But she had a reputation to uphold. She smoothed her hands down the sides of her jeans and managed a fairly mature, although slightly trembling, smile. She knew how to be cool, to be professional. She knew how to hold back and not let emotions get the better of her.
She knew how to keep things to herself. Or at least once upon a time that had been the case.
“You look like you’re recovered,” he finally said.
“I’m good. I can’t believe you did this.”
“I’ve been gone a long time, Sophie, but I know how things are done in Dawson. People look out for each other. This is your town looking out for you.”
“I’m amazed.” More than amazed. She watched as the men who had arrived to help started hauling tools out of their trucks, pulling on work gloves and getting ready to start on this job. Last night she’d been a little hopeless over this situation. And now? God was obviously reminding her who she should have hope in.
She’d had a great idea, people said. But God had brought it all about. She needed to remember that. This happened to be a very good reminder of that fact. With the frame of one house gone, there had been serious questions about finding the money to start over.
“Where’s Lucy?”
“With my mom.”
He turned as men gathered, waiting for the plan. And he had one. He laid it all out on the paper he’d brought. The men split into groups and went to work.
Sophie turned to look for Gabe. He’d left. She shook her head, wondering why. Maybe he really did like to work alone. Or maybe he wanted to take credit for the rebuilding and didn’t want to share the glory? She hoped that wasn’t the case.
“Is everything okay with Gabe?” Jackson approached, pulling on work gloves.
She smiled because Jackson had changed so much in the last six months or so. He had his wife, Madeline, his daughter, Jade, and now they were planning to adopt. One woman had brought him to this new place, where he fit the role of husband, father and automatic caretaker.
Everyone was getting married, having families, settling down. She thought about some of the men who had asked her out, and she’d turned them down because she’d been busy or not interested. The few she’d gone out with, she’d dated only once or twice. She didn’t see a reason to invest time in relationships that were going nowhere.
“Sophie?” Jackson poked her and she jumped a little. “Gabe?”
“What do you mean?”
“He walked down through the woods, and then he came back up, got in his truck and left.”
“I don’t know. I wonder if maybe he wanted to be able to say he saved the day but then you guys all showed up?”
“Could be.” Jackson glanced toward the road. Gabe was long gone. “That’s probably it. I’d like it if you didn’t come over here alone for a while.”
“I wasn’t alone. Gabe was here.”
Jackson gave her a pointed look. “That’s what I mean.”
“I’m not afraid and I don’t need for you guys to start worrying and taking over. I appreciate the help. I’m all for the help. But I’m careful. I’m not going to take chances. Trust me on that.”
“What guys?” He smiled and laughed a little, as if he didn’t hear anything but that. “Oh, is Keeton giving you the same warning?”
“He is. And this is why I don’t share my business with everyone. And since you tried to keep Jade from us in the beginning, you should be more understanding.”
“Point taken. But don’t forget you have a family. And admit it, all of this help is probably going to save a lot of money.”
She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them and smiled at her brother. “I’m blessed beyond belief.”
“By a tribe of people who get in your business. Don’t worry, I get it. I really do.”
He got it because it hadn’t worked any better for him than it was for Sophie. Being a Cooper meant having a dozen siblings and two very loving parents involved in your life. Oh, and Grandma Myrna.
“I know you get it.” She hugged him. “And I’m glad you’re here to help.”
“I didn’t say I’m here to do everything.” He handed her a hammer. “If you’re getting your name on this project, I’d say you’d best start hammering some nails.”
“I can do that.” She was a Cooper, after all.
As she went to work, she glanced back and saw Keeton watching her. He tipped his hat and then turned back to the work he was doing. She let herself enjoy a guilty little pleasure while no one paid attention. She watched Keeton work.
* * *
After a long day building houses, Keeton wasn’t sure he would make it to the rodeo that night. He walked out of the guesthouse, cleaned up and ready to go. But his heart wasn’t in it. Lucy squirmed in his arms, tugged at his collar and babbled.
Nothing in his life had made him want to settle down the way his little girl did. Of course that thought made him glance toward Sophie’s house. He pulled keys out of his pocket and headed toward his truck. When he got home earlier he’d packed his gear. He’d wrapped his knee.
He hesitated midway to his truck, wondering what Sophie was doing. He hadn’t seen her since he got home, but both her car and the old beater farm truck were here. His dad hadn’t seen her, either.
Keeton’s mom had decided to spend the weekend with Myrna Cooper, Sophie’s grandmother. He kind of thought that was her way of staying here, close to her granddaughter and to the ex-husband that needed a little extra help.
Sober wasn’t an easy place for his dad. The last few days had been pretty rough on James West. They’d had some long nights, some long talks. Keeton had woken up that morning feeling as though he hadn’t slept at all.
A loud noise and then a shout interrupted his thoughts and rattled his sleep-deprived brain. It came from behind Sophie’s house. Keeton held Lucy tight and ran. He rounded the corner of the house and headed for the barn. Halfway across the yard he saw Sophie in the corral.
Sitting on that stupid mule.
The mule wasn’t moving. Sophie used the reins to give it a whack, but the mule just wasn’t going for this riding business. Sophie leaned and the big ears of the mule twitched. Keeton laughed, wondering if she was threatening the animal’s life, or promising something sweet.
He’d been on the receiving end of her whispers. He preferred sweet promises.
Since it didn’t seem to be a life-or-death situation he slowed and walked the rest of the way to the corral. Yeah, he wouldn’t be going to the rodeo tonight. Instead he leaned against the fence, holding Lucy and watching what might be a better rodeo.
“I wouldn’t make him mad,” he warned.
Sophie shot him a look, nose wrinkling and mouth turning in a pretty frown. She’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail. “I think I know what I’m doing.”
“I know you do. I’m just saying.”
“Please don’t.” She used her heels on the mule’s sides. The animal took two stiff-legged steps.
“Watch it.”
“I’m watching. Stop distracting me.”
“I’m just…”
Before he could finish the mule went straight up, and then bucked a few times. She held tight. The mule ran across the corral, bucking a few more times. Sophie’s legs wrapped around the animal’s belly and her head rocked back and then forward.
“Sophie!”
“Be quiet.”
Right. Because she knew what she was doing. He held tight to Lucy and leaned over the fence, knowing he couldn’t do a stinking thing but watch and hope she didn’t land on the ground.
Cooper women were just as messed up as Cooper men when it came to stubborn. He sighed with relief when the mule settled into a walk with Sophie still on his back. She grinned and salut
ed him.
“Okay, you win.” He eased out his breath and the words weren’t easy.
“I know.” She kept the mule in a halting walk around the arena. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been on him.”
“Well, you can get off now.” Before he had a heart attack.
“No, I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want him to think he won.”
“Sophie, you’re still on his back.”
“I know that.” Her back to him, she kept talking. “But if I get off now, he’ll remember that he bucked and I got off.”
Never argue with a woman. He said a silent prayer that she wouldn’t break her neck and he watched as she continued to ride the big chestnut mule. Finally she pulled him to a stop and slid to the ground.
Never would he mention that he saw her legs tremble just a little. Of course, his legs would have trembled had he taken that ride. She turned, smiling, and led the mule to the fence.
“See.” She tilted her head just a little.
“Yeah, I see. You won.”
“Yep. And won’t Lucky be surprised next week.”
“At the Dawson Rodeo?”
“Yep.” She rubbed her hand down the mule’s neck. “He’s nice, don’t you think?”
“Uh, sure, if you like long ears and a stubborn personality.” He’d have to rethink stubborn personalities. He thought he kind of liked people that were stubborn.
Stubborn enough to keep building houses, even when someone really wanted to stop her. Stubborn enough to stay on a mule, even when it wanted to toss her to the ground. Stubborn enough to keep telling him she wasn’t interested.
Yeah, that part he needed to work on. The part where she didn’t seem to be interested in him.
“I thought you were going to ride tonight?” she asked as she tied the mule and threw the stirrups over its back to unbuckle the cinch. She looked back over her shoulder at Keeton.
“I was going to but…” He looked down at Lucy and Sophie smiled.
“Yeah, some things are just better, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, some things are.” He shifted and moved Lucy to his other arm. Amazing how heavy she could get. “I’ll go next week. I have to ride in Dawson. I have to be there to see the look on Lucky’s face.”
“Right.” She pulled off the saddle, and then settled it on the top board of the corral fence. The mule turned to rub his head against her. She pushed his big head back, unbuckled the jaw strap and pulled off the bridle. “There you go, Lucky.”
Keeton laughed, “I love it that you named him after your brother.”
“It has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does.”
A car turned and pulled up her drive. Sophie groaned. “This isn’t going to be good.”
Her grandmother got out of the car, dressed for church.
“Why’s she all dressed up?” Keeton asked.
“Someone is in for a lecture. Those are her ‘intervention’ clothes. That means either me—” she looked at him “—or possibly you, is in for Granny Myrna’s special kind of advice.”
“Great.”
“That means she’s going to turn our lives around, and we’ll think it was our idea.”
“I should go.” Keeton stepped away from the fence.
“Too late.”
Granny Myrna waved a bejeweled hand and headed their way.
As she got closer she put on a big smile. Keeton loved Myrna Cooper. She had a big heart and a lot of love. And she meddled like nobody’s business. But she knew how to do it without it really feeling like meddling. He groaned and Sophie giggled.
He turned, giving Sophie a look.
Before he could say anything, Myrna was upon them.
“Hi, Granny.” Sophie walked through the gate after a last look back at the mule who stood at the opposite side of the corral waiting to be set free.
“Is that Lucky’s mule?” Myrna walked up the fence. “It is Lucky’s mule, and that’s a saddle imprint on his back. Have you been riding that mule?”
Sophie nodded and her lips twitched in a smile. “I cannot tell a lie, Gran, I’ve been riding Lucky’s mule.”
Suddenly they were sixteen-year-old kids again. Keeton watched in wonder as the grown woman, a business professional, blushed and admitted to everything. He needed to get out of here fast, because there were things he didn’t want to confess, not here, not in front of Sophie.
But Myrna had turned those eagle eyes on him. She pursed her lips and looked him over, head to toe. “Well, you’ll do.”
“Pardon?” He didn’t have a clue, but he looked at Sophie and he kind of did.
“I said, you’ll do.” She stepped close. “You’re strong. You know what you want out of life. You’re a good man with Christian values. Yes, you’ll do.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Cooper, I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
Myrna Cooper laughed. “Don’t look so cornered, or so surprised. It isn’t every day that a man comes along that I deem good enough for one of my granddaughters.”
Sophie choked. She coughed. “Gran, Keeton and I, we’re not…”
Keeton looked at her, struck by how beautiful she was, even with her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and a smudge of dirt across her cheek. He was sorry she wouldn’t give them a chance.
“I know you’re not.” Myrna licked her finger and then rubbed the dirt off her granddaughter’s face. “How could you catch a man looking the way you look? Go clean up and let him take you out to dinner.”
“Myrna, we’re just…”
Keeton didn’t have any better luck. Myrna had hold of Sophie’s hand and his. “I’m an old lady and I don’t have much to keep me busy. I pray. I meddle. And I’m a mean matchmaker. Look how happy Jackson and Madeline are. Now, I’m going to let the two of you think about what I’ve said, but I expect great-grandchildren.”
She touched Lucy’s face. “And this one is a good start.”
“But, Granny.” Sophie tried again.
“Don’t ‘Granny’ me. I’ve been praying for you both for a very long time.” Myrna’s eyes softened. “I’ve prayed for Keeton’s family. I’ve prayed for your heart to heal, and to open up to someone special, Sophie.” Myrna sniffed. “I’ve done all of this work praying, so please, at least give God a chance.”
“We will.” Keeton rubbed his left hand across his jaw. He knew how good Myrna could be at this, and yet he’d fallen right into her trap.
She still looked sympathetic, though. She didn’t smile and say, “Gotcha.”
Instead she turned to kiss Sophie on the cheek. “Get cleaned up. There’s a new restaurant in Grove. Let him take you out to dinner. And don’t give me that nonsense about dating bull riders. Look at him, he’s getting old. It isn’t like he’s going to be riding much longer anyway.”
“Ouch,” he muttered as Myrna fast-walked back to her car. He turned to Sophie. “I knew what to expect, but wow, she’s good.”
“We’re not going out to eat.” Sophie smiled and patted his cheek. “She’s good. And I’m immune to her skills.”
“You have to eat.”
“I have cereal and a new carton of milk.”
Keeton handed Lucy to Sophie. “I’ll let your mule out.”
“Thank you.” She took his daughter and held her close. “Have you heard from her mother again?”
“No. I’ve tried to call a few times. No answer.”
“I hope she’s okay.”
He opened the gate wide and the mule trotted out, then ran. He cleared a fence a short distance away and kept going. Keeton shook his head and then he walked back to where Sophie waited.
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“She’s fine. She’s playing some kind of game with me. But I have news for her. I’m not going to give up my daughter.” He looked back in the direction the mule had gone. “You’re going to have to put up electric fences to keep him in.”
“I know.” And then her smile disappeared. “I can’t imagine you not having Lucy.”
“Yeah. You know, a month ago I couldn’t have imagined having her. Now I can’t imagine not. The first day when Becka showed up and pushed her in my arms, I have to admit, I was a little upset. I didn’t know what to do with a baby, or how to take care of her. At first I wasn’t sure she was mine.”
“But she is.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I had a DNA test.”
“You’ve done a great job with her, Keeton.”
“You’ve been a big help.” He stepped next to Sophie and they walked side by side back to the house. “I should go to town and get Dad some dinner.”
“Right. I’m going to pour myself that bowl of cereal.”
Keeton took Lucy from her. “I could bring you back something.”
For a second he thought she’d say yes, but then she shook her head. “No, thanks. I think I’m going to eat my cereal and go to bed early.”
“Right, we wouldn’t want Granny Cooper to think she’s won.”
“Exactly.”
She kissed his cheek, and then she kissed Lucy. Keeton watched her walk back to her house and then he turned away. But Myrna’s words were still playing in his mind. He laughed, because he guessed that was exactly what she’d planned. But he also guessed it was going to take faith like hers, not his, to convince Sophie to give them a chance.
Chapter Twelve
The next weekend Sophie pulled into the rodeo grounds with a trailer hauling her mule Lucky. Keeton had offered to trailer the animal. But after a thirty-minute talk on why he thought this could be a bad idea, and how she might get hurt, she’d told him she could trailer her own mule.
And then she’d kissed Lucy because who could walk away without kissing Lucy? Even though the action brought her far too close to Keeton. Close enough to smell the spicy scent of his cologne. Close enough to know he chewed cinnamon gum and had dried his clothes on the line behind the guesthouse. Close enough that if she’d tilted her head just a certain way, her lips would almost have touched his neck. All of those things she told herself she didn’t want—or need—were more than she could handle at times.
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