The Cowboy's Family (Family Ties Book 2)

by Carolyne Aarsen

  “You’ve come a long way,” he said, admiration tingeing his voice.

  “Not as far as I’d like, but I’m satisfied.”

  “Tricia sent me to let you know it’s suppertime,” Kane said.

  Mason frowned. “I didn’t expect to eat with you.”

  “I got that. You missed breakfast.”

  “Never eat breakfast,” Mason said.

  That wasn’t entirely true but Kane didn’t need to know that.

  “Besides, I can go into town to eat.”

  “Seriously? That’s half an hour away. If you’re staying with us, you might as well figure on eating with us. Joe does from time to time.”

  Though Mason wanted to object again, he also knew that it would give him more opportunities to see how Tricia was with the kids. If he were honest, this afternoon’s performance didn’t give him a lot of confidence.

  The kids were tired. They’re just being kids.

  He sighed, pushing down the annoying voices. Roger had told him that he had just discovered that Tricia had left her kids in the care of an elderly woman who’d then been hospitalized with kidney stones. Not the kind of thing a responsible mother would do.

  He fought down his second and third thoughts as he unbuckled the halter from Abby and gave her another pat of encouragement.

  “Do you want to let her go?”

  Mason shook his head. “I’d like to leave her in here one more night. Once I get her leading on the halter and coming to me consistently, I can put her in the other corral.”

  “I’ll get some hay and water for her then.”

  Fifteen minutes later Abby was fed and watered and the sun dipped toward the horizon.

  “When do you start cutting hay?” Mason asked as walked alongside Kane.

  “Hopefully next week. We’ve got lots of acres to do.”

  “How many cows do you feed?”

  They made idle ranching chitchat as they made their way through the yard. Mason couldn’t stop looking over at the mountains, like a row of sentinels watching over the valley. It was a magnificent view.

  “Never gets old,” Kane said, slowing his steps, his gaze following the direction of Mason’s. “Especially if you’ve been gone awhile.”

  “You’ve been away from the ranch?”

  Kane nodded, easing out a sigh. “Old history, but, thankfully it’s where history belongs. In the past.”

  “I’m guessing you were born and raised here?”

  “Nope. I was adopted when I was ten. My mother moved me all over the place until the Tyes took me in. Zach and Grace were like that. They took in Elliot and Lucas as well. I was the only one they could adopt though.”

  “And Tricia?”

  “Biological child. Spoiled rotten until we came along.” Kane was smiling when he said that but Mason heard a faint note of condemnation in his voice. He’d noticed that Kane and Tricia seemed tense around each other, and he wondered what had caused it.

  Just as they approached the house a car pulled up beside Kane and Mason’s trucks and a woman stepped out. She had long brown hair, a trim figure, and was carrying a large dish.

  “Faith.”

  A world of yearning and affection was packed into that single word.

  Kane jogged over to the car, took the dish from her, set it on the hood, and then swept her into a tight, long embrace.

  Then he kissed her. Slowly, his hands tangling in her hair, her arms wrapped around him.

  Mason knew he should look away but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the two of them, their deep affection so obvious.

  The sight created a twist of dismay, regret, sorrow.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, sweeping away the old pain and memories.

  It’s gone. It’s over. It’s been three years.

  Three years since he walked away from his fiancée’s grave. Three years that he fought the loss.

  He took in a slow breath and willed his feet to move. He would have walked past the loving couple, but just then Faith drew back and saw him. She stepped away from Kane, blushing.

  “Hello there,” she said tucking her hair behind her ears, rearranging her dark curls.

  Mason held out his hand to her as he walked toward her, “I’m Mason. I’m here to train the horses.”

  “This is my fiancée, Faith,” Kane said, dropping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. He looked down at her with such obvious pride and affection, it created an answering tug on Mason’s heart.

  Faith took Mason’s hand in hers, shaking it lightly. “Nice to meet you. Your reputation has preceded you. Tricia was looking forward to working with you.” She turned to Kane. “Has she had a chance to work with the horses today?”

  “For a little while.”

  Faith picked up the container from the hood of her car. “We better get this inside,” she said. “I’m sure everyone is hungry.”

  Mason was a little confused. “I thought Tricia made supper?”

  Kane and Faith both laughed. “Tricia’s adorable, and great with horses, but we try to keep her out of the kitchen as much as possible,” Kane said with a shake of his head. “She does a great job with toast and tea.”

  “Oh, c’mon,” Faith reprimanded him. “She’s learning a few recipes. Give her some credit.”

  Kane just shrugged.

  They walked together up to the house, again going around to the side door. Mason wondered if anyone ever went through the front door or if it was just for show.

  “Supper’s here,” Faith called out as she stepped through the French door Kane held open for her.

  The sound of children crying greeted them. Mason followed Kane and Faith into the house and saw Tricia holding Cash, wincing as she held him on her hip, while Hope lay on the floor kicking her heels.

  She looked so incredibly relieved to see them, Mason wondered what had been going on while they were gone.

  Cash’s face was red, his curls damp with sweat, as he howled his displeasure.

  Kane hurried over and took the little boy from her. “You know you shouldn’t be carrying him,” he reprimanded her. “The doctor told you not to lift anything heavy for a while.”

  “He was so upset, I didn’t know what else to do.” Tricia pushed her hair back from her face, twisted it into a knot, and secured it with an elastic band. “He just wouldn’t settle.”

  “He’s probably hungry,” Faith said, walking past Tricia. She put the container down and picked Hope up from the floor.

  Hope wrapped her arms around Faith, burying her face in the side of her neck.

  Mason took in the scene in front of him. It looked to him like the children were more comfortable with Kane and Faith than they were with Tricia.

  Tricia sat down by the table that was already set for dinner. She held her arms out and Kane handed Cash over to her. He was still crying, but she held him close rocking, a few spasms of pain crossing her face.

  Kane put the casserole dish in the microwave and turned it on, while Faith, still carrying Hope, went to the fridge and pulled the milk out.

  “Anything I can do?” Mason offered.

  Faith shook her head and set the milk on the table. “Supper will be ready in a few minutes.” She looked around. “Where are Dad and Joe?”

  “Dad went outside to get away from the noise,” Tricia said, her voice holding a note of annoyance. “Joe said he was eating in town.”

  “Is he still trying to make a play for Carmen?” Faith asked.

  “I think it’s the one thing he’s been consistent about,” Kane replied as he crouched down beside Tricia, stroking Cash’s hair. “Hey buddy, have you been too hard on your mommy today?”

  “I want a sucker,” Cash said to Kane as if he might give him what he wanted.

  “He’s been whining about suckers all afternoon,” Tricia said.

  “Did you give him one?” Kane asked.

  “Of course not,” Tricia snapped. “I didn’t want him to ruin his appetite. I knew Faith was
bringing supper over.”

  “It’s okay, little buddy,” Kane said. “We’ll be getting some supper pretty soon. If you eat it all, you can have a sucker after.”

  Kane pushed himself to his feet and waved Mason over. “You can come and join us if you like, or if it’s too noisy for you you’re more than welcome to grab a sandwich or make a plate and take it back to the cabin with you.”

  It was tempting to sit in the quiet of his cabin. But he also wanted to catch more of the interaction between the family members.

  Whatever mistakes Tricia may have made, she had a supportive network.

  Which made his job all the harder.

  Chapter 4

  “So once we have join-up, we can work on fine-tuning our requests and her responses.” Mason walked across the pen, Abby right behind him. Tricia stood inside the corral looking as attractive as ever. He wished somebody would have warned him about how stunningly beautiful she was. Good thing he wasn’t looking.

  “So where do you start with that?”

  Mason noticed how she watched the horse, her attention fully engaged.

  “I want you to come into the middle of the pen,” he said, unclipping the lead line from Abby’s halter. “I want you to do a join-up with her yourself.”

  “Why do you want to do that?”

  “Because if you’ll be working with these horses, you need that personal connection with them too. And once you do the join-up, I’ll walk you through the steps to take to get her further in her training.”

  Tricia looked intrigued and quickly moved toward him and Abby. He coiled up the long, leather lead line and handed it to her. “You saw me do the initial join-up. Do you remember what I did?”

  “Yeah. Chased her away. Made her run.”

  “Exactly. Horses are a flight animal and you want to work with that. I’m getting out of here, and I’ll coach you from the side.”

  Tricia shot him a concerned glance. “You sure about this? I don’t want to mess up her training.”

  “You won’t.”

  But she didn’t seem convinced. “Okay. You’re the trainer.”

  “Relax. This isn’t a test.”

  “I hope not,” she said with a short laugh. “I have never tested well.”

  He sensed something else behind that comment but let it slide for now.

  “This is about relationships and about leadership. Just like raising kids.”

  “Yet another thing I seem to suck at.”

  Again with the self-deprecation. Trouble was, he had thought the same thing. Had been looking for the same thing.

  “For now, it’s just you and Abby,” he said, walking away from her, suppressing his own reactions. “Coil up that leather lead line and use it to get her moving. You want her going in circles, running away from you. But she can’t get away because she’s in the pen.”

  Tricia nodded.

  “You need to be looking directly at her. Eyes on her eyes, shoulders square. Keep your hands open. That makes her go faster.” Mason rested his arms on the corral fence, watching. “Shoulders square to her,” he reminded her.

  Tricia caught on quickly and soon had the horse going around the pen.

  “Keep her moving. Fast. Toss the line at her if she slows down, open your hands like you’re a predator.”

  He watched as she did exactly what she was supposed to, perfect form, connected to the horse.

  “Now step toward and ahead of her to stop her and get her going in the other direction. She’s seen you from one eye, now she needs to see you with her other eye.”

  Just like that Tricia had Abby shifting direction.

  “See how more relaxed she is? She’s already seen you from one side, now the other, and she knows you’re not going to eat her.”

  Tricia laughed, which surprised him. He hadn’t said anything funny. But the light sound of her laughter was like a knock to his heart. As was her genuinely happy smile.

  “Now we’re going to look for three things,” he said, pulling his errant emotions back in. “Her close ear twitched toward you; her mouth licking and chewing, showing you that she’s ready to connect with you or talk with you; and her head coming down.”

  As if on cue Abby did exactly that.

  Mason walked her through the other steps, watching as Tricia seemed to relax as much as the horse did. Her smile grew more natural and, if anything, she grew more beautiful.

  Focus, mister, focus, Mason reminded himself.

  “So now I want you to step in front of her to stop her forward travelling, then turn three quarters away from her, your own head down and not looking at her.”

  And just like that Abby stopped, hesitated, and walked slowly toward Tricia, her head almost resting on Tricia’s shoulder.

  “Just stay quiet a moment,” Mason said, keeping his voice down. “Now slowly turn to her, stroke her neck, and praise her.”

  “That’s amazing,” Tricia whispered, rubbing Abby’s neck, glowing with pride. “She would never come up to me before. Never. How did that happen?”

  “With horses it’s all about body language. They are extremely sensitive to how you stand, how you position yourself. She got to know more about you when you were sending her around the pen and then, when you stopped and turned away, she became curious. You weren’t a threat, because of the way you held yourself, and you showed her that you were willing to let her into your space.”

  Tricia kept stroking Abby, her smile lighting up her face.

  Mason knew he was supposed to watch the horse, but he couldn’t keep himself from watching Tricia and the sheer pleasure she exhibited.

  He walked her through a few more steps then stepped inside the ring again moving slowly, his hands in his pockets. Abby flicked an ear toward him, but, thankfully, kept her attention on Tricia.

  “I’ve heard about this, but never thought I’d be able to do it,” Tricia said, turning her full-wattage smile on him.

  Which didn’t help his equilibrium at all.

  “So, what’s next?” she asked.

  “Leading.” He kept his answer succinct, trying to adjust his reaction to her. It puzzled and bothered him. He didn’t like having his emotions controlling him. Besides, she was part of the reason he was here, and he had to keep his distance.

  She seemed to sense his pulling back, as her smile shifted. He wished it could be different, but he had to be able to leave here without any regrets or ties.

  They worked with Abby for another hour, getting her to respond to the pressure of the lead line and turn when commanded. The wind was picking up, lifting the loose dirt from the pen, but Tricia didn’t seem to notice.

  Until a particularly hard gust of wind swirled around, bringing a plastic bag floating into the pen just as Tricia came close into the horse.

  Abby snorted and jumped back, knocking Tricia over.

  Which spooked Abby even more. Her eyes grew wide, ears back, and she took off.

  Tricia lay on the ground, her face twisted with pain.

  “You okay?” he called out. He clambered over the fence, catching the lead line as it dragged through the dirt past him.

  He snagged it and walked to the middle of the pen, maintaining tension on the lead line, keeping Abby in control.

  He glanced down at Tricia, who was sitting now, her arms wrapped around her chest.

  “You look hurt,” he said, his attention torn between Abby and Tricia.

  She shook her head, then rolled to her hands and knees, trying to get up.

  Mason managed to slow Abby and then, thankfully, she stopped. She looked calm, so Mason walked over and unclipped the lead rope then hurried back to Tricia.

  “Here, let me help you up,” he said hooking his arm under hers.

  This elicited another gasp of pain, and she waved him off.

  “What happened?” he asked, kneeling down beside her. “I didn’t think Abby hit you that hard.”

  “Old injury.”

  “What do you mean?”

>   Tricia rocked back on her heels and then slowly managed to get up. “My ribs got broken a while back. Abby just hit me wrong and I fell.”

  Mason picked up her cowboy hat, slapped the dust off, then gave it to her.

  “How did you break your ribs?”

  Tricia caught her lower lip between her teeth, biting down, as if trying to decide what to say.

  “If you don’t want to tell me—”

  “You’ll be here for six weeks, you’ll probably find out anyway. If my dad doesn’t tell you, Kane will.” Her voice held a tone of resignation. She took in a slow breath as if to check for pain. “I got beat up. By my ex-boyfriend.”

  The abusive relationship Kane had mentioned yesterday when he not-so-diplomatically warned Mason about his sister.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Not near as sorry as I was.” Tricia tried to grin, but then winced again.

  “Is he the kids’ father?” He knew better, but he had to sound as if he had no clue.

  “What? No. No.” She released a harsh laugh. “That would be Drew. Another one of my not so good choices.”

  A jolt ran through him at the mention of Drew’s name. Questions rose up, demanding to be answered. What did she mean about not so good choices? What was she trying to say?

  Patience had served him well when he worked with horses. Now, more than ever, he would need to draw on that.

  So he said nothing, following her as she made her way over to the fence. She leaned against it, staring past him at the horse, her expression pensive.

  “Where are you?” he asked, deliberately keeping his question vague. “I feel like you’re not really here right now.”

  She shifted her weight as if adjusting to the pain, but her eyes were fixed on Abby.

  Mason never thought of himself as a detective. He’d never been one to be able to solve a mystery whenever he read a book, but a thread of what she had said earlier blended in with what she had just told him. It was a hunch, and if it didn’t pay off, all that would happen was he would find out just a bit more about her.

  “So tell me about Abby,” he said, his elbows resting on the top rail of the fence behind him, his eyes on Abby as well. He hoped his pose was casual instead of studied. Hoped his body language conveyed mild interest. “Tell me about the friend you named a horse after.”