Reunited With The Rancher. Brenda Minton

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      The woman standing too close for comfort laughed a little as Andy wiggled his foot and the puppy immediately returned to play mode. Her laughter dragged him down another path. Memories crashed into the present as the breeze kicked up, bringing with it the scent of September rain and a hint of coconut shampoo. Like it or not, today had become a day of reunions.

      He remembered. This woman had once been the girl who’d lived just down the road and they’d ridden bikes together. They’d gone swimming in the creek. They’d shared secrets neither had felt comfortable telling anyone else. She’d been Kylie Adams back then. And her hair had been more blond than brown.

      She’d become one of the many memories he’d pushed deep down, because forgetting was easier than remembering. Until today. Today he remembered her. He remembered that summer when two kids had discovered something sweet. He’d kissed her. A sweet but clumsy first kiss. And he’d told her someday he’d marry her.

      He met her gaze and he saw the twinkle of amusement, because she knew he’d finally remembered. Now he had a second reason for regretting the decision to return to Hope. The last thing he wanted, or needed, were more memories.

      “Kylie. It’s been a long time.”

      * * *

      Kylie had recognized the second Carson remembered her. She’d been waiting for it since the moment he’d taken off his sunglasses and looked at her, unsure, measured, trying to get his bearings.

      Twenty years had slipped away as he’d given her that look, confident and unsure all mixed together. She’d had to remind herself he was no longer the boy who’d promised to rescue her. She was no longer the girl from the trailer park who needed rescuing. She had rescued herself and built a new life here, in Oklahoma. In Hope.

      He had lost his wife. She had lost her husband. They had that in common. They’d both been widowed too young and too soon.

      “I guess it would be pointless to say I didn’t expect to see you here.” He surveyed the homes, the stable, the white vinyl rail fences. “I guess I didn’t expect any of this.”

      “I’m sure you didn’t. Things are seldom what we think.”

      He sighed, and she felt for him. She knew that he had been blindsided by all of this.

      He scrubbed a hand through short, dark hair and glanced toward the pasture, a man trying to get his bearings. He obviously didn’t know that his father had reinvented the ranch. It was a place of new beginnings. A place of mercy.

      “Why are you here?” he asked, his tone cool.

      “You’ll have to ask your dad. He’s in his office.” She reached but her hand dropped short of touching his arm that held Maggie. “I’m sure this is the last place you want to be. But if you’ll talk to him...”

      “I think this was a mistake. I should have kept on driving.”

      Carson West rocked that firm foundation just a little.

      “Don’t go,” she encouraged, even though she knew it would be better for her if he left. She knew Jack needed this. And Carson did, too, even if he didn’t believe it. “Friend to friend, stay and talk to him.”

      He pulled his sunglasses from his pocket and pushed them on. She was struck again by his masculine beauty. She remembered the same reaction from years ago. He’d been thirteen and beautiful with his suntanned skin, smoky gray eyes and slightly longer dark hair. Twenty years later his beauty was more masculine with a strong jawline, cheekbones that were defined and eyes that were more serious than laughing.

      She held a hand out to Andy and the little boy took it, unsure, a little lost. They started forward, and she left it for Carson to follow or not.

      “What are you doing?” Carson called out as she put distance between them.

      She wished she had an answer to that question. It felt like stepping into quicksand. But for this moment, she could put aside the instinct to fight or flee and she could help Jack make peace with at least one of his children.

      She glanced back at Carson. He hadn’t moved. He was still standing there with his daughter in his arms looking unsure. She thought it was not a familiar emotion for him. Uncertainty.

      “I’m taking you to the stable to see your father. I might as well go along. Someone has to be there to referee.”

      He laughed a little but didn’t deny it. And then he moved forward, catching up with them.

      As they approached the barn, Jack West emerged from the door. He was as tall as Carson, a little broader through the shoulders, but his strength seemed to diminish a little more each day. He pulled off his cowboy hat and put a trembling hand through shaggy gray hair as he watched the four of them walking toward him.

      “Carson?” His voice shook a bit. From emotion or Parkinson’s, Kylie couldn’t tell.

      “In the flesh.” Carson stopped a good ten feet from his father.

      “I guess this isn’t a social call?” Jack grinned as he said it, though sadness lingered in his eyes, as well. “You’re not here to accept my offer?”

      “It isn’t a social call, Jack, and I’m definitely not here to accept your offer. I came to tell you that we did just fine without you. I graduated from medical school and I’m a trauma surgeon. I have two children. And in case you’ve wondered, Daisy and Colt survived, too.”

      “I know they have.” Jack pointed to his office. “Let’s step in here and talk. We don’t need for everyone to be in our business.”

      “We can say what has to be said right here, and then I’m leaving.”

      “Don’t be so stubborn,” Jack shot back.

      “I’m not stubborn. What I have to say won’t take two minutes. I’m not going to discuss this job you’re offering or any excuses you might have.”

      “I don’t have excuses, I only have the truth.”

      Kylie shook her head at Jack, trying to at least get him to back down. She could feel the trembling that was radiating from Andy’s thin little frame, his hand quivering while it was snug in hers. Jack sighed and nodded, his gaze settling on his grandson.

      The little boy didn’t want to be involved in this argument any more than Kylie did. She wanted to walk away from Jack, Carson and the two children, because if she walked away she wouldn’t have to get involved. If she walked away she wouldn’t have to look at Carson’s children and have her heart ask the question what if?

      There were no what-ifs in her life anymore; there was only cold, harsh reality.

      “We have to talk,” Jack agreed. “But not right now. Not like this. Not standing here in a dusty barnyard. Not with your children watching.”

      “You’re right.” Carson took a step back from his father and slowly looked from his daughter clinging to his neck to the little boy standing next to Kylie. His expression softened. “We’ll just say our goodbyes and if I’m ever in the area again, I’ll look you up.”

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