A Family For The Rancher. Allison B. Collins

      “Maddy! Madison!” a woman’s frantic voice called. Kelsey? A light dawned and he realized this must be her daughter.

      “It’s okay, Madison. I know your mommy.” His words were still drowned out by her voice. Her very loud voice.

      “Maddy! What is it? Are you hurt?” Kelsey stumbled through another break in the trees. She knelt down in front of the girl and frantically checked her over. “Sweetie, what’s wrong? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

      The little girl’s screams subsided into gulping sobs, and she pointed at him.

      Even though he was a few yards away, he saw Kelsey freeze, prepared to pounce on whatever threatened her daughter. She grabbed a thick stick next to her, leaped to her feet and whirled around to face him.

      “Nash?” she asked, looking around the perimeter of the pond.

      He waved. “Hiya.”

      “Um...is there a wild animal here?”

      “Nope.”

      “Why is my daughter screaming?”

      He held up his leg. “I was getting ready to swi—”

      Maddy screamed again, Kelsey dropped the stick and picked her up. She walked several feet away and turned around so the girl wasn’t facing him anymore.

      This was the damn reason he didn’t want to be around people. Ever again. They’d see him as a freak. He’d come home to prove he was still the same person.

      But even a little girl knew he wasn’t.

      He started to climb down, then realized he was still naked. Looking up to ask Kelsey to leave, he could tell she’d just realized he was naked, too. Color swept up her neck, then her face, until she looked like a sun-ripened strawberry. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her tongue darting out to lick her lower lip.

      He hardened instantly and hunched over, trying to hide it with the T-shirt. How could one look from her turn him on so much? Even when she was trying to calm her daughter down? Glancing at the water, he knew he needed to get in there. Fast. Or he’d embarrass both of them to no end.

      He looked up to ask her to leave, but didn’t see either of them. Great. He dropped the leg on the rock, wincing as it hit the granite with a clang. Scooting to the edge, he lowered himself into the water, grateful for the freezing runoff from the glacier that fed into the stream, filling his pond.

      Scanning the area once more, he was satisfied they were gone. Letting himself go, he floated, the sun heating his front, and the water cooling his back. His muscles relaxed, bit by bit, and the pain in his leg reduced to random twinges.

      He let the cold water soothe his aches. If only it could soothe the noise in his head. Squinching his eyes closed, he still heard the little girl’s screams echo in his brain. She’d been terrified of him. Without even opening his eyes, he knew he looked like a monster. Between the white scars against his tanned skin, and no leg—no wonder the poor kid had screamed.

      Great reinforcement for not having kids. Not that any woman would want him anyway. He didn’t want to mentally scar the kids he used to want, and hoped Madison would forget what she’d seen an hour ago.

      Maybe I can just stay here, never leave this place. A flash of Kelsey’s blue eyes squinting at him as she pushed him in rehab made him think she’d just hunt him down here so she could torture him some more. “Screw her,” he mumbled.

      And of course those words made him think about what it would be like to do that to her literally. Not that she’d let him. But considering the way his body reacted just thinking about her, he could at least fantasize in case he needed to take matters into his own hand. The cold water wasn’t helping right now, and he cupped himself, wishing...

      “I wanted to apol—”

      He jackknifed up, then his foot slipped off a rock, and he went underwater. Thrashing around for balance, he rose up for air, coughing up the water he’d swallowed.

      Kelsey stood at the edge of the pond, her hands plastered over her eyes. From what little he could see of her cheeks, they were blazing red.

      Great. Just great. Did she actually see me...?

      “Why’d you come back? Where’s Maddy?” he asked, moving his arms back and forth for balance, trying to stay upright.

      She lowered her hands to look at him. “She’s with my mother back at the car. We finished our picnic and I wanted to say I’m sorry for Maddy’s—” Her hands flew up again to cover her eyes.

      “What’s wrong?”

      “That’s really clear water in the pond there. Did you know that?”

      “Sure. The water all over the ranch is like this.”

      “You can see every rock, every plant, real clear.” She still hadn’t lowered her hands.

      He looked down and saw everything magnified in the waist-deep water. Dammit. He started swimming, or trying to, and ended up practically dog-paddling to the edge. The rock ledge loomed over him, and he reached to pull himself up. It had been a long time since he’d been to the pond, and he’d forgotten that to get out, he needed to push off. With his legs.

      “Uh, Kelsey?”

      “Yes,” she answered, still covering her eyes.

      “I need a hand to get out.”

      “Oh.”

      He waited, could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

      “Maybe we could turn this into a session.” She peeked out through her fingers, he assumed to assess the rock, shoreline and find a way he could get out.

      “Just get me out of here,” he growled.

      “You’re going to have to learn how to do this on your own if you come back here. Might as well start today.”

      “Get me the hell out of this pond. Don’t lecture me about rehab. I can’t get out by myself. You think that makes me happy?” If she said one more damn word about rehab, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.

      “Fine,” she huffed, dropping her hands to her sides. She stomped to the edge and held her hand out.

      He reached up to grab her hand, and she pulled. Using his foot, he tried to scramble as best he could up the slippery slope.

      She gripped his wrist with her other hand and pulled again, just as he started sliding backward. He tried to let go, but she followed him with a big splash and sank underwater. She rose to the surface, spluttering and coughing.

      “Kelsey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

      Her outrage was so absolute he was surprised the water didn’t start boiling around them. Her black as sin hair plastered to her head, and she scooped it out of her eyes.

      A tickle rose up his throat, and he tried to cough it back. Which only made it worse. It turned into a snort.

      “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” The accusatory finger aimed his way could have been a lethal weapon.

      Choking back another laugh, he held his hands up. “No, ma’am. Honestly, I didn’t.”

      Her eyes narrowed, and she swiped a hand down her face. “Better not have, mister,” she muttered, heading for the shore.

      Another laugh bubbled up, and it felt so foreign, he let it out. Which was followed by another laugh, sounding rusty even to his ears.

      She froze and slowly turned to face him. Drawing her hand back, she swooshed it across the surface, sending a tidal wave of water into his face.

      It should have pissed him off, but even as he coughed out the water, he admired her feistiness.

      Reaching the shore a few yards from the