A Dad for Her Twins

For a moment her thoughts got caught up in the strong, handsome rancher, in his gentleness to her, his protective attitude and the way he’d insisted on rescuing her. Poor Cade. He was trying to do the right thing here, too, but his father certainly didn’t make it easy on him.

An idea blossomed. Maybe that’s why she was here, to help the two of them mend their relationship. Despite Ed’s crankiness, Abby had seen a glint in his eyes when he’d surreptitiously watched Cade. She was certain father and son loved each other. They’d just gotten off track.

She could never repay Cade for all he’d done for her. Except, maybe she could help him find his way back to the man he clearly loved.

Show me, Father, please? she prayed.

Then she put her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. As usual, her fingers closed around the tiny locket she wore, the one precious thing she couldn’t bear to sell. She popped it open and stared into Max’s eyes. For the first time in months, tears didn’t well up. She traced his features with a forefinger.

“Your friend’s taking care of us,” she murmured. “We’re fine. And you’re at peace now. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help you. I’m sorry I failed you. But I promise I will not fail our babies. Cade will help us.”

But just how much help could she take from the handsome rancher with the deep blue eyes?

* * *

In all his years on the ranch, Cade had never had a more frustrating day. His two best bulls had broken through a fence last night and it had taken forever to round them up, get them back with the rest of the herd and fix the fence. It had to happen on the day he’d given Garnet Jones, his hand, the day off. The drifts were so deep he’d had to use the snowmobile. Ivor had seen him and rushed out, eager to try the machine.

Cade wanted the kid to feel at home, even to enjoy himself. Since he hadn’t had much luck interesting Ivor in anything else the past three days, he figured the snowmobile might act as a kind of bridge between them. That was before Ivor had raced the machine too close to the pond and broken through the ice on the edge.

“It could have been worse,” he told Ivor after he’d pulled the snowmobile out with his four-wheel drive.

“How?” Ivor glared at him.

“If you’d gone further, you’d have sunk in completely and taken a cold bath. And you’d have ruined my machine.” He studied his snowmobile and sighed. “Not that it won’t take a fair bit of work to dry it out and get it running now.”

“It’s really old. You should probably buy a new one,” was Ivor’s only comment before he wandered back to the house.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Cade muttered as he towed the snowmobile into his machine shed, dismayed that his attempts to bond with the boy had gone so poorly.

Things got a little better after lunch when Abby insisted on seeing his horses. She crept up to the stall as if in fear for her life, but when Liberty, his favorite mare, stuck her head over the gate and whinnied, Abby seemed to forget her inhibitions. She reached up a hand and gently brushed it over Liberty’s golden-red mane. A moment later the two were holding a mutual admiration meeting. Abby’s green eyes grew huge with wonder when she looked at him.

“She’s beautiful,” she murmured.

“She’s a sucker for apples.” Cade handed her one of two he’d tucked into his pocket earlier.

“Does it have to be cut up—oh!” Abby blinked as the horse nipped the apple from her fingers and chewed the treat. She looked at her hand in wonder. “She didn’t even touch me.”

Cade laughed.

“Liberty’s an expert thief. Sometimes she searches my pockets for carrots when I’m cleaning her stall or feeding her and she always finds them.” A sudden rush of satisfaction filled him when Abby began to caress Liberty, which made Cade wonder why it seemed so important she was comfortable with his animals.

How at home do you want her to feel? He ignored the voice in his head.

“Liberty loves her treats almost as much as she loves being brushed,” he explained. “Want to try?”

Abby studied him for a few minutes, then slowly nodded. Cade went to the tack area, grabbed Liberty’s favorite brush and carried it to Abby. Carefully he opened the gate and positioned himself by Liberty’s side so he could show Abby how to brush. When his fingers covered hers, Cade’s heart rate giddyapped, just as it had right before he’d shot out of the chute on an ornery bronc when he competed at the Calgary Stampede.

As soon as Abby had the motion memorized, Cade let go and stepped back, trying to even out his erratic breathing. What was wrong with him today?

Liberty shifted and whinnied. Abby backed away with a frown. “Did I do it wrong?”

“No. You’re doing it right. That means she likes it.” Cade smiled. “She won’t hurt you, but she might not want you to stop,” he warned.

“Do all her noises have meanings?” Abby resumed her work.

“Not always, but you’ll know if she doesn’t like something. She’s not subtle.” He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Abby’s face and the pure joy that radiated from it as she curried the horse.

“I hear you had some trouble with Ivor this morning.” She gave him a quick sideways look.

“We don’t seem to be hitting it off,” Cade admitted. “He won’t listen to anything I say. I tried to tell him to keep the snowmobile away from the pond but—” He shrugged and let the rest of his sentence die.

“Ivor doesn’t come from a ranch family, does he? I think Mrs. Swanson mentioned his dad was some kind of mechanic.” Abby moved to Liberty’s other side. Cade followed and stayed close, just in case she needed him.

“Maybe Ivor worked with him,” Cade said dourly. “Then he could help me fix my sled.”

Abby chuckled, then smoothed her hand between Liberty’s eyes, whispering soothing words. She winked at him.

“Maybe Ivor would like to brush a horse,” she mused in a speculative tone.

“I’m not sure he likes animals.” Which was a relief since Cade wasn’t sure he wanted Ivor anywhere near his prized horses. Sensing that Abby was wearying, he called a halt and put Liberty back in her stall, placating her whinny of complaint with another apple.

“It’s coffee time,” he said as he closed the stall door. “Let’s go see what Mrs. Swanson baked today.”

“Does she bake a lot?” Abby asked. She slid her hand through the arm he offered and daintily picked her way over the snowy path toward the house.

“She usually makes something special every day. It’s her way of trying to tempt my dad to eat a little more,” he told her.

“Has she been here a long time?” Abby wondered.

“Since my mom died. She practically raised me.” He cleared his throat and said the words that had nagged at him for hours. “You were with my father for a long time this morning. I really think it’s better if you stay away, Abby.”

“Your father and I were playing games.” She stopped when he paused outside the back door and studied him. “Ed seemed to really get into them, so I didn’t want to cut it short. But if you’d rather I didn’t interact with him—” She stopped, waited.

“I don’t want you hurt,” Cade said firmly. “I heard his cane banging several times. When he gets riled he sometimes loses control—”

“He wasn’t riled.” Abby laughed. “He was celebrating. He beat me at every game of checkers. Ivor told me he’d lost to Ed earlier, too.”

“He didn’t get upset?” Cade frowned when Abby shook her head.

“Your father seems to enjoy winning.”

“Yeah, he loves winning,” Cade told her with an ironic grin. “Understatement of the year to say he loves winning. My father has to win.”

Winning was all that mattered to Ed. At least it was all that seemed to matter in his relationship with his son. Since Cade had often overruled him in regard to decisions about the ranch, he’d assumed that accounted for his father’s worsening behavior.

Confused by the different view of his dad, Cade held the door for Abby to precede him inside. They shed their outer clothes and boots in the mudroom that adjoined the kitchen.

“Something smells wonderful,” Abby said, following her nose. “I can’t believe I’m hungry again. I ate a huge lunch.”