The sight made her melt. Baby Jake was a blue-eyed heartbreaker to boot.
“Heya, buddy,” Bran said softly. He moved the carrying handle and picked Jake up, bringing him to his shoulder as he stood. Patting the infant on the back, he said, “He’ll start fussin’ in a second. That oughta get his mama out here right quick.”
Sure enough, Jake squalled and Harper practically came running. “What . . . ? Bran? What’re you doing here?” Her gaze scanned the room. “And where is Tate?”
“I left him at home alone in the garage with the power tools, a pack of matches, a stack of porn and a bottle of vodka.” Before Harper retorted, he said, “I do know how to look after our son, sweetheart. He’s upstairs with Tierney.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I told you I had to do one thing before I left.”
“I came to prod you along. We gotta get on the road so we don’t miss our flight.”
Harper walked over and took the fussy baby from him. “You mean my flight.”
Bran shook his head. “I’m comin’ with you. So’s Tate. He oughta be real wound up by the time we get to Denver. Don’t envy those folks on the plane with us.”
“But . . .” Harper looked completely bewildered.
He curled his hands around her face. “You’re not doin’ this alone. And you’d have known that, had you not raced outta the house before I got off the phone.”
“But the cattle—”
“Will be fine. I’ve lined up help for Les, which oughta give him an incentive to get his work done and not screw around. Since we both know how much the cranky old coot loves to have helpers underfoot.”
Harper laughed and sniffled.
“Nothin’ is more important to me than you and our family. Nothin’.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Liberty is my family too. Bein’ a family means we always stick together, got it?”
Tanna probably should’ve turned away to give them privacy, but the love and connection between these two caused warring feelings inside her: joy for their obvious happiness, sadness that she might never experience that for herself.
At that moment Fletch reached for her hand and squeezed.
She looked up. Whoa. When had they moved so close to each other?
But Fletch was focused on Harper and Bran too.
Bran placed a kiss on Jake’s head. “Now gimme back my boy. I’ll get Tate and you finish your business with Tanna. Five minutes. That’s it.”
Harper muttered something and Bran laughed. Then she faced Tanna. “Okay. All the lists from the past three years are in the file on the desk. I’ll have my cell phone with me so if you need something, text me.”
Tanna hip-checked Fletch. “See? Everyone in the world texts except you.”
“Now that I’m living up here for a bit I can just knock on your door if I wanna talk to you.”
“Shoot. I forgot to do one thing.” Harper raced into the back room.
Bran hefted the baby carrier. “Thanks for easing Harper’s mind, Tanna.”
“No problem. But it still strikes me as odd. Part of my job is to rotate merchandise. Why is this such a big deal?”
“Because it’s Harper’s favorite activity of the year and now she won’t get to do it.” He shrugged. “I don’t get why she loves ripping the plastic packaging off shit and steaming out the wrinkles, but I don’t question what makes her happy. The fact she trusts you to do it says a lot.” He looked at Fletch. “You comin’?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
After Bran left, Fletch lowered his lips to hers, giving her a kiss both hot and sweet.
“What was that for?” she said, a little breathlessly.
A secret smile crossed his face. “Just because.”
“Well, thanks.”
“Anytime. So, you wanna hang out after you’re done here? There’ll be daylight left so we can shoot skeet. There’s a range outside of Muddy Gap.”
“You’re taking me on a gun date?”
“Yep. Do you have a shotgun?”
Tanna rolled her eyes at the ridiculous question. “Did you somehow forget I’m from Texas?”
“My mistake.” He kissed her again. “See you later, sugar twang.”
Skeet shooting would take her mind off the change in daily schedule that meant for at least the next week, she couldn’t go to Eli’s place.
But she wasn’t sure if she felt relief or disappointment.
Chapter Twenty-one
Fletch pulled up to the fence at Eli’s, parking next to a van with Wyoming government plates. He heard happy, high-pitched shrieks a few seconds before he saw several girls chasing after one another, riling up the dogs yipping at their heels. The girls were part of a state sponsored social program—a pet project of his socially conscious cousin—that tried to curb juvenile delinquency in at-risk Native American kids by pairing them with Indian adults who’d successfully beaten the odds. Fletch watched as the young social worker, a spitfire named Andie who ran the program, followed the girls into the barn.
Eli ambled over, wearing his usual grin. “Mornin’, sunshine.”
“You are entirely too chipper before noon, Eli.”
“And I ain’t gonna apologize for that either. Has bein’ on sabbatical made you one of them lazy types that sleeps until noon?”
“Fuck off.”
Eli laughed and Fletch followed him to the fence connected to the chute, mimicking his stance, leaning over the top, gazing across the paddock.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what brings you by?”
No reason to hedge. “Tanna.”
“I figured.” Eli sipped his coffee. “But swinging by to say howdy to her because you were in the neighborhood ain’t all of it, since I’m pretty sure you woke up beside her a few hours ago.”
“I did. I could get used to having that cowgirl in my bed. Anyway, I wanted to see how she’s doin’. Or more accurately, what she’s doin’.”
“Well, she hasn’t been doin’ anything since up until this morning I haven’t seen her for two weeks. That aside, you questioning my methods, cuz?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
Eli took it in stride. “Been wondering if I oughta be questioning them methods more myself.”
“I know she hasn’t been here, but before that . . . had Tanna made any progress?”
“Some. Not nearly enough. She don’t scale the fence and run away from the horses like she did that first day when she helped me feed.”
Fletch frowned. “But she is at least around horses, in close proximity to them?”
“No. I’m as embarrassed as I am frustrated when I admit that Tanna’s idea of getting help . . . and my idea of helping her are vastly different.”
“Explain that,” Fletch demanded.
“She has no problem cleaning a stall. Or the whole barn, as long as there aren’t horses in said barn. I’m afraid to go into my own tack room because she’s got it so perfectly organized. She’ll even grab a bucket and help me feed. But as far as her spending time with any horse? Dropping a lead rope and catching one? Or even just standing by while I’m grooming one? Nope. Hasn’t happened yet.”
Fletch’s stomach knotted. “Shit. It’s been weeks since she first came to you, Eli.”
“I’m aware of that. I haven’t pushed her—we both know that pushing ain’t my way. Times like this, I wish it was. But I expected she’d get tired of the snail’s pace and take the initiative. A woman like Tanna, made of fire, stubborn as all get-out, shouldn’t be content to be shoveling shit. She oughta at least be riding by now. Heck, even having her pet a damn trail pony would be a step forward. Again, it hasn’t happened.”
“Got a theory as to why that is?”
Eli sighed—a rare sign of his frustration because Eli always excelled where others had failed. “If I was the type to lay blame, I’d point out that Tanna isn’t here every day trying to overcome this paralyzing fear . . . maybe because she ain’t sure if she wants to overco
me it. Is she goin’ through the motions just to keep the folks off her back who think she oughta be over this issue by now?”
“She does have a job,” Fletch pointed out. “She’s limited on time during daylight hours, and she’s worked the last ten days straight.”
Eli faced him. “You making excuses for her?”
“No.” Fletch blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know. I don’t want to. She tries to hide her fears, but some nights she has nightmares. She won’t talk about them to me and I know they’ve got to do with the accident. I’d hoped maybe she was talking to you.”
Eli shook his head.
“Any time I ask what she’s doin’ out here with you, she changes the subject. I knew something was up, or that her progress had stalled or whatever when I realized she won’t even come down to the building where I’m working with Tobin because she’d have to pass through the horse corral.”
“I never would’ve pegged her as the Queen of Avoidance, but that’s what it’s come to. And I feel like I’ve helped put the crown on her head.” Silence stretched. “You got any suggestions?” Eli asked. “’Cause I ain’t too proud to admit I’m doin’ her more harm than good right now. Seems I’m better with horses than people.”
“Yeah, I’m right there with you most days.” Fletch tapped his fingers on the top of the fence post. “What were your plans for today?”
“Nothin’. I sorta wing it when the girls are here. Andie is insistent on them blowing off steam and excitement before I put them to work learning life lessons.”
Fletch snorted at the term life lessons. The girls were getting firsthand knowledge on cleaning a chicken coop, mucking out a barn, and the daily requirements of having livestock. “So you could’ve scheduled something for the girls today as a surprise?”
“Whatcha got in mind?”
“A hands-on demonstration about proper horse grooming with a veterinarian, assisted by the lovely cowgirl and expert horsewoman, Tanna Barker. Followed by a show-and-tell session of what it means to be a barrel racer. Complete with visual aids.” Fletch grinned. “Gonna show the Queen of Avoidance that the King of Tenacity is in the house today.”
Eli grinned back. “That’ll work. But I’m gonna leave it up to you to tell her. I ain’t about to get my head chopped off.”
The girls were still chattering away with Andie and Tanna as they left the barn. The instant they saw him, they shrieked, “Doc Fletch!” and raced toward him.
Tanna meandered over, waiting until there was a break in their fawning to say, “I see you’ve got some admirers.”
“Me and these girls go way back to last summer, right, ladies?”
“Uh-huh! It was so cool! We were there when Dr. Fletcher rescued a baby kitten that’d gotten lost from its mama.”
“Yes, the good doc has a penchant for caring for lost things.”
Was that how Tanna saw herself? Saw him? Fuck that.
She smiled at the chubby freckled girl. “So then what happened?”
“After he checked her out to make sure she wasn’t hurt, he let her go. The baby kitty ran back home where she belonged.”
“Interesting how that happens,” Tanna murmured. “She’s lucky she had a home to run back to.”
He wasn’t ready to touch that one. “These two here,” he pointed to the two smallest girls, “have sworn to me they’ll study hard so they can go to vet school and help save all the animals in the world.”
“I’ve been practicing wrapping my dog’s legs in bandages,” the freckled girl announced. “And I’ve gotten really good.”
“You wish,” the dark-eyed one he called “feisty” argued. “Lady just lays down now when she sees you get the tape out because she’s scared. That don’t count.”
Tanna and Fletch exchanged a grin.
Then the other girls vied for Fletch’s attention until Andie let loose a shrill whistle.
“Pipe down or you’ll miss the surprise Eli lined up for you.” She gestured to Eli. “Go ahead.”
“Dr. Fletcher is gonna demonstrate the proper way to brush down a horse. So I know you’ll use your best manners and listen to him. Then he’ll answer all your questions.”
“Who’s gonna be his assistant? ’Cause all vets have assistants.”
Shouts of “Pick me! Pick me!” rent the air.
Fletch signaled for quiet. “Not all vets have an assistant. Most days I don’t. But you’re in luck today because Tanna will be my assistant. She’s an expert horse groomer. And the extra surprise is she’s gonna talk to you about bein’ a three-time world champion barrel racer and show you some tools of the trade.”
Tanna froze beside him.
Amidst the buzz of excitement, Eli said, “While we’re giving Doc and Tanna time to get ready, head on up to the house. Summer baked a whole batch of monster cookies for you little monsters.”
The girls said a hasty good-bye and loped off, Eli and Andie behind them.
Fletch stepped in front of her. “You wanna discuss how we’re gonna present this here? Or as we’re walking to the pasture to round up a horse?”
“Fletch. I . . . can’t.”
“I’m not asking you to climb on a horse and run barrels, Tanna. I’m asking you to help me show them what good horsemanship is all about. How much time and energy goes into an animal that’s entrusted to the owner’s care.”
“Need I remind you of what happened to the last horse that was ‘entrusted to my care’?” she snapped.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Please, sweetheart, you need to believe that because it’s true.”
“Fletch—”
“It wasn’t your fault,” he repeated stubbornly. “You were seriously injured. You need to let go of the guilt that you weren’t there for Jezebel in her last moments. God, Tanna, I know you. You would’ve crawled across glass to be with her if you could have. So, please. Stop punishing yourself.”
Tanna shook off his touch and was at a loss for words for several long moments. “I can’t. Especially not today . . . in front of . . .”
“Which is why I want you to talk about how you got to be a world champion. Show them the different types of bits and bridles and training harnesses. You’ve landed on the top of the heap of your sport three times. These girls, who have so little, who most likely don’t have many women like you in their lives to look up to—they need inspiration.”
Fletch read the questions in her eyes as easily as if she were speaking out loud.
What if I’m a disappointment because I won’t get on a horse and show them how it’s done?
What if they ask why I’m not doing it anymore?
“They are gonna ask questions. But if you can answer a bunch of curious preteens, who have no filter, imagine how much easier it’ll be to answer questions from industry reporters when you get back into the sport.”
“That’s not the part I’m worried about.”
Bingo. “I’ll be right there beside you as we’re brushing the horse down. We, sweetheart. Not just you.”
His reassurance didn’t help: Tanna’s panic was palpable.
Then he was right in her face. “Breathe. Come on, sugar twang. You’re a strong-minded woman. Put your mind to this. You’re strong willed too. You can do this,” he said softly. “I know you can. You just need to believe it.”
That got her back up. “Is that why you’re here? To give me a pep talk before you force me to do something I’m not ready for?”
“That’s the thing—you are ready for it. Besides, is it so bad, me bein’ on Team Tanna? I am here for you, I have been for weeks even when you wanna shut that damn barn door and keep me out at every turn.”
“You’re full of bad clichés today,” Tanna retorted, “and it’s not helping.”
“Nothin’ is helping. So yeah, I’m forcing the issue.” He stroked her cheek. “Because if you’re not ready to even touch a horse after all the hours you’ve spent out here at a goddamned horse ranch,
I’m gonna kick Eli’s ass.” He smirked. “Then possibly yours.”
“Try it.”
“With pleasure. And here’s another thing I’m gonna force on you.” Fletch held her jaw and dropped his mouth over hers for a kiss that reminded her he was in charge.
Tanna didn’t try to pull away. She wrapped herself around him, holding on, making those needy moans that made his dick hard.
His little head tried to wrest control from his big head, but Fletch wouldn’t succumb to the seductive power of his body’s needs. Tanna used sex to distract him whenever he tried to discuss her issues and he’d be damned if he’d do the same thing. So he broke the kiss.
Brain one, cock zero.
He rested his forehead to hers. “Please. Trust me. If this is too