.

“The more you practice—” he began to reel it in “—the more used to it you become.” He held up his freshly coiled rope.

      “Awesome.” Colton practically beamed as he made another attempt.

      Noah, however, found his thoughts preoccupied once again by the boy’s mother. Why did it chafe him so that Lily had questioned his integrity?

      He glanced from Colton to Lily to one of the hands who was tending to the horses. Because in his world, integrity was everything. A man without honor was nothing but a coward in his book. And for some strange reason, he wanted Lily and her children to see him as honorable.

      He shook his head. Ridiculous. Why should he care what they thought? They were strangers. Which made his reaction even more preposterous.

      “How come I’m not on a horse?”

      He jerked his gaze back to Colton, annoyed that he’d allowed himself to be distracted. “There are two parts to roping. Rope handling and horsemanship. You have to learn both, though we won’t put the two together for a while yet. We’ll work with a horse during your next lesson.”

      “Next lesson? You mean we’re done already?”

      “We’ve been working for almost two hours.” And Lily had been watching them from the second row the entire time.

      Colton’s eyes widened. “Really?”

      “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

      “Yea—Yes, sir.”

      Noah ruffled the kid’s sandy brown hair. “Good boy.”

      Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father take a seat beside Lily.

      She smiled as they talked, making Noah uneasy. What were they discussing? Colton? The weather? After Dad’s little talk the other day, not to mention his comment about Lily being pretty, there was no telling what the old man was apt to say.

      Noah cringed at the possibilities.

      “Okay, Colton, how about we plan to meet again Monday morning?”

      “Aww, but I’m just getting good.”

      “All right then, you can keep practicing while I go talk to your mother.” Because the more he saw Lily laugh, the more he wanted to know what she and his father were discussing.

      A few minutes later, he hopped the fence to join the three of them. “What’s going on?”

      Hands clasped, forearms on his thighs, his father looked up at him. “Lily here was just telling me that she plans a lot of charity events back in Denver.”

      “That’s nice.” He glanced at Lily. Dressed in jeans and riding boots with a navy blazer over a white T-shirt, she looked ready for English riding. Something she wasn’t likely to find at Abundant Blessings Ranch.

      “Big events.” Dad’s dark brown eyes glinted with pleasure. “Like grand openings.”

      Noah glared at his father, knowing good and well what he was up to. He wanted Lily to help them. Well, Noah wasn’t biting.

      “Mommy gave me the best princess birthday party ever.” Piper moved behind her mother, snaking her arms around Lily’s shoulders.

      “I see.” Birthday parties. Kids’ parties, at that. Not exactly the kind of event he had in mind.

      “She also hosted Denver’s Oil Baron’s Ball,” said Dad.

      Noah lifted his hat to scratch his head. Okay, so that was a little higher up the scale. Still, that didn’t mean Lily should help him.

      Straightening, his father twisted to give Lily his full attention. “Did you know that Noah is in the process of expanding our little riding school?”

      She peered up at Noah. “I heard mention of rodeo lessons.”

      Noah cleared his throat. “Actually, we’re expanding to a year-round rodeo school.” He shifted from one foot to the next. “The new arena is still under construction, but it should be ready sometime in August.”

      “Is that the building going up next door?” She pointed in the general vicinity.

      “Sure is,” Dad answered before Noah even had a chance. “The grand opening is set for Labor Day weekend to coincide with the annual rodeo in Ridgway. Problem is that Noah doesn’t have any time to promote or plan the event.” He shrugged. “Not that he really knows much about that sort of thing.”

      Noah shook his head. He knew the old man was trying to help, that he wanted the rodeo school to succeed every bit as much as Noah did, but sometimes he just didn’t know when to shut up.

      “Dad, I—”

      “Mom could help you. She knows all about planning stuff.”

      Noah jerked his head to discover Colton standing beside him. “I thought you were practicing.”

      The boy lowered his gaze. “It wasn’t as fun without you.”

      Noah’s heart swelled, though he quickly tamped it down. “Your mom is on vacation, Colton.”

      “I know, but she always says parties and stuff aren’t really work.” He looked at Lily. “Right, Mom?”

      The poor woman seemed to be at a loss for words. She was no more interested in giving Noah her help than he was in receiving it. Yet while he’d come to accept that he did, indeed, need some sort of help, he’d prefer to hire someone local. Someone familiar with rodeo. Not a city girl who was afraid of horses.

      He set a hand on Colton’s shoulder. “Colton, that’s not fair to your mom. You all are here because she wants to spend time with you and Piper, not some grungy old cowboys.”

      “That’s okay,” chimed Piper. “We can help, too.”

      “Yeah,” said Colton. “We’ll still be together.”

      Dad stood then. “I’m afraid Noah’s right, kids. It’s not fair to volunteer your mother like that.”

      Noah’s brow lifted. Dad was the one who started this whole discussion.

      “Thank you for understanding.” Lily reached for Colton’s hand. “This summer is all about my kids.”

      “As it should be.” Ignoring the unexpected wave of disappointment that came over him, he studied the woman laughing with her children. Lily might know how to put on a good party, but she was the wrong candidate for this job.

       Chapter Three

      Lily stood at the top of Hurricane Pass the next afternoon, savoring the breathtaking view. At more than twelve thousand feet, it felt as though she was on top of the world.

      Brown, barren peaks stretched out before her as far as she could see, while lush green mingled with patches of snow across their rocky slopes. She drew in a long breath of crisp mountain air. Simply glorious.

      This was exactly what she’d envisioned when she decided to bring the kids to Ouray. Jeep rides in the mountains, exploring God’s creation...togetherness.

      “What do you guys think?” She eyed her children, who had finally stopped throwing snowballs at each other long enough to join her.

      “Spectacular!” Her daughter tossed her arms wide in typical Piper fashion.

      “It’s okay.” Hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie, Colton squinted against the sun. “It would be cooler on a horse.”

      Lily tried to keep her groan to herself. She was beginning to regret ever having taken the kids to Abundant Blessings Ranch. All she’d heard about the past four days was horses, riding, roping... Not to mention how she should help