Mirror Image Bride. Barbara McMahon

to stay on. But he didn’t want to risk her falling off.

      “Rambo’s the best for Darcy.”

      “Rambo?” Maddie said with some trepidation, even though Ty had assured her that Rambo was gentle.

      “Hey, no one knows what a horse is going to be like when it’s a foal. His first owners obviously thought he’d be a take-charge champion. He’s slow, hard to get into second gear and perfect for a little girl to start on.”

      “What about a bigger girl?” Maddie asked, tentatively patting the head of one of the horses by the rail.

      “Who did you ride before?”

      “I think Violet said his name was Shadow—the horse was dark gray.”

      “And you stayed on, right?”

      “Well, he didn’t buck. I sat there and held on for dear life.”

      Ty gave a slow smile. Maddie was gutsy on the outside, but he suspected she was as nervous around horses as Darcy. He looked at her and was surprised at the look on her face.

      “You should smile more often,” she said softly.

      Which instantly wiped the smile from his face. He went to the barn to get halters and lead ropes.

      “Tonight we’ll get acquainted. I’ll bring them into the barn and you two can groom them, learn how to walk around them, clean their hooves, that kind of thing.”

      “They’re awfully big,” Darcy said, moving closer to Maddie.

      When Maddie put her arm casually around Darcy’s shoulders, Ty felt a pang of longing. He wished his daughter would step closer to him when she was scared. Wished he felt comfortable enough around her to put his arm across her shoulder. Wished he knew if she even wanted him to.

      Darcy had worn her hat. Now she had to tip her head back to see him from beneath the brim. “Do they kick or bite?”

      “Some do, not the ones we’ll be dealing with. Mostly, Jack and I don’t put up with horses who don’t have good manners. Too distracting.” He nodded briskly. “Come on, let’s get Rambo first.”

      The next hour Ty spent going over things with Darcy, and all the while Maddie was hovering over his shoulder. He cross-tied the horse in the center of the barn and brought out the equipment to properly groom him. Darcy started out checking with Maddie for every task he explained to her. As if to verify with the other city girl that it was something she could do.

      He tried not to become frustrated. She’d recently lost her mother. She hadn’t known about him. She wasn’t used to horses or him. But it was getting to him.

      Finally, he turned to Maddie. “Maybe this would go better if you weren’t here.”

      “No, Maddie, don’t leave,” Darcy protested, moving to stand beside her.

      “I’m not leaving. And it’s going great. Let me have a brush and we’ll brush down this side and then you and your dad can brush down the other side while I comb his mane and tail.”

      Okay, so suggesting Darcy’s touchstone leave hadn’t been so smart. But Maddie’s solution had been. It would unite the two of them in one project. Baby steps, Ty reminded himself.

      It was easier dealing with cowboys.

      * * *

      Once Maddie had Darcy in bed, she walked out onto the front porch where Ty sat contemplating how he didn’t feel one bit closer to his daughter despite spending the major portion of the day with her.

      “She’s excited about grooming the horse and talked about Rambo the entire time she was getting ready for bed,” Maddie said as she walked out of the house.

      “Didn’t seem like it to me,” he grumbled. He gestured to the bench, hoping she’d stay a little longer. Give him some pointers, maybe.

      She sat on the bench and smiled at him. “I’ve noticed she’s a bit shy around you. The only way past that is for her to get to know you better. Find some common ground.” She paused. “So you need to plan activities that you two can do together—to build that parent-child bond.”

      “Like what?” Ty asked impatiently.

      “Like going inside to tuck her in. She’s still awake.”

      Nodding tersely, he rose and went into the house. He wanted to be the one to tuck her in every night, until she got too old for that. But when he stepped into her room, she had her back to the door.

      “Darcy?”

      “Huh?” She rolled over and looked at him.

      “Good night,” he said, going down on his knees by her bed and brushing her hair off her forehead. Her cowboy hat was at the foot of her bed, the boots right beside it.

      “Thank you for buying me cowboy clothes,” she said softly.

      “Hey, you have to fit in, right?”

      She nodded, her eyes shining. “And when I can ride, I can go all over the ranch with you.”

      “Yes, you can.” He kissed her cheek and smiled. “Sleep well.”

      “Okay.” She rolled over again and he rose to leave. Just before he turned out the light, he looked at his daughter. He was still amazed he’d fathered a child, and she had captured his heart the first time he saw her. He only wanted the best life had to offer for her. She’d had a bad break with her mother dying. Please, Father, keep this child in the hollow of Your hand, he silently prayed.

      When he stepped out onto the porch, he looked out over the ranch. This was his life, the only one he knew or wanted. “How do I ease a child into this life when she’s used to apartment living and being supervised all the time? I have to work. I can’t take off to be with her all the time until she’s grown,” he said as he rejoined Maddie on the bench.

      “She’ll come around. Don’t forget, it’s less than two weeks ago that everything in her life changed. Children are resilient. She’ll gradually get used to things, and in a few months will hardly remember her first days here.”

      Maddie looked at her boots, then looked up at him and grinned. “I feel like a cowgirl today.”

      “You might look the part, but once the novelty wears off, you’ll leave,” he said, but he took a look at her happy expression and wished he’d kept quiet. If she wanted to play dress-up for a while, he didn’t care. It wasn’t as if he was planning on her staying. Once burned, twice shy.

      “Umm, maybe you’re right or maybe you’re wrong. Only time will tell, won’t it?” she asked easily.

      They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, then Ty’s curiosity got the better of him.

      “So how does it feel to suddenly discover the other half of your family?” he asked. Maybe Darcy felt the same and it would help if he knew how to respond.

      “Weird, mostly. And frustrating. I have a thousand questions and no answers. Belle is my mother, if she’s Violet’s, there’s no question about that. Yet all my life I thought Sharla was. It’s her name on my birth certificate.”

      “Maybe she adopted you. Doesn’t the state change birth records in cases of adoption?” he asked.

      “I guess. But why didn’t I ever know that? I thought the current thinking was adopted children should know that all along.”

      “Did you ask your father?”

      “I’ve been trying to reach him for five weeks. Dad takes off on missionary trips for weeks at a time. He’s a doctor and provides medical care in poverty-stricken areas here and abroad. Last I heard he was heading down near the border. He’s never been one to check in often, but this is the longest I can remember him being incommunicado.” She sighed. “Even if I reached him, there’s no telling what he’ll say.”