Rancher to the Rescue Read online

  “Guess Frankie will go with you,” Wyatt muttered, chuckling.

  Jake barely heard him, his troubled mind trying to make sense of what he knew, what he felt and what he wanted. Kathryn might well bring him up short. God knew she had no reason to feel kindly toward him after the way he’d alternately ignored and grumbled at her.

  Frankie, as usual, showed no restraint. He threw his arms around Kathryn as soon as they reached her. She stooped to hug him then rose to split a smile between Frankie and Mr. Athletic.

  “Frankie, this is my good friend Derek. Derek, this is Frankie.”

  Derek went down on his haunches, smiling at Frankie and offering his hand. “Nice to meet you, Frankie.”

  “S’it nice mee’ you!” Frankie practically bawled into Derek’s chiseled face, shaking his hand.

  Looking up at Kathryn, Derek quipped, “Kind of like talking to Grandpa. He thinks everyone is as deaf as him.”

  She laughed. Apparently, Frankie didn’t like the attention Derek was paying her any more than Jake did. Grimacing, he gripped two fingers on Derek’s hand and pumped it again. Derek grinned and pretended to shake blood back into his fingers.

  “Wow. That’s quite a grip you’ve got there. How old are you?”

  Frankie held up three fingers.

  “You’re a big boy for three. Maybe you’ll play football in a few years. What d’you think?”

  Frankie shook his head. “I can’t frow.”

  “No? That’s okay. You’ll be able to knock over the guy who does throw the ball, and that’s the most fun part.”

  Both Frankie and Kathryn laughed as Derek pushed up to a standing position once more. That was all Jake could take. It was bad enough Derek Cabbot could charm Kathryn; he didn’t have to charm Frankie, too. Jake stepped up next to Kathryn. For a fraction of a second, he hesitated, then—like Frankie—he did exactly what he wanted to do. He slid an arm loosely around her shoulders and placed the other hand on top of Frankie’s head, effectively claiming both. Kathryn stiffened and shifted slightly away from him but otherwise did not react.

  Jake nodded at Cabbot and said to Kathryn, “About ready to go?” He patted Frankie’s head, smiling down at him. “We need to get this one fed so he doesn’t miss his nap.”

  Derek Cabbot’s eyebrows rose halfway to his hairline. Kathryn bit her lips then made the necessary introductions.

  “I hope your grandfather is well,” Jake said, after Kathryn had told him what he already knew.

  “As well as he can be, I guess,” Cabbot replied.

  “He always rallies when you’re around,” Kathryn said to Cabbot. “He enjoys your visits so much. Tell him I’ll call soon.”

  “He’ll like that,” Derek said to her. “You know how he loves the telephone.”

  They laughed about Sandy Cabbot’s fondness for the telephone. Irritated, Jake put on a smile. Finally, Kathryn said farewell to Derek and moved toward the door, out of Jake’s reach. He and Frankie followed close behind.

  “When did you meet Derek Cabbot?” Jake wanted to know.

  “When he visited his grandfather. He’s such a thoughtful grandson,” Kathryn said brightly, but her arms were as stiff as rods at her sides. “Sandy lives for that boy.”

  Boy. Suddenly Jake could breathe a little easier. He reminded himself, however, that Clark Goodell was no boy, and Kathryn clearly preferred Clark to him at the moment.

  Tina hailed them as soon as they stepped out the doors, insistently waving them over to join the group around her. Mentally sighing, Jake followed Kathryn to Tina’s side. Tina stood with Wyatt, Tyler, Ryder and Ann Billings Pryor’s family.

  “Ann and Dean are inviting everyone over to their place for dinner next Sunday,” Tina announced.

  Ann looked at Kathryn and Jake. “It’s cooled off some, and the new school year’s started. We thought an end-of-season cookout was in order. Is 6:00 p.m. too late for y’all?”

  Y’all. As if they were a couple. Him and Kathryn. Jake tried not to take that as some sort of validation. Instead, he simply looked to Kathryn, keeping his expression bland. “Fine by me. What about you?”

  Kathryn seemed to struggle for a moment. Being the center of attention would always make her uncomfortable, but he suspected this was less about that and more about him. He couldn’t blame her. He’d done a very good job of keeping his distance and discouraging any connection between them. He probably ought to keep on doing that, but he just didn’t have the energy or the heart for it anymore. Besides, what difference would one evening in the company of others make?

  All the difference he could squeeze out of it, he decided abruptly.

  To his relief, she finally nodded and said to Ann, “I look forward to it.”

  Ann beamed a smile all around the group. “It’s a date then. Next Sunday. Six o’clock.”

  “Let us know what we can bring,” Tina said. “Kathryn’s a marvelous cook.”

  As color rose to Kathryn’s cheeks, Wyatt said to Tina, “Now will you go home?”

  She rolled her eyes and trekked off toward the SUV, followed by Wyatt, Tyler and Ryder. Jake walked Frankie and Kathryn toward his truck.

  “Tina’s right,” he said. “You are an excellent cook.”

  Kathryn bit her lips and bowed her head but said nothing. She didn’t speak again until they reached her house, and then she merely murmured her thanks before getting out of the truck and going inside.

  Faith, Jake thought.

  Would faith put money in his bank account? Or make up for the damage he’d already done? Or keep Kathryn’s father from forcing her to sell her house? He’d been worried about the latter, and the truth was that if he should somehow overcome all the barriers he’d erected and win Kathryn’s heart, he’d be adding one more overwhelming financial responsibility to his already overburdened budget. Yet somehow, he just couldn’t find the sense to care about that anymore.

  Now if only he could undo the damage he’d done.

  * * *

  “It’s running,” Jake said the next morning, “but you’d better test-drive it before we call it done.” He opened his fingers to show the key lying on his palm.

  It had been so long since Kathryn had seen her own car parked in her driveway that she had to laugh as she swept the key from his hand. Smiling, he opened the driver’s door for her. She tossed her bag into the back and got in. By the time she had her seat pulled forward enough to reach the pedals, he’d come around and squeezed himself into the passenger seat.

  “Good grief, who were you driving around before your engine conked?”

  She chuckled as he let the seat back as far as it would go. “No one.”

  “No one must be short.”

  Grinning, she started the engine then paused to marvel at its silence. “It was never this quiet before.”

  “Well, it had problems.”

  She put the transmission in Reverse and backed it out of her drive. “The clutch is different.”

  “I adjusted it. The transmission should shift more smoothly now.”

  It took a few moments for her to acclimate herself to the new tension, but by second gear, she had it. “Very nice.”

  When the stop sign came within sight, she automatically shifted to a lower gear.

  “Do you always downshift?”

  Surprised by the question, she glanced at him. “Yes. The fellow who sold the car to me told me that I should.”

  “It’s not bad advice,” Jake said. “It’s what I’d tell anyone driving a car with iffy brakes.”

  “You mean my brakes are bad?” she asked, dismayed at the possibility.

  “Not anymore. As if I’d send you out in an unsafe vehicle.”

  She bit her lips but couldn’t keep back a smile. “It wasn’t part of our deal. The clutch, either.”

  “What’s the differe
nce? It needed to be done. I did it. Cost me nothing but time.”

  Maybe the added repairs had made no difference in cost, but something had made a difference in him. She tried to keep her hope in check as she drove them through town, out onto the highway and to the ranch. No doubt his improved, more relaxed mood was the product of having finished, at long last, the repairs to her car. She didn’t dare think that it could be anything else. She told herself to guard her heart, but a relaxed, congenial Jake was difficult to resist, and the longer he hung around, the more difficult—and alarming—it was.

  She couldn’t help wondering why, after avoiding her like the plague, he suddenly seemed to seek out her company. Monday, it was the car. On Tuesday, he told her that Frankie wanted her to watch him ride his pony again.

  “We’re headed to the barn. Won’t you come out with us?”

  Frankie jumped up and down in excitement. “Yeah, KKay, come out!”

  Jake’s mercurial moods were troublesome, but she couldn’t say no, and the trip to the barn proved very enlightening. Jake introduced her to the other mounts in the stable before giving her a detailed tutorial on saddling a horse. Watching little Frankie fearlessly clean his pony’s hooves was eye-opening. And terrifying. Kathryn managed to keep her mouth shut only because Frankie displayed an expertise and familiarity far beyond his years. The twinkle in Jake’s eyes told her that he was well aware of her struggle, and that helped ease her fears, too.

  “You know,” Jake said, as he led the pony from the barn into the corral, “wouldn’t hurt you to learn to ride.”

  Kathryn wasn’t so sure about that. She glanced warily at the horses in the stalls behind her. They were enormous animals—beautiful but enormous. “Frankie,” she asked, deadpan, “will you share your pony with me?”

  Jake burst out laughing, though Frankie appeared to think it over before shaking his head. “You ride Mouse wif Daddy.”

  “Maybe Mouse is a better choice,” she agreed, glancing at Jake, who had explained earlier that Mouse, a gelding, was named for the color of his coat, not his size. Mouse was huge, so riding lessons would have to wait until Kathryn gathered her courage. For riding and for trusting Jake again. Or maybe the issue was trusting herself. She didn’t know anymore.

  Frankie acquitted himself ably. He’d seemed well instructed before, but he was quite the little expert now. By the time they were all parched, Kathryn was suitably impressed. Jake sent her to the house to pour cold drinks for the three of them. After they’d cooled down, he kept her at the table for a good half hour, basically lecturing on horsemanship.

  On Wednesday, as soon as Frankie went down for his nap, Jake asked Kathryn to take a look at his shop. He wanted advice on choosing paint colors and general organization, he said. Though afraid that her wariness concerning him was waning dangerously, she was too curious not to accompany him.

  The shop walls were up, but the roof hadn’t been put on yet, and windows and doors were missing. Jake pointed out the two pits where the lifts would go in the work bays and the four spaces in the blocks that represented doorways into the customer area, as well as the small restroom in the back far corner of the customer area and the storage space next to it.

  “I thought the cash drawer and counter should go on this side next to the service bays, between the two doors. What do you think?” he asked.

  “Hmm. Shouldn’t the counter enclose that back door and access to the storage space? That way, you could come in directly from the service bay and everything could still be kept secure if you were here alone.”

  “Makes sense.” He swept an arm to indicate another area. “What about the waiting area? What should I do there?”

  She saw it all in her mind’s eye. “Paint the floor black. Go army green about halfway up the wall, white over that with red and blue stars scattered everywhere. Paint your benches the same green as the wall.”

  Jake looked around as if picturing it all and broke out in a grin. “All right. What else?”

  She paced off the length of the counter. “Put your coffee bar here and leave it open to both sides. That way, you can make fresh coffee from behind the enclosure.” She pointed to the wall beside the restroom door. “Hang a TV right there.”

  He threw up his hands. “And that’s why I brought you here. You have an uncanny ability to see how best to utilize spaces and put together colors. Have you ever thought of opening a decorating or consulting business?”

  “Oh, no. I don’t have the education.”

  “You can go to college online, you know.”

  “I can’t afford that.”

  “But if there was a way, would you consider it?”

  “I’d consider it,” she said dismissively. But no way existed, not until she could pay off her father. If she could pay off her father.

  The rest of the week passed in similar fashion. Jake seemed to be around the house frequently. When he wasn’t working on the shop, he was drinking glass after glass of iced tea at the kitchen table or helping Tyler and Frankie teach tricks to Tyler’s dog, Tipper. Several times he sought out Kathryn to ask how her car was behaving or if she knew when to have the oil changed and how to check the tire pressure.

  During his absences, Kathryn could easily remind herself that nothing had really changed. Jake might seem more relaxed and pleasant, even a little flirtatious at times, but neither of their situations had changed. He still had a business to establish and a late wife Kathryn knew she could never measure up to, and she had her father’s claim hanging over her head. If she couldn’t find a way to settle that, she’d be selling and moving because she certainly wasn’t going to find anything to rent around here, or any other work that paid well enough to afford it.

  By week’s end, Kathryn very much feared she was well on her way to falling under Jake Smith’s spell again, but she couldn’t forget the pain of his indifference and the feeling of rejection. Could she bear that again? And again? Even if Jake decided that she would suffice as a girlfriend, who was to say that it wasn’t a cycle she would have to endure from now on? She’d never survive a hot-and-cold Jake, content with her one minute, disappointed in her the next.

  On Friday, she swallowed her building grief and applied for a position with every home care agency in the tri-county area. She’d take two jobs, if she could get them, and work day and night, seven days a week, until she had her father paid off. And Jake out of her heart.

  * * *

  Jake’s heart sank when he saw Clark Goodell waiting in the church foyer that next Sunday. A quick glance around showed him that Kathryn had not yet arrived, but before he could get Frankie to the hallway that led to the children’s wing, Goodell’s face brightened. Jake could feel Kathryn’s presence even before he turned to greet her, only to find her smiling at Goodell.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t called,” Goodell said as soon as he reached her. “They’ve had me running all over the country.”

  “Oh, that’s all right,” she told him. “I understand. How was your trip?”

  Frankie naturally headed in her direction. Jake caught him and tugged him down the hallway. “Hush now. We’ll see Kathryn tonight. Remember? We’re going over to the Pryors’ for a cookout.”

  “S’let take KKay,” Frankie said, staring wistfully behind him.

  “That’s exactly what we’ll do,” Jake answered.

  Kathryn and Goodell were nowhere in sight when Jake returned to the foyer. Heavy of heart, he started down the aisle, spying them sitting side by side near the front and across the aisle from his family. He hadn’t made arrangements with Kathryn to take her to the Pryors’ tonight. He’d meant to do that this morning, to approach it as a given and simply ask her what time she wanted him to be there. Now he wished he’d done the thing properly and actually asked her to accompany him. Why was it, he wondered, that he could never seem to do the right thing with her?

  He’d
been a coward about her from the first. All along he’d told himself that he was just being prudent and fair. All the difficulties he’d used as excuses still applied, but he couldn’t hide the truth from himself anymore. The way he felt about her scared him half to death. He’d already lost Jolene. The idea that he could go through that again...he couldn’t think about it. Yet, he also couldn’t let go of Kathryn.

  Faith.

  He had to trust that this was all happening for a reason. If only he didn’t mess it up.

  After the service, Jake hurried to the foyer, but instead of immediately going after Frankie, he hung around, chatting with one person or another, his hat in his hand, until Kathryn and Clark reached the already crowded space. Tina swung by on her way after Tyler and asked if Jake wanted her to pick up Frankie, too.

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  As soon as she disappeared down the hallway, he made his way over to Kathryn, who stood speaking to Clark and Wes Billings. Stepping up next to Kathryn, Jake took advantage of Billings’s presence.

  “Wes, you going to be joining us tonight?”

  “You know it.” Wes slid a glance at Clark, smiled and moved away, going to his wife, who stood laughing with some other women.

  Fully aware that he’d rudely brought up a social engagement to which one of their party had not been invited, Jake felt a stab of guilt, but he wasn’t backing down. He tried to think of the least objectionable way to accomplish his goal. It came in the form of his son, who suddenly appeared and threw himself at Kathryn.

  “KKay! S’let go pardy now.”

  Jake chuckled. “That’s not until tonight, son, and you’ve got to have a good, long nap first.” He lifted a hand to the small of Kathryn’s back, asking softly, “Can we pick you up about five thirty?”