Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch. Lynnette Kent
And the kids—they’re still grieving—”
Daniel held up a hand. “It’s okay. I get it.” He put his weight on the cane and pivoted toward his truck. Once on the other side of the hood, he looked at her again.
“I’ll keep my distance from you and your family,” he promised. “You’ll have to come looking if you want to find me. And, Willa…” That sexy, inviting grin curved his lips. “I can guarantee last night won’t happen again—until you ask for it!”
“I LIKE THAT YOUNG MAN.” Lili set a stack of dirty plates on the kitchen counter.
“I do, too.” Rosa breathed in a lungful of steam as she filled the sink with soapy water. When they’d realized they would have a guest for lunch, they’d decided to use the second-best china, which had to be washed by hand. “He’s very handsome.”
“Oh, yes. He reminds me of…” Lili shook her head. “I think he’ll be a good neighbor.”
Rosa didn’t have to hear the rest of the sentence to know whom her sister was thinking about. “Willa seems doubtful. And very disturbed by him.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Could be. She’s barely aware of poor Sheriff Sutton, no matter how hard he tries. But…” Rosa shook her head. “Willa’s a stubborn one. Even if she couldn’t resist falling for Major Trent, I doubt she’d admit it, to herself or anybody else.”
“Do you think he’s interested?”
“Oh, yes. There was a smile in his eyes every time he glanced at her.”
“Well, he’s our neighbor now, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a bit of him. He’ll want Willa’s advice on hiring hands, to start with.”
Rosa paused in the act of sponging off a plate and stared out the window over the sink for a moment. “He’ll need a foreman, too, won’t he?”
“I expect so.” Lili put the leftover lasagna in the refrigerator. “He did say he hadn’t done much ranching.”
“Yes. Yes, he did.” And she might know just the man for the job. Biting back a smile, Rosa looked down into the suds again. “I’m sure Willa could make getting his ranch going much easier for Major Trent, if she wanted to.”
Drying the plate Rosa had just washed, Lili wrinkled her forehead in distress. “Why wouldn’t she want to?”
“She may take a while to get used to the idea of another man in her life.” Rosa handed over the sparkling-clean fruit bowl and winked. “But when it comes to Major Trent, there’s three of us and only one of her.”
Lili’s face cleared and she gave one of her delightful rippling laughs. “How true. Dear Willa doesn’t stand a chance!”
Chapter Four
The van delivering Daniel’s worldly possessions pulled into his driveway at nine o’clock Saturday morning. The Mercado kids arrived on horseback ten minutes later. They galloped up the road in a cloud of dust and slid to a stop on the bare dirt in front of the house. Toby sat on a sturdy brown-and-white horse with a friendly face. His sister—the image of her mother—rode a beautiful palomino with a dark gold coat and a cornsilk mane and tail, while the older boy seemed completely comfortable on his very tall, very black mount.
“Hi,” Toby said, before sliding to the ground. “We came to help you move in. This is Robbie and Susannah. My horse is Patches. Suze rides Lustre, and Robbie’s horse is Tar.” He nodded toward his siblings. “We’ll put them in the corral.”
“Wait a minute.” Daniel suppressed the smile he was feeling. “I don’t recall asking for help.”
“We’re neighbors,” Susannah said. “That’s what we do.”
He was pretty sure they hadn’t checked with their mother before heading his way. And he didn’t want to come between Willa and her children. “Well, you see those two big guys right there?” He waved his cane at the movers who were levering his new recliner out of the van. “They’ve got everything under control. I appreciate the offer, but I think you three had better head back to your house. You must have chores to do for your mom.”
The shock and disappointment on their faces would have been comical, if he hadn’t felt like such a heel turning them away. Toby stood with his jaw hanging loose, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “But—”
“Come on, Toby.” Robbie, who looked the least like his mother, with bigger bones and a fuller face, wheeled his horse. “We’ve got work to do at home. We don’t have to stay where we’re not wanted.” He pressed his heels into the black horse’s sides and took off at a fast lope. With a glance back at Daniel, Susannah shrugged and followed.
Toby threw his own disgusted look in Daniel’s direction, pulled himself into the saddle and kicked his pony to a gallop. Daniel watched in admiration and a little envy as they charged back down the hill. All three kids rode like they were part of the animal underneath them.
That was why he was so shocked to see Toby’s horse buck several times, then rear straight up on its hind legs—not once, but twice. The second time, Toby fell off.
Daniel heard one of the kids shout. By the time he had his truck backed out of the carport, he saw that Robbie and Susannah had returned to help their brother. A minute later, he stood beside Susannah as she knelt in the dirt with Toby. Robbie waited nearby, holding the three horses.
“He’s knocked out,” Susannah said, a thread of panic edging her voice. “I don’t know what happened. He never falls.”
Daniel mentally cursed his inability to get down on his knees. “Do cell phones work out here?” Susannah shook her head. He looked over at the older boy. “You have to go home and get your mother. If she can get a doctor to come, that’s a good idea.” The boy stared at him blankly. “Go on, Rob. Move it!”
The military tone worked. Robbie managed to mount his horse while still holding the reins of the other two, and then set off down the road at a trot.
“Now, let’s see what’s with Toby.” Daniel leaned as far as he could over the prone little boy. “Can you tell if he’s broken a bone?”
Susannah felt up and down Toby’s limbs and shook her head. “Nothing feels weird.”
“Run your fingers over his scalp, under his hair. Any cuts? Bleeding?”
She did as instructed. If Daniel hadn’t been watching closely, he’d have missed the wince that passed across Toby’s face. Coupled with the good color in his cheeks and the even rise and fall of the boy’s chest, that flinch suggested to Daniel that they might be dealing with injuries more pretended than real.
“Okay, then, let’s check his ribs.” Balancing on his cane, he reached down and tickled his fingers up and down Toby’s rib cage. The little boy made a really valiant effort…but in the end, he had to laugh.
“Don’t! Stop,” he pleaded, giggling, and curled into a ball. “That—ouch!” The sudden gasp of pain was real. “It hurts!” He folded his arms over his midriff and opened his eyes. “Something really hurts.”
“Show me where.” When Toby put his fingertips on his rib cage, Daniel nodded. “You may have cracked that rib, big guy. Do you feel okay, otherwise? Headache? Dizzy? How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Three.”
“Yep.” Daniel straightened up, ignoring the scream of his own muscles. “Let’s see if we can get you on your feet. Susannah, take his arm and I’ll take the other hand.” Carefully, they levered Toby to stand. “How’s that feel?”
“Okay, ’cept I have this ache…” He curled his torso around his arms.
“Come lie