whinny as she strode by, tugged at her heart. She’d miss them. But God had more important plans for her life now.
Branching off from the horse facilities, she entered a pine-lined, winding trail that led to bunkhouses and cabins sheltering employees of Hunter’s Hideaway. Overhead a raven squawked, and afternoon sun filtered through the pine boughs. She found her steps slowing as her mind wandered, trying to piece together what she knew of the grown-up Cash and his son.
Cash wasn’t wearing a ring, for one thing. She’d checked that out immediately, much to her shame. So he was a single dad who’d once punched out his ex-wife. But how was a man with his background able to gain custody of Joey?
Lost in thought as she continued past the cabins scattered along the trail, she was brought up short as someone behind her shouted her name. She spun to look back at one of the cabins, its door now standing open, and a hatless Cash on the porch staring in her direction.
“Are you looking for us?”
“I am.” Her face warmed as she backtracked, noting as she approached the number “10” prominently tagged on the porch railing that she’d obliviously strolled right by. “Has the rollaway been delivered yet?”
“It has.” He stepped off the porch. “I’ve rearranged the furniture so Joey will have a corner to call his own.”
She handed off the bedding, noticing a dusky, masculine shadow gracing Cash’s determined jaw. It gave him a rugged appearance and yet, without his hat, he looked surprisingly boyish. Even vulnerable.
With effort, she shook off the beguiling impression. “Have you had a chance to talk to Anna about sitting Joey?”
“Yes, and she’s interested.” His forehead creased. “Unfortunately, she’s tied up this weekend with church youth group activities. And although Joey’s school has already dismissed for the summer, classes here don’t let out until Memorial Day weekend.”
Great. A full week. She plopped her hands on her hips. “So what’s the plan?”
“Anna doesn’t want to be passed over for the job, so she’s going to talk to her stepmom. See if maybe she’ll fill in until Anna’s available.”
Rio shook her head. “Cash, her stepmother is almost eight months pregnant and looks and feels every day of it.”
“Anna didn’t mention that.”
“What were your plans for childcare when you applied for this position?” Surely he hadn’t thought a kid that young could be left on his own.
Cash glanced back at the open cabin door, then lowered his voice. “Childcare wasn’t an issue at the time I applied.”
They’d received his application a few weeks ago. So had he only recently gained custody?
“Well, we’re going to have to figure something out.” Her gaze met his, and her face warmed as hope sparked in his expressive eyes. “I mean, you are.”
He shifted the bedding in his arms. “I preferred the promise of assistance in that ‘we.’”
White teeth flashed in contrast to his warm complexion, a smile that had probably broken more than a few female hearts. But if Cash thought he could walk in with nothing but a cowboy swagger and an engaging grin and have her eating out of his hand, he had another think coming.
“Your kid, not mine,” she quipped, not caring for the way her heartbeat had ramped up a notch at that engaging smile. But the sooner she could get Cash brought up to speed the better, or she’d never get away from this place. Like it or not, it looked like this childcare problem would take a team effort after all.
Suddenly feeling the need to put some distance between them, she moved a short way down the trail, then paused. “Let me check around. See what options I can turn up.”
“I’d be much obliged.”
He looked genuinely relieved, but despite Grandma Jo’s support, was bringing him on a good idea? Even aside from the looming events contractor’s visit and a child underfoot, was he the right man for the job? Could he be trusted?
And yet...there was that business about not judging others so you wouldn’t be judged yourself. Grandma had pointed that out more than once in their postlunch tête-à-tête.
“Cash?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not my intention to revisit the past. But I know none of what happened with your dad when you were here before was your fault.”
Cash tensed. Why was she bringing that up now?
If nothing else, it was a continued reminder that while people didn’t blame him for his father’s sins, they wouldn’t be quick to forget where he’d come from. That they’d be on guard, watching for him to make a wrong move.
He stepped back up onto the porch and carefully placed the bedding on one of the rockers, then approached a wary-looking Rio, who now stood a comfortable distance from the cabin and the possibly listening ears of his son.
“No,” he said as he looked down at her, again noticing a slightly crooked nose, evidence that at some point the tough little tomboy must have taken a tumble. But it lent her pretty face a bit of whimsy. Whimsy. Not exactly a word found in his usual vocabulary, but it fit Rio. “No, none of it was my fault.”
She darted a look at the cabin and further lowered her voice. “Nevertheless... I think I should warn you that Jeb Greer still works here. His son Eliot’s back for the summer, too. Jeb was, you know—”
“Yeah, I know.”
Greer. The man whose wife had an affair with Cash’s father. That discovery, along with a related fistfight provoked by the behavior of Cash’s dad, had Jeb’s wife fleeing the scandal and gotten the Herrera family thrown off the Hunter property.
While his thirteen-year-old self had cringed with every blow as that fight played out, a reluctant admiration for his wiry-built old man had nevertheless swelled as Cash had watched him expertly duck, sway and dodge. Then a one-two punch sent blood gushing from the nose of his bigger, burlier opponent. Caught up in the unfolding spectacle, Cash had laughed, fist punching the air in triumph. That was, until he caught the hate-filled look on the face of the other man’s ten-year-old son.
Their gazes had met and held, and in that moment Cash’s young heart knew he’d made an enemy for life. Justifiably, he was soon to learn, once he discovered the reason for the fight.
Cash shook off the recollection, determining to do his best to steer clear of both father and son. No point in his presence dredging up bad memories for them. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
She nodded and he turned toward the cabin, then paused to look back at her. “How’d that turn out? For the Greer couple, I mean. Did she come back?”
“Divorced.”
Not unexpected.
“Sorry to hear it.” He knew well the wound Jeb lived with—despite the passage of time—when a woman he’d taken into his heart betrayed him. He’d ridden that trail himself. Wasn’t inclined to risk riding it again.
Rio waited for him to continue, but that wasn’t a topic he intended to pursue. Instead, he raked his hand roughly through his hair. “Look, I apologize for this kidcare obstacle. I appreciate your offer of assistance. But do you think maybe, for the time being, Joey could come along with me? That way I can get started tomorrow. Not delay things.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “You want a kid to tag along who isn’t sure he even likes horses?”
He hadn’t figured out what was going on with that. Joey claimed he wasn’t afraid of them.
“He