Raining In My Heart (Book One of the McKay's) (10 page)

"Must be a new one
;
never heard of him, honey,"
Julie
remarked.

"Actually, he's a part
-
timer, he's
a
much older
man
;
I think
D
ad must have had a weak spot for him.
He hired him on last year, but I haven't seen much of him until lately. He is a nice old man
. He's a lot like
D
ad
,
"
Wendy
added.
"He mainly just grooms the horses for
D
ad, he isn't here that much through the day, but he does a good job."

"Well, come have some warm cookies,
Kellie
,"
Sandy
invited.

"Wow, it smells good
.
"
Kellie
saw her take a pan out of the oven and smil
ed
.
"And
I love oatmeal raisin. Next to chocolate chip it's my favorite."

Sandy
laughed
.
"You're a
McKay
alright."

"You're going to fit right in
.
" Letty grabbed a cookie and sat down with a cup of coffee.

"They have beautiful horses Mama, one named Lightning
;
he's so pretty."

"Yeah, and so dangerous, especially that one
.
"
Sandy
chuckled.
"Even we've been warned to leave him alone."

Julie
poured herself another coffee and nibbled on a cookie
.
"You
need to stay away from Lightning
, honey. You aren't used to them
yet
and you could get hurt. So you listen to the cowboys around here and be careful.
They know what they are talking about.
"

"
Caleb
showed me all of them but he kept telling me that Lightning wasn't one to be played with. If I
could ride him…boy
."

"Well, I don't mind you learning to ride, but not that
particular
one
,
"
Julie
cautioned again, knowing how
Kellie
loved horses.

"Cade or
Wade
needs to teach her how, I wouldn't trust the others,"
Wendy
cautioned.
"I mean they could teach her, but they might be a little rougher with her.
Cade would probably be the best as he has a special group he works with on the weekends.
"

"A special group?"
Julie
asked.

"Yeah,
Cade
's been working with some handicapped kids on the weekends and he's very good with them. Teaching them to ride."

"Really
.
"
Julie
was amazed.

"I guess you are gonna have a lot to adjust to, aren't you
Julie
?" Letty observed.
Letty was the only one of her sisters that knew who
Kellie
's father was.
If the others knew
,
they kept it to themselves. At one time
,
Letty and
Julie
had gotten very close, when they were both younger and falling in love. Only problem was, they both loved the same cowboy.
Letty was crazy for
Wade
.

"Y
eah. He sure didn't leave us much choice in the matter.
"

Wen
dy
sprang to her father's defens
e quick enough. "There's a choice
,
it just isn't as appealing. I don't think any of us would give up what is rightfully ours, to do what we wanted."

But
it was
Sandy
who saw the sacrifices
Julie
would make.

"It means transferring
Kellie
to a new school, possibl
y giving up your wedding plans and moving back home. Naturally
,
in the end, it will all be worth it, but at least the rest of us just have to move home for a while."
Sandy
glanced at
Julie
.

Kellie
's attention went back and forth then she looked at her mother
.
"We're moving?"

"Uh…yes darling, we are. Here to be exact."

Kellie
's eyes became big and a smile broke across her face
.
"You mean it?"

Julie
was unprepared for the zealous response. "Yes, and by that smile I take it, you are all for it?"

"Oh Mama, we'll be right here, right here with all those horses!"
Kellie
almost jumped out of her seat she was so happy.

Wendy
smiled
.
"Well, that was a quick adjustment."

Kellie
blushed
.
"It's a dream come true…."

All the girls laughed.
But inside
Julie
knew it was going to take a lot of guts and gumption to get through a year
on the ranch
.
But the real threat here was Cade finding out that
Kellie
was his
daughter
. What would he d
o? How would he react?
S
hould
she
just tell him and get it over with? What if he felt responsible
?
What if he wanted custody?
So many what if's.
She wrestled with those if's
for
a long time.
After so long a time she had reasoned that
Cade
had his own life and it was too late to interfere.

"My gosh, she's got a dose
of
George
McKay
in her, doesn't she
?
"
Wendy
observed.

"Yeah, maybe too much,"
Julie
murmured.

"At least you don't have to fight your daughter about it
.
" Letty chuckled.

"I had a feeling she'd like the idea,
but, now if I could just come to terms with it
."
Julie
sighed heavily.

"Does thi
s mean you're not marrying
Jim
, Mama
?"
Kellie
asked.

"Well, not…right away at least
,
"
Julie
exclaimed.

Kellie
went to hug her Mom. "I'm sorry Mama, for you."

Julie
knew her daughter dampened her excitement in front of her sisters about that, and she was thankful.
Kellie
d
idn't like
Jim
that much and
Julie
had hoped to rectify that by letting
Jim
move into their apartment. Now that was changing too.
Julie
looked at her daughter and smiled sadly, she wished she could be as excited about moving home, but she just could
n't see this being an easy move
.

"So…what are we gonna do on the ranch for a year?" Letty asked.

Wendy
frowned at them
.
"Well
,
I would hope like me, pitch
in
and help where we can."

"I haven't been on a horse in years," Letty fretted.

"It's not something you forget,"
Wendy
informed her.

"
Wendy
,
I don't know about the others, but it's time you realized something.
I know you are the kid sister, but sometimes, you get real pushy about being here all the time and the rest of us running off to make a living for ourselves.
You kind of throw a guilt trip on us as though we were doing something wrong.
Don't shove Dad and this ranch down our throats
, he did enough of that
.
" Letty's brow raised a fraction and her smile faded to a quick frown.

"Just because you've been living here, doesn't mean th
e rest of us have
. We were all born and raised here, just like you. We know you are the baby of the family, but sometimes you don't think about other
's
lives, other situations, because you haven't been exposed to the outside world. We all have separate lives and it's
going to take some
ge
t
t
ing
used to being here for a whole year. Especially in the same house.
We've started our careers and been living a much different life for some time.
That doesn't change overnight.
My mother used to say two cooks in the same kitchen didn't cut it. It is going to take some huge getting used to. Stop being the goody-two-shoes around here and let the rest of us decide for ourselves how we like it."

Wendy
turned beet red, like she always did when she was about to butt heads with Letty. But fortunately for all,
Sandy
stepped in.

"Look, Letty is right about this,
Wendy
.
You've been a little narrow
-
minded ab
out all this. Dad is gone, and we are
your sisters.
We loved him too.
And we do have some changes to make. Not all of them easy ones. But, you have to remember, w
e all grew up here
. We are all
Mc
K
ay
's
. This is our
ranch and it will take some getting used to. Don't jump
'
til you've got a reason to jump. Letty's right
,
"
Sandy
cautioned, but with a hand on top of
Wendy
's.

Julie
n
odded. "Sorry to gang up on you, but w
e all loved
D
ad in our own way. We just didn't choose to live here is all.
"

Suddenly
,
Letty put an arm around
Julie
's shoulder
.
"It will be har
der
on you. Harder than I first realized. But we'll all be here for you
,
Julie
.
I promise you that. We
are
a family.
"

Julie
hadn't expected Letty to understand but it wa
s
reasonable that in nearly ten
years her sister had matured and realized that living under the same roof practically with
Kellie
's father was not going to be an easy feat for
Julie
.
Letty was old enough and mature enough to understand why.
And Letty was the only one of her sisters who might know that
Cade
was
actually
the father
,
not
Wade
.

After a long quiet moment
,
Wendy
glanced at them all
;
she came to stand in front of them and hesitated.
"I'm sorry.
But I have a reason for ganging up on you all…
I've
missed you guys."

Now even Letty was smiling.

"Well, I hate to admit this…and it may be the only time I do, but I've missed everyone too
,
"
Letty
admitted.

Julie
was shocked
.
Letty
had
mellowed through the years
.
What a change.

"You know Letty, it almost feels like old times
.
"
Julie
smiled.
"Only I think you've grown up."

Kellie
joined in and seemed to cement the feelings
.
"This is gonna be so much fun. I've got a real family now…"

Wendy
grabbed her and hugged her
.
"You sure do, honey."