born-again bachelor who put his career first. Not wanting children could be one of his reasons. Or, he might want his own, not a ready-made family.
She’d heard that particular excuse more than once when, last year on a whim, she’d tried internet dating. What a mistake. There was only so much rejection a gal could take.
“How did your visit to the marina go?” she asked.
“We now have a poster in their window.” Ryder went on to tell her about his stop at the mining company offices.
She was impressed. No one in the Beckett family had ever reached out to a large corporation before. “If you give me the secretary’s name, I’ll follow up in a week. Or you can make the call.”
“I think that’s a good idea. You’re probably less pushy than me,” he added with a chuckle.
“I was thinking more like she’d listen better to another woman.”
His chuckle increased to a laugh. “You’ve missed your calling, Tatum Mayweather. You’d make a good marketing exec.”
“I love my job.”
“Which one?”
“Both. Teaching and working here.” She did love her job at the ranch, in her way. “Where else can I bring my children with me when we’re not busy?”
Gretchen and Drew, her oldest boy, walked ahead of them, Gretchen leading Cupcake and Drew batting stones out of their path with a stick. The pony’s limp had completely diminished, and Tatum wasn’t worried about letting the children ride her.
To that end, they’d stopped first at the tack room. Rather than leave, Ryder had insisted on saddling and bridling the pony, though Tatum was more than capable of doing it herself.
“Where to now?”
She pointed at the round pen across from the outdoor stalls. “We usually ride there. Cupcake’s small. Less chance of being trampled by bigger, faster-moving horses.”
He started ahead.
She had to walk fast in order to keep pace. “Seriously Ryder, I don’t want to keep you. I’m sure you have somewhere else to be.”
“I’ve missed working with horses.” He opened the gate to the pen and swung it wide.
“A pony ride can’t be what you had in mind.”
“I’m free until dinner tonight with Liberty and Deacon. Might as well spend the time with you.”
Her heart skipped, and, all at once, she was twelve years old again and deep in the throes of a crush. Tatum had grown up with the two older Beckett siblings, she and Cassidy becoming friends in first grade. Funny, Tatum hadn’t noticed Ryder much until that last year before he left. She blamed puberty for her heart flutters then. She couldn’t say the same thing now.
“Me, first.” Drew abandoned his stick the moment they entered the pen.
“My turn. I’m oldest.” Gretchen pushed past Drew, grabbing the saddle horn and trying to hoist herself up. She lacked the extra foot in height to manage it on her own.
“Now, now.” Tatum set Adam on the ground, but he instantly wrapped his arms around her leg and stuck his thumb in his mouth, a habit he’d mostly given up months ago. Had something happened at day care to prompt this worse-than-usual insecurity? She’d ask in the morning when she dropped him off. “No need to fight. You and Drew can ride Cupcake together.”
Their combined weight was easy enough for the sturdy pony to handle.
“I’m not riding with him.” If looks could vaporize, Gretchen’s younger brother would be no more than a puff of smoke.
“All right,” Tatum said evenly. “Then Drew can go first.”
“Not fair!” Gretchen shrieked.
Who were these incorrigible monsters? Sure, her children could act up with the best of them. But why today and why in front of Ryder?
“That’s enough, young lady. Lower your voice, please.”
“But I’m outside.”
The argument wasn’t entirely illogical. Tatum often chastised her offspring for yelling in the house and cautioned them to “use their inside voices.”
“How about you ride Cupcake,” Ryder suggested, “and I’ll give Drew a piggyback ride?”
Not quite sure she’d heard him right, Tatum stared. She wasn’t the only one. Gretchen and Drew did, too, their small mouths slack-jawed.
“You’re spoiling them,” Tatum insisted.
Without waiting for an answer, Ryder lifted Gretchen on to Cupcake’s back and settled her in the saddle. Next, he grabbed Drew by the arms and swung him around on to his back. Drew had to hold tight or he’d have fallen.
Gretchen gave Cupcake a nudge with her heels and jiggled the reins. “Giddyup.”
Drew did the same to Ryder, though instead of reins, he tugged on Ryder’s shirt collar. Cupcake started out, making a circle of the pen. Ryder followed, with Drew laughing and Gretchen pouting because, in her mind, she’d been trumped by her brother.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a good sport?” Tatum said to Ryder as he passed.
“I need the exercise after driving all day.”
Right. If there was an ounce of fat on him, it was buried beneath layers of muscles. The guy was built.
Gripping Adam’s hand, she moved to the corner of the pen and watched Ryder play with Drew. The same charm that had won her over yesterday, before she knew who he was, worked its magic on her now. Tatum could hardly catch her breath. Looks and confidence were definitely sexy, but, to her, nothing made a man more attractive than being good with children. Stronger even than a powerful love potion.
During his next pass, his gaze sought hers. Tatum glanced quickly away, afraid her expression would reveal too much.
This beautiful, crazy arrangement lasted five whole minutes. Just long enough for Tatum to fall a little further under his spell. It might have continued longer if Adam didn’t suddenly start wailing.
“Wanna ride. Wanna ride.”
“Your turn next, sweetie.”
“Now!” He let his legs go limp and flung himself to the ground, nearly jerking Tatum’s arm from its socket. When she didn’t let go, he twisted from side to side. She had ten seconds at most before he succumbed to a complete meltdown. Wouldn’t that be icing on the cake?
“Enough, Adam,” Tatum said sharply.
In the classroom, be it school or art, and with other people’s children, Tatum never lost control or raised her voice. She couldn’t make that claim when it came to her own brood, especially when they were testing the limits of her patience like today.
“Ride,”
