Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch

When no one answered, he walked down the aisle, peering into the stalls as he went. “Come on…I heard you. Do I have to say gesundheit before you make an appearance? Consider it said.”

He stopped by a narrow wooden ladder leading to the loft above the main floor and waited, without result. Then, a minute later, came another sneeze. And another. And yet a fourth.

“Bless you.” Daniel leaned his shoulder against a stall door to take the weight off his aching leg. “I’m not leaving, so you can stay hidden and sneeze your brains out or join me in the fresh air.”

A revealing scuffle came from overhead. He looked up and found a face looking down at him over the edge of the loft.

“You can’t really sneeze your brains out.” Under a pint-sized Resistol cowboy hat, the boy was about ten, with dark eyes, nut-brown skin and shiny black hair.

“Are you sure?” Daniel couldn’t mistake the kid’s resemblance to Willa. This must be the youngest boy. Toby, right?

“Yeah. It just feels that way.” The face disappeared, to be replaced by a pair of boots reaching for the top rung of the ladder. In the next second, the kid landed with a thud on the barn floor. He turned around to confront Daniel, his hands propped on his hips and his eyebrows drawn together. In his hat, his well-worn blue-checked shirt and his weathered jeans, he looked like a miniature cowpoke. “You must be the new guy.”

“I must be. My name’s Daniel Trent.”

The boy gave a single nod, like an aristocrat acknowledging a peasant. “I’m Toby Mercado. This is my ranch.”

Daniel decided not to dispute the issue at that moment. “It’s a nice place, from what I’ve seen so far.” He looked around them and shrugged. “Although this doesn’t look exactly encouraging.”

Toby nodded. “We haven’t used this barn for a long time, not since our foreman got his own land and decided to live there. You’ll have to bring in your own equipment.”

“What kind of equipment?”

The dark eyes went round. “Man, you need tractors and seeders and spreaders and rakes and chains and trailers. You need tools for building and mending fences, just for starters. How many head do you have coming?”

That would refer to cattle, Daniel assumed. “How many do you think I should have?”

Toby gave him a look of pure disdain. “Don’t you know anything?”

“Sure. But I’m new to the ranch business. I’ve got a lot to learn.”

The boy shook his head in disgust. “You’re telling me.”

“Speaking of learning…” Daniel glanced at his watch. “It’s noon on a Tuesday afternoon. Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Scuffing the dirt floor with one toe, Toby avoided his eyes. “Nah.”

“There’s no school today?”

Hands in his jeans pockets, Toby shrugged, still staring at the ground.

“I guess that means you’re playing hooky.”

“What’s that?”

“Skipping school. Cutting class.”

“Oh.” Another shrug, and then another sneeze. “School’s useless.”

“Why is that?”

“’Cause when I grow up I’m gonna run this ranch, just like my dad did. I don’t need school for that. I can learn what I have to know staying home, working with my mom and the hands.”

“Did your dad go to school?”

Toby looked up at him with a surprised expression. “I don’t know.” And sneezed again.

Daniel nodded. “You should ask your mom about that. I’ll take you home so you can talk to her.” He turned toward the barn door, but the boy hung back.

“She’s gonna be mad.”

“Probably. I imagine she likes to know where you are during the day.”

Toby hung his head and sniffed. “I’m in big trouble.”

After letting him anticipate the worst for a minute, Daniel put a hand on his shoulder to move him forward. “You might as well face the inevitable like a man. Get it over with.”

“What’s in-inevble?”

“Something you can’t avoid.”

“Oh.” He sighed. Sneezed. “Yeah.”

Once they were in the truck and headed back to Willa’s house, Daniel said, “How’d you get out of going to school, anyway? Do your brother and sister know you’re not there?”

“I said I was sick this morning. Once Robbie and Susannah left and Lili and Rosa were in the garden, I just went out the front door.” He shrugged. “No big deal.”

“Pretty slick.” But Daniel had a feeling Willa would think it was a very big deal, indeed.

After a minute of silence, Toby said, “So what did you do to your leg?”

“My truck hit a landmine in Iraq.” After eighteen months, he could say it without gritting his teeth.

Toby looked out the side window. “That’s what happened to my dad.” His voice was subdued. “He died.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Three of my friends got killed when I was hurt.”

After a minute, Toby glanced at the hand controls Daniel used to drive the truck. “Do you mind having a…a limp?”

An honest question deserved an honest answer. “Well, what would you think, if you couldn’t play ball anymore—very well, anyway—or sit down easily, walk smoothly or stand up for a long time without your leg feeling like it was on fire?”

“I’d hate it.”

“Sometimes I do. But at least I came home.”

“You were lucky.”

“Yeah, I was.”

He could hear other questions seething in Toby’s brain, but the boy didn’t give voice to his thoughts. They rode down the driveway of the ranch house without another word. Once Daniel stopped the truck, Toby took a deep breath and wrapped his fingers around the door handle. “Thanks for the ride. I—”

Before he could finish, the door was yanked open from the outside. Willa stood there, clearly furious.

“Tobias Rafael Mercado, where have you been? What do you mean, sneaking off without telling anyone? You’re not too old for a spanking, mister, and this may just be the day you get one.”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him off the truck seat to stand in front of her. Bending down, she looked him straight in the eye. “Lili and Rosa have been worried sick, Toby. Why would you do something like this to them?”

Toby had adopted the toe-scuffing technique again. One shoulder lifted in a shrug.

Straightening up, Willa blew out a short breath. “We’ll talk later. Go to your room…and stay there.” The boy turned to start for the house, but she put a hand under his chin and made him look up at her. “Do you understand, Toby? Do not leave your room.”

“Yes, ma’am.” With a slump to his shoulders, dragging his feet, he went into the house. In the stillness of the day, the slam of a door could be heard clearly.

Willa stood for a moment with her shoulders hunched, too. Then she straightened up and looked at Daniel through the open truck door. “Where did you find him?” Her cheeks were bright red with what he figured was pure embarrassment.

“In the barn at my place. He was up in the loft, and he sneezed. Maybe he really does have a cold.”

“If he was sick, he should have stayed home in bed instead of worrying my aunts to death.”

“I guess so.”

“He’s been a handful recently. Always up to something.” She said it almost to herself…or as if he were a friend she’d turned to for advice.

But Daniel knew she didn’t want help from him. He put his hand on the key to crank the truck engine.

“Wait.” Willa reached out, and he turned off the engine again. “I haven’t said thank you.”

“Not necessary.”

“Of course it is. I appreciate you bringing him home—you saved us hours of worry.”

“Anytime.”

“I hope not.” She flashed a smile that took him straight back to last night, to the incredible satisfaction he’d found with her. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”

Daniel’s mood crashed like a falling rock. “I’m sure you will.” Once again he reached out to start the engine.

“Willa?” Two women came scurrying out the front door and across the veranda, both of them tiny, about sixty years old, with bright, dark eyes and identical faces. “Willa, we just talked to Toby. Is this Major Trent?”

“Yes, Lili. Daniel Trent.” She gestured to the aunt wearing a pink-flowered dress. “Daniel, this is my aunt, Lilianna Mercado.”

“Pleased to meet you,” he said automatically, wishing he was outside and standing up instead of talking awkwardly across the interior of the truck.

The other aunt, wearing blue flowers, crowded in next to her sister. “This is Rosa Mercado,” Willa said from behind them.

“Miss Rosa.” Daniel nodded. “It’s a pleasure.”

“We’re so grateful to you for bringing Toby home,” Lili said. Rosa nodded in agreement. “He slipped away while we thought he was napping, and we had no idea where to look. And with Willa gone, we weren’t at all sure what to do.”

“It’s no problem. I just found him in the barn and drove him back.”

“We do appreciate your effort.” Rosa put a hand on her chest, somewhere near her heart. “And we’d like to thank you properly. Please come in and join us for lunch.”

Daniel glanced at Willa and saw her mouth tighten. “Thank you for the invitation, but it’s really not necessary. I’ll just get on back—”

“Oh, you can’t!” Rosa leaned into the truck, bracing her hands on the passenger seat. “I’m sure you don’t have much in the way of groceries up at that house, and it’s so far to drive to the nearest town, you’ll be starving before you get anything to eat. Please, come in. Willa should have asked you before now.” She gave her niece a reproving look.

Trapped. While he was still trying to think of a way to say no, Willa cleared her throat. “Lili and Rosa are right, Daniel. Come in and have some lunch. It’s the least we can do since you brought Toby home.”

His stomach chose that moment to growl fiercely, and the Mercado sisters laughed. Lili clapped her hands. “You see, you need some food right now. You’re a big man. You shouldn’t be going hungry.”

Daniel grinned and surrendered. “Who am I to argue with a lovely woman? Thank you, Miss Lili. I’ll be glad to stay for lunch.”

Lili and Rosa fussed over him all the way into the house, herding him through the large main room, with its twenty-foot ceiling, into the dining room beyond, where they led him to the head of an antique table that could easily have seated twenty people. The chairs were equally old, ornately carved and upholstered with red leather, but remarkably comfortable.

“You sit and relax—” Lili instructed, laying a hand lightly on his shoulder “—while we get the food ready. It’ll just be a moment or two.”

In little more than that, the table was spread with a lunch the size of which Daniel had seldom seen outside an army mess hall. He’d expected Mexican food, but instead there was a huge casserole pan of lasagna, with hot cheese and tomato sauce bubbling on top, plus a crisp salad in a glass bowl, warm bread in a napkin-lined basket, sliced apples and pears on a silver plate…

“This isn’t lunch,” he said when they joined him, the aunts on his left and Willa on his right. “It’s a banquet.” He looked at Willa. “Toby doesn’t get to eat?”

“I took a plate to his room,” she said, her eyes on the salad she was serving herself. “He had fallen asleep. I guess he does have a cold.”

“I thought he had a slight fever when I touched his forehead this morning.” Rosa shook her head. “But not enough to keep him in bed, I guess.”

“Ten-year-old boys are pretty hard to tie down.” Daniel forked up a bite of the lasagna. “Wow. Delicious.”

Rosa and Lili smiled at his appreciative groan. Willa took a deep breath and let it out slowly, finally allowing herself to relax a little. She’d been afraid, though of what, she wasn’t quite sure. She hadn’t really thought Daniel would try to—to sweep her off her feet in her own home, in front of her aunts and her child. Despite what they’d done…together…last night…she didn’t know him at all. But she believed she could trust him to behave in front of her family, at least.

Maybe she didn’t trust herself?

She dropped her fork at the thought, and everyone looked up as it clattered against the china plate. “Sorry,” she managed. “The lasagna is terrific, Lili. As always.”

Focusing on her food again, she had to admit it was nice to have a man at the head of the table once more. Jamie had sat at the other end, nearest the kitchen, and Lili and Rosa had avoided putting Daniel in his seat. But the sheer size and presence of a strong, virile male made a difference in the room. A difference she had sorely missed.

And wasn’t that just wonderful? Here she was, already putting Daniel Trent into her dead husband’s place. This was just what she’d hoped to avoid, warning him off. They didn’t need another man in their lives, stirring up hope in the kids, getting Lili and Rosa all flustered, making Willa herself wish for more of what she’d had last night. She’d simply have to resist any urge to get closer. How hard could that be?

Looking up just as he smiled at Lili after yet another compliment, she got an inkling of exactly how hard, indeed. The man was a charmer. And she was far from immune.

She couldn’t help noticing he made a good meal—two helpings of lasagna and salad, three pieces of bread and even seconds on the flan Rosa brought out for dessert. Willa, on the other hand, found her appetite had deserted her. Her plate returned to the kitchen with most of the food untouched.

“That was quite a meal,” he commented as she walked him back to the front door. “Please be sure your aunts know how much I appreciate their efforts.”

“I think you made it clear.” She opened the heavy door to the veranda and ushered him out ahead of her. “Anyway, they love having company. We haven’t seen many guests in the past couple of years.”

Standing in the shade, he turned to look at her, his blue gaze serious, his face solemn. “I’m sorry, Willa. I know this wasn’t what you wanted.”

She shook her head, then waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m the one who should apologize. I wasn’t…nice…this morning.”

“I don’t expect you to be ‘nice.’ Honest is good.”

“Okay, then.” She pulled in a deep breath and took the risk of meeting his eyes. “Last night can’t ever happen again. It wasn’t—wasn’t me. I can’t afford to be so irresponsible. And the kids—they’re still grieving—”

Daniel held up a hand. “It’s okay. I get it.” He put his weight on the cane and pivoted toward his truck. Once on the other side of the hood, he looked at her again.

“I’ll keep my distance from you and your family,” he promised. “You’ll have to come looking if you want to find me. And, Willa…” That sexy, inviting grin curved his lips. “I can guarantee last night won’t happen again—until you ask for it!”

“I LIKE THAT YOUNG MAN.” Lili set a stack of dirty plates on the kitchen counter.

“I do, too.” Rosa breathed in a lungful of steam as she filled the sink with soapy water. When they’d realized they would have a guest for lunch, they’d decided to use the second-best china, which had to be washed by hand. “He’s very handsome.”

“Oh, yes. He reminds me of…” Lili shook her head. “I think he’ll be a good neighbor.”

Rosa didn’t have to hear the rest of the sentence to know whom her sister was thinking about. “Willa seems doubtful. And very disturbed by him.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Could be. She’s barely aware of poor Sheriff Sutton, no matter how hard he tries. But…” Rosa shook her head. “Willa’s a stubborn one. Even if she couldn’t resist falling for Major Trent, I doubt she’d admit it, to herself or anybody else.”

“Do you think he’s interested?”

“Oh, yes. There was a smile in his eyes every time he glanced at her.”

“Well, he’s our neighbor now, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a bit of him. He’ll want Willa’s advice on hiring hands, to start with.”

Rosa paused in the act of sponging off a plate and stared out the window over the sink for a moment. “He’ll need a foreman, too, won’t he?”

“I expect so.” Lili put the leftover lasagna in the refrigerator. “He did say he hadn’t done much ranching.”

“Yes. Yes, he did.” And she might know just the man for the job. Biting back a smile, Rosa looked down into the suds again. “I’m sure Willa could make getting his ranch going much easier for Major Trent, if she wanted to.”

Drying the plate Rosa had just washed, Lili wrinkled her forehead in distress. “Why wouldn’t she want to?”

“She may take a while to get used to the idea of another man in her life.” Rosa handed over the sparkling-clean fruit bowl and winked. “But when it comes to Major Trent, there’s three of us and only one of her.”

Lili’s face cleared and she gave one of her delightful rippling laughs. “How true. Dear Willa doesn’t stand a chance!”

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