A Rancher of Her Own. Barbara White Daille

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СКАЧАТЬ he nodded his thanks. He had long ago had a solitary breakfast here in the kitchen while she and his children still slept. As manager of Garland Ranch, he started work at an early hour, but as often as he could, he made it his business to get back to the house to see his daughter before she left for school.

      “What about Grandpa Jed?” he asked Rachel.

      “Of course Grandpa Jed,” she said, rolling her eyes as if Jed Garland’s presence at her graduation was a given. And it would be. “He wants to come, too, right?”

      “Sweetheart, he wouldn’t miss it.”

      Jed had always treated Rachel and Eric as if they were his own grandkids. Heck, from the time Pete had come to work as a wrangler here on the ranch, fresh out of high school, the old man had treated him like one of the family.

      A couple of years ago, when Marina had taken off to seek fame and fortune, she’d left him to raise a three-year-old and a newborn alone. Jed had promptly promoted him into the vacant ranch manager’s position, which included the manager’s quarters, and increased his salary enough that he could comfortably pay for a live-in nanny to help take care of his kids.

      “I have to save one for Grandpa Mark, too,” she said.

      Jed had always treated him better than his own father ever had. Now, though the man remembered the kids at birthdays and Christmas, his busy schedule kept him from visiting frequently. Rachel was aware of this, which was probably why she had given Jed top billing.

      “And can I invite Jane and Andi to come, too?” A couple more of Jed’s granddaughters. “And Missy and Trey?” Andi’s two kids.

      “I think they might all have gone home by the day of your graduation,” he said.

      She gasped. “They’re coming for the wedding, right?”

      “Definitely.”

      Jed’s youngest granddaughter, Tina, was getting married later in the month. As flower girl, Rachel was even more wrapped up in the wedding than she was in her own special event. Along with her new fascination with floor-length dresses and three-tiered cakes, it looked as though she’d embraced the idea of extensive guest lists.

      “Well,” she said, “then they have to come to my graduation, too.”

      Better to try to let her down easy, something he’d had plenty of practice doing, thanks to Marina. “There are other kids in your class, you know, and they have friends and family to invite. I’m not sure your teacher plans to give you that many invitations.”

      “I’ll tell Miss Loring she has to. I can’t leave anybody out. Like Tina and the wedding.”

      “Well, we’ll see.” Personally, he’d just as soon have Tina and her fiancé, Cole, one of his wranglers, leave his name off their list. Pointless to hope for that, though, when they had already roped him into becoming a member of the wedding party.

      After a look at the kitchen clock, he leaned over to kiss Rachel’s forehead. “I’ll see you after school. It’s time for you to go and brush your teeth.”

      “And get my backpack. To bring all my invitations home.” She slid from her seat.

      As she left the room, he and his housekeeper exchanged another glance. “The bossiness hasn’t let up any, has it?” he asked.

      The older woman smiled, adding a few more wrinkles to her lined face. “As I keep saying, she’ll outgrow it.”

      “Yeah? Before or after one of the bigger kids at school thumps her on the nose for pushing him around?”

      “She could probably talk herself out of a fight with anybody in that kindergarten class.”

      “It’s the middle-schoolers I’m worried about.”

      Sharon laughed. “She’d handle them, too.” She hesitated. “I’m not condoning her bossiness, Pete. I’ve tried talking with the child, and she can almost talk rings around me. It’s given me a whole new crop of gray hair.”

      He didn’t know what he’d do without Sharon, a widow who had become his nanny and housekeeper shortly after he and the kids had moved into the house. She had given up her small apartment in Cowboy Creek and relocated to the ranch full-time. She was a grandmother herself, with several grandkids of her own, and her experience had saved him many times over the past couple of years. Now she sounded worried, as if her job depended on teaching his daughter social skills.

      “Hey, that’s not what I hired you for. And trust me, I’ve tried to talk with her, too. To get her to see she’ll win more friends with honey than harassment. But you’re right—she’ll outgrow it. Sooner than later, I hope.”

      It was his turn to hesitate. Before too long, he needed to have another discussion with Rachel, and it would have to cover more than her social skills. He kept his gaze on Eric, who sat playing with the dry cereal on his high-chair tray. “I can’t do anything about Jed’s family staying around for the graduation.”

      “You can’t do anything about Marina, either,” Sharon said softly.

      He sighed. “I know. But dammit, Sharon, she’s disappointed the kids too many times already.” And each time, he’d felt like punching something—not the best example to set for his talks with Rachel about her conduct. With every one of Marina’s cancellations, he was forced to break the news to his daughter, and he couldn’t deal with seeing her turn so quiet, so withdrawn, for days afterward.

      Eric pushed a few pieces of his cereal over the side of the tray.

      “Now, don’t you start, little man. Your sister’s enough of a handful right now.” Pete caught both his son’s wrists and pressed them together between his palms.

      Familiar with the game, Eric laughed, slipped his hands free and pounded the tray, making the scattered cereal bounce. Pete reached down to pick up the pieces that landed on the floor.

      “Leave that,” Sharon said. “I’ll sweep up when he’s done.”

      “Thanks. You’re the best.” He dropped a few pieces of the cereal into the kitchen trash and then planted a kiss on Eric’s blond curls. “I’d better head out. Charlie’s due to stop in anytime now.” Charlie, the local vet, was coming to take a look at one of the mares with a leg injury. “I’ll see you all later.”

      He left the house and strode in the direction of the barn, which sat within easy walking distance, even for Rachel, who spent plenty of time in the adjacent corral and at the Hitching Post.

      As he thought again of his daughter, he shook his head.

      She had recently begun dramatizing every little incident—very much like her mother always had and still did on her rare visits to town. At the thought of the public scenes Marina had put him through in the past, he shuddered. He dreaded the idea of Rachel taking on more of her mama’s traits. Already, her bossiness seemed like her way of controlling situations. Of getting extra attention.

      Or maybe he read too much into his daughter’s behavior. It was hard to tell. Sometimes he didn’t know for sure how to read either of his kids. The thought made him heave another sigh. Though his position as manager of Garland Ranch СКАЧАТЬ