The Cowboy's Easter Family Wish. Lois Richer

simply stating facts. And yet she still asked, “Do you think I was wrong to move here?”

      “Are you kidding?” Jesse chuckled. “It was dusk when we drove up, so I didn’t get the full impact, but what I did glimpse of your spread was impressive. I doubt anyone would fault you for wanting to live here.”

      “I love it,” she whispered, but she didn’t tell him it was because the ranch represented freedom. Maddie glanced out the window as she explained the rest of her story. “Broken Arrow belonged to an elderly couple. They’d just completed interior renovations when the husband got sick. When they decided to move closer to medical care, Emma and Tanner both suggested I buy this place.”

      “Tanner—of Wranglers Ranch?” Jesse interjected.

      “Yes. I think he and Sophie wanted to make sure they got a good neighbor. They helped us move here. But I’m not sure they’ve benefited much. I’ve had to call Tanner for help with a mouse—twice.” Maddie chuckled. “The upside for us is that Sophie’s a caterer. She often invites us over to try her new recipes and they are always delicious. I think I got the better deal when it comes to neighbors.”

      “Ah.” His eyes twinkled with fun. “They get a good neighbor and you get good food. You’re a smart lady.”

      “Not that smart.” Maddie frowned. “What do we do for skewers?”

      “Why is making this so important to you?” Jesse asked curiously. “It’s just candy.”

      She glanced at the doorway through which her son had disappeared a few moments earlier, then answered in a hushed tone. “It’s not just candy to me. It’s a chance for Noah.”

      “To do what?” Jesse scanned the caramels and marshmallows. “This isn’t the stuff heroes are made of.”

      “It could be.” Maddie wasn’t above begging when it was for Noah. “Please, Jesse, show us how to make these treats.”

      She held her breath. Emma said Maddie was God’s child. Surely He would help her convince Jesse to help them?

      * * *

      Jesse had never been able to turn down anyone who asked him for help, and despite his recent vow to remain uninvolved, he couldn’t do it this time, either. Calling himself an idiot, he began unwrapping more candy, adding to the contents in the saucepan, which he noted was gleaming and without a scratch.

      She was a mom with a kid of, what? Seven? Eight? But apparently she’d barely used these like-new saucepans.

      Jesse glanced around. Come to think of it, the furniture looked brand-new, too. Nicely tailored, not fussy, definitely comfortable, with quilts scattered here and there. Precise, finely patterned quilts with detailed stitching... Everything looked unused.

      Also, everything was in its place. There wasn’t a speck of dust or a mess anywhere, no toy tossed here or a shirt discarded there. To Jesse, eldest of four rambunctious kids, this didn’t look like the home of a dog and a young boy. It was too—restrained. As if it hadn’t yet become home.

      Two pictures hung on the wall. One was a very large portrait of Noah staring at a birthday cake with eight burning candles. The second was a smaller photo of him and Maddie standing by a flowering cactus. There were no snapshots or precious photos of the late husband and father. Questions multiplied inside Jesse’s head.

      “What can we substitute for the skewers?” Maddie asked, drawing him from his introspection.

      “Forks, I guess. You don’t have regular toothpicks? Because they would work,” he said, as he added a small dollop of cream to the melting candy.

      “No, I’m pretty sure I don’t—oh, wait.” With a smile as big as Texas Maddie flung open a cabinet and lifted out a massive cellophane-covered basket. “This was a housewarming gift from your grandmother. I guess she thought we’d be camping out or something, because she put in a bunch of disposable things. Maybe there’s something we could use in here.”

      She pawed her way through the crackling cellophane, pulling out items and discarding them on the stone countertop in her search for toothpicks.

      “Well?” Jesse waited, content to watch this beautiful woman.

      “Nothing.” Maddie’s tone deflated when she came to the bottom of the basket.

      “These might work.” He selected and rotated a box.

      “What are they?” She leaned across him to read the label. “Oh. Stir sticks.” She turned away, then stopped and turned back, eyes glowing as she took the package and tore it open. “Stir sticks!” she repeated, her grin wide as she held up a handful.

      “Wooden ones, which are perfect, though I’m surprised my tasteful grandmother chose such lurid colors.” He plunged the tip of one purple-and-green-striped stick into a marshmallow and grinned right back at her. “Hey, Ark Man,” he called. “We’re making the treats. You better come help us so you’ll be able to tell the other kids how to make ’em.”

      Jesse hadn’t given a thought to calling Noah until he glanced at Maddie and suddenly realized he should have let her do that. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she stopped him with a tearful look.

      “Thank you,” she whispered, just before her son appeared. “We found stir sticks for the I Have a Dream treats, Noah. Emma sent them in that basket of stuff.”

      “Huh.” Noah watched Jesse, who drew his attention to the melting caramels. The boy spread the crisp noodles on a sheet of wax paper as directed, then mimicked Jesse’s action, dipping a skewered marshmallow into the melted candy, rolling it in the noodles and standing it in a glass to set.

      “Wait,” Jesse ordered, when they’d made a total of three treats. Mother and son turned questioning gazes on him. “There’s no point in making any more unless they taste okay. Go ahead,” he urged Noah. “Do a taste test.”

      Noah glanced at his mom, who nodded. With exaggerated slowness he lifted one of the sticks from the glass and tried to bite the caramel. Of course the marshmallow moved, escaping his teeth. Jesse couldn’t control his amusement, until Noah set the stick down, his face a wounded mask.

      “This is what you looked like.” Jesse made a fool of himself trying to coax a laugh from Noah and his mother and finally succeeded. “Now this is the proper way to eat them, or at least it’s how I’ve always eaten them.” He popped an entire marshmallow into his mouth, closed his eyes and chewed. “Mmm. I’d forgotten how good these were.” He savored the taste.

      Maddie reached for the last one. She put it in her mouth hesitantly, but then her eyes widened as she chewed.

      “Noah,” she said, wonder coloring her musical voice. “Taste it. They’re delicious.”

      “Sweets are bad for you,” Noah recited. “A third of all children starting school have tooth decay.”

      “It’s okay to have a treat now and then,” she told him.

      Jesse could see how hard the boy was finding it to taste the candy. Those rules again. Someone had sure brainwashed him.

      “Too many sweets are bad for you,” he agreed. “But you’re not going to have too many. Are you, Ark Man?”

      After a moment, Noah shook his head, picked up his skewer and studied it with a critical eye. “I like triangles,” he said firmly. “They’re the best. These are circles.”

      Jesse blinked. “Uh, I don’t know how to make them into triangles.”

      “It doesn’t matter.” Maddie intervened with a smile. “Just try it, Noah,” she encouraged. “Circles are good, too. Think about apples and oranges.”

      “I like triangles.” But he did slide the covered marshmallow into his mouth. The myriad of expressions that chased across his face was a delight Jesse was glad he was there to witness.

      “So