A Rancher To Love. Trish Milburn

searched frantically for an appropriate response, made more difficult by the simple fact he seemed to take up so much space. “You’re lucky. It’s a beautiful area.”

      “Yeah, it is.”

      They fell into a silence so awkward that she had to concentrate on not fidgeting.

      “Well, I’ve got work to do,” he said. “Let me know if you need anything.”

      She glanced toward him, meeting his eyes for a moment before he stepped out the door. After a few thuds of her heart, she moved to the window and watched Tyler’s retreating form. As his final words before leaving replayed in her head, a crazy response coalesced in her mind. In those couple of seconds when their gazes had met, a part of her mind whispered that she wanted him to be her protector, to banish all the darkness that haunted her.

      But that was weakness talking, and she needed to be strong. If she was to move beyond what happened, she had to find a way to banish the darkness and fear all on her own.

       Chapter Five

      Tyler walked into the cooler interior of the barn, intent on trimming the hooves on his horse, Comet. He spent so much time caring for other people’s horses that he had to carve out time for the care of his own. But when he reached Comet’s stall, he stopped outside and gripped the top of the stall door.

      His insides were still rattled from his encounter with Leah, and he wasn’t even sure why. Yes, she was pretty, but seeing a pretty woman wasn’t so rare an occurrence that he should feel as if all the cells in his body were swimming around in confusion, unable to find their rightful place.

      Add to that the powerful urge to protect her, and he had the crazy thought that maybe all this was an intense dream and he’d wake up and not even have a tenant in the bunkhouse.

      He shook his head and scratched Comet’s forehead along the white, comet-shaped blaze that had inspired the horse’s name. The feeling of warm, living horse beneath his fingers told him this wasn’t a dream. He really was having unexplainable reactions every time he was near Leah.

      Tyler reasoned that any decent man would have had the protective feelings when faced with the look in Leah’s eyes. She’d been scared, but he couldn’t figure out why. Did he scare her? Or was it Cameron? What reason had they given her to feel that way? Or was she just the nervous type, especially around men? He supposed that made sense considering how small she was, how difficult it would be to fight off unwanted advances.

      He certainly hoped she didn’t think he’d take advantage of her. Steering clear of any unnecessary interaction seemed more important than ever when faced with that possibility.

      He retrieved his tools and got to work. Because he’d done it so many times, trimming more hooves than he could possibly remember, his thoughts drifted back to the way Greg had teased him. That was the main drawback of a small town: how people felt free to comment on or tried to steer your life the way they thought it should go. Not that Greg cared one way or the other, but there were those who did, those who would assume that a single man his age living in close proximity to a woman who looked like Leah would naturally lead to romantic involvement. He had to make sure those types of rumors didn’t get started or were quashed quickly if they did. He wasn’t sure what his legal status would be with Maddie if someone decided to question how fit he was to be her unofficial guardian. He didn’t need anyone asking where her mother was, when she was coming back, because he had no idea. Part of him wondered if he’d ever see Kendra again.

      He knew he should be sad at the possibility of never seeing his sister again, but more than anything he was angry. What kind of person abandoned her child, especially one as young and vulnerable as Maddie?

      The sound of an engine starting, followed by the crunching of gravel, told him that Cameron must be finished with the internet installation. Only a few minutes went by before another engine started, indicating that Leah was leaving, as well. He couldn’t help wondering where she was going. Did she get a job?

      He glanced up as she drove past the entrance to the barn, and he sighed. It didn’t matter where she was going. The only thing he needed to wonder about Leah Murphy was whether she would pay her rent on time. Not where she was going. Not how she spent her time at home. And not whether she was involved with anyone.

      * * *

      “LEAH, HONEY, CAN you help me in the kitchen?”

      Leah sighed inwardly, knowing that her aunt’s request probably had very little to do with her need for an extra set of hands to carry food to the table.

      Why hadn’t she put this gathering off a while longer? She could have claimed she was still busy getting unpacked, or too tired, or trying to finish filling an order for jewelry. As she followed her aunt into the kitchen through the French doors that led out to the patio where her uncle was grilling, she told herself she might as well get this conversation over with instead of continuing to dread it.

      In fact, maybe it would be better to bring it up herself instead of letting Charlotte direct things.

      “I know that Mom has probably told you what happened despite the fact that I asked her not to,” Leah said as she stepped up to the marble-topped kitchen island.

      “She’s worried about you, dear.”

      “I know. And before you ask, I’m fine.”

      “So fine you picked up and moved.”

      Leah met her aunt’s gaze. “I’m not going to stand here and lie to you by saying that what happened hasn’t affected me, because it did. And my way of getting past it is to make some changes in my life. But I didn’t move to somewhere sight unseen. You know I’ve always liked Blue Falls.”

      “But you’ve always lived in the city.”

      “And now I live in the country. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

      Charlotte pressed her lips together, as if forcibly preventing herself from asking anything else, then finally nodded once. She turned to the refrigerator and pulled out a heaping bowl of homemade mashed potatoes and then another of coleslaw.

      “That looks delicious,” Leah said.

      “Thank you. It’s nice to cook for someone besides Tom and myself.”

      “You mean Conner isn’t over here all the time making you feed him and do his laundry?”

      Charlotte laughed. “No, not usually. Even he seems to manage feeding and clothing himself.”

      They carried the bowls along with a basket of bread to the dining room table.

      “So how is your new place really? I hear it’s an old bunkhouse. That doesn’t sound very homey.”

      “It’s fine. I’m sure I’ll spruce it up over time.”

      “You know we have perfectly good empty bedrooms here.”

      Her aunt meant well, but the last thing Leah wanted was a concerned family member watching her every move, reminding her through sympathetic looks that she’d been a victim of a crime, one that had shaken her to her core and filled her with a fear she’d never known before.