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Ritchie was swinging his legs. His hair stood off his head in every direction. With the resilience of kids, he’d settled into life in Ryker Falls with relative ease. Now that the bullying had stopped, thanks to Grace Howard and her cousins, he even liked school.
Looking at him, she wondered how two messed-up people like her and Nick had created such a miracle. He could be naughty and loud and all the other things children were, but he was polite when they left the house to anyone he met, and that was important to her.
“I like them,” Ritchie said. “Today, because Toby threw his apple core at me yesterday, Grace put a slug inside Toby’s fruit box. When he opened it, he screamed.”
Don’t laugh.“How do you know it was her?”
He shrugged. “She does cool things like that.”
“It’s not cool to put slugs in people’s food boxes, Ritchie.”
He just shrugged again. She shot Nixon a look. He was shaking his head in silent laughter, clearly having overheard their conversation.
“My niece has the strongest will and determination of anyone I know, Ritchie,” Nixon said. “But you have to remember that what she does could get her in trouble, so don’t you go following, okay?”
“I don’t follow Grace,” Ella said. “Because once I ended up getting caught putting horse poo in Luanne Sowter’s new shoes because she hit Benji. Daddy wasn’t happy when he had to come and see my teacher.”
“I bet.” Nixon managed to keep a straight face while Autumn looked away so she wouldn’t laugh.
“Grace said Luanne loved those shoes, so it was a good thing to do.”
Ritchie nodded, and she could see the hero worship in her son’s eyes. She would be having another conversation with him later about not following others into trouble.
Bas started singing a song the kids knew, and soon they all joined in, even Nixon.
“What does SRR stand for, Mom?” Ritchie asked.
Would she see Ford?
He’d stood up for her that night in Phil’s. Placed his large, warm hand on her spine to reassure her that he was close. She’d never had a man do that for her before. Autumn had always looked after herself.
“Sleepy River Ranch,” she said as they turned between the two stone pillars into the driveway that would take her to the Winter property. The land seemed to run on for miles to the left and right. The drive was long, and the house at the end of it impressive.
Stone and cedar with a high-pitched roof, it was two stories with wings left and right. The gardens were vast and rambling, plants and flowers everywhere and in no order or rows of neat beds. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to grow up in a place like this. All the freedom to run and play.
“That’s a big house.”
“Really big,” Autumn said.
“They’re a nice family, the Winters,” Connie said. “Those brothers set a few hearts fluttering around town too. But with Nash and Luna together, that only leaves Ford. The girls will be after him.”
Autumn could understand that. Ford sentherheart fluttering. She stomped on the stab of jealousy.
She saw a woman waving, Bas parked beside her, and then they were all filing out of the bus.
“Hello, I’m Linda Winter. Welcome, everyone.”
She was clearly Maggie’s mother—they were identical to look at except Mrs. Winter’s hair was graying and she had a few more lines.
She held out her hand to each of the children and asked them their names. Linda knew Bas, Connie, and Mayor Gripper but not Nixon or Autumn.
“And you’re the new schoolteacher. How are you finding Ryker Falls?”
Her son had her smile.
“I like it very much, thank you.”
“Yes, it’s a wonderful little town.” She bent to speak to Ritchie. “Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
