Raising The Rancher's Family. Patricia Thayer

plates from the cupboard and carried them to the table. “That doesn’t mean he isn’t out there.” She went back and poured two glasses of milk, staying busy to keep calm. “I have some places to check tomorrow.” She sat down next to Zach, tugging her makeshift robe over her knees. “I thought I’d try the old Hutchinson mine up on the south ridge.”

      “That’s a thought,” Zach said. “There’s water close by and even though the cabin is old, it’s still in good shape.” He bit into his sandwich.

      “Hey, don’t I have a say in this?” Holt asked. “I can’t keep traipsing around the countryside looking for a kid who doesn’t want to be found.”

      Leah tensed. “Then I’ll go by myself.”

      “Not without my permission.”

      She caught his determined gaze, but she wasn’t intimidated. “I’m sure the sheriff could get some volunteers together within an hour and search until nightfall.”

      Holt glared. “I don’t like being threatened.”

      “Not any more than I like to think about a child being left out there alone.” She got up from the table, went to the mudroom and slammed the door behind her.

      “Well, you’ve done it now,” Zach said as he looked at Holt. “Maybe where you come from people don’t care about other people, but around here we take care of our own. If you won’t go with Leah, then I will.”

      Holt tensed, knowing it wasn’t true that everyone in Destiny took care of, their own. His father hadn’t. Something tightened in his chest. Even Holt wasn’t so callous as to let a kid roam around the wilderness.

      “Will you stop grumbling? I didn’t say I wouldn’t go.” Ignoring the gleam in the old man’s eyes, he stood and went to the mudroom. He opened the door just in time to see Leah pull her jeans over those long smooth legs.

      Damn. His body suddenly stirred to life.

      She jerked around and fisted the shirt edges together. “Do you mind?”

      Holt leaned against the doorjamb as if the intimacy of watching her didn’t bother him at all. Like hell. He forced a smile. “Not at all.”

      Leah turned her back on him and fastened the jeans. “I’m going back to town now. I’ll get your shirt back to you.”

      “Keep it as long as you want. It looks a lot better on you anyway.”

      She ignored him and pulled on her boots, then grabbed her blouse and bra off the dryer. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

      He nodded. “I’ll have the horses saddled about eight.”

      She froze. “But I thought—”

      “I only said I couldn’t keep doing this all day…every day. I do have to help Zach with chores, and we’re trying to organize the roundup.”

      “I know.” Her expression softened as she came closer. “Holt, I appreciate your time and help, especially after the mishap in the mine.”

      She looked young…and innocent as she flashed those big brown eyes at him. He felt the reaction deep in his gut. She drew more than protective instincts from him. “That’s why you shouldn’t go into those mines alone.”

      Leah nibbled on her lower lip. “So…I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she said.

      Holt nodded, not trusting himself with saying anything more.

      “Goodbye,” she said, then darted out the door and down the steps. The rain had slowed to a soft drizzle, but she seemed to hardly notice it. Leah raised her face skyward and drew a deep breath before she got into her car.

      From the window he watched her drive off. Had he ever been that carefree? He knew the answer to that. He’d been driven all his life. His mother, Elizabeth Pershing, had expected certain things from her only child. He had to uphold the blue-blood old Boston Pershing family’s name. And being the son of a Colorado rancher had already been a black mark against him. As hard as he tried, Holt never felt good enough to be a Pershing. He’d once overheard his grandparents say that Elizabeth had made a mistake marrying, and having a child with John Rawlins. Holt never doubted that he was the “mistake.”

      The one difference between himself and his mother was he’d finally stopped trying to please the family. When he’d heard of John Rawlins’s death—and even with his Grandmother Pershing’s threats to disinherit him—Holt had quit his job and moved to Colorado to take over the ranch.

      He walked away from his career and from the woman he supposedly loved. Melanie was everything a man could want. But when she wanted to settle down and start a family, he couldn’t take that step.

      He wasn’t sure if he was capable of love.

      “Leah, did you hear what I said?” Morgan asked.

      “What?” Leah glanced at her sister, embarrassed that she’d been caught daydreaming.

      “I asked if you think the church hall is big enough for Mom and Dad’s anniversary party.”

      “Well, you should know better than I do. How many people will the place hold? Are we inviting the entire town?”

      The always organized and composed Morgan looked anything but that today. “I’m not sure,” she said. “It’s just that we’ve got the town’s Founder’s Day celebration at the same time.”

      Morgan was the only one of the Keenan sisters who had stayed in Destiny. Leah had taken off to photograph the world. Paige, with her law degree, took a job with the D.A. in Denver. Morgan’s dream had always been to teach school. But while she’d been student teaching in an inner-city school, she’d suddenly come home. To stay. She’d said that she’d changed her mind about her career, then soon after opened a gift shop in the Keenan Inn. Since then Morgan hadn’t traveled any farther away from Destiny than Durango. She’d been the one here for the family, especially her sisters.

      Leah decided it was about time she and Paige helped out.

      “When did you say Paige was coming home?” Leah asked.

      “Not sure. The last time I talked to her she was working on a big criminal case. She’s hoping she’ll make it by the end of the month.”

      Leah frowned. “That only leaves us two weeks before the party.”

      “I’ll take whatever I can get.” Morgan smiled. “I’m just glad you could get so much time off. Three years is too long to be away.”

      Guilt made Leah blush. “You always knew I was an eager kid with big dreams. I had to grab an opportunity when it was handed to me.”

      “Are you sorry?” Morgan asked.

      “Of course there are times,” Leah began, “that I missed the family.” So many nights she’d cried herself to sleep after she photographed all the pain and suffering. It was what hadn’t gone into print that truly haunted her. She sighed. “But Our World magazine gave me an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” For the last three years, she’d led Morgan to think her life was so glamorous, but the faces of the children she had to walk away from would bother her always.