Brenda Minton - Second Chance Rancher

And Lucy had done nothing.

Maria patted her leg, a reassuring gesture for a young sister to give an older sibling. “Don’t let it bother you. Mom is like that. She probably thought you were too busy. Or that you wouldn’t want to be here.”

“I should have been here. I wish you’d called me.”

Maria leaned against her. “I want to be a doctor.”

Another thing she hadn’t known about her little sister.

“That’s pretty impressive.”

“I’m going to give the baby up for adoption.”

The words hung between them for several minutes. Maria remained quiet, her eyes closed, her breathing ragged. Lucy took a minute to process what her sister had told her because it felt as if she were trying to avoid land mines as she navigated the situation she’d walked into. When Aunt Essie had called and told her to come home, she hadn’t given the slightest bit of a hint to what Lucy was walking into. Lucy had convinced herself she was heading home to take care of livestock and nothing more.

“What about the father?” she asked belatedly.

Maria shrugged. “He told me he isn’t ready to be a dad. And I know he isn’t. Besides, he left last month. He joined the Army.”

“Whatever you decide about the baby, I’m here for you.” It was the only response that made any sense. Of course she would be there for her sister.

But she hadn’t been, had she? Guilt coiled around her heart, giving it a tight squeeze.

“Are you going to leave again?” Maria didn’t move; her head remained on Lucy’s shoulder. “I’m tired of being alone.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She glanced at her watch. “I take that back. I’m going to town. We need real food in this house and cleaning supplies.”

“Dane’s fence?” Maria reminded.

“I’ll take care of the fence.”

She had a list of things to take care of. Her sister, for now, was at the top of that list. She also needed to call Daron McKay and Boone Wilder, her partners in the bodyguard business and let them know she wouldn’t be back, not for a while. Maybe not ever.

That was the last thing she wanted to consider at this moment, that she might have to give up her career.

Maria gave her a quirky grin. “Dane Scott is yummy, thirty and single. If I was you, I’d take my time mending that fence.”

The only fence she and Dane Scott would be mending was the one Maria had driven the truck through. And when it was finished, he could stay on his side and she’d stay on hers. He was nothing more than a distraction and she didn’t like to be distracted.

* * *

Dane followed the Realtor, Jeff Owens, across the lawn. They’d driven most of the property, toured the barns, the stable and the house. The only thing left to do was sign on the dotted line. But when a man was signing a piece of paper that would effectively put not just a property but a family tradition up for sale, signing wasn’t an easy thing to do. He was a rancher. His parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had been ranchers.

Being a father, a good one, meant making sacrifices.

Haven, his sister, younger by three years, joined them. She studied him as he looked the paper over.

“You’re sure?” she asked as they leaned against Jeff Owens’s truck. The man was discreet. That was the reason for choosing him.

“If you are,” Dane answered. “It’s a family decision. You know that Mom and Dad are settled in Dallas. They have no intention of coming back. So that leaves it up to the two of us.”

“I know.” She shifted away, scanning the horizon, the land that belonged to them. “I know you have solid reasons for doing this. I know that I’m not here a lot. It just seems like we’re walking away from what our grandparents built.”

“I know.” He’d had the same thought too many times to count. That was why he hadn’t yet put his signature on the paper in front of him. “If it wasn’t for Issy...”

His daughter meant everything to him.

Haven touched his arm and gave a quick shake of her head. “Don’t ever apologize for doing what’s best for her.”

“Is it best?”

Jeff cleared his throat. “What about a three-month listing?”

Haven shrugged.

Dane glanced from his sister to the paper. A three month contract would give them the opportunity to sell. And the opportunity to make sure this was what they wanted.

“I think that would work. No signs. No listing it publicly. I don’t want our neighbors to know that the place is up for sale.”

“Discreet is my middle name. If I have buyers looking for a property that fits this description, I’ll call you.” Jeff pulled a briefcase out of his truck. “I have the paperwork we wrote up last week. I just need your signature.”

Dane accepted a pen and the contract, and after a deep breath and a prayer, he signed. Then Haven signed. It was done. Jeff shook their hands and left.

“I have to go. Issy and Lois are reading a book.” Haven glanced at her watch. “Lois is a gem.”

“I couldn’t do it without her,” Dane acknowledged. He started to walk away. “She’s going to be gone, what with her daughter having a baby. But Maria Palermo said she’d help out.”

“Maria is really good with her, Dane. Let her help.”

Let someone else into his daughter’s life. Yes, he knew that he needed to ease up a little. He had to trust people. He had to trust Issy. It was easy to say, but then he would remember how it had felt to hold his little girl at night while she cried for her mama. A mother who had walked away without a backward glance.

“Was that Lucy Palermo I saw sliding back into town?” Haven asked. He could hear the humor in her tone. Great that she thought it was amusing.

When a man put a woman at risk, he had a hard time recovering his sense of humor. He’d been too young to realize that their secret meetings would create such an uproar at the Palermo ranch. He hadn’t known how to handle it when she’d told him they were done, that she couldn’t see him anymore. After that she’d closed herself off from him and everyone else.

“Yeah, it was Lucy.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

He shrugged and managed a smile for his sister. “It’s okay. She’s here to take charge of Maria and the ranch.”

“She won’t stay long. She never does.”

No, she didn’t. He didn’t blame her.

“I’ve got to head to town and pick up some supplies I ordered from the feed store. Need anything?”

“No, nothing.” Haven glanced at her watch. “Pastor Matthews called. He’s putting together the groups that will help with the shelter renovation.”

“I’ll call him. Or stop by there. Tell Lois I won’t be gone long.”

The shelter. As he got in his truck he wondered if anyone had told Lucy what the new pastor had done with her father’s church.

Less than a half mile from his driveway he saw Lucy’s truck parked on the side of the road. She was in the ditch, pulling fence. She stopped, wiped her face with the bandanna tied around her neck and went back to work. She had to know he was there but she didn’t spare him a glance. He smiled. She’d always been so self-contained.

Except that summer thirteen years ago. It had all started when he saw her riding the back fence of the Palermo property. She was pretending to check fence but later she told him she’d just needed to get away from her dad so she’d offered to clean out the weeds along that fence. They’d been neighbors their whole lives but that summer something shifted. When he saw her on that horse, he saw a woman, not the little girl in raggedy clothes and pigtails he’d always known.

But she hadn’t been a woman. They’d both been kids. They hadn’t been mature enough to handle what they felt, or her home life.