Her Oklahoma Rancher

She set the tray she carried on the table and gave Eve a quick hug.

“Eve, honey, is there anything I can get you?”

Eve smiled up at the other woman. “I’m good, Holly, but thank you.”

“Okay, but if there’s anything I can do.” She picked up a bowl of mashed potatoes. “I brought this for the little one. And a bowl of green beans.”

“Thank you,” Ethan told her.

She gave him a frosty look but she put a plate in front of him, another in front of Eve. “Kylie ordered for the two of you.”

“Thank her for me.” Eve smiled up at the woman.

“You got it.” And then she was gone, the door shutting firmly behind her.

“You seem to have settled here,” Ethan observed. He picked up a spoon and gave the child in his arms a small bite after making sure it was cool.

“I have. Ethan, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” He watched as Tori reached for a green bean.

“Yes, I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry about James and Hanna. I’m so sorry.”

“You should have trusted me enough to at least tell me. You should have included me in the decision to end our relationship.”

“You would have tried to convince me that we would be fine. That you would have taken on anything, even though it wasn’t what you’d signed on for. And then you would have resented me. Or I would have felt guilty. Either way it was a recipe for disaster.”

“I guess I can understand how you would have allowed yourself to believe that. But it wasn’t fair, not to me or to friends who loved and missed you and didn’t understand why you walked out of our lives.”

“I hope someday you can forgive me.”

“I hope so, too, because it appears we are tied to one another for the next eighteen years.”

“Eighteen years?” She shook her head, not getting his meaning.

“We’re raising a child together, Eve. We are her legal guardians, you and I. The state of Texas would like for us to have a plan for her future. James and Hanna were counting on us providing a home for her.”

“How are we supposed to do that? As you can see, I’m not exactly in a position to be a parent. We aren’t married. So exactly how is this supposed to work?”

“Why aren’t you in a position to be a parent?”

She gave him a puzzled look and then pointed down. “Hello? Surely you have eyes.”

He did have eyes. And he wished he wasn’t seeing the woman he’d planned to marry. He wished his heart wasn’t seeing her in a way that almost hurt. The pain was too much. He preferred anger. Anger reminded him how it had felt to receive a Dear John phone call from her.

“I have eyes. I see a woman who is obviously very capable.”

“Yes, capable of caring for herself. There’s the other little issue you haven’t thought about. I live in Oklahoma, not Texas.”

“That’s definitely an issue but one we can work out. I don’t have a lot of time to discuss this. I have a meeting in Tulsa. Forester Farm Sales is opening a new dealership up here.”

“I can make this quick and easy. I think the best way to work this out is for me to give you full custody of Tori.” Something about the look in her eyes shifted his opinions, made him reconsider his plan of action.

“The truth is, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. It’s been two weeks, and in that time we’ve been working through paperwork, coming to terms with what has happened and just getting by. My mom helps when she can but she’s busy running the ranch alongside my dad. My sister, Bethany, has helped from time to time but she’s in her last year of nursing school.”

“Ethan, I can’t do this.”

He pushed aside compassion and stood. “I need to run out to the car. Can you hold her?”

She sighed but gave a slight nod. Knowing her the way he did, he recognized the look of longing as she focused on the baby in his arms.

“I can hold her.”

He pushed the bowl of mashed potatoes across the table, then he circled around to her side and placed the groggy little girl in her arms. Tori immediately nestled in. It had been a long day. And Eve’s arms went around her, holding her close.

It was a dirty move on his part. He hadn’t really planned it but he didn’t know what else to do. Eve had been his friend for longer than she’d been the woman he loved. He had thought to find a stranger. Instead he found the girl he used to know. And he could see that she’d lost more than the use of her legs. She’d lost her way.

He didn’t want to care but he had to. For her sake. For Tori’s. So as he walked away from the diner, he told himself he didn’t feel guilty for what he was about to do. He would come back. He wasn’t the one who disappeared without a word to the people in his life.

But today, Eve deserved a lesson.

Chapter Two

“He isn’t coming back.” Eve looked from the child in her arms to the friend sitting across from her, a bemused, or maybe amused, look on her face.

“Of course he’s coming back.” Kylie repeated the same answer she’d been giving for the past fifteen minutes, since Ethan had run out to the car.

Eve shook her head, unwilling to be placated. Fear had been growing inside her, or perhaps panic. Ethan had brought a child, dumped said child in her lap and left. One of two things could be happening. Either he wanted to teach her a lesson or he wanted out of the responsibility that had been handed to them.

They were guardians of the little girl she held in her arms. It wasn’t possible. They were the last two people who should be pushed together to care for a child.

“He can’t leave me to take care of this child alone.” She pushed her wheelchair back a foot, trying to see out the window. Tori squirmed and nearly slid off her lap.

Kylie reached to steady the child’s precarious position.

“See, this is why I don’t and won’t have children. I can’t even keep her safely on my lap.”

“There are ways.” Kylie, always the optimist.

“Of course there are ways,” Eve muttered. She didn’t even know what car to look for. “He isn’t coming back.”

“Try the number that called earlier.”

“Oh, good idea. There’s no caller ID but I should be able to call.”

“Is everything okay in here?” Holly asked as she brushed a strand of dark hair back from her face. She took a seat across from Eve.

“Oh, just wonderful.” Eve listened to the voice message of Ethan Forester. “Please leave a message,” it prompted. So she did. “This isn’t fair. You can’t do this to Tori. Call me and please tell me you’re coming back.”

“He got in a Ford truck and scooted on down the street,” Holly said after the call ended. “I’m sorry. I would have stopped him if I’d known he was pulling a fast one on you.”

“Not a fast one, just...” Eve sighed as she glanced down at the sleeping child. Six months old, the child didn’t know much about her life. But she had to know an emptiness where her parents had been. She had to know that everything was topsy-turvy right now.

“She’s beautiful,” Holly cooed, leaning to brush a finger down Tori’s cheek.

“She is,” Kylie agreed. She held Cara, her foster daughter, in her arms.

Eve glanced up at Holly. “You have dark rings under your eyes. You’re obviously not getting enough sleep. Your mom?”

“Off her meds again. It’s a battle.”

“I’m sorry,” Kylie spoke softly from across the table. “Can we do anything to help?”

“No, there’s nothing. It’s been my life for, well, my whole life. You would think I’d be used to it.”

“But you know how life can be when it’s good. I’m sure that makes the turmoil all the more obvious.” Kylie reached for Holly’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

Holly nodded but her attention shifted back to the baby Eve held. “I’m not here to talk about me. It’s obvious Eve has her own drama today. And I’m more than a little curious. So if you really want to take pity on me...”

Eve managed to laugh. “Ex-fiancé.”

Holly’s eyes widened. “Wowza. And you broke it off with him?”

Eve nodded.

“I’m not sure if we can continue to be friends.” Holly laughed as she said it. “He’s tall, dark, beyond handsome, knows how to hold a baby. And you dumped him?”

“She obviously martyred herself,” Kylie offered.

“Not helping.” Eve shot her friend a look.

“Truth hurts,” Kylie shot back.

“The baby is his?” Holly asked.

“No.” Eve glanced down at the sleeping baby girl. “She’s the daughter of our best friends, James and Hanna. They were killed. I guess in an accident. I can’t remember if he told me.”

The grief washed over her again, squeezing her heart until she wanted to beg for mercy. She’d been so selfish. She’d been so focused on her own life. She hadn’t even known. She had no one to blame but herself.

“I can’t believe they’re gone.” Her arms went a little tighter around the sleeping child.

“Wow, that’s tough.” Holly bent to kiss the top of Eve’s head. “I’m sorry, I have to get back to work. Let me know if I can get you anything.”

Thirty minutes had passed since Ethan’s rapid departure. The clock on the wall continued to tick away the seconds, the minutes. She looked at Kylie.

“He’ll be back,” Kylie assured her. “Maybe he needed to hit the gas station. Or rent a hotel room.”

“He isn’t coming back. He would have answered the phone.”

“We can’t stay here all day,” Kylie said. Cara had fallen asleep in her arms. “We should head back to the ranch.”

“To do what? I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby.”

“Start by calling her Tori. That’s her name. And she’s precious. Look at her, Eve. Say something to her.”

“You have beautiful eyes,” Eve cooed to the little girl. Tori, all blond curls, blue eyes and dimples, grinned. She looked like Hanna. Eve felt a sob rising up in her throat, but she refused to give it room to escape. Her throat tightened with the effort. She closed her eyes and shook her head against the onslaught of emotions.

“I can’t do this.”

“You can,” Kylie insisted. “You’re strong. You’re capable.”

“Right, I can take care of myself. But I can’t take care of a child. Not on a daily basis. Watching yours for a few hours is easy. They walk, talk and can go potty all by themselves. Cara being the exception. This—” she held the baby away from her “—this is toxic.”

“She needs her diaper changed.”

Eve shuddered. “Why isn’t she potty trained?”

“Because she’s six months old. Don’t worry, you can do this. And he’ll be back. He’s only been gone for a half an hour.”

“You don’t know him the way I know him.”

“Yeah, about that.” Kylie grew serious and Eve knew more questions were coming. “Why didn’t I know about Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome?”

“Because you didn’t need to know. I ended it and we both moved on.”

“I don’t think moving on is as easy as saying the words,” Kylie said as she grabbed a diaper and wipes from the bag Ethan had left behind. A bag with several outfits, more than enough diapers, bottles, food and formula.

“It was for the best,” Eve defended. “It was the right thing to do.”

Kylie shook her head. “Right thing for who? You or him?”

“That isn’t fair.”

“Isn’t it?” Kylie asked. “You decided for him that he didn’t want to be married to someone in a wheelchair.”

“Someone he would have to take care of for the rest of his life.”

Kylie arched a brow at that. “Really? Because who is taking care of you now?”

Eve ignored the question. Kylie shook her head.

“Give me that baby. I’ll change her diaper.” Kylie settled Cara in her car seat and reached for Tori. “But you’ll have to change the next diaper.”

“You say that as if I’m going to have her for a while. I’m clearly not cut out for this. I was an only child, raised by parents who had me late in life. We didn’t socialize with people who had small children. I didn’t babysit for neighbors. I’m very unqualified for this. Why would Hanna and James think that I could be the person this baby girl needs?”

“They obviously knew you better than you know yourself. They believed you could do this. I believe you can do this.”

“That’s great, I’m glad everyone believes in me. But Tori deserves more. She deserves love and security.” Eve shook her head at the great expanse of sadness opening up inside her. “Ethan has to come back. He can’t abandon her this way.”

“I doubt he plans to abandon her. Now I’m going to change Tori and then we’ll get you both back to the ranch and settled in your place.”

“Alone?” Eve hoped she’d misunderstood. She considered herself a strong, independent woman. But a baby, by herself? All night?

Kylie gave her a quick hug. “Don’t look so lost. I promise you’ll get through this.”

“I hope you’re right, about him coming back and about surviving this.” She looked at the baby Kylie now held. “I hope she survives me.”

Kylie laughed at that. “You’ll both survive. Eve, you’re more than able.”

Would it do any good to admit she was scared to death? Probably not. Admitting fear wasn’t what she did. Ever. “Of course I am.”

An hour later Eve wasn’t convinced she would survive, not even for an afternoon.

She held Tori on her lap as Kylie showed her how to use the baby sling she’d picked up at her house. Kylie slid the cloth behind Eve’s back, settled Tori on her lap and then wrapped the baby with the cloth so that the sling held her securely in Eve’s lap.

“This will enable you to hold her and still maneuver.” Kylie made sure the cloth was secure. “It’s soft so you can keep it behind your back and when you pick her up, just wrap it around her and secure it.”

“Okay, that’s one hurdle. There are just so many things I’ve never considered, never thought I would have to consider.” Eve brushed her cheek against the top of Tori’s head. “I didn’t think she’d smell like baby powder and happiness. Ugh, listen to me. I don’t talk this way.”

Kylie sat on the sofa facing her as Tori snuggled in close, eventually becoming a heavy, sleepy weight against Eve’s shoulder.

“She’s very happy cuddled up to you.”

Eve kissed the little head that was tucked against her. “Yes, she’s happy for now. But later she’ll want bottles. She’ll be hungry. And where will she sleep?”

“She’ll have to sleep with you. We’ll push your bed against the wall and you can put her on the inside. You can take a bottle with you, in case she wakes up during the night.”

“Changing diapers?” Eve tossed out the next hurdle.

“There’s a changing pad in the diaper bag. You can put it on your desk. That gives you the ability to roll close and change her without having to bend over the sofa or bed,” Kylie offered, not seeing obstacles but solutions. That was her natural personality. Kylie was a problem solver.

The front door opened and Eve hoped beyond hope that it would be Ethan. Instead it was Sierra. She, Kylie and Eve had once been roommates. They’d had other roommates along the way but the three of them had been fixtures at the ranch since almost the beginning. Now it was just Sierra and Eve. They shared the main living area of the one-time garage turned apartment building but they each had their own bedroom, bathroom and sitting area.

Sierra looked from Kylie to Eve to the baby and froze, her eyes going wide. “No.”

She walked on to the kitchen with just that word but as she poured a cup of coffee, she shook her head. “Nope.”

“You don’t have a choice and neither does Eve. For the time being you have a new roommate.” Kylie shot Sierra a warning look. “And you’ll love her.”

“I don’t think so. Babies smell, they cry, they need constant attention. Why is she here? Is there something you haven’t told us, Eve?” Sierra wandered into the living room with her coffee. She stared down at the baby on Eve’s lap and shook her head again. “It’s cute, but I guarantee you, it won’t be cute for long. They’re like puppies. They grow up.”

“You’re horrible,” Kylie said. “And the baby is a she, not an it.”

“I’m horrible but I’m honest about babies.” Sierra grinned at their ex-roommate, her expression softening. “I’m the person who never pets the cute puppies you all raise. I don’t go all dewy eyed over a new foal. I told you the truth when Cara was born. Everyone else lied. She wasn’t the prettiest baby ever. I mean, she’s pretty now, but that first day, not so cute. She was red, wrinkled and cried a lot.”

“But you’ll help Eve if she needs it?” Kylie prodded.

Sierra sat down next to Kylie and eventually she nodded. “Because we’re friends, I’ll help you out, Eve. But where in the world did this little bundle of joy come from?”

“From my past,” Eve said. She avoided eye contact with her friends because any hint of sympathy would bring tears.

“She showed up on our doorstep? Or did you find her under a cabbage leaf? You’re killing me here.” Sierra stretched her legs, grimacing just a bit at the movement.

“She’s the daughter of friends,” Eve started and then she told the rest of the story, managing to hold it together. As she spoke, she found herself holding Tori a little closer.

“Wow,” Sierra said quietly. “That’s a lot, Eve. I am sorry.”

“Me, too.”

“You had a fiancé,” Sierra said after a moment.

“Yes, I had a fiancé.”

“And you’ve misplaced him again?” Sierra teased.

“I didn’t misplace him. I gave him an out. And this time, he took the out.”

“This is way more reality than I like to deal with on a Monday afternoon,” Sierra said as she stood, grabbing her coffee cup off the end table. “I’ll help when I can but Jack has me busy with this lovely wedding chapel idea of his.”

Eve laughed at that. “You’re such a romantic, you’ll make a great wedding planner.”

“Yeah, well, right now, being a wedding planner is far more appealing than changing dirty diapers. You have fun with that and I’ll see you all later.”

Eve pressed her lips to Tori’s head, amazed that in a few short hours she’d found it so easy to love one small child.

Until Ethan returned, Eve would manage to care for Tori. She would give the little girl all the love and hugs she could, not that it would make up for the loss of her parents. But Ethan would return, he had to. When he did, Eve would explain that she just couldn’t be a part of parenting Tori full-time.

* * *

Tuesday morning Ethan followed his GPS to Mercy Ranch, just a few miles outside Hope and a ninety-minute drive from Tulsa. He pulled up to the main house, a two-story log home with plenty of windows, big covered porches and a yellow Labrador sprawled out in a flower bed. A man walked down off the back porch, pulling his hat low as he headed in Ethan’s direction.

Ethan got out of his truck, grabbing his hat from the backseat as he did. When he turned around, the other man stood just feet away. He was close to Ethan in age with a jagged scar on the left side of his face and steel-gray eyes that could nail a man to the wall.

“Good morning,” Ethan greeted.

“I’m guessing you’re the missing fiancé? Or should I say, AWOL fiancé?” The man spoke without a lot of warmth in his voice.

“Ex-fiancé, and I’m not the one who went missing. I knew where I was the whole time.” Ethan kept his tone casual. No reason to make enemies here.

“You’re brave, I’ll give you that,” the man said as he tipped his hat back a bit. A slow grin slid across his face. “Name’s Isaac West.”

Ethan held out a hand. “Name’s Mud. But you can call me Ethan. Ethan Forester.”

Isaac West chuckled. “You got the first part right. She’s madder than a wet hornet right now.”

“But she survived.”

“Yeah, she did. But not if you ask her. My fiancée, Rebecca, went down to check on her a bit ago. From what I’ve been told, there was more formula on her and the counter than in the baby. And she might have been wearing bananas on her shirt.”

“Maybe I should rethink going down there?”

“I think if you try to leave, she will hunt you down and hurt you. But I can walk you down there, if you’d like. Safety in numbers and all that.”

Ethan wouldn’t call himself weak. He’d been on some pretty rank horses, ridden bulls, and he’d even back-talked his mama. That last one had proved to be more stupid than brave.

“If you want to show me where to find her,” he said in accepting the offer, “I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Isaac pounded him on the back in good-natured camaraderie. “You got it.”

The ranch was a sprawling place, clean with good fences, cattle and horses grazing in the fields, a nice stable and several residences. In the corral near the stable he could see men working with horses. A short distance away, it appeared a new stable was being built.

Isaac followed his interested gaze and chuckled. “Wedding venue. It’s going to look like a stable. The main area will be the chapel, the indoor ‘arena’ will be for receptions. My dad guesses it’ll keep a few of the residents busy with managing, cleaning and catering.”

“This is quite a setup. I’m impressed.”

Isaac shrugged at the compliment. “It was all Jack. He’s the idea man. He keeps everyone busy and moving, even if he’s slowing down a little. Parkinson’s.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t tell him that. He’s still in charge and his housekeeper doesn’t let grass grow under his feet.”

“I read an article that he also bought an older resort and remodeled, as well as a bait shop.”

“Yep, he’s managed to put about two dozen veterans to work. We usually have ten to twelve people living on the ranch at any given time. After a while they usually head back to where they came from. A few stay and find a place to call home in Hope.”

“And you?” Ethan asked, taking a guess that he was a veteran as well as Jack’s son.

“Guess I’m not going anywhere since I grew up here. And if you’re asking if I’m a veteran, I am.”

They were approaching a metal building that appeared to have been a garage at one time. The multiple windows, covered patio and French doors indicated it had been remodeled to house veterans. From inside he heard a baby crying. Isaac glanced at him, grinning.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Ethan slowed his steps, needing a minute to collect himself before he faced Eve. He hadn’t felt the best when he woke up that morning, attributing it to something he’d eaten the day before. Now he definitely felt his stomach tighten and he decided it was a case of nerves.

“Cold feet?” Isaac asked as he knocked on the door. “Are you regretting leaving her with the baby?”

“Nope.”

The door opened. A woman, tall with long auburn hair and a weary look in her hazel eyes, greeted them. The expression shifted to angry when she saw him standing behind Isaac.

“Having a bad day, Sierra?” Isaac pulled off his hat, grinning as if he didn’t see the storm coming.

“Oh, I’m having a lovely day. After a sleepless night.” She waved them inside, her expression going from angry to glacial when she looked at Ethan. “I’m assuming you’re the one who abandoned that poor baby girl.”

“I didn’t abandon her,” he defended. But he wouldn’t say more, not to this woman.

The other woman in the room, he guessed he would have to say something to her. She held Tori in her arms as tears streamed down the baby girl’s face. Eve looked exhausted and close to tears. He hadn’t expected it to be quite this traumatic. For either of them.

“How dare you,” she spat.

He stepped forward and held his arms out to Tori. She reached for him, sobbing.

“You can’t explain to a six-month-old that the person they need is coming back. Or that the person they need is being selfish, rotten, horrible...”

“Shh,” he whispered to Tori, holding her close. He rocked back and forth, whispering comforting words. His mom had taught him this trick. It also worked to calm Eve. She quieted, still glaring but no longer spewing harsh words at him.

That was good, because he needed a minute to breathe.

“I guess I shouldn’t ask how it went?” he spoke softly.