A Ranch to Call Home

She tried not to jerk away, but his words were like a live wire touching her skin. “What about your sling?”

“I need this thing looser.”

She readjusted the strap.

“So can you make sense of this mess?” He nodded toward the table that now sported neat stacks of papers.

“Barely. I’ve been looking through everything. What I need is Joel in here, not outside chasing down cows.”

“Why not call the other folks on the committee?”

“I just finished talking to Nan White. And she told me about Mike Johnson and Laurie Benson.”

“I’ve heard your brother talking to them.”

“So why didn’t he tell me about the others? I found a note buried in this chaos.” Kaye finished adjusting the sling.

“Because Nan recently got divorced and has been eyeballing your brother like he’s a side of beef.”

A chuckle burst out of her mouth. “So it wasn’t my talent that impressed my brother. He just wanted a stand-in.”

Gramps started to shrug, but the pain stopped him. He hissed. “I think I might take one of those little pills the hospital gave me and sit in my chair.”

“Let’s get you settled, then I’ll get your meds.” She’d been through enough pain; she could identify with Gramps in a way she would’ve never understood before.

Gramps hobbled into the living room and eased into his well-worn recliner. Kaye grabbed the pills and a glass of water from the kitchen and returned to his side.

He took the meds without any argument, which meant he was hurting. He settled back in the chair and closed his eyes. “Turn on that TV to one of the sports channels and I’ll sit here and listen to it.”

Kaye smiled and turned on the TV.

“Why don’t you go and see if you can corner your brother and drag some answers out of him. I won’t move.”

Not sure she wanted to leave Gramps, she stood there.

Gramps opened one eye. “Go. Midnight is out in the corral.”

She didn’t want to insult her grandfather, so she retrieved the handset from the dining room table and put it on the table beside the chair. “I’ve put the phone by your chair. Call if you need anything.”

He nodded and waved her away.

She kissed Gramps’s forehead and reluctantly walked away, praying she’d made the right decision.

Out on the back porch, she stretched her protesting back and shoulders. Sitting that long had allowed her muscles to stiffen, and she’d worked so hard to build them up. The first time she’d gotten out of the hospital bed in San Antonio, she’d landed on her backside, her muscles like jelly. She’d done it in front of the drill-sergeant nurse, but that weakness made her realize she needed to fight.

Midnight was in the corral behind the barn, as Gramps had said. A ride just might be the thing. Besides, after talking to Nan and Gramps, she had a few things she wanted to discuss with her brother.

Nan had been great after Kaye had told her what her job in the army had been. Kaye planned to talk to the other two members of the committee later, after she “chatted” with her brother. He was still the head honcho and she needed his input.

Stopping before the fence, Kaye called out to the horse. “Midnight, want a peppermint?” She held up the treat and noisily unwrapped it. The horse trotted to her side, putting her face near Kaye’s hands. “Oh, you’re easy. Didn’t take much convincing, did it?” The horse happily lipped the candy. Kaye slipped the bridle over the horse’s head and walked her into the barn. It only took moments for Kaye to saddle the mare. Kaye found the wooden folding steps they kept in the corner of the barn and used them to mount the horse. She looked forward to the day she wouldn’t need the extra help with mounting. Before the accident, she could pull herself into the saddle with ease.

She shook off the pity party. There was no use in playing the what-if game.

Touching her back pocket, Kaye made sure she had her cell phone. She considered calling Joel, but she wanted to surprise him with questions about the rodeo and didn’t want to give him time to come up with an excuse.

She studied the western horizon, noting the gathering clouds. “It looks like we might get some rain,” she told Midnight, patting the horse on her neck. “We can only pray it does.” She guided Midnight back inside the barn and snagged her old cowboy hat from a hook. It amazed her that her brother had kept it, but she’d put it to good use.

“Let’s see if we can find the guys before we have some weather.” She remembered they’d talked about checking the stock at the western edge of the ranch.

As she rode away from the barn, she felt a freedom, and long-ago hopes flickered to life in her heart, sparking a smile. The years seemed to melt away and she didn’t have a care in the world.

Her body relaxed into the rhythm of the horse’s gait. When she was in the army, she’d always found a stable where she was stationed so she could ride, but riding here at her family’s ranch brought back good memories. The wind picked up and the sky grew dark. After several minutes, when she still hadn’t seen any signs of either Joel or Caleb, she considered going back to the ranch house. The land dipped toward a small stream. Trees grew in abundance down here by the river, and it was always a place where they had to rescue stray calves. Maybe she’d find the guys there.

As she headed toward the stream, a blinding light split the sky, and the ground shook with the earth-shattering sound. Her mount danced sideways and electricity seemed to race over Kaye’s skin, raising the hair on her arms. She struggled with the reins, trying to keep the horse from bolting.

“Easy, girl.”

The horse’s head came up and Midnight shook. Kaye patted the mare’s neck. “Easy.” What she didn’t need was her mount charging off in a blind panic.

As she nudged her horse forward, she thought she heard her name, turned and saw Caleb racing toward her.

Before he could reach her, the sky opened up as if someone had turned on the shower full throttle. These were no little droplets but a full barrage of stinging drops.

“Let’s take cover under the trees,” he shouted, nodding toward the stand of trees.

They both headed for the shelter. They were almost there when another flash of lightning streaked across the sky. The boom nearly threw Kaye off her horse, singeing her skin and throwing her back to another blast that tore her world apart.

* * *

“Wow, that was close.” Caleb looked around to make sure the lightning hadn’t hit any of the trees surrounding them. When Kaye didn’t answer, he turned to her. They were both drenched and the cold rain ran down his back in rivulets. But what chilled him was Kaye’s blank expression.

“Kaye, were you hit?”

Kaye appeared frozen.

He nudged his horse closer to her. “Are you hurt?” He did a quick scan for any injuries.

Again, she didn’t answer.

“Kaye, are you okay?”

Her eyes were wide-open, but she wasn’t seeing him next to her. She clutched her horse’s reins so tightly that her fingers had gone white. Her mount danced nervously. Caleb reached over and pried her fingers loose from the reins. Her body began to shake so hard, he thought she’d fly apart. And she wasn’t doing her mount any favors.

“Kaye?”

Nothing.

Another flash of lightning, accompanied by booming thunder filled the air. Kaye seemed to shrink farther into herself.