The Reluctant Wrangler (7 page)

“That’s right,” she said, looking him over from head to toe. “And who are you?”

“Aggie!” the other scolded, and then laughed. “You’ll have to excuse our Aggie. She’s a little put out with Gerald.”

Aggie snorted. “As always.”

The taller woman stretched out her hand to Mac. “Hettie Lambert.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mac said, taking her hand. “I’m Mac MacGregor, an old friend of Jules’s. So this lovely woman with you is Dusty McPherson’s—”

“Aunt-in-law, to be exact,” Aggie finished for him. “Dusty is married to my niece, Kate.”

Nikki watched with fascination as Mac released Hettie’s hand and Aggie stepped up to offer hers. Mac took it and smiled at her. “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting your niece, Miss Clayborne, and it’s a real pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Dusty said you were a nice man.” A smile lit Aggie’s face and she turned to Hettie. “Mannerly, too, not like some people we know.” She looked pointedly at Gerald.

“You haven’t met Nikki, have you?” Mac asked the two ladies as he released Aggie’s hand. “She’s the boys’ housemother and riding instructor.”

Nikki smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you both.” She could hear the boys behind her, starting to argue. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get the boys lined out.” Turning to Gerald, she said, “I don’t know how to thank you and the others for giving the boys the opportunity to enjoy the rides today.”

“Giving the boys a chance to have fun is enough for us. Hope they have a great day.”

With a smile and a wave at the others, she approached the boys. “What’s all this noise?” she asked, looking from one to the other as Leon and Benito started shoving each other. “That’s enough, you two.”

“He said—”

“Doesn’t matter,” she told Leon, and flashed a warning glance at Benito. “Why don’t you all decide what you want to ride and go have some fun?”

“Do we all have to ride the same thing together?” Shamar asked, glancing at Kirby.

Mac joined them and answered for her. “No, but stay in the area here with the rides. Don’t be wandering off,”
he added, looking directly at each one. “It’s almost eleven o’clock, so you need to meet us back here at noon.”

“Only an hour?” Ray asked.

“You’ll be ready for lunch by then,” Mac answered. “I’m already thinking about food.”

“I don’t have a watch,” Billy said.

“Just ask someone, or stay with one of the boys who has one,” Nikki said. “Does everyone understand the rules?”

After they all nodded eagerly, they scattered in two different directions. The three younger boys went one way, while Benito, Shamar and Leon went another. Nikki and Mac wandered the grounds near the baseball field at the edge of town, where the carnival rides were set up. Seeing all the people who seemed to know each other well, she felt like a visitor in a strange world.

“This is a test for the boys, I guess,” Mac said.

Shading her eyes with her hand, Nikki looked up at him. “A test?”

“As far as I know, they haven’t been left on their own this much since the day they arrived at the ranch.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted. Her childhood had been much the same, always under the watchful eyes of her mother. Her grandmother had been more lenient, and Nikki had reveled in the time she spent with her.

“They’ll do okay,” Mac said, easing her mind a little. “There’s plenty to keep them busy, at least until lunch.”

The hour went quickly and they were soon rounding up the six boys. “Is anybody else ready for some food?” Nikki asked.

A chorus of different degrees of starving came from
the boys, but Nikki’s attention was suddenly caught by someone else. “Is that Dusty waving to us?”

“Yeah, it is,” Mac answered as Dusty walked toward him.

“You two look a little lost,” Dusty said when he reached them. “Why don’t you bring the boys over to Kate’s booth? She made a ton of barbecued beef sandwiches, and there’s all kinds of pie for dessert.”

“Sounds good to me,” Mac said, then turned to Nikki and the boys. “What do you all think?”

The boys agreed it was a great idea, and so did Nikki. Barbecued beef would be even better than the hot dogs she’d been thinking about, and she was eager to meet Dusty’s wife.

Dusty took Nikki’s hand, looping it through his arm, and led them to the park where various booths were set up.

“You know who he is?” Billy, following behind, asked the other boys in a loud whisper.

“Yeah, he’s Tanner’s partner,” Shamar answered.

“He’s a
bull rider,
” Billy corrected.

“And Tanner’s a world champion bronc rider,” Benito pointed out. “So what?”

Dusty, who must have been listening, looked over his shoulder. “Bulls are bigger.”

Nikki had to laugh. From what she’d seen and heard about Dusty, he had a heart of gold.

When they finally reached his wife’s booth, Nikki was certain she could have sniffed her way to it. After introductions to Kate and her sister Trish, both of whom Nikki liked immediately, plates were filled with sandwiches and coleslaw, and soft drinks were passed out to the boys.

“Find a picnic table,” Mac instructed, pointing to the
tables deeper in the park. “We’ll join you in a few minutes.” He dug into his pocket and turned to Kate. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing,” Dusty said. “Put your money away. It’s been taken care of.”

“Taken care of?” Nikki asked.

Kate nodded. “Hettie came by earlier and plunked down the money and told Dusty to make sure you all came here to eat. She and Aunt Aggie were both a bit put out with Gerald Barnes,” she added, laughing. “Hettie’d had her heart set on paying for the boys’ rides.”

Nikki could hardly believe it. “Everyone is so generous,” she said. “I’ll make sure the boys thank them.”

“Hettie will like that,” Kate said.

Hearing a disgusted snort, Nikki looked up.

“Tanner and Jules never should have opened that place and brought those boys here,” a woman was saying. “No one will be safe in these parts.”

“Letha, I don’t think—” a timid-looking woman next to her said, glancing around.

“Don’t shush me, Caroline. I have a right to say what I think,” Letha replied.

Kate stepped forward. “Can I get you a sandwich, Letha? Or maybe some pie?”

Beside Nikki, Trish leaned close to whisper, “Don’t mind her. Letha Atkins doesn’t like anybody or anything.”

Nikki simply smiled, recognizing the woman’s voice from the Chick-a-Lick Café, but the woman’s remark stung nonetheless. Obviously Desperation wasn’t paradise after all.

Kate finished with the sale and turned around to place her hand on Nikki’s arm. “There are lots of people in
Desperation who want to help make the Bent Tree a success. Don’t let Letha make you think otherwise.”

After they’d finished lunch, the boys were restless to join the fun again, and the rest of the day was spent playing games of chance in the park and taking a few more carnival rides. Nikki searched for the boys and found them in a group, admiring something Benito was holding.

“What’s that?” she asked, expecting to see one of the prizes he’d won. Instead, he was holding a ten-dollar bill.

“There was this old lady,” Benito said, and Nikki refrained from correcting his choice of words. “She was following some old guy, and she dropped something, but I guess she didn’t know it. I picked it up and took it to her, and she gave me this.” He held out the money to Nikki.

“It’s yours, then,” she told him.

“I can keep it?” he asked.

“It’s a reward. You earned it.”

When she told Mac the story after he joined them, he smiled. “Sounds like Vern and Esther.”

“Who?” Nikki asked.

“An elderly couple I’ve seen around town. Rumor is that she’s been chasing him for years, but he isn’t getting caught.”

Nikki looked at him, uncertain whether to believe the strange story or not. “Really?”

“Really. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

By the time the rides were beginning to shut down for the day, the stars were twinkling and the boys had their arms full of the prizes they’d won.

“Aren’t you going to ride something?” Leon asked
Nikki as they made their way across the baseball field.

“That’s okay,” Nikki answered. “We’re ready to go home. Aren’t you all just a little tired?”

The boys claimed they weren’t, but Nikki noticed they didn’t have the energy they’d had that morning when they’d arrived. She suspected even Mac was feeling a little worn out.

“You can ride the Ferris wheel,” Kirby said, taking her arm and tugging her in that direction. “And Mac can ride with you if you’re scared.”

She dared a glance at Mac, whose eyebrows were raised, but he was smiling slightly. There was no way to know what that meant, and she decided not to guess. It might seem natural to Kirby for her to ride with Mac, but her heart beat faster just thinking about it.

Shamar slung an arm across Kirby’s shoulders. “Maybe Mac’s the one who’s scared,” he said, shooting Mac a daring smile.

“Me scared?” Mac asked, winking at Kirby. “Not a bit. Come on, Nikki. Let’s go show them how to ride a Ferris wheel the right way.”

Taking an instinctive step back, Nikki wished the flutter in her stomach would stop—and it wasn’t there because of the thought of riding a Ferris wheel. She hoped her nervous laugh didn’t give her away, and said, “I’m afraid I don’t know the right way. I guess you’ll have to show them all by yourself.”

He took her hand, surprising her, and led her in the direction of the Ferris wheel. “Then you admit you’re afraid.”

“No, of course not!”

“Better prove it, then.”

A look at the boys was all she needed to know that
there was no way she was going to get out of this. Outnumbered, she let him lead her to the big wheel. And the flutters only got worse.

“S
EE
? I
T’S NOT SO BAD
, is it?” Mac asked while they were stopped at the top of the ride.

“I’m not afraid of Ferris wheels,” Nikki insisted.

“Just of me, then, I guess.”

Her head snapped around so fast to stare at him, the basket began to rock. Fear lit her eyes, and she reached for one of the steel girders that held the basket. “Can you help me stop this? I hate it when it rocks.”

“Sure.” He reached out on his side and steadied the basket. “Is that better?”

“Much,” she answered without looking at him.

The wheel began its slow, circular descent, and he settled back in the seat, accidentally nudging her shoulder. “So you’re not afraid of me?”

“Not in the least bit.”

He wanted to tell her that maybe she should be. Denying his attraction to her had proved futile. He knew better than to get involved with someone, but it wasn’t easy to ignore Nikki and the feelings he had for her, in spite of trying to disregard them.

“It’s really pretty from up here,” Nikki said, breaking in to his thoughts.

They were at the top of the wheel again, this time for the last time, and he’d made sure the basket didn’t rock. Being next to her, nearly shoulder to shoulder, made him think of other things he would enjoy doing with her, and they weren’t thoughts he should be having. He was grateful she wasn’t a mind reader. If she had been, she might be jumping.

The wheel began to move again, and after two more
stops, it was their turn to step out onto the ramp. The boys were waiting for them, and Mac could see how worn out they were, especially Kirby and Ray.

“They’ll sleep well tonight,” Nikki whispered as they made their way to the Suburban parked near the ball field.

“I think we all will,” Mac whispered back. “I can’t remember a day since I was a kid that I’ve done so much. Work, yes, but recreation? Never.”

“Only children have the stamina,” she pointed out.

“So you’re saying I’m old?”

She laughed, and even in the dark of the late evening, her eyes were lit with joy. “Only if you think so.”

He looked at the boys, then back at her. “Compared to them, I suppose some would think so. How about you?”

She was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke, there was a wistful quality in her voice. “Sometimes I forget what it was like to be that young.”

They reached their vehicle, and he unlocked the doors. “Everybody in,” he said. For a group of six boys, they were quiet as they climbed inside.

Nikki was turned around in the front seat, making sure the boys were settled, when Mac slid in behind the steering wheel. “We’re good to go,” she told him.

He started the engine and followed the other cars leaving the makeshift parking lot. Quiet surrounded them as they rode to the ranch. A few glances in the rearview mirror assured Mac that the boys wouldn’t give them any trouble about going to bed. From what he could tell, at least Kirby and Shamar were already asleep, if not one or two of the others.

When they reached the ranch, Mac drove across the grounds to get as close to the boys’ quarters as possible.
“See if you can wake Shamar,” he told Nikki. “I’ll carry Kirby inside.”

The boys grumbled a little at having to get out into the cool night air, but it didn’t take long before they were all in bed. Mac and Nikki made sure there were no requests and all were asleep before they left them.

More than ready for sleep, Mac was awed by the blanket of stars above him. In Boston he’d hardly had the opportunity to see the night sky and had often wished he could. He was glad he’d made the decision to leave the city. The quiet of the country was peaceful. He’d missed it.

He was careful not to make a lot of noise as he entered the building and walked to his room. He’d just put his key in the lock when Nikki’s door opened behind him. “I didn’t wake you, did I?” he asked as she stood in her doorway, creating a tempting picture.

“No, actually I was waiting for you.”

Surprised, the only thing he could say was “Really?”

“I wanted to thank you for a wonderful day.”

“It was, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “Even the Ferris wheel.” She opened the door wider. “I’m too keyed up right now to sleep. Would you like to come in?”

“Sure.”

A small lamp near the door was the only light in the room, but he could see the artwork on her walls, and it fascinated him. “Did you do these?” he asked, walking closer to one of the paintings.