The Long Road Home

“Took to rodeo like a duck takes to water,” Sam was saying. His voice resigned, he added, “But rodeo is a young man’s game.”

“If I remember correctly, you’re thirty-two.”

“But you don’t rodeo without getting hurt at times. My body is a heck of a lot older than I like to consider.”

His body looked a heck of a lot better than most of the local young men, but she guessed he might have taken some bad falls. Old injuries weren’t always apparent, but they could be a continuing problem.

She said, “So you quit the circuit to start a ranch on your dad’s property.”

Sam looked away from her and cleared his throat. “Something like that. Pop had that accident falling off the roof, too. Broken leg or not, he’s staying put in his own place.”

“So you wanted to make sure he was okay.” Which only made sense. Priscilla had panicked when she’d heard Mom had taken a fall on the ice and had broken her arm the winter before she’d returned to Sparrow Lake.

“Since he’d given up dairy farming, Pop talked about selling the land. But I convinced him to let me have a go at a different kind of business first.”

“It seems like you’ve got a good start.”

Priscilla checked out the other riders. Everyone but Mia seemed to be pretty happy. Especially Alyssa, still glued to Logan’s side.

“Not really a good start,” Sam said. “A few lessons a week added to a daily trail ride with a half dozen customers won’t pay the bills.”

“You’ve got to give the business some time to build.”

“Like you did.”

“Not to mention figuring out ways to promote it to get new customers.”

Looking thoughtful, Sam said, “I’d like to talk to you about what it takes to make a new business successful.”

“Sure. I can do a little brainstorming with you.”

“I’m booked up getting this place in order the next couple of days, but after that, I’ll give you a call.”

“Anytime,” Priscilla said.

The idea of spending time with Sam, even if it was just business, sent such warmth shooting through her that nothing could spoil her good mood.

* * *

PRISCILLA’S MOOD WAS soon tested on the ride back to town.

“Alyssa and Logan, sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g...” Mia sing-songed from the backseat.

“Shut up, Mia! That’s dumb!”

“Make me!”

Alyssa unsnapped her seat belt and turned toward her little sister so fast that a startled Priscilla swerved the car.

“Sit down!” she yelled, her heart pounding. “Now! And put that seat belt back on!”

Alyssa huffed but did as she said, while Mia snickered from the backseat.

“And you, Mia, stop instigating trouble if you want to come back out here to ride!”

“Well, it’s true!”

“I didn’t kiss him,” grumbled Alyssa. She tossed her head. “But maybe I will.”

“No, you won’t,” Priscilla said.

Her niece gave her a dirty look. “Why not? I can kiss him. He’s really cute.”

“And too old for you.”

“I’m not a baby!”

“You’re sixteen, Alyssa. A teenager. Logan is a young man. Probably twenty, maybe older.”

“So what? Back in New York, I date older men.”

Mia snorted and widened her eyes. “Oh, yeah? When? Who? Where?”

“Shut up!”

“I’m gonna tell Dad!”

When Alyssa started to turn toward the backseat again, Priscilla raised her voice, “All right, enough, both of you!”

Thankful that they both went silent for the moment, Priscilla took a big breath. Surely they wouldn’t snipe at each other the whole time they stayed with her. More than anything, she hated confrontation. Hated the fact that she’d yelled at the nieces she loved. She’d avoided mean-spirited sniping since she was a kid. As unbelievable as it seemed, she wished one of Alyssa’s friends would text her so the girls would leave each other alone. Checking the rearview mirror, she realized that Mia had pulled out her cell phone and was already involved in playing some game.

“So what is it with you and that guy?” Alyssa suddenly asked.

“That guy...Sam? What do you mean?”

“You were into him on the whole ride.”

Priscilla squirmed a bit. That might be true, but how had Alyssa even noticed when she’d been so into Logan?

“Sam and I went to high school together. We were just catching up.”

“On what?”

“On what we’ve been doing with our lives.”

“You live in the same town.”

“We do now, but Sam was gone for a lot of years. He just moved back recently. I didn’t even know he was here.”