Reunited With The Rancher

Chapter Two

Carson watched as Kylie walked away with his children. When he turned around, Jack had walked off. His hand trembled as he reached for a lead rope and unlatched a stall. Carson stepped aside as his father led a horse to the center aisle. The gelding sidestepped a bit and tried to pull back on the lead rope. Jack held him tight and crosstied him.

“What are you doing?” Carson asked.

“What I had planned on doing before you came stomping in here bent on retribution. I have a buyer coming to look at this gelding and I plan on having him ready to be looked at.”

“That horse is mean.” Carson eyed the animal as he stomped, trying to be free of the lines that held him steady while Jack brushed him out.

“Yeah, he is. But the fella buying him doesn’t care. He works cattle and he says he’ll ride it out of him.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about horses,” Carson reminded his father. “I came to tell you I’m not interested in your clinic. I’m not interested in whatever other way you want to make amends for what you did to me. To us. You had no interest in us for twenty years. Don’t start now.”

“I’m not starting now,” Jack said as he brushed the sleek red neck of the horse. “I thought you might like a change of pace so I sent you the offer. The least you could do is stay here and take a look at the clinic.”

Stay and be tied to Jack. The next thought took him by surprise. He couldn’t stay here and face Kylie each day either. And he had a feeling if he was on this ranch, she’d be here, too. All hazel eyes and sunshine smiles. He still pictured her as a kid of thirteen, laughing, riding bikes, swimming in the creek. She’d changed. But hadn’t they all?

The ranch had changed, too. Not just the obvious: new cabins, new stable, new livestock and fancy fences. The name had changed, too. Mercy Ranch. Mercy. He did wonder about the name change. From the Rocking W to Mercy Ranch.

“Why Mercy Ranch?” he asked.

“Mercy,” Jack said as he stroked the back of the horse with a soft-bristled brush. “Mercy means to offer forgiveness when it is in one’s power to punish.”

“I know the definition of the word. Why did you rename your family ranch?”

Jack grinned at him. “Because of mercy. I didn’t deserve it, but I received it. And now I can pay that forward. All of the men and women you see on this ranch are wounded warriors. Military veterans. It’s a place for them to start over. Or a place to settle down. It’s about mercy. Even the mercy we show ourselves.”

“Kylie?”

“Her story is her business. I can only tell you my story.” Jack grimaced and dropped the brush he’d been using on the horse. “Well, this is bad timing.”

Carson stepped forward, saw the lines of pain in his father’s face and the perspiration beading across his brow. “Jack?”

Jack slid a bottle from his pocket and managed with shaking hands to get the lid off. Carson took the pill bottle from him and shook one into his hand. With a sigh Jack put the pill under his tongue and he didn’t object when Carson led him to the office where there were several chairs.

“You need to sit down. We don’t want you standing up as your blood pressure decreases. You’ll end up facedown on the floor.”

“Kylie will think you knocked me out.”

“Yeah, right. I’m prone to violence. I’m calling 911.” Carson pulled his phone out.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Jack growled. “I’m fine. Give me a minute. While we wait, you can finish that horse and put him back in the stall.”

Carson reached for Jack’s wrist and felt his pulse. Rapid but steady. “How often does this happen?”

“Often enough that I need pills. Go take care of the horse.” He took a deep breath. “Please.”

“I’ll put him in the stall.”

“Too citified now to do some chores?” Jack badgered as Carson left the office.

Carson gave the horse a quick brushing. He was untying him when another man came walking down the aisle. He appeared to be in his late twenties. He was tall, walked with an easy gait and when he got closer, Carson saw that he had silver-gray eyes. Those eyes pinned Carson with an angry stare.

Carson focused on the eyes rather than how much the younger man looked like him, looked like his brother Colt. He told himself it was coincidence. Plenty of people had gray eyes. That didn’t make them related. Right?

“Where’s Jack?” the younger man asked.

Carson led the horse to the stall. “He’s in his office.”

“Jack?” the other man called out, walking past Carson, shoulder checking him as he went.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Carson muttered as he followed him to the office. “He can’t walk back to the house. Is there a wheelchair around here? Or we can carry him.”

“I can walk,” Jack growled. “Isaac can help me.”

Isaac, the gray-eyed stranger had a name.

Carson motioned toward the door. “Be my guest. Isaac will pick you up when you fall on your face.”

“You wouldn’t make a good local doctor. You need a better bedside manner.”

Carson tamped down on a smile. “Right. I guess I’m a chip off the old block.”

They sat there for a minute staring each other down, then Jack sighed. “Isaac, I’m afraid he’s right. These old legs are too shaky for that walk back to the house.”

“I’ll get a wheelchair.” Isaac headed toward the door. “Say one thing to upset him and you’ll answer to me.”

Carson didn’t bother to respond. He waited until the other man—Isaac—was gone before he approached Jack again. “I assume you’ve been to a specialist?”

“Yeah, I have. It’s nothing major.”

“I would beg to differ, but what do I know. I’m only a doctor.”

“Without a bedside manner.” Jack closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” Jack said. “Stay here for a few days. We can talk.”

“I don’t think so.” Now, knowing Jack was sick, Carson didn’t have the heart for the confrontation. He’d come here expecting the same ranch, the same Jack West, and nothing was what he’d expected.

He pulled a chair close and a moment later Kylie appeared pushing a wheelchair. Carson looked behind her, then he looked to Isaac, looming just inside the door. “Where are my kids?”

Kylie pushed the chair close. “They’re with Eve. Don’t worry. She’s watching them. I just thought it would be easier to do this if they weren’t here. And less traumatic for them.”

He didn’t leave his children with strangers. For good reason. Kylie must have seen something in his expression, because she sighed.

“Carson, they’re safe. I promise.”

“Of course they are.” He glanced at his watch and opened the pill bottle again. “Time for a second dose.”

“You take a second dose,” Jack grumbled, but he took the second pill.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Kylie said as she slid an arm behind Jack to help him up out of the chair. “Come on, Oscar.”

“I’m not a grouch.” Jack managed a half grin as he said it.

“Yes, you are.” Kylie smoothed Jack’s hair and gave him a thorough looking over. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m good.”

“I’ll help him get up.” Isaac took over, lifting Jack to his feet and helping him into the wheelchair.

“Getting old stinks,” Jack said. His voice was weaker than it had been.

Carson reached for his wrist and felt for a pulse.

“Still have a heart?” Jack asked.

“You’re not funny,” Kylie whispered, with tears in her eyes.

Carson averted his attention and looked down at Jack. “You do still have a heart. But I think it would be good to get you to the house and get you in bed.”

It took ten minutes to get Jack back and settled in his recliner in the living room. He insisted he would be most comfortable in the big leather chair. Kylie brought him water and something for the headache, brought on by the nitroglycerin.

Carson was checking Jack’s blood pressure with a monitor Kylie had given him when Isaac appeared with Maggie and Andy. Maggie had her arms around Isaac’s neck and she jabbered, telling him a story that he probably couldn’t make much sense of. Andy followed, but he was expressionless as he tapped a steady rhythm on his leg, a sure sign he was distressed by the unfamiliar situation and place.

He had to get them somewhere and get them settled. Soon. Andy needed a stable place, his things around him, structure. The only way to provide that was to get where they were going as quickly as possible, and find a home where they could start over.

As he considered his next move, the puppy that had been with Kylie appeared. It immediately went to Andy, and Carson watched as his son dropped to the floor and put his arms around the animal. Andy’s features relaxed and he smiled as he pulled the puppy close and buried his face in its yellow fur.

Maggie gave the dog a few pats, then she toddled up to Carson. He lifted her and she leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Potty.”

“The bathroom is through the kitchen and next to the utility room,” Kylie offered. “I can show you.”

“Thank you. We’ll take care of that and then we need to get on the road. I want to be in a hotel before bedtime.”

“No.” Andy spoke quietly, his face pressed against the dog.

“Andy?” Carson reached for his son, but Andy pulled back, shaking his head.

“I don’t want to go.”

“But we have to.” Carson shifted, putting himself clearly in his son’s line of vision.

Andy looked up, suddenly focused. He shook his head and pulled the Labrador puppy close. “No. I want to stay.”

Carson paused at the unexpected outburst from his son. Because Andy was on the autism spectrum, even though it was mild, he rarely put more than a few words together.

The puppy seemed to be the key.

“I’m sorry, Andy, but we can’t stay.”

Andy shook his head again. Carson became aware of Kylie moving closer. Briefly her hand touched his arm. He looked up and she smiled, thoroughly undoing something inside him that he’d been holding together for thirty-two long months. Now wasn’t the most opportune time for him to remember that he had once loved holding a woman close. A teenager, he reminded himself. They’d been little more than kids when they’d known one another. They’d held hands, made up impossible dreams for the future, and then it had ended.

“Andy could take a walk with Skip before you go,” Kylie suggested. “It’ll give him a chance to unwind, get some fresh air. It might make it easier for him to get back in the car. I’ll take him down to see the new calves while you change Maggie.”

Kylie held a hand out to Andy and he watched his son slip his small hand in to hers. He’d just been taken by surprise again.

* * *

Kylie led Andy out the back door and down the steps. The little boy seemed to be keeping his focus on Skip, and the more he did, the less he tapped at his leg.

“Do you like to swing?” she asked as they crossed the lawn in the direction of the swing Jack had maintained with fresh ropes and the occasional new board. The swing, always a reminder that a long time ago there had been children on this ranch.

Now there were veterans, both men and women. They worked on the ranch with the cattle, with horses Jack raised, and even with the dogs. They were also learning new skills doing construction projects in town.

Kylie glanced down at the little boy holding her hand. He glanced in the direction of the swing and then his gaze briefly shifted to meet hers. He nodded in answer to her question.

“I think your daddy played on this swing when he was a little boy. Would you like for me to push you on it?”

Again he nodded.

When they got to the swing, she lifted him to the seat and showed him how to hold tightly to the rope. She gave him a push and his hands tightened even more. The next time she pushed a little easier and noticed that he relaxed.

As she pushed the swing she told him about the ranch and about knowing his daddy when he was a boy. She didn’t share the part about how her heart had broken when he left. He hadn’t said goodbye. It had broken her heart because she’d allowed herself to believe the fairy tales they’d spun as they’d ridden bikes and played in the creek. At thirteen she’d really believed that someday they would get married.

And like all young girls, she’d believed in their dreams of a perfect life and a happy home, where no one would ever yell or hurt them. Ever again.

She’d found happiness on this ranch. She felt secure here. And she wondered if Carson was chasing after happiness, too, hoping to help his children feel secure in a life, a world, that had dealt them an incredibly difficult hand.

She looked down at the dark head of the boy in the swing and smiled. She could so easily get attached to him and to his sister. She could get attached to their father, too. She loved Jack like the father she’d never had, and she knew how badly he wanted to reconcile with his children. But she knew it would only be heartache for her if Carson and his children stayed for more than a day.

She glanced at the spot where Skip had been playing with a stick. The puppy and stick were both gone. She slowed the swing and scanned the area but didn’t see a trace of the puppy.

Great. She’d gotten distracted and the Labrador had done what he most loved: wandered off. “Andy, keep swinging. I’m going to look behind the shed for Skip. Stay right here in case he comes back. He would be very sad if he came back and we were gone.”

Andy nodded and he remained on the swing, his little legs kicking back and forth. The shed, a mere twenty feet away, was one of Skip’s favorite places to hunt feral cats. She could hear his low, puppy growl. As she rounded the corner of the shed, he took off.

“Skip,” she called out, knowing it would do no good. He would never make a good service dog if she couldn’t break him of his need to chase cats.

She was coming back around the shed when she saw Carson and Maggie heading their way. He glanced at her and then looked around, his fatherly concern evident even from a distance.

“Where’s Andy?” he asked as he got closer.

“On the swing,” she answered. But he wasn’t. “He was right there. I told him to wait.”

Carson shook his head. “He walks away. I should have warned you. Hold Maggie and I’ll find him.”

“It’s only been two minutes. He couldn’t have gone far.” She took Maggie and the little girl patted her shoulder and whispered, “Oh, Andy.”

Kylie turned in circles, scanning the yard, the fields and the road. Where could Andy have gotten to so quickly? As she started her own search in the yard, Isaac walked out the back door of the house. She waved him down and he headed her way at a lope.

“What’s up?” He pushed the brim of his cowboy hat back revealing just the edge of the scar that ran from his jaw to the place just above his left ear.

“Andy ran away from me. Two minutes and he was gone. If you get Max, he could help.”

Isaac was already walking away. “I’ll get him and a couple of the guys. We’ll spread out in the field and head toward the pond. Kids always seem drawn to water.”

“Thank you.” The words came out choked as tears filled her eyes and clogged her throat.

“Don’t mention it. And don’t worry, we’ll find him.” With that Isaac took off, heading first to the kennel where Max barked as if he already knew he was needed.

Kylie shifted Maggie to her left side, giving her weaker right side a break. The toddler leaned her head on Kylie’s shoulder and started to sing, “Jesus Loves Me.”

“Yes, he does, sweetie,” Kylie told her. “And he loves Andy. So we’re going to pray real hard and we will find your brother.”

They had to find him. Her heart ached, knowing that because of one moment of her distraction it could result in a child being lost. The thought cut deep because it brought back the accident. A distracted moment and their convoy had been attacked.

She’d lost so much that day.

She’d never expected that five years later she would be here. She’d thought her world would never be right again after that day. But she’d managed to save herself and she’d dragged Eric Baker from a burning vehicle. He had proposed on the spot, telling her it was meant to be.

They’d known each other, had dated a few times, but he’d convinced her that her rescuing him that day had sealed their lives together. They’d lain there waiting for help, laughing at every stupid thing just to keep from crying.

Two months later they’d gotten married.

A year later he was gone and she was alone. Again.

Her heart thudded hard as she became frantic, worrying that she wouldn’t find Andy. What if he’d gone toward the road or the pond? What if he wandered to the woods and darkness fell? She glanced toward the west at the sun that was barely a sliver of orange as it sank over the horizon. It would soon be dark.

“Maybe he went inside?” she said to Maggie, but she had fallen asleep in her arms. “Right, well, let’s go check inside.”

She headed for the patio and the back door of the house. As she hurried through the home she called his name. She checked the kitchen, the utility room, the garage. As she walked back through the dining room, Jack called out to her.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

She didn’t want to worry him. He’d already had one spell.

“Well?” he questioned as he reached for water, his arm and hand shaking uncontrollably.

She picked up the water glass and held it for him. “I lost Andy.”

“You lost him?”

“One minute he was on the tree swing and the next minute he was gone. Isaac is getting Maximus and a few of the guys to help search.”

“They’ll find him.” Jack reached. “Let me hold that sleeping princess. It might be the only chance I ever get to hold her.”

Kylie placed the child in his arms. Maggie shifted a little, then settled back into a sound sleep.

“I knew I didn’t have much of a chance of getting him to stay,” Jack said as he studied his sleeping granddaughter. “I’ll take the time I can get. You go help find Andy and the two of us will be just fine.”

“If she wakes up?”

“Rosa is here. She’s cleaning upstairs and she’s going to make soup. We’ll be just fine.”

The housekeeper. Kylie had forgotten that Rosa planned on coming in for the evening because she would be gone over the weekend to attend one of her sons’ weddings.

“I’ll go help them look. You stay put.” She leaned to hug Jack. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”

He grinned. “I know you will. And in the meantime, I get to spend time with sweet Maggie here.”

Kylie gave him a last look and headed out the front door, just in case Andy had gone that way. The look on Jack’s face had been priceless. She knew what this visit meant to him, even if it didn’t go the way he’d planned.

She knew what this visit meant to her, too. It made her question everything she’d believed about her life here. She had spent four years finding herself, building a stable and happy life. For the first time, she had hope. She had real faith. She was truly happy.

And she didn’t want anything to change, because change was unpredictable.

And what was more unpredictable than a man from the past with his two children showing up out of the blue?

Chapter Three

Carson had made a quick search around the stable, the corrals, the dog kennels. When he didn’t find Andy, he headed back to the stable. Andy could very well be hiding in a stall or a storage room in the mammoth-sized facility. There were a dozen stalls, several storage rooms, an office and an attached indoor arena. Plenty of places for a little boy to hide.

Kids loved barns. Dusty barns with haylofts and dark corners to hide in. This wasn’t one of those barns. It wasn’t like the one that Carson and his siblings had played in when they’d been kids living here.

He didn’t have time to think about the changes to the ranch. He had to find Andy before his son found trouble. It wasn’t the first time he had wandered off. Their nanny had lost him twice in the past year. A friend had suggested a phone with a GPS tracking device.

“Andy? Andy? Are you in here?” He paused to listen for any sound that indicated his son might be hiding inside the stable. Nothing. He closed his eyes and felt the closest to praying he’d been in three years.

The night he’d lost Anna.

That night had been a night of prayer. Carson had determined God could and would get his wife through the trauma of the accident. And now, he was about to close his eyes and ask that same God to help him find his son.

He’d believed that his faith died the day Anna died. But if a person’s first thought in crisis was to call on God, maybe he wasn’t so far gone.

After a thorough search of the stable, including stalls where some pretty decent Quarter Horses pawed at the ground or snuffled water from automatic waterers, he exited on the opposite side. Isaac joined him, leading a big chocolate-brown Labrador Retriever.

“This is Maximus.” Isaac patted the animal’s head.

He led the dog in a circle, talking to him in a low tone that got the animal’s attention.

“Does he know what he’s doing?” Carson asked as the dog began to sniff the ground.

“Nah, but he’ll do his best. I hope you don’t mind, I helped myself to this jacket in your SUV. I wanted him to have Andy’s scent.” Isaac held up Andy’s jacket that had been left in his car seat. He adjusted his cowboy hat, exposing a military haircut and a scar on the left side of his head.

“We should keep moving. Is there still a pond past the stand of trees over there?” Carson nodded in the direction of the setting sun.

“Yeah, we’ll head that way. Max seems to like that idea.”

“How do we know he’s on the right track?”

Isaac laughed a little. “We don’t know, but I trust Max. I promise you, we’re going to find your kid.”

The way Carson saw it, he had no other options. He had to trust the dog and Isaac. Carson hoped that God realized he was putting some trust in Him, too.

“Kylie is really beating herself up,” Isaac informed him as they continued in the direction of the pond.

“She shouldn’t. Andy has done this before.” Carson scanned the area and then shifted his focus to the horizon. “It’ll be dark soon.”

“I know. We have to keep moving. How often does he do this?”

“Twice in the past year. One time before that.” Carson hated the feeling of loss each time Andy wandered away. Loss and helplessness.

“There’s got to be a way to stop him or to track him,” Isaac offered.

“I’ve thought about several things. I guess I hoped he would grow out of it.”

Max began to bark and started to pull on the leash.

“He’s got the scent.” Isaac unhooked his leash and the dog took off.

Max headed for a stand of trees a short distance from the pond. Isaac stumbled a bit. Carson passed him and went after the dog. His barking increased in frequency and loudness. Carson hurried to the pond bank where the dog seemed to have something or someone cornered. He prayed it would be his son.

He refused to think of other prayers that hadn’t been answered.

“Andy. You have to come out.” Carson stood, listening. Isaac approached, quieter than a man his size should have been.

“Over there.” Isaac pointed to a huddled form sitting on the ground next to a bush, a tiny kitten in his hands.

“Hey, buddy, what do you have there?” Carson asked as he picked his son up.

“I saved it,” Andy said. He leaned his head on Carson’s shoulder.

Andy was a little muddy, wet and obviously cold. “Hey, Isaac, do you have that jacket?”

Isaac leaned down to pet Max, giving the dog a treat from his pocket. Carson repeated the request for the jacket. This time Isaac looked at him and then shook his head. Carson pointed to the jacket.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Isaac handed over the jacket with an easy grin. And Carson knew there had to be more to the excuse.

They headed back across the field. As they walked, Isaac texted Jack, Kylie and the men who were helping in the search. As he texted he moved to the opposite side of Carson. The side without a scar, Carson realized.

“Go easy on her,” Isaac said.

Carson knew he meant on Kylie. “I don’t need to be told what to do.”

“You don’t seem to be the most forgiving guy in the world.” Isaac grinned at him and then stuck a toothpick in his mouth. Carson could smell cinnamon.

“And you’ve come to that conclusion because I don’t want to take Jack up on his clinic offer? I’m a trauma surgeon, not a family practitioner. And I need to live in a larger city. I need to make sure we’re somewhere that Andy can get the resources he needs, the education he needs.”

Isaac’s expression softened as he looked at Andy, clinging tightly to Carson’s neck. “Yeah, I get that.”

“Thanks.”

Isaac shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt you to look at the clinic. And you could at least tell the old man that you forgive him.”

“Yeah, I guess I could.” Carson kept trudging along on the uneven ground. Isaac walked next to him, the toothpick between his teeth and a thoughtful expression on his face. It didn’t take a genius to realize the other man looked a lot like family, more like Carson’s younger brother Colt than Carson, but the resemblance was there.

So were memories of his parents fighting, shouting things that his younger self had tried to ignore.

“You really want to raise your kids up there?” Isaac asked.

“There or another city like Chicago. I’ve got to find a job in a city that offers what I’m looking for.”

“Right, of course.”

They were getting closer to the stable. Carson could see people moving, watching. “How many people live here on the ranch?”

Isaac took the toothpick out of his mouth. “Usually a dozen or more. I don’t count them all. Jack likes to take in strays.”

“Interesting hobby for a man who let his wife take his kids.” Carson heard the edge to his voice and stopped there, because Andy had looked up at him, gray eyes troubled.

“You all just need to talk. But I guess that won’t happen if you’re leaving tonight.”

Andy shook his head. “I don’t want to leave.”

“I know you don’t,” Carson responded.

“Give the kid a break. Let him get a good night’s sleep. Does it matter if it’s here or a hotel?” Isaac shook his head. “I thought I was stubborn. You keep making excuses about how you have to get on the road and get your kids settled. But you won’t stop to think that maybe staying a night here could be the best thing for them.”

Carson glanced up and saw Kylie a short distance away, listening and worrying her bottom lip. She’d done that even at thirteen.

“I’m sorry,” she immediately said. Tears filled her eyes.

“You don’t have to apologize. He sometimes wanders away. It happens. It’s happened to me, and to his nanny in Dallas. We do the best we can to keep him safe.”

Andy’s arms went around Carson’s neck, an unusual moment for the two of them. Andy was rarely affectionate. The kitten Andy had shoved between them wasn’t quite as affectionate. He climbed away from them and jumped to the ground, running fast in the direction of the shed where the rest of the litter now played.

“Where’s Maggie?” he asked as they walked through the gate that Isaac had opened.

“Asleep on your...on Jack’s lap.”

“Oh.”

She put a cautious hand on Andy’s arm. “I was worried about you, buddy.”

“Sorry,” he said without looking at her.

“We have stew and biscuits,” Kylie said. “Would you all like to eat before you leave?”

Andy tried to get down from Carson’s arms. “I don’t want to. I don’t like the car. I want to go home.”

Home. Carson sighed. They no longer had a home. They had possessions in a storage facility. They had clothes in suitcases in the car.

He followed Kylie to the back door of the house. Inside they were greeted by a dozen people lined up in the kitchen preparing for dinner. This was Jack’s life, his mission. Or was it a ministry? A group of people starting over. If anyone knew how to help veterans, it would be Jack.

“Well?” Kylie asked, smiling when she noticed where his attention had gone. “This is Mercy Ranch. You should at least take a little time and see what Jack has done with the place.”

“I can see what he’s done. It’s a good thing.” It was easy to admit. A man couldn’t deny what was right in front of his face. The cosmetic changes to the ranch were obvious, but the people were the main reason for the ranch. He got that. He understood why this would mean something to Jack.

“It is a good thing.” Kylie looked over the crowd of people and then her attention turned to Andy. “You should feed your children. There’s plenty.”

“We would like to eat,” he said. With those words Andy relaxed in his arms. “I should get Andy cleaned up first. And let Jack know that he’s safe.”

They could spend the night. He could let his children rest. He could give Jack time and listen to his explanations.

It all sounded easy. It seemed like the best plan. But he knew that nothing was ever as simple as it seemed.

* * *

When Kylie had woken up that morning, it had been a typical Friday like any other day. Chores to do, dogs to train and the weekend to look forward to.

She was happy. Content. Her life here at the ranch was good and she didn’t need anything more. She had a home here, friends, and a career she loved, as a therapist. A career born from the needs of the veterans on the ranch. How could one day, actually just a portion of one day, change everything? She had never expected to see Carson. She hadn’t known that Jack offered him the clinic. Jack had talked about it, of course, but he’d laughed and said Carson would never agree to leave his high-powered job in Dallas for a family practice gig in Hope, Oklahoma.

Carson West was not the boy she had known twenty years ago. He was a man still grieving the loss of his wife. He was a father trying to raise two children alone. He was a surgeon on his way to a new job and a new beginning. Jack’s children might have been gone twenty years, but Jack had kept track of them.