Patricia Johns - Her Twins' Cowboy Dad

“And yours, it would seem,” she said.

“I’m not going to apologize for that,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I’m a cowboy to the bone. I love the early mornings, the physical work, the cattle, the smell, the rhythms of the seasons. This is the life I’ve always wanted, and I’m not going to pretend it means less to me than it does.”

“Josh didn’t like that stuff,” she admitted. “I know that. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you.”

“For Beau it was about the ranching legacy,” Colt said.

“Josh was his son,” Jane said quietly. “ He wanted to be his father’s legacy. Not some land.”

Colt met her gaze for a moment, then nodded. “I know. You’re right. Like I said, I never meant to get between them. Beau and I might have had the ranching in common, but we butted heads about everything else. He was a stubborn man.”

“Peg joked about Beau trying to get you married, though,” Jane said. “It sounds like you two were pretty close, in spite of it all.”

“Getting me married,” Colt said with a short laugh. “That would be ironic. I’m not the marrying kind, and Beau knew that. From what I can see, marriage is a piece of paper—nothing more.”

Jane looked at him, curious, but afraid to ask. Where Colt stood on the idea of marriage really wasn’t her business.

“Look, this family has its own set of problems,” Colt went on. “My aunt died in a swimming accident when Josh and I were teenagers, but Sandra and Beau were never happy. They fought constantly, and my family hated Beau for obvious reasons.”

“Obvious?” she said.

“He was a jerk to her, and everyone knew it. But Sandra gave as good as she got. Those two could barely stand each other.” He sighed. “I can’t point out too many happy couples in this family.”

Colt was bitter—that much was obvious. But she didn’t agree with him. “Marriage is more than a piece of paper. I’ve been married. I know what those vows mean.”

“No offense, but I don’t see it.”

“Commitment matters,” Jane countered with a shake of her head. “There is a difference between staying together for a lifetime because you chose it at the beginning, and staying together because you just didn’t break up yet. To be able to promise to stand by each other, no matter what—”

“People can promise that without the ceremony. Do you think a piece of paper makes those promises any stronger?” he retorted.

“Maybe not the paper, but the vow before God should,” she said. “In my experience there’s a vast difference between a boyfriend and a husband.”

Jane had stood by her husband. If it weren’t for those vows, she might not have had the strength. Vows mattered.

Colt eyed her for a moment, then sighed. “I’m not saying that good marriages are impossible. I just don’t think they’re guaranteed, and too many go down in the dust for my comfort.”

It wasn’t like she was interested in getting married again, either, so she didn’t know why she felt so compelled to argue about this. She had her own reasons for not wanting to take those vows again.

“Fair enough, I guess,” she said.

Colt’s phone blipped, and he pulled it out of his back pocket and looked down at the screen. “It’s the ranch cook. He needs to talk to me about something.”

“Should I get Peg to show me where to start with cleaning things out, then?”

“Yeah, that would be the best,” he said. “If you want me to carry anything in for you—”

“I’ll be fine.” She waved off his offer. “Go on and get back to work.”

Colt headed toward the door, and Micha toddled after him, so Jane boosted up her toddler and kissed her plump cheek.

“You’re staying with me,” she said with a low laugh, but she watched as the door shut behind Colt, then looked around at the silent kitchen.

She had no idea what was waiting for her here in Creekside. She was among family, but they were the people her late husband hadn’t trusted.

She pulled her hair out of her face and heaved a sigh.

Father, guide me... She didn’t know what else to ask.

* * *

As Colt headed outside, the hot, grass-scented wind enveloped him and he felt the tension start to fade away.

Lord , keep me focused on my job , he prayed silently. I don’t know what Beau was thinking. If he was going to leave me the ranch, why complicate it on me? But she’s Josh’s wife, and I have no problem with sharing this with her... I just need Your help holding the ranch together. You know where the finances stand! The sooner this is resolved and Jane is on her way back to her life, the better. So smooth the road for that, Lord. And give me some grace in the meantime.

There was a lot of work to get done that day, and he’d already used up a good chunk of it there at the lawyer’s office. Beau hadn’t been doing a lot of the day-to-day managing of the ranch anymore before he died, so the ranch hands already looked to Colt as the one to answer to. But he wasn’t just the ranch manager now, he was owner. He’d have to hold a meeting when he told everyone together at the same time. If rumor didn’t reach them first.

The main house was on the crest of a hill, and the dirt road that led toward the ranch hands’ bunkhouse and canteen wound around the hill and toward the west where a patch of forest served as a backdrop for the low wooden buildings. The trees melted into some scrubby grassland beyond that served well in winter, giving the cattle the shelter of trees in the coldest weather, and some iron feeders and water troughs that were filled daily once the snow came. Now that it was summer, the cattle were enjoying the lush pasture farther east. Even in the summer months, Colt’s mind skipped ahead to the next season. The work never eased up; it just changed form. That was ranch life.

His truck bounced over a pothole, and his vehicle rattled. The canteen and the bunkhouse weren’t too far from the main house. When he arrived, he parked out front in his usual spot. A couple of work trucks were parked along the side, and he could hear the buzz of some male voice filtering out through the propped-open door. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his mom’s number in Wyoming. She’d moved out there five years ago, and it still felt strange to have her so far away. The Marshalls seemed to chase off anyone without a real good reason to stick around.

“Colt? That you, honey?” his mother said, picking up.

“Yeah. Hi, Mom.”

“How’s it going over there?” she asked. “Don’t you have the reading of the will today?”

“Yeah. I just got back from it.”

“And?” She sounded slightly breathless.

“And Beau came through. The ranch is mine.”

“Yes!” His mother heaved a deep sigh. “I’m so glad. I was praying for this. You deserve that land, son.”

Wasn’t that the way...everyone praying for their own stake in something that didn’t belong to them to begin with. It still felt wrong.

“There’s a bit of a wrinkle, though,” he said. “Josh’s widow is here. Beau left her kids the cattle.”

“He left them the—” his mother began. “What kids?”

“Josh had twins. He died before they were born. Two girls. And Beau left them the cattle.”

“Josh had kids?” His mother paused for a couple of beats. “That egotistical jerk!”

“Josh?” Colt asked wryly.

“No, your uncle. Obviously. Even from the grave, he wants to ruin other people’s happiness! He could have just left the ranch to you free and clear. Would that have been so hard? He didn’t bother making up with Josh, so he was going to try and make up for that after the fact?”