Redemption Ranch. Leann Harris

dog’s head.

       The dog had started alerting Tyler when he’d detected the dream and would wake Tyler. The first time Dogger did that they’d just returned stateside, and he was at home with his foster parents. Tyler had started dreaming about Paul’s death, but before the dream ramped up, Dogger had jumped on the bed and started licking his face. Tyler woke up with a jerk, coming face-to-face with the dog. It took a moment for his brain to clear and understand what the dog had done. Dogger lay down on the bed and looked at him. His foster parents had run into his room, panicked, and looked helpless. He explained it was just a bad dream. They reluctantly left.

       From that time on, Dogger started to sleep beside Tyler. Dogger had been his guard against the nightmare. It also spared him from having his foster parents run into his room and witness him in the throes of the dream.

       It had been months since he’d had the dream, so why now?

       Popping up the can tab, he took a swallow and thought about what happened this afternoon with Beth. Was that it?

       He’d noticed her the first day he’d been here at the ranch. Well, what man with breath wouldn’t notice her? With reddish-brown curls that touched her shoulders, intense green eyes and a joyous smile, she attracted people to her like a magnet. She did everything with an enthusiasm that was contagious. He’d seen her talk a grumpy child out of his pout and enjoy the riding lesson.

       Her laughter made his heart ache, wanting things that he knew were beyond him now. But as he witnessed Zach’s and Sophie’s secret smiles and constant touches, it made him yearn for things that could never be. It also made him realize how far off that dream was for him.

       Scratching the dog’s head, he said, “So you like her, huh? You think the lady needs to be your friend?”

       Dogger sat up and cocked his head.

       “So what do you see in her that deserves your trust?”

       The dog ignored him and settled his head on his paws, leaving Tyler no closer to an answer than he was before.

       When he dragged himself to bed an hour later, it was the question he fell asleep thinking about.

      Chapter Two

      Beth pulled her truck into one of the empty parking spaces behind the stables and grabbed the tote containing her ranch clothes, boots and cowboy hat. She’d been volunteering at the ranch long before Zach started attending therapy sessions for his war injuries. Eventually he fell in love and married the woman running the place, Sophie Powell. Once they bought New Hope Ranch, they renamed it Second Chance Ranch in honor of Zach.

       Slipping the tote over her shoulder, she started toward the ranch office needing to change her clothes. She couldn’t work with the horses and kids in heels and a straight black skirt. Her quick trip to New York to review the department store’s purchases had only taken a few days, and she was glad to make it back for her favorite little girl, Chelsea, who came weekly for rehabilitation of her legs after the car accident she’d been in.

       As Beth walked into the business office, she saw a young kid sitting on a bench by the stable doors. His thin arms were wrapped around his chest and his mouth was compressed into a stubborn line, daring anyone to mess with him.

       “Hey, Sophie, how are you feeling today?”

       Sophie looked up from her computer screen and took another bite of her banana covered in peanut butter. “Hungry. And the cravings are—let’s just say your brother can only shake his head in awe. He tried making a comment when I dipped a sweet pickle into some apricot jam. The fact that I burst out crying made him quickly apologize. Since then, he doesn’t comment. Kinda walks quietly around me.”

       Beth laughed. “It serves him right.” She hurried into the bathroom and changed her clothes. Stuffing her heels and skirt into her bag, she walked outside the bathroom, holding her boots and socks. She sat down by Sophie and started to pull on her socks.

       “Who’s the kid sitting outside the stable door with the don’t-talk-to-me look on his face?”

       “He’s the new kid Tyler wanted to bring to hang around for a while. He’s the brother of one of the guys in his unit in Iraq.”

       “And?”

       Sophie shrugged. “Tyler said the kid needs to focus on something else besides his computer games.”

       “That’s it? He didn’t offer any other explanation?”

       Sophie put down her jar of peanut butter and gave Beth a look. “Tyler has that look on his face that Zach had when he first came here, which told me any other questions I had would be met with a grunt.” She shrugged and dipped her finger into the peanut butter. “So I decided not to push it.”

       Pursuing her lips, Beth shifted them from side to side as she considered the situation. “His reasoning was the kid needs to do more than play computer games? Half the kids in this country fall into that category.”

       “I know.” Sophie licked the peanut butter off her fingers. “There’s more to the story, but who was I going to ask? The grumpy kid or the tight-lipped adult?”

       A laugh burst out of Beth’s mouth. Sophie grinned.

       “So that’s the lay of the land?”

       “Yup, so be careful.”

       “You make it sound like I’m going to war.”

       “That’s a good way to look at it.”

       “Thanks, friend. I’ll be sure not to take the rejection personally.” Beth stepped outside, paused and leaned back through the doorway into the office. “When’s Captain Kaye scheduled to start?”

       “Tomorrow afternoon. Zach’s going to work with her.”

       “I’ll try to be here, too.” As Beth strode toward the open stable doors, she noticed the kid hadn’t moved, but Dogger had settled at the boy’s feet.

       Putting on her straw hat, she walked to the stable entrance. The boy tried not to look, but she noticed him peeking at her under his lashes. She stopped by his side and the kid tensed. She didn’t have two older brothers and not know how to approach a prickly male.

       Beth knelt and held out her hand, and Dogger raised his head and welcomed the touch.

       “How you doing?” she asked the dog.

       The boy’s head came up, surprised that she wasn’t talking to him.

       “Dogger, I’m jealous,” she whispered, leaning toward the dog. “It took you close to a month to offer me your friendship and here you are hanging out with a new person immediately.” She sighed. “What am I to think? That you like him more than me?” Continuing to stroke the dog’s head, she looked up. “He plays hard to get most of the time.”

       The boy’s eyes widened.

       Beth decided not to push her luck, patted Dogger’s head, stood and walked into the stables. She turned around to watch the boy’s reaction. He looked over his shoulder, a frown furrowing his brows.

       She chuckled and turned around and ran smack-dab into a wide chest. She bounced off it, knocking her hat off. Instantly, the man’s hands shot out to steady her. She looked up into Tyler Lynch’s deep brown eyes.

       “I need to put a bell on you, you know that?” The words popped out of her mouth before she thought.

       Tyler’s eyes widened, then a deep-throated chuckle rumbled through his chest. The sound filled the dim interior of the stables.

       Feeling the electricity to her toes, she smiled back. “I do seem to be in the wrong spot for you, don’t I?”

       “I’d say so.”

       He continued to hold her arms, and she wondered if he realized what he was doing. Sadly, his hands fell away and he stepped back.