Fresh-Start Ranch

by Leann Harris

  They looked around and a tall, solid man walked up to Kevin and handed him a folded sheet of paper. “Kevin Raney, you’ve been served.” The man turned around and walked by the woman who’d ID’d Kevin. She pocketed some money.

  Kevin looked at the restraining order. “What’s this?” He opened the folded piece of paper. From his fierce expression, Tessa guessed the restraining order the Society swore out had been served.

  His face darkened with rage. “Are you behind this?”

  “No. But I think the ranchers you’ve been visiting are behind it since you keep showing up wherever the Society has the rescue horses. The court has forbidden you from going near those ranchers.”

  The muscles in his jaw flexed. “Don’t think this will stop me.”

  She didn’t answer him, but walked away from the man, her insides trembling.

  She hurried into the arena and searched for her family and Ethan’s in the stands. Sophie saw Tessa and waved her to where they all were sitting. Tessa waved back and started toward them.

  On her way to where the family sat, Tessa spotted Mary. Tessa made a slight detour and sat next to Mary. The man next to her had his arm around Mary’s shoulders.

  “Tessa.” Mary drew back in surprise. She glanced at Ethan’s family, then back at Tessa. “What are you doing here and not over there?”

  “A minute ago, the process server found Kevin and gave him the restraining order. He wasn’t happy.”

  “You saw that?”

  “He was talking—well, needling—me when it happened.”

  Mary sighed. “I knew he wouldn’t be happy. Let’s just send out emails to the ranchers warning them.”

  Sounded good to Tessa. “I just wanted you to know.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up.”

  Tessa nodded and started toward her and Ethan’s families. Hearing the announcer, she hurried to Lynda McClure’s side.

  Ethan’s family looked at her and Tessa saw questions in their eyes. Tessa explained about the incident with Kevin.

  “We’ll be on the lookout,” Ken said.

  After watching the first three finalists, Lynda sighed. “When is it going to be Ethan’s turn?”

  “He’ll be the next to the last,” Ken told her.

  “He was great last night, Mom,” Beth assured them. “Have you seen him practicing?”

  Lynda looked at her husband. “No, have you, Ken?”

  Ken opened his mouth, then paused. “He’s spent some time out in the pasture where there are a few head of cattle.” He shook his head. “I wondered why he was riding out so often.”

  The question was dropped when the announcer introduced the next rider. Over the next half hour the other finalists rode and roped. Finally, the only two finalists left, Ethan and the top finalist.

  “Next up, ladies and gentlemen, is Ethan McClure from the Bar-M ranch, riding his horse, Ranger.”

  Tessa held her breath as the horn sounded and the calf raced out of the chute. Ethan and Ranger charged after the calf and Ethan threw his rope. The calf was jerked off his feet and Ethan anchored the rope to the saddled horn. He jumped off Ranger and had the rope around the calf’s legs in record time. He stood and waited for the calf to try to undo the bindings. The calf struggled to stand and the rope came undone.

  The disqualifying buzzer sounded. And the announcer came on and said, “It was the fastest time so far, 17.2 seconds. And if that calf had stayed down, Ethan would be in first place.”

  Ethan shook his head, but the crowd stood and clapped for him. He acknowledged the crowd and rewound his rope.

  His family, Tessa, Joan and Doc filed out of the stands, and walked back to the stall where Ranger had been housed. When Ethan came back to the stall, he was walking his horse.

  His family hugged him and told him they were proud of him. Doc and Joan added their praise and sympathy.

  “You were faster tonight, Ethan, than you were last night,” Tessa said.

  “I was, but the rope didn’t hold.” He shrugged. “That’s the breaks.”

  “No matter. I’m proud of you, son,” Ken McClure told Ethan. “Now I know why you were spending so much time out in the north pasture. I couldn’t figure out what was so interesting out there. I wondered if you were digging a trench.”

  Snickers and choked laughter filled the air.

  Ethan grinned. “This was something I wanted to try, but needed to know I wouldn’t fall on my face in front of everyone. I did some practicing.”

  “And now I understand all those hot baths you were taking. I couldn’t figure out why my son suddenly decided to hog the tub,” Lynda added.

  After the laughter died down and Ethan received more congratulations, the group got ready to leave.

  “You’re going to ride home with me, aren’t you?” Ethan asked Tessa loud enough that everyone heard.

  “I am.”

  Ethan turned to his family. “Thanks for the support.”

  Ken leaned over and whispered in his son’s ear.

  “You have the truck?”

  His father smiled.

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  Ethan turned back to Tessa. “This time, our date will end a little differently. I’ll take you home and we won’t have to worry about Ranger chaperoning us. Dad’s taking him home.”

  Beth gave her father a thumbs-up. “Good call, Dad.”

  Ethan’s father’s support slid into Tessa’s heart. She smiled her thanks. Ken nodded. When Tessa looked at Lynda, her attitude mirrored her husband’s.

  That approval appeared on Ethan’s brother’s and sister’s faces, too. How very comforting to be certain of his family’s acceptance of her.

  Ken shot into action packing up Ranger and hooking up the trailer.

  Doc and Joan said goodbye and left.

  When Ken drove away with Ranger’s trailer in tow, Ethan turned to Tessa.

  “Would you like to go to the Dairy Mart and get an ice cream?”

  “You noticed that I love their ice cream?”

  “I do notice other things beside horses and cows.” He grinned, finding a path straight into her heart.

  “Sounds like a winner.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Tessa sat across from Ethan in one of the booths at the local Dairy Mart drive-in. She had a soft-serve ice cream cone, while Ethan devoured a banana split.

  Ethan felt Tessa’s eyes on him. He took that last bite of his treat and placed the spoon in the plastic dish. “That was good.” He leaned back and grinned at her. “That’s the first banana split I’ve had in years.”

  “You’re on a roll, aren’t you? You’ve competed in the rodeo and now you’ve had a banana split.”

  He could’ve added falling in love to the list. “I just decided to push myself.”

  Tilting her head to the right, she studied him. “You said you stopped doing rodeo your senior year. Why?”

  He hadn’t anticipated the question. What could he tell her? “When I was in high school the ranch went through a bad time. There was a drought, the stock had to be fed with bought hay and we just didn’t have any extra money. My parents couldn’t afford to keep two of us competing in rodeo. Zach was rated higher than I, so it was decided he should continue.”

  She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand. “I suggested it. I got a partial scholarship to college, but there was no extra money for rodeo, especially if you didn’t place.” There was another reason why he didn’t compete between graduating from high school and college, but he knew that Tessa wouldn’t understand.

  Tessa’s expression softened. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. My mom couldn’t afford to pay for me to go to college after my dad disappeared. So I worked hard in high school and won a scholarship.”
>
  He breathed a sigh of relief that she understood. “You ready?”

  She popped the last bite of her ice cream into her mouth. “I am.” She grinned at him. “I must admit, you’ve taken me some places I haven’t been in a long time.”

  “Are you saying I’m cheap?” he asked as they walked out of the Dairy Mart.

  “No. I’d say you’re creative in your choices of restaurants.”

  “Do I get points for creativity?”

  “You do.”

  “Okay, okay. I owe you a nice dinner. But does that mean the church dinner next Friday night is out?”

  “Okay, you get that one.” Her laughter and smile wrapped themselves around his heart, fanning feelings as exciting as they were new.

  They laughed and talked as they drove back to the clinic, swapping stories about horses, stock and animal rescues. She understood the things going on at the ranch and the problems they had with the Rescue Society.

  “So how is it going? Do you like New Mexico?”

  “Love it, but it takes some getting used to.” She shook her head and grinned. “You know, I thought Doc didn’t know what he was talking about with the GPS, but he nailed it. So the day when I forgot the map he gave me—and that was accidental—I ended up driving around for hours trying to find my way with no signal. I had to eat some crow.”

  “You’re not the first one. I’ve really pulled some boneheaded stunts, myself.”

  “Oh, want to share?”

  “I think I’d hold those in reserve. I don’t want to scare you off.”

  Her brow arched.

  “I hope you didn’t mind all my family showing up tonight.”

  Her smile eased his tension. “Nice divert.”

  They glanced at each other and laughed. He reached over, grabbed her hand and squeezed it. He just couldn’t believe that God had dropped this wonderful woman into his midst. How perfect were they for each other?

  He turned into the graveled parking lot of the clinic and stopped. He hurried around the truck to open her door.

  She slipped her arm through his and walked with him to the breezeway screen door. As he bent down to kiss her, he heard angry voices.

  Tessa heard them too.

  They both thought the same thing—trouble with Doris and William over the rescued horses. They charged into the walkway and opened the kitchen door.

  “You should’ve told me, Joan. You didn’t have the right to keep that secret,” Doc yelled, his voice coming from the living room.

  “If I’d told you, Vince, what would you have done?”

  “I would’ve quit school and married you. You knew I loved you.”

  “Then what? Work at the local pet store for minimum wage?”

  “We would’ve made it,” he came back. “But you took that decision away from me.”

  “I loved you too much to take your dream away from you,” Joan answered, her voice quivering.

  “Instead you robbed me of my child? An incredible woman who loves horses as much as I do.”

  “You don’t understand,” Joan sobbed. She ran down the hall past the kitchen. When she saw Tessa and Ethan just inside the back door, she froze.

  Doc raced after her, stopping short when he saw who stood in the kitchen.

  Tessa stood shock-still. Both Doc and Joan looked at Tessa’s stricken expression.

  “Tessa,” her mother breathed.

  As if coming out of a stupor, Tessa stepped forward. “What were you two talking about? Did you know each other before you married Dad?”

  Doc and Joan traded stricken looks, guilt coloring their expressions.

  “I need to explain,” Joan started.

  Tessa looked so brittle that Ethan was afraid she’d break. He put his hand on her shoulder and quietly said, “I think it might help if you sat down.”

  Doc and Joan agreed and walked to the table. Ethan guided Tessa to a chair and held it for her. Once seated, he said, “I’ll go and leave you all to talk.”

  Tessa grasped his arm, manacling him to her side. “No.” She looked up at him. “Please stay.”

  Glancing at the other two, they nodded. Ethan thought he saw relief in Doc’s eyes.

  Sitting, Ethan took Tessa’s hand in his. They all looked at Joan.

  Licking her lips, Joan took a deep breath. “As I told you before, Tessa, between my junior and senior years in high school, one summer night, my friends and I went to the local drive-in. There was this cute short-order cook who’d just started working there. When I looked in the window, I saw him and he smiled at me. My heart nearly burst out of my chest.” The memory caused Joan to smile. “One of the car-hops was a friend of mine, and I asked her about him.” Joan glanced at Doc and her expression softened.

  Ethan felt Tessa’s hand tighten.

  Joan turned back to her daughter. “Well, I met the boy when he got off work. But he didn’t have a lot of time, because he needed to get home. He had another job at one of the local veterinary’s clinics that started at five in the morning. He worked there days and at the burger joint at night. But he still took the time to walk me home.

  “I found out the reason he was working two jobs was to get enough money to finish his last semester of college.”

  Tessa’s brow wrinkled in a frown. “His last semester?”

  Doc finally spoke. “I ran out of money halfway through my senior year and had to take a semester off and work to earn enough money. It took me four and half years to finish my degree.”

  “Go on,” Tessa encouraged.

  Clearing her throat, Joan resumed her story. “His goal was to become a vet. He was from a poor family in the hills of Kentucky, but he had a dream of working with animals. He loved animals.”

  That hadn’t changed in Doc, Ethan knew. The man had a way with animals, much like Tessa.

  “We fell in love that summer, despite him working all that time. I helped out at the clinic and spent all my money at the drive-in.” Joan stared at her hands. “He went back to school in the fall and we wrote. He’d told me he applied for a scholarship to go to veterinary school at Purdue. He graduated from college and won the scholarship.” Joan’s voice fell to a whisper. “The day I got Vince’s letter telling me he got the scholarship was the day I discovered I was pregnant.” When she looked up, her eyes found Doc’s face. There was pain there.

  “I couldn’t hide it long from my parents. They guessed Vince was the father. My dad was not an understanding man. He threw me out of the house. My mom didn’t stand up to him. She never did.

  “I went to live with my grandmother in Mount Sterling. I told her I wanted to keep my baby. She sided with me against my dad and protected me from his wrath. She couldn’t understand how her daughter, my mother, would allow any man to rule her like Dad did.”

  Doc rested his hand over Joan’s. She didn’t look at him, but stared at his hand.

  “I tried to find Joan at Christmas,” Doc added. “Her parents said she was gone, but would never say where. I asked Joan’s friends, but no one was talking. I didn’t know why everyone looked at me like I had the plague.” Doc shook his head. “I don’t know why I was that stupid.”

  Joan raised her head and looked in amazement at the man.

  “I checked several times with Joan’s parents and got the same response. The last time, the Christmas after I started veterinary school, her father greeted me with a shotgun and told me never to come to his house again or I’d regret it.”

  “Sounds like my dad.” Joan didn’t look at Doc but grabbed a tablet kept on the table for note taking if an emergency was called in, and started to fiddle with it.

  Tessa’s gaze went back to her mother. Ethan could see her struggling to understand the truths that had come to light in the last few minutes. “So how did
you come to marry D—Warren?”

  Joan didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, but stared down at the table. “I was working at one of the hardware stores near my grandmother’s house, when Warren came in to buy chicken wire for his ranch. We struck up a conversation. Over the next two months, we became friends. He was a sea of calm in my storm. It was obvious what my condition was, but he didn’t pass judgment. One day he proposed. Shocked me speechless. I liked him, but didn’t love him and he knew it. He also knew that my dad had thrown me out. I told him I wasn’t ready to start another relationship. He accepted my explanation but left the proposal open.

  “I thought about it. I thought about trying to raise you as a single mother, without even a high school diploma. I reasoned that most marriages a hundred years ago were practical, based on making life easier. I thought I could grow to love him. He thought so, too.

  “It never happened.” Her fingers folded a corner of the top sheet on the pad of paper.

  They waited for Joan to continue. The tension in the room notched up.

  Listening to Joan talk about marrying a friend, Ethan realized how he’d dodged a bullet when Mary had stood him up.

  “So instead of marrying the man you loved,” Tessa threw out, “you married a man who drank away our lives and made our lives miserable.”

  Joan gasped. The shock in Doc’s eyes held Ethan still.

  “Tessa,” Joan began.

  “Don’t, Mom. Don’t sugarcoat it. Instead of marrying the man you loved, you married a man who turned into a miserable drunk who spent his time either yelling or drinking himself into a stupor. Growing up, I was too afraid to ask anyone to the house, fearing that Dad would be drunk, and I wouldn’t know which drunk would appear. The happy, sloppy drunk, or the mean, bitter drunk who screamed all the time.”

  Joan’s stricken expression broke Ethan’s heart. Doc looked shell-shocked.

  In her anger, Tessa seemed oblivious to anyone’s reaction, caught in her own world. “Remember when he started disappearing for days on end? We didn’t know where he was or if he would come home. The tension was worse then, Mom, not knowing. That was until the day when the sheriff showed up at the door with an eviction notice.” Tessa jerked to her feet, causing the chair to tip backward. It crashed to the floor, causing Joan to jump, but Tessa was unaware, caught in her storm of anger and hurt. “No, marrying a drunken gambler was the better way,” Tessa spat out and raced out of the kitchen.