Leann Harris - Redemption Ranch

His mind shied away from the painful memory.

Charming whinnied, bringing him back to the present.

Tyler stepped closer and stroked Charming’s nose. “Okay, big guy, I get the drift. You want some attention.” Tyler had a roll of Lifesavers in his shirt pocket. He grabbed the roll, peeled off one and popped it in his mouth. Charming butted him with his head.

“Want one?”

The horse nodded.

Tyler pulled another candy from the roll and offered it to the horse. He didn’t have to offer it twice.

The ghost of a smile curved Tyler’s lips.

This afternoon had been chock-full of revelations. Or maybe he should say bombs. When Zach announced at the impromptu party after church that he would become a father, his family and friends had cheered. But Tyler recalled that wounded look that filled Beth’s eyes before she quickly looked away. When she turned back, a smile lit her pretty face and she kissed both Sophie and Zach. But there’d been a sadness in her green eyes he’d identified with. He doubted her brother and sister-in-law had noticed it, as focused on their own joy as they were, but he saw it.

Tyler kept careful watch on Beth and saw her slip out of the house and head toward the barn. He tried to talk himself out of it, but followed her, anyway. To do what, he didn’t know, but he trusted his instincts. They’d served him well in Iraq.

When he walked into the stables a few minutes ago the shock of what he saw knocked him breathless. Of all the things he expected to see, maybe Beth crying or sitting in a corner having a pity party, her petting Dogger wasn’t on his list.

He glanced down at his dog.

“So what’s happening, old friend? How come you’ve decided to become a pal to the folks around here?” For the first time since they’d arrived back from Iraq, Dogger had offered his friendship to a new person. “Not only did you sidle up to Beth, but Charming, too? What’s going on?”

Dogger raised his head off his front paws and cocked his head.

It was hard to get used to the idea of Dogger making friends. He felt a slight shift in his feelings about being at the ranch. A little less of an outsider in this family-run business.

After his last tour ended, Tyler didn’t re-up, but went home to Oklahoma. It’d been a hard transition, and Dogger had become his lifeline. Tyler didn’t have to explain to his dog how he felt, why his moods were all over the map or give details of what happened while he was in theater.

His foster parents wanted to understand, but he felt as if there was a deep chasm between them. And his ex-fiancée didn’t want to know anything about his Army days and thought he should shake it off.

Shake it off.

That’s why she was his ex-fiancée.

Of course, there was his embarrassing reaction at the Fourth of July picnic where some of the youth at the church pulled the prank of setting off cherry bomb firecrackers under the picnic tables where they were seated. He freaked out in front of all the church members, the town council and mayor of their little town. The noise was so similar to the bomb that killed his friend, his instant reaction was to duck. Afterward, when he spotted the boys laughing at everyone, he’d let go with a dressing down that brought the picnic to a halt and tears to the youthful offenders. The gathered witnesses understood Tyler’s reaction. No one scolded him, but his fiancée gave him such a look of disgust that Tyler knew the engagement was over, much to his relief.

The next morning Tyler had hugged his foster parents and told them he’d be in contact. His fiancée was nowhere to be seen after the picnic, but she’d left her engagement ring with his foster sister. In the ten months since he’d been gone, he’d called home once, but it didn’t go well.

He and Dogger roamed the country until he’d run into Zach McClure in that restaurant in Albuquerque over a month ago. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that “chance” meeting wasn’t just chance.

Since being here, something inside him had eased. Of course, that also could be credited to being in the same city as his best buddy’s family. He’d finally worked up the nerve to call Paul’s mom. She welcomed him with open arms, making him feel even guiltier for not saving Paul’s life. Tyler immediately saw the pain in Paul’s younger brother eyes and knew this was where he was supposed to be. Somehow, someway, he would try to make up Paul’s death to Riley.

Dogger’s move today surprised and unsettled Tyler, and yet, oddly enough, he trusted the dog’s instincts. Dogger seemed to be able to actually discern a person’s heart. Dogger didn’t like his ex-fiancée and had growled at her the first time they met. Things had not improved between them. Dogger had pegged her.

“I’m going to need your help with the kid tomorrow. He needs a friend.” Tyler squatted by the dog’s side and ran his hand over his head. “You’ll like him. You liked Paul, and I know you’ll like his kid brother.”

At least he prayed he would. Tyler would need all the help he could get to win over the reluctant boy.

* * *

Tyler sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. The dream—no nightmare—had seized him again, but before it could end, Dogger woke him.

The dog jumped down from the bed and sat beside Tyler.

“Thanks, boy.”

Dogger cocked his head.

Why’d he have that dream tonight? He hadn’t had the nightmare since he’d started working at Second Chance.

He knew he couldn’t go back to sleep, so he slipped on his jeans, grabbed a can of soda from the refrigerator and walked out onto the porch. He parked himself on the top step. At one time, he would’ve grabbed a beer, but after a bender in Denver that landed him in the hospital, he knew he couldn’t drown his problems anymore.

Dogger settled by his side.

“Thanks, bud, for the heads-up.” Tyler stroked the dog’s head.

The dog had started alerting Tyler when he’d detected the dream and would wake Tyler. The first time Dogger did that they’d just returned stateside, and he was at home with his foster parents. Tyler had started dreaming about Paul’s death, but before the dream ramped up, Dogger had jumped on the bed and started licking his face. Tyler woke up with a jerk, coming face-to-face with the dog. It took a moment for his brain to clear and understand what the dog had done. Dogger lay down on the bed and looked at him. His foster parents had run into his room, panicked, and looked helpless. He explained it was just a bad dream. They reluctantly left.

From that time on, Dogger started to sleep beside Tyler. Dogger had been his guard against the nightmare. It also spared him from having his foster parents run into his room and witness him in the throes of the dream.

It had been months since he’d had the dream, so why now?

Popping up the can tab, he took a swallow and thought about what happened this afternoon with Beth. Was that it?

He’d noticed her the first day he’d been here at the ranch. Well, what man with breath wouldn’t notice her? With reddish-brown curls that touched her shoulders, intense green eyes and a joyous smile, she attracted people to her like a magnet. She did everything with an enthusiasm that was contagious. He’d seen her talk a grumpy child out of his pout and enjoy the riding lesson.

Her laughter made his heart ache, wanting things that he knew were beyond him now. But as he witnessed Zach’s and Sophie’s secret smiles and constant touches, it made him yearn for things that could never be. It also made him realize how far off that dream was for him.

Scratching the dog’s head, he said, “So you like her, huh? You think the lady needs to be your friend?”

Dogger sat up and cocked his head.