They were halfway back to San Antonio before either Bob or Lauren spoke. The cockpit didn’t encourage conversation. He’d been busy with flying, and she tried to absorb everything she’d heard and seen, particularly her reaction to Reese Howard.
Lauren had been wary of the program when she’d arrived. She wasn’t going to leave her daughter with a stranger without knowing more. She’d done due diligence and asked the navy psychologist to check Eagles’ Roost out. His report was positive, even glowing.
But that was not enough. She’d had to see it for herself. Her first impression was poor when Reese Howard was late for their appointment.
She liked Sally Reynolds. Still, she planned to contact the parents of past participants. It was that pilot’s training again. You check everything once, twice and three times.
The ranch was far larger than she’d anticipated, and the ranch house was intriguing. According to Sally, it had been built in 1910 after the original was destroyed in a fire. As the family multiplied, additions were built, but the house, though sprawling, looked comfortable. For someone who had lived in a three-room apartment in a poor neighborhood for years, then military housing, it was...impressive.
But her main goal had been to meet the man in charge. For some reason she’d expected someone older, someone more...
More what?
He’d looked rough, disheveled and tired when he arrived. He certainly didn’t look like someone who owned thousands of cattle. He had two or three days of beard but his dark, almost black eyes were intelligent and wary. His jeans and jean jacket were stained. He wasn’t handsome in traditional terms, but he would be hard to ignore in a crowd.
It was the unexpected humor and lack of ego that attracted her as he walked her around the ranch area. He’d been curt in the beginning, obviously eager to get back to the mustangs, but he’d relaxed as he talked about his love of the mustangs, the ranch and his equine therapy program.
The ranch awakened her childhood longings. She’d been an avid reader as a child and practically lived in the library when she wasn’t helping her mother. Among her favorite books were those about animals. Animals and adventures. Even at six, she’d wanted to have adventures.
Maybe she could give her daughter one. An adventure that would awaken her fighting spirit.
“What do you think?” she asked Bob through their headphones as they approached the airport near San Antonio. She wondered if meeting Reese Howard was affecting her judgment.
“I think Howard’s for real,” he said as if reading her mind. “Sounds like a great program to me.”
“You think it’s safe, then?”
“I watched the way they brought in those mustangs. Howard obviously knows what he’s doing. Everything about the ranch says good management—the way they handled the mustangs, the cleanliness of the stables and the other buildings. He doesn’t have to do this equine therapy program. Doesn’t bring him anything but satisfaction. But he’s a man who expects results. I think it would be good for Julie.”
His observations only strengthened her instincts. She had been dubious about the idea, but the ranch stirred something in her. The only problem now was to stir it in Julie, as well.
“Thanks for flying me down there,” she said.
“Dane would have done the same for my wife and I would do it for any coworker.”
“I’m not a coworker any longer,” she said sadly.
“You will be once Julie gets her life together. She’s completely dependent on you, or thinks she is. This horse thing is her chance to regain some independence.”
“If she agrees to attend...”
“She will, and I know for a fact the air force would like you back in a New York minute.”
Lauren wished she was as optimistic as Bob was. The four of them—Dane, herself, Bob and Sue—had been friends for nearly all the time they’d served in the air force. Bob had been in training with Dane and had been his best man at their wedding. Lauren had been maid of honor for Sue. They babysat for each other when they were in Germany together.
Unfortunately, her thoughts returned to the ranch’s owner. She’d been irritated until he stepped down from the trailer and watched as the horses dashed down into the paddock or corral. He looked as if he belonged to those mountains that surrounded the ranch. Rugged and formidable.
He’d been both impatient and empathetic. He’d obviously wanted to get back to the newly arrived horses but he was just as obviously committed to the program for kids. There was humor lurking in him as well, as he talked to and about Leo and the burro.
Patti had said he was one fourth Ute, which may have accounted for his black hair and dark eyes. She wasn’t usually wowed by appearances. She didn’t trust them. But there was something about the intensity in the man’s face as they met that turned her common sense upside down. Electricity had struck her, run down her spine. She knew that intensity had nothing to do with her. It had been the horses. But for some crazy reason, it awakened a part of her she thought numb inside. It reminded her of the excitement she’d felt on her first flight.
She recognized it but didn’t understand.
She gave up trying to do that as they arrived at the private airfield in San Antonio where Bob’s group parked their plane.
Julie’s big toe finally wriggled two days after Lauren arrived home. The operation had worked.
The simple act of moving one large toe probably meant no more surgeries. There would be more weeks in a brace and with crutches as the fragile muscles and bone grew stronger. The leg would never be as good as it once was, but the threat of losing it had declined substantially. Some of its mobility would be lost but with time, according to the doctors, she would have an almost normal walk.
“You did it! I knew you would,” Lauren said. “We’ll celebrate with a cake. You made it happen!”
“I did, didn’t I?” Julie replied with one of the few smiles Lauren had seen in months.
“So what about taking that trip to Colorado?” Lauren asked. Time was becoming her enemy. Julie had been too concerned with those toes to even consider the program.
“I could hurt the leg.” Julie still resisted.
“I don’t think so,” Patti said. “You’ll be safe. Believe me, I wouldn’t even suggest it if I thought there was a chance it wasn’t.”
“And,” Lauren added, “your doctor thinks it’s a terrific idea. Think of it as a vacation. You certainly deserve one and it’s beautiful up there. You’ll love the horses and Leo the dog.”
The mention of the dog seemed to swing it. Julie had almost smiled when she saw the photo of Leo holding out a paw as if inviting her to come. “I would have to go through airports,” Julie said. “Everyone will be looking at me.”
“Because you’re a very pretty girl,” Patti said.
Julie gave her a disgusted look.
Lauren jumped in. “Bob or Jim Harris will fly us up and I’ll rent a car. Or else we can drive all the way. Take a prolonged road trip.” She looked at her daughter. “You haven’t been out of the house except for doctor visits.”
Julie didn’t reply, but at least she didn’t say no. That was progress. She’d been hiding from everyone. She thought she was ugly because of a narrow line scar on her forehead. It was almost invisible but to Julie it was huge. The good news was the cast was due to come off. The bad news was she would still need braces and crutches for a while. The new braces would have a shoe attached to stabilize the foot. To someone who had loved the freedom of running, it was still a prison sentence. Today’s news about the toes, though, meant she shouldn’t need them too long.
Lauren waited with bated breath. It had to be Julie’s decision. Sally had known that and agreed. After one of the youngsters dropped out of the program, it was too late to find another applicant. If it had not been for Patti, it would have been too late for Julie, as well.
“I can leave after the first three days?” Julie asked, clearly wanting reassurance. “What if I want to come home sooner?”
“It’s not jail, sweetie. They ask that you stay three days but no one’s going to chain you there.” Lauren would promise anything to get a sparkle back in those dark blue eyes. “It’s not a dude ranch or anything like that. It’s a working ranch. It’s authentic and in a beautiful location.”
“Is Patti going? She’s a relative, isn’t she?”
“You’ll have to ask her.”
Julie turned to Patti. “Will you?”
“Afraid not, Julie. I have to do some work before returning to the university. But maybe one weekend I can manage it. I would love to visit the ranch again. I worked there one summer, and I love it. You will, too.”
“Okay,” Julie said dubiously as she scanned photos of the horses and Leo. “If you promise I don’t have to stay after three days if I don’t like it?”
“Promise,” Lauren pledged.
Lauren left the room and went out to the kitchen. She looked at the framed photo of Dane she kept on a counter there. He had a cocky smile that belied the perfectionist inside. “She’s going to be okay,” she told him. “I was worried about her for a while, but now...now maybe she will come out of that shell.”
She cut three thick slices of a cake she’d bought yesterday. Julie was much too thin. Once a good eater because it fueled her running, she now picked at her food. Before the accident, Lauren would have added ice cream, but now the very words still brought tears from Julie.
“When would we go?” Julie asked.
“A week from now.”
“How?”
“We’ll figure that out. And,” she added, “we’ll have to go shopping for clothes. You’ll need some pants.”
Julie’s eyes clouded again. “How can I wear them with the brace?” she said. Because of the bulky cast, she’d been limited to skirts or, at home, loose robes. The brace wouldn’t be much better.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” she said. “What about some gaucho pants? They’re very fashionable.”
Julie’s eyes widened. “Fashionable?”
Lauren would find some if it was the last thing she did. She’d seen gaucho pants in fashion ads. They shouldn’t be too hard to find. Mental note: check the internet.
After finishing the celebratory cake, Patti left for the apartment she now shared with a roommate. The house felt empty without her. Patti would be leaving in the fall and Lauren didn’t know what she would do without her. What Julie would do. She was part of Lauren’s family now. Including Patti, there were three of them. Neither she nor Dane had extended family or at least one that would acknowledge Dane’s existence. Lauren had tried to call Dane’s family before the funeral. They were in Europe. She’d sent a letter to the only address she knew, telling them of Dane’s death and their granddaughter’s injury. It was also ignored.
What kind of father—and mother—would disown a son because he didn’t follow in the family business? Not only a son but a granddaughter.
Julie had asked about them in the past few months. Lauren only replied that she couldn’t reach them.
Dane’s father had disowned him when Dane dropped out of business school to join the air force. Several attempts on Dane’s part to contact them were rebuffed and he finally gave up. She didn’t want her daughter to undergo her father’s disappointments.
Perhaps the prospect of wild mustangs and a dog who liked to say hello would quiet her longing for more family.
In the end it was the photos of Leo the dog and the mustangs that lured Julie to Eagles’ Roost. Lauren threw in the promise of a permanent dog to clinch the deal. They’d debated different ways of traveling—plane, train or automobile—and finally settled on the last. Lauren had planned to stay in the area for a week or so and would need a car. It seemed simpler to drive up there.
The first day was long and hard. They left at six in the morning with the objective of reaching the Colorado border by nightfall. Julie was obviously apprehensive, but Lauren asked her to pick the place they’d have their overnight stay, and her daughter’s natural curiosity kicked in as they traveled north through cattle country and she started asking more questions about Eagles’ Roost.
When they reached Raton, on the New Mexico–Colorado border, Julie had already decided on a funky historic spot she found online. She’d wanted to stay in a bed-and-breakfast rather than a motel and she chose an old rooming house that had been converted.
The rooms were small, especially the bathroom, but the building overlooked a fast-running river and was surrounded by aspens in their golden glory. Julie had traveled in the mountains in Germany, but the Raton Pass was far different with its cragged peaks and wildflowers and aspens.
Breakfast was excellent: strawberry pancakes and a bowl of fresh fruit with pastries.
“I wish we could stay here,” Julie said longingly as they left the bed-and-breakfast. “It’s so...peaceful. Can’t we stay longer?”
Lauren feared it was more an excuse not to reach the ranch with new people and expectations than love of the wilderness.
“It’s just as scenic there,” Lauren said as she drove onto the road. “Along with horses and dogs and even a burro.”
She hoped the mention would stir her daughter’s curiosity but instead Julie lapsed into silence.
She looked at her clock on the dashboard and realized they were running late. Hopefully, she could make up some time.
Lauren sensed Julie was growing increasingly nervous and uncertain as they approached the ranch. Even fearful, which was totally unlike her. Until the accident, she’d been fearless.
Lauren was just as nervous. Julie had been her life since the accident. She had no idea what she was going to do with herself, not only now or in three days or three weeks but in the months and years ahead once Julie recovered. She’d promised Julie she wouldn’t rejoin the air force although an invitation was there for her to do so.
There was nothing else she wanted to do, nothing else she was qualified for, and she’d never been idle before. Now she faced weeks of idleness. Maybe that was why she’d been unable to shove Reese Howard from her mind since she’d met him.
Just like pilots were intense about flying, he was equally as intense about his mustangs and ranch, probably in that order. But pilots also knew how to relax. She doubted whether Reese Howard did.
She’d pumped Patti. It was obvious she adored her cousin.
According to Patti, he had grown up working on the ranch. He’d learned to ride at five and worked with the ranch hands at fourteen. But when his father was disabled, the ranch had been a lot for a twenty-year-old to manage. “He’d not only managed,” Patti had claimed, “but the ranch flourished under him. Unlike most ranches today, Eagles’ Roost rarely lost an employee. He never asked them to do something he didn’t do, including mucking the stables.”
Stop thinking about him. She shuddered to think Julie might read her mind. The very attraction was disloyal to Dane.
Just then the traffic slowed to a crawl, and it wasn’t until three miles and forty-five minutes later that she learned why. There had been a rockslide and traffic was limited to one lane. Somebody, she thought, was trying to tell her something.
She recalled her reaction to Reese Howard’s tardiness and winced. She was going to have to eat some serious crow.