her drive off and then sank down into one of the rockers on the porch, Sammy in his lap. “We dodged a bullet,” he informed his son.
Sammy looked at him solemnly but made no answering sounds, and worry bloomed anew in Jack’s chest. They needed to get started with treatment, but how could he find the time to interview nannies and therapeutic support staffers? He’d already maxed out Mrs. Jennings, his main caregiver in Esperanza Springs; although she’d assured him before that she’d be glad to continue babysitting Sammy after he moved, she’d quickly discovered she didn’t like driving ten miles on mountain roads to get here. And Penny had been sweet, taking care of Sammy twice, but he couldn’t continue asking that of the owner of Redemption Ranch.
From the newly renovated activities center, the sound of laughter made him turn his head. Four men emerged, one of them Carson Blair, his pastor, and another a veteran Jack knew a little. The other two were new to the ranch.
At their center was Arianna.
Before he knew it, he was on his feet, walking over.
“Everything okay here?” he asked. When the conversation abruptly died, he realized he must have sounded harsh.
Carson lifted an eyebrow. “We’re fine over here, Jack. Something up with you?”
I don’t like seeing Arianna surrounded by men, and I don’t know why. “No, everything’s fine,” he said.
Arianna seemed oblivious to any undercurrents. “Oh, hey,” she said to Jack. “What’s up with the little man?” She held out her arms for Sammy, and Jack was about to tell her not to bother, Sammy was upset. But his son considered her offer and then lifted his arms for her to pluck him from his father’s hold.
Immediately, Sammy quieted down. Arianna nuzzled her cheek against his, looking blissful.
Gabe Smith, the veteran Jack had met a few times, greeted him with a friendly handshake. “Hey, Doc, I hate to ask it of you, but could you take a look at Rufus?” He gestured to the porch of the activities center, where a large gray-muzzled dog sprawled. “He’s got a raw spot on his leg.”
“Sure. I’ll get my bag.” And pull myself together.
He had no right to care what his sister-in-law—former sister-in-law—was up to. He had to focus on getting help for Sammy. Another nanny candidate was arriving soon, hopefully better than the last.
He brought out his bag, glanced over to make sure Sammy was still content with Arianna, and then joined Gabe on the porch. Examining Rufus would ground him. Dogs were so straightforward compared to people, and Rufus was a steady, respectable senior dog.
“Where’s Bruiser?” he asked, and as if in answer, an elderly Chihuahua rushed out onto the porch, yipping. He postured stiff-legged in front of Rufus, teeth bared, growling at Jack.
“Hey, whoa, little buddy. I’m not gonna hurt your friend.” He moved closer, sideways, not making eye contact, so as not to threaten the pint-size protector.
“Bruiser!” Gabe scolded. “Quit that.” He picked up the little dog and sat down on the porch step, holding him.
Jack examined the hot spot Gabe was worried about and bandaged it. “We don’t want it to get infected. If he can just go a couple of days without licking it, it’ll heal.”
“Does he have to wear a collar of shame?” Gabe asked. “He hates it.”
“I might have one of the new soft kind in the truck. It’ll be more comfortable for him.” He rubbed Rufus’s big head and ears, and the dog lolled onto his back, panting.
Jack massaged the dog, enjoying the cool mountain breeze on his face. Despite his problems, he had a good life. New friends like Gabe, old friends like Penny, a healthy son, work he loved. And an environment where God’s grandeur was continually on display.
When Arianna approached, Sammy in her arms, he was surprised to see the warm expression on her face.
He gave her a smile in return, and their eyes linked and stayed for a second longer than was polite. Heat washed over him.
A black PT Cruiser chugged up the road then, breaking the mood. It stopped in front of his place, and a woman stepped out. She looked to be a few years older than Jack and was dressed in black slacks and an old-fashioned white blouse. Her hair was caught back in a tight bun. She marched up to his front door and knocked.
“Uh-oh,” he said. “Looks like Sammy and I have an appointment. Gabe, I’ll dig out one of those collars for Rufus and bring it over later. You going to be home?” He waved a hand toward Gabe’s cabin a short distance down the ranch’s main road.
“Sure thing, we’ll be around all day.”
The nanny pounded on his door again and then returned to her car with visible exasperation. She got in and leaned on the horn.
A drop of rain fell, then another. The clouds that had been coming in clustered over them.
The prospective nanny got out of her car, snapped open a black umbrella and marched toward the cabin’s porch again.
“You said you wanted Mary Poppins,” Arianna murmured, a smile tugging at her mouth.
“So I did,” he said with a sigh.
None of this was going to be as easy as he’d hoped.
* * *
“Thanks for letting me stay with you, Aunt Justine,” Arianna said the next morning as she dodged stacks of magazines and newspapers to get their breakfast dishes to the kitchen sink.
“You’re as welcome as can be,” her aunt said. “I just wish the place were in better shape for visitors.” She looked toward the hallway that led back to the bedrooms. “He won’t let me throw anything away, and his stuff is filling up the whole house.”
“I know how hard you try.” Arianna submerged the dishes in soapy water and started to scrub. “I’m either going to find a job and a place to stay within the week, or I’ll have to move back to Chicago.”
“Don’t do that!” Aunt Justine sounded horrified. “You should have settled down here like your sister did, not in that soulless city, when your parents moved overseas. I never could figure out why you chose to live there. I thought you loved it here, especially when you spent that one whole summer here during college.”
Arianna rinsed the dishes and dunked a couple of dirty pans from the counter into the soapy water. It was good that Aunt Justine had never figured out the reason for Arianna’s abrupt departure. Almost no one had known about the mistakes that had led to a surprise pregnancy. That was what had allowed Chloe to adopt Arianna’s baby with no one the wiser.
Including Jack. Arianna sighed. She’d been adamantly opposed to Chloe keeping the truth from her husband. But Chloe had been as embarrassed about her infertility as Arianna was about her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Somehow, adopting her sister’s baby, and having people know it, made everything worse for Chloe.
And given how sensitive Chloe was, Arianna had given in. It was what she’d been raised to do. Take care of your sister. She’s not strong like you. Don’t upset her.
She pushed thoughts of her younger days out of her mind and asked Aunt Justine about her vegetable garden and the cat that had shown up on the doorstep yesterday. They had a nice chat while Arianna finished the washing up.
“There. That’s better, at least.” Arianna surveyed the empty sink and two feet of clear counter space with satisfaction. “Now, I’m going to go out and sell myself as an art therapist.”
“Thank you for cleaning up, hon. I’ll keep praying for a wonderful job for you.”
Arianna strolled through the town of Esperanza Springs, inhaling the fresh scents of pine and sage that blew down from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, watching a black-and-white magpie land on someone’s fence post to scold the