Page 43 of Wrangled Love

I often forget how small Bluebell is—where most people know each other’s names and what they do for a living.

Briar pushes back from the desk, standing straight. “Caleb recently lost his mom, and unlike you, I know better than to shame a child for how they choose to grieve. Even after everything he’s been through, I can say with certainty he’d never shove someone unprovoked.”

My mouth falls open, captivated by the fierce way she defends him. She’s sexy as hell, standing her ground, and the passion in her voice hits me harder than I expected. I’m grateful I didn’t let my hesitations get in the way of hiring her as Caleb’s nanny, because she’s the best thing that could have happened to him… and to me.

Before things escalate further, Julie steps inside her office, pursing her lips as if she can sense the tension. Vickie’s eyes widen, and she quickly rises from the chair, straightening her uniform.

“Is Caleb alright?” I ask.

Julie nods. “He’s fine.” Turning to Vickie, she adds, “I just reviewed the report log and found an interesting entry. Yesterday, a camp counselor documented that Michael fell on the concrete while playing tag and ended up with a large bruise on his left knee. She also noted that his dad was informed at pickup.”

Vickie’s cheeks turn red as she glances over at Briar and me. “That’s my ex-husband for you. Never tells me a damn thing.”

Briar shoots her a cutting look as if to sayI told you so.

“Guess it’s a good thing we cleared up this misunderstanding,” Vickie adds.

Misunderstanding, my ass.

The only reason she’s back-pedaling is because she’s embarrassed to admit she was wrong.

Julie clears her throat, and motions to Vickie. “Why don’t wego get Michael? We can talk more out in the hall if you have any other concerns you’d like to discuss.”

“Yeah, okay,” Vickie replies, clearly eager to leave.

I watch as she ducks out of the office, avoiding eye contact. Julie follows, casting a curious glance at me and Briar.

I let out a relieved sigh, grateful for how that turned out. Still, part of me wants to pull Caleb out of camp, even if I know that’s not a viable solution. He should be around other kids and learn to resolve conflict. However, it’s hard watching him get hurt and seeing other adults rush to judge him simply because he’s different.

Briar lowers herself onto Julie’s desk, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. I move beside her and slide my arm around her.

“What’s wrong?” Her sadness hits me almost as hard as Caleb’s.

She tries brushing it off, but her voice wavers. “It hurt to see Caleb so upset, especially when he didn’t do anything wrong. How can anyone be so cruel to a kid? Vickie’s a mom. You’d think she’d have more compassion.”

I draw her into my side, wiping a stray tear away. “You have a beautiful soul, Briar Halstead. Thank you for loving my son as much as I do.”

She offers me a feeble smile. “I’d do anything for him.”

“He’s lucky to have you… We both are.”

With every kind word, selfless act, and sweet smile, she chips away at my resolve, making it harder to pretend I’m not halfway gone for her already. As I lean in, her apple-sweet scent surrounds me, and for a fleeting moment, I allow myself to hold her close, a calm I haven’t experienced in days washing over me.

“Let’s go get Caleb, and then we’ll stop by Sweet Spur Creamery for ice cream,” I say.

“He’ll love that,” Briar replies.

The next day, I decide to keep Caleb home from camp and take the day off work. After what happened yesterday, I felt we could both use a chance to recharge and spend some quality time together.

We’re perched on a fence alongside one of the pastures, sharing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and watching Petunia, Heath’s pet cow, nose her way through the grass. Lately, we’ve been visiting daily, and Caleb has become almost as smitten with her as he is with Ziggy.

I have one arm around Caleb to keep him steady as he eats.

“Good, huh?”

He nods enthusiastically as he takes a big bite.

Before we set off on our adventure, I packed PB&Js, a bag of Cheez-Its, a carton of strawberries from the patch behind the ranch house, and some water bottles. I want each outing to be special and serve as a small reminder of how much he matters to me.

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