Page 46 of The Prodigal Brother Returns

Stopping in at the guesthouse, he picked up Andee and Reece, and the four of them headed for the barn. He heard Malorie’s Bronco leave shortly after.

“Does your mom like Uncle Nathan?” Timmy asked Andee.

“She says she likes all her patients.”

That seemed to satisfy Timmy. No more questions. He was too young to notice when two adults “liked” each other, anyhow.

They’d turned the horses out to pasture and had all picked a stall to clean out.

Blake was surprised to discover how much he’d missed the sounds and smells of the barn. There were fewer horses now than when he was a kid, but other than that, nothing had changed. The horses nickered in the pasture. Soiled hay, while not the best aroma, brought back memories of working with his dad and mom. Back then, his dad had taught all his boys about the Colorado Ranger, the breed he loved and raised on the ranch as part of his breeding program.

When Blake left the ranch, he’d left a large part of who he was behind with his brothers. At the time, he didn’t understand that. Now he did.

Timmy came out of his stall to stand in the open door of the one Reece was cleaning up. “You should ask her.”

“Ask her what?” Reece, the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, kept raking out his stall.

Timmy cocked his chin. Not a good sign. It meant his boy wasn’t going to stop asking questions until he got the answer he wanted. Blake wished he could muster that kind of focus when he was writing his books.

Finished with her stall, Andee came to stand beside Timmy. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Does your mom like Uncle Nathan better than she likes my dad?”

This was where a good dad would step in and redirect the kids’ conversation. But Blake was curious about what Andee thought. Not that it would change his decision to back away and give Nathan his chance. And not that his brother would appreciate his effort to help him get his own family. Something Nathan had wanted more than anything when he was a kid.

Andee turned bright eyes on Blake. “You should ask her.”

Yup, he knew it. Out of the mouths of babes.

“I don’t think so, young lady. That is your mom’s business.” Right? Blake disappeared into the next stall and started raking. A woman’s mind and heart were her affair.

He looked up at the sound of feet shuffling in the dirt. All three kids were watching him. It was Andee who persisted, “Why not?”

How was he supposed to explain to the three tweens that falling in love was a complicated thing? And not only that but who a person fell in love with was even more complicated?

“You know what? How about we finish up these stalls? Then we’ll bring Rosie in and take turns walking her around the arena, so she’ll get used to the place.” Blake backtracked a step for more distraction. “Before that, we need to make nameplates for Rosie’s and Grace’s stalls.”

“Oh boy!” Reece shouted and hurried to finish up his stall. Andee followed her brother to lend a hand.

Timmy didn’t move. Two furrows between his brows indicated he was still working on his Malorie problem. Blake knelt in front of the boy. A bigger diversion was in order. “You too, kiddo. I said we’d move here, but I need to make sure you won’t decide you want to move back to Sedona after we do. That means you have to be willing to do your chores and help me take care of the horses.”

That broke Timmy’s focus on the subject of who Malorie liked more. His frown disappeared.

“I’ll help. I promise!” And off Timmy went, quickly disappearing into the next stall over from the one he’d been working on.

He let out a relieved sigh. Crisis averted, thank goodness. The last thing he needed was Timmy taking matters into his own hands and asking Malorie himself.

They finished the five stalls and made Grace’s and Rosie’s nameplates while they ate lunch. Blake did most of it since it involved burning the horses’ names into wood. They had the two new horses in the arena. After being shown what to do, the kids were taking turns, talking to the animals and slowly walking Rosie and Grace in circles when Malorie and Nathan returned.

Their laughter faded as they went into the house. It was midafternoon. Blake chose to ignore the sound that indicated they’d had a good time. With sweat sticking his shirt to his back, he focused on the kids and horses instead. “All right, guys. Good job. It’s time to get these ladies settled for an early evening.”

They were just about to put the horses in their stalls with enough water and feed to last the night when Malorie came into the barn. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t intend to be gone that long. Nathan insisted on buying us lunch.”

“No worries.” Blake finished brushing Grace down, while Andee and Reece took turns brushing Rosie’s mane.

Timmy stood off to the side, watching.

Cleaning out the stalls and watering and feeding the horses did not seem to be a problem for the kid, but it would take him a little longer to get used to being near the big animals when they weren’t in their stalls with their heads hanging out looking for a treat or a scratch between their ears.

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