Mirror Image Bride

“Something smells nice,” he said. He looked at Maddie from the yellow top down to the brown boots, then looked at Darcy. His face softened in a smile as he looked at the miniature cowgirl. “You both look real nice. Still wearing that hat?”

“I’m a cowgirl. I have to wear a hat,” Darcy explained.

“Mostly, it’s needed to shade your face from the sun,” Ty said gently. “But it’s okay to wear inside. It looks like you’re ready to ride the range.”

He hadn’t moved from the door and Maddie wondered if he felt out of place in his own home. It couldn’t be easy to go from being a longtime single man to coming home to a house with two females.

“I don’t know how to ride,” Darcy reminded him.

“We’ll get you up to speed in no time. It’s easy,” he said, glancing at Maddie.

“Don’t look at me. I’ve been on a horse only a few times, that’s about as far as I’ve progressed.” She threw up her hands. “You’re looking at two hopeless city girls. Despite having the stockyards and all in Fort Worth, no one I know there actually owns a horse.”

His expression went hard. Maddie knew he remembered his wife. She wished she could retrieve the words she’d thoughtlessly spoken.

“But we’re both willing to learn. Violet said you could teach us,” she said, hoping mentioning Violet’s ringing endorsement of his equestrian skills would encourage Ty to spend more time with Darcy.

“We’ll get started after dinner.”

Maddie forced a smile. “That’ll be great. My sister wants me to become as acclimated to the ranch as you want Darcy to become. You get two students for the price of one.”

“Won’t that be fun?” He scowled.

Turning so he wouldn’t see the amusement on her face, she resumed slicing the tomato. He spoke with Darcy, his voice gentling somewhat as he explained they could pick out some horses after dinner. She herself wouldn’t mind waiting a few more days, or weeks. But sooner or later she had to become more comfortable or she’d lose out on an important part of her sister’s life.

* * *

Ty was expecting to say the blessing tonight. It had never been a part of family life when he was growing up. Of course, nothing much but booze and anger had been part of his childhood life. He tried to forget, but with Darcy around, he couldn’t help but contrast the two of them. He vowed he’d do all he could to protect his little girl. And raise her up right. He was not his father and never wanted to be.

Dinner passed pleasantly enough with Darcy encouraged by Maddie to talk some more, sharing her best part of the day.

Her fit of giggles one time touched Ty’s heart. He’d like to hear that all the time. He glanced at Maddie, who was smiling indulgently at the child. She still looked more polished and sophisticated than the women he knew around the various ranches in the area, but at least she was making an effort to fit in. The yellow shirt suited her—looking as pretty as the fancy silk shirts she normally wore. The cotton, however, was much more practical. Maybe it wasn’t the clothes so much as how she wore them.

Once dinner was finished and the dishes were done, the three of them headed out to the barn.

The hush of the early evening was everywhere. The men were still in the bunkhouse eating. The horses had been fed and were now dozing in the corral. He heard the bleat of the goat, but didn’t see her. Two of the horses ambled over to the rail fence and hung their heads over. When he reached them, Ty idly scratched their heads.

Ty had no idea how to teach two girls of different ages how to ride. He couldn’t remember when he hadn’t known how to ride. As far as he remembered, his first time he’d got on and held on until he got the hang of it. Yeah, that’d be great with both of them. He didn’t want either to get hurt.

To the side of the barn, one of the other cowboys was hosing down Stoney, the gelding he’d ridden that day.

“He likes that,” Ty said, watching the horse move to get more water from the hose.

“It’s like he’s in a shower,” Darcy said, laughing.

“So, which is the gentlest, sweetest horse you have?” Maddie asked, looking through the rails at the horses in the corral. One more ambled over and put his head over the top rail.

Ty scratched around his ears while he decided which horse would be the best for Maddie. He wasn’t too worried about Darcy. Rambo had two speeds—slow and stop. Maddie had been riding a couple of times, so knew enough to stay on. But he didn’t want to risk her falling off.

“Rambo’s the best for Darcy.”

“Rambo?” Maddie said with some trepidation, even though Ty had assured her that Rambo was gentle.

“Hey, no one knows what a horse is going to be like when it’s a foal. His first owners obviously thought he’d be a take-charge champion. He’s slow, hard to get into second gear and perfect for a little girl to start on.”

“What about a bigger girl?” Maddie asked, tentatively patting the head of one of the horses by the rail.

“Who did you ride before?”

“I think Violet said his name was Shadow—the horse was dark gray.”

“And you stayed on, right?”

“Well, he didn’t buck. I sat there and held on for dear life.”

Ty gave a slow smile. Maddie was gutsy on the outside, but he suspected she was as nervous around horses as Darcy. He looked at her and was surprised at the look on her face.

“You should smile more often,” she said softly.

Which instantly wiped the smile from his face. He went to the barn to get halters and lead ropes.

“Tonight we’ll get acquainted. I’ll bring them into the barn and you two can groom them, learn how to walk around them, clean their hooves, that kind of thing.”

“They’re awfully big,” Darcy said, moving closer to Maddie.

When Maddie put her arm casually around Darcy’s shoulders, Ty felt a pang of longing. He wished his daughter would step closer to him when she was scared. Wished he felt comfortable enough around her to put his arm across her shoulder. Wished he knew if she even wanted him to.

Darcy had worn her hat. Now she had to tip her head back to see him from beneath the brim. “Do they kick or bite?”

“Some do, not the ones we’ll be dealing with. Mostly, Jack and I don’t put up with horses who don’t have good manners. Too distracting.” He nodded briskly. “Come on, let’s get Rambo first.”

The next hour Ty spent going over things with Darcy, and all the while Maddie was hovering over his shoulder. He cross-tied the horse in the center of the barn and brought out the equipment to properly groom him. Darcy started out checking with Maddie for every task he explained to her. As if to verify with the other city girl that it was something she could do.

He tried not to become frustrated. She’d recently lost her mother. She hadn’t known about him. She wasn’t used to horses or him. But it was getting to him.

Finally, he turned to Maddie. “Maybe this would go better if you weren’t here.”

“No, Maddie, don’t leave,” Darcy protested, moving to stand beside her.

“I’m not leaving. And it’s going great. Let me have a brush and we’ll brush down this side and then you and your dad can brush down the other side while I comb his mane and tail.”

Okay, so suggesting Darcy’s touchstone leave hadn’t been so smart. But Maddie’s solution had been. It would unite the two of them in one project. Baby steps, Ty reminded himself.

It was easier dealing with cowboys.

* * *

Once Maddie had Darcy in bed, she walked out onto the front porch where Ty sat contemplating how he didn’t feel one bit closer to his daughter despite spending the major portion of the day with her.