would come through their own family tragedy unscathed. At seven and two, they barely remembered their father, who’d emotionally checked out of their lives long before his death six months ago. In some ways, her sons’ childhood mirrored so much of what Leah’s had been that it scared her. She’d spent her whole life vowing to do things differently when she had children of her own. The only differences were Leah’s mother had died when Nicole was a baby, and their father had been a monster. When the Colonel had died several years ago, she hadn’t felt the level of grief she did now for Helen.
Leah would like to think that she was a reasonably good parent to her boys, even though their father had not been. Of course, she hadn’t known the truth about him until it was too late.
A knock sounded at the door, and the three women turned. The silhouette of a cowboy was framed in the entryway, like one of those Western paintings you bought at tourist traps. As he stepped forward, he almost took Leah’s breath away. So handsome, with his rugged good looks and dark hair that barely brushed the top of his collar. If she had to guess, she’d say he was near her own age, maybe a bit older. But looks could be deceiving, as she well knew, and she didn’t have time to deal with whatever weird attraction this was. She couldn’t even handle the real emotions flooding her.
“Hope I’m not intruding,” the cowboy said. “I saw cars in front of the house when I came to check on my cattle, and I thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Shane Jackson, and I own the ranch next door.”
The lawyer had mentioned something about Shane Jackson, but Leah couldn’t remember what it was. Dylan had been throwing a fit, and Leah had been doing her best to calm him down.
Leah stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Leah, and these are my sisters, Erin and Nicole. If you looked closely at the cars when you walked up, you might have noticed my sons, Dylan and Ryan, asleep in the backseat of the Subaru.”
Shane shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The back door of the Subaru was open. I closed it, so no critters could get in. There were no children in there.”
The air rushed out of Leah’s lungs. The boys had to be in there. Ryan couldn’t even get out of his car seat without help. She brushed past Shane and out of the house, running to her car. But as she drew near, her heart sank. The boys were gone.
What kind of mother was she, losing her children?
“They were asleep,” Leah said, looking around. Where were her children?
Shane and her sisters had followed her, and immediately, Erin and Nicole started calling out for them.
“Clearly not,” Shane said, obvious disapproval in his voice.
Who was this man, and what right did he have to question her parenting? The lawyer was probably warning her off about him, and she’d missed it.
“Boys!” Leah called, going to the other side of her car in case they were just hiding. “You’re not in trouble. Mommy just needs to know where you are.”
She fought to keep the panic out of her voice. Dylan especially was prone to hiding when he thought he’d done something wrong. If he sensed she was upset, he’d make it even harder for them to find him.
Her sisters had split up and gone to either side of the house, so Leah ran toward the barn. Ryan’s favorite toy was his plastic barn and animals. Maybe he’d seen the barn and hoped to find real animals, too.
Hopefully, the boys hadn’t found anything too dangerous to get into.
When she got closer to the barn, she could see a horse tied to the far side. And the boys petting it.
“Dylan! Ryan!” As she shouted their names, Shane grabbed her by the arm.
“Stop yelling. You’re going to scare my horse.”
Who did he think he was, worrying about a horse when she’d thought she’d lost her sons?
He jogged a few steps forward, then slowed to a walk, holding out his arm to keep Leah from passing him.
“Hey!”
“Shh.” He shot her a glare, then took another step forward. “Hey there, boys,” he said in a soft voice. “Whatcha doing over here?”
“Petting da horse,” Ryan said, touching the horse’s leg.
It was almost sweet, watching her son fulfill his dream of being around horses. But even Leah knew that it wasn’t safe for him to be there, touching the horse in that way.
“Easy, Squirt.” Shane took a long step in the direction of the horse. “Steady.”
The horse gave a toss of his head as if he understood Shane, and Shane took another giant step forward. If the horse lifted his leg or shifted his weight, he could easily step on the little boy. Dylan was standing farther back. At least one of her sons was safe. But even that wasn’t a guarantee. Though it had been a long time since Leah had been around horses, she knew they spooked easily.
“Hey, boys, why don’t you come stand by me, and I’ll introduce you to Squirt properly.”
Shane’s voice was calm and gentle, and the boys looked at him. Then they saw Leah.
“I don’t want to get in trouble,” Dylan said, his lips quivering.
Shane shot her a dirty look. What was with him and his judgmental attitude? He didn’t know anything about her or her kids.
“No one’s in trouble,” Leah said. “But this is Mister Shane’s horse, and he wants to show you how to be safe around horses.”
“Are you a real cowboy?” Dylan asked, pointing to Shane’s hat.
Smiling, Shane took it off his head. “Why don’t you come on over here and try it on?”
“Yeehaw!” Dylan ran toward him.
Ryan followed, but their sudden movements made the horse antsy. In a swift motion, Shane jumped between the horse and the boys, grabbing the horse by the halter. “Easy, Squirt.”
The hat fluttered to the ground, and Ryan picked it up, then placed it on his head. “I cowboy. I ride horse.”
Leah gathered him into her arms. “Not right now, you don’t. This is Mister Shane’s horse, and you have to ask him first.”
And from the disapproving glare Shane was giving her, it wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon.
“He said I could wear that hat,” Dylan said, snatching the hat from his brother.
“Mine.”
“But he said it was for me.” As he adjusted the hat on his head, Dylan ran toward Shane and the horse. The horse whinnied, then started to dance around.
Shane brought his attention to Dylan. “Slow down, buddy. You scare the horse when you run.”
Dylan stopped. He turned and stuck his tongue out at his brother, then looked at Shane. “Can we ride your horse, Mister Shane?”
“Not right now,” Shane said.
