Allie stood on the porch and rubbed lotion smelling of lavender into her chapped hands. The Chisos Mountains were called “sky islands” by the locals, and she’d already fallen in love with their brooding presence. They held up the sky in the distance as the cold night gave way to sunshine, warming the rocks and vegetation.
So far she’d avoided Rick this morning. She still couldn’t believe she’d been stupid enough to mistake a mountain lion for a woman in trouble. What should she do about Rick’s suggestion? Part of her wanted to let someone else shoulder her burdens for a little while, but they’d been with her so long, they’d become part of her. She didn’t know if she could even let them go.
Through the open window she could hear Charlie talking to himself as he tried to figure out how to catch a calf that had slipped through the gate.
The door opened behind her, and Elijah stepped out. “There you are, mujercita. I have time to show you the books now. To my office, if you would be so kind.”
The books. A ball of dread coiled in her throat. While bluffing it came easily to her, this might be more than she could fake her way through. “I should probably check on Betsy.”
“The niña is on the back porch playing with the kittens. This will not take long. They are not difficult.” Elijah beckoned her with a brown finger.
Allie swallowed her excuses and followed the old man to the office off the living room. A large, high-ceilinged space, the pale yellow walls were further warmed by the sunlight streaming in the four large windows. An oak desk dominated the center of the room. The chair’s back was to the window, and the light fell on the vast expanse of the desk.
Her eyes were drawn to the ledger in the middle of the desk. It lay open, the squiggly black lines of letters and numbers crawling across its pages like scorpions. Such small text would make the job even more difficult. She’d hoped for a computer that let her make the fonts larger.
Elijah swept his arm over the chair. “Be seated, please.”
Allie went around the desk and sank onto the cracked leather desk chair. She stared at the ledger. Clasping her hands in her lap, she told herself the nursery rhyme that usually calmed her:
Once I saw a little bird
Go hop, hop, hop.
So I cried, little bird,
Will you stop, stop, stop?
And I was going to the window
To say, how do you do?
When he shook his little tail
And away he flew.
Something about the cadence stole her flustered feelings away. She eased back in the chair and listened to the singsong in her head until her confidence surged again.
It was only numbers in a book. She would work hard and learn.
Elijah stood beside her. A stack of bills lay in a wire tray on the desk, and he took the first one. “This is the electric bill.” He ran a gnarled finger down the rows to stop on the third line down. “You find the month by going across.” He moved his finger in a vertical direction to the third column. “This is the February bill, so it is to be written down here. Very easy, much as you have likely done in your private affairs.”
Allie clamped her teeth against the hysterical laughter rising in her throat. If he only knew what a mess her private affairs were.
When she didn’t pick up the pencil, Elijah did it. “I’ll show you.” He carefully inscribed the date and some numbers in the boxes.
She forced herself to look at the page, trying not to feel sick at the way the black text jiggled on the white paper. She squinted and managed to make out one entry. “Your electric bill is over five hundred dollars?”
“It costs money to run the pumps for water for the livestock, for showers when we have a bunkhouse full of children.”
“How do you pay for all this?”
He smiled. “I made much money in my younger days as a child psychologist in Houston. The ranch, we bought when our daughter was a baby, but we did not come to live here until she was a teenager.” His face grew pensive. “This was maybe not so good a choice. My wife, she was very frugal. I have enough for many years to come. The agencies who send the children, they also provide some income.”
“When is our next group coming? How does it all work?”
“Sometimes we have a group come for a month or two, sometimes a larger group for just a day. Right now, the crew is remodeling the bunkhouse, so we have none. But a few rooms are done, and we will take a handful later today.” He went toward the door. “You look, sí? I will get us coffee.”
The stack of bills seemed huge. Her head already ached from looking at just one page of the black numbers on white paper. She should confess her condition and get it over with. Sitting back in the chair, she glanced around the room until her gaze settled on the picture of a young woman.
It almost could have been her.
She stood and picked it up, running her fingers over the cool glass. The woman was younger than Allie, and her eyes were brown instead of blue, but she had the same high cheekbones and full lips. The same dark hair. Who was she?
She heard Elijah coming and put the picture back on the bookshelf. He arrived at the doorway as she turned around. Caught.
“That was my granddaughter, Maria.”
“Was?”
“Ten years now she has been in her grave. A riding accident when she was twenty-five.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have the look of her, sí?”
“I noticed. Was that why you stared when you first saw me?”
“It is so.” He turned to the door. “I will leave you to your work.”
“Could I use the phone to call my friend in El Paso and let her know I arrived safely?”
“Sí, of course. Anytime you wish.” He closed the door behind him.
Allie looked at the picture again. Maria would have been her cousin. Her mother had always told Allie she was an only child. So who were Maria’s parents? The thought she might still have family filled her with a sense of purpose and rightness about coming here.
Allie went back to the chair, picked up the phone, and dialed Yo’s cell phone number. Her friend answered almost at once. “Yo, it’s me.” “Allie, I’ve been so worried. Are you okay, girl?”
The chair squeaked as Allie leaned back, glancing at her nails. She’d managed not to bite them for three days, but the polish looked terrible. “I’m fine. Got here in one piece. How’s everything? How are you riding today?”
“I am all that, girlfriend,” Yo crowed. “Ran just over 14.7 seconds today.”
“Oh great,Yo. You’re going to win this year!” Allie pulled polish remover from her purse and began to remove the chipped polish. The pungent sting of the chemical reminded her that her chance at the title was a thing of the past.
“As long as I don’t bite it.”
“You won’t. You’ll do great.”
“I miss you, girl.”
Allie closed her eyes and wished she could be back where she belonged. “I miss you too,Yo. Listen, I need your advice.” She started to bite her nails, then yanked her fingers from her mouth. Her mother always used to say a lady didn’t bite her nails.
“Like I’m the one to ask.” Yo’s voice held a smile. “What’s up?”
“I’ve had someone offer to help me make sure I don’t lose Betsy.
It’s a friend of Jon’s. He says if I’m married and he adopts Betsy, she’ll be safe from Jon’s parents.”
“Uh-uh, no way, girl. You don’t go marrying no stranger.” Yo’s voice rose.
“He was Jon’s best friend. I—I think I trust him,Yo. And it would only be for a year or so. Just until Betsy is safe.” Was she actually arguing for the idea?
“What kind of lesson is that teaching Betsy? You marrying then divorcing for convenience’s sake. And she’ll be yanked from pillar to post.”
Allie winced. “I’ll take care of her.”
Yolanda sighed. “Allie, you don’t know this guy. He could be an ax murderer or something.”
Allie grinned, remembering how Rick had said he wasn’t an ax murderer when she’d been afraid to get in the truck. “He’s not like that,Yo.”
“Hmm, do I hear some interest, girl?”
“Not hardly. He’s a big guy, all muscle and testosterone. Not at all like Jon.”
“That’s not a bad thing. It’s not good to try to find a Jon look-alike.”
“Now who’s pulling for the idea? Not interested.”
“Because he’s not like Jon? Honey, you’ve got to let him go sometime. He’s dead. I know it’s harsh to say it, but you’ve got to face it. You’re still young. I want you to find someone else and love again.”
“I’ll never love anyone like I loved Jon. And I don’t want Betsy to put someone else in her daddy’s place.”
Yo sighed. “Girl, she can’t remember him by now. Kids forget.”
“She won’t forget,” Allie said fiercely. “I won’t let her.”
“Time has a way of smoothing out the bumps. You wouldn’t want Betsy to grieve forever. I don’t want you to, either. You’ve got to trust again, Allie. Let go of that ironclad control.”
Allie pressed her lips together. Yo didn’t understand. She hadn’t gone through the losses Allie had suffered. She turned to glance out the window. “I’ve got a job, Yo. Doing bookwork and housekeeping.”
“Bookwork? Your specialty.” Yolanda’s chuckle lightened her poke at Allie’s problem.
“Ironic, isn’t it?”
“So why marry this dude? You’ve got a job, a place to stay.”
“I thought about that. But it’s a room in a ranch, not a home of our own. That won’t look good to a judge. It won’t appear we’re any better off than when we were living in a travel trailer.” She heard footsteps outside the door. “Listen, I have to go. I’ll call in a few days. Pray for me,Yo, that I’ll know what to do.”
“You got it, girlfriend. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Allie clicked off the phone and put it down as Elijah stepped back into the office.
“Do you have any questions before I go outside?”
“No, I was on the phone. I’ll start work now.”
He tipped his head to one side and listened. “We have visitors.”
Allie heard it then too, the distant growl of an engine.
“Set that aside for now. You shall find out what the ranch is all about. The group I mentioned is coming. We go meet them, sí?” He held out his hand for her.
She put her fingers on his forearm and rose, allowing him to escort her to the door. The rough-and-ready rodeo riders she knew never acted so courtly. She could get used to this treatment.
There was something about Elijah that comforted her. What would her life have been like if she’d had a relationship with him growing up? She’d always wanted grandparents. Rattling around the rodeo all her life, she never experienced the stability of deep family roots. Her parents loved her, but they were often busy.
The ranch was a world apart, a place where she longed to scrape away the hard surface soil and peer underneath to the reality. She was certain she would discover something beautiful. She longed to ask Elijah a million questions. Like did she have any other living relatives? An aunt or uncle?
Elijah opened the front door for her and followed her to the porch.
A van appeared on the road between the rocky outcroppings on each side. Dust billowed from its tires, and its engine revved up for the final approach to the house. The vehicle stopped, and the back door opened. Several teenagers emerged, blinking in the bright sunlight.
Allie counted four—two boys and two girls. A man exited the front of the van and corralled the teens. She could hear him directing the kids to get their luggage. The group moved en masse toward the porch.
“Hello, are you the lady of the house?” the man asked, his dark eyes sizing her up.
“I’m the housekeeper,” she said. “Allie Siders.”
In his forties, the man’s eyes peered through metal-rimmed glasses. His black hair lay in a sleek cap on his head, and he wore a gray suit and black shoes that were already picking up traces of red dust.
He shook her hand. “Emilio Valdez. You must be Elijah,” he said, glancing at the old man.
“Sí. You are new.”
Emilio nodded. “Yeah, they sent me since this bunch is a little hard to handle. I’ll ride shotgun over them and do schoolwork with them as well. Where do you want them?”
“Take the boys to the bunkhouse, out behind the barn. The girls have rooms inside the house on the second floor. If you’ll show the boys to their bunks, Allie will take the girls inside.”
“Gracias.” Emilio turned to the huddled teens who were trying to look bored. “You heard the boss man. Boys, come with me.”
“Why do the Betties get to stay in the house?” The boy who objected looked like he’d seen one too many tattoo parlors. Skulls and crossbones covered both arms, and he had rings in his ears, eyebrows, and lower lip.
The bright red hair matched his eyebrows, so Allie decided it must be natural.
The other boy shoved him. “To save them from dudes like you.” Thin to the point of emaciation, the second boy picked up his backpack and turned to go.
“Are you going to introduce us?” Allie asked.
Emilio took a tighter grip on his briefcase. “Tattoo boy is Devin.” He pointed to the skinny boy. “Leon. The girls are Latoya and Fern.” He nodded toward Allie. “Go with the lady, girls. We’ll be back as soon as we get things stowed, and you can see the ranch.”
“Peachy,” Devin said in a mocking voice. His untied shoelaces dragged in the red dirt as he slumped after Emilio and Leon.
Elijah went down the steps. “I will check on Cupcake. You can handle this, Allie.”
Allie forced a smile. She wasn’t used to being around teenagers much. “You both share a room beside mine.” The girls followed her into the house.
Were these kids part of the foster care system? She’d heard Elijah had great success with troubled kids and had headed here without knowing more than that.
“Wow,” Latoya breathed. “Cool digs.”
Shapely with perfect dark skin, Latoya held her head high and surveyed her new domain. Allie could see she’d have her hands full with the young woman. Fern kept her head down, and only the pink of her scalp showed in the part between two yellow braids.
Why were they here? Drugs? Prostitution? For the first time, Allie realized she might have brought Betsy into contact with characters who might not be the best influences. She’d assumed the kids would all be younger, with problems similar to Betsy’s. When she thought about it, though, she realized internal scars were the most profound.
She showed the girls their room and pointed to the dresser. “You can put your things away there.”
The girls began to unload their backpacks. Latoya brought out a delicious color of hot-pink nail polish.
“Ooh, that’s pretty.” Allie picked it up. “Sparkles.” She glanced at her bare nails. It had been all she could do not to bite them with no polish on them.
“Try it.” Latoya put her hand over her mouth and exhaled. “Girl, I’ve got the dragon. My teeth feel like slime. Where’s the bathroom?”
“At the end of the hall.” Allie picked up the bottle of polish when Latoya went out. Why not? She sat on the edge of the bed and uncapped it, then slicked a thin coat over her nails. Holding out her left hand, she showed Fern. “What do you think?”
Fern barely glanced at her hand, but her head bobbed. “Pretty.”
Latoya came back in with gloss on her lips. She pooched her lip out at Allie. “Minty fresh.” She peeked at Allie’s nails. “That’s so you, girl.”
“It’s fresh,” Allie said. “I like it.”
“It’s yours.” Latoya leaned over and pressed the bottle into Allie’s hands.
“Oh no, I can’t take it.”Was the girl trying to bribe her? Allie stared hard at Latoya, but the teenager just smiled back. “I’ll borrow it sometime.” She put the bottle back on the dresser. “Let’s go find the guys.” They all trooped back downstairs. She was careful with her wet nails when she peeked out the back door to check on Betsy. Her daughter lay in a hammock on the back porch with three kittens snuggled around her. They were all sleeping.
She and the girls tiptoed past the little girl into the backyard and headed toward the barn. Rick’s familiar battered cowboy hat moved into her line of vision. He stood by the paddock with one boot on the bottom rail and his hands gripping the top. Funny how the same pose she’d seen Charlie take looked so much better on Rick.
Emilio and the boys clustered around the paddock with him.
“Who’s that?” Latoya asked, her voice vibrating with awe.
“Rick Bailey, the foreman.”
“He’s gorgeous. Puts me in mind of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger with all those muscles.” Latoya’s hips took on an exaggerated sway as she made a beeline to join the guys.
Allie grinned, imagining the way Rick would put the girl in her place. Latoya didn’t realize she was up against Prince Charmless, as Allie had dubbed him in her mind.
About to become her rescuer Prince Charming.
The thought shocked her.
“Want to see the horses?” she asked Fern. Her eyes still downcast, the girl nodded. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Allie asked.
“A brother,” Fern said, her words so soft Allie had to strain to hear them.
It was going to take time to get through the wall Fern had built around her. Maybe the horses would be a good start. “Come with me,” Allie said.
Cupcake’s winter coat was a little rough and ragged, but she was still a beautiful mare. With little Frost following at her heels, she pranced around the paddock with her tail out and her head up.
Fern peeked at the horses, a smile starting across her pinched face. “A colt,” she breathed.
“He’s only two days old,” Allie said. They had reached the rest of the group, and she saw Rick stiffen at the sound of her voice.
What a way to start a marriage.
Her assumptions had altered. His offer was a way out. Maybe the only way.
She focused on the needy teenager beside her. “Cupcake is a good mother. See how she keeps her body between us and her colt?”
Fern nodded. “She’s beautiful.”
The boys were hanging on the fence, watching the mare gallop past. “Hey, check out the rides,” Devin said. “I wanna try.”
“Nope, can’t ride Cupcake,” Rick said. “And Frost is way too young. He’ll need to be at least two or three. But there are other horses you can ride.” He glanced at Allie. “Would you help me saddle up enough horses for all of them?”
She went past him into the barn. The tack room door to her right stood ajar, and she pushed it open to glance around. The scent of the new stacks of hay in the corner made her sneeze.
She felt rather than saw Rick enter the room. His presence made her feel claustrophobic, which made no sense. She was used to being around overwhelmingly masculine men. But then, she’d never thought about marrying one of them. Grabbing a saddle, she turned to push past him and found his broad shoulders blocking the doorway.
“Stand aside, please,” she said. He didn’t move, and the way he stared made her cheeks grow hot. “I thought you wanted to saddle the horses.”
“Have you thought about what I said? Jon’s parents will find you soon.”
“I know, I know,” she muttered. “Let’s not talk about it now.” She moved to go around him, but he still blocked the doorway. “What?”
“Be careful with Elijah. Don’t hurt him.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just back off, okay? Don’t be so helpless and appealing. His family is all gone now. The daughter ran off when she was seventeen and abandoned a granddaughter she never saw again. Now Elijah doesn’t even have her.”
Allie opened her mouth, then closed it again. Could he be talking about her mother? She never left behind a grandchild. She set the saddle down a minute. “I thought the daughter left when she was pregnant. Did he have more than one?”
He gave her a curious look but didn’t ask where she’d heard the story. “Just the one girl. Selena. She left when she was about eight months pregnant, but Elijah tracked down the baby and brought her here to live.”
Her mother had abandoned Allie’s sister?
Allie wanted to sit down. Her mother had told her the baby died. Rick didn’t seem to notice her shock. “He poured all his love into his granddaughter, but she died when she was twenty-five. She looked a lot like you, and I think that’s why he’s taken to you so much. But you’re not his Maria.”
Allie scrambled to recover her senses. “I saw her picture today.”
“So you understand the resemblance. You could twist him around your finger, but if you try, I’ll break it off.”
She managed a smile, trying not to show her shock. “I’m attached to my fingers, so don’t worry. I’m not here to get anything out of Elijah.”
“No, just out of me. You made a decision yet?”
Was that dismay in his voice? She studied his features but couldn’t penetrate his impassive expression. “It would save Betsy.”
“It’s the only way to be sure.” Resignation settled over his mouth.
“I want to get one thing clear right up front. You are not Betsy’s father.” Her voice trembled just a little. “I will have the say over what’s best for her.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “Nope. Won’t work, lady. This is a partnership. I’m doing this for Jon and for Betsy, not for you. She’ll never talk with the way you’re smothering her.”
Allie gasped and took a step back. Her knees trembled, and she curled her fingers into her palms so she wouldn’t hit him. “A mother protects her child.”
“A mother’s job is to teach her child to stand on her own.”
“She’s only five!”
“Old enough to be tying her own shoes, to make her bed. I saw you making it for her this morning while she colored on the floor. You have to teach her some responsibility.”
Allie didn’t trust herself to speak. Luckily, he took a saddle and went back outside. Maybe all men didn’t get how important it was to protect children from the bumps of life. Jon thought she coddled Betsy too. She whisked a tear from her lashes. Rick wasn’t a father and didn’t understand.
She wasn’t going to let him bully her or Betsy. Talk about a throwback to pioneer days! Here she was about to enter into a marriage of convenience. And really, it would have been impossible if he actually wanted to marry her. If he touched her . . . She suppressed a shudder. He didn’t attract her that way at all.
This way they could both keep their distance.
She picked up the saddle and bridle and went out to the corral. Rick was on his cell phone, and she almost expected him to snarl like the cougar over whatever he’d been told. He snapped his phone shut and beckoned to her. Dropping the saddle over the fence post, she joined him at the gate.
“We need to rescue a horse, and I may need help catching it. Charlie is gone, and the other two hands need to stay here and take care of these kids. You’ll have to do.”
“What about Betsy?”
“She can hang out with the kids.”
“Not a chance.”
“Then bring her. But be quick about it.”
The prospect of letting her daughter see how some people treated horses called her hasty decision into question. Still, she couldn’t let a horse die because she was squeamish. “I’ll get her.”
Allie found her daughter still asleep in the hammock with the kittens lying on top of her.
“Betsy,” she called in a soft voice.
Her daughter’s eyes popped open. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then rolled out of the hammock with a kitten in her arms.
“Rick needs us to go help a horse.”Allie held out her hand, and Betsy ran to grasp it. She put down the kitten before taking her mother’s hand. “Can you be big and brave? Some people aren’t nice to their horses.” Betsy nodded, and the two of them went around the front of the house to where Rick sat waiting in his truck. Betsy climbed in next to Rick, and Allie fastened her daughter’s seat belt and her own.
“How far?” she asked Rick.
“About ten miles.”
“Who called you?”
“A neighbor saw the horse staggering across the desert.”
“Owner?”
His mouth took on a grim slant. “I think I know. I’ve been keeping an eye on them for a few weeks. The owner is a city dude who thinks it’s fun to fly out here three or four times a year.”
“Can we do anything if he refuses to let us take the horse?”
“The sheriff will cite him for neglect. But it won’t come to that. I’m taking him home with us, and we’ll deal with what we have to later. He’s not a bad guy, just stupid.”
From the way he clamped his lips shut, Allie knew he didn’t want to talk. Good thing, because she didn’t want to either. She stared out the window.
The golden stipa grass mingled with the cactus and sage from horizon to horizon. It was a harsh land but beautiful. The purple haze of the mountains climbed to the sky in the distance, and the blue bowl overhead added to the isolation. The air smelled hot and dusty even though it was only March.
The thought of staying in this sanctuary comforted her. She and Betsy were safe here. They’d see anyone dangerous coming from miles away. A stranger would stick out like water in the desert.
Rick braked hard, and the truck slewed in the road before coming to rest near the ditch. “There she is!” He opened the door and grabbed a saddlebag from behind his seat. “Come on.”
Allie unlatched her seat belt and got Betsy free as well. “Stay close to me,” she told her daughter.
She nearly stepped on a tarantula lumbering across the road. Withdrawing her foot, she let the arachnid have the road until it disappeared on the other side. Creepy things. With Betsy in her arms, she hopped a yucca plant and headed after Rick, who was disappearing behind thick brush.
If she saw another tarantula, she might scream.
At least she wore boots. She put Betsy down and took her hand. “Let’s run to catch up.”
The hot, dusty wind blew in her face, and her feet slipped so much on the thin soil that it took much longer to catch up with Rick than she’d imagined. She thought about calling for him to wait, but he was too far ahead. Besides, he was a man on a mission, and she doubted he’d listen.
Betsy tugged at her hand and pointed to their right. Allie stopped and stared at the pitiful sight. A blue roan mare stood outlined against a rocky hillside. Her bones stood out in stark relief through her ragged coat. She tried to move away from them, but she staggered as she walked.
When was the last time the mare had food or water? Allie feared they were too late to save her. “Let’s see if we can get close, Betsy.”
Betsy tugged her hand out of Allie’s and ran toward the horse. Allie tried to grab her and grasped only air. “No, Betsy, you’ll scare her.” When Allie leaped after her daughter, her foot slipped, and she sprawled onto the ground. Her hand dove into a cactus. She scrambled up again, but Betsy was out of reach by then.
Rick’s head turned at her shout, and he put out his hand as though to catch the little girl, but Betsy veered around him and continued on her course to the animal. When she got about ten feet away, she stopped.
Allie ran to catch up with her daughter. “Don’t get any closer, Bets,” she called, still several feet from her daughter. “She might be dangerous.” Though the poor horse looked like she didn’t have the energy to walk, much less kick.
Betsy put her hand out and walked closer to the mare. “No, Betsy!” Allie put on an extra burst of speed, but she felt she was moving through air as thick as quicksand. Betsy would reach the horse before Allie could stop her.
But the mare put her head down, and her nose touched Betsy’s outstretched hand. The shudders wracking the horse’s body stopped, and she stood quietly as the little girl rubbed the white blaze on her head.
“Well, I’ll be,” Rick said softly as Allie fell into step beside him. “Keep her here. I’ll go get the truck.”
“It’s not safe.” Allie scooped her daughter into her arms.
Rick rolled his eyes. “She’s fine. There’s an affinity between them.”
The horse stepped closer to where Allie stood with Betsy. The little girl put her hand out, and the horse nuzzled it. Hope shimmered in Allie’s heart. Maybe he was right. Maybe this horse was the key to unlocking Betsy’s heart.