“Come on, cowboy. Let’s get unpacked so we can get back for the tour.” Yes, this trip was about ensuring Evan’s future, but for him it was supposed to be a dream vacation. And she planned to let him have exactly that. She wouldn’t allow her own issues to ruin her son’s big adventure.
“When will I be able to ride a horse?” Evan asked as he placed his clothes in one of the lower drawers.
“Probably not today.”
“Aww, man. Why not?”
“There are lots of things the cowboys have to show you first.” Like how to stay safe around those horses.
Grace shoved her instinctual worry about Evan’s safety down. There was a delicate balance between protecting him and smothering him the way Bob and Ruth Cameron had her and her siblings. And she refused to follow in their footsteps.
“You just have to take it one thing at a time, squirt,” she said. “I guarantee, you’ll like all of it.”
As they finally finished unpacking, Evan was on the verge of hopping with excitement and anticipation to get back to the main part of the ranch. Grace wondered if she’d ever possessed that sort of giddy energy. It was infectious though, and by the time they returned to the area with the barn and corrals, she was looking forward to the afternoon, too.
That anticipation faltered a bit when she spotted Nathan striding out of the barn straight toward them. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. Surely he wouldn’t reveal his paternity to Evan right here in front of everyone. She started to step forward, to force him inside the barn so they could talk, but he stopped abruptly.
“Good afternoon, folks,” he said to the entire gathering. “Welcome to our first ever Cowboy Camp for Kids. If you’ve had a chance to look at your schedules, you’ll see we’ve got a lot lined up for you this week. Unless anyone has any questions, we’re going to start with a little tour.” Nathan turned without even making eye contact with Grace or glancing at Evan. “If you’ll follow me.”
Grace couldn’t help the bite of concern. Would Nathan reject Evan? She didn’t think she could bear that.
“Don’t borrow trouble,” Laney said low beside her. “Just go with the flow for now, see what happens.”
With a deep breath, Grace followed along with all the other kids and parents, hoping to make it through the afternoon’s activities. Maybe she’d find a chance to talk to Nathan more, force him to agree to her request for silence on the subject of Evan’s paternity. She refused to think about how he might react to that request. Not well if his actions so far were any indication. But she could only handle one big change at a time, and just seeing Nathan and Evan so close to each other was making her pulse jittery. Every time Nathan opened his mouth to talk about stalls or daily chores on a ranch or veterinary care for the horses, she had the unreasonable fear that he was going to reveal all to Evan.
Laney pointed her smooth, manicured hand toward where Evan and Cheyenne hung on Nathan’s every word. “Kindred spirits.”
“Yeah. Even though I don’t think Evan would admit it now.”
“At the ‘eww, girls’ stage?”
“So he says, and I’d like to keep him there for at least two decades.”
Laney shook her head, causing her pretty brunette bob to sway. “Hard to believe they once shared a playpen.”
They paused and listened as Cheyenne asked if Nathan had ever ridden in the rodeo. Grace could have answered this for him, that he’d done a few local things for fun but never seriously. At least that was the answer when she’d still lived here.
Laney shook her head. “I wondered how long it would be before she got to a rodeo question.”
“Still likes rodeo?” Grace asked as they moved out of the barn and into one of the corrals where Dolly and another horse stood saddled.
“So much so you’d swear she was raised on a ranch instead of in downtown Chicago.”
Grace nodded toward Evan. “I blame reruns of Westerns on the Hallmark Channel.”
Laney laughed. “And I blame all those rodeos they run on country music channels.” Just then Cheyenne looked back at them, smiled wide and waved. They returned both the smile and the wave. “But I can’t really complain. They got us through some tough times.”
Grace knew Laney was referring to how Chey had been a sick little girl for about a year. She’d had a heart condition that, thankfully, doctors had been able to fix once she got old enough. But the months of waiting for her to get to an age where the procedure would be safer to perform had been agonizing.
The memory made Grace’s own heart squeeze. She couldn’t fathom having something threaten Evan’s life. “She’s still doing okay?”
“Oh, yes. Totally healthy.” Laney found a spot on a bench next to the fence and sat down.
Still tired, Grace joined her as Nathan continued telling the kids about the parts of a saddle.
“It still seems so weird to me that watching rodeos was the only thing that would keep her calm when she was sick. Not cartoons, not soothing music. Rodeo. Of all the things. But there she was, glued to the TV anytime it was on. I still have some of the ones I recorded back then.” Laney shook her head. “I don’t know where she gets it. Certainly not from her father or me.”
“No hidden rodeoing in your past, huh?”
Laney laughed. “Not even a stint as rodeo queen.”
Grace made the mistake of looking at Nathan at the moment he pushed up the front brim of his hat. The motion was so like Evan’s it took her breath away.
“Grace?”
“Huh?”
“You okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Just tired.”
Worry descended on Laney’s features. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” For now. She shifted her gaze away from her friend’s concern, not wanting to think about why it was there. Once you’d battled the cancer monster, it was hard to get past the idea that it might jump out at you again.
Nathan stepped aside as Merline walked to the front of the group. “I hope everyone is hungry because we’re putting on a big Texas-style barbecue for you all tonight. We’ll get started in about an hour, so that gives you time to go and freshen up. Just come on up behind the house, and you’ll get to mix and mingle, meet the rest of the family and the hands.”
Grace’s nerves fired. The rest of the Teagues. As in Evan’s grandparents and uncles. “Excuse me.”
“Sure,” Laney said. “See you at dinner?”
Grace nodded, but her attention was tracking Nathan as he headed back through the barn. She hurried after him, but his long legs had carried him almost halfway through before she caught him.
“Nathan, I need to talk to you.”
“Not now, Grace,” he said, his voice clipped and without any hint of warmth. He didn’t slow or look at her.
She grabbed his wrist and stopped, forcing him to do the same. When his eyes met hers, she didn’t waver. “Yes, now.”
Chapter Three
Grace held her breath until Nathan finally let out a slow sigh and nodded. He motioned for her to follow him. After a quick glance back to see that Evan was busy talking to some of the other kids, she accompanied Nathan as they walked out of the front of the barn and down the driveway a short distance. When they were out of earshot of the other guests, he propped one booted foot and his forearms up on the fence and gazed out into the distance.