The donkey skidded to a halt instantly.
Tucker held her tightly with one arm and shooed the silly animal away. It turned and trotted off, as if it hadn’t just tried to mow her down.
“They just get excited sometimes. No harm meant,” Tucker assured her. His soft chuckle washed over her. “It’s okay.”
Suzie was mortified that she’d run to him. That she was now in his arms. And her crazy heart was pounding, even as his low rumbling chuckle resonated through her. What was wrong with her? She was reacting to Tucker’s touch as if...as if she were attracted to him. Even the thought made her ill, made her feel like a traitor.
True, she hadn’t been held like this in almost three years because when Gordon died it’d been months since she’d seen him. But still, Tucker McDermott.
This was disturbing and wrong on so many levels that she couldn’t stand it. Yet, even as she worried, Tucker’s aftershave, manly and teasing, filled her senses as he soothingly rubbed her back.
This was the man she held responsible for her husband’s death.
“You’re trembling.”
“Yes,” she forced, pulling away. “I’m not used to charging animals. And I’m embarrassed. I don’t make a habit of running into strange men’s arms.”
He looked confused. “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about. You didn’t know. If an animal does that again, yell loud and make an aggressive move of your own. It will run for the hills. Usually.”
Like she hadn’t tried that. “Fine,” she snapped. “Thanks, um, for the lesson. I believe I’ll wait in the truck.” She stumbled over her words, turned and strode toward the van, daring even one of the measly animals to come her way! It was all she could do not to run as humiliation and indignation collided.
Yanking the door of the moving truck open, she climbed inside, glancing out at Abe as she tried to compose herself. He appeared sullen but, surprisingly, continued helping move the varmints off the road. Her gaze shifted back to Tucker. His expression was grim as he stared after her, probably wondering why she was acting so strange.
After a moment he turned away, and she watched him take a step, stiff at first, then better after a couple of steps. Still, though his expression didn’t show it, she sensed he was in real pain.
Good.
The mean-spirited thought jumped into her mind instantaneously. Shame engulfed her. She’d been outspoken in the past, when needed, but never mean-spirited.
Death changed a person. Hardened up the heart like a cement block—she hated it.
She hated everything about this process of loss and its life-altering aftermath.
The truth was, she had no choice but to be here and hope with all her heart that Tucker McDermott and the Sunrise Ranch could help her son. Abe was the only reason she was here.
Her fifteen-year-old was hurting so bad on the inside that the only way he could cope was to lash out in ways that scared her for him. Her son, who needed more than she’d been able to give him.
Over the phone when she’d spoken with Tucker, before coming here, he’d given her his word that all would be well. She was praying that Tucker’s word meant as much as Gordon believed it meant...
Gordon had been a few years younger than Tucker when he’d come to live at Tucker’s family’s ranch. A working cattle ranch that was also a foster home for boys who’d been abandoned and were alone in the world. Gordon had looked up to Tucker and he’d told her he’d become a marine because Tucker was a marine.
Gordon would have walked through fire for Tucker and had told her if anything ever happened to him she should turn to him for help.
As it turned out, her husband had given his life for Tucker...
And left her to raise their son alone.
Tucker McDermott was the last person she wanted to turn to for help, but her son was in trouble and Suzie would do whatever it took to save him.
* * *
An hour after he’d been kicked, Tucker watched the trailer loaded with donkeys drive away. His hip throbbed like the pounding of a heavy-metal band...and since he had a metal plate in his thigh, it stood to reason. It was feeling better, he thought as he eased into the seat and closed the door. Totally conscious that he was being watched from the rented moving truck twenty yards away, he turned off his lights, backed up, then headed toward the ranch with Suzie following.
He’d been shaken to look down at the flaxen-haired woman helping him and discover Suzie Kent’s remarkable blue-green eyes.
So much had crashed through his mind at that moment. Guilt for being alive when her husband was dead. Sorrow for what the war had cost her and her son—and Gordon. But there was the other emotion that swept through him strong and swift and deep...attraction.
Gordon had shown him her picture over and over when they were stationed in the Middle East. No one in the unit had missed seeing Suzie’s photo. He’d been so proud and so in love with her. And Tucker could completely understand why—not just because of how beautiful she was, but because of the person his comments set her up to be. She’d sounded like a kind and caring woman, and her actions proved it. She didn’t just send letters to her husband, but also care packages filled with his favorite things. And she always sent along plenty for the other marines in his unit—a thoughtful gesture appreciated by all.
Suzie Kent was the real deal and Gordon had been a lucky man.
Tucker hadn’t been so lucky in love, before his stint in the marines or since. He’d been too in love with his career—this had been pointed out to him several times and it had been true. Driven to make a difference in the world was what he’d called it.
He wasn’t marriage material back then, still wasn’t. But he knew finding what Gordon and Suzie had found together wasn’t easy.
He’d been happy for Gordon, though, and drawn to look at Suzie’s pictures as often as Gordon wanted to show them. Everything was raw and harsh and brutal where they’d been, and looking into Suzie Kent’s sparkling eyes had made him feel that there was hope in this world.
That he was fighting for goodness to prevail.
Moments ago, Tucker had looked down and Suzie hadn’t been a photo any longer. She’d been real, and staring into her eyes, brutal reality had struck him like a bolt of lightning. Suzie Kent had once been full of life, fun and vivacious. Now she was sad and struggling to hide it.
Worry was etched into her expression and imprinted in the depths of her eyes. She seemed skittish, too, and uncertain.
And it was because of him.
If he’d died and Gordon had lived, she wouldn’t be having the trouble she was having with her son or her life.
And, as much as he wanted to help Abe, Tucker wanted just as much to bring back the girl in those photos.
He knew deep in his soul that Gordon would have wanted that.
And as he began the drive toward the ranch with Suzie following, Tucker vowed once more that he would not let his fallen friend down.
Chapter Two
Turmoil rolled in Suzie’s stomach like bad chicken salad as she followed Tucker down the country road. Pastures spread out on either side of the road, and yellow flowers were everywhere, carpeting the hillside in sunny yellow—goatweed, she knew, but pretty nonetheless.
When a majestic, wooden entrance came into view she knew this was Sunrise Ranch before she saw the name and before Tucker slowed