kissing her best friend, Emma ditched him. A few months later, Emma’s father died. And in the aftermath, she discovered her father had been secretly gambling, using the ranch for collateral. After the ranch was sold to pay the debts, Emma was left with only a horse trailer, two horses, a pickup truck and enough money for a small down payment on another place.
As Emma drove off the ranch, her dreams and plans for her future in tatters, she knew she couldn’t trust any man to take care of her and Adam.
She struggled along, working where she could, finding a place to live and board her horses. So when she saw an ad for a hired hand at the Rocking K Ranch, close to the town of Hartley Creek, she responded. The job promised a home on the ranch as part of the employment package.
As soon as Emma drove onto the Rocking K, nestled in the greening hills of southeast British Columbia, she was overcome with an immediate sense of homecoming. She knew this was where she wanted to be.
“I got some carrots,” Adam called out, scurrying over to the corral, his fists full of bright orange carrots, fronds of green dangling on the ground behind him.
“Looks like you picked half a row,” Emma said with an indulgent laugh as she slipped the bridles off Dusty and Diamond.
“Only some,” he said with a frown. “There’s lots yet.” As Adam doled out the carrots to the waiting horses, his laughter drifted back to her over the afternoon air, a carefree, happy sound that warmed her heart.
When Adam was done, Emma climbed over the fence. As they walked back to the garden, she heard the door of Nana Beck’s house open. Carter came out carrying a tray, which he laid down on a small glass table on the covered veranda.
He looked up and across the distance. She saw his frown. And it seemed directed at her and Adam.
“What a day to be alive,” Nana Beck said, accepting the mug of tea Carter had poured. She settled into her chair on the veranda and eased out a gentle sigh.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Carter said quietly, spooning a generous amount of honey into his tea. “Really glad.”
“No inheritance for you and your cousins yet,” she said with a wink.
“I can wait.” He couldn’t share her humor. He didn’t want to think that his grandmother could have died while he was working up in the Northwest Territories on that pipeline job. Knowing she was okay eased a huge burden off his shoulders.
She gave him a gentle smile. “So can I.” She reached over and covered his hand with hers. “I’m so glad you came home.”
“I tried to come as soon as Shannon got hold of me. But I couldn’t get out of the camp. We were socked in with rain, and the planes couldn’t fly.” He gave her a smile, guilt dogging him in spite of her assurances. “So how are you feeling?”
“The doctor said that I seem to be making a good recovery,” Nana said, leaning back in her chair, her hands cradling a mug of tea. “He told me that I was lucky that Shannon was with me here on the ranch when I had the heart attack. They caught everything soon enough, so I should be back to normal very soon.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Carter said. “I was worried about you.”
“Were you? Really?” The faintly accusing note in his grandmother’s voice resurrected another kind of guilt.
“I came back because I was worried, and I came as soon as I could.” He gave her a careful smile.
“You’ve been away too long.” Her voice held an underlying tone of sympathy he wanted to avoid.
“Only two years,” he said, lounging back in his chair. He hoped he achieved the casual and in-control vibe he aimed for. He would need it around his grandmother.
Nana Beck had an innate ability to separate baloney from the truth. Carter knew he would need all his wits about him when he told her that his visit was temporary.
And that he wouldn’t be talking about his son.
“Two years is a long time.” She spoke quietly, but he heard the gentle reprimand in her voice. “I know why you stayed away, but I think it’s a good thing you’re back. I think you need to deal with your loss.”
“I’m doing okay, Nana.” He took a sip of tea, resting his ankle on his knee, hoping he looked more in control than he felt. He’d spent the past two years putting the past behind him. Moving on.
Then the sound of Adam’s voice rang across the yard from the garden.
“So how long have the woman and her boy lived here?” He avoided his grandmother’s gaze. He doubted she appreciated the sudden topic switch.
“Emma and Adam have been here about six months,” she said, looking over to where Adam kneeled in the dirt of the garden beside his mother, sorting potatoes. Emma’s hair, now free from her ponytail, slipped over her face as she bent over to drop potatoes in the pail. He had thought her hair was brown, but the sunlight picked out auburn highlights.
“She’s a wonderful girl,” his grandmother continued. “Hard worker. Very devoted to her son. She loves being here on the ranch. She grew up on one, worked on her father’s ranch before she came here.”
Carter dragged his attention back to his grandmother. “I’m sure she’s capable, or else Wade wouldn’t have hired her.”
“She raised her boy without any help,” his grandmother went on, obviously warming to her topic. “I believe she even rode the rodeo for a while. Of course, that was before she had her son. She’s had her moments, but she’s such a strong Christian girl.”
Carter’s only reply to his grandmother’s soliloquy in praise of Emma was an absent nod.
“She’s had a difficult life, but you’d never know it. She doesn’t complain.”
“Life’s hard for many people, Nana.”
“I know it is. It’s been difficult watching my daughters making their mistakes. Your mom coming back here as a single mother—your aunt Denise returning as a divorced woman. Trouble was, they came here to hide. To lick their wounds. Neither have been the best example to your brother and your cousins of where to go when life is hard, as you said. So to remind you I’ve got something for you.” Nana slowly got to her feet. When Carter got up to help her, she waved him off. She walked into the house, and the door fell closed behind her. In the quiet she left behind, Carter heard Adam say something and caught Emma’s soft laugh in reply.
He closed his eyes, memories falling over themselves. His son in the yard. Harry’s laugh. The way he loved riding horses—
The wham of the door pulled him out of those painful memories. Nana sat down again, her hands resting on a paper-wrapped package lying on her lap.
“Having this heart attack has been like a wake-up call for me in so many ways,” she said, her voice subdued and serious. “I feel like I have been given another chance to have some kind of influence in my grandchildren’s lives. So, on that note, this is for you.” She gave him the package. “I want you to open it up now so I can explain what this is about.”
Carter frowned but did as his Nana asked. He unwrapped
