Page 65 of Wyoming True

THEYWEREAyoungish couple, Tanner and Grace Lowell, with three little kids, all under the age of ten.

“I just run all the time,” Grace laughed, running down her toddler whose diaper had come off. “We’ve had a hard time making ends meet since Tanner got thrown at the last rodeo.” She grimaced at her husband’s expression. “Well, it’s not like it’s a secret that you got hurt, honey,” she added softly.

He sighed. “No, I guess not.”

“You’ll be the foreman,” Jake pointed out with twinkling silver eyes. “That means you sit and give orders.”

“I won’t always have a bum leg,” Tanner promised. “I go to physical therapy three times a week.”

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Ida asked gently. “I have a bad hip. They did a partial replacement and there’s a metal rod and screws where my femur was broken, so I still have trouble walking. But therapy is wonderful. I especially loved the heat lamp,” she added with a grin.

The Lowells, who’d heard bad things about Mrs. Merridan, were fascinated at this look at the real woman. Gossip, apparently, was way off the mark here, as usual.

“That heat lamp’s not bad,” Tanner agreed and smiled at his wife.

“You can start Friday, if you like,” Jake told him. “House is rent free, utilities provided, and you get a salary. House comes with a kitchen garden that you can plant any way you like.”

“There’s a stable, too, for your horses,” Ida added. “Mine will come to Jake’s house with us when we’re married.” Her face tautened. “I’ve had two injured. They’re staying with Ren Colter for the time being.”

“Injured?” Tanner asked worriedly.

“My ex-husband wants money,” Ida said quietly. “He has ways of trying to extract it from me that will get him arrested if we can prove it. And don’t worry. I’ll make sure he knows that I’m not living at the ranch anymore. Your animals and your family will be safe. It’s only me that he’s after.”

The Lowells exchanged glances. They had a pretty good idea of how Ida’s hip had been injured, but they didn’t mention it.

“I’d love to start Friday,” Tanner said, “if you’ll bear with me while I get back on my feet.”

Jake grinned. “No problem there. You’ll want to take your furniture, so we’ll need to move Ida’s out.”

“We can put most of it in storage, but I want my piano,” she told Jake.

“You play?” Mrs. Lowell asked gently.

Ida smiled. “Oh, yes. My first husband had me taught. He played so beautifully. He was a kind man.” She glanced at Jake shyly. “He plays, too.”

His eyebrows arched. “And how do you know that?” he wanted to know.

“Maude.”

He made a face.

“Why don’t you have a piano?” she persisted.

“I did have one.” His face closed up, but he didn’t say another word, changing the subject to the issue of Tanner’s duties.

LATER,WHENTHEYwere alone, she started to ask him about the piano.

“I was taking lessons, when I was fifteen,” he told her, his eyes glittery with memory. “My father said it was a sissy thing for a boy to do. I told him I was no sissy and that Mama said I could learn to play if I wanted to. So he went out to the barn, got his sledgehammer, came back inside and smashed the piano to bits. It had been my mother’s grandmother’s piano. She cried for days afterward, and I felt such guilt.”

“It was your father’s fault, not yours,” she said gently. “And I know your mother never blamed you.” She hesitated. “You don’t mind if I bring my piano with me?”

He was withdrawn for a few seconds. Then his face cleared. “Certainly not. You play beautifully. I’ll enjoy listening.”

She smiled. “Okay. Thanks.”

He sat down in the living room with her. “You do understand that I’m going to be on the road a lot?” he asked, because it needed to be made clear at the outset. “I do business all over the world, and I have holdings in Australia that I share with Rogan Michaels. I won’t expect you to travel with me.”

She would have volunteered to go, but something in his expression stopped the words in her mouth.

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