?”

  “No, he’s one of the ranch horses and they get their regular feed. If we gave them something every time they got home, they’d be barn sour and turn tail and run for the barn with an inexperienced rider in tow. It could get ugly fast.”

  “That sounds dangerous.” Angie’s eyes grew wide with concern. “Has it ever happened before?”

  “No, mostly it’s the riders that do something they shouldn’t. Chase is careful about his mounts.”

  “Why isn’t Ben barn sour then if he gets a ‘you know what’ every time he goes for a ride?”

  “I guess it’s because he has been in too many different places over the years. We never seem to know where we’ll light next.”

  Something turned over in Angie’s heart at the man’s words, and she felt a sorrow she didn’t understand. Perhaps she wasn’t’ sure if she would ever have the job and purpose she desired, but she knew she would always have a home. Even now living on the college campus where she studied she knew that her parents’ door was always open if she needed them. What would it be like to feel like nowhere was truly home?

  “Can we go out again tomorrow?” Angie’s words tumbled out with a hearty helping of hope, and she breathed easier at Jace’s smile.

  “I’m working the morning trail ride, but you can go with me or if you’d rather we can go out once I get back.”

  “Oh, I don’t want you to work that hard,” Angie said ducking her head. “Maybe I’ll just see you at lunch.”

  Jace took one step and he was kneeling before her. “Don’t say that,” he pleaded. “I don’t mind riding again in the afternoon. More than likely, I’d end up riding the fence-line for Kade or checking stock for Chase. I spend a lot of hours in the saddle not just Duding it up for the guests here. I’d be happy to go with you again. I’ve enjoyed your company and our time together.”

  Angie felt her heart pick up a beat and she leaned toward the cowboy. “Are you sure?”

  “I wouldn’t say it if I weren’t.”

  “Do you have to work tomorrow evening?”

  “I’ll help with the barn work and feeding but otherwise I’ll be free after supper. We could take a ride out to the old cabin across the creek and watch the sunset.”

  Angie’s mind filled with the image of sitting on a horse a
s the sun slowly sank below the horizon turning the sky shades of crimson gold as she and her mount slowly became a dark silhouette against the evening blaze. “That sounds nice.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Jace said standing and stepping back. “Make sure you’re ready.”

  Chapter 10

  Jace had been right to recommend a trip to the spa, and Angie was grateful for a long soak in the whirlpool tub. Her handicap was a weakening of the muscles and not total paralysis, so her legs felt the strain of unfamiliar activity, and she settled into the large copper tub with a sigh. The tubs, according to the plaque on the wall, were original to the ranch. An item purchased by Joshua James to give his family and hands a place to wash regularly. Since then they had been converted into whirlpool tubs with portable jets.

  “A little bird told me you went riding,” Delmarie said with a grin as Angie wheeled herself out of a changing room. “Did you enjoy it?” The pretty woman was still slim and lovely, but with a restful nature unlike when Angie had met her before.

  “I did,” Angie admitted. “I’m starting to get a lot more comfortable on a horse. I was scared before, but with the right help, I’m not at all afraid.”

  “I was angry the first time I went for a ride here on the ranch,” Del admitted. “Colten all but called me chicken to make sure I’d get on that horse.” The pretty woman with the dark hair and eyes grinned then leaned down to tap on her leg. “He knew about this too but never said a word.”

  “You’re lucky to have him,” Angie smiled. “I love going by the blacksmith shop and seeing what new things he’s made. I think he’s gotten even more creative with his work. Does he still make those funny cast iron flowers?”

  “He does,” Del smiled again and her eyes fill with a light of love. She had come to the Broken J as a guest the same year Angie had visited but her anger at God had almost meant she had lost her best chance at love. “We have twin girls and we named them after flowers. Daisy and Iris,” Del grinned. “I was taken by surprise by that event.” She chuckled lightly. “Colt has made them each their own special flower sculptures.”