The Rancher's Answered Prayer Read online

  Thinking of Frankie, who had two uncles, in addition to his father, to love him, Wyatt moved between Tina and the bed. He pulled up the covers and carefully tucked them around Tyler. Then, on impulse, he bent and kissed the boy’s temple, just as he’d have done with Frankie. Tyler gave himself away with a smile, but he didn’t open his eyes. Tina adjusted the light in the room and followed Wyatt into the hallway.

  “What a great day,” Tina said softly, pulling the door closed behind her.

  “Those Billings know how to throw a wedding, don’t they?”

  She nodded. “Thank you for spending time with Tyler today, and for the puppy. I’ve never seen him so happy.”

  “He’s a good kid. He just wants what everyone else around him has.”

  “He’s a better kid, thanks to you. I wish...” She shook her head.

  Wyatt couldn’t stop himself. He reached out and pulled her to him. Soft and feminine, she huddled against him, her arms folded up against her sides, hands pressed to his chest. After silently praying for the right words, he spoke.

  “You know, sweetheart, the Billings have it right. Wes joked about it today, but the truth is that true marriage leaves no room for divorce.”

  She said nothing for a moment, her cheek pressed to his collarbone, her head tucked neatly beneath his chin. Then she pulled in a breath and asked, “But what if you make a mistake?”

  “Then you trust God to help you fix it. My folks always said that you both have to believe. Then you put the other first, and together you honor God. If you do that, divorce never needs to be an option.”

  “But it takes two people to make that work,” she argued softly.

  “That’s right,” he agreed. “The key is to choose someone who will work at marriage as hard as you do. It requires a level of trust that too many people simply ignore before they leap into a relationship.”

  She sighed and pulled away, lifting her lovely amber gaze to his. Her voice shook as she said, “The thing is, I guess I trust you more than I trust me.”

  Smiling, Wyatt cradled her cheek with his hand. “Then trust me when I tell you that you’re not your mother.”

  She seemed to mull that thought for a moment. Then she simply walked to her bedroom door. There she paused and hesitantly smiled at him. Then she closed the door.

  In that moment, he made up his mind that he was going to give this thing between them his best shot. His very best shot.

  * * *

  When Wyatt woke in the morning, his first thought was of Tina.

  How could he help her?

  How could he show her how much he cared for her?

  He made it his mission to find out over the next few days, observing all that she did and making mental notes. It rained for a couple of days straight, which made it convenient for him to entertain Frankie and Tyler one afternoon so she could watch a favorite program on TV uninterrupted. They played with the puppy, who was quickly learning what was expected of him.

  When the opportunity arose, Wyatt sat down with Tina to go over her plans for the house, and consulted with his brothers and Dixon Lyons.

  He drove into Ardmore and bought rocking chairs for the front porch, and every evening after the boys were in bed, he sat next to her, rocking gently as she watched the stars or spoke quietly of her past and her hopes for the future.

  He made sure that he was available to watch Ty and Frankie while Tina and Ann drove into Ardmore to have their hair done one day. Afterward, he complimented Tina.

  “Looking fabulous. But then you always do.”

  She looked even better wearing a soft smile and a blush on her cheeks.

  When he came down the stairs on Thursday morning of that next week, she was at the stove, dressed in jeans and a neatly fitted cotton blouse. She glanced over her shoulder, smiling.

  “Coffee’s ready.”

  “Great. I’ll help myself after I set the table.”

  She turned around, watching him as he went to the cupboard. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I know. But it’s better than sitting at the table watching you work. Not that I don’t like to watch you.”

  She ducked her head, the corners of her mouth quirking as she fought against a smile. Turning back to the stove, she poked at bacon sizzling in the skillet on the burner.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Wyatt said, pulling down plates from the shelf in front of him. “I’d say it’s time to paint the outside of the house. Wouldn’t you?”

  For a few seconds, she said nothing. Then she tentatively began to speak. “Lyons will do it, but they can’t get to it for some weeks yet. I’ve been thinking of starting it myself, now that the rotted siding and trim have been repaired. Shouldn’t be any big deal to roll on some paint. Can’t be that different from what I’ve been doing inside.”

  Wyatt carried the plates to the table and set them down before speaking. “I really don’t want to see you up on a ladder wielding a paint roller. You pick out the paint. I’ll get the house painted.”

  “The cattle are coming today. You don’t have time—”

  “I have as much time as you do. At least I’m not homeschooling the cows.”

  “We’ll be done for the summer soon.”

  “Good. I’m thinking it’s time Tyler learned to ride.”

  Tina turned just as Tyler let out an eager whoop of delight, nearly dropping Tipper in the process. Wyatt hadn’t intended to speak in front of the boy, but he hadn’t seen Ty enter the room. Frankie came running a moment later, followed by Jake and Ryder.

  “I get to ride a horse?” Ty asked excitedly.

  “Soon,” Wyatt hedged, looking to Tina. “Provided your mom agrees.” Tyler’s arms were wrapped around Wyatt’s waist before he finished speaking, the puppy on the floor at his feet.

  “Every boy who lives on a ranch learns to ride horses,” Tina said, bending to sweep up the pup and place it in its box. “Every girl, too, for that matter.”

  “So you ride, do you?” Wyatt asked, grinning.

  “Of course. But it’s been a while.”

  “I ride horse, Daddy?” Frankie asked Jake.

  Lifting the boy onto his booster seat, Jake smiled. “Sure. Someday.”

  Happy, Frankie kicked his feet, shifting side to side on the chair. Tina smiled and nodded at Tyler.

  “Let’s wash our hands. Then you can get the silverware from the drawer.”

  Tyler released Wyatt and ran to obey. Wyatt shared an approving look with Tina.

  “About painting the house,” Wyatt pressed gently.

  Ryder spoke up. “Jake and I are going to do it. We can rent a sprayer.”

  Tina beamed as Wyatt said, “I’ll buy the paint, then.”

  Her eyes glistening, Tina spread a soft smile around the room. “I don’t know how to thank you all.”

  “Maybe you can work on the kitchen next,” Wyatt told her, glancing at the tired countertops and flooring.

  Turning back to the stove, Tina said, “I really hate to give up this old stove. It has so many ovens and burners. They don’t all work, though.”

  “Maybe we can recondition it,” Wyatt suggested, stepping up close behind her.

  “Th-that would be wonderful,” she said brightly, but everyone heard the grateful tears in her voice.

  How had he ever thought her cold and prickly?

  “Shouldn’t be too much of an issue,” Jake put in. “I’ll look at it after breakfast.”

  Tina bent her head, obviously overcome, and Wyatt quietly slipped his arms around her from the back. She kept turning bacon in the skillet, muttering that he was going to get burned if he wasn’t careful.

  “I don’t mind,” he whispered into her ear. He had to bite his tongue to keep from speaking. Now was not the time to tell her that he loved her.

  Sniffing, she
asked loudly, “How do you want your eggs, boys? Scrambled? Over easy? Sunny-side up?”

  “Scramble!” Frankie yelled, and everyone chuckled.

  “Scrambled it is.” She turned off the burner and moved to one side, reaching for the carton of eggs on the counter. Wyatt tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans, watching as she took a bowl from the cabinet over her head and began cracking eggs into it.

  A throat cleared behind him. He’d forgotten that he had an audience, but he didn’t have a problem with that. No secrets here. Pivoting on one heel, he raised a loosely closed fist and tapped his chest, just in case either of his brothers didn’t understand how things stood with him where Tina was concerned. Jake lifted an eyebrow and gave him a thumbs-up. Ryder just grinned and headed to the coffeepot.

  It was Tyler’s stare that most moved Wyatt, however. He’d been pretty tough on the boy, but no one could mistake the hungry, hopeful look on Tyler’s small face. Winking at him, Wyatt went to the refrigerator for milk.

  Now, if only Tina could return his feelings... It had to be more than gratitude, more than simple partnership.

  He went into his day with that silent prayer.

  * * *

  Two eighteen-wheelers loaded with cattle arrived a couple of hours later. Surprisingly, Ty showed up in the barnyard, widely skirting the two idling tractor-trailer rigs.

  “Your mom know you’re out here?”

  His eager gaze locking on the two saddled horses standing in the corral, he nodded. “Yes, sir. I finished my lessons already and took Tipper out.”

  “Good job. Go stand over by the corral fence and stay there until the rigs pull into the pasture.” As he spoke, Delgado swung open the wide metal gate for the trucks. The ranch had numerous passages protected by cattle guards set into the ground, but none of them were wide enough to accommodate big rigs. Only the main gate behind the house was wide enough for that.

  Keeping one eye on the cattle haulers and the other on Ty, Wyatt made a decision. While Delgado waved the trucks through the gate, Wyatt asked Ty if he wanted to ride out with them.

  “Yes, sir! Please.”

  “We’ll ask your mom. But don’t say anything in front of Frankie. I can’t put you both on my horse.”

  Eyes wide, Tyler nodded. They went into the house and found Tina studying paint colors on the computer. She glanced up as they entered the room.

  “Is it okay if Tyler rides out with Delgado and me? He’ll ride with me on my horse.”

  “Don’t tell Frankie,” Ty whispered, lifting a finger to his lips.

  Tina pursed her lips against a grin and nodded. “Okay. But you need a baseball cap. Go to your room and get one. Quietly.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Ty slipped out to do as told.

  “He deserves this,” Wyatt said, smiling. “I’ll take good care of him.”

  “I know.”

  “I’ll take care of you both,” he promised gravely, “if you’ll let me.”

  The corners of her lovely lips curled upward even as her gaze dropped. “I know.”

  He stood there for a moment, debating with himself. The word patience whispered through his mind. Tugging on the brim of his hat, he turned. Walking out of that room without kissing her took more willpower than anything he’d ever done, but Tyler slammed into him before he got two steps away.

  The boy righted himself and slapped the cap onto his head. “Ready!” He called to his mom, “Tell Frankie to take care of Tipper for me!”

  Wyatt could see a second dog in their future, as Tyler had firmly claimed Tipper as his own. Eventually, Frankie would want the same. Well, it was a big ranch.

  Wyatt and Tyler hurried out of the house and crossed to the corral, where Delgado waited on horseback. Wyatt threw Tyler up into the saddle and mounted the big blue roan behind him. They exited the corral through a gate that opened onto the pasture and cantered around to haze and count the cattle that poured from the trailers. With every head accounted for, Wyatt signed off on the transport. Delgado rode back to open the gate for the rigs again, while Wyatt and Tyler drove the herd away from the opening.

  When they came to the first of the fenced grass sections, Wyatt climbed down and took a pair of wire cutters from his saddlebag. Dodd had taught his nephews to carry certain supplies with them, especially those needed to repair fencing.

  “Might as well start figuring out which of these grass fields is best for our cattle. Right?”

  “Right,” Ty agreed, as if he actually knew what Wyatt meant.

  Explaining as he went along, Wyatt cut the wire mesh fencing and rolled it back to secure it so the cattle couldn’t get caught up. A few head of cattle milled around outside the fence when Wyatt and Tyler rode away, heading back to the house.

  What they found there shocked Wyatt. The cattle haulers were gone, but a pair of flatbed trucks and a strange sort of combine had replaced them. Both Delgado and Tina stood in the yard talking with a khaki-clad man holding a clipboard. Wyatt rode into the corral, tied up the horse and lifted Ty from the saddle before walking out into the barnyard. Tina pointed in his direction, and the man turned to meet him, hand outstretched.

  “Mr. Smith, sorry to hear about your uncle. I’m Carter Bishop with Guaranteed Sod, Inc.” He reached beneath some papers and pulled out a slip. “The check’s made out to Loco Man Ranch, so we shouldn’t have to rewrite it.”

  “The check?” Wyatt echoed in confusion, taking the slip of paper. His eyes nearly fell out of his head when he looked at the amount, but he tamped down his excitement. “I don’t understand.”

  “We contracted with your uncle for sod, and we’re here to cut now. Unless the crop’s unsatisfactory. Our last inspection showed no problems, and he submitted the correct spraying schedule, so—”

  “Sod!” Wyatt exclaimed, flapping the check. “Grass sod! Of course!” He shoved the check at Tina. “Sweetheart, look! This is what Dodd was doing.”

  She took the check, her eyes popping out at the amount. “Oh, my.”

  “The sod!” Wyatt exclaimed again. “I cut the fence!”

  Turning, he ran for his horse, Tyler on his heels and crying, “I can help!”

  Wyatt didn’t argue. He just threw Ty into the saddle and leapt up behind him. They were tearing across the pasture at breakneck speed in seconds. Only one heifer was grazing on the bright green grass when they arrived. Leaving the horse outside the fenced field, Wyatt bailed off and ran, yelling at Tyler to stand in the gap of the fence.

  “Just lift your arms and yell if the cows come close.”

  Tyler stood in the center of the opening and raised both arms. The heifer spooked and ran in the wrong direction at first. Wyatt turned the critter and drove it back toward the opening, praying that the cow hadn’t wreaked too much damage. He yelled at Ty to get back. The boy scrambled aside as the heifer charged through the opening then he resumed his post.

  “Good work, cowboy.”

  Ty beamed.

  Turning to survey the field with new eyes, Wyatt could only laugh. Sod. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner? He caught Ty, lifted him under the arms and whirled him around, crowing, “God bless Uncle Dodd!”

  They quickly repaired the fence with supplies from Wyatt’s saddlebags, mounted up and galloped back to the house. Meeting Delgado and the sod cutters on the way, they stopped for a quick discussion. Delgado knew as much about the grass fields as Wyatt did, so he took on the role of supervisor for Loco Man Ranch.

  “Uh, just one thing,” Carter Bishop said, hanging out the open window of his truck. “Dodd told us he’d have room for my crew to spend the night.”

  “No problem,” Wyatt told him happily. “Bunkhouse will be ready for you.”

  “We should be out of your hair by tomorrow afternoon,” Bishop said.

  “Take as long as you need,” Wyatt told him, grinning so broadly
that his cheeks hurt.

  Bishop waved a casual salute and pulled back into the cab. The sod cutter’s truck was trundling along behind the other machinery when Wyatt spurred the roan toward the house.

  After they reached the corral this time, Wyatt swung down from the saddle and reached for Ty with a smile. To his surprise, the boy wrapped both arms around Wyatt’s neck and held on for a long time.

  Hugging the boy close, Wyatt said, “Let this be a lesson to you, son. God has ways of fixing things, ways we can’t even imagine. All this time I’ve been trying to figure out what Dodd was doing, and he was raising a cash crop. That’s money in the bank, money none of us counted on.”

  “Cool.”

  “Very cool.” He set the smiling boy on his feet and started unsaddling the horse. “Want to give me a hand with this?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay. Stay in this area right here.” He carefully swung an arm, indicating the safe space, just as Dodd had taught him. Working together they led the horse into the barn and stripped away the tack. “We’ll brush him down. Always remember that when working around a horse, you need to keep one hand on him as much as possible. That way he won’t get startled and kick you.”

  “I’ll remember,” Tyler promised with a nod of his chin. After a moment, he sighed with satisfaction. “It’s a good day.”

  Wyatt chuckled. “A very good day.”

  Together they groomed the horse, put out extra feed and walked to the house.

  Hand in hand.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tina waited for Wyatt and Tyler at the kitchen table. She popped up as soon as they came through the door.

  “Everything okay?”