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On Tuesday afternoon, Sarah sat in Jericho’s old pickup and watched Troy lock the doors to the Hatch home where she had lived off and on since she was sixteen. He’d had new locks installed on everything. Everything she owned, which wasn’t much, was in the back of the pickup. Her mare Popsie and her tack were in Jericho’s beat-up horse trailer Clyde Gillespie had attached to the pickup’s bumper.
She had arranged for Jericho’s funeral, her last obligation to the Hatch family. The service would on the Friday after Christmas Day on Wednesday. As directed in his will, he would be laid to rest beside the wife he had grieved for every day since her passing.
Wyatt watched intently, the expression of his small face a mask of gloom. “When are we coming back, Mom?”
She bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying. She was out of tears. “We’re moving somewhere else, Wyatt. I don’t know where yet. But it’ll be a good place. I promise.”
She had no emotional attachment to this house, really. In her short life, she had lived in many houses. Still, it was a sad and bittersweet moment. The rickety old house was the only dwelling she had ever called “her home.”
Clyde, Jericho’s only full-time hired man, stood on the porch beside Troy. She watched as Troy gave a set of keys to him. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but she imagined that Troy asked him to keep an eye on the place.
One thing was certain. The new owner of the Hatch Ranch was the Double-Bar-L Cattle Company, with Troy, for the moment, as its emissary. As soon as Christmas was over, someone who worked for the Double-Barrel Ranch would take over management of the Hatch ranch and move his own family into the house.
Since Troy arrived yesterday, life had been moving at roller-coaster speed. She and Troy had found Jericho’s will and she was indeed his only heir to a ranch mortgaged and in debt for more than half its worth.
Following Lou Beckman’s advice, she had given Troy and his brothers free rein to do whatever they thought needed to be done to prevent foreclosure and to prevent the B2B company and the local banker from getting the ranch. She hadn’t liked that Mr. Barton from the beginning and if Jericho hadn’t trusted him or that banker downtown, she wouldn’t trust them either.
The manager of the credit union had almost clapped his hands in glee when Troy’s big brother walked into his office and handed him a check for the mortgage debt against the place. A flurry of lawyer activity followed that and she had signed a stack of papers. What was going on exactly was a mystery to her, but Lou had been there telling her she was doing the right thing, the only thing if she wanted to see anything left of Jericho’s life’s work.
The banker sputtered in anger and threatened to sue, but Troy’s big brother looked him in the eye and told him that would be a costly mistake. Jericho must have been right about the banker’s involvement with that B2B company. The banker must have really believed he and the B2B company were going to end up with the Hatch Ranch.
The neighbor, Marshall McDowell wasn’t too happy either, but he told her he understood and wished her well.
Troy and his brother told her she still had an interest in the ranch, but she wasn’t sure what it was or what it meant. She needed an angel to come down and explain to her what had happened. Many times, she lifted her eyes to the heavens and asked Jericho and Bonnie if they approved of what she had agreed to. Thunder didn’t roll and lightning didn’t strike, so she assumed they thought it was okay.
As Troy had promised, she did have money in her pocket, more money than she had ever had in her entire life, so much money, she couldn’t think about it because it might just vanish.
Since yesterday, Wyatt had stuck to Troy’s side like glue. Besides Jericho, she had never seen him so taken with another person, especially a stranger. She had always believed he needed a male figure in his life. Instead of treating him like a pest as Justin had done, Troy had shown patience and even affection and she appreciated that. She had feared her precious little boy would be lost without Jericho.
Troy returned to the pickup. Of course he noticed her tears. “You okay?” She nodded. “It’ll all get sorted out, Sarah. Just takes a little time.”
She drew a deep sniff. She had to stop crying. There would be plenty of tears to come. “I know.”
Troy ruffed Wyatt’s hair. “How about you, cowboy. You okay?”
“Yessir,” her boy answered in a tiny voice. He wasn’t okay, but he, determined to be her little man, wouldn’t admit it, especially in Troy’s presence. She brought him into her arms and hugged him, straightened his hair.
As usual lately, he resisted being hugged. “You’re squeezing me, Mom.”
She released him. “Okay, just sit beside me. Maybe I’m the one who needs a hug.” As Troy cranked the old pickup’s engine, she looked across at him. “What’s gonna happen to Clyde?”
“He’ll be okay. He’ll still have a job if he wants it. As an employee of the Double-Bar-L Cattle Company, he’ll have healthcare insurance and a few other benefits that he didn’t have working for Jericho. The Double-Barrel takes good care of its employees.”
They talked little for most of the three-hour ride from Roundup to the Double-Barrel Ranch. She dozed and clung to Wyatt. Late in the day, Troy brought the pickup to a stop in front of a sprawling rock structure.
“Oh, my God,” Wyatt said. “Is this where we’re gonna live?”
“Wyatt! Don’t cuss,” she said. “No, we’re not. We’re just visiting ’til we get things straightened out and we figure out what we’re gonna to do. Don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be okay. We’re together and that’s all that’s important.”
“The ranch has a couple of guest houses that aren’t in use right now,” Troy said. “You’re welcome to stay in one. Or you can stay in my house. There’s plenty of room. For the sake of security, it might be a good idea for you to stay with me, at least for a few days.”
“You don’t live here?” she asked, her gaze roving over the massive house.
“This is where my dad and Pic and his wife live. I’ve got my own house a few miles away. It’s smaller.”
“Where does Rudy live?” Wyatt wanted to know.
“In my barn. He’s got a nice safe place, plenty to eat and somebody to look after him.”
They entered the ranch house through a side door. Christmas decorations were everywhere. “Wow,” she said. “Merry Christmas. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Troy chuckled. “My sister’s doings. She gets carried away with Christmas. Follow me. The family’s probably in the den.”
She and Wyatt followed Troy and sure enough, they entered a large room full of people She recognized Troy’s sister and his two brothers. All of them got to their feet and Troy introduced her. Everybody welcomed her and Wyatt both.
Troy’s dad was especially kind to Wyatt. “Mr. McFadden,” he said, bending down to Wyatt’s height. “My son tells me you’re a horseman.”
“Not yet, sir,” Wyatt said, “but I’m gonna be just like Troy.”
“We should go into the living room,” a woman Troy had introduced as Pic’s wife said. “People will be arriving soon.”
Sarah sneaked a look of anxiety in Troy’s direction. “The family’s having an open house,” he explained. “But I know you’re exhausted. We can go on over to my house where we can eat and you can rest. I’ll ask Sergio to put Popsie in the barn.”
Thank God. Sarah was in no mood for a party. She nodded. “Thanks.”
They said good-bye to Troy’s family and motored away from the ranch house. She had thought the Karol’s large two-story log house in Wyoming was nice and comfortable, but Troy’s house made of logs and rock looked like something out of a magazine.
“For now, we’ll park your truck under the shed in the small barn,” he said.
The bodyguard named Sal met them on the front porch. “I’ve cleared the house, Troy.”
“Sarah and her boy will be staying here for the time being,” Troy told him.
They had barely passed through the front doorway than Wyatt said, “Can we go see Rudy?”
“It’s almost dark, Wyatt,” Sarah said. “You can go see him tomorrow.”
“I’ll have Sergio take you to the barn first thing, okay?” Troy said. He turned to Sarah. “There’s three bedrooms on the second floor. You and Wyatt can have the whole upstairs. Come on and I’ll show you.” He started up the stairs. Sarah and Wyatt followed.
He parked her and Wyatt in two bedrooms across the hall from each other. “Take a nap, take a shower, whatever you like. I’m a decent cook. I’ll rustle up something for supper.”
She had seen no room that looked like it might be Troy’s. “Where do you sleep?”
“My bedroom’s downstairs.”
As soon as he disappeared, she walked over to the room assigned to Wyatt and wasn’t surprised to see him studying a collection of arrowheads. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Uh-huh. Who’s gonna take care of us, Mom?”
She sat down on the edge of the mattress and looped an arm around his narrow shoulders. “We don’t need anyone to take care of us. We’ll take care of ourselves.”
For the first time in a while, he actually hugged her back. “Are we gonna live here?”
The idea held some appeal, but she couldn’t imagine such a thing. “No. We’ll have to figure out where we want to live.”
“Do I still have to go to school?”
“What? Of course. You love school.” She heard a faint sniffle and hugged him tighter, thinking about the large sum now parked in a savings account in a Fort Worth bank in her name. “You don’t need to worry, Wyatt. We’re gonna be just fine.”
Later, the aroma of searing meat wafted up the stairs. She collected Wyatt and walked down to the kitchen. Troy had grilled three steaks on a big brick indoor grill. He had baked potatoes with all the fixings and had made a salad in a big bowl. Plates and silverware were arranged on a long bar between the kitchen and a dining room. “Wow. You did all this?”
He grinned the cute grin she hadn’t seen in several days. “Tania, Sergio’s wife came over and helped me a little before they went to town to church. They live in the cottage out by the pasture.”
He pulled out a tall stool for Wyatt in front of a plate with a glass of milk beside it. “This is where I usually eat. I hardly ever use the dining table. Want a glass of wine with supper?”
She shook her head, unable to remember the last time she’d had a drink of alcohol of any kind. “I don’t know anything about wine. Water’s fine. Should you go back to your family’s open house? Wyatt and I will be okay here.”
He smiled. “I’ve been to a lot of open houses.”
After eating, Wyatt wandered over to the sofa in front of a huge TV set. Troy showed him how to uses the remote control and soon he was sound asleep on the sofa.
She walked over and picked up an afghan folded over the back of the sofa. “Okay if I cover him up with this?”
“Certainly,” Troy said.
She slipped off his boots, draped the cover over him and looked down at him. “He’s such a good boy.” She returned to her stool at the dining bar. “I don’t know if he realizes yet what’s happened. I mean, he knows about people dying. I’m sure he remembers when Justin passed, but he cared so much about Jericho.” She heaved a sigh. “He’s worn out. I guess I am, too.”
“I understand. It’s been a trying time. And things have been moving pretty fast.”
She picked up Wyatt’s plate and her own and carried them to the counter beside the sink. “So now that we’ve got a spare minute, I need to ask exactly where am I? I still haven’t figured out what you get out of all this.”
He, too, began to carry dishes to the sink. "I don’t get anything. I’m just helping you through this. Everything now is up to my brothers.” Troy opened the dishwasher, rinsed the dishes and added to some that were already there. He shut the dishwasher door and straightened, braced a hand on the counter. “Sarah, I understand your concerns. Jericho had gotten himself into a helluva mess. The lawyers will still need a couple of weeks to sort it all out, but all in all, it’s a fair deal for you. You can talk to any Realtor and they’ll say you’re getting a fair price for the place I hope you don’t think we’d try to cheat you. Drake takes great pride in his reputation as an honest businessman.”
“I’m trying to believe that. I guess I should start thinking about where we’re gonna live. Guess I’ll go back to Fort Worth since that’s where I started out. At least now I could afford for us to live in a respectable area where the schools are good.”
“You’re free to do that. But I’d like it if you’d stay here, either in one of the ranch’s guest houses or in my house.”
Alarm bells. Damn. Just how thoroughly captured was she? “Why?”
He turned the dishwasher on. “I don’t know. It feels right, having you and Wyatt around. I’d like for us to get better acquainted, explore the things we have in common.”
She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. “If I felt like laughing, I’d laugh at that. I can’t see that we have anything in common.”
He, too, leaned his butt against the counter. “Don’t you have instincts about things that happen? Besides, how’s Wyatt gonna spend any time with Sergio and me and Rudy and learn how to work with horses if you take him off to Fort Worth?”
“I don’t know, but I know this much. Staying here would be a big step for me. I’d really have to think about that.”
“You don’t have to do anything immediately or permanently. We could take time and try it out. You could move your things into one of the guest houses, no strings attached. Or, as I said, you could stay here in my house. You could work with Sergio and me and Kate with the horses. You obviously like horses. Foaling and breeding season will soon be starting. That would be a great experience for your boy. I started learning about horse breeding when I was about his age. We could start him in school in Drinkwell. By the time school’s out in May, maybe you’d know if your future is here.”
Hah. For weeks, she had already had a vivid fantasy about that very thing. “This makes me no sense. You don’t know me.”
“I know you well enough.”
She shook her head. “I’m not one of your horses that needs your attention. Stuff has happened in my life. I used to be...well, different than I am now.”
“If you’re different now, what difference does it make how you used to be? In what way are you different?”
“I was a street person. I did a lot of things back then that I wouldn’t do now and I wouldn’t want Wyatt to do either.”
“For instance?”
“For one, I used to steal. Shoplifting, mostly. Things that were easy. I was good at it. Sometimes I had to do it.”
Troy shrugged.
“I got pregnant when I was fifteen. I was barely sixteen when Wyatt was born. I don’t even know his daddy’s last name. He was another street kid like me. We were both homeless. We found an abandoned car and sort of claimed it as ours. If the county hadn’t picked me up and put me with Jericho and Bonnie, I don’t know where I’d be now.”
“So you were a street kid. So what?
“I’m not finished. I told you I was married. Justin Karol found me in Las Vegas during the National Finals rodeo. He was drunk and he begged me to marry him. So we got married. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “You can do that in Vegas, you know.
“I wasn’t drunk and I even knew it was a big mistake, but I was lonesome and I wanted somebody to love me. I didn’t want Jericho and Bonnie to be disappointed in me, so since it was already done, I decided to make the best of it.”
“How old were you?
“Eighteen. He was twenty-nine. By the time fate took him away from me, I didn’t care much. I didn’t grieve much either. For me and Wyatt, it was for the best.”
“He was abusive?”
“Not physically. He didn’t beat me up or anything like that, but I always worried he would get around to that. He was high-tempered and he drank too much. He was just ... just good-for-nothing.
“He had everything. Talent, money, a family that loved him and always stood up for him. Even so, I felt he was less than I was. He was spoiled. He did stupid shit and tried to blame on other people. He was a bully always in trouble. If the accident hadn’t happened, I know even more conflict would’ve grown.
“His family thought I trapped him into a wedding and they didn’t think much of me. They had no interest in Wyatt. Justin had no interest either. He never understood that Wyatt was my anchor, that he was more important to me than anything.”
Sarah—”
“And now you want to take me under your wing and save me like you do horses? I don’t know what I’m supposed to hope for. I have to ask, why me? Do I show potential? Can I be cleaned up and trained to rise to your standards?”
“Now you’re being cynical and it’s uncalled for,” Troy said. “So you were a street kid. So what? The same thing could’ve happened to me if Bill Junior hadn’t stepped up and met his responsibility as a father. I was lucky.”
“You must know a hundred women who’d love to be standing where I am right now.”
He picked up her hand and kissed back of it. “Sure, I know women, Sarah. I’m thirty years old and single. But I can truthfully say I don’t know another woman like you. I don’t want to clean you up and train you. I like you the way you are. I think that deep down, you’re like me, too. We can be a team. All we have to do is try.”
