Rich Rancher's Redemption. Maureen Child

said, speaking up for her daughter. “Life happens whether we’re ready or not, doesn’t it, little man?” She turned her gaze on Brody.

      “Can I have cookies?” he asked.

      “You bet.” Cora Lee hitched him higher on her hip and looked at her daughter. “Brody’s with me.” Then she added, “If you’re going to be here a while, Jillian, why don’t you bring Mackenzie by, too? We’ll all have cookies together.”

      “Thank you,” she replied without agreeing to anything.

      When it was just she and Lucy again, Jillian said one more time, “I’m really sorry, Lucy. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

      Lucy laid one hand on her forearm. “They’re not bad memories at all. How could they be?” She shook her head and looked out at Jesse and the little girl squirming excitedly in the saddle.

      “You said Dane had an accident?” Jillian asked quietly, since her friend seemed willing to talk about the past that no doubt still haunted her.

      “He did. I loved Dane like crazy and he was eager to be here on the ranch. Of course he didn’t know anything about horses, but he wanted to learn.”

      Lucy stared into the corral but Jillian knew she was looking at images much further away. Her gaze was fixed on the past and the memories brought a smile to her lips and a film of tears to her eyes.

      “What happened?” Jillian’s voice was a whisper.

      “Just a freak twist of events that Dane was caught up in,” Lucy said wistfully. “Jesse loves training horses. I mean, the ranch is his now and he loves that too, the cattle, the feed crops, all of it. But horses,” Lucy said on a sigh, “hold his heart. Like they do mine. Dad left me in charge of the stud program, breeding exceptional saddle horses. And I’m also taking in rescue horses. Horses that have been abused or neglected—” Her features tightened and anger shone in her eyes. “I can’t stand seeing animals hurt.

      “But Jesse, his specialty is training the untrainable horse. He’s got a good reputation, too. People from all over Texas bring their problem horses here and he finds a way.”

      Jillian wanted to say something, but damned if she could think of anything that would either stop Lucy now or make it easier to go on. Instead, all she could do was stay silent, stay close.

      “A man from Waco brought Jesse a stallion to break and train.” Smiling, Lucy added, “That was the meanest horse I’d ever seen. Hated everybody. But Jesse knew he could tame it. Jesse asked Dane if he wanted to help and he jumped at the chance.”

      Jillian’s eyes closed briefly as she braced herself for what must be coming.

      Lucy took a deep breath and blew it out. “The horse broke free and went a little crazy. Dane rushed in to help Jesse contain the stallion—and he was trampled.”

      Instantly, Jillian’s gaze flicked to Mac astride that horse and she wanted to run out there and grab her girl, keep her safe. Yes, irrational, but the need was there.

      “Nobody’s fault, really,” Lucy said quietly. “The horse wasn’t to blame, either. He was just mad and scared and reacted the only way he could. Dane had a lot of broken bones, spinal injuries, but it was the head injury that killed him.” She rested her chin on her joined hands on the rail fence. “He was in a coma a week before I finally accepted that he was gone. They pulled the plug that afternoon and the very next day I found out I was pregnant with Brody.”

      “Oh, my God.” Jillian slumped against the fence, heart hurting. For all the troubles she’d had in her life, nothing could compare to what Lucy had already endured. Admiration filled her, because this woman was strong enough to get past her own grief and build a life for her son. She didn’t hold on to bitterness or sit in a corner and scream Why me? She just went on with her life, taking care of Brody and focusing on the future. Jillian understood that.