A Reunion For The Rancher

At his mention of canceling, Brandon groaned. Ruby smiled down at the little guy. “Don’t worry, we won’t cancel.”

“We’ll go then. Let me know if you need anything.” Carson walked away with his nephew.

She watched them go, drawn to the pair, drawn by the past and by the present. That was even more of a complication. One she didn’t need. It seemed that somewhere beneath the hard exterior, the Carson she knew still lived and breathed.

The door to Maggie’s opened and the man she had been looking for stepped out. Tyler Grainger, tall and all blond good looks, stopped to look around as he pulled car keys out of his pocket. He saw Ruby and nodded.

“Ruby, how’s Iva?” Tyler headed her way with an easy gait, comfortable in his own skin. He still looked like a kid who’d grown up in this small town. But she understood wanting to shed that skin and be someone or something else.

“She’s not good, Tyler. I’m worried, and of course she refuses to go to the doctor. She says she went and going wears her out.”

“I can stop by,” he offered as he glanced at the watch on his wrist. “In an hour?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble. I know house calls are a thing of the past and this isn’t your specialty.”

He shrugged off her comments. “I don’t mind.”

“Thank you.”

A truck started. She turned, knowing it would be Carson’s and realizing immediately that she shouldn’t have turned. It was too easy, this getting pulled into the past, into remembering how he’d cared.

She didn’t need those reminders. She didn’t need to think about confiding in him the way she once had. No, she had to think about her small family and how to keep them together and keep them solvent.

“Everything okay between you and Carson?” Tyler asked.