Rachel's Rescuer

He urged the old horse forward, watching the sled, ready to catch Cody if he toppled off. But Cody hung on tight, laughing with delight, while he led Bay Roller faster around the corral.

“That was fun,” Cody told Lucas as they untied the rope and led Bay Roller into the barn. “Can we do it again sometime?”

“As long as the snow sticks around,” Lucas promised. He looked down into a pair of sparkling hazel eyes and felt a pang of unease. Cody slipped his small hand into Lucas’s big one, and Lucas nearly jerked away. But once he realized the boy finally trusted him, his heart beat with a new warmth, and a real smile eased onto his face.

The old stove at the far end of the barn crackled and burned brightly. “Strip off your snow gear,” he directed.

While Cody complied, he undid his own coat and retrieved a bag of marshmallows Harley had left. “You won’t believe this.” he announced.

“Oh, boy!” Cody jumped up and down, his snowsuit bunched around his knees, half on and half off. “Are we going to roast them?”

Lucas produced a tin of hot cocoa mix. “I thought they’d go good with this.”

It didn’t take long for them to find themselves enjoying the warmth of the old stove, each with a hot cup of cocoa in their hands, topped with fat marshmallows.

Cody looked up at Lucas, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown. “I didn’t know cowboys drank hot chocolate.”

“Sure we do. I’ve been doing this since I was your size. Can’t let a good snowstorm pass without it.”

“Really?”

Lucas wiped at the marshmallow smudge above Cody’s upper lip and winked at him. “Yeah, really. Sometimes I stay out here for days and days.”

“I bet my daddy never did anything like this,” Cody said in a quiet voice.

“Where is your daddy?” Something had a tight grip on his chest. Hell, he’d never given a thought to Rachel having a husband. It made sense that she might be running from a husband. What a fool he’d been to lust after her, when he didn’t know anything about her.

“He’s in heaven,” Cody answered with a shrug of one shoulder. “At least that’s what my mom told me.”

A long, slow breath of air eased out of Lucas. He thought of his own father, a man who’d deserted his family. His memories weren’t happy ones. “Did you like living in Ohio?” he asked to change the subject.

“We didn’t live there very long,” Cody replied.

“We lived in Chicago before that. And I went to kindergarten in Detroit.”

“You’ve done some traveling.”

“Yeah,” Cody answered. “But you know what? I like it better here than anywhere. Mom says we might stay for a long time. Do you think Jenny will let me visit you when it snows again?”

“Any time your mom says it’s okay,” Lucas told him. It surprised him to find that he liked the idea. Jen and Pete didn’t live far. He would have a chance to see Cody. And Rachel.

He got to his feet, stretching out the kinks as he gathered the empty cups. He grabbed a blanket and bundled it around Cody. “Your snow gear’s still wet,” he explained when the boy started to protest.

Carrying Cody to the house, Lucas brought up the subject of Rachel’s dead husband, while he still had the chance to ask. “Cody, what was your daddy’s name?”

“Steven,” the boy answered on a yawn. “Gramma Harris said he was too young to die.”