The Cowboy's Easter Family Wish

“Okay, it’s a deal.” Jesse motioned to a battered brown half-ton truck that sat at the far end of the parking lot. “That’s mine. How far is your place?”

“About ten minutes outside the city. We live on Broken Arrow Ranch. You can follow us there.” Maddie waited with bated breath until he nodded. As he walked away she was surprised to see him clap a black Stetson on his head. Where had that come from?

You were too busy gawking at his hunky face to notice his hat.

“I guess Jesse’s nice. But Dad’s rule...” Noah’s confused voice died away.

“Jesse is Emma’s grandson. He’s like a friend.” She was doing this for Noah. She’d do anything to help him.

You’re making another mistake, Madelyn.

That voice killed the confidence she’d had in her hasty invitation, until she remembered her last talk with her boss.

Maddie, you went from being a child to being a wife and then a mom. Now you need to take the time to figure out who Maddie is. Not Maddie, Liam’s wife, or Maddie, Noah’s Mom, but Maddie, the beloved child of God. The first step is to learn to trust your Heavenly Father.

Okay then. She’d take this step, and maybe if she trusted God enough, He’d show her the next one, the step that would help Noah heal.

“Jesse calls me Ark Man,” Noah mused aloud.

“Is that okay?” she asked.

“I guess.” A tiny smile curved his lips. “I never had a nickname before.”

Because Liam hadn’t allowed them.

“It makes you feel kind of special,” Noah said thoughtfully.

Maddie pulled into her yard with a sense of wonder. Because of Jesse, her son the rule-keeper was changing. Was this the beginning of the breakthrough she’d been praying for?

What else could happen?

* * *

Jesse was simply going to show Maddie and her kid how to make the treats his gran had taught him to make when he was Noah’s age.

He was not going to get involved. So what could happen?

As he climbed out of his truck his stomach issued a loud and angry protest at its empty state. He stomped his boots free of the dust to cover the rumblings. He’d been counting on one of Gran’s delicious meals to satiate his hunger. Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen, but maybe Maddie wouldn’t mind if he gobbled up a few of her treats.

Jesse could tell by the look on the kid’s face when Maddie invited him inside that Noah minded him being there. Obviously, he’d heard many warnings to be careful of strangers. Not a bad thing, Jesse decided.

“This is a beautiful spread.” He glanced around appreciatively. “The untouched desert is fascinating.”

“I think so, too.” Maddie looked surprised by his comment. “I often sit on the porch with my coffee in the morning and just enjoy it. I love the peace.”

Meaning she hadn’t had a lot of peace in her life? Curiosity about this woman mushroomed as Jesse took the grocery bags from her.

“The mountains make a great backdrop,” Maddie said, as she unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Although coming from Colorado, you probably think ours are puny.”

“No such—oof.” Jesse struggled to keep his balance as a chocolate lab jumped up at him. “Pleased to meet you, Cocoa.” He chuckled as the dog licked his hands.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Down, Cocoa.” Maddie tugged at the animal’s collar, dragging the dog away from Jesse. “Take her outside, Noah.”

Jesse noted the boy’s frown as his glance moved from her face to his, his eyes dark and stormy.

“Now, please, son,” Maddie said.

After a moment Noah nodded and clipped the lead on the dog’s collar.

“Hang on tight, Ark Man,” Jesse advised, as he plopped the grocery bags on the counter. “That’s a strong animal you’re taking out of the ark.”

Noah almost cracked a smile as he half walked, half dragged Cocoa outside.

“She’s a bit of a handful for him, but I’m hoping they’ll soon get used to each other.” Maddie smiled at Jesse’s questioning look. “Cocoa was my Christmas gift to Noah.”

“Nice gift.” Her Christmas gift, not our gift, he noted. So where was the kid’s father?

“If you want to wash before we make the treats, the bathroom’s just down the hall,” Maddie offered.

“Thanks.” Jesse walked past her, noticing that aside from the caramels and marshmallows, there were no frivolous purchases. Fruit, vegetables, bread, frozen dinners, peanut butter and milk. The basics. No cookies, no chips, no junk food at all, except for the caramels and marshmallows. Poor Noah.

She pressed the answering machine and listened to Noah’s teacher while she unpacked and stored her groceries.

Jesse took his time scrubbing up. When he returned to the kitchen, Maddie was telling Noah to leave the dog outdoors. On the deck outside, Cocoa was busy chowing down. Every so often she gave a guttural woof, glanced around, then returned to eating.

“Cocoa likes it better out there than inside the ark.”

Jesse did a double take. Noah’s face looked blank, but a tiny smile twitched at the corner of his lips. He chuckled. The stiff-necked kid had actually made a joke.

“So how do we make these treats?” With an apron wrapped around her narrow waist, Maddie stood primly poised behind the breakfast bar, hands folded, waiting for directions.

Jesse got trapped admiring the way her chin-length black hair glistened like an ebony frame around her oval face with its huge green eyes. Her lashes, long and lush, helped accentuate the smooth angles and curves of her sculpted cheeks, complimented by a pert nose and full lips. Maddie wasn’t tall, yet when Noah was near she somehow seemed stronger, invincible.

Jesse also glimpsed in Noah’s mother an innocence, a delicate fragility. For as long as he could remember he’d had this weird ability to see beneath the mask others presented. That proficiency now told him that Maddie had suffered, but somehow Jesse knew that though bent like a reed in the wind, she had not been broken by her suffering. Instead, the tentative way she smiled at him added to his hunch that hardship had left Maddie McGregor stronger, still genuine and sincere, uncorrupted.

Exactly the opposite of his own world-weariness.

“Is something wrong, Jesse?” Her considerate tone pulled him back from the cliff of his sad memories.

Who was Maddie McGregor?

“I shouldn’t have pushed you to do this tonight. You’ve been traveling.” She offered him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sure you’re tired. Maybe it would be better—”

“I’m fine.” He noticed Noah sitting on the other side of the breakfast bar, watching them with those dark see-all eyes. “Gonna help, Ark Man? It’s for your class, isn’t it?”

Silent, Noah slid off his stool and joined his mother.

“First we need a heavy saucepan half full of water,” Jesse explained. “Once the water’s hot we can set another smaller pan inside it to melt the caramels.”

Without a word, Maddie produced a pair of saucepans, half-filled the larger one with water and set it to heat on the expansive gas range.

“Okay?” she asked, a nervous edge to her voice.

“Great.” Jesse smiled to reassure her. “Let’s start unwrapping those caramels and putting them in this smaller pan.”

“How many?” Noah deftly slid a candy out of its covering, but made no attempt to eat it.

“How many kids in your class?” Jesse hid his surprise when Noah said eleven. “Small class.”

“He attends a private school,” Maddie explained.

“Okay, so eleven kids, multiplied by at least three treats for each. Let’s make fifty.” Jesse grinned at their surprise. “One of these is never enough, you’ll see. Plus they are small. Oh. I forgot to ask if you have toothpicks.” He noticed Maddie’s forehead crease in a frown. “Something we could use as skewers?” he prodded.

“I don’t think so,” she murmured.

“Does that mean we can’t make them?” Noah looked worried.

“We can still make them, but it’s much easier if we have something we can poke through the marshmallow to dip into the melted caramels, and leave in so we can stand it up.” Jesse wasn’t sure why, but suddenly it seemed very important that he help this woman and her child make his gran’s treat. “I could run back into town—”

“Dad got sticks for my science project. There were some left.” Noah’s eagerness made Jesse smile.

“Honey, I have no idea where those might be.” Maddie’s cheeks grew pink. She did not look at her son. “When we moved here we had so much stuff and—”

“And you wanted to get rid of Dad’s stuff,” Noah’s harsh voice accused. “Waste not, want not. That was his rule.”

“Yes, it was.” Maddie’s voice dropped to a whisper.

Jesse hated the way her lovely face closed up, like a daisy when the sun went behind a cloud. He had to do something.

“Can you call your dad and ask him if he knows where they might be?” he suggested.

The room went utterly still.

“He’s dead.” Noah’s voice broke. He glared at his mother. “You hated his rules, but I don’t.” Then he raced from the room.

Jesse had vowed not to get personally involved in a kid’s life again, not after the fiasco in Colorado. Why hadn’t he stayed out of his grandmother’s favorite grocery store tonight? Why hadn’t he avoided this woman and her troubled kid, simply swallowed his impulse to help?

Most of all, what was he supposed to do now to stem the tears tumbling down Maddie’s white cheeks as she stared after Noah?

Lord, You know how I’ve failed others. You know I’ve vowed not to get involved again, to never again risk failing a child.

So, God, what am I doing here with this woman and her troubled son?

Chapter Two

Weeping in front of a stranger?

Liam would—Forget him!

“I’m sorry.” Maddie swiped a hand across her wet face. “Noah is still struggling to deal with his father’s death.”

“How long has it been?” Jesse asked quietly.

For the first time since she’d met him, Maddie tried to recall Emma’s words about her grandson. Why had he offered to help them, strangers he didn’t even know?

“Liam died of a heart attack just over a year ago.”

“A heart attack?”

She saw Jesse’s eyes flare with surprise and felt compelled to explain. “I’m twenty-seven. Liam was eighteen years older than me.”

“His death must have been very hard on both you and Noah,” Jesse said in the gentlest tone. “So after he died, you moved here?”

“We were renting a house that belonged to the church Liam pastored. We had to move because they needed the house for their new minister.” Maddie wasn’t about to admit just how eagerly she’d left that unhappy place. “Noah and I rented for a while, then moved to Broken Arrow Ranch last summer.”

“I see.” Jesse nodded. “That’s a lot of change for any kid to handle.”

She immediately bristled, then realized Jesse wasn’t criticizing, simply stating facts. And yet she still asked, “Do you think I was wrong to move here?”

“Are you kidding?” Jesse chuckled. “It was dusk when we drove up, so I didn’t get the full impact, but what I did glimpse of your spread was impressive. I doubt anyone would fault you for wanting to live here.”

“I love it,” she whispered, but she didn’t tell him it was because the ranch represented freedom. Maddie glanced out the window as she explained the rest of her story. “Broken Arrow belonged to an elderly couple. They’d just completed interior renovations when the husband got sick. When they decided to move closer to medical care, Emma and Tanner both suggested I buy this place.”

“Tanner—of Wranglers Ranch?” Jesse interjected.

“Yes. I think he and Sophie wanted to make sure they got a good neighbor. They helped us move here. But I’m not sure they’ve benefited much. I’ve had to call Tanner for help with a mouse—twice.” Maddie chuckled. “The upside for us is that Sophie’s a caterer. She often invites us over to try her new recipes and they are always delicious. I think I got the better deal when it comes to neighbors.”

“Ah.” His eyes twinkled with fun. “They get a good neighbor and you get good food. You’re a smart lady.”

“Not that smart.” Maddie frowned. “What do we do for skewers?”

“Why is making this so important to you?” Jesse asked curiously. “It’s just candy.”

She glanced at the doorway through which her son had disappeared a few moments earlier, then answered in a hushed tone. “It’s not just candy to me. It’s a chance for Noah.”

“To do what?” Jesse scanned the caramels and marshmallows. “This isn’t the stuff heroes are made of.”

“It could be.” Maddie wasn’t above begging when it was for Noah. “Please, Jesse, show us how to make these treats.”

She held her breath. Emma said Maddie was God’s child. Surely He would help her convince Jesse to help them?

* * *

Jesse had never been able to turn down anyone who asked him for help, and despite his recent vow to remain uninvolved, he couldn’t do it this time, either. Calling himself an idiot, he began unwrapping more candy, adding to the contents in the saucepan, which he noted was gleaming and without a scratch.

She was a mom with a kid of, what? Seven? Eight? But apparently she’d barely used these like-new saucepans.

Jesse glanced around. Come to think of it, the furniture looked brand-new, too. Nicely tailored, not fussy, definitely comfortable, with quilts scattered here and there. Precise, finely patterned quilts with detailed stitching... Everything looked unused.

Also, everything was in its place. There wasn’t a speck of dust or a mess anywhere, no toy tossed here or a shirt discarded there. To Jesse, eldest of four rambunctious kids, this didn’t look like the home of a dog and a young boy. It was too—restrained. As if it hadn’t yet become home.

Two pictures hung on the wall. One was a very large portrait of Noah staring at a birthday cake with eight burning candles. The second was a smaller photo of him and Maddie standing by a flowering cactus. There were no snapshots or precious photos of the late husband and father. Questions multiplied inside Jesse’s head.

“What can we substitute for the skewers?” Maddie asked, drawing him from his introspection.

“Forks, I guess. You don’t have regular toothpicks? Because they would work,” he said, as he added a small dollop of cream to the melting candy.

“No, I’m pretty sure I don’t—oh, wait.” With a smile as big as Texas Maddie flung open a cabinet and lifted out a massive cellophane-covered basket. “This was a housewarming gift from your grandmother. I guess she thought we’d be camping out or something, because she put in a bunch of disposable things. Maybe there’s something we could use in here.”

She pawed her way through the crackling cellophane, pulling out items and discarding them on the stone countertop in her search for toothpicks.

“Well?” Jesse waited, content to watch this beautiful woman.

“Nothing.” Maddie’s tone deflated when she came to the bottom of the basket.

“These might work.” He selected and rotated a box.

“What are they?” She leaned across him to read the label. “Oh. Stir sticks.” She turned away, then stopped and turned back, eyes glowing as she took the package and tore it open. “Stir sticks!” she repeated, her grin wide as she held up a handful.

“Wooden ones, which are perfect, though I’m surprised my tasteful grandmother chose such lurid colors.” He plunged the tip of one purple-and-green-striped stick into a marshmallow and grinned right back at her. “Hey, Ark Man,” he called. “We’re making the treats. You better come help us so you’ll be able to tell the other kids how to make ’em.”

Jesse hadn’t given a thought to calling Noah until he glanced at Maddie and suddenly realized he should have let her do that. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she stopped him with a tearful look.

“Thank you,” she whispered, just before her son appeared. “We found stir sticks for the I Have a Dream treats, Noah. Emma sent them in that basket of stuff.”

“Huh.” Noah watched Jesse, who drew his attention to the melting caramels. The boy spread the crisp noodles on a sheet of wax paper as directed, then mimicked Jesse’s action, dipping a skewered marshmallow into the melted candy, rolling it in the noodles and standing it in a glass to set.

“Wait,” Jesse ordered, when they’d made a total of three treats. Mother and son turned questioning gazes on him. “There’s no point in making any more unless they taste okay. Go ahead,” he urged Noah. “Do a taste test.”

Noah glanced at his mom, who nodded. With exaggerated slowness he lifted one of the sticks from the glass and tried to bite the caramel. Of course the marshmallow moved, escaping his teeth. Jesse couldn’t control his amusement, until Noah set the stick down, his face a wounded mask.

“This is what you looked like.” Jesse made a fool of himself trying to coax a laugh from Noah and his mother and finally succeeded. “Now this is the proper way to eat them, or at least it’s how I’ve always eaten them.” He popped an entire marshmallow into his mouth, closed his eyes and chewed. “Mmm. I’d forgotten how good these were.” He savored the taste.

Maddie reached for the last one. She put it in her mouth hesitantly, but then her eyes widened as she chewed.

“Noah,” she said, wonder coloring her musical voice. “Taste it. They’re delicious.”

“Sweets are bad for you,” Noah recited. “A third of all children starting school have tooth decay.”

“It’s okay to have a treat now and then,” she told him.

Jesse could see how hard the boy was finding it to taste the candy. Those rules again. Someone had sure brainwashed him.

“Too many sweets are bad for you,” he agreed. “But you’re not going to have too many. Are you, Ark Man?”

After a moment, Noah shook his head, picked up his skewer and studied it with a critical eye. “I like triangles,” he said firmly. “They’re the best. These are circles.”

Jesse blinked. “Uh, I don’t know how to make them into triangles.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Maddie intervened with a smile. “Just try it, Noah,” she encouraged. “Circles are good, too. Think about apples and oranges.”

“I like triangles.” But he did slide the covered marshmallow into his mouth. The myriad of expressions that chased across his face was a delight Jesse was glad he was there to witness.

“So tell me, Ark Man, are circles okay?”

Still chewing, Noah nodded vigorously.

“And do you think three each will be enough for your classmates?”

He shook his head in a very firm no.

“Then let’s get busy,” Jesse urged.

They worked together in a relay. With delicate precision Noah speared the marshmallows, then handed the skewers to Jesse for dipping. He passed them on to Maddie to roll in the noodles. Halfway through they changed positions, so Maddie could dip and Noah could roll. And somewhere in the midst of the laughing and giggling and sneaky licks of a finger, Noah became an ordinary kid making a treat in the kitchen.

When Jesse glanced at Maddie he found her watching him, appreciation shining from the depths of her gorgeous green eyes. He couldn’t look away, but she did, quickly, as if she was embarrassed.

“We’ve used all the marshmallows, so I guess it’s time to clean up, and you need to get ready for bed.” Maddie mussed Noah’s too-perfect hair and pressed a kiss on his head. “How shall we keep these overnight, Jesse?”

“Just leave them. They’ll dry out and firm up a bit. Then you can lay them in a box or container for school tomorrow.” He was embarrassed by his stomach’s loud rumble.

“Didn’t you eat dinner?” Noah paused in his cleanup of the leftover noodle bits.

“I didn’t.” Jesse shrugged. “That’s why I went to the grocery store. It’s Gran’s favorite. When she wasn’t at home, I hoped I’d find her there and that maybe she’d have dinner with me when she was finished shopping. Or maybe make me dinner.” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll get something to eat on my way back to my campsite.”

“You’re camping?” Noah’s bored look vanished, replaced by excitement.

“Ever since I left Colorado, Ark Man.”

“In a tent? With a campfire? And cookouts?” Awe filled Noah’s voice.

“All of the above,” Jesse agreed.

“Cool.” The word whooshed out of Noah as if he could only imagine such a life.

“It is fun, except when it rains or there are mosquitos. Thankfully, the desert has little of either right now.” Jesse turned to Maddie. “I’ve taken some time away from work to see this country,” he explained.

“What is your work?” she asked.

“I’m—I was a youth pastor.” He could almost feel her draw back when he said the word pastor. “I, ah, needed a break.”

“I see.” Maddie’s face tightened into a mask. She abruptly turned her focus on Noah. “Get ready for bed, please.”

“Eight o’clock is bedtime,” Noah explained with a sigh. “It’s the rule.” He hesitated. “Will I see you again, Jesse?”

“I hope so, Ark Man. I intend to apply for a job at Wranglers Ranch. That’s right next door, your mom says.” He smiled at the boy, but Noah was deep in thought.

“You’re a minister,” he said quietly, then glanced up. “Like my dad was?”

“Not anymore.” Jesse felt funny saying that, as if God had somehow rescinded the call He’d made on his life so many years ago. “For now I’m going to try being a ranch hand.” Until I figure out what God’s doing and what I’m supposed to do.

“My dad said that when you work for God you can’t quit,” Noah said firmly. “He said that God wouldn’t let him quit. He said it was a pastor’s rule.”

“For him, sweetie. It was a rule for him.” Maddie nudged his thin shoulder. “Now thank Jesse for showing us how to make the treats.”

Noah obediently thanked him, but it was clear that though he left without further protest, the question of Jesse’s unemployment was not settled.

“I should get going, too,” he said.

“Please stay and share a cup of tea, maybe a sandwich?” Maddie stood at the counter, hands knotted as if she was nervous. Her black cap of hair gleamed under the lights. “I’m no cook, but I owe you at least that much.”

“You don’t owe me anything. But I wouldn’t say no to a cup of tea. Or a sandwich,” he added, when his stomach complained again.

“I can do a sandwich.” Maddie’s face looked like the sun had come out, so brilliant was her smile. She put the kettle on, then pulled open the fridge. “What would you like?”

“Anything is fine. Thank you.” He hoped she’d offer a thick slice of roast beef with hot mustard on fresh French bread. Or maybe—

“Is peanut butter okay?” Maddie stood in front of her fridge, clutching an almost empty jar of peanut butter, the same wimpy brand Noah preferred. “I could mix it with honey,” she offered.

“Great.” Jesse sat at the counter and accepted the sandwich when she served it, biting into it with relish, smiling and nodding as he chewed. “It’s good.”

“I should have made you something nice. I wish I could. You deserve it.” She sat one stool away from him, elbows propped on the counter, inhaling the steam from her tea. “Here I have this designer kitchen that most women dream of, and I’m a useless cook.”

That sounded like something someone had called her.

“Why don’t you take cooking lessons?” he asked, after swallowing the sticky mass. “Gran made my mom take them.”

“Really?” Maddie looked as if she’d never heard of such a thing.

“Sure. When my parents lived here there was a cooking school called Alberto’s Mama. That’s where my mom went to learn to cook before she had me.” He grinned. “Gran insisted it was a necessity and my dad was happy to pay when he started tasting Alberto’s Mama’s recipes. Was your husband a cook?” He pretended to ask out of idle curiosity.

Immediately, Maddie went tense. Her fingers tightened around her cup and her cheeks lost the delightful pink that had bloomed there. “Gourmet,” she murmured.

And that only made you feel worse.

Jesse’s heart hurt at the wounded look on her face. “I’m sure you have talents in other areas.”