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“None of your business,” he said. “Who I talk to is another thing I don’t have to clear with you.” With his heart pounding in his chest, he fell back a step. “If you’d have told me my parole officer was coming this morning, I’d have met you at the house.”
“I thought—” She cut off when Nate held up his hand, and he supposed he probably wore a storm on his face too. They looked at one another, and Nate had a lot more to say. Instead of letting it out and regretting it later, he simply shook his head and turned around to follow Martin.
* * *
The interviewwith Martin passed in a blur where Nate only tuned in half the time. He must’ve done a good enough job to pass, because Martin took his phone number and said he’d call next month.
Once he was gone, Nate focused on his chores, but he found himself slamming buckets down when he should just set them. A hurricane blew through him, and he didn’t know how to get it to move on.
The sound of crying met his ears, and it was far too early for the kids to be on the ranch for their riding lessons.
“Connor,” he said under his breath, his mood morphing from anger to concern in less time than it took to breathe. He abandoned the buckets of oats he’d been distributing to the horses and jogged out of the stables, already searching for his nephew.
Hannah Otto, the accountant for the ranch, carried the little boy, who clung to her as if his life depended on it. “I’m sorry,” she said. “He fell while riding his bike, and nothing I did could calm him.” She passed him to Nate, who took the dribbling, sniffling boy and drew him right into his chest.
“It’s fine,” he said to Hannah. “Thank you for bringing him. I’d have come if you’d called.”
She stepped back and put her hands in her back pockets, her short blonde hair sticking out at odd angles. “I have to get back. I have an appointment in ten minutes.”
“Go,” Nate said. “I’m fine.”
The woman walked away, and once again, Nate felt nothing with her, though she was slim and pretty and educated. She spent the most time with Connor during the day, as she had an office in the house with a TV in it. Connor said he liked her, and that she had boxes of cookies in her bottom drawer that he could have whenever he wanted them.
“Are you hurt, bud?” he asked Connor, trying to get him to let go of his neck. Connor finally did, and Nate looked at his face. “I don’t see any blood.”
“My knees hurt,” Connor said with a whimper.
Nate glanced down, though the boy still had his legs around Nate’s waist. “All right,” he said as calmly as he could. “Let’s have a look.” He took Connor into the stables and set him on the top of one of the doors that led to an empty stable. “Oh, yeah, look at that.” He looked at Connor and smiled. Anything to put on a brave face. “Skinned knees.”
Connor’s bottom lip trembled, and Nate wanted to fold him into a hug and never let go. “I can fix these.”
“Can you, Uncle Nate?” One big alligator tear fell down Connor’s cheek, and Nate’s heart turned to mush. This kid needed him, and Nate was as committed as ever to make sure he was there for his nephew. As much as possible, he was going to be there.
Don’t go to the mall, ran through his mind, and Nate’s smile slipped. “Sure I can,” he said, wishing he had an older brother to call. Ward would know what to do with skinned knees on four-year-old boys—and what to do about the money drop this weekend.
He stepped over to a first aid box attached to the wall and pulled it down. “It’ll be quick, and then you can help me with the horses for the riding lessons.”
“Can I?” Connor’s voice held so much hope, and Nate didn’t want to tell him no.
So he said, “Yep. You’ll have to stay right by my side.”
“I can, Uncle Nate.”
He smiled at Connor as he quickly cleaned his knees and then put two Band-Aids over the bloodiest parts. “All done.”
Connor looked at him like Nate held the world in the palm of his hand, and the whole sky got brighter for just that one moment.
“Hey, little man,” Nick said as he entered the stable. “You helpin’ with the horses today?”
“Sure am,” Connor said, made of smiles now. Nate helped him down, and he ran over to Nick, who picked him up and swung him around, both of them laughing.
Nate smiled too, because Connor was happy again. As he watched Nick set Connor down and take his hand, all the while talking about a horse named Willowwood, Nate wondered if maybe he could have the other cowboy make his drop for him this weekend…
He’s Ginger’s cousin, Nate told himself. And then Ginger lodged herself in his mind, and Nate started working on the words he needed to apologize to her. A whole new kind of sigh moved through his body, but he needed Ginger on his side. So he’d swallow his pride and make sure he got back on the same page with the woman he wanted to spend more time with. Go to dinner with.
Maybe even kiss…
