Reunited With The Rancher

Isaac rode up next to him, still laughing. “Yeah, but I honestly didn’t think you’d be able to hold on. Spud is always kind of a beast when you first get on him.”

“Payback,” Carson warned him.

“Yeah, I reckon I’ll get mine. I deserve that.” Isaac glanced back at the house. “I was just trying to help you out. Kylie would have been all upset and tended to your wounds if you’d actually gotten thrown. I’m taking it the two of you knew each other, before.”

“Yeah, we knew each other. How long have you known her?” Carson gave Isaac a quick look but he didn’t quite trust the horse enough to let down his guard.

“Four years. Since she moved to the ranch. I know she lived down the road twenty years ago. That was a couple of years before my time.”

Carson relaxed a bit in the saddle as he and the horse got used to each other. “How long have you been here?”

Isaac nudged his horse in to a trot. “Got here the first time about seventeen years ago. And I came back about five years ago.”

The conversation fizzled as the men started through a gate and rode toward a herd of cattle. It gave Carson something to think about. He felt as if his life, Jack’s and Isaac’s were all part of the same puzzle but with pieces missing. And Kylie belonged in there somewhere. He just wasn’t sure what part she played.

He aimed to find out. And soon.

* * *

Kylie led Andy and Maggie down the stairs. They were dressed, hair brushed and ready for the day. Well, Andy’s hair wasn’t really brushed. The dark strands stood a little on end, but she’d done her best.

“Daddy is at work?” Andy asked, not looking at her as he did.

“No,” Kylie assured him. “He went outside, but he’ll be back soon. I’m going to fix you breakfast. Do you like biscuits?”

Maggie clapped her hands and jabbered about gravy, the words all running together. Andy bit down on his bottom lip and walked to the door.

“You have to stay inside, buddy,” Kylie told him.

He nodded but she saw his hand fidgeting at his side, as if given a chance he would open the door and leave. The house phone rang and as she answered it she kept a close eye on Andy. She wouldn’t lose him again. As she ended the call, she took the little boy by the hand and led him to the table. “Let’s sit right here, Andy.”

Maggie had already crawled up and sat down in another chair.

The door opened and Kylie’s roommate Eve Vincent entered, her gaze immediately going to the children. She waved a gloved hand at them.

“What’s for breakfast?” Eve stopped next to the children. “This must be Maggie and Andy. Wow, you can see the family resemblance. I saw their daddy getting on a horse earlier.”

Eve grinned. From the flicker of amusement in her eyes, Kylie didn’t have to ask which horse they’d given Carson.

“Please tell me it wasn’t Spud,” Kylie groaned as she dished out eggs, sausage and biscuits smeared with butter and jelly. She set a small plate in front of Andy and one in front of Maggie.

“Yeah, Spud. But he handled him fine.”

Andy shook his head no as he looked at the plate of food.

“Picky eater?” Eve asked.

“Sensory issues. The key is finding what food agrees with him.”

“Isn’t that just being picky?” Eve queried.

“No, there’s a difference. It’s about tasting food differently than you or I would.” She cut up the biscuit and Andy continued to shake his head. “What about the eggs?”

The little boy took a bite, made a face but continued to chew. Eve laughed at his reaction.

“I don’t blame him. You’re a good cook, Kylie, but eggs aren’t your specialty.”

“I make very good eggs,” she countered.

“Hold on, I just remembered something,” Eve said as she studied Andy. “Mind pouring me a cup of coffee and I’ll help you get him to eat. I’m kind of a pro with kids.”

“You’re a pro with kids?” Kylie didn’t mean to sound skeptical but her friend was either hiding something or making up skills she didn’t possess.

They’d known each another for three years. Both of them were from completely different worlds. Eve had joined the military against her parents’ wishes because she’d wanted some independence, and to prove herself. Kylie hadn’t seen her mother since she’d been taken into foster care. After turning eighteen, the Army had seemed like the best option.

Eve now grinned as she spun her wheelchair around. “I’m sure I am a child expert. I’ve spent almost zero time with children, but look at me, I’m on wheels. That has to make a difference. Let me try to feed him something.”

“Go for it.”

Eve obviously thought she had a trick up her sleeve. She went to the fridge and pulled out taco sauce and ketchup.

“Watch and learn.” Eve dropped the items in her lap and zoomed across the room at a reckless speed.

“What are you doing?”

Kylie followed her back to the table where Maggie had scooped the last of her eggs into her mouth. Andy was sitting in his chair staring out the window. Kylie peered over his shoulder and saw what had captured his attention. In the distance she could see the men on horseback riding herd on about fifty head of cattle, bringing them in to the corral to work them.

“Your daddy is riding. If we eat breakfast, we can go see him when they get back,” Kylie said as she glanced at Eve who was busy separating Andy’s eggs in to five piles. On the first she squeezed ketchup, on one she sprinkled sugar, the next pepper, one with taco sauce and the last with salt. This was her plan?

“There we go,” Eve said, sticking her finger in the pepper and tasting. It made her sneeze.

Andy wouldn’t try it but he laughed. When she tried the one with sugar his eyes widened and he tasted the sugar but not the eggs. When he got to the one with taco sauce he looked more than a little skeptical but after a taste he began to eat.

“Who would have guessed?” Kylie watched as the little boy ate the small portion of eggs and waited for Eve to wipe off the rest of the eggs and add taco sauce. “How did you come up with that?”

“I had a lot of time for reading while I lived at the rehab facility. After I finished up all of the books, I started on magazines. I have a lot of useless knowledge. Guess some that isn’t quite so useless.”