Page 82 of Dark Side of the River

Her baby was hurt so badly that he might never walk again. How would she ever get through this? She kept watching the helicopter until it disappeared from view. Then, pulling herself together, she straightened her shoulders and put on her stern expression before going back inside to pay her bill. After, she’d head home and pack for the drive to Billings, then fly on to a specialized care facility. She had no idea how long she’d be gone from home since Doc had told her that CJ’s recovery could be a long one.

WHENCOOPERRETURNEDto the ranch, he could hear what sounded like an impromptu rodeo going on down at the corrals. He walked over to find Holly Jo hanging on the side of the corral railing, watching. He joined her as Pickett performed some basic horseback tricks to the cheers and jeers of his fellow ranch hands.

“Can girls do that?” Holly Jo asked.

He considered her, seeing a gleam in her blue eyes. “A most famous trick rider was a woman named Connie Griffith. She’s in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame.”

Holly Jo’s eyes widened with wonder. “Can you teach me to do that?”

He wondered what his father would say. But if Holden was here right now and could see the look on this girl’s face, he couldn’t say no. “I can do a few tricks.” He thought of Tilly, who was even better at trick riding. “I also know a cowgirl who could show you a few things too.”

“Please?” She said it as if it hurt to form the word, let alone that she might get her dream crushed. For days she’d fought everything about ranch life, from the food to living out in the sticks. He suspected that the only reason she’d originally wanted to learn to ride a horse was to leave. He wasn’t sure when that had changed or if it would last, but he thought it was a good sign that her staying here might work out.

“I’ll make a deal with you,” he said. “You make more of an effort to eat the food Elaine cooks, including the beef—”

Her face lit up. “I ate some. I did. It wasn’t...terrible.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “You do that and I’ll think about it.”

“Cooper, I want to be able to do horse tricks more than anything in the world.” She said it with such sincerity.

He kept looking at her for a long moment, knowing he’d already made up his mind. “I’ll have to ask Dad. You could get hurt. If you do, he’ll blame me.”

She grinned. “Then I guess you better make sure I don’t get hurt.”

HOLDENSENSEDTHATsomething had changed when he sat down to supper that night. For starters, all of his offspring were here along with Holly Jo. Even Elaine looked surprised, giving him a questioning look. He had no idea.

As the food was passed around, he saw Holly Jo take a little of everything on her plate, including a tiny piece of roast beef. He saw her shoot a look down the table at Cooper, who gave her a nod.

He wanted to ask what was going on, but he thought there was something to that old expression, let sleeping dogs lie. Whatever had caused this rare occurrence, he didn’t want to do anything to ruin it.

Holden listened as Bailey and Duffy joked with each other. Even Treyton seemed to be in a good mood, discussing the building of the new barn with Cooper. All of it made him wonder at the change, though. His ex-wife, Lulabelle Braden McKenna, would have said it was the position of the stars.

Just the thought of the fiery redhead always made him question his good judgment. He’d married her right after Charlotte’s first husband had died and she’d quickly married Dixon Malone. Her marriage had lasted less than a year. His hadn’t made it much longer.

He was still embarrassed and didn’t need a psychiatrist to tell him why he’d proposed to the sexy, loud, long-legged city girl. She was the extreme opposite of Charlotte Stafford. She’d instantly hated ranch life, having thought it was like the Western romances she read.

“I thought we’d wear Western clothes and go places, like Vegas and New York, once in a while,” she’d said, pouting. “I hate living out here in the middle of nowhere. You never told me it was so...boring.”

Just when he’d thought that things couldn’t get any worse, Lulabelle had ended up in a hair-pulling fight at the grocery store with Charlotte. He hadn’t been there, but he’d been told that the fight was a draw before the manager at the store got between them and broke it up.

He felt himself flush at the memory of the second-worst mistake he’d ever made.

“What do you think, Dad?” he heard Cooper say.

Assuming they were discussing the new barn, he said, “Sounds good to me.”

Holly Jo let out a cheer and then quickly took a bite of the roast beef. Holden watched, wondering what he’d just agreed to as the girl chewed for a few moments. Everyone was watching her expectantly. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she had spit it out.

But she swallowed and nodded. “It’s not all that bad,” she said about the prized beef they raised.

There were chuckles around the table at that. “Glad to hear it,” Holden said, unable not to smile as he watched the girl eat the rest of the food on her plate. Something had happened, and he had no idea what. He looked at Cooper, who merely grinned.

He told himself he didn’t want to know, didn’t need to, as he listened to Treyton’s plans for the barn and Cooper offering his suggestions, which his eldest son took without comment.

For several years, Treyton had been saying it was time to let him run the ranch. Holden wouldn’t go that far, but he did see how this younger generation might be able to step into his boots at some time in the future. It gave him hope, especially when it came to Holly Jo, who was now asking Bailey questions about horse riding.

“Glad you agreed to letting Holly Jo learn some horse-riding tricks,” Cooper said, almost making him choke on the roast. “It’s something she wants pretty badly. If you don’t mind, I thought I’d get Tilly to help. She’s always been better at it than I am.”

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