The Rancher's Family Wish. Lois Richer

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      “You don’t know kids’ appetites.” Sophie inclined her head. “I’ll make lots. If you have leftovers you can freeze them for another time or take them to church potluck.”

      “Good idea.” His attention strayed to the patio under construction. “Will the homeschool kids eat here or would you rather have some kind of picnic elsewhere on the ranch?”

      “The patio would be perfect. A smooth surface makes it a lot easier for kids in wheelchairs.” Sophie knew it was time to leave yet she lingered, savoring the lazy drape of the mesquite trees where they shaded the corner of the new patio. Neither the murmur of voices behind her as deliverymen finished filling the room nor the construction noise in front detracted from the peace of this place. “You’re so lucky to live here.”

      “Blessed,” Tanner agreed, his voice coming over her left shoulder. “I thank God every day that Burt found me and brought me here.”

      “I never heard the whole story. Will you tell me?” Sophie asked quietly, intrigued by the glimpse into Tanner’s past.

      “Not much to tell. I was almost sixteen, living on the streets. I’d run away from my foster home.” He grimaced. “I was auditioning for membership in a gang when I met Burt.” His cheeks stained red. “Actually I was trying to steal his truck. He invited me out to lunch and I was starving so I went.”

      “And that’s it? You came here?” she asked in disbelief.

      “Not quite.” Tanner chuckled. “I ate the meal, even had seconds, but when he started talking about God I walked out on him. That didn’t stop Burt. He came back, again and again. I must have cost him a fortune in food but the man was relentless.”

      “So eventually he talked you into coming to Wranglers.” Sophie nodded, then stopped at the look on Tanner’s face. “Not quite?”

      “Not hardly. Burt had done some foster parenting years before so he had connections. He went to a social worker who was a friend of his and reported me.” Tanner grinned at her surprise. “She appeared with some cops to take me to a juvenile detention center unless I agreed to have Burt as my guardian. He’d talked a lot about his ranch and since I was keen on horses I agreed to go with him. I figured I’d spend some time at Wranglers, enjoy the food and let my bruises from a street fight heal. Then I’d run away again.”

      “But you didn’t.” Sophie’s interest grew.

      “I didn’t have the energy.” Tanner shook his head, his face wry. “That man about wore me out with chores around this place. When he wasn’t watching me, Moses was. I almost left the night before I was supposed to go to school, but I couldn’t get away from them. Then I realized some of the kids admired me because I lived on a ranch. Me! So I decided to stay for a while.”

      “And you’ve never left.” Sophie had heard Burt speak about Wranglers Ranch but she’d never realized how much effort he’d put into his work with Tanner.

      “God and Burt wouldn’t let me.” Tanner’s face grew pensive. “That man had a faith that astounded me. He prayed about everything and God answered. I couldn’t leave because I was desperate to figure out why that was. Because of Burt I finally accepted God in my life. I’ve never regretted that. God’s love changed my world.”

      Tanner sounded so confident in his faith. Sophie wished she was. But somehow lately she felt out of touch with God, as if He ignored her pleas for a way to build her catering business, to help Davy, to enrich Beth’s life. And she still battled to be free of the condemnation her parents had heaped on her head when they’d first learned she was pregnant all those years ago.

      Everybody pays, Sophie. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you break God’s laws, you have to pay the price.

      So now she was a widow, broke and alone with two kids, one mentally challenged and one well on the path to trouble. When would she have paid enough?

      “Mama? Can we see the rabbits?”

      Sophie shook off the gloomy thoughts to smile at her sweet daughter. Beth wasn’t a penalty. She was a blessing. So was Davy.

      “Why don’t you ask Tanner?” She tossed a glance at the man who was becoming her best customer.

      But he couldn’t be more than that because Sophie wasn’t about to trust Tanner or any other man with more than simple friendship.

      * * *

      When Tanner caught himself straightening a cushion for the fifth time on Friday night, he knew he was fussing too much. Moses knew it, too.

      “What’s bugging you?” the old man demanded from his seat on the patio. “You’re like a cat on a hot roof. Is it that lady?”

      “Sophie?” He saw the gleam in the old man’s eyes and chided himself for taking Moses’s bait. “She said five. She should have been here by now.”

      “That young pastor is waiting by the front gate for the second bus from the church. Guess I’d better go take the hooligans to the north pasture.” Moses swallowed the last of his water, then rose. “They’re playing a game about a flag.”

      “Capture the flag,” Tanner said.

      “That’s what he called it.” Moses nodded and pointed to the dust trail. “That could be your lady.”

      His lady? Tanner didn’t have time to sort through the rush of excitement that skittered inside his midsection because Sophie pulled in front of the house and braked hard. She jumped out of her van and hurried to the back.

      “Is anything wrong?” He strode toward her, noticing Beth’s tear-streaked face in passing. Davy didn’t look at him.

      “Very wrong,” she muttered, handing him two large trays of assorted goodies. Her face was white, her eyes troubled. “But I don’t have time to go into it now. I’ve got to serve crudités at a black-tie event in half an hour.”

      “The kids?” he asked, balancing the trays in each hand.

      “Are staying with me,” she said, her voice tight. “They can sit in the corner while I work.” Clearly Sophie was steamed.

      “Why not leave them with me? They can—” Tanner swallowed the rest of his offer when her dark brown eyes flashed a warning.

      Sophie slammed the van’s rear door closed, nodded toward the house and, after ordering the kids to stay put, followed him into the kitchen.

      “He stole from you.” Her fury showed in her stance, in the flicker at the corner of her mouth and in her lovely pain-filled eyes. “My son stole from you.”

      “Ah.” Tanner clamped his lips closed and said nothing more.

      “You knew?” If anything her anger burned hotter. “You knew and didn’t say anything?”

      “Sophie, he made a mistake. He took the arrowhead without thinking and then he didn’t know how to put it back,” he said in a soft voice. “But he would have. Davy’s not a cheat.”

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