but both can be won over with a carrot.”
He stopped and turned to her. “Good idea. Do you have some?”
“Some?” Her brain short-circuited.
“Carrots.”
April’s cheeks heated and she felt dumber than dirt. “Yeah, I’ll get them.” She turned toward the kitchen with Cora still cradled in her arms. The toddler protested and held out her arms to the cowboy. April stared down at her daughter. “Sweetie, he doesn’t want to hold you.” She turned toward the house, but Cora put up a fuss.
April frowned at her daughter’s behavior. Lately, Cora wasn’t willing to let any stranger near her.
“I don’t mind holding her while you get the carrots.”
Joel’s words startled her. He didn’t look frightened or uncomfortable about holding the two-and-a-half-year-old.
Cora leaned toward the tall cowboy, still holding out her arms. He wrapped his hands around her daughter and settled her close to his chest.
Cora batted her lashes at him, instantly winning him over. April struggled to keep her mouth from falling open. Suddenly her picky daughter decided to be friendly.
“I think we’ve got everything under control here, except for the carrots.”
The stupor that held April in place evaporated. She turned and hurried into the kitchen. What was going on? Suddenly her children had latched on to this stranger while she acted like a teenager, with her heart fluttering in excitement. She wasn’t that green anymore.
Grabbing the carrots out of the refrigerator, April fought to regain her balance. She’d just prayed for some help, but surely he wasn’t it. God knew her hurts and past, and this cowboy fit none of her needs. Joel worked for the traveling rodeo, which was in a different city each week. He probably had that same wandering gene her father and husband had had. She’d had enough of that and wanted nothing to do with a man who couldn’t commit to one place.
Hurrying outside, she stopped short when she saw all three of her children surrounding Joel, talking to him. They looked so perfect together. Just looking at the group, one would never know the children weren’t his.
It stole her breath.
The sound of the screen door slamming brought everyone’s attention to her.
“Here are the carrots.” She held them up and hurried down the side steps, shaking off her fantasies. Obviously, she’d been alone too long and any help she got was bound to throw her off stride.
But I prayed.
Arriving beside Joel, April held out her arms for Cora. Her daughter didn’t budge.
“C’mon, sweetie.”
Cora didn’t respond.
April felt her cheeks grow hot. She smiled and plucked Cora out of Joel’s arms. “If you’re half as good with horses as you are with kids, Sadie and Helo shouldn’t be any problem for you.”
The tall cowboy smiled slowly. “I’m better.”
She swallowed hard. Oh, my.
Joel took the carrots and walked to the corral gate.
“What are you goin’ to do?” Todd asked, following Joel. “Are you going to rope Helo and Sadie?”
“I’m going to make friends with a couple of nervous horses.” He held out his hand and took the ropes from Wes and Todd, hanging them over the gatepost. He opened the gate and walked inside but made no move toward the horses. Helo and Sadie nervously moved to the other side of the corral.
The boys crowded around the gate, hanging on to the horizontal brace. April moved behind them.
“Sometimes you just have to let a horse get to know you.” He placed one carrot in his back pocket and held out the other one. “Let them feel you, catch your scent.”
“Is that why you’re just standing there doing nothin’?” Wes asked. “I thought you’d charge in there and rope the horses.”
“I could, but if I came into your house and started demanding things from you, you wouldn’t like it, would you?”
Todd’s face screwed up as he thought. “No.”
“Horses are the same.”
“Oh.”
The horses stilled as Joel waited, but curiosity won out and the black horse moved closer to him. Joel held up the carrot, waving it around. Slowly the black horse drifted toward him. Joel held the carrot still, and the horse accepted it.
“Sadie’s eating it,” Todd whispered.
Joel rubbed the horse’s forehead, then ran his hand down her neck. She accepted his touch. As he worked to win the horse’s trust, he felt the gazes of the boys and their mother on him. Their interest and admiration warmed him in a way that surprised him.
It took less than ten minutes for Joel to win Sadie’s trust, and she allowed him to slip the rope over her head.
“Wow,” the boys whispered.
Joel slowly led Sadie out of the corral to his trailer. He paused at the tailgate. The boys peered at him, their little bodies tense. Sadie only paused a moment before she walked into the trailer.
“How’d you do that?” Todd demanded.
“When you do something that isn’t familiar to you, you’re nervous, right? It’s the same for horses.” Joel glanced at April and found admiration on her face, too. It was common sense, but his heart soaked up her reaction.
It took less time for him to coax Helo to his side, and he slipped the rope over his head. When he had both horses secured in the trailer, he turned to the two boys.
“Are y’all comin’ to the rodeo next weekend?”
The kids turned to their mother with pleading expressions. They were good, Joel admitted to himself. They could put the hurt on anyone.
“Can we?”
Joel saw the answer in April’s bleak face. That was why she was selling her horses early.
“We’ll see.”
“But, Mom,” Todd whined.
The woman tilted her head and her eyes narrowed.
Nothing else was said.
Joel pulled his truck around and headed out.
As he drove back to the rodeo, Joel’s heart ached. He understood the woman’s pride that she could take care of her own. He only wished there was something he could do to help.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Joel drove
