Rancher Daddy (Family Ties Book 2) Read online

  What Holly hadn’t done, despite Luc’s repeated reminders, was open the trunk her father had left. She’d finally realized her father had tasked Luc with getting her to look in the trunk. And she would. One of these days when it didn’t hurt quite so much to see it and remember all the stories her dad had told her about the trunk’s travels with him through Africa where he’d bought it.

  “Are you asleep, Holly?” Humor threaded Luc’s voice. When she looked at him, he smiled. “We’re here.”

  Holly wasn’t sure what to expect. All she knew was that she had to keep a close eye on Henry and soothe his fears. So when they entered the prison she held on to his hand, even though she knew he thought he was too old to need such attention.

  The three of them were shown into a small room where they waited for only a few minutes before a young man entered.

  “Finn!” Henry tore his hand free, raced across the room and threw himself into his brother’s arms.

  “Hey, Henry.” Finn, an older version of Henry, gathered the boy close, closed his eyes and savored the joy of holding his brother. “Long time no see, buddy.” Pure joy radiated across his thin face. His eyes, mirrors of Henry’s, took in every detail. “Your hair is different. It looks good. Are you behaving?”

  “Uh-huh.” Henry grinned. “This is Luc and this is Holly. They’re my friends.”

  “Nice to meet you, Finn. Luc Cramer.” Luc held out his hand, waiting until Finn finally extended his and shook it. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Henry. He says you like to work with wood.”

  “Yeah.” Some of the hesitancy vanished from Finn’s face. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a small animal. “I heard you were staying on a ranch so I made you this horse, Henry.”

  “Thanks.” Henry grinned adoringly at his big brother then reverently took the horse from Finn’s hand. “You made it look just like Holly’s horse. He’s called Babycakes.”

  “For real?” Finn asked wide-eyed.

  “For real. I’m Holly Janzen.” She shook Finn’s hand. “Luc and I are ranching neighbors but Henry lives with Ms. Hilda.” She knew Finn was almost eighteen but was surprised by how young he looked. “I’m glad to meet you. A brother of Henry’s has to be very special.”

  “Thanks.” Finn gave her an embarrassed smile then his attention returned to Luc. “I was told you want to adopt my brother.” He watched Henry gallop his horse around the room.

  “Yes, I do. I want to give him a home. Henry’s a very special boy and I love him dearly,” Luc said quietly.

  “So do I.” Finn’s look challenged Luc, but Luc didn’t take the bait.

  “I know you do, Finn.” He didn’t retreat from the confrontation in the brother’s eyes but kept his tone friendly. “Henry’s told me all about how you looked after him. You did a great job of raising him.”

  “He’s a good kid,” Finn muttered.

  “Due to your influence,” Luc agreed. “I hope when you get out you’ll come and see us at the ranch. Henry talks about that a lot.”

  Holly’s heart melted at Luc’s gentle tone as he tried to reassure this big brother that he had no intentions of cutting him out of Henry’s life. It was a brilliant way to ensure Henry’s adjustment to Luc was made even easier. Luc’s big heart was as large as his ranch, Holly thought fondly. He made her world and Henry’s and Finn’s a better place. How she loved him for it.

  Wait a minute. Loved him? That couldn’t be.

  “Right, Holly?”

  “Huh?” She blinked, found Luc frowning at her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing.” She blushed at Finn and Henry’s curious stares. “Just thinking.”

  “I was telling Finn that if he wants to look for a job near Buffalo Gap there’s always someone hiring.” Luc gave her a funny look.

  “That’s true,” Holly agreed, trying not to show that Luc’s proximity had such a strong effect on her. “If that’s what you want. What are your interests, Finn?”

  Finn spoke of his love of carving. Moments later he and Luc were bent head to head discussing wood.

  “I’ll find out if I can send you some hickory,” Luc promised when the guard told them the visit was over. “I’ve heard that it’s great for carving.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Finn shook his hand, his face now relaxed. “And thanks for caring about Henry. I appreciate it.”

  “It’s entirely my pleasure,” Luc assured him.

  “I don’t want to go.” Henry leaned against Finn’s leg as he gazed at his brother. “I don’t want to leave you here. I missed you, Finn.”

  “I missed you, too, Henry.” Finn lifted the boy on his knee and reminded him of some of the fun things they’d shared. They laughed together, each adoring the other. “I’m sorry I messed up, Henry. I did a bad thing by stealing. I shouldn’t have done it. That’s why you had to go live with someone else. Because I made a mistake.”

  “Luc says everybody makes mistakes,” Henry said, cupping his hand against Finn’s cheek. “You have to ask God to forgive you,” he said earnestly.

  “I already have,” Finn told him quietly. “And I know He heard me because He sent you to some very nice people. God sure does care about you, Henry.”

  “He cares about you, too,” Henry said a little tearfully.

  “When I get out of here I’ll come and see you,” Finn promised, holding the boy tightly. “Maybe I’ll even try sitting on one of Luc’s horses.”

  “Really?” Henry asked. Hope filled his face, and Holly’s heart squeezed tight. “You won’t do anything bad again? I know I made you do it.”

  “No, Henry.” Finn’s stern voice surprised the boy. He shifted but Finn hung on to his shoulders and waited until Henry looked at him. “Nothing that happened to me was your fault, Henry. Understand? I did something wrong and now I have to pay for it.”

  “But I told you the teacher said I needed new glasses,” Henry said, his voice brimming with contrition. “If I hadn’t told you—”

  “Wasn’t I old enough to know not to steal?” Finn shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Henry.”

  “Sure?” Henry saw Finn’s nod but apparently that wasn’t enough. He looked to Luc who also nodded then to Holly who did the same. “Okay,” he said at last with a big sigh.

  “We have to go now, Henry,” Luc said quietly. “But we can come back another time. If you want to.”

  “I want to,” Henry said, his chest thrust out proudly. “Finn’s my brother. We hafta stick together.”

  “Exactly the way it should be.” Luc said goodbye to Finn, waited for Holly to do the same then ushered her outside the room, giving Finn a moment with his brother.

  “That kid is one of the good guys,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m going to ask Abby to do some investigation and see if the court will grant Finn early release if he’s under my supervision.”

  What a guy. Holly could no more have stopped herself from throwing her arms around Luc and pressing a kiss against his cheek than she could have stopped breathing. When she stepped back, Luc blinked at her as if he’d survived a whirlwind.

  “What was that for?”

  “For being a wonderful, caring, generous, sweet man,” she said.

  “Sweet?” His nose wrinkled.

  “Yes.” She linked her fingers with his. “Do you know how much I admire you, Luc Cramer?”

  “They’re just kids trying to raise each other,” he said, brushing off her compliment. But he didn’t let go of her hand. “I want them to be together.”

  “You deserve to be a father,” she whispered as Henry came out of the room.

  Together they walked to Luc’s truck. Then he drove them to an ice cream stand and bought the biggest cones they offered. As they sat in the hot sun licking their ice cream, Holly offered a silent prayer.

  Lord, I do love this man. I love him more than I ever dreamed I could love Ron, miles beyond the love I thought I had for my baby’s father. Luc stands head
and shoulders above every man I’ve known except Dad.

  But how could an honest, decent man like Luc care for the real Holly Janzen? Not the local girl everyone thought always did the right thing, but the girl behind the mask, the one who’d given away a child she’d carried for nine months right next to her heart because she didn’t want anyone to know she wasn’t the shining example they thought?

  Holly wasn’t worthy of Luc. A man like him, gentle, sincere, trusting—how could he possibly understand what she’d done? Luc deserved the best life had to offer. The best was not Holly Janzen, though she dearly wished it was.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I’ve only ever ridden in a parade before on my horse.” Holly waved at bystanders as Luc drove the route. “It’s more fun riding in your truck, especially knowing you won first place.”

  “Don’t forget I also took first place for the best historic entry with this baby,” Luc bragged, patting the steering wheel. “But I couldn’t have done either without you and Henry to help.” He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Okay back there, Henry?”

  “Yes.” That was all Henry had said since the moment Luc had lifted him into the restored truck. Dressed in a Western shirt Holly had made for him, jeans and the cowboy boots Luc had provided, he clung wide-eyed to a black Stetson, smaller but identical to Luc’s.

  The band behind them struck up another number so talking was, for the moment, impossible. That was okay with Luc. He couldn’t put what he was feeling into words anyway. Or maybe he could. One word. Perfection.

  These past weeks he, Holly and Henry had done everything together from creek-side picnics, hay rides with Henry to just generally enjoying God’s creation. Studying his Bible seemed so much easier now that he’d laid off trying to instruct his buddies and instead met with them one evening a week to talk about God and pray. Every day Luc felt he learned a little more about the Father to Whom he’d given his life.

  He’d also given up, at least for now, trying to figure out the master plan for his life. Instead, he’d settled in to taking one day at a time, doing the best he could and waiting for God to show him the next step. Most of those steps he’d taken with Holly at his side. She fit perfectly in his world and Luc could not imagine life without her sweet smile and charming laugh.

  This summer had been the best of Luc’s life. That was because of Holly. She made every day such fun that the days she couldn’t join him and Henry to play seemed dull and long. Luc had finally accepted that he was falling for his boss.

  And yet he was bothered by the fear of being emotionally tied, even to a wonderful woman like Holly whom he trusted more than anyone. A part of him feared his soul-deep longing for her because lately he’d begun to wonder if he knew the real her, the one she said no one ever saw.

  Since Leah’s departure, Holly had grown less jovial, more introspective, or perhaps the word was contemplative. At first Luc thought she’d finally opened her father’s chest and that something in it troubled her. But he’d seen that chest sitting in her sewing room just this morning, still locked tight. So it wasn’t that.

  What if she isn’t who I think she is, Lord?

  “Be still and know that I am God.” The verse from Psalms filled his head, chasing away the doubts for a moment.

  But then Luc saw the way she gazed with longing at an infant in its mother’s arms, and his concerns came rushing back. What if he took the risk, told her of his feelings and Holly didn’t reciprocate? Worse, what if something later came between them?

  Was a relationship with Holly God’s will?

  “We turn off here, Luc.” Holly drew him from his introspection by touching his arm.

  Luc nodded and made the turn as he made his decision. He wasn’t going to say anything yet. Not until he’d totally thought this through. He’d stick with the status quo. For now.

  “You’re parking here?” Holly arched her eyebrows as she glanced around the empty field next to the fairgrounds. “We’ll have to walk forever to get to the exhibits,” she complained.

  “Should I drop you there?” He flushed when she stared at him. “I don’t want anyone to ding my door if they park too close,” he confessed. “I just refinished it.”

  “Well, Henry.” Holly grinned at the boy. “Guess we’re taking a walk.”

  “Can I put my own shoes on?” Henry asked plaintively. “These boots hurt my feet.”

  Luc helped Henry change shoes, then they walked hand in hand to see if Holly’s pumpkin had won a prize.

  “It’s ginormous,” Henry whispered, gazing at the massive orange pumpkin.

  “But it doesn’t have a blue ribbon,” Holly said, sounding a bit let down.

  “It has a red one. You won second place and two hundred fifty dollars,” Luc told her. “That’s not bad for a first timer. Let’s go see how your quilt did.”

  Holly held back a little, and Luc knew why. She didn’t want to see that the quilt she’d crafted specially for Leah had received second place, or worse, no award at all. Holly was still emotionally bound to Leah.

  “Be positive.” He took her hand and led her to the area where quilts of all sizes and colors hung across the hall. “Look, Holly.”

  Holly’s quilt lay spread against a section of the brown paneled wall where its delicate pink, blue, gray and yellow blocks joined together to become a meadow where wildflowers bloomed around a child.

  “It’s so pretty,” Henry said. “Like a picture.”

  “A very beautiful picture,” Luc agreed. He drew her forward to study the tag. “And it’s taken first prize with a recommendation to be entered in the national quilt show in Vancouver this November. Congratulations, Holly.”

  Amazing work, incredible craftsmanship. One of a kind. As Holly read the words on the tag the judges had affixed, a tear tumbled down her cheek.

  “Aren’t you happy?” Henry asked, his face puzzled.

  “People are going to see this beautiful quilt and applaud the talented woman who created it.” Luc threw an arm across her shoulders and squeezed.

  “No, they’re not.” Holly swiped away her tear and smiled at him. “This quilt isn’t going anywhere except into a box for my friend Dora. She just found out she’s pregnant.”

  Which was nice, but also meant that if Holly gave the quilt away she wouldn’t have to look at it anymore and be reminded of Leah. Luc’s heart melted.

  Please, God, Holly’s such a special woman. She deserves to be happy. Please help me bring some joy into her life.

  From that moment Luc devoted himself to making it a day to remember. He insisted Holly help him persuade Henry to try every ride in the children’s area, especially the miniature ponies. He paid for Holly to try her hand at a water gun gallery, but when she lost, Luc took over and won a huge teddy bear. They both cheered when Henry won a rubber duck.

  They sampled burgers and fries and hot dogs and Luc fed Holly onion rings. They stopped by the local Rotary booth for a piece of homemade pie. They watched chuck wagon and chariot races. Luc couldn’t stop laughing when Holly’s abysmal choices continually came in last.

  And finally, with the sun sinking into the western sky, Luc sat with his arms around Holly and Henry as they rode the Ferris wheel. And that’s when he knew for sure that this was what he really wanted. A woman, Holly, to love and to cherish, and a son, Henry, to encourage and support. A family.

  “He’ll never manage the walk back to your truck.” Holly smiled as Henry yawned when Luc lifted him down from the ride.

  “Won’t have to.” A moment later Luc lifted the boy atop his shoulders. Even with all their winnings to carry, Luc managed to capture Holly’s hand and hold it. “Did you have fun?”

  “It was a wonderful day.” The midway’s multicolored lights reflected on Holly’s face, enhancing her sweet smile. That did funny things to his breathing. “I think Henry enjoyed himself. It was a great send-off for his week away at church camp. It was kind of you to pay for that.”

  “I heard some kids
at church talking about camp. When I asked Henry about it he seemed very keen as long as he could come back to Hilda’s after.” When they reached the truck, Luc lifted the sleeping boy off his shoulders and into the backseat, then did up his seat belt. Henry barely blinked.

  “He’s not our little waif anymore,” she whispered for Luc’s ears only.

  “I hope he’ll move to the ranch soon. It seems like I’ve waited forever.”

  “I’m praying for that.” Holly smoothed a hand over Henry’s warm sticky cheek, brushing away a fluff of cotton candy.

  “Thank you.” Slightly surprised that Holly would pray for him, Luc helped her into the truck. “Let’s get him home,” he said then drove to Hilda’s.

  Since Hilda was entertaining a friend, Holly offered to put Henry to bed. Luc was only too happy to help.

  “Thank you, Luc and Holly,” Henry whispered on a big yawn.

  “You’re welcome, darling. Sleep tight.” Holly brushed a featherlight kiss against his brow. Luc copied her actions then paused to gaze at the sleeping boy.

  My son. Soon, Lord?

  A moment later Holly urged him away to give Hilda some privacy. Then they were on the road to Holly’s.

  “Thank you for spending today with me.” Luc reached across the seat, holding out his hand for her to grasp.

  “It’s been my pleasure.” She clasped his hand between hers but her gaze was directed out the side window where, now that they’d left town, the stars were clearly visible in the dark sky. “Luc, could I ask you a favor?”

  There was a hesitant tone to the question, as if she wasn’t quite sure she should have asked.

  “Anything,” he said quickly. “What do you need, Holly?”

  “A friend.” She turned and looked at him, her blue eyes filled with shadows. “A really good friend. Please?”

  “I’m right here.”

  As he pulled into her yard, Luc had a sense that tonight would change everything between them.

  *

  Maybe it was a dumb thing to do.

  Holly knew she should have opened that trunk months ago and gone through what her dad had left for her on her own. But somehow it always seemed too daunting and she’d put it off. Tonight, with Luc’s help, she was going to face whatever was in there.