Return to Marker Ranch (13 page)

“Maybe I don't know the whole story,” Mandy said. “But are you expecting Wade to be perfect, too? I think you're holding both of you to a pretty high standard. You are allowed to make mistakes, Lori, and so is Wade.”

Lori considered her sister's words. She
did
try to do everything the best possible way. Maybe that was part of why she couldn't forgive herself for ending her pregnancy. She'd gone for the fastest, most obvious solution but not, in hindsight, the best one for her.

“Am I right?” Mandy asked.

“Maybe...” Lori grumbled.

“I'm not making excuses for Wade. I don't want you to be with someone who has a terrible temper or anything like that. I'm only saying that if you hold out for people to act perfectly before you let them in, you could be on your own for a mighty long time.”

“I've been on my own so far and done all right.”

“Sure. But are you happy? After you see Wade, you come back all sparkly. And I saw his face when he looked at you in the bar that night. He couldn't keep his eyes off you. It was pretty romantic.”

“Sparkly?” Lori stood up from the table. “I've never been sparkly a day in my life. I'm just dust and cattle.”

“And I'm just saying that if you asked Wade, he'd tell you he likes dust and cattle. A lot. And that he sees way more than that in you.”

“Well, I'm not asking.” Suddenly the kitchen felt hot and stifling. Lori wanted wide-open space and a good gallop on Dakota. And to be far away from Mandy's insights that hit way too close to home. “I have a cattle drive to plan. I'm gonna get going.”

“Why don't you ask Wade to go with you?” Mandy asked, a wicked smile on her face. “I'm sure he could use the experience.”

She couldn't take any more. Lori covered her ears with her hands. “What was that, sis? I can't seem to hear you.”

“Oh my gosh, you're ten years old again? You
like
him, you
like
him...” Mandy crowed, regressing right along with her.

“Can't hear you, la la la la...” Lori sang, and then they were both giggling hysterically. Lori uncovered her ears and came around the table to give Mandy a quick hug. Then she clapped her hat on her head and headed out to find Dakota. She still wanted that gallop, but thanks to Mandy and her cookies, she was feeling a few years younger, a few pounds heavier and a whole lot better.

 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

T
HE
NEW
HORSE
came down the trailer ramp in a riot of hoofbeats as if he had a few extra legs. He danced and snorted at the end of the lead while Todd spoke to him in a low voice, reassuring him that this new place was safe. Todd's friend Jack, a professional trainer who helped work with the rescued mustangs, stood to one side, quiet and ready in case he was needed.

Poor horse. Wade understood the fear in its wide eyes. Born wild, brutalized in a helicopter roundup, then confined to a packed corral in the blistering summer heat. Then, just when he thought he had a safe haven with Todd, he'd endured a trailer ride to an unfamiliar ranch. No wonder he looked so miserable.

A certainty settled in Wade's heart. This horse needed him and needed a home. So he
would
make this work. He'd make this ranch into a great home for him, no matter how hard it was. Strange to think of Marker Ranch, with all of its bad history, as a place that could help anyone feel safe. But he'd find a way to make it happen. He knew too well what terror felt like.

Wade hung back, figuring it was best to let Todd comfort the frightened animal. He was a strange-looking horse. His coat was a mishmash of reddish hair and white, the combination almost pink in the sunlight. There were random white splotches all over his body. His eyes were brown but encircled in pale pinkish skin. His thin, red-brown mane hung in tangles down the side of his neck.

Jack said the color was called red roan. Which meant a color so mixed up it made you a little dizzy to stare at it too long.

The new horse raised his head high and whinnied, and JM, munching on some morning hay over in the next paddock, answered. They'd made sure the two horses would have a common fence so they could keep each other company without getting into any scuffles.

Todd got the new horse calm enough to walk him over to the gate Wade had left open. The roan tossed his head up as he walked past Wade and regarded him with his strange pink-rimmed eyes. Wade swallowed hard. What the hell had he got himself into?

In the paddock, Todd removed the halter and came quickly back through the gate as the horse trotted off. Latching it carefully, he climbed the rail and watched as the pink horse trotted the high fences of his new home, tail up, snorting and huffing as he took in all the possible dangers of this new place.

Wade and Jack walked over to join him.

“That is a fine-looking horse,” Jack said. “Todd's right. He's gonna be good working cattle, I bet. No way that's a pure mustang with those big round hindquarters.”

“Seems like he's part Appaloosa to me,” Todd said. “But whatever he is, I'm glad he's in a good home.”

“I'll do my best,” Wade assured them. “But what the hell do I do first?”

“I'll email you a training schedule,” Jack said. “With stuff you can do every day. And I'm happy to stop by and help out anytime. Well, anytime when I'm not on daddy duty.”

“That would be great,” Wade said. “What should I do today?”

“Nothing,” both men said together and then grinned.

“He's got what he needs,” Todd explained. “Hay, water and his new buddy JM next door. Just hang out near the fence some. You can even bring a chair and a book out and read close by. Let him get used to your smell and your presence. But don't even talk to him today.”

“That I can do,” Wade said. “Kind of nice to have an excuse to kick back with a book.”

“And tomorrow just feed him, and then do the same thing,” Jack said. “On Monday you can start on the schedule. The first step is sitting on the fence, then going into the pen but kind of ignoring him.”

So far it all sounded like stuff he could do. “All right, then.”

“You thought of a name yet?” Todd asked.

“Jackson,” Jack said.

“I was asking Wade.” Todd elbowed his friend. “You want us to name the horse after you?”

“No!” Jack laughed. “Look at all those white splatters. It's like Jackson Pollock decided to paint his coat.”

Wade laughed. “You're right. Plus, I did my training in South Carolina at Fort Jackson. It's perfect.”

“All right.” Todd walked along the fence until he was a little closer to the horse. “Jackson, welcome to your new home. This is Wade Hoffman. He's gonna take good care of you.”

Jack rolled his eyes at Wade. “The dude's crazy.”

Wade rolled his eyes back. “Just be glad he's not gonna be your brother-in-law.” But he grinned. He was lucky his sister had picked such a good guy.

“Hey Doctor Dolittle,” Jack called. “Are you done talking to the animals? I gotta get back.”

“All right. Wade, want to come over for dinner tonight? I think your sister is cooking.”

Wade winced.

Jack laughed. “That good, huh?”

“Hey, careful, that's my fiancée you're talking about.” But Todd's grin revealed that he got the joke.

“I'll come. Can I bring something? A pizza, maybe?”

Todd laughed. “Maybe I can talk her into a pizza night. I'll call you later and let you know.”

Jack headed for the truck and trailer, but Todd lingered behind. “What's up with the fighting?” he asked quietly.

Wade stared at his friend in shock. “How did you hear about that already?”

“One of the Lone Mountain Ranch hands dropped equipment off at my repair shop yesterday.”

“Does Nora know?”

“Nope.”

“I appreciate that.” Wade paused, trying to gather his thoughts “I was trying
not
to fight. I even sidestepped the guy a couple of times. But then he got a good punch in and I kind of lost it. Luckily Lori grabbed me before I actually hit him.”

Todd nodded. “It's good you stopped.”

“What can I bribe you with so you don't tell Nora?”

Todd grinned. “I won't tell her. Though if you bring some beer with that pizza tonight, I wouldn't mind.”

“Deal,” Wade said with genuine gratitude.

“See you later, then.” Todd went to the truck where Jack was waiting, and the two men climbed in. Then it was just Wade, JM and the newest addition to Marker Ranch—a wild horse named after a wild artist. And what was even wilder was that somehow Wade was supposed to figure out how to train him.

He glanced over at Jackson. The speckled horse was still wandering along the fence, looking like he was plotting his escape. JM stood by their shared fence, nickering at the newcomer as if trying to tell him to calm down because there was good food here and not too much expected of you. But Jackson wasn't listening. He'd spotted Wade. He threw his head up and glared at him defiantly, raised his tail and trotted further away from him. “It'll be okay, big guy,” Wade murmured. It would be. It had to be. At least, he sure as hell hoped it would be.

The sound of a vehicle clattering down his driveway had him turning to look. An unfamiliar silver SUV was bumping along toward him, slowing down to pass Todd's truck on the drive. Strange to see that, since he rarely had visitors.

Wade left the horses and headed down the dirt lane that led to the house. A woman got out of the vehicle and waved, waiting for him to arrive.

As he got closer he recognized her. It was Mandy. Lori's sister. Was something wrong with Lori? He quickened his pace.

She must have seen some of the panic he felt on his face, because she burst out laughing. “It's okay, Wade. Lori's fine.”

He tipped his hat to hide his confusion. “Hey, Mandy...just trying not to keep you waiting. What's up?”

She was gracious enough not to comment on his lame excuse. “I'm here to ask you to come to church tomorrow.”

If she'd asked him to board a rocket to the moon, he would have been less surprised. “I wasn't really raised to go to church. Kind of the opposite.” His dad had laughed at all those “straights and squares wasting perfectly good Sundays.” Wade could still hear the words perfectly, complete with the bitter, alcohol-slurred tone that accompanied them.

“All the more reason to give it a try,” Mandy said placidly.

Had Mandy become a missionary? He didn't think the Lutheran church had them. “Hey, that's nice of you, Mandy. But I've got a lot on my plate right now...” He gestured to his dilapidated ranch. The run-down buildings explained it all better than he could.

“Lori will be there,” she said, and he noticed a sparkle in her eye.

“I think I'm just about the last person Lori wants to see at her church tomorrow.”

“I know my sister better than you.”

“Did she send you?”

Mandy bit her lip. “Um...not exactly. She doesn't know I'm here.”

He had to laugh at the guilty look on her sweet face. “Why exactly
are
you here?”

Mandy stood up a little taller. “Because you two are being silly, staying mad at each other. You've known each other too long for that. What better place than church to make your peace?”

“A bar?” he asked hopefully. “I could meet you and Lori for a drink afterward, and you could broker your treaty then.”

“Wade Hoffman!” She looked shocked. And then she laughed. “Think of it this way. She can't yell at you in the middle of a sermon.”

“True,” he admitted.

“She's upset. And confused. But she's got so much pride, she'll never let you know that. I want her to be happy. I owe her so much. That's why I'm here.”

He didn't know what to say.

“Look,” Mandy went on. “Lori hasn't told me much, but I know it's been hard for you, coming back to this town. Not everybody's as welcoming as they should be. But what better way to show folks you've changed than by coming to church?”

She had a point. “Is there a lot of kneeling and getting up and all that? Because I won't know what to do.” He wasn't going to show up in church just to make a fool of himself. He could do that fine in plenty of other places.

She grinned. “Sit with us and I'll give you the elbow when it's time.”

She was funny. And spunky. Pretty much what he would have expected from Lori's sister. “I still think a bar would be better.”

Mandy's brows furrowed together in what must have been her stern look, though it was too sweet to frighten. “I know you got in a fight yesterday on our property. And I know you were at war for a few years. I'm not saying church will make everything better, or even give you any sense of peace, but don't you think it's worth trying? And then you can see Lori and ask her out. It's pretty darn clear that you like her, and she likes you and you're both too stubborn to do a thing about it!”

“Go back to the part where you said Lori likes me? Because it sure didn't seem like that when she tossed me off your ranch yesterday.”

“I love my sister, but she doesn't always know what she wants unless it has horns and hooves. Trust me? Come to church tomorrow?”

It was just about the last place he wanted to go, but he wanted to see Lori. He needed to apologize, to let her know that he'd heard her and he understood why she was mad. And it just might take some divine intervention to get her to listen to all of that. “Okay.”

“It's the Lutheran church above town,” Mandy said with a satisfied nod.

“I know it. I was there helping Lori out the other night.”

She looked at him in astonishment. “I had no idea. Well, that's good. So be there at 9:45 and we'll meet you out front. Your nicest jeans and a good shirt will be fine,” she added, anticipating his question.

He'd underestimated her. She might have looked like a blonde Barbie doll, but she was a powerhouse of determination.

“Can I leave at halftime if I hate it?”

She laughed. “We don't really have a halftime. But it usually only lasts about an hour. You can handle it.”

He must have somehow gotten the word
pushover
tattooed across his forehead when he wasn't looking. First he'd agreed to take on a wild horse and now he was going to church, all against his better judgment. But...
Lori
. He wanted to see her. He wanted the anger between them gone. It had sat like a scratchy sweater on his spirit all day.

“Tomorrow, then,” he said on the exhalation.

Satisfied, she turned to get back into her SUV. “Oh, and when you see Lori? Be sure to ask her about her new dog.”

“She got a dog?” Wade could picture Lori with a border collie trotting at her heels. Super smart and ready for work.

“She sure did. A really special one.” She gave him a wink.

Wade watched the SUV get smaller and finally drive onto the main road. He turned toward the house, wanting to grab a glass of ice water before feeding time. But the water didn't do much to soothe his unease about going to church.
What had he just gotten himself into?