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  “What’s on your mind? I know that look. You’re either mad or hungry,” Cade said to his brother.

  “You think it’s real smart to flirt with Retta like you are doin’?” Justin asked.

  “I kept her from fallin’. I was not flirting,” Cade protested.

  “That’s not the way I see it, brother,” Justin said.

  “I flirt with women I meet at the bar on Saturday nights but not with my employees. And if I did, it wouldn’t mean anything.” Cade slapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m fully well able to take care of myself. Now let’s go eat. We both hate cold mashed potatoes.”

  He met Retta coming out of the bathroom. Her hair had been smoothed back and if she’d been wearing makeup, it had either sweated off or been washed away. For the first time he noticed a sprinkling of faint freckles across her nose. Sure he liked being with her and there was a little chemistry there, but all he was doing was innocent flirting. It didn’t mean a thing. What happened with Julie was enough to teach him a lesson. It hurt entirely too bad to get serious again.

  Chapter Four

  It’s good day to start a brand-new adventure, Retta thought as she stepped out onto the porch. The sun was peeking up over the horizon. No clouds hung in the sky. Beau was sprawled out on the porch and she’d slept better the night before than she had in ages. All in all, the promise of a bright, fun day lay ahead.

  “Good mornin’.”

  The voice startled her and she whipped around to find Skip coming around the end of the porch. “You had coffee yet?”

  “Yes, sir. I brewed a pot when I first got up. You want some?” she asked.

  “Thanks, but I already had two cups. I was about to go up to the house for some breakfast. You goin’ that way, too?”

  “I can’t ever turn down a good breakfast,” Retta said.

  “Then I reckon we can walk that way together. We ain’t had time to talk much since you got here. So where do you hail from, Miz Retta?”

  “Waurika, Oklahoma, but I lived down near Dallas before that and I’m hoping to go back that way when this job is done.” With her long legs, it wasn’t difficult to keep up with his stride. “You must like kids to do this for Cade.”

  “Truth is I miss Levi livin’ with us, and this makes me and Mavis both happy to have kids around for a few weeks. Never could have any of our own, so we take what we can get. How about you? You like kids?”

  “I do but I’m not plannin’ on havin’ any kids anytime soon, so this will be my dose of little girls,” she answered.

  Skip stood to the side to let her go ahead of him on the porch. “These younguns come from the hard city life and the first week ain’t a bit easy. Except with Benjy. Now that boy is a real joy. He’s different but he’s got a heart of gold. I look forward to seeing him every year.”

  “Has he formed a bond with anyone here?” she asked.

  “I know he likes me, but I don’t try to hug him. Sometimes he hugs Mavis, but mostly she waits for him to come to her. He loves Levi and he really likes the animals, especially Beau and Gussie, but he’s pretty much of a loner.”

  He opened the door for her and took a deep breath. “Ain’t nothing better than the smell of bacon and coffee in the morning. Hello!” he called out. “Where is everyone?”

  “In the kitchen,” Mavis yelled. “And if another one of these pesky boys try to steal a piece of bacon, I’m going to stab him with a fork.”

  “Ah, come on, darlin’, you know you love us,” Cade teased.

  “Forget the fork. I’ll get out a steak knife if y’all don’t leave the food alone until it’s on the table,” Mavis said.

  “You wouldn’t stick a knife in any of us,” Cade said.

  “Didn’t say I’d stab a one of you with it, but I could take it to each of your bedrooms when I change the sheets today and do some damage on those things you keep in your nightstand,” Mavis threatened.

  “Mavis Roberts!” Skip crossed the room and slapped her playfully on the butt.

  Mavis laughed and tiptoed to kiss Skip on the cheek. “Mornin’, Retta. You ready for this?”

  “What? Breakfast or what you’re going to do in these guys’ bedrooms?” Retta grinned.

  “Either one.” Mavis giggled.

  “Yep, I’m starving. As as for the other, it doesn’t affect me, so I couldn’t care less but if I was them, I expect I’d leave the bacon alone until grace is said,” Retta answered.

  Retta’s eyes immediately went to Cade. Droplets of water hanging on his hair testified that he’d just gotten out of the shower. His blue knit shirt hung on the outside of his snug-fitting jeans, and he wore his old scuffed-up work boots.

  “Good mornin’.” He scanned her from boots to hair. “You look great.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Suddenly she felt as if he’d slowly removed every bit of her clothing with nothing but his eyes. The blush started on her neck and traveled at warp speed to her cheeks. She wanted to fan them, but that would draw even more attention to the fiery red burning sensation. She headed to the coffeepot and poured very slowly as she counted backward from one hundred. When she got to fifty, she turned around and asked Mavis if she needed any help.

  “Thanks. You could help get this food to the table before all these strappin’ cowboys starve plumb to death,” Mavis said. “And you guys can go on and get settled down. It’ll only be another minute.”

  When they were out of the kitchen, Mavis lowered her voice and said, “Cade told me about your ideas for teachin’ the kids a little about cookin’ and learnin’ some teamwork at the old cabin. I think those are very good ideas.”

  “Thank you.” Retta picked up a bowl of steaming hot biscuits in one hand and a platter of scrambled eggs topped off with cheese in the other.

  Mavis carried a crock bowl full of sausage gravy to the table. “I hear you’re a Sooner fan.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “It ought to make for an interestin’ summer around here.” Mavis chuckled.

  “What’s going to be interesting?” Cade asked.

  “Oklahoma versus Texas all under the same roof,” Mavis answered. “Now y’all sit down and Skip can say grace this mornin’.”

  As soon as Skip said amen, the guys started passing food and talking about hay, cattle, plowing, and chores. It reminded Retta so much of the way days had started when her mother and dad were both alive that it brought tears to her eyes. She blocked out the conversation around her and enjoyed nostalgia for several minutes.

  “I’m going to work on getting barbed wire stretched around that new pasture today,” Justin said.

  “I’ve got to go into Bowie for some tractor parts. Anyone need anything from town?” Cade asked.

  “You could pick up a load of feed while you’re there,” Levi said. “I thought I’d go tomorrow, but you could get it and save me a trip. That way I can take half the hired hands to the back pasture and help them work that bunch of cattle before we turn them out in the new pasture that Justin’s gettin’ ready.”

  “Sure thing.” Cade nodded. “Want to go with me, Retta?”

  “Or you could stay here and vaccinate calves with me,” Levi suggested.

  “Or I can always use an extra hand stretching barbed wire,” Justin added.

  “With those choices, I think I’ll go with Cade.” She passed the basket of biscuits to Justin. “Great breakfast, Mavis.”

  “Thank you. I enjoy cookin’ and I’ll be lookin’ forward to havin’ the kids in the kitchen with me. All of them, boys and girls alike, need to know a few basic cookin’ skills.”

  “I can sure agree with that. Daddy called it the goose and gander law. What was good for the goose was good for the gander, and I had to learn to do everything, no matter if it was considered boys’ or girls’ work.” Retta glanced up and her gaze locked with Cade’s. From the look in his eyes and the expression on his face, it looked as if he was about to ask her a question. But then Justin handed
him the bowl of gravy and the moment, if there was one, ended.

  He passed the bowl on to Skip. “So where do you want to go while we’re in town, Retta?” he asked.

  “Walmart will do fine. I could pick up all of what I want right there in one store,” she said.

  “There’s a few things I could use too. I’ll make a list. Here, Retta, have a blueberry muffin to finish off your breakfast,” Mavis said.

  Cade took the basket from Mavis and sent it on to Retta. Their hands touched briefly and she felt the same sparks that she’d known when she put her arms around him. Fate was a real witch for making her new boss such a sexy cowboy.

  Cade hiked a hip on the porch railing and waited for Retta to go to the bunkhouse for her purse. Carrying a large cooler of iced tea in one hand and a sheath of disposable cups in the other, Levi backed out of the house. He took both to his truck, then turned around and came back.

  “What’s goin’ on with you and Retta?”

  “Nothing,” Cade answered.

  “Okay, then. If you want to play it that way, I won’t get in your way,” Levi said. “Ain’t none of my business anyway.”

  “What do you think is going on?” Cade asked.

  “There’s chemistry. I can almost see the sparks dancin’ around y’all, and when you look at her…well, there’s something there that ain’t been since Julie,” Levi answered.

  “Any more than between me and any of the sweet little blondes I meet at a bar?”

  “Oh yeah, and this one ain’t goin’ home the next mornin’, Cade. Just remember that.” Levi settled his hat on his head. “Y’all goin’ to be home in time for dinner?”

  “More than likely. How about you?” Cade said.

  “Not me. Skip is bringing sandwiches out to the corral for me and the boys so we can keep working. There’s plenty of room for one more hand when you get back,” Levi said.

  “I’ll be there.” Cade nodded.

  The dust from Levi’s truck had barely settled when he noticed a movement in his peripheral vision. Turning that way, he watched Retta making her way toward the house with Beau in front of her and Hopalong bringing up the tail end of the parade. Mavis always said that you can’t fool dogs or kids. If that was the truth, then Retta had definitely passed the test with flying colors when it came to the animals. When she reached the porch, she sat down on the bottom step, picked Hopalong up and kissed him right on the nose, and then scratched Beau’s ears.

  “You guys hold down the fort.” She stood to her feet and turned toward Cade. “Do you know the girls’ names that I’ll be getting?”

  “Not until they get here. We just know that there will be four boys and four girls and that Benjy is one of the boys.” He opened the truck door for her. “Why did you ask?”

  “I’m going to buy each of them a little welcoming gift. If I knew their names I’d be able to personalize it.” She put her purse on the floor and fastened the seat belt.

  See there. If I was really interested in her, I would have taken care of that seat belt for her, Cade thought.

  “That’s pretty nice of you,” Cade said as he got into the truck. “But it’s really not necessary.”

  “When my Sunday school class went on retreat, I always did this and it works two ways. It makes me feel good to do something for them and it shows them I’m interested in them,” she said.

  After only two days, he could already tell that Retta was an amazing woman. She fit in with Mavis and the guys. Beau and Hopalong loved her. And now she was buying presents for little girls that she hadn’t even met. Maybe Levi and Justin were right—the chemistry between them might be more than fun flirting and a flash in the pan. But—and there always seemed to be one of those when he thought about relationships of any kind—if he was totally truthful, he wasn’t over Julie. Sometimes he thought he was, but when just a simple memory of her carrying a quart of tea shot pain through his heart, then he had to be honest and admit that he had not completely moved on.

  “Did you hate living in the country? Is that why you moved to the city?” He drove slower than usual so he’d have more time to talk to her.

  “You wouldn’t understand.” She turned to look out the side window.

  “Try me,” he said.

  “When you were in high school, what were your dreams?” she asked.

  “I wanted to be a pro-football player. I got a scholarship to play for the Longhorns, and that set me on my way. The first couple of weeks were fine in the city, but then I got homesick for the strangest things. Like the sound of crickets and tree frogs, the smell of a roast in the oven. When I realized I’d rather be stretching barbed wire than throwin’ a football down the field, I changed my dreams and my plans,” he said.

  “You been back to your class reunions?”

  “Two.” He nodded. “The five-year and then the ten-year a couple of years ago. Have you?”

  She shook her head. “I got put down in high school. I was too tall, not thin enough, not pretty enough, not rich enough—you name it, and I fell short of the mark except when it came to playing girls’ football. So I made up my mind that I was going to get a fancy job in the city and when I came back to Waurika for a class reunion…” She paused.

  “That you’d show up in a low-slung sports car, wearing designer clothes, and show them all that you’d made it?” he asked.

  “Something like that.”

  “But did you really love the city once you reached that goal?”

  One shoulder popped up in half a shrug. “Liking or loving is a luxury. I threw myself into my work and didn’t think about anything else.”

  “Then your dad got sick, right?” He parked at the tractor supply place but didn’t make an attempt to get out.

  “Yep, and I reassessed everything a dozen times. I knew from day one I’d lose the farm and accepted it. That meant I’d be going back to the city to work and I accepted that. It’s all in the mind-set, Cade. You do what you got to do for survival,” she answered. “We’d better go get whatever you need for that tractor. What’s the matter with it anyway?”

  “The one I’ll be working on needs a tune-up,” he answered.

  “I can help with that.” She got out of the truck and was halfway across the parking lot before he caught up with her.

  “Are you serious? You know how to work on tractors?”

  “John Deere?”

  He nodded. “That’s right.”

  “I can do basic stuff like tune-ups.”

  The automatic doors swung open and he stepped to the side to let her go first. “I’d appreciate the help. When I get ready to work on it, I’ll give you a call?”

  “Sounds good.”

  He shouldn’t compare because they were two different women with two different backgrounds and lifestyles. But Cade couldn’t fathom Julie ever even going into a tractor supply store much less knowing where to go once she was inside or worse yet, getting her hands dirty working on a tractor.

  Chapter Five

  Retta had bought four baskets filled with all kinds of things for bathtime—different colors and fragrances. She’d signed a card welcoming each girl to Longhorn Canyon Ranch and laid both on the dresser in each girl’s room. She was glad she’d had the three days with Mavis and the guys and gotten acquainted with the ranch, but come morning she’d have four little girls who didn’t know her or one another. Suddenly, she had a case of nerves. What if they didn’t like her? What if they were hardened little girls who hated being part of a team?

  Hoping that being outside would ease her jitters, she kicked off her boots and socks and wandered out to the porch. Beau had been lying on the top step, but when she opened the door, he rose to his feet, tail wagging, and came to meet her. She’d bent down to kiss him on the head when Cade’s chuckle startled her.

  “You spoil him,” Cade said from the porch swing in the shadows.

  “It’s easy to do when he’s so lovable,” she said.

  He patted the swing seat. “Join
me. I was trying to make up my mind whether to knock on your door or not.”

  “Did you need something?” she asked.

  “Just some conversation. I get nervous on the night before the kids get here,” he said. “They always make life exciting on the ranch. Seeing things through the eyes of a child—well, it’s not something so easy to explain. But I get to worrying about whether or not the experience will really be good for them, if they’ll enjoy getting out of the city and living on a ranch.”

  “I’m jittery too. I loved working with my Sunday school girls. Some of them came from broken homes but they all lived right around Waurika. I just hope I’ve got what it takes to help these kids,” she admitted.

  “Just love ’em and let them come to you when they’re ready. For the most part they’re pretty tough and some of them haven’t had a lot of affection or rules to live by.”

  The swing stopped so she kicked it off again with her foot. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arm around them. “My biggest failing is rushing in too fast with anything. If there’s a problem, I think I have to fix it right now. Daddy always told me to sleep on things before I made a decision.”

  “Good advice,” he said. “Want a beer? I brought a couple.”

  “Love one,” she answered.

  He picked up two bottles from beside the swing and handed one to her. “Nothing like a good cold beer on a hot night.”

  “Amen.” She twisted the top off and took a long gulp. “Daddy didn’t like beer, but he did like a shot of good whiskey every now and then.”

  “Sounds like my mama. She turns up her nose at beer, but she does love Pappy Van Winkle or Jack Daniel’s. That’s the only two she’ll have.” He smiled.

  Talk went from parents, to living in small communities, and the moon was sitting high in the sky when Cade pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time. “It’s after midnight, Retta. I should be going.” He stood up and wiggled the kinks from his shoulders.

  “Thank you for taking my mind off things.” She pushed out of the swing.