A Father in the Making

“Sure. I get that.” Nate reached for some lengths of rope and sat down on a nearby hay bale between her and Nico. “You heard your mom, sport,” he said, addressing her son as he started to braid the three strands together. “You shouldn’t come out here unless your mother knows.”

“That’s not what I was getting at.” Mia lifted her head to hold Nate’s dark gaze. For the tiniest moment an unexpected combination of fear and attraction thrilled through her.

Too easily she recalled how it had felt to be held by him. That surprising feeling of safety and support she hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.

She swallowed and looked away, suppressing the foolish reaction, then squatted down in front of Nico. “Honey, we have to go. I need to be in Cranbrook in an hour.”

Nico raised his head to hold her eyes for a scant second then shifted them to Nate, as if seeking his approval.

Mia fought down her agitation, aware of the other kids waiting in the van. The importance of making the specialist appointment hung over her like a cloud, yet right now she had to tread cautiously with her son.

So she placed her finger under his chin, to make him turn his eyes back to her. Thankfully, he gave in right away and she eased off. “Sweetheart, I know it’s nice to be here with Socks,” she said, forcing herself to talk quietly. Slowly. Deflect the focus of his trip to the barn from Nate to the dog. “I know you love dogs, but right now Jennifer and Grace and Josh are waiting for us and I don’t want Jennifer to start crying because she misses us.”

Nico blinked and he opened his mouth and for a heart-stopping moment Mia thought he would speak. But his mouth worked, open and shut, but nothing. When she saw the shimmer of tears in his eyes, she drew him close. “Oh, sweetie, it’s okay. You’re safe.”

She stifled her fear at how close she had come to losing him. But she couldn’t stop herself from looking up at Nate, who watched them through narrowed eyes as his hands worked the rope.

He put the rope aside, crouched down beside Nico and laid his large hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You should go with your mother, buddy. She needs your help right now.”

Nico sniffed, nodded and then scrambled to his feet. He gave Nate a curt nod and, without another glance at Mia, left the barn, Socks trotting along behind him.

Though Mia was thankful for Nate’s assistance it bothered her that Nico responded to Nate more than he had to her.

“Thanks for that,” Mia said as she got up.

“Just trying to help,” he said, holding his hands up in apology.

“I know that and I appreciate it.” She hesitated, torn between her need to get going and her need to draw boundaries for her children.

Then he started coughing and her resolve wavered as she was reminded of what he had risked for the sake of her son.

He’s not the kind of man you can let your children connect with. His leaving will cause Nico and Josh too much pain.

Annoying as she was, sometimes Other Mother was right.

“You know that I can’t thank you enough for saving Nico’s life,” she started, watching as Nico stepped into the van.

“Please. Don’t say any more. Anyone would have done the same.”

“I don’t know about that. However...” she hesitated, feeling ungrateful in spite of her words of thanks to him “...I am concerned about Nico and how attached he seems to be to you.”

Nate’s eyes narrowed and Mia wasn’t sure how to read him. For the sake of her son, she kept going.

“Nico has a lot to deal with right now and I’m afraid that...that if he gets too attached, too connected, he’ll get hurt when you go.”

“Why do you say that?” His eyes still held her but his voice sounded grim.

“You’re only here until your horses heal up, and then you’re leaving, right?”

Nate nodded, affirming what she already knew.

“When my husband left, it took Nico a long time to get over that.” For six months after Al had left, Nico slept with Mia, afraid to be on his own.

“And now the aftermath of this fire—” Mia’s voice broke and she pressed her lips together, feeling an unwelcome jolt of sorrow for her family’s loss of business and home. She looked away from Nate’s piercing gaze, took a steadying breath and soldiered on. “I am worried that Nico is too strongly connected to you now. I don’t want him hurt when you leave, so I would appreciate it if you could discourage him spending time with you, somehow.”

The heavy silence following her request made her regret what she had said, but it was what she had to do to protect Nico.

“Sure. I get it.” Nate looked away from her, bent over and grabbed the rope he had dropped. “You’ve got to take care of your kids. Keep them safe.”

That was her only reason, she reminded herself as she hesitated, wishing she didn’t feel like such a heel. “I know you rescued him and I can’t tell you enough how grateful I am—”

“You don’t have to thank me anymore,” Nate said quietly, settling down on the hay bale, his eyes on the rope he was braiding. “We’re good.”

Mia hesitated a moment more, still not entirely happy with how things had gone down, torn between what Nate had done for her and what she had to do for her children.

He looked up at her and for the space of a heartbeat their eyes met. And for the space of that same heartbeat she felt it again. That glimmer of appeal. Of attraction.

Stop this. Quit this right now.

But she couldn’t look away.

“You should go,” Nate said finally, twisting the strands of rope together. “You don’t want to be late.”

She nodded her acknowledgement then without another word, left.

But as she walked across the yard to her van, she wondered if her warning to Nate was as much about herself as it was about Nico.

Chapter Five

Don’t watch her leave. Keep your eyes on what you’re doing.

But it was as if his practical mind and his lonely soul weren’t communicating, and Nate watched Mia as she walked across the yard.

Her slender frame looked too fragile to carry the responsibility of four children, but he had seen the effect of the thread of steel running through her. The fact that she warned him away from Nico bothered him on one level and yet, at the same time, created a sense of admiration.

This was a woman who put her kids’ needs first.

Something his mother never did.

He shook the foolish thoughts off, grabbed a pail of oats and headed outside to the corrals. He had been headed out to feed them when Nico had come into the barn. Instead, he’d had a one-sided conversation with the boy while he cleaned out Tango’s stall. And then Mia showed up.

Nate poured the oats out for his other horses, spacing the piles far apart to keep them from fighting. Nola munched at her oats, lifting her head from time to time to make sure the other horses kept their distance. Nate walked around her, grimacing at the scratches that marred her golden coat. “Hey, girl,” he said, running his hands over her expanding belly. “I’m excited to see your foal. Should be a real goer. But can you wait until we get settled in Montana before you have it?”

She nickered again, as if agreeing with him, then put her head down and continued eating, crunching at the oats.

Nate checked out the other horses, touching them, reminding them who was in charge. Before he entered the barn he stopped, looking behind him at the snow-capped mountains that edged the ranch feeling a twinge of envy at their beauty. His brother had ended up with a prime piece of real estate thanks to his deal with Evangeline’s father, who had owned it previously.

He was happy for Denny, though. Nate knew how bad Denny felt after his divorce with his first wife cost the ranch that Nate had seen as a place of refuge. A place he felt safe. At the Norquests’, he never had to worry about someone striking out at him for no reason. Locking him up in the basement for days on end.