Single Dad Cowboy

“I know.”

Harmony waited, holding her breath while Bill Tanner looked from her to the horse. Her gaze strayed to Dylan Cooper and he smiled. The lingering sadness in his eyes took her by surprise.

But she was more surprised when she noticed the door of his truck opening. As Dylan talked to Bill Tanner, two children escaped from his truck. A little girl, maybe preschool age, barefoot and wearing shorts and a tank top. And a boy, just a toddler. Both had blond hair. The boy’s hair was buzzed short. The girl’s hair was in raggedy braids with wisps of hair coming loose. The two held hands as they sneaked across the yard.

* * *

If Dylan had known Harmony Cross would be at the Tanners’, he would have ignored the voice in his head telling him to stop and pay his respects to Bill and Doris Tanner over the loss of the grandson they’d raised. Harmony Cross, with her dark blue eyes and curly blond hair framing her pretty face, was the last thing he needed in his life right now. He barely had time for himself these days, let alone thoughts that took him down back roads of the past.

What he needed had everything to do with the two kids in his truck.

As Harmony stood there, leaning heavily on a cane, waiting for Bill Tanner to come to his senses, Dylan gave her a long look. He remembered the last time he’d seen her. She’d been pretty full of herself back then. That girl seemed to be long gone. She’d been through a lot recently.

Hadn’t they all?

He guessed back in the day they’d all thought they’d live charmed lives free from trouble.

At least his personal drama hadn’t made the national news. Just the Dawson gossip channels. He guessed that might be nearly as bad. He’d been home a few weeks, and everywhere he went people asked questions. Or mentioned a sweet girl that he should meet. Because marriage would solve his problems?

Harmony was no longer watching him. Her gaze had shot past him and he saw a flicker of a smile turn her lips. She bit down on her bottom lip and her gaze flicked back to him like she hadn’t seen a thing. And that made him mighty curious. He turned just as Cash and Callie hurried across the yard toward a kitten that had crawled out from under the house.

The door of the house banged shut just as Callie pounced on the kitten that fortunately had the good sense to run back under the porch. Doris Tanner walked onto the porch, a thin woman in dark blue housedress. He remembered when she used to bake the best pies in the state. She shook her head as she walked down the steps, holding the rail for support.

Dylan shot her a smile as he hurried and scooped the adventurers up, one under each arm. He’d gotten pretty good at keeping them corralled. Sometimes he forgot that they were escape artists. Doris smiled his way and stepped next to her husband.

Dylan settled a kid on each hip and thought about making his own escape. But he didn’t want to leave Doris refereeing the two people that looked like they might butt heads any moment.

“Why all of this fuss over a skinny old horse?” Doris reached for Bill’s arm. “The horse needs to go, Billy. We can’t keep him in that corral forever.”

“Terry said to keep his horse. His last words to me were telling me I shouldn’t sell his horse while he was gone. I talked to him the day before...” Bill looked at the horse, shaking his head. Dylan wondered if anyone else felt the pain in the air, thick, heavy, weighing down on this family and this farm.

They still had a few days until autumn’s official start, but the air was a little cooler today and the breeze came from the north. There was still green grass and leaves on the trees, thanks to some good rain. At the Tanner farm, everything seemed gray. Dylan guessed he recognized it because he’d been feeling the same way for the past few months, since Katrina passed away. The two of them hadn’t ever been more than friends, but she’d needed someone at her side during the last year. Her last year. And she’d been only twenty-six.

“Mr. Tanner, I’m so sorry.” Harmony spoke and Dylan drifted back to the present. Harmony’s hand rested on Bill’s arm and her gaze connected with Doris’s. The two women smiled at each other.

“Take the horse.” Mr. Tanner turned and walked away.

“I don’t think...” Harmony turned to look at Dylan. He shrugged. She was on her own. Cash and Callie were struggling to get down and he knew they wanted that kitten.

He was settling them back on the ground when the kitten came out from under the porch again and headed across the yard. Harmony leaned down and picked it up. She gave the flea-bitten tabby a sad look and handed it to Callie.

“Take the horse, honey.” Doris Tanner patted Harmony’s arm. “He’s just a reminder. I want him gone. I want the corral gone. And Dylan, let those kids have that kitten.”

Harmony nodded and then flicked at tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll write you a check.”

Dylan watched as Harmony made painful steps back to her car. She sat in the driver’s seat and more tears trickled down her cheeks. Was it was from physical pain or from sharing heartache with the Tanners? He guessed when she showed up today, she expected to find a relieved farmer ready to take a check for a skinny horse, and never would have guessed at the pain she’d find.

She pushed herself out of the car and walked back to Doris Tanner. Bill had gone back in the house. Harmony handed over the check and Doris looked at it and shook her head.

“That old horse isn’t worth that much money.” Doris tried to hand the check back.

“He’s a national champion.” Harmony smiled. They all knew it wasn’t the truth. Bill had been doing his best to run her off.

“He’s one step away from glue.” Doris shook her head and looked at the check again.

Harmony hugged the older woman. “He’s a champion to me.”

For whatever reason, the rangy Appaloosa meant something to Harmony Cross, and Dylan didn’t want to know why. He sure didn’t want to see her as someone who cared about other people. That made her too big a complication. And with Callie and Cash heading for the truck with a kitten, he was pretty sure he had all the complications he could handle. What he needed was space to breathe, to figure out how to be a single dad.

“Do you have someone who can haul him for you?” Doris asked, and for whatever reason she glanced his way.

Harmony ignored him. “I’ll find someone.”

“I need to hit the road. Doris, if you all need anything, you give me a call.”

“Thank you, Dylan. But I think you’ve probably got your hands full as it is. Bill and I are making it through this. We’ve made it through plenty in our lives.”

“I’m just down the road.” Dylan glanced over his shoulder to make sure the kids were back in the truck. “And thanks for the kitten.”

At that, Doris smiled. “Oh, Dylan, kids need animals. It keeps them smiling, and don’t we all need to smile?”

“Yeah, I guess we do.” He really didn’t like cats. But it was pointless to mention that.

Doris touched his arm. “I’m going on in to see about Bill. Will you help her find someone to haul that horse out of here? And if you want that round pen, take it.”

“Sure thing, Doris.”

Harmony stood at the corral trying to coax that skinny horse to her with a few blades of grass she’d plucked from the yard. The horse trotted to the far side of the round pen, wanting nothing to do with her or that fistful of grass. He waited until Doris entered the house, then he walked up to the round pen. It didn’t make sense to have the horse in that pen. Bill had land. He had cattle. The whole situation smelled of grief and pain.

“I’ll haul him over to your place.” The offer slipped out, because it was the right thing to do. Harmony turned, smiling as she brushed hair back from her face.

“I can find someone.”

Argumentative females. He sighed. “Harmony, I’ll haul the horse.”

Harmony held her hand out and the horse brushed against her palm and then backed away. He didn’t think the animal had been worked since Terry left for the military a couple of years ago.

“He’s a lot of horse,” he cautioned. “He isn’t even halter-broke.”

“I’m not worried about it.”

“I’d hate to see you mess around and get hurt.”

She shot him a look, and he realized she was holding on to the fence, holding herself up. Stubborn female. He didn’t have time for stubborn.

“Why don’t you get in your car and head back to your place? I’ll get a trailer and bring him over to you this afternoon. You’ll have to pen him up for a few days because in this condition he’s likely to founder if he gets too much green grass.”

“I’ll put him in the small corral by the barn. It has plenty of grass for now.” She smiled at him. Man, that smile, it was something else. It could knock a guy to his knees. “And I’ll take that offer to haul him for me. If it isn’t too much trouble. The kids—”