The Forest Ranger's Child (13 page)

Just a little bit.

Lily remained outside with the men for another hour, listening to every word exchanged between Nate and Dad, learning from these two masters. As Nate reached for a pitchfork and tossed hay to the horses, she couldn’t get over how natural it felt to have him here at the ranch. Like he was part of the family and had always belonged here.

Inside the house, Lily washed her hands before checking on the roast beef she’d put in the slow cooker earlier that day. After setting the table, she speared the potatoes with a sharp knife to check their doneness. Almost ready.

The men came inside speaking animatedly as they washed up.

“Mmm, dinner smells good. Thanks for inviting me.” Nate gave her a broad smile.

“You’re welcome.” She didn’t look at him as she responded.

A warm, yeasty aroma filled the air. Homemade rolls ready to come out of the oven. She reached for a hot pad to cover her hand and caught Nate staring at her. He looked away, his face tinted with a flush.

While she sliced the meat, she kept listening to their conversation, her emotions a riot of unease. On the one hand, she was excited by what they planned to do with their horses. The future spread out before them and she had high hopes. On the other hand, they had some gigantic hurdles to jump across if they were to succeed.

After they sat down together and offered a blessing on the food, Nate scooted his chair in close to the table. “You’re sure Nibs wouldn’t make a good reining horse?”

“Nah!” Dad said. “He fought me hard on learning to stop. Any horse that fights stopping that much won’t do well on the long, sliding stop needed for reining. He’d make a better cutter.”

“Okay, but we’re gonna need some cattle for that.”

Lily paused as she spooned steamed asparagus onto Dad’s plate. “How many head?”

“Fifteen to twenty should do the trick,” Nate said. “Can you swing that many?”

She hoped so. “I’ll find a way.”

Dad poked the vegetables with his fork. “What’s this?”

Lily glanced at him. “Nutrition. Eat it. It’s good for you.”

Nate chuckled and took a bite of his own asparagus. “Mmm, tastes good. Nice and tender.”

“I walked along the ditch banks this morning and collected it.” She remembered doing the same thing with her mother on numerous occasions. Dad had never liked asparagus or anything much besides meat and potatoes, but Lily was determined to make sure he ate a balanced diet from now on.

Dad made a squeamish face before he put a piece into his mouth and chewed. Lily almost laughed out loud. Some kids didn’t like eating vegetables, but she hadn’t figured on having to fight Dad to get him to eat them.

“Where’s the butter?” Dad reached for the bowl of steaming potatoes.

Lily handed him the margarine.

His eyes widened in disgust. “What’s this?”

“It’s lower in cholesterol.”

Dad’s mouth dropped open and he rubbed his small paunch. “I didn’t think I was fat.”

“You’re not, Dad. But nutrition is more than just about keeping the weight off. You’ve got to start eating better, so don’t argue about it.”

He pursed his lips in that expression that told Lily he wasn’t pleased but wouldn’t fight her on it. And that’s when she knew she’d won. For now. But she was also smart enough to realize he could sneak behind her back and eat bad things when she wasn’t looking. So she’d cleaned out the kitchen of high-cholesterol foods, bought a carton of egg whites, lots of fresh vegetables and put a bowl of apples, oranges and bananas out on the counter within easy reach. Once her garden started producing, they’d soon have lots of good foods to eat that wouldn’t cost a lot of money.

Looking up, Lily found Nate watching her as he chewed a piece of tender meat. He winked at her and she almost returned his smile.

Almost.

Only one day of working together and already she felt more comfortable around this man than anyone she’d ever met. His confidence and way of handling her father put her at ease and she couldn’t explain the relaxed atmosphere in the house. Just yesterday, she and Dad were arguing about almost everything. But with Nate here, they all seemed to unwind and float along business as usual.

After dinner, Nate hopped up and helped clear the table while Dad went into the living room and flipped on the TV to watch the evening news.

“You don’t need to do that.” Lily took the pile of plates out of Nate’s hands and set them in the sink she was filling with hot sudsy water.

“I like to help you.”

Reaching for a dish towel, he stood close to dry the dishes.

Too close.

Lily stepped to the side and made a pretense of wiping off the table with a damp dishcloth. Gone was the friendly camaraderie they’d shared during dinner. Now she felt nervous and hunted. Funny how when they talked about horses and cows, she didn’t feel anxious around him. But when they were alone, she became conscious of him as a very handsome, charming man and that made her jittery.

“Lil, I’m glad we have a moment alone,” he said.

“Why’s that?” She didn’t look at him, but scrubbed the glasses, rinsing them and setting them in the dish drain.

“Do you need some money?”

She bit back a gasp and her head came up fast. Was it that obvious?

“If you need financial help, I have some savings set aside and I’d be happy to invest it—”

“No!” she cried. “We’re fine. It’s just that Dad’s been ailing and hasn’t taken care of things like he should have done. Now I’m here, I’ll get things going again. We’ll buy more grain and I’ll speak with Bill about delivering some more hay. I don’t need you to protect me all the time, Nate.”

She’d die before asking this man for money to feed their livestock. No sirree! She would
not
take a handout of that kind.

Nate’s mouth curled in a doubtful expression. “Every woman needs a protector, no matter how independent or strong she is. Wouldn’t you like to settle down with a family of your own one day?”

She shook her head. “Happily ever after doesn’t happen. Not in real life. Not for me.”

“Sure it does, if you let it.” He smiled again and she found herself almost believing him.

Almost.

By the time he left the house, it was late. They’d all sat in the living room, watching the local news, which came on at eleven o’clock. Afterward, Lily went to her room while Dad walked Nate out to his truck and said goodbye. In the bathroom, Lily washed her face, brushed her teeth, then literally fell exhausted onto her bed. The soft evening breeze and hum of crickets outside her open window soothed her jangled nerves.

In those quiet moments alone, she felt the little thumps of her baby moving inside of her and rested her hands over the gentle swell of her abdomen. During the business of the day, she’d almost forgotten she was pregnant. Almost forgot what had brought her home to Emerald Ranch.

Sliding to her knees, she folded her arms, closed her eyes and leaned against the bed while she offered a silent prayer to her Heavenly Father. Pouring her heart out to Him, she thanked Him for her many blessings and asked for His help. Somehow, they had to get enough money to buy some cows and feed. She didn’t know what to do, but somehow—

Lily paused and lifted her head as she opened her eyes and gazed at the far wall. In the shadows, the moonlight caught the gleam of her mother’s large engagement ring resting on top of her dresser. The ring meant so much to Lily. But what she wanted most was to preserve the ranch so future generations would have something more tangible and rewarding to enjoy.

Weighing the value of her mother’s diamond ring against the value of the ranch was easy. Lily decided then that she wouldn’t mourn her decision. She wouldn’t allow herself any regret. Instead, she’d move forward with confidence and resolve. She couldn’t allow herself to flinch or shirk her duty. Not when there was so much at stake. And with perfect clarity, she knew what to do.

Chapter Twelve

S
aturday morning, Nate arrived early at Emerald Ranch with a load of grain in the back of his truck. When he’d seen how low the Hansens were on feed, he’d decided to take the initiative and buy the grain. They could pay him back later, but the horses needed the oats right now.

Without disturbing anyone inside the house, he backed his truck up to the loading dock of the barn, planning to unload the bags and feed the horses. Beans bounded off the front porch and trotted after Nate, giving a couple of shrill barks. The crisp morning air smelled of alfalfa and rain. Nate glanced at the clouds circling the Ruby Mountains and silently prayed the storm might pass them by. Any more rain, and they could have more serious flooding throughout the valley. Evacuating the ranchers from their homes meant a lot of work and inconvenience if they had to move their livestock. Nate didn’t want to have to resort to such tactics, but he’d do it if he thought they were unsafe.

After tugging on a pair of leather work gloves, he hefted one of the fifty-pound bags onto his shoulders and carried it to the barn. Beans panted and loped along beside him. Nate almost dropped the bag when he came face-to-face with Lily.

“Whoa!” He veered to the side so he didn’t drop the heavy bag on top of her.

She jumped out of the way, shielding her round stomach with one arm. “Nate! I didn’t expect you here so early.”

He set the bag down, leaning it against a stall door. “Likewise. You startled me.”

“Sorry.”

He eyed a wheelbarrow sitting nearby filled with manure and dirty straw. “Have you been mucking out the stalls?”

She nodded, her gloved fingers gripping the handle of a manure rake. Her flushed cheeks testified that she’d been working hard. Tendrils of dark hair framed her face. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and tucked a curl of hair back behind her ear.

She stepped away, her face darkening with disapproval. His gaze dropped to her abdomen. He hated the thought of her working hard when she was pregnant. No doubt she was picking up the pace to ease her father’s load.

“You shouldn’t lift that wheelbarrow. I’ll muck out the stalls from now on,” he said.

She crinkled her nose. “You’re here to train horses, not muck out stalls.”

“I can do both chores in half the time it takes you.”

“That’s ridiculous. I know you’re stronger, but I get the job done well enough.”

“I know, it’s just that I…I don’t want you lifting heavy loads. You should get off your feet.”

She looped her hands over the top of the fork as she leaned on it and her eyes sparked with fire. “I won’t lift too much, but I’d rather you didn’t give me orders.”

Oh, this wasn’t going very well. This was not a woman he could, or should, boss around. She’d been hurt before and didn’t like men telling her what to do. He decided on a different tactic. “I don’t mean to order you around, Lily. I’m just worried about the baby. Would you please let me clean out the stalls? At least let me move the wheelbarrow once it’s full. Really, I don’t mind.”

Her expression softened. “You can’t be here all the time, Nate.”

True. And that bothered him. How could he protect her and Hank when he wasn’t here? “I’ll tell you what. Just shovel the manure into the wheelbarrow and I’ll move it in the evenings when I come here after work. It’s no big deal. Okay?”

Without waiting for her reply, he took hold of the heavy wheelbarrow and directed it outside to dispose of the contents. When he returned, he found her forking hay to the horses. Prickles of fear dotted his flesh. “I can do that.”

He took the pitchfork from her hands. Ignoring her aggravated glare, he broke off several flakes of hay and tossed it to the colts.

“The hay isn’t heavy, Nate. And I like feeding the horses.”

He didn’t look at her but kept on working. “It’s not the weight I’m worried about, but how you’re moving. You could pull a muscle or strain yourself.”

“I don’t need a babysitter. I’m not an invalid.”

“I know. But I can take care of this for you today.”

“What’s that?” She tapped the point of her boot against the bag of grain he’d set on the ground.

“Oats. I’ve got nine more bags out in my truck.” He pitched more hay to the horses.

“Who told you to bring it here?”

He paused in his work, bracing the tines of the fork against the ground and cupping a gloved hand over the top of the handle. “I did. I could see you needed the grain, so I thought I’d save you the trip and picked it up at Ogilvie’s in town.”

She lowered her eyes, looking ashamed for some reason. “How…how did you pay for it?”

“With cash. You can repay me after we sell some of the horses.”

“We’ll repay you as soon as we can, Nate. I promise.”

He flashed her a smile. “I know that, sunshine. No worries.”

He felt more than saw her anger at him calling her sunshine. To deal with her reticence, he decided to ignore it.

She reached for an old coffee can with holes drilled through the top for a thin rope handle. Dipping the can into an almost empty bag, she filled the can with rolled oats, then hung the handle on a fish scale to weigh it carefully.

“Who’s that for?” he asked.

She brushed her long bangs back from her forehead. “Peg. Surely you’re not going to tell me I can’t lift a can of grain.”

“As long as it doesn’t weigh more than ten pounds, it won’t bother me.”

“Oh, hogwash!” She stepped into Peg’s stall. The stallion backed up to let her pass, then came forward when she poured the oats into his feeder.

Nate watched with approval. It was important that they follow a strict feeding regime for each horse, especially now that they were starting to train the colts and fillies. No one knew better than Lily how important the care of these animals was to their financial future. Although Nate had a good, regular paying job with benefits, it was more than important to him that he help the Hansens succeed in their business, too.

Nate stood holding the pitchfork, mesmerized as Lily ran a hand over the stallion’s smooth neck. She rubbed the horse’s forehead, speaking in hushed tones. Telling the horse how wonderful he was. It took the count of ten for Nate to realize he was staring.

Ducking his head, he finished with the hay. As he passed each stall, he glanced at the inhabitants, thinking about which horse he wanted to work with first. His gaze landed on the three-year-old filly named Toots. Hank had said he’d ridden her with a ring snaffle, but all the horses were green from lack of recent riding.

A chestnut color with a white blaze down her nose and four white feet, Toots backed away from the stall door and faced Nate when he took in her breakfast. Nate liked that. Obviously Hank had taught his horses to back off rather than crowd close when someone entered their stalls. Toots had good ground manners and Nate decided to take her out first.

While the horses ate, Nate surveyed the saddles, bits, supplies and training tools in the tack room. He selected what he wanted and stepped outside. After she’d eaten, he wrapped all four of Toots’s legs to give her added support and protect her forelegs from being sliced by her own hooves. Lily assisted him, handing the padding to him, paying close attention to what he did. Then he saddled Toots and put her into a short shank Argentine correction bit. The headsetter included a floating nose. The horse opened her mouth readily to accept the bit, then pressed against it with her tongue and shook her head. She didn’t like the strange feel of it in her mouth, but she didn’t fight it.

“Why did you adjust the nose strap so loose?” Lily asked.

He secured a small buckle at the side of the horse’s nose. “So there won’t be any pressure on her nose unless she raises her head up unusually high. The headsetter works off the horse’s pull and will help train Toots to keep her head low for cow work.”

Taking the reins, he led Toots out to the circular arena. Lily followed and Nate couldn’t deny a thrill of excitement at having her near. He glanced at her, enjoying the heightened color in her cheeks. “You sure look pretty today.”

She frowned at the compliment.

He couldn’t decide if she was always this beautiful or if her pregnancy made her this way. He felt like showing off for her, but realized that wasn’t right for a man his age. He could ride well and he knew it, but somehow he realized this woman didn’t care about show. What she needed in her life was reliability. A man who would stand beside her and treat her right.

Like always, she’d dressed in blue jeans and boots, her long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail that bounced as she walked. As she stepped up on the bottom rung of the corral, Nate couldn’t help wishing she’d leave it long around her face once in a while. His fingers itched to touch the silken softness and he decided to clamp an iron will on his stray thoughts.

She looped her hands over the top rail to hold on and see better at the same time. “What are you going to do with her first?”

After mounting, he loped the horse around the arena, turning her now and then to get a feel for her movements and how she took his hand, feet and leg commands. “First I’m gonna warm her up and see how she feels with me in the saddle. We’re just gonna make friends.”

“Well, don’t let me disturb you. I’ll just get the horses some fresh water.” She stepped down off the railing and turned.

“It’s already done,” he called.

She pivoted, looking surprised. “You didn’t need to do that.”

He smiled and tugged on the brim of his cowboy hat. “My pleasure.”

The horse turned and Nate pretended not to see Lily’s frown. He expected her to leave, but she stayed while he worked the horse. Knowing she was watching made him feel strangely giddy inside. He wanted to display his skills for her. To prove he could handle this little mare.

Instead, he focused on the horse. No matter what, he could still feel Lily’s gaze resting on him. Watching his every move with intense scrutiny.

As he trotted Toots, Nate realized the horse was carrying her head awfully high. To remedy this, he gave several short tugs on the reins. She stiffened, fighting him just a bit, so he added a little more strength to the tugs. Nothing that would hurt the horse, but just enough to get her to back off from the pressure. Toots lowered her head and he immediately quit the succession of light tugs. That was her reward for doing what he wanted.

“Good girl.” He patted her neck to show his pleasure.

Again and again, Nate turned the horse, demanding she keep her head low. When she turned left or right, he taught her to pull her nose in tight. This technique would help her in cattle work when she had to keep a cow from racing back to the main herd. After all, that was the purpose of a good cutting horse: to never, ever take her eyes off the cow.

Toots quickly learned how to back off the pressure from Nate’s foot commands and his tugs on the reins. The horse took very little repetition to learn and was soon doing just what he desired.

For fifteen minutes, he worked with Toots. Then he rode her over to the fence to chat with Lily and let the horse rest.

“She’s getting it,” he said. “I’ve never worked with a horse that responds so fast.”

Lily reached over the fence and rubbed the horse’s muzzle. “Yes, but she’s over-rotating a bit when she turns to her right.”

“You noticed that, huh? She works her left side pretty well, but I’m going to have to correct her bad habit on the right side. She’s trying. The mistakes she’s making are just honest mistakes. And she’s not requiring a lot of instruction to show her what to do. I wish we had some live cows to practice her on. She’s almost ready for real action.”

“I think we’ll be able to take care of that problem soon enough.”

“What do you—”

“Hi, Nate.” Hank came out of the house wearing a leather vest over his plaid shirt.

“Good morning, Hank. You’re looking rested.”

Hank chuckled and brushed his graying hair back from his forehead before putting on his crumpled old cowboy hat. “I feel good, too. My daughter fixed me breakfast. Best pancakes I ever ate, although they would have been better with butter and syrup instead of fresh fruit.”

“Dad, we talked about this.” Lily’s voice held a mild scolding quality. No doubt she’d insisted Hank eat what was good for him.

“You hungry?” Hank directed the question to Nate.

“No, I ate before I left home.”

“Then go ahead and work. Who do you want to ride next? I can get the horses saddled and ready for you.” Hank headed for the stable.

“It doesn’t matter at this point. I’ve got to get to know them all, so bring out the next one you think I should have and we’ll talk about their strengths and weaknesses as I see what they need help on.”

Within twenty minutes, Nate returned Toots to the stable where he quickly removed the saddle, ensured she was dry and had plenty of water, then fed her a pellet of molasses and compressed hay. The horse gobbled the treat right down, then waved her head as if asking for more.

“You’re gonna spoil her.”

Nate turned and found Lily close behind him. She laughed at his surprised expression.

“Yeah, but it won’t hurt her.” He wasn’t sure if she was staying close to him today to see if he knew what he was doing, or if she might be starting to like him. He hoped it was the latter.