Maxine Morrey - Second Chance At The Ranch

Maria had taken a chance and although her body had lost, she knew as she looked down into the peaceful, happy face of her son that, given the chance, she would make the same choices. Three weeks after Joe’s birth, Maria passed away.

Now, Nick watched Joe’s animated face as he listened intently to something Hero was saying, smiling at his surrogate younger brother’s concentration. Nick cast his mind back as he sipped his cold beer straight from the bottle, his feet balancing on the rail and his chair tipped back. It had taken a while for anyone to notice anything was different about Joe, but as he began to struggle more and more with his schooling, even Jacob could not ignore the fact that his son seemed to have more trouble with learning than the other children. Tests were run and eventually the doctors said that it was more than likely caused by the lack of oxygen at the time of his birth. If the delivery staff hadn’t worked so quickly, Joe could have been a lot worse. As it was, he was several years behind his contemporaries. The local school was small, understanding, and made allowances, eventually teaching him with pupils who were closer to his mental age, rather than his physical one. There were, naturally, difficult times; Joe was a big lad for his age and being put with younger children only made the difference more exaggerated. But he had one good thing going for him – his nature.

Joe was the angel Maria had promised her husband he would be. His smiling face brought cheer to a room and every time Jacob looked at his son, he saw his beloved wife, and for that he was eternally grateful. He knew that he’d never be able to repay the kindness he had received from the Websters who had adopted both him and his son. The two boys looked upon Joe as their own brother. They’d not only stuck up for him at school, but also taught him how to look after himself, should the need ever arise. Joe had also claimed another unlikely set of allies, thanks largely to his gentle nature: girls. The girls in Joe’s class had been fiercer than even the Webster boys when someone tried to pick on Joe. And that was saying something.

Joe glanced up and saw Nick looking his way. He waved with a huge smile and beckoned to him. Nick pondered, then dropped his legs from the rail, at the same time dropping the chair back onto all four of its legs. He ambled down to where the others were sitting.

‘Hope you’re letting our visitor win, Joe.’

‘This is great! Hero’s teaching me some new words and stuff. Why don’t you play, too, Nick?’

‘Nah, you’re all right, mate.’ He glanced at the space next to Hero, then lowered himself into it. ‘So, what new words have you learned? I hope they’re the kind you can say in polite company.’

Joe chuckled. ‘Of course they are.’ From the corner of his eye, Nick noticed Hero focusing on turning the letter tiles over in the lid of the box. ‘And Hero says she’s going to bring me some books next time!’

Nick turned his attention to the bowed head of their guest. ‘So, you’re coming back then?’

‘It will probably be a little while, Joe. I might have to send them,’ she answered without looking at Nick.

At her reply, Joe’s face fell briefly before he covered it up with a smile, an expression that fooled neither of his companions. Nick instinctively knew Hero’s reply had been influenced by his own presence. The look on Joe’s face twisted at his insides.

‘OK,’ Joe agreed.

Hero leant over and touched the young man’s face gently. ‘But I’ll see what I can do. I’m sure I can steal a few days away, and I promise to bring the books then. How’s that?’

Joe’s brave smile turned to one of genuine pleasure and he beamed it around as he took the lid of the box that Hero had now filled with upturned word tiles and shook it around to mix them up.

‘Sure you don’t want to play?’ Joe asked again.

Nick smiled and shook his head, then stood and walked off in the direction of the stables. As he walked, he mused over the exchange – how Hero hadn’t looked at him once throughout the conversation, how eager she had been to settle Joe, and the gentle touch she had laid on Joe’s cheek. What surprised Nick most of all was that he’d found himself wondering how that touch would feel on his own skin.

As Joe shuffled the letters, Hero lifted her eyes and watched the retreating figure of Nick Webster as he strolled away. As he’d sat close beside her on the little wicker sofa, the clean smell of soap had drifted on the air and she could still smell it now. She didn’t know if it lingered for real or just in her mind. Nick Webster unnerved her. She couldn’t read him. He was edgy. Dangerous. An unknown quantity. Hero didn’t like unknown quantities. She liked exactness. She was glad he hadn’t taken up sweet Joe’s offer to play Scrabble with them. She was glad that he had gone, even more so knowing that part of her had wanted him to stay.

***

‘So, this time tomorrow, you’ll be Juliet Webster.’

Pete’s mother was almost bouncing up and down with excitement as they sat at the dinner table. Although she worshipped her two boys, Gill had always wanted a little girl. Unfortunately, complications had set in after Nick’s birth and the requisite surgery meant that further children were no longer an option. In Juliet, Gill was finally getting the daughter she had always wanted.

Juliet leaned over and took Gill’s hand. ‘Then there’ll be two of us!’

‘Oh hell!’ Jack groaned with a tease.

Hero watched, smiling at Jack’s comment as Gill’s tumbled around in her mind. Mrs Webster. No longer a Scott. No longer in England. No longer just hers. Hero looked at Juliet and felt her heart swelling as the happiness emanated from every fibre of her sister’s being. Although having her move halfway around the world wasn’t what Hero would have chosen for her, Pete was definitely the sort of man she would have. Pete was handsome, kind, witty, and would clearly walk through fire for his fiancée. If Hero had to lose her sister, she was glad it was to someone like him – and at least she’d had the sense to fall for him and not his rather younger brother.

Hero slid her eyes across to Nick. The brothers certainly had some similarities. Nick was also tall, had the same dark hair cut in the same short way, a warm smile and liquid brown eyes topping a strong, muscular body. It was a combination that Hero was sure must have swept many a girl off her feet and into his bed. His bed? The last thought popped uninvited into her mind, and Hero blinked, stiffening in her chair as she mentally forced the unsettling thought back out.

The slight movement across from him caused Nick to glance at their guest. He’d done his best to try and like her – although his brother had disagreed on that point. Nick had shrugged the criticism off. He didn’t appreciate that snooty attitude she had, and whenever he thought maybe he’d misjudged her, he’d turn back only to find that same look of indifference on her face. Pete had defended her, saying there was more to her than that, and that Nick had to give her some leeway, citing her kindness and attention to Joe as an example. Nick had to concede on that point, but he was still wary. What was her motivation in the time she spent with Joe? Was she going to go back and tell all her friends about the charity case she’d taken on? Was it all some forward planning for yet more attention? Nick’s jaw tensed at the thought that anyone would try and use Joe in that way. But as much as he’d thought about this, there was something in her face, in her touch that night he’d joined them as they played board games, that made him hesitate. If she was putting all that on, then she ought to go land a movie deal, because it had looked pretty damn genuine to him.