Their Wander Canyon Wish

by Allie Pleiter

  “Now I gotta,” Ron said. “Can you give me a hand to keep it going one more year?”

  “Always did like a challenge,” Wyatt offered. “You like her that much?” He suspected Ron just didn’t have the funds to replace it, but didn’t want to say as much.

  Ron gave the truck a scowl. “I’m growing to hate her, actually. But we’re gonna have to stick with each other one more year now.”

  That was telling. Ron was one of the struggling ranchers sitting on an offer from Mountain Vista. “How so?”

  “I’ve decided not to take the Mountain Vista offer. It isn’t what the land is worth, and after yesterday I’m not so keen on how they do business over there.”

  You and me both, Wyatt thought to himself. “If you ever do sell, it should be for a good price. And to somebody you feel good about.”

  “Nice thought,” Ron agreed. “A bit harder to make happen, though. It’s gonna be tight.”

  It took Wyatt only a second to decide. “How about I give you half off labor to support the cause?”

  “You’d do that?”

  This hero thing was growing on him. “Sure I would.” Manny would back him up, he had no doubt.

  “Well, if you can get the carousel up and running, I’m sure you can do whatever it takes to squeeze another year out of this scrap heap.”

  Word of the carousel working again had flown through town. It hadn’t completely drowned out gossip about Landon Sofitel, but it had made a satisfying dent. And it had been fun to call the Carousel Committee chair and tell her to send the volunteer ticket-takers back to work. Every once in a while all morning he would stop work and listen for the faint and gratifying sound of calliope music echoing across the canyon.

  “Let’s hope so.” Wyatt swept his eyes over the vehicle, making a mental list of what might need to be done. “Give me forty-five minutes and I’ll have a workup for you.” A new amusing thought hit him. “You like chocolate, Ron?”

  “Who doesn’t?”

  He reached into his pocket to extract one of his red tickets. He’d never given one to a male before, but why not change this along with everything else? Wyatt felt a smirk creep across his face. “Head down to the Wander Bakery. My sister-in-law, Yvonne, will serve you up a cup of coffee and one of her brownies while I get you squared away. My treat.” He chuckled at the idea of how Yvonne’s eyes would pop at one of his freebie tickets turning up in the hands of an old man. Heroism was turning out to be more fun than he thought.

  Rob smiled. “Well, that’s kind of you.” After a pause, he added, “Guess church must’ve done you good.”

  Wyatt felt his face flush. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  “Don’t think I didn’t see you follow that lady into church yesterday afternoon. I always told Janice it would be a pretty face that lured you back into the fold.” He chuckled. “Didn’t count on three of ’em.”

  Marilyn didn’t need to be the subject of more speculation. “Look, Ron, it’s not—”

  Ron held up a hand. “Sure it is. And not a thing wrong with it.” He leaned in with a sparkle in his eye. “Have you told her?”

  Wyatt calculated the odds of successfully denying it. The way he felt this morning, he didn’t seem to stand much of a chance. Feeling absurdly sheepish, he muttered, “Um...no.”

  This seemed to tickle Ron even more. “She knows,” he said with a conspiratorial wink.

  “Huh?”

  “She knows. It was all over her face. You saw it, right?”

  It suddenly struck Wyatt that Sunday afternoon was now proving to be one of the first times in recent memory he was too worried about what everyone else was thinking to further his own agenda. He’d been too focused on fending off anyone’s mean comments to even notice what Marilyn was thinking.

  Of course, that hadn’t been the case at all at the carousel. He’d seen the way she looked at him, the cautious yearning in her eyes. He’d felt the world shift a bit when she slipped her hand into his, the way she stopped herself from leaning closer to him through the truck window. The old Wyatt wouldn’t have hesitated to capitalize on that. Only he had somehow became a different man around Marilyn. One who actually stopped himself from taking advantage.

  One who went to church in order to keep her safe.

  One who couldn’t get the giggles of two little girls out of his head.

  “Yeah,” he replied, the admission feeling huge, “I suppose I did.”

  Ron bumped his shoulder as if they were schoolboys. “Woman like her could do a lot worse than a man like you.” With that endorsement and a gleeful wave, Ron headed out the door toward his coffee and brownie. “You think about that. And I’ll see you later.”

  Wyatt shook his head and popped the hood of the rusty old truck. He’d go twice the extra mile now to help Ron make it last for another year. Maybe even throw in a replacement battery, no charge.

  He scanned the engine and all the other parts, taking stock the way he always did. “Just stare at her for a while,” Manny always said of any vehicle, “and she’ll tell you what she needs.”

  He stared at the metal, tubes and gears, but didn’t see an engine. He kept seeing Marilyn’s face in the unguarded moments where she looked—really looked—at him. Those amazing seconds before her constant caution pulled her back. The moments where he felt himself short of breath and off balance. Thunderstruck.

  Marilyn’s face did tell him what she needed. She needed love, and constancy, and loyalty. A man of faith, devotion and rock-solid dependability.

  Trouble was, he couldn’t be at all sure that meant she needed him. But maybe it was time to try.

  * * *

  Marilyn squinted out her bedroom window Monday afternoon to see if she really was seeing what she thought she saw. There, at the end of the long drive, sat Wyatt’s truck. And Wyatt, pacing up and down the fencing as if he couldn’t decide whether or not to step onto the property. Even from this distance, she could see it in his body language: he was as undone by what was happening between them as she was.

  The girls were in the back putting together birdhouse kits Dad had bought them at the hardware store. Marilyn walked downstairs to find Mom settled in her favorite chair with a book in her lap. She was staring out the living room window at the same sight Marilyn could see from her bedroom.

  “Who is that at the end of the drive?”

  Marilyn thought about dodging the subject, but decided against it. “Wyatt Walker,” she said, making sure there was no tone of apology in her voice.

  “What on earth is he doing here?” Mom’s voice was filled with disapproval.

  “I expect he wants to talk to me. So I’m going to walk out there and talk to him.”

  To her surprise, the look Mom gave her had no effect. She’d come to a turning point with her mother, one that was long overdue. It felt as if she crossed a lot more than property lines as Marilyn walked down the long drive toward Wyatt.

  She could see the moment he saw her coming. The set of his shoulders changed, he stopped pacing. After a moment, he started walking toward her. The urgency she felt seemed to quicken his steps, as well.

  “You’re here,” she said when they were close enough to speak. It seemed a ridiculous thing to say, but his presence did say a great many things.

  “I couldn’t stay away.” He shifted his weight. “I... I don’t know how to do this. I’m not even sure I can do this.” He looked into her eyes. “But you...the girls... I want to try. I mean, it’s not just me, right? You feel it?” He reached for her hand.

  She gave it to him freely, easily. The overwhelming glowing sensation in her chest didn’t really surprise her. Could a heart coming back to life feel any other way? “Are you asking if I care about you?”

  He looked scared. More unsure of himself than she’d ever seen him. Funny how that made him even more handsome. “Not re
ally,” he said.

  The answer unnerved her until he pulled her closer with the hand he held in his. “I think what I’m asking is if you love me. Because, well, I love you. And despite all the reasons we shouldn’t be together, I’m really, really hoping I’m not alone in this.”

  For a man with such a legendary reputation as a charmer, it was the most bumbling declaration of love she’d ever heard. It charmed her beyond reason. She stepped right up to him so that they were mere inches apart. He looked relieved, jubilant even. “No, Wyatt, you aren’t alone in this. I do love you. The girls love you. Those are the best reasons—maybe the only reasons—to be together. And I don’t know how this all works, either. But I want to try.”

  His smile was dazzling as he touched her cheek. It was as if her whole being bloomed back into life. The future changed from a test of endurance to a marvelous unfolding adventure. “Margie, Maddie... It’s like I can’t imagine living without them.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Or you.” His forehead touched hers. “I really hope your mom isn’t watching because I’m about to kiss the daylights out of you.”

  She laughed and tilted her head toward his. “She is. Kiss me anyway.”

  Wyatt’s kiss was everything. It was tender and warm and full of astonishment. Marilyn wondered if it could possibly feel as never-been-anything-like-it for him as it did for her. His touch filled her with new life and long-forgotten hope. And when he pulled back to look in her eyes, his eyes lit with the marvel that made her own chest glow.

  “So that’s what it’s like to kiss the woman you love.” He said it with the most endearing surprise. “Who knew what I was missing?”

  “Who knew?” Marilyn said, smiling wide. She knew. She knew she’d found what she’d been missing. Hope, love, and the heart of a truly good man.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Wednesday was Manny’s first official day back at the garage, and Wyatt was near useless. He’d have to take back all those times he gave Dad grief for being a total mess after falling for Pauline. Love seemed to make a man temporarily stupid. Good thing Manny was back on the job as of today. He was itching to tell Manny about Marilyn, to get the wise old man’s take on all the ways his life had turned upside down in recent weeks.

  Only when Manny arrived, he looked just plain run-down. He puttered aimlessly around the shop if the last thing he wanted to do was work. He’d always thought of Manny like Dad—both men didn’t know how to not work. Getting things done was like breathing, how they stayed alive.

  “How’s Peggy today?” Wyatt called out casually as he applied a grease gun to an axle.

  “You already asked me that,” came Manny’s reply from under a sedan, followed by the clang of something dropping and a grumble of frustration.

  “You okay?”

  “When are you gonna stop playing mother hen and finish that brake job?”

  Wyatt capped the grease gun. “I am done, you old coot. What’d you drop?”

  “My standards when I hired you.” Manny’s creaky laugh echoed out from under the vehicle.

  “As if you could make it without me.” They had some version of this teasing exchange nearly every day since Wyatt had started helping out at the garage. It was mostly joking, but the thread of truth as to how much they enjoyed and counted on each other simmered underneath the humor.

  Manny slid into view and sat up. “About that...” Wyatt did not care for the slow, grunting effort the man had to put in righting himself.

  “What about it?”

  “I been thinking...”

  That could mean only one thing. A little burst of panic lit in Wyatt’s gut, popping the bubble of bliss he’d been walking around in since kissing Marilyn. Now? Really? He’d been dreading the day Manny opted to close up shop. Even if he learned every clever tactic the learning center could offer, he was far from being able to go out into business on his own. He certainly had no desire to work for one of the snazzy car dealerships in the next town, Mountain Vista was definitely off the table and, while he and Dad had patched things up, that didn’t mean he would go back to the ranch. He hated the idea of drifting again, especially with Marilyn and the girls in the picture.

  Manny walked over to his desk, motioning for Wyatt to follow. “Did you know I opened this place in 1964? This building wasn’t even here. Just a garage shed and my toolbox.”

  This sounded too much like a goodbye speech. “I know that.”

  “I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. Not back then, and not for a couple a years after that. But I stuck with it.” Manny gave Wyatt a serious look. “Some things are worth sticking with.”

  That was rather a peculiar statement, seeing as Manny took Wyatt in when he did the exact opposite of sticking with Wander Canyon Ranch. Back then Manny was the only person who understood why Wyatt had walked away from the family herd and property. “I appreciate the way you stuck with me, Manny.” A surge of sentiment tightened Wyatt’s throat. “It’s been a good run.”

  Manny leaned back in his chair. “Now, what makes you think that run is over?”

  “’Cause this sounds a lot like an ‘I’m retiring’ speech, that’s why.”

  “I am retiring.”

  He fully deserved to, but the three words still felt like the finale of some of the best months of Wyatt’s life. He’d loved it here. He’d found himself, become his own person. He’d met Marilyn here, fallen for her and the girls as they spent time here. “I’ll be sorry to see this place go.” It was easy to admit that. These bays and the apartment above were home to him. More home, oddly enough, than he’d felt in his last five years at his childhood home of Wander Canyon Ranch.

  “Who says it’s going?”

  Of course Manny wouldn’t just close down the garage. He’d sell it. He’d built up a solid business. More than once Wyatt had daydreamed about swallowing his pride and asking Dad to loan him the money to make Manny an offer. He supposed he could strike a deal with the new owner, but did it stand any chance of being like working for Manny? “Isn’t it?”

  Manny chuckled. “I thought you were quicker on the uptake, boy.”

  Wyatt leaned back against the work counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “How about you just come clean with me about who’s buying the place?”

  Manny’s chuckle broke open into a laugh. “You are.”

  That actually stung. “I can’t.” He’d give anything to swing purchasing this place, but it’d be years from now. He wasn’t near ready to, financially or organizationally—he’d need a dozen Marilyns to pull that off.

  “Well, not yet, no.”

  “You’re not making any sense, old man.”

  “You’re gonna buy it from me bit by bit. Much as you can, fast or slow as you can manage it.” He straightened up. “You didn’t actually think I’d up and sell this place to anyone else, did you?”

  Did he hear that right? “Wait... Me?”

  “It’s called financing. As in me financing you. Instead of me paying you, you run this place and pay me for ownership. Ease into it. Best of both worlds. I just come in, say, once a week. Peggy says she’s not keen to have me home bugging her all the time anyhow.”

  Wyatt felt like he had to be extra sure he’d heard what he thought he had. “You’re gonna let me buy the business from you in payments?”

  “That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”

  “Um...yeah.”

  Manny’s expression was an amused sort of puzzled. “You do want to run the garage, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Wyatt answered without hesitation. “Absolutely.”

  “Honestly, I half expected you to come to me with the idea. Carl at the bank brought it up the other week. I figured you were just being nice, waiting until Peggy and I were ready.”

  Wyatt wiped his hands on a rag, happily stunned. “Am I ready?”

  “Well, maybe not
on your own, but seems to me you might have the right sort of partner within reach now.” Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “You shoulda heard Katie Ralton complaining to her lady friends in the diner this morning about ‘that no-good Wyatt Walker’ kissing her daughter at the end of her driveway.” He laughed so hard he wheezed a bit. “Wander’s always watching, isn’t that what you say?”

  Wyatt practically gulped. “So everybody knows?”

  “If they don’t, they will. She’s yours now. That is unless you’re dumb enough to let her get away.” After a pause, he added, “You’re not that dumb, are you?”

  Chaz had told him once about the moment he saw his future line up bright and shiny in front of him. As if the storm ahead of him in life had burned off the way storms so often did in this part of the country. After a tumultuous season, and even a fistfight with Wyatt himself, Chaz had struggled through to making a future for himself and Yvonne on Wander Canyon Ranch. Now Wyatt felt he was standing on the same brink of a future he’d never thought possible. “No, Manny,” he heard himself saying. “I’m not that dumb. I can’t let her get away.”

  Manny grinned. “Now there ya go.”

  Wyatt had never been a patient man. Suddenly his impatience to step into that bright future practically swallowed him whole. He didn’t want to wait one hour more to reach for what life—no, what God—had spread out before him. Thanks for Your infinite patience with me, Lord. I expect I sorely tested You. Wyatt checked his watch. Marilyn should be getting out of her meeting with Gail at the Chamber of Commerce just about now. The girls were still at the craft day they talked about at Sunday’s church service. “You think you can hold this place down on your own for an hour or two, old man?”

  Manny’s grin widened. “Been doing it for years before you got here.”

  “I got something I gotta do.”