She nodded. “Tony talked a lot about his buddies. He was so proud to serve with you.”
“That goes both ways. There’s no way we can bring him back to you, but we’d like to put a smile back on your son’s face, if only for a little while. I promise that while you’re here, we’ll treat him with sensitivity and try to keep him as happy and safe as is humanly possible.”
She smiled warmly. “I know you will.” He could feel her sincerity.
“We have other guests coming to the ranch all the time, but you and Johnny are our special visitors. No one knows that we’ve nicknamed this place the Daddy Dude Ranch. What we hope to do is try to lend ourselves out as dads to take some of the burden off you.”
Her hazel eyes glistened with tears. “You’ve already done that. Did you see Johnny in that shop earlier, walking around in those Western clothes with that huge smile on his face? He put that cowboy hat on just the way you wear yours and tried walking like you do in his new cowboy boots. I never saw anything so cute in my life.”
“You’re right about that.” Carson thought he’d never seen anything so beautiful as the woman standing in front of him.
“That mustang we bought was like giving him a bag of Oreos with just the centers.”
Carson chuckled. “He likes those?”
“He has a terrible sweet tooth.”
“Didn’t we all?”
“Probably. Let me say once again how honored I feel that you picked our family. It was a great thrill to receive your letter. Already I can tell Johnny is thriving on this kind of attention. What you’re doing is inspirational.”
From the light behind them, he could pick out gold and silver filaments in the hair she wore fastened at her nape. Opposites had attracted to produce Johnny. Carson was having trouble concentrating on their conversation.
“Thank you, Tracy. He’s a terrific boy.”
“For a man who’s never had children, you’re so good with him. Where did you learn those skills?”
“That’s because my grandfather was the best and put up with me and my friends. If it rubbed off on me, then I’m glad.”
“So am I. Johnny’s having a marvelous time.”
“I had a wonderful evening, too, believe me. If I didn’t say it before, welcome to the Teton Valley Ranch. Now I’ll wish you good-night.”
He left quickly and headed for the van. It was a short drive to the main house where he’d been raised. He pulled in back and entered through the rear door. Ross was still in the den working on the accounts when Carson walked down the hall.
“Hey—” Ross called to him. “How did everything go with the Baretta family?”
“Hang on while I grab a cup of coffee and I’ll tell you.”
“I could use one, too. I’ll come with you.” They walked down another hall to the kitchen, both coughing up a storm en route.
“Where’s Buck?”
“In town, getting some more materials to do repairs on the bunkhouse. He should have been back by now.”
“Unless he made a stop at Bubba’s Barbecue to see you-know-who.”
“Since his last date with Nicole after she got off work, I don’t think he’s interested after all. She called here twice today. He didn’t return the calls.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Buck was a confirmed bachelor, as were they all.
Carson grabbed a donut. The cook, who lived in town, had gone home for the night. They had the kitchen to themselves. No sooner had he brewed a fresh pot of coffee than they heard Buck coughing before he appeared in the doorway.
In a minute the three of them filled their mugs and sat down at the old oak table where Carson had eaten most of the meals in his life with his grandparents. Until he’d gone into the Marines. But he didn’t want to think about that right now. The guys wanted to know how things had gone at the airport.
“Johnny Baretta is the cutest little six-year-old you ever saw in your life.” He filled them in on the details. “He swallowed a couple of bites of that buffalo burger like a man.”
They smiled. “How about his mom?” Buck asked.
Carson took a long swig of his coffee. How to answer them... “Nice.”
Ross burst into laughter. “That’s it? Nice?”
No. That wasn’t it. “When you meet her in the morning at breakfast, you can make your own assessment.” He knew exactly how they’d react. “She’s very grateful.”
Both men eyed him with speculation. Buck drained his mug. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“After breakfast I’ll take them over to the barn and give them a riding lesson. Later in the day I thought they’d appreciate a drive around the ranch to get their bearings, and we’ll go from there. What about you?”
“I’m going to get the repairs done on the bunkhouse in the morning. Then I’ll be taking the Holden party on an overnight campout. We’ll be back the next day.”
Ross got up from the table to wash their mugs. “The Harris party is planning to do some fly fishing. If Johnny wants to join us, come and find me.”
“That boy is game for anything.” Tony Baretta had been a lucky man in many ways. He shouldn’t have been the one to get killed by a roadside bomb. Carson could still hear Johnny say, I loved my dad. The sound of the boy’s broken heart would always haunt him.
He pushed himself away from the table, causing Buck to give him a second glance. “What’s up?”
Carson grimaced. “When we thought up this idea, we hadn’t met these people. It was pure hell to look into that little guy’s eyes last night and see the sadness. I hadn’t counted on caring so m—” Another coughing spell attacked him, preventing him from finishing his thought.
He needed his inhaler and headed for the hall. “I’ll see you two in the morning.” Ross would do a security check and lock up.
Carson had taken over his grandfather’s room on the ground floor. The other two had bedrooms on the second floor. It was a temporary arrangement. At the end of the summer they’d assess their dude ranch experiment. If they decided it wasn’t working, either or both of them could still work on the ranch and make Wyoming their permanent home. He’d already told them they could build their own houses on the property.
Once he reached the bedroom, he inhaled his medication and then took a shower followed by a sleeping pill. Tonight he needed to be knocked out. His old friend “guilt” was back with a double punch. He couldn’t make up to his grandfather for the years away, and no power on earth could bring Johnny’s father back.
Carson must have been out of his mind to think a week on the ranch was going to make a dent in that boy’s pain. He knew for sure Tracy was barely functioning, but she was a mother who’d do anything to help her child get on with living. She had that hidden strength women were famous for. He could only admire her and lament his lack of it.
After getting into bed, he lay back against the pillow with a troubled sigh. He realized it was too late to decide not to go through with the dude ranch idea for the fallen soldiers’ families. He and the guys had put three months of hard labor into their project to get everything ready. The Barettas had already arrived and were now asleep in one of the new cabins.
They had their work cut out for them, but Carson was afraid they’d fall short of their desire to make a difference. In fact he was terrified.
* * *
THE