The Rancher's Return. Carolyne Aarsen

a connection or to build a sense of community. Which had suited him just fine.

      But standing here, watching Wade work, not talking, just being, he found he missed this place he knew as well as he knew his own face.

      Wade looked up at him, as if sensing his melancholy. “Did you miss the place? The work?”

      Carter bit his lip, not sure what to say. “I missed parts of it. I missed seeing my family. Nana, the cousins. You and Miranda.”

      “I missed you too, man,” Wade said. To Carter’s surprise, he saw the glint of moisture in his friend’s eyes.

      The sight of Wade’s unexpected tears created an answering emotion that he fought to push down. Emotions took over, and he didn’t dare go down that road. Not alone, as he was now.

      “I couldn’t come back, Wade. I couldn’t.”

      “I know, but you’re here now.”

      “You may as well know,” Carter said, taking a breath and plunging in, “I’m not coming back here to stay.”

      Wade frowned, pushing his glasses up his nose. “What? Why not? I thought that was the reason you came back.”

      “My Nana’s heart attack was the main reason I’m here.” Carter held his friend’s puzzled gaze and steeled himself to the hurt in Wade’s voice. “I can’t live here. I can’t come back. I’m going to sell the place. Sell the Rocking K.”

       Chapter Three

      Emma looked up from her Bible and glanced over at Adam, still sleeping in the bunk across the cabin from her. The morning sun slanted across the bed, a splash of gold.

      What was she going to tell him?

      Yesterday, after working with Banjo, she had come to get Elijah when Wade was done shoeing him. Then she overheard Carter’s determined voice say, “I’m going to sell the place.”

      If Carter Beck was selling the ranch, would she still have a chance at getting the acreage? For that matter, would she still have a job? Would she and Adam have to move again?

      Her questions had fluttered like crows through her mind while, on the other side of the barn, she heard Carter make his plans. He was going into town to list the property. Nana Beck was moving off the ranch. It was time.

      Each word fell like an ax blow. She’d prayed so hard to be shown what to do. When she had left her father’s ranch, she had made two promises to herself, that she would trust in God to guide her life, and that Adam would always be her first priority when she made her plans.

      Coming to Hartley Creek and the Rocking K Ranch fit so well with both. Here she had found work she loved, had found community and, yes, some type of family. Nana Beck had taken her and Adam in and Shannon, Carter’s cousin, had become a friend to her.

      And Adam. Adam loved the ranch and everything about it. It was as if he blossomed here.

      So what was God trying to teach her with this? Why had He brought everything together so well only to take it away?

      Sorry, Lord, I don’t get what is going on right now, Emma thought, closing her Bible.

      Adam stirred on his bed, stretched his arms out, then turned to her, his smile dimpling his still-chubby cheeks. His hair, a tangle of blond, stuck up in all directions. “Hi, Mommy. Is it morning? Is it time to get up yet?”

      “That it is.” Emma smiled and set her Bible aside. She hadn’t slept well and had been awake since five o’clock. She’d been reading, praying, trying to find some guidance and direction for her life.

      If nothing came of her plans for the acreage, then it was up to her to figure out her next move. She took another calming breath. Please, Lord, help me to trust in You alone, she prayed. Help me to know that my hope is in You.

      Adam sat up and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. Then he bounded out of the bed onto the floor, wide awake, ready to go. Emma envied him his energy, his ability to instantly wake up when his eyes opened.

      “Am I still coming with you and Wade today?” he asked, pulling his pajama top off over his head. “When you go up to check the cows?”

      “I think so. It won’t be a long ride.” Four days ago she and Wade had planned to take a trip to the upper pastures to check on the grass. Wade wanted to make sure they weren’t overgrazing, and she had promised Adam he could come along.

      “Here, let me help you with that,” she said, handing him a clean T-shirt. “Once you’re changed, I want you to go wash your hands and face and get ready for breakfast.”

      Adam tugged the brown T-shirt over his head and yanked on his blue jeans. “Can we have breakfast with Wade and Miranda? She is making pancakes and said I had to ask if we could eat there.”

      “But I thought we could have breakfast here.” Though she knew plain toast couldn’t compete with Miranda’s chocolate chip pancakes, Emma treasured her alone time with Adam.

      “Mom, please?” Adam drooped his shoulders, his hands clenched together in front of him, the picture of abject sorrow and pleading. “I love, love, love chocolate chip pancakes.”

      Adam made the best puppy dog eyes of any child she had ever known.

      “Okay. But don’t ask me tomorrow.”

      Adam launched himself at her, giving her a huge hug. “I love you, Mommy,” he said, his voice muffled against her shirt.

      The clutch of her son’s small arms around her waist sent a powerful wave of love washing over her. “I love you too, my little guy,” she murmured, brushing down his unruly hair with her hand. “Now let’s go brush your hair then see if Miranda and Wade are up yet.”

      Once Adam was cleaned up, they headed out the door and down the wooden steps. According to Wade, they were staying in the cabin that Carter and his grandfather had built for Shannon, Carter’s oldest cousin, who lived in Hartley Creek and worked as a nurse.

      When their mother died, Garret and Carter moved from the little house they had shared with Noelle Beck into the main house with their grandparents. But the town cousins, Hailey, Naomi and Shannon, came up almost every weekend and for most of the summer to stay at the ranch. Bill Beck, Carter’s grandfather, came up with the idea of building a cabin for each of the girls so they could have their own place to stay when they came.

      Emma loved the story, and every time she walked up to the trio of cabins nestled against the pine trees, she tried to imagine five cousins spending time together, staying overnight in one of the cabins as a group, probably sharing stories. She felt a twinge of envy for what Carter had, and wondered again how he could simply walk away from all this.

      Adam clung to her hand, swinging it as they walked. The sun shone overhead. A few wispy clouds trailed across the blue sky, promising another beautiful day.

      “Good morning, Mr. Carter,” Adam called out.

      Carter stood on the porch of the far cabin, leaning on the railing and nursing a cup of coffee. The fall of dark hair across his face and the whiskers shadowing his lean jaw made it look as if he had just woken up, as well.

      Her heart skipped a little at the sight.

      Then she caught herself. If she reacted to seeing him, it was because he held her future in his hands. Had nothing to do with his looks, because she wasn’t looking. Men were an unnecessary complication she had no desire to bring into her and Adam’s life.

      “Good morning yourself,” Carter said, straightening.

      “Did you hear the coyotes last night?” Adam asked. “I heard them, but I think they stayed away.”

      Carter gave him a nod and then glanced at Emma. For a moment their eyes met and as before, something indefinable thrummed between them—an awareness that created both anticipation and discomfort.