The Rancher Takes A Family. Judy Christenberry

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      “How’d he meet his first wife?” Debra asked.

      “At a rodeo in Cheyenne. His dad had just died. He was off balance, needing to be connected to someone. After they got married, she insisted on a new house, new car, jewelry, anything else she could think of. He was in love and he tried to give her everything he could. Especially when he found out she was pregnant.”

      In a whisper, Debra muttered, “And then she died.”

      “Not before she ran away with a man who promised to make her a star in Hollywood. She left her two-month-old baby behind without a thought.” Bill couldn’t keep the anger from his voice. “We got in that evening to hear Betsy bawling. She was wet and hungry. We didn’t know what had happened. John almost went crazy until the state highway patrol called.”

      Debra stared at him in horror.

      “Yeah,” Bill agreed. “John just about went to pieces. He would have if it hadn’t been for Betsy. She needed him.”

      “I see,” Debra said slowly. “John and I have more in common than I’d first thought.” Her husband of two months, who’d married her because she was pregnant, even though she was still in high school, gave up his marriage and his job before she got out of high school. His new job choice was drug dealing. He was dead within two weeks.

      Bill put a callused hand on hers. “I know. Come on inside.”

      Inside, the house lived up to its exterior beauty. Almost. Not that there was anything wrong with the inside that a little cleaning wouldn’t improve. Debra stared at the family room furnished with three leather couches in a U-shape around a massive stone fireplace. The area was larger than her mother’s entire apartment had been.

      John came walking into the room from the hallway, holding a piece of paper out to her. “Here’s Betsy’s schedule. You may choose any of the upstairs bedrooms you want, but stay out of the one down here. It’s mine. Dinner should be sometime between seven and eight. There will be four of us at the table in addition to you and the children.” He pointed to the rear of the house. “The laundry room is in that direction. Anything you can do there will be appreciated.” His voice was calm but challenging, as if he thought she wouldn’t be able to do all he asked.

      “John—” Bill began, but John didn’t wait.

      “I’ll see you in the barn, Bill,” he said and walked out the door.

      Debra waited until her uncle turned to look at her, a helpless expression on his face. “It’s all right, Uncle Bill. I told you I’d work hard. And I realize we’re both in a situation that we now can’t change.” She straightened her spine and looked around. “How big a ranch is this?”

      “It’s not all that big. Fifteen thousand acres. That’s—” He hung his head, fingering the hat he held in his hands. Without looking up, he said, “We needed help. Debbie, I swear, if you’ll give him a little time—”

      “He’s got all the time in the world until I can find a way to make enough money to get me and my son back home.”

      Debra investigated the house and determined the two bedrooms she and Andy would take upstairs.

      The third bedroom, next to hers, was occupied by a sleeping baby. Debra stood at the crib, looking down at Betsy. The blond-haired child was so sweet. Babies always were.

      Debra smiled, remembering Andy’s younger years. Then she heard her son calling her and rushed out of the baby’s room to keep him from awakening Betsy.

      “Do you like your room, Andy?” she asked.

      “It’s big, Mommy. I think I’d rather stay with you.”

      She put her arms around him. “You’ll be right next door to me, baby. And it means you can sleep later without me waking you up. You’ll get used to it, I promise.” She hugged him tighter. “How ’bout we go to the kitchen and see if we can find you a snack?”

      Downstairs she discovered a beautiful kitchen, complete with all the latest appliances. Since she was a short-order cook, she appreciated the convenience of a large, modern kitchen. The one good thing she could say about the job at Joe’s Diner was that it had allowed her to spend the late afternoons and evenings with Andy. Of course, she’d had to go to bed when he did since she got up at four-thirty in the morning to go to work. Her entire paycheck went to her mother. Eileen demanded money for letting them live with her, money for taking care of Andy. Money for everything.

      The only money Debra had secreted away was her share of the tip money that Joe, the owner, had given her at the end of each month. It hadn’t come to much, but it allowed her to buy Andy clothes and occasionally treat him to something special.

      She should’ve saved it so she could get back to Kansas.

      Then she stopped to consider her own words. Did she want to go back? Did she want that life? She shuddered. The answer was no. She probably wouldn’t be the man’s wife for long, but at least she would have some respite from having to abandon her son every morning. And God knew, she couldn’t go back to living with her mother, not knowing what she did now.

      “Mommy?”

      “Oh, yes, honey, I’m sorry. Let’s go find that snack.”

      She’d assumed she’d find the cupboard bare if this man—her new husband—was so broke he couldn’t pay for anyone to help him. However, she found his penniless state didn’t apply to the kitchen. The refrigerator was stocked and a nearby freezer was full of frozen beef.

      Checking the clock, she removed some meat for the evening dinner she was expected to prepare. Then she found some crackers and peanut butter for Andy.

      “I like peanut butter,” he said, smiling for the first time since they’d gotten off the plane in Casper that morning.

      “I know you do, sweetheart.”

      “Eileen didn’t like to give me peanut butter,” Andy muttered. Her mother had insisted Andy call her by her first name so people wouldn’t realize she was a grandmother.

      Debra leaned over to brush back a wisp of Andy’s hair. “I know, sweetie. That’s one good thing about living here. No Eileen.”

      “Really?”

      “Really, Andy. You get to stay home with me and your new sister, Betsy.”

      He frowned. “But she’s a girl.”

      She couldn’t stifle a laugh. “So am I, young man. You’ll grow to love Betsy. Her daddy says she’ll be up soon and then you’ll really get to meet her. You’ll see. It will be great.”

      As Andy ate, Debra moved about the kitchen, locating equipment and ingredients, mentally inventorying the pantry, that was well organized. If John’s wife had done all this, she must have been a good cook.

      In the monitor on the table Debra heard the sound of a baby stirring.

      “Betsy’s awake,” she told Andy. “Wait here and I’ll go get her.”

      When she entered the baby’s room, Betsy was standing in her bed, СКАЧАТЬ