Rancher and Protector

by Pamela Britton

  “Okay, that’s enough, you two,” Gil said. “Amber.

  Bring Flash on over here. We’ll let Eric finish his ride some other time.”

  “Yeah, like when I’m in charge,” Jarrod muttered.

  “Jarrod,” Gil said quickly.

  “You ready to get down?” Colt asked, clearly forcing a smile as he stepped forward.

  “Do I have to?” Eric asked.

  His mother patted his thigh. “It’s time, honey,” she said softly.

  “You need any help?” asked Mr. Peery.

  “Nope,” Colt said, moving to Eric’s side. “We’re good.”

  But Amber could tell he was furious.

  “Come on down, buddy,” he said, gently lifting the child off Flash’s back.

  “Aww, drag,” Eric said.

  But Eric’s mother was beaming. “I’ve never seen him so excited,” she whispered to Amber. Her smile faltered a bit. “After the accident…”

  Amber gently touched the woman’s arm. “I know. They withdraw into themselves. But something about horses…”

  Mrs. Peery watched as her son went up to Flash’s head.

  “Thanks, horse,” he exclaimed, his eyes bright.

  “He loves it,” she said in a low voice. “I haven’t seen him smile like that in…well, a long time.”

  “His reaction is the reason I’m here,” Amber confessed.

  Colt was squatting next to the child, showing him how to touch Flash’s nose. The cowboy had calmed down somewhat, but Amber could tell he was still mad as all get-out.

  “Actually, it’s the second reason I’m here.” She turned to Mrs. Peery. “I’m doubling as a speech therapist for the next eight weeks, but I’m interning as a hippotherapist at Camp Cowboy.”

  “You mean you don’t work here permanently?”

  “No. I joined up for the first session of the year.”

  “I was so glad we got in,” Eric’s mom declared. “We’ve been trying for six months now.”

  “Gil—” Amber pointed her chin to where her boss stood “—said if I like doing this, I’m welcome to join them for the session in March.” She watched as Gil looked from Colt to Jarrod, who appeared to be arguing.

  “I’m hoping we’ll be allowed to return in March, too,” Mrs. Peery said with a glance at her son. “We were put on a waiting list for this session, and even then they didn’t call until after the Christmas break. Just before New Year’s.” She frowned. “Someone needs to open up a place like this year-round instead of for eight-week sessions.”

  “I agree.” But Amber knew Camp Cowboy operated in eight week segments for a reason. To help more children in need.

  “Hippotherapy seems so promising,” Mrs. Peery said.

  “And Camp Cowboy has some of the best hippotherapists in the business. I’m hoping they’ll give me their insights—you know, teach me how to work with children and horses. Become more than a speech therapist.”

  Mrs. Peery’s eyes were bright. “I think you’re going to do great.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Here,” Colt said, reaching for Flash’s reins, “I’ll take him back to his stall.”

  Amber hadn’t heard him come up, even though she’d had one eye on his argument with Jarrod this whole time. “Can I help?”

  “No.” She and the Peerys trailed him as he led the horse from the arena.

  “He doesn’t look happy,” Mrs. Peery whispered as they stopped by the gate.

  “I think he’s mad at Jarrod for telling him he shouldn’t have put Eric on Flash.”

  “Oh, I hope not. Eric loved it so much.”

  But as she watched Colt head back to the barn, Amber heard Jarrod say to Gil, “He has no business working with special needs kids.”

  The director nodded.

  “He’s not trained,” Jarrod added.

  “I’ll talk to him,” she heard Gil reply before pasting a bright smile on his face and turning to Eric.

  “Did you have fun?”

  “Yup.”

  “Just wait until you get better at it,” Gil said.

  Colt disappeared with Flash into the barn.

  “I hope he doesn’t get in trouble,” Mrs. Peery murmured.

  “Me, too.”

  Amber wondered if she should follow Colt.

  “Oh, the helmet,” Mrs. Peery said.

  “I’ll take it back,” she said quickly.

  “I can do that,” Jarrod offered.

  “No, thanks,” she snapped.

  What a jerk.

  But before she could dash after Colt, Mrs. Peery stopped her. “Thank you,” she said. Amber noticed the woman had tears in her eyes. “I mean, really, thank you. It was wonderful to see Eric smile again.”

  One day, she hoped to say the same about her nephew.

  “You’re welcome.” Amber turned away and vowed that, yes, one day she would.

  But first she had to see what was up with Colt.

  DIRTY ROTTEN BASTARD. He should have clocked the guy in the face. Who did he think he was?

  Have you ever worked with disabled children before?

  “As if you need a degree to ride,” Colt muttered under his breath. Flash snorted.

  “I know,” he said. “Pompous ass.”

  “You okay?”

  He turned, stunned to see Amber behind him in the stall.

  “Fine,” he said curtly.

  “Liar.”

  He just shook his head. Where was Flash’s halter?

  He spotted it in the shavings.

  “I’ll get that,” she said, obviously following his gaze. She handed it to him the proper way—crown piece up.

  She was learning.

  “Thanks.”

  “For the record, I think putting Eric on Flash was the right thing to do.”

  “For the record—” Colt slipped Flash’s bridle off, then slid on the halter “—I have more experience with horses than every hippotherapist at this camp combined.”

  “I know,” she said, even though she didn’t really know any such thing. She just didn’t think now was the time to argue.

  “Eric was having a great time until Bozo came along.”

  “He was.” She watched as Colt flipped the stirrup up, hooking it on the saddle horn.

  “All you need are your knees to hang on.”

  “I can attest to that,” she said. Her own knees felt chaffed where the saddle had rubbed against them.

  “Eric’s prosthetic was on his lower leg,” Colt said. “I could tell.”

  She could, too.

  He undid the leather strap that attached to a wide rubber piece. The girth, she thought it was called. But before he could jerk the saddle from Flash’s back, she rested a hand on his arm.

  “I know Eric was in no danger.”

  Colt’s hands were shaking, she noted in surprise. “I did not put that child in danger.”

  Was he stricken by guilt? Why did he seem so devastated? So disappointed?

  “I know you didn’t,” she said, gently rubbing his arm. A man’s arm. The hard cord of muscle beneath his shirt sent a static charge up her fingers. Or was that from something else?

  “I would never intentionally put someone in danger.”

  “Of course not.” She slid her hand up to his shoulder. So hard. So masculine. So tempting to touch.

  He shook his head and pulled the saddle off, heading toward the tack room before she could say another word.

  She almost leaned against Flash.

  Amber crossed her arms in front of her, disgusted with herself. Had she learned nothing from watching her sister fall head over heels for a cowboy? A man like the one who’d just walked away. A man who didn’t know the meaning of the word commitment.

  “I must be losing my mind.”

  She felt something nudge her leg.

  Mac stared up at her.

  “Hey, boy.” She reached down and stroked his fur.

  It took a while before Colt returned, snatching up a b
rush.

  “Um, you want to get a bite to eat after this?” she said, still rubbing Mac. “The cafeteria is open.”

  “No.”

  Colt’s tone was as impersonal as a doctor’s.

  “Okay, sure. Yeah. I understand. No problem.” She gave Mac one last rub and turned away. “Amber, wait.”

  She forced herself to keep walking, Mac following behind her.

  “Amber.”

  She kept moving.

  Catching up, Colt blocked her path. “Mac, get back to the barn.” His dog glanced first at her, then at him, then reluctantly—or so it seemed—returned the way he had come.

  “I’m sorry,” Colt said. She watched as he tipped his head back for a moment, releasing a breath. “I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just pissed. And…sad.”

  “Sad?” she asked, forgetting for a moment how prickly he’d been acting.

  “For Eric. That kid will have to go through the rest of his life feeling different. And if he doesn’t know that now, I’m sure other kids will remind him of it. It upset me.” Colt shook his head. “And then the horse whisperer came along and got me angry.”

  “I’ve got to go,” Amber said, pulling away from him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I just remembered I have to do something.”

  It was one thing to be physically attracted to a man, quite another thing to be attracted to the person he was inside.

  Chapter Seven

  She didn’t see him the rest of the day.

  Thank God for that.

  Amber didn’t want to like Colt. Not when she was so damn attracted to him. That way lay danger.

  So she suffered through a restless night. When she finally dragged herself out of bed she told herself not to worry. Yesterday had been a fluke. An aberration. She was over it now.

  Still, when he wasn’t around at breakfast, she wasn’t disappointed, although she did wonder where his dog was.

  Two hours after sunrise Camp Cowboy became a bustling hub of activity.

  Her nephew arrived today.

  Heading back to her room after breakfast, she tugged on a black turtleneck. She’d learned that San Francisco was cold in the morning, far different from Sacramento, where she lived. Once that early morning fog rolled in, the temperature dropped by a good twenty degrees. That meant jeans and a thick pair of socks.

  “You ready?” one of her coworkers asked, exiting her room at practically the same moment as Amber.

  The woman—one of the live-in volunteers—smiled. Melissa. Long, brown hair. Matching brown eyes. Pretty smile. Friendly. Amber had liked her right off the bat.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she answered.

  They walked together down the stairs to where the staff was meeting in the lobby, the area between Gil’s office and the cafeteria.

  “Thank you, everyone, for coming,” said the director, taking center stage in yet another polyester suit, this one gray. “I don’t know about you, but I’m excited.”

  The words stood as a reminder of what Amber had come here to do. Learn. To get over her fear of horses. Help Dee.

  “As you all know,” Gil added, the light fixture above his head shining on his bald scalp, “the schedule will remain the same every day.”

  Against her better judgment, she looked around.

  And there he was.

  In his black jacket and cowboy hat, he was hard to miss…and he was staring right at her. “Who’s that?” her neighbor whispered.

  “One of the horse wranglers,” Amber answered in an aside.

  “Well, he can sure wrangle me.”

  Amber just shook her head. Gil was speaking again.

  “The kids will be down at the barn right after breakfast. I expect the kitchen staff to help in this endeavor.” He glanced behind him, toward the food prep area. At least ten white-clad people stood behind a glass partition. Amber could smell the eggs and bacon that had been on today’s menu.

  “Those of you who’ve been here before know the drill. We’ll need a full slate of therapists ready and waiting at the barn every morning to supervise the kids.”

  Colt was still looking at Amber. She could feel it. But why? Hadn’t he gotten the message last night?

  “Horse personnel,” Gil went on. “Your animals will need to be saddled and ready by 8:00 a.m. You’ll need to be on hand at all times. We’ll break for lunch at noon.”

  Amber tuned him out. She’d already seen the schedule Gil was talking about. It’d been in her new-hire packet.

  “At one o’clock, we’ll resume working with the horses.”

  Colt didn’t appear to be listening, either. At least he wasn’t staring at her anymore.

  “I’d like to remind everyone,” Gil said firmly, “that the children at this camp are our first priority.”

  Children. Dee.

  “Last year,” he continued, “we had a few hitches, but this year I expect perfection from everyone, even the new hires. I want this to be the best facility in the nation for challenged children.”

  Someone began to clap, then another person. Soon the room was filled with applause and whoops of excitement. Amber knew she should be equally inspired, but she was too busy looking around for Colt.

  He’d disappeared. And she felt…abandoned. Silly. It wasn’t as if they were friends. Or as if she should befriend him at all.

  She forced her thoughts elsewhere, because she would be dealing with Colt soon enough. Gil appeared to be wrapping things up.

  “All right. The first bus arrives in—” he checked his watch “—any minute now. Go upstairs, grab your jackets or whatever you need to get. Do me proud, people. Above all else, let’s help the children.”

  Those were words she should live by, Amber thought, pushing away from the wall.

  “You look sad.”

  Her heart leaped at the sound of the male voice, but it wasn’t Colt who’d spoken. A man she’d never met stood behind her.

  “I’m just wishing the weather would change,” she said with a smile. “Amber Brooks.” She offered her hand.

  “Steven Simpson,” he said back. Blue eyes and black hair. Cute in a noncowboy, completely normal sort of way.

  Why can’t you be attracted to him?

  “Do you have a brother named Bart?”

  He seemed to appreciate her lame attempt at humor. “No, but I have a sister named Jessica.”

  That made Amber laugh. “Obviously, you’ve been asked that question before,” she said.

  “Once or twice.”

  To her excitement, he turned out to be another of the certified hippotherapists. Thank God. Maybe she wouldn’t have to work with Jarrod anymore. She spotted the pompous blond talking to Gil. Not surprising. Probably kissing the camp director’s ass.

  “You ready for this?” Steven asked.

  “I think so,” she said.

  “I am, too,” Melissa exclaimed, leaning into the conversation. The young intern’s expression was filled with excitement. “And who’s this?”

  “Melissa, Steven. Steven, Melissa.”

  The two of them started talking eagerly, which was okay by Amber because she was abruptly dealing with self-doubt. Wondering if she should have driven up to the Sonoma care facility where Dee had been a resident for the past few years, maybe taken him down to San Francisco herself. But Dee was…difficult. He required round-the-clock attention. She’d found it impossible to take care of him and hold down a full-time job. So she’d done the next best thing. Enrolled him at one of the best facilities in the state of California and then driven in from Sacramento to visit him every weekend. But that had done little good. Her nephew was so disconnected from the world he acted as if she wasn’t even there.

  Maybe horses would provide the breakthrough she’d been looking for. Lord knows she’d tried everything else.

  She followed the crowd outside. Still no sign of Colt. But a giant diesel pusher that looked almost like a tour bus was headed up the road, its motor growling
like a grizzly. Somewhere behind her she heard a rooster crow, but she focused all her attention on the black bus. Like Dee, all the children lived in the area, but he’d been on the bus the longest, since he came from Sonoma. His caretakers had put him on at five this morning. Poor pumpkin was probably tired—not that any staff here would know it.

  “Okay,” Gil said. “Once the kids are unloaded, we’ll take them down to the barn one by one. Tomorrow we’ll start doing things in groups, but today I just want the children to see the horses, maybe touch one—nothing more. They won’t be riding until next week, so no need to rush things.”

  Amber found herself wondering if that had been for Colt’s benefit. She hoped not.

  Where had he gone?

  “Those of you not working down at the barn will be responsible for bringing the kids’ luggage up to their rooms.”

  “Oh, man,” someone grumbled.

  “First ones down to the barn will be Amber and Melissa, with Jarrod as the hippotherapist.”

  “Right on,” Melissa said.

  Son of a— Oh, well. Amber would not let this spoil her mood.

  “The child you two will be working with is Dee.” Gil met her gaze, all but giving her a wink at their little secret. “Just speech therapy today, Amber. Don’t worry. You won’t be riding any horses.” He glanced at the crowd. “And while Dee is down at the barn, someone will need to bring his bags up.”

  “I’ll do it,” a young woman offered.

  “Terrific. Thanks. We’ll need all hands on deck today while the kids settle in,” the director added, his ring of gray hair nearly the same color as the fog above them. “Have fun, people.”

  Fun.

  That seemed impossible. She’d be dealing with a man who made her heart do funny things and another man she couldn’t stand.

  And then there was Dee.

  She was nervous, she admitted. Keyed up. She did her best to peer through the tinted windows of the bus, but all she saw was the white reflection of the lodge in the shiny surface. She hoped he wasn’t fidgety from his long ride. He could become difficult when he wasn’t allowed to move around a lot.

  The sound of the engine grew louder, the crunch of gravel filling the air. Her heart rate increased every foot it traveled, until at last the bus pulled to a stop in front of them. Amber jumped when the hydraulic brake hissed. All she could make out were dark shapes inside. She knew they had nurses and caretakers on board, too. The vehicle looked packed.