The Rancher's First Love

“I remember liking her a lot but I understand not wanting to revisit those days. But it won’t hurt for us to be friends right now.”

“No, it won’t hurt.” But she worried it might.

There was so much more between them. More than he realized.

* * *

Remington glanced at the woman walking next to him. He’d give anything to know why her expression seemed so troubled and why something as simple as friendship set her on edge. Yes, they shared a past. It wasn’t as if they were enemy states trying to find a way to sign a peace treaty.

He knew one thing: pushing wasn’t going to get him anywhere with Samantha Martin. He guessed she’d been pushed enough. Pushed away from him, from her home, away from everything safe and familiar.

He’d just gone home to Austin and his family.

Gus said she’d never been the same. She’d come home from time to time. Every now and then she’d ridden in a local rodeo or eaten dinner at her brother’s diner, but she hadn’t been the girl he’d known in Martin’s Crossing.

Gus said she was angry and bitter.

Remington saw it as pain. Deep down pain. He saw a woman who was willing to help animals and children but wasn’t as willing to let people into her life.

He watched as she helped Aunt Lee put Parker in the car, something Lee had been learning to do in rehab. For the past month his aunt had worked with the staff because there would be things she’d have to do for Parker. He and Gus would help her. They’d given their word they wouldn’t let her do this alone. But they all knew that most of it would fall on Parker’s grandmother.

Which is why it made sense for him to give up his job in Austin and settle here on his granddad’s ranch, the Rocking J. To help Gus, Aunt Lee and Parker.

After Parker was settled in the backseat, Sam leaned to kiss his cheek, then she took a step back, letting his grandmother say something to him. Dr. Jackson moved in to share a few words. And then they called Remington forward.

“Will you pray?” Dr. Jackson asked. “I’d like to send you all home with the best support system available.”

Rem agreed. They could all use a guiding hand in this situation. “Of course I’ll pray.”

His gaze strayed in Samantha’s direction. She looked away. But he saw the flicker of doubt, the anger. He hadn’t expected that.

He bowed his head and prayed. For strength, for healing, for peace. He prayed for a special blessing on the staff that gave such great care to these children.

After he ended the prayer, he glanced her way again. Sam’s blue eyes were on him, full of questions. He had answers, but he doubted she really wanted to hear them. Not yet anyway.

He met her clear blue gaze. She raised her chin a notch and walked away, back to the hospital. He told himself not to take it too personally, but he did. He’d never expected this reaction to his decision to go into ministry. He’d dated a woman who didn’t like that she sometimes had to share him with others. He’d dated another woman who had finally admitted she just couldn’t be the wife of a pastor.

“Time to go,” he said to no one in particular.

“Time to go,” Parker echoed as Remington got behind the wheel.

Remington glanced in the rearview mirror and made eye contact with the little boy. He saw a flash of nervousness before Parker smiled, pretending everything was okay. Going home was a big deal. After months in the hospital, he was headed for a new life, new obstacles. Parker would make it, but no one could blame him for being lost and more than a little apprehensive.

It took twenty minutes to reach the Rocking J. The ranch had a long rutted dirt driveway. On each side of that driveway the ranch spilled out as far as the eye could see. It was Texas Hill Country, so the terrain was rugged and a good portion of the thousand-acre ranch was hilly with clear creeks and plenty of trees. It was about the prettiest place Remington knew.

“This is a ranch!” Parker exclaimed from the backseat. “I’m going to live on a real ranch.”

“Yes, sir, you are,” Gus answered. “We’ll make sure you have a few cows of your own so you can start your own herd. Rem started his own herd that way. He has one here and one on his folks’ place.”

“I’ll have my own cows?” Parker whistled. “And a horse?”

“One thing at a time, Parker.” His grandmother brought him back down to earth. “Let’s focus on you getting better.”

“I’m better, Granny. I am. I can feel my toes sometimes and Dr. Jackson said someday I might be able to use crutches. He said not real good. But maybe a little.”

Remington glanced in the rearview mirror and caught the look on his aunt’s face. She was nervous. She wanted the best for Parker. She also didn’t want him to get his hopes up. His spinal injury had been in the lower portion of his back.

“Here we are.” He pulled up to the two-story farmhouse with a newly built ramp.

“Wow, is this house really old?” Parker had the door open and was peering out at the land around him.

“It’s not that old,” Gus responded. “The original house got hit by a tornado thirty years ago and we rebuilt.”

Remington left them to discuss the ranch. He retrieved Parker’s wheelchair from the trunk and had it out and ready when Gus picked up the boy and settled him in the seat. Parker was still talking.

“Do you think Nurse Sam lives on a ranch like this?” he asked.

Gus shot Remington a look, a grin hidden behind his bushy mustache.

“Yeah, but bigger,” Remington responded. He pushed the wheelchair toward the ramp but Parker took over, his hands on the wheels pushing hard. Remington let him go.

“You’ve seen where she lives?” Parker asked.

“Yes, I’ve seen it.”

Parker stopped at the top of the porch, catching his breath. His face was a little red from the excitement and the exertion. He looked around, and then he settled that excited gaze on Remington, grinning big.

“She’s the best nurse. We all think she’s the prettiest.”

Gus coughed as he inserted the key in the lock and pushed the front door open. Remington watched his grandfather, slightly stooped and a little bowlegged from years in the saddle. He thought about telling Gus to keep his comments—and coughs—to himself.

“You boys had too much time on your hands,” Remington answered. “And now you’re going to have less time and more work.”

“Yeah,” Parker practically shouted as he pushed himself through the front door. “And Nurse Sam will be here to check on me. Wait until I call Danny and tell him.”

Remington let Aunt Lee follow the boy inside and he stayed on the front porch where there was fresh air and fewer excited statements about a certain nurse. He looked out over the ranch his father had grown up on, the ranch he’d now help his grandfather care for.

In the field beef cattle with red coats and broad backs grazed on spring grass, biting off the tender morsels. The distant crow of a rooster broke the silence. As did the sound of a car on the highway. His thoughts weren’t as settled or as peaceful as his surroundings.

Samantha Martin. She wanted distance. He wanted her close. He wanted to mend fences that had been broken. If things had turned out different, he wondered if he and Sam would have dated a few years, then gotten married. Or would they have broken up after that summer? That’s what his mom had predicted. She’d told him that was how most summer romances ended. It felt like something that would last forever. But usually, she’d assured him, it faded with time and distance.

He’d actually believed her until he saw Sam at the hospital.

Seeing her made it all come rushing back as if they’d never been apart. Unfortunately Sam didn’t seem to feel the same way. She seemed to have put him and their relationship behind her.

He guessed he’d either have to accept that, or change her mind.

Chapter Five (#ulink_0fdf4a1b-4448-5f85-a823-c8d30f388534)