A Cowboy in Her Arms

by Mary Leo

  “No excuse,” Mr. Crawly said, and proceeded past her into the school.

  At this point, there was only one thing left for Callie to do. “How ’bout if I drive you home today? Would you like that?”

  Emma nodded, hiccupped and attempted to soothe herself. Callie pulled a tissue out of her purse and gently wiped Emma’s eyes. “That’s better. Now let’s get you home. We should be there in no time.”

  Callie knew that if this was in a bigger city, she’d have to wait for Joel to contact her, but this was Briggs and in Briggs it was fine for a teacher to give a child a ride home...on occasion...and this was most certainly one of those occasions.

  A few minutes later, Callie and Emma were on their way to the Double S Ranch.

  “All set?” Callie asked as Emma strapped herself into the backseat of Callie’s extended-cab pickup.

  “All set,” Emma repeated. “My daddy usually picks me up. He’s big and strong and...”

  Emma rattled on about her dad, how busy he was, the ranch, her classmates, Aunt Polly and anything else that floated into her consciousness. It reminded Callie of a continuous stream of innocuous chatter, much like background music. The kind where you sense it’s playing, but you never stop to recognize a song. Nothing is ever distinctive. It merely all blends together in a sort of din that either soothes you or grates on your nerves.

  Emma hadn’t reached the grating on her nerves point...yet. She was still in the background din category, but Callie felt certain if she had to drive her home on a regular basis, her nerves would soon be raw. She hated how she felt, but she couldn’t seem to figure her way out of it, no matter how much she wanted to.

  Callie ignored much of what Emma said as they headed up the road toward the Double S Ranch, only occasionally giving her an “uh-huh” or a “that’s nice, Emma.” Callie didn’t consciously try to tune her out; it more or less happened organically whenever the two of them were confined for any length of time. She remembered how Emma’s mom had had the gift of gab, and there were times, for Callie’s own sanity, when she’d had to ask her to please stop talking for a while.

  It struck Callie how similar mothers and daughters were, and she wondered if the similarities were learned, like tying a shoe, or was it genetic, like blue eyes and blond hair. She knew for a fact that she and her own mom shared a love of children and family. All the girls in the Grant family shared a love for good-quality tea, and almost anything baked with sugar and butter, but that was probably more about growing up with their mom’s pastries. Everyone in the family, including their dad and Kayla’s husband, Jimmy, had a terrible sweet tooth. She didn’t think anyone would be accepted into the clan without a love for everything sweet.

  The thought made her mouth water for one of her mom’s pies...or a scone...or a slice of chocolate cake and a hot cup of tea. She would much rather be enjoying herself with any one of those things while sitting in a rocker on the front porch at home right now rather than driving Emma home.

  Joel Darwood would get an earful. That was for sure.

  As they approached the turnoff for the Double S Ranch, Callie thought she heard Emma say something about her horses, but by the time her mind clicked in and she registered what Emma was saying it was too late. She’d already made the turn.

  Two majestic chestnut-colored horses stood in the middle of the dirt road, directly in front of Callie’s moving truck.

  Callie yelled as she swerved to the opposite side of the road trying desperately to avoid hitting them. The next thing she knew she was heading for a deep ditch off the narrow shoulder. “Hold on, Emma!”

  But Emma was already screaming not to hit her horses as she sobbed in the backseat.

  Callie turned the wheel, praying she’d bypass both horses and the steep ravine just off the shoulder. Her hands had a viselike grip on the wheel, and her focus lasered in on her driving. It seemed as though time slowed and her breathing was nonexistent. With some incredible maneuvering, Callie managed to skim the tight, rocky shoulder and miss the horses, which had since run off the opposite side of the road toward the open land that surrounded the Double S.

  When Callie finally stopped the truck in a safe spot on a more even part of the shoulder, she jammed the gearshift into Park and switched off the ignition. Then she turned back to Emma expecting the worst. Instead, Emma’s eyes were big and round and Callie knew the child could go either way, depending on how the adult reacted. She needed to keep Emma calm, especially since her own emotions were about to explode.

  Callie took a deep breath and tried her best not to show any concern over what had just taken place. “Wow, Emma, that was something, wasn’t it! Thank you so much for warning me about the horses. That was sure smart of you to tell me about them. You really helped out a lot. When I first took the turn, I didn’t see them. Thank you for being that aware!”

  At once, Emma seemed to relax; her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth went up. “You’re welcome,” she whispered. “Can we go home now? I want my daddy.”

  “Absolutely. We should be there in a few minutes.”

  Emma gently nodded, but Callie could tell the child’s emotions were ready to pour out. Heck, Callie’s emotions were ready to pour out. It took all her inner strength not to blubber like a baby. When she thought of what could have happened, it gave her a shiver, so she pushed the thought away and reluctantly readied herself to turn over the ignition. Her hands were still shaking as she reached for the key. Not a good sign. She told herself everything was fine. She and Emma were fine. She gulped a couple deep breaths, but she couldn’t quite get her body to listen.

  “I want my daddy,” Emma repeated, her voice a little unstable.

  Callie consciously relaxed her tight shoulders and tried to convince herself she felt as steady as a rock.

  “Hang in there, Emma. We’re almost home.”

  Callie glanced in the rearview mirror getting ready to start the truck up again and pull out just as she spotted a ranch truck pull up behind her and park.

  Joel got out.

  She’d never been so happy to see Joel in her entire life.

  “You two okay?” Joel shouted as he approached Callie’s truck. “Something happen to your truck? It’s way too dangerous to pull over on this narrow shoulder. You could’ve easily driven right over the side and ended up in that ditch.”

  The last thing Callie needed at the moment was driving lessons from Joel Darwood.

  “We’re fine,” Callie told him, a little miffed at his attitude. “Thank you very much. And I didn’t drive into that ditch, as you can see.”

  Emma instantly started crying as soon as she saw her dad, holding out her arms for him to pick her up. “Oh, Daddy!”

  Callie remained inside the cab for a moment longer, trying to brace herself.

  Joel reached inside, unbuckled his daughter’s seat belt and pulled her into his arms. “What’s wrong, kitten?”

  Callie wished he’d pull her into his arms, as well. That was the closest she’d ever been to having a major accident. If she had hit those animals, there was no telling what might have happened. She couldn’t even think about it without wanting to cry.

  Emma continued to sob, but managed to tell her dad how their horses were standing in the road. “Why would they do that, Daddy? Don’t they know that the road is for cars and not for horses?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, cupcake. What happened?”

  “The horses...they were in the road.”

  “What horses? I don’t see any horses, kitten.”

  “Our horses, Golden Girl and Rockabilly. They...they were here.”

  Joel stooped down to talk to Callie, who was still trying to rustle up some calm. “What is she talking about?”

  “Two chestnut horses were standing dead center in the road,” Callie told hi
m, wondering where the heck they had come from. They were nowhere to be seen now.

  “So you ended up here, heading straight for a ditch? Couldn’t you simply have driven around them? Or were you going too fast and not paying attention?”

  Callie was about to defend herself when Emma said, “But we didn’t hit them, Daddy. We almost did, but they ran off instead. I saw the horses before Miss Callie did, and she turned the truck so we could miss hitting them. I was scared, Daddy. Really scared.”

  He threw Callie a scowl, then started back for his truck. “I’ve got you now, baby. Everything’s going to be okay. I promise.”

  Callie closed her eyes and tried to relax her tense body, but all she could see were those two beautiful animals staring at her with their big brown eyes.

  Of course, Joel’s dismissive attitude didn’t help her nerves one bit. If anything, he’d succeeded in making her angry that he wasn’t more appreciative of her driving skills. She’d reacted on instinct, after years of driving on her parents’ ranch avoiding livestock, boulders, downed tree limbs and an assortment of other roadblocks. She’d learned how to maneuver a moving vehicle, and it had all paid off today.

  But apparently, Joel didn’t see it that way.

  Once Emma felt safe in her daddy’s arms she stopped crying. Callie could hear him tell his daughter that the horses would be fine, and that they had probably meandered home by now.

  Callie wanted to go home. She opened her door and slid out, feeling a bit better, but still weak in the knees.

  “I’ll be leaving, then,” Callie told him, trying to sound as if she wasn’t still a quivering mess on the inside. Joel looked pale as he held on to Emma, soothing her as he stroked the back of her head. His normal easygoing demeanor had been replaced by a combination of relief, anger and terror that his daughter might have been in a terrible accident. Callie could understand his mixed emotions, but she didn’t appreciate his anger directed at her.

  “Your cheek is bleeding,” Joel told her, looking concerned.

  Callie’s hand instinctually went right for the bump on the left side of her face and sure enough, she’d been cut. How it had happened was a complete mystery.

  “I’m sure it’s just a little scrape. I’ll be fine.”

  He stepped in closer to her. “I’m sorry if I came across a little too aggressive—just upset over what might have happened. Time got away from me and when I went to call you, my phone was dead. Forgot to charge it last night. Thanks for driving Emma home. I know it’s out of your way.”

  “I didn’t know what else to do,” Callie told him, her stomach shaking.

  Joel must have sensed her condition. “You should stop in at the house for a while,” he said, his voice softer now. “Let’s clean that wound. I have tissues in my truck to stop the bleeding. Polly can tell if you need to see a doctor. She studied to be a nurse when she was young. You can leave your truck here. I’ll drive.”

  For a moment, Callie hesitated, not really sure if she should take him up on his offer, but she couldn’t seem to shake the queasy feeling that now engulfed her. Plus her cheek suddenly throbbed.

  “C’mon. Besides, I don’t think you should drive right now.” He reached out and ran his rough hand over her arm. This time, she didn’t pull away from his touch, but rather leaned into it, needing his strength, his composure to calm her growing anxiety.

  “You’re right,” she told him, then secured her rig and headed off to his truck, trying her best not to stumble on the uneven ground.

  When they were on their way, Joel said, “Once I get you two up to the house, I’ll check on the horses. If they’re not in the corral I’ll drive back out and look for them. If they ran off toward the ranch, which I think they did because you swerved away from them, toward the shoulder, they’ll be fine. The main road is behind them. But what I don’t understand is how they got out. I just fixed that corral gate yesterday.”

  If Joel had been anyone else who lived on a ranch, Callie would have thought that perhaps someone had accidentally left a gate open. But this was Joel Darwood who hadn’t yet got the hang of cowboying, and was stubbornly trying to do everything himself. The way she had it figured, he probably fixed the gate after watching a video on the subject that didn’t take into account what happened if and when the horses tried to push the gate open.

  “I think it’s still broken, Daddy. Maybe Wade could fix it next time. Auntie Polly says he’s good at fixing things.”

  Callie smiled, but didn’t say a word.

  * * *

  “IT DOESN’T LOOK too bad,” Polly said as she swabbed Callie’s cheek with a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide. Joel knew the sting had to burn like crazy, but Callie never flinched. He remembered how she’d told him once that she’d grown up with her mom washing every cut, scrape and scratch with the stuff. Still, it looked painful as the white foam from the peroxide billowed on her cheekbone. “I’m betting you might have cut it with your own fingernail.”

  Callie held up her hands to check them for blood, and sure enough Polly was right.

  “There’s blood on my index finger,” Callie said, showing the evidence to Polly. “I never even felt it. Plus, I thought I had both hands on the wheel the whole time.”

  “Things happen so fast in a moving vehicle you don’t realize the damage until you come to a stop, and even then sometimes it takes a while. I’m just so thankful you and Emma are okay.”

  “That’s for sure,” Callie told her.

  Joel could tell Callie was finally relaxing. The shaking had subsided and she seemed to be breathing normally again. He hadn’t seen what had happened, but whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good. If Callie drove a truck the way she’d been riding a horse lately, he was darn lucky nothing had happened to his little girl.

  He didn’t think he could survive Emma getting really hurt or worse... He couldn’t even go there. It still made him quiver whenever he thought about how Sarah had almost taken Emma with her on that deadly trip. She changed her mind that morning when Polly offered to babysit Emma for the weekend. He may not have paid much attention to Emma before that tragic day, but he always loved her from the moment he first held her in his arms. Emma was the best thing that ever happened to him, and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to keep her happy and safe.

  And that included never trusting anyone other than himself to drive her to and from school. He promised himself he’d never again allow work to distract him.

  The good thing in all this was that Emma had been completely checked out by Polly and had passed inspection with flying colors. She was now busy watching the movie Frozen in her room. It was the one thing she turned to whenever she was upset. In the days after her mom died, Emma must have watched it a hundred times. Even Joel knew most of the dialogue and all the words to the songs. In some ways, watching the movie with Emma had been therapeutic for him, as well.

  Maybe later he’d watch the movie with Emma once again. He still couldn’t quite shake how upset he was over Callie’s close call with both the horses and the ditch. He felt certain the whole episode could have been avoided if he’d been driving.

  All Joel wanted was for Polly to get Callie fixed up so he could drive her back to her truck. He’d already checked the corral and the horses weren’t there, so they had to be on the land somewhere. But to be on the safe side, he called the local sheriff’s department to warn them in case those horses wandered out to the main road.

  Once he sent Callie on her way, he’d figure out how to round up his horses, bring them home and secure them in the stable this time. Then he’d spend the rest of the evening with his daughter.

  “Almost done there, Polly?” Joel asked, hoping to get Callie moving.

  “Yes, I should go,” Callie said as she stood up, but then couldn’t quite take a step. Instead, she plopped back down again.<
br />
  Joel quickly reached out to steady her, but Polly seemed to have it under control and held Callie in her chair. His heart raced from seeing her stagger like that. Was she hurt more than Polly thought?

  “When was the last time you ate something?” Polly asked.

  Callie didn’t answer right away, as if she was trying to remember. It reminded Joel of their college days when she’d get busy with her work and forget to eat for an entire day. “I know I ate breakfast.”

  “What time was that?” Polly asked.

  “Around six this morning.”

  “And since then?”

  “I must have... No, Frankie’s mother stopped by during lunch. He’d gotten sick in class, so she took him home early. He has a sensitive tummy. Then there was Mary’s mom, who needed some forms filled out for an after-school program, and...”

  “So in other words, you haven’t eaten in over ten hours. You’re not leaving here until you’ve had a good solid meal. Let’s chat for a while and have a cup of tea first. You and I haven’t had a nice long talk since I’ve been back. We’ll catch up while I fix you something to eat.”

  “That would be nice. Thank you,” Callie said, leaning back in the chair.

  “I’ll go look for our horses and be back as soon as I can,” Joel said.

  He grabbed his keys off the hook on the wall where he always kept them, slipped his hat on his head and was just about to leave when there was a knock at the door. He opened it and Wade Porter stood in the open doorway.

  Directly behind him, Golden Girl and Rockabilly were tied to the railing, looking no worse for wear.

  “Thought you might be wanting these two back,” Wade said, nodding toward the horses. He wore frayed work jeans, a deep gray T-shirt and a light-colored Western hat. Nobody looked more like a working cowboy than Wade Porter, and Joel resented him for it, especially since he’d somehow managed to round up the horses and return them without a trailer. The guy probably rode one of them bareback, from what Joel could tell, and tethered the other one alongside.