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  “I’m not planning on losing.” He shook with her and wished he didn’t have to let go of her hand.

  “Now let’s work together. I’ll get the plugs in and you torque them.”

  When they finished, she rubbed her hand on the seat of her jeans and headed for the tack room.

  “You’re goin’ the wrong way,” Cade called out.

  “I’m goin’ to wash up in the tack room. I don’t want Mavis yellin’ at me for gettin’ either the kitchen or the bathroom sink all greasy.” She threw the words over her shoulder and kept going.

  Sounded like a good idea to him so he followed her. The sink was full and her arms were lathered to the elbows when he arrived. She stepped to one side and he sunk his hands into the warm water. He picked up the bar of soap and started to work on his hands and arms.

  “Do I have dirt on my face?” she asked him.

  With soapy hands, he reached for a paper towel and wet it. “A little on your nose and some under your pretty brown eyes on both sides where you’ve wiped sweat away.” He gently cleaned it away and then took her chin in his wet hand, turning her face both ways to make sure it was all gone.

  Her eyes locked with his for a few seconds before hers fluttered shut. He bent slightly, and their lips met in a fiery kiss that obliterated the rest of the world, leaving them as the only two people left in the universe. Her arms snaked up around his neck and his went around her waist to draw her closer to his body.

  When he tried to pull away, she tangled her fingers in his hair and deepened the kiss even further. Finally, with a groan from both of them, they took a step back.

  “We’ll be in trouble if we aren’t at the house in exactly five minutes.” She pointed at the clock hanging on the wall.

  “That thing is always fast.” He dried his hands and put his hands on her shoulders.

  She looked up at him and he brushed a sweet, gentle kiss across her lips. “I’m just glad you didn’t put your wet hands on my chest. Now that would have been hard to explain.”

  With a giggle, she jerked the tail of her T-shirt around and checked the back to see if his handprints were there.

  “Nothing but a wet streak.” He tucked her hand in his. “We’d better get going.”

  He’d rather stay right there in the tack room all day and make out with her like they were a couple of teenagers. He felt as if he’d only gotten a tiny taste of a sweet dessert and he wanted more.

  Chapter Nine

  Two girls with clean faces but with bits of hay sticking out of their hair took their places at the table at noon that Saturday. Sitting with them were two other girls with flour in their hair, and Faith was actually smiling.

  “I set the table,” she said proudly. “Mavis showed me how to do it. And me and Alice made the chocolate cake for dessert.”

  “Well, our team won in the hay field,” Gabby said.

  “Did not!” Kirk declared from across the table.

  “It was a close tie,” Levi said. “The girls were ahead all day but the boys rallied at the end and they helped get the exact same number of bales from the field to the barn.”

  Cade caught Retta’s eye and sent a sly wink her way.

  He’s flirting with you, her friend, Tina’s voice was in her head. Flirt back and have a good time. You’ll be chained to that job in the city soon enough.

  But anything we would start would have a big stop sign at the end of this job, Retta argued.

  Hey, it doesn’t have to be a commitment or a relationship. Maybe you both just need a little fun to let off some steam and then you can say good-bye when the job is over like a couple of adults. No tears. No long-distance crap. Just a summer fling.

  “And our team finished tuning up a tractor. Who won? Me or you?” Cade’s warm breath sent tingles chasing down Retta’s spine when he whispered in her ear.

  “It was definitely a tie but there’s a smudge of grease on your ear,” she said.

  “You could return the favor and wipe it off for me.” His blue eyes glittered.

  “What are y’all whisperin’ about?” Faith asked.

  “I was tellin’ him that he didn’t check his ears when he cleaned up for dinner.”

  Faith leaned forward and nodded. “But you got some in your ear too.”

  “Guess we both better find us a mirror after we eat.” Cade grinned.

  “Or put one in the tack room,” she muttered.

  “Not happenin’.” He handed her a platter of hot rolls.

  Flirt with Cade? A summer fling? It all sounded good, but the warning sirens were going off loudly in her head.

  If you start something, finish it. Every choice you make has consequences. That was her father’s advice. She’d made the choice to leave the farm and pursue her plan. It had its consequences for sure because she missed her dad.

  So if I don’t start anything, will I regret it later? And if I do, what would the consequences be? She mulled over that as she dipped two spoons full of green beans onto her plate.

  “I heard that there might be a baseball game this afternoon for anyone who’s interested,” Skip said from across the table.

  Four boys’ forks went down and their hands went up.

  Retta glanced down her side of the table. “You girls want to play?”

  “Only if we can have Benjy on mine and Sasha’s team,” Gabby said.

  Benjy looked right at her with a shy smile. “I can run fast.”

  “I know you can,” Sasha said. “You can load hay better than anyone.”

  He ducked his head but the smile didn’t fade.

  “Then we get Faith,” Kirk piped up from across the table.

  “I ain’t goin’ to get on your team if Alice can’t be on it,” Faith declared.

  “Oh, all right.” Nelson sighed.

  “We want Ivan too,” Gabby said.

  “Looks like we got us two teams.” Skip grinned. “I’ll be the umpire. Cade you’ve got the team with Kirk, and Retta, you can have the one with Benjy.”

  Benjy cut his eyes around at her. “If a ball is going sixty miles an hour and you hit it at the right angle, it will go way far out into the pasture and you can make a home run. You are tall and I bet you can do that. I could draw you with a bat in your hands.”

  “Thank you, Benjy.” She smiled at the boy and then whispered to Cade, “What does that mean?”

  “That he likes you. If I could, I would draw you.” His knee pressed against hers under the table and she pushed back. She might not have had much time for dating over the past three years, but if he wanted to flirt she sure didn’t have to get out a how-to book.

  After lunch, she and her team started for the pasture where Levi and Skip were measuring out a place to put the bases. They hadn’t gone far when Cade and his team caught up to them. The kids ran on ahead, leaving them behind.

  “Guess it’s not boys against girls after all,” he said.

  “I’ve got a good team and you’ve got a cocky one. Good beats cocky every time,” she said.

  “Sounds like your team has a cocky coach. Maybe mine has a good coach,” he said.

  “When my team beats yours, you may not want to draw my picture.” She slung a hip against his. In all the responsibility of the past three years she’d forgotten how much fun it was to simply flirt with a guy. Or share a few kisses with one, either.

  The bases were laid out. It was decided that Cade and Retta would serve as catchers. Retta’s team lost the coin toss, so Cade was first up to bat. Gabby was the pitcher, Sasha was on first, Ivan on second, and Benjy on third base.

  Cade was first up to bat and Gabby wound up a fastball that whizzed past the tip of his bat. “Holy hell,” he swore under his breath.

  “Weren’t you the one who said they were street-smart and tough?” Retta said from behind the catcher’s glove.

  The next time he was ready and managed to get a pop-up that Sasha missed and landed him on first base. Then it was Kirk’s turn, and Gabby gave it her best. He
hit the ball high and Cade took off for second base, but Benjy’s hand shot up and caught the ball, so Kirk was out and Cade had to return to first.

  Kirk kicked the dirt and went back to the area they’d decided would be the batter’s box. “He’s not supposed to be able to do that.”

  “Never judge a book by the cover,” Retta told him.

  There was no score by the time Retta’s team came to bat. Kirk wound up dramatically and threw the ball faster than Retta expected. She swung hard and missed.

  “Strike one,” Skip yelled.

  “You got to hit the ball and then run,” Cade taunted.

  “You just hush and hope I don’t kill a cow with the next hit.” Kirk threw it just like the first one and she connected wth it, and took off for first base.

  One minute Cade was on his feet, looking right at the ball with his glove held high. The next he was falling backward like a rag doll. He could hear noises and people talking but they were in a tunnel. Someone yelled at him to open his eyes and they popped wide. White light—was he dead?

  “Are you okay?” Retta’s voice was high and squeaky.

  “It only grazed him,” Levi said. “There’s no blood.”

  Who shot him? Cade opened one eye to see all the kids gathered around him.

  Tears flowed down Benjy’s cheeks. “Don’t die, Cade. Please don’t die.”

  “He’s alive, Benjy. See, his eyes are open. Dead people can’t open their eyes.” Ivan touched Benjy on the shoulder but he moved away.

  Cade focused on Retta’s face first and she looked like she was about to cry.

  “He’s had worse injuries than that playin’ football,” Skip said. “Let’s take him to the house and put an ice pack on it.”

  “I knew he wouldn’t die,” Kirk declared. “He’s too tough to get killed by a baseball. It’ll take a bullet to do him in.”

  Cade managed a chuckle at that compliment and looked up at Retta. “Did you break the bat?”

  “It splintered,” she whispered. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Oh, honey, I’m fine. You might need to massage my temples to get rid of this headache but I’ll be ready for church tomorrow mornin’. Were you showin’ off when you hit that ball?” He sat up, rolled up on his toes, and then came to a full standing position. “I could use a good cold drink. What’s the score? Who won?”

  “Tie,” Levi said.

  “We’ll have to practice and have another match later. Bet still on?” he asked Retta.

  Her brown eyes glittered. “You don’t get out of the bet by pretending to be knocked out.”

  “Pretending, nothing. The least you can do is let me lean on you until we get back to the house.”

  To his surprise she didn’t argue but walked right up to his side and put her arm around his waist. He slung his arm around her shoulder, and they started toward the house with a parade behind them.

  “You make a good crutch,” he whispered.

  “I’ve had lots of experience,” she said softly.

  “Did you train Gabby to throw like that?” he asked.

  “Not me. She learned that on her own,” she answered. “But I’ll keep the team I’ve got when we play again.”

  He stumbled and leaned on her a little harder. “I hope the kids aren’t disappointed that we have to quit now.”

  “They’re just glad you aren’t dead.”

  “So am I,” he said, wondering if this was a wake-up call telling him to let go of the past and move on with his life.

  Chapter Ten

  Retta, Mavis, and the girls sat on a pew right behind Cade, Levi, Justin, and the four boys in church the next morning. It was one of those little white nondenominational churches that often spring up in small communities. Two rows of pews with a center aisle and a choir section behind the pulpit. The preacher sat on an old oak deacon’s bench, tapping his foot to the congregational music.

  Faith had a lovely soprano voice, clear with a little breathlessness. Alice, God love her soul, couldn’t carry a tune, but she sang with gusto. Gabby and Sasha harmonized well together on the two hymns, giving testimony that they’d been to church before.

  The preacher took his place and read scripture from the book of Ruth and then told the story of how she’d left her country without looking back to follow her mother-in-law to a faraway country. It was those three words—without looking back—that made Retta’s mind start to stray and think about things other than Ruth and Naomi.

  Her father had left instructions on what to do when he was gone. Sell everything to pay the medical bills so that she could start over and live her life without looking back.

  Mavis nudged her from the end of the pew and whispered, “These little children have left their homes and they’re living in a strange land. I want to be like Naomi to them.”

  “You already are,” Retta told her.

  She tried to pay attention but Cade was sitting right in front of her. Back straight. Hair neatly combed. Big football player’s muscular neck. One ear just slightly larger than the other. Shirt collar starched stiff. No one would ever guess that he had to lean on her to get from the pasture to the house the day before. Her father would approve of Cade, but then he could talk cattle, hay, and maybe even a little country music, so that would appeal to Harry Palmer a lot. The only guy she’d brought home to meet her father had been afraid to take a step outside the yard fence for fear he’d step in a fresh cow patty and ruin his Italian leather shoes. When she saw the guy through her father’s eyes, it didn’t take her long to figure out that she didn’t want a long-term relationship with him.

  “Remember if we’re content with our lot, then peace will be ours,” the preacher said. “Now if Levi Jackson will give the benediction we’ll all go home and have our Sunday dinner with our families.”

  Family.

  The word stuck in her mind. She’d be going to the ranch. Not home because she didn’t really have a home. And family? She looked down the pew at four little girls. She’d been with them less than a week but they were a temporary family. The folks in the church either agreed heartily with Levi’s prayer or they were glad he’d made it a short one because everyone said, “Amen,” and jerked her back into reality.

  “Good lookin’ crew you’ve brought with you, Miz Mavis,” the preacher said when they reached the door. “I’d forgotten this was camp month.”

  “Yep,” Skip said right behind her. “We’re gettin’ settled in pretty good.”

  “Well, we sure like havin’ the kids here in church.” The preacher smiled.

  Cade laid a hand on Retta’s shoulder as they crossed the parking lot where Mavis’s van and two trucks were parked to take the “family” home. “I’m starving. How about you? Wonder what it is about church that makes us hungrier than just a normal day.”

  “It’s biblical,” she said.

  “How’s that?” He removed his hand.

  “‘Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness,’” she quoted. “We’ve been sitting in righteousness, so if we got the blessing then we’re hungry and thirsty.”

  The laughter came from down deep in his chest. “Testify, sister.”

  “You okay? Is Cade makin’ fun of you? If he is, I’ll spit in his food ’cause I’m helpin’ Mavis.” Alice slipped her hand into Retta’s.

  “No, darlin’ girl. I’m fine. Honest. He was laughing at something I said, not at me,” Retta said.

  “What did you say?”

  She hugged the little girl to her side. “Something my daddy used to say that I thought was kind of funny. He died three months ago and he loved to go to church and I miss him.”

  “I never knew my daddy. He left before I was born but my sister tells me about him some of the time. I don’t think he was very nice to my mama.”

  Poor little girls. Not a one of them knew the love of a father like she’d had. She wished every one of them had known a Harry Palmer in their lives.

  Sunday afternoons were set asid
e for two things. The kids had to write a letter home to their family after Sunday dinner and then they were supposed to do their laundry. That included bedsheets, towels, and their clothes to get everything ready for the next week.

  “Okay, ladies, you have pens, pencils, and paper in the top drawer of your dresser, so it’s time for letter writing,” Retta said.

  “I ain’t never wrote a letter before,” Alice said. “What do I say?”

  “You tell them all about the ball game and makin’ food with Mavis and everything that you can think of,” Faith said as she headed toward her room.

  “We can tell about hay haulin’, Sasha,” Gabby said.

  “And how that Kirk is a jack…I mean a jerk.” Sasha went to her room and closed the door.

  Retta used the time to change from her Sunday sundress to a pair of cutoff denim shorts and a sleeveless western-cut shirt that she tied at her waist. She wandered out to the porch to think about her father and how he would have put his blessing on what she was doing for the girls.

  She sat down in one of the rocking chairs but it wasn’t her father who came to mind—it was Cade Maguire and the way his hand felt on her shoulder and the heat his kisses caused in her body. How could something that brought about so much inner turmoil still create a sense of peace?

  “Did you write a letter?” Benjy sat down on a porch step. A lock of red hair was stuck to his forehead and the fine hairs on his upper lip were plastered with sweat.

  “Not yet. How about you?” she asked.

  “Yes. I told my granny that Cade is alive.”

  If only he would look at her when he talked so she could read his expression even a little bit.

  “So have you ever drawn Cade?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I like Cade a lot and Skip and Mavis. And I like Beau too.”

  “Think you’ll like the new little donkey?”

  He looked up at her, his green eyes full of life. “I’m going to draw him. He’ll be smaller than some dogs.”

  “Will you make two pictures so I can have one?”

  The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. “Yes, I will. Good-bye, Retta.”