The Cowboy's Texas Family. Margaret Daley

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      Nick opened the passenger door. “It’s been getting worse. That may be what made Corey leave.” When his own dad drank, all Nick had wanted to do as a child was hide. He shut the truck door, made his way to the driver’s side and switched on the engine, throwing a glance at Darcy. “What’s your job?”

      For a long moment Darcy didn’t answer. Nick turned the truck around and headed the way they had come. Still no reply.

      He was about to tell her to forget the question when she murmured, “I’m a lawyer—for Legal Aid.”

      Surprise flitted through him. He wasn’t sure what he’d pictured her doing. When he thought about it, the fact that she was a lawyer wasn’t what astonished him—it was that she worked for Legal Aid. The clothes she wore and the car she drove didn’t fit his image of the belongings of someone working for the poor. And yet, she’d quickly volunteered to search for a child she didn’t know. He was discovering there was a lot under the cool, composed facade she presented to the world.

      “You can close your mouth now. I’ve been working at the office in Mobile since I got out of law school a few years ago. My father comes from old money. Giving back to the community is very important to both my parents. When I was young, no more than five, he had me volunteering right alongside him or my mother. By the time I went to college I knew I was going to fight for people who often can’t fight for themselves.”

      “You need to give Fletcher Phillips a lesson in how to give back. Instead, he pushes his own agenda to make more money.”

      “Are you talking about Ned and Corey?”

      “Yes, that’s one example, but the boys ranch is another.”

      “What boys ranch?”

      “We have a Lone Star Cowboy League Boys Ranch here in Haven, founded in 1947 by Luella Snowden Phillips. She used her own ranch as a place for troubled boys around the state to receive support and care and to learn a better way to deal with their problems.”

      “Any relative to Fletcher Phillips?”

      “Yes, his grandmother. But he wants to close the place down.”

      “Why would he want to shut down something his grandmother started and supported?”

      “Good question. Now you see why he isn’t one of my favorite people. He says it devalues the property around the boys ranch and hurts Haven’s economy. All he sees is a bunch of troublemakers, not young children and teens who have problems. His father, Tucker, was actively involved in the ranch. He isn’t alive, but if he were he would be so disappointed in his son.”

      “I can see why you feel that way about Fletcher, but has anyone invited him to the ranch to see firsthand what’s going on? Maybe even volunteer and get to know the children?”

      Had they? Nick didn’t know. “The townspeople are always welcomed at the boys ranch.”

      “Sometimes the obvious has to be pointed out to some people.”

      Nick chuckled. “That would be Fletcher, but I can’t see even a grand tour of the boys ranch changing that man’s mind. And I certainly can’t see him volunteering there.” He pulled into a parking space at the elementary school. “I met my share of people in the army who had to have it their way or no way. They were rigid and never wanted to compromise.”

      “There are people like that in every facet of life. I try to look at things from their perspective.”

      Nick climbed from the truck, paused and asked over the hood, “How’s that working for you?”

      “Actually pretty well, but I’ll admit there are some who can make it hard for a person.”

      Nick studied her profile as she stared at the woods across the field. Was he one of those people? The thought didn’t sit well with him. “So why do you think Ned drinks himself into a stupor and ignores his son?”

      “I imagine the second part comes because of the first—Ned’s drinking problem. Most people drink to excess because they aren’t happy and don’t know how to make it better. What happened to Corey’s mother?”

      Nick walked to the back of the truck and let the tailgate down. “I don’t know. Corey was a toddler when she died. He said his dad wouldn’t talk about her.” And that topic never came up with his army buddy, Corey’s older brother. Her question brought thoughts up about Nick’s own mother, who died when he was seven. Was that what led to his father’s drinking problem? Even so, that didn’t give him the right to hit Nick whenever he felt like it. He was thankful that by the time he was fifteen his dad had backed off. Probably because Nick was stronger and bigger than his father.

      He gestured to her multiple bags. “Which one do you need?”

      Darcy pointed to two of them, and Nick slid them to her. “Maybe Corey running away will shake up his dad,” she said as she changed her shoes and found her hat and gloves.

      Nick shut the tailgate, handed her a flashlight and then started across the school playground toward the woods. “Probably not. This isn’t the first time he’s gone missing, but usually the sheriff isn’t involved. No doubt he is this time because Mrs. Scott knew something was wrong and called them. Ned never would have. I don’t know what would have happened if Mrs. Scott didn’t help me out by keeping an eye on the boy. If she hadn’t come back with cookies, Ned would have resumed drinking and still might have been oblivious to the fact that Corey could be freezing to death.”

      “Did you know Doug before y’all were in the army?”

      He switched on his flashlight, the crunch of fallen leaves sounding in the quiet. “Yes, the family lived in Haven for a while when I was a freshman in high school. That’s when Doug and I became friends. Then his family left and went to Dry Gulch. When I enlisted, I met up with Doug again at boot camp. He was escaping his father like I was.” The last sentence came out before he could censor himself. Darcy was too easy to talk to.

      “You were?”

      He didn’t share his past with anyone. Even he and Uncle Howard didn’t talk much about what had happened as Nick grew up. It just brought up hard feelings toward his dad, and Nick had enough to deal with keeping the ranch afloat due to his father’s mismanagement. Nick had used all his savings to bail the Flying Eagle out of debt, but he didn’t have enough left to do much else. “I was a teenage boy who thought he knew what was best for him.”

      “Where is Doug now?”

      “He was killed on a mission.”

      Darcy slowed her step. “I’m sorry to hear that. I see why you’re trying to help Corey.”

      Frustration at his inability to help Corey as much as the kid needed plagued Nick. It brought back all the helplessness he’d felt as a child.

      * * *

      As they moved deeper into the stand of trees, Darcy followed a step or two behind, sweeping her flashlight over the left area while Nick searched the right side.

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