by Zoe Matthews
“That sounds fun, actually,” Sierra found herself agreeing. “I can ask Kathy to fix us some sandwiches and we can eat lunch up there.”
Logan smiled and looked relieved, as if he expected her to refuse to come. She smiled back at him and was tempted to push his cowboy hat off his face to see him better. She clasped her hands behind her back to stop her impulse.
The kids were excited when they heard of the plans. Logan spent time with each child, making sure they really knew what they were doing. A few of the horses that had arrived were small, a good size for children. He put Mason and Noah on one horse together, but Ashley and Elysha refused to ride together.
“They ride pretty well alone,” Sierra said in their defense. “They should do fine.” So both girls rode their own horses.
As they headed up the mountain trail, Logan led the group, with Sierra following in the back. She noticed that her girls thrived on being around Logan. They would do or say silly things to get his attention, but he was very patient with them. Likewise, Mason and Noah seemed to thrive on her attention, and she knew they liked having a woman around.
The trail was beautiful this time of year, the beginning of June, but it was always beautiful with each season. There were many aspen trees and pine trees, with grasses and wild flowers dotting the landscape. They followed the river for a while until it veered off to go deeper into the forest, but Sierra knew it fed off the lake they were heading towards and they would see it again soon.
The ground was damp from a recent rain. The boys asked about some birds they could hear and Ashley laughed as a butterfly almost landed on her hand before flying away to a nearby flower. Sierra sighed deeply and was very glad she agreed to come. It was good to hear the laughter in her daughter’s voice.
Soon they arrived at the lake. Logan helped all the children down and tied each horse to some nearby trees. All four children immediately ran to the water’s edge and started to run up and down the shoreline.
“I saw a fish jump, Daddy,” Mason called out as Logan and Sierra walked towards them after taking care of the horses. “Can we go fishing?”
“Sorry, son. I didn’t even think of that. We didn’t bring any fishing gear. I guess we will have to fish another time.”
Mason shrugged his shoulders but took the answer in stride and ran back to the water’s edge. Sierra sat down on a nearby log and watched as Logan picked up some flat stones and started to skip them across the lake. Soon he was teaching all four children the fine art of skipping rocks.
Sierra watched Logan as he interacted with each child. She could tell the relationship with his sons were improving. They were now listening to him, most of the time, and he only had to get stern with them a few times. He gave Elysha a hug when she was able to skip her rock three times and praised her.
The group slowly moved down the shore of the lake, looking for more flat rocks. Sierra was content to just watch and enjoy the sunshine on her face. She saw a doe and a small spotted fawn on the other side of the lake and watched them take a drink. The lake was not very large and she could see the entire shoreline from where she sat. She watched as Logan led the kids further down the lake. She decided she wanted to be with them and ran to catch up.
“We are going to walk all around the lake, Mom,” Ashley announced.
“That sounds like fun,” Sierra smiled at her daughter and then looked at Logan. “The far end over there where the lake runs into the river is sometimes a bit swampy.”
“Good to know,” Logan told her, looking at her with a certain intent look he had been giving her all morning. It made her want to return to the log. These looks were confusing her. What did he mean by them? She felt a small hand slip into her own and look down at Noah’s sweet freckled face.
They only made it around one-third of the lake before the kids started to complain about hunger, so they turned around and returned to the horses. Logan retrieved the lunch and Sierra passed out sandwiches, juice boxes, chips, and cookies. After a blessing on the food, everyone dug into the food with gusto. Ashley only ate half of her sandwich, so after the meal the kids had fun spreading the bread around and then watching the birds and chipmunks eat the treat.
Logan didn’t want to be gone too long for this first trip with new horses, so the group was soon heading down the mountain towards the ranch. Again, Sierra was at the back and she couldn’t help but watch Logan as he expertly moved his horse along the path. Emotions swelled within her as he straightened his cowboy hat so it sat firmer on his head. She wanted to keep him at a distance, but her emotions weren’t cooperating. A true caring was starting to take root within her and she needed to do something to stop it.
Even though Sierra was starting to recognize that she was attracted to Logan, she was even more determined to avoid a relationship with him. She was so afraid of what might happen if things didn’t work out, and even more afraid that if things did work out, that something might happen to Logan. She knew there were no guarantees in life and she didn’t want to put herself or her daughters in that situation again. Sierra decided she needed to do her best to avoid Logan except when she needed to talk to him about his sons, and she definitely was not going to allow herself to be alone with him again.
After they arrived at the ranch, Logan had each of the kids help take care of their own horse by brushing them and giving them water. While they were taking care of these tasks, Spencer walked up to them.
“Hey, sis,” he greeted her with a hug and then gave Logan a handshake. Spencer spent a few moments talking to the kids and then turned to Sierra.
“I just built a nice large firepit that we can use when the guests arrive,” Spencer informed Sierra.
“What a great idea. Is it in the same place it used to be?” Sierra asked. There had been a small firepit years ago that was located behind the Ranch House.
“No, I thought it would be better to build it in the middle of all the cabins. When the lodge is built, it will be in front of it.”
“I am excited to try it out,” Sierra said.
“That’s why I came out here,” Spencer explained. “We can’t use it tonight because I want to make sure the cement has hardened properly, but I thought it would be fun to cook hotdogs and marshmallows around the camp fire tomorrow night for dinner.” He looked down at the kids who were listening to his every word and winked at them. “We need to try it out. Make sure it works properly.”
“That sounds like fun,” Logan commented as his boys started jumping up and down with excitement. “Count us in.”
Even though Sierra had made the decision to stay away from Logan, she felt excited and was already looking forward to the next evening. She loved campfires and cooking on them.
Chapter 13
The next morning, Logan was doing his best to get his boys to eat their breakfast before he had to take them over to the Ranch House and turn them over to Sierra’s care. Breakfast was always a fight to get through, but today both Noah and Mason were more wired than usual. They were very excited about cooking hotdogs around the fire that evening. They had also heard about the new colt and were insisting they see him before going over to the Ranch House.
“I can’t take you to see the colt this morning, boys,” Logan told them firmly. “I have another trailer of horses coming this morning and I need to get you over to Sierra’s before they get here. In fact, we need to leave right now.”
“But Dad…” Mason started to argue and Logan placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Go brush your teeth and grab your jacket.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you promise you will let us see the new horse,” Noah whined. Logan sighed and tried to keep his voice under control. Noah had the most annoying whine than anyone he knew. Obviously, that sound worked when he was living with Harriett in getting his way because he used it often. Mason didn’t whine like Noah did, but he did throw incredible tantrums that could last quite a while.
“Boys, you both need to listen to me. I will take you to see
the horse tonight, before the campfire event starts. If you do not listen to me, I will not allow you to go to the campfire dinner and you both will be going to bed early instead.” Logan didn’t know if that was the best punishment for not obeying and listening to him, but it was the only thing he could come up with on short notice.
He sighed with relief as the boys brushed their teeth and grabbed their jackets. They were both grouchy and complained the entire time, but Logan was glad they were at least doing as he asked.
Sometimes he felt like a failure as a father. He wished he hadn’t left the boys as long as he did with Harriett. He knew he should have stood up to Sarah’s mother and insist they live with him. But he hadn’t and he now needed to deal with the consequences. He didn’t regret moving to Colorado. Logan felt this move was the best thing that could have happened to him. It forced him to become more of a father to the boys and it allowed him to move the boys further away from Harriett and her influence over them.
He was very grateful for Sierra and her guidance with the boys. He knew that the first few days she had watched them had been difficult, but things seemed to be going much smoother now. She was very good with them and he could tell that even though she was firm with them, she cared about them. The boys responded to her guidance very well.
The minute the boys left the cabin, they took off running towards the horse barn instead of the other direction to the Ranch House. Logan caught up with them quickly and grabbed their hands firmly.
“Boys, if you take off like that again, there will be no campfire tonight. Is that understood?”
They both glared at him mutinously, but allowed him to walk them to the Ranch House. Just in case they decided to run off again, he kept their hands in his own and the three of them were soon on the doorstep of Sierra’s home.
“They have been a handful this morning,” Logan whispered to Sierra after they had run inside to find Ashley and Elysha. “Let me know if you have any problems. They want to go see the new colt this morning, but I can’t take them to see him right now.”
“They’ll be fine,” Sierra assured him. “I will get them busy with some new puzzles that arrived in the mail yesterday.”
Logan thanked her and then hesitated for a moment, just looking at her. She was very beautiful with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes sparkling with life. A tender expression was in her eyes as she looked at him, which told him more than words that she was softening about him, at least he hoped that was what it meant. He wanted to take her into his arms, but knew that would need to wait.
Maybe tonight after the campfire dinner, he thought to himself with a smile as he waved and went on his way to meet the horse trailer that was just now pulling into the yard.
****
Sierra sighed with relief when she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost lunchtime. Logan had been right. The boys were having a difficult day. All they would talk about was seeing the colt and refused to do any task she tried to give them. She again found herself turning on a children’s movie and was glad to see they were both watching it intently.
Ashley and Elysha were tired of dealing with the boys and so Sierra had sent them outside to find Kathy. She knew they were probably in the vegetable garden since Kathy liked to work there in the mornings while it was still cool.
Stella had come to her earlier and wanted some advice on a menu she was putting together for the guests. Sierra thought now would be a good time to find Stella and look over her ideas. Sierra looked at the boys to make sure they were both still occupied with the movie. She decided they would be fine if she left them for a few minutes to find Stella. She would ask Stella to come to the Great Room where the boys were to talk about the menu.
It took a while to find Stella, and when Sierra did, Stella was on the phone. She was in her own rooms and she had turned a corner of her sitting room into an office. Stella raised her hand to let Sierra know she would only be a moment, so Sierra started to look around. Just at a glance, anyone would be able to see where Stella’s interests laid. She had a huge, almost wall-to-wall, bookshelf full of recipe books of all types. They ranged from easy recipes to gourmet. Sierra briefly wondered if Stella had quit her job at the restaurant she had been working at or had just taken a leave of absence of six months. As far as Sierra knew, Stella had loved her job.
“Sorry about that,” Stella apologized when she finally hung up. “That call took longer than I thought.”
Sierra realized she had been away from Mason and Noah for almost ten minutes and wanted to get back to them.
“That’s okay, Stella, but can we talk about the menu in the Great Room? Logan’s boys are there watching a movie and I don’t want to leave them alone too long.”
Stella smiled and nodded her agreement. “I noticed those two are a handful. Let me grab my notebook and the recipe books I have been looking through and I will meet you down there.”
When Sierra entered the Great Room, her heart dropped. The TV was blaring loudly, but the boys were nowhere to be found.
“Mason, Noah! Where are you guys?” Sierra called as she quickly looked around the large room. The week before they had hidden in a couple of large cupboards that were built into some bookshelves along one wall, so she looked there first. This time, they were not there.
Sierra left the room, calling their names as she went. Stella appeared and when she learned the boys were missing, she started to help in the search.
“Go search upstairs. Make sure you look everywhere, including places small boys can hide in. I will look down here,” Sierra ordered Stella. “I am sure they are around here somewhere. I wasn’t gone that long.”
The Ranch House was a large home. To Sierra, it reminded her more of a mansion like those that were built back east in the 1800s than of a house. It took Sierra at least ten minutes to check the bottom floor in any room or space that the boys could possibly be hiding in. Sierra met Stella in the kitchen as she was shutting the pantry door.
“No luck in finding them. Could they have left the house?” Stella asked Sierra.
“Maybe,” Sierra nodded at Stella words. “Ashley and Elysha are with Kathy in the vegetable garden. Let’s go see if the boys are with them.”
They are going to be in big trouble for disappearing like this, Sierra muttered to herself. She was getting tired of having to constantly keep an eye on them. Maybe she should advise Logan that he needed to hire someone else, like a live-in nanny, who would be able to give both of them the undivided attention they needed.
When Sierra and Stella arrived at the garden, the boys were not there and Kathy had not seen them. Sierra was glad to see that her daughters were both there, digging in a small area of the garden with their shovels. They both had dirt on their faces and in their hair, but they were there, safe and sound.
Sierra quickly explained to Kathy the situation. Stella offered to head to the horse barn to let Logan know the situation. She would also let any hired hand she saw on the way know the boys were missing. As Stella took off running, Annie came out from behind Kathy’s house with tears running down her face.
“Sunny is gone!” she cried as Kathy put her arms around Annie in comfort. “Those naughty boys made Sunny go with them and they took her. And they wouldn’t let me go with them.”
“Which way did they go, Annie?” Sierra asked the young woman. She was glad someone had seen the boys.
Annie continued to sob inconsolably. “I don’t want them to hurt Sunny. Why did those naughty boys take her from me?”
Kathy took out a tissue from her pocket and wiped Annie’s tears. “Annie, dear, you need to settle down. We will find Sunny and we will find the boys. We need you to tell us which way they went.”
“In the forest,” Annie said as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. “I tried to follow them, but those boys ran too fast.”
Sierra’s heart dropped when she heard they had reached the forest. She hoped they stayed away from the river. It was very swift and de
ep at the moment, with the runoff from the melting snow in the higher mountains.
“I am glad you came back to tell us, Annie,” Kathy told her. “We don’t need you lost, too. We will find Sunny, I promise.”
Kathy offered to stay behind with Sierra’s girls and Annie, while Sierra ran to meet up with Logan and Jed who were heading in their direction. She quickly explained the situation. Stella had gone to retrieve Sheridan inside the ranch house and soon Spencer and Stella joined them. Sadie had left to spend the day in Pinedale with Brooklyn. They quickly divided into groups and set out to look for the boys.
“Sometimes Sunny will bark when she is not with Annie,” Logan explained to Sierra as they headed in the direction Annie had pointed that the boys had disappeared to. “Annie sometimes wanders away from people when she is in a situation she is uncomfortable with or when she is bored. We got Sunny as a service dog to be a companion for Annie, but we also had her trained to bark when Annie wandered away from home.”
