Chapter Five

Logan closed the tabs on Charlotte’s diaper. The teddy bear with the cowboy hat was firmly in her mouth and her cheeks were flushed. She wasn’t talking much this morning, just humming. It must be another tooth coming in. Her first teeth took forever, but as more popped up, she seemed to weather them better.

Pretty soon she’d be brushing her own teeth. He’d just found her fourteen months ago but she’d grown, according to the doctor, right on schedule. But it was too fast. He picked up his bundle of sweetness and moved to the dresser to take out a pair of purple overalls and a pink t-shirt.

Closing the drawer, he laid her on the bed and pulled the shirt over her head, dislodging the teddy. She immediately made a grab for it and almost fell off the bed, but he caught her, his heart pounding at the near fall. His grandmother said Charlotte wasn’t a China doll and would fall a hundred times a week and survive, but not on his watch.

He set her back on the bed and picked up the teddy.

“Mine.” She held out her hand.

“Can you say please?”

“Mine.” She frowned. “Mine, da-da!”

He shook his head. “Say please.”

Charlotte popped her mouth open and closed it, her face scrunching before she gave a sharp and short screech.

“Ouch, that hurt.” Cole, dressed in his fire department blue t-shirt, stepped into the room, his hands over his ears.

Logan held the teddy in front of his daughter. “Please, da-da.”

Her little face started to pucker, her bottom lip pushing out and he caved. Handing her the teddy, which she promptly put in her mouth, he kissed her on the forehead. “You will learn your manners.”

Cole chuckled. “What she’s learning is how to wrap her daddy around her little finger.”

Logan pulled the overalls up and buttoned them over her shoulders. “Too late. That’s already happened.”

As if she knew she was mostly dressed, she rolled over on to her tummy and pushed herself backwards until her feet touched the floor. With the teddy in her mouth and one hand holding onto the quilt, she walked to the end of the bed to look at Cole.

“Are you coming to your Uncle Cole for a hug?” Cole crouched down.

Logan pulled out a pair of socks. “Technically, you’re her second cousin.”

Cole ignored him. “Come on, sweetie.”

Charlotte took one step toward him before falling back on her butt.

Logan watched his daughter crawl to Cole. “I think something’s wrong with her balance. I asked my mom and she said both Trace and I were walking by now.”

Cole scooped up Charlotte, who giggled as he blew her kisses. “I wouldn’t worry about it. My mom always complained that Dillon and I had spoiled her by waiting to the last minute to walk then she ended up exhausted from chasing after us. She said we were making up for lost time.”

Logan put socks on his daughter’s feet while Cole held her. “That’s reassuring…I think.”

Cole laughed and handed Charlotte over. “It’s all how you look at it. Listen, I have a horse coming in today. I was actually supposed go to Dallas to pick it up, but I couldn’t get off work, so my friend Bo and his girlfriend Dana have been driving since yesterday, but when they arrive, Lacey and I won’t be here. Can you get the horse settled in and turn them over to Gram?”

Logan put Charlotte in the crook of his arm. “Of course. Did you already tell Gram?”

“Yes. Lacey had me bring over a tray of hors d’oeuvres for them. Don’t eat any.”

Logan stepped by his cousin. “As if I would.”

Cole followed him downstairs. “That’s right, you prefer breakfast food. I also called Jenna to let her know. She’s going to come by after she closes, but I won’t get off shift until Thursday. She said she wanted to talk to me about something. Do you have any idea what it could be?”

He shrugged in response even as he swallowed hard and his gut tensed.

“You haven’t done anything worse than usual, have you?”

His cousin’s assumption hit too close to home. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped. “Why do you think it’s about me?”

Cole faced him as he came to a stop at the bottom of the landing. “I don’t know. I just have this feeling in my gut that she may not want to be our vet anymore and that would really throw a wrench in the works, just when I have this place finally running smoothly. The next closest vet is all the way in New River. Besides, Jenna is a damn good vet.” He glared. “You better remember that.”

Charlotte pulled the teddy out of her mouth and thrust it at Cole. “Kissie bye-bye.”

Cole switched his attention and Logan took a steadying breath. Was his cousin, right? Would Jenna stop coming to Last Chance? He didn’t want that at all. He may not know what he wanted with Jenna, but not seeing her was definitely not his answer. It was bad enough he hadn’t seen her in two days, which was stupid. He’d gone longer than that before, but that was before he started kissing her again.

After Cole kissed the teddy and Charlotte, he patted him on the shoulder. “And don’t worry. Bo and Dana are coming to my house as soon as Lacey gets home. You’ll still have the house to yourself with Gram and Gramps, when Gramps is home that is.”

So that was his silver lining on the day. There may be one bedroom technically free in the house, but there was only one upstairs bathroom and it would still be his.

As the front door closed behind his cousin, he headed for the kitchen where Gram would be waiting to feed her great-granddaughter. He was pleased his daughter had one constant female presence in her life. Would Kylie confuse Charlotte?

Kylie showing up out of the blue was just another piece of bad luck piled onto the rest. He’d never believed in universal fate or any of that bull crap, but ever since his father had his first stroke, fate had decided to deal him one losing hand after another.

“There’s my girl.” Gram reached for Charlotte as he walked in, and he handed her over.

“She’s getting heavy, Gram. Be careful.”

His grandmother scowled at him. “I’m no frail old lady, Logan. Seventy-two does not mean I have one foot in the grave.”

He cringed. “I would never think that.”

While she settled Charlotte into the high chair, he grabbed three of her homemade cinnamon buns and placed them in the microwave before she noticed. For some reason, he never seemed to be on Gram’s good side.

After pouring both of them their usual morning orange juice, he pulled out the buns and grabbed a cup of coffee.

“I’ll take a couple buns, thank you, Logan.” His Gram didn’t even look at him as she commanded two of the treats.

He didn’t say a word, just placed them on a separate plate and set it on the table next to her. There were no more in the fridge, so he pulled out sausage she’d cooked up the night before and added it to the microwave.

Chewing the sticky sweet bun while he leaned against the counter, he watched his daughter’s facial expressions. She smiled more than she fussed, which was a big change compared to nine months ago. Her face lit up as she grasped a small spoon and stuffed her mouth with oatmeal. He noticed her wince as the spoon hit a sensitive spot. “I think she’s cutting another tooth.”

She pointed the spoon at her great-gram. “More.”

“Then put it in the bowl, Char.” His grandmother pointed to the oatmeal and Charlotte looked at it as if it appeared out of nowhere. A wide smile split her lips, showing a bottom row of teeth. A squeal preceded the spoon being thrust into the bowl and it skidding halfway across the tray.

Gram patiently moved it away from the edge when Charlotte stuck the spoon in her mouth again. Her eyes widened this time and watered.

His heart jumped into his throat to know she’d hurt herself.

As if his grandmother knew he was about to comfort his daughter and take over feeding her, she waved him off. “You have chores and a new horse coming. I’ll take care of your princess. I don’t want her spoiled rotten by the time she’s two.”

Charlotte’s attention had quickly focused on Gram, forgetting her own pain. Only because of that was he able to stuff his warmed-up sausage into a piece of bread and blow his daughter a kiss. “Bye, Charlotte.”

“Da-da, bye-bye.”

Her chubby little hand dropped the spoon on her tray as she opened and closed her hand at him.

Damn, he loved that child more than his own life. Striding out of the room before he did something his grandmother was sure to scold him for, he headed for the front porch. If she thought Charlotte wasn’t spoiled yet, she had blinders on. His daughter was the apple of every family member’s eye, mostly his.

Yet she was half Kylie’s.

That single thought dispelled all the joy he felt at spending time with his daughter. He hadn’t heard a word from Kylie in two days. He’d given her his number, so she could call next time she thought to just show up at the ranch.

His fear was she had hired a lawyer. He may be home all day and have a great support system on this ranch, but a good lawyer would make his life look like the worst possible one for a baby girl to grow-up in and plead mother’s intuition and all that. He would do anything to keep that from happening.

He took a seat in one of the chairs on the porch and set his coffee on a small end table, usually used for beers at sunset. Taking a bite of the Italian sausage, he savored the spices before having a sip of coffee. He hadn’t heard or seen Jenna either, not even when he went into town to pick up more nails. He’d driven by her office and a number of cars were parked outside on Main Street, so she was probably busy with her animal patients.

Would she talk to him when she came out later or would she ignore him? His hand tightened on the plate he held. He’d make her talk to him. No, he’d show her he could agree with her. Maybe his arguing all the time was why she wanted to talk to Cole. If he stopped doing that, she’d have nothing to complain about. And if being nice led to a kiss, he was certainly good with that.

He took another bite of his impromptu sausage sandwich. Thinking about Jenna calmed him down enough to focus. Trace should be arriving soon and they could get a stall ready for the new horse.

Damn, Cole didn’t tell him what was wrong with it. Logan glanced at his watch. Cole would be pissed if he called him while on shift. He’d just have to wait for the horse to arrive to find out what its problem was. Hopefully, it was just the burn scars he heard Cole mention to Jenna.

Every horse that came to Last Chance had a sad story behind it. Cole was great at finding new homes for them once they had overcome any long-term side effects. Some stayed at Last Chance forever, like the horse he rode, Black Jack, who was severely claustrophobic thanks to being buried in an old coal mine.

The horse his brother rode, Lightyear, wouldn’t let anyone touch his face. Trace had figured out a way to get a bridle on the horse, but other than Trace, no one could touch its face without it freaking out. Macy’s owner had bought her cheap, thinking her facial markings would change. When she grew uglier in her owner’s mind, she was put out in a pasture with other horses during heat. The owner was clueless. Of course, she got pregnant and he didn’t want to pay to feed her anymore. Luckily, a friend of Cole’s heard about the horse and took it off the owner’s hands, delivering Macy to Last Chance.

He took another large bite of sausage. Jenna had to give Macy a lot of shots as her owner was negligent about regular vet visits too. Usually, the horses came through animal welfare. That’s how Lacey ended up with Angel, who now resided in a temporary lean-to at her and Cole’s new house farther west on the ranch. Since Angel feared all men, it was a better place for her to be than here with him and his brother.

Taking another swallow of coffee, he followed it with the rest of the sausage. Not knowing what the new horse might have for issues made it difficult to prepare for, so he’d get a stall ready, but also have the north corral free just in case. At the sound of horse’s hooves, he stood with coffee in hand and walked to the end of the porch.

Trace rode in on Lightyear. When he’d dismounted, Logan called out. “Leave the north corral free. We have a new horse coming today.”

His brother nodded before leading Lightyear into the barn.

Taking the final gulp of coffee, he set the cup on the end table then followed after his brother. He’d get Macy and the foal out to the south corral. It was still cool, but the little colt had an abundance of energy that he’d swear was pushing Macy’s patience. Maybe he’d move Black Jack out there, too. His horse might like a little company for a change and it would give the colt something new to investigate.

He passed Trace and stepped up to Macy’s stall. Sure enough, the foal was bouncing his head up and down. If Logan didn’t know better, he’d swear Macy sighed. “Hey little guy, are you bothering mama?”

The colt stopped to look at him then trotted to the door. “Guess you’re ready to go. You love this cooler air, don’t you?” He turned and headed for the tack room to get a halter for Macy.

When he returned, Trace was waiting for him. “Are you still calling him Charlotte’s Horse?” He pointed to the baby colt.

“Yeah.” At Trace’s look of disbelief, he finally explained. “I’m going to let Charlotte name him.”

“Are you starting a pool? I’ll put a hundred down on ‘Kissie,’ but I might switch that to ‘No’ if Whisper wants to bet on ‘Kissie’. Either way we would win.”

“No, I’m not taking bets. I’m just hoping it doesn’t become da-da.” He ignored Trace’s laugh and opened the stall door. As he placed the halter over Macy’s head, the colt grabbed one lead with its teeth.

“Which stall do you want to use for our new arrival?”

He pulled the lead from the colt’s mouth and led Macy out. “The first one on the right as you come in. I think we should have it near the entrance because Cole didn’t tell me what to expect.”

“Ah, that’s why you want the north corral free.”

“Yeah.” He walked the mare out to the south corral, the foal running beside them, stopping to look at a fence post then bounding back to them. Once he had Macy and the colt inside, he closed the gate and took off the halter. “There you go.”

Macy continued to stand there as the colt decided it was the perfect time to nurse. He gave the mare a couple strokes on her neck. “Don’t worry. In no time, he’ll be grown and you’ll wonder where the time went.”

Logan left the pair to themselves and headed for the barn. He opened Black Jack’s gate and stepped in. “How about a little sunshine, buddy?”

The horse pushed its nose against his hip.

“Will you stop that? I don’t have a treat. If you play with Charlotte’s Horse, I’ll reward you, but not before then.” Fitting the halter over the horse, he brought him out of his private stall and led him to the corral.

Once letting Black Jack go, he laughed at the colt, who had suddenly glued himself to his mama. “Don’t worry Macy. He’ll be playing out here in no time.” He closed the gate and headed back to the barn to help Trace ready the stall.

As irritating as his younger brother’s happy attitude could be, he was a worker. Their father had instilled that in them from an early age, yet no matter how hard he’d worked, he’d still lost the ranch. That last year, beef prices had hit the skids due to a glut of beef cattle. Just his luck that most of his herd was ripe for selling and they needed the money.

Now his mom was living in an apartment above her shop in town selling crafts and postcards to tourists just to keep a roof over her head…again because of his luck.

He’d found her a small home not far from town that they could afford with what was left from the sale of the ranch after all the debts were paid, but a bidding war started on the little house. They lost it. In the end, the only place they could afford for her was the shop in town. He hated that she had to work when she should be enjoying life.

“Hey, you going to help or just stand there looking pretty?” Trace grinned at him as he threw a twenty-five-pound bag of pine shavings over his shoulder.

“Right.” He strode past his brother and grabbed a couple more bags before entering the stall for the new horse.

“If this new resident is a stallion, we may have trouble with Sampson.” Trace nodded toward the stall across the way where Cole’s horse stood watching them.

Logan shrugged as he ripped open the bags and started spreading. “We could have problems with it even if the horse is a mare. We should put Tiny Dancer in with Macy, the colt and Black Jack. I’ll take Sadie and Sampson out after we get this ready. If Sampson acts up when we bring him back in, you can lead him over to Cole’s place.”

Trace paused on his way for more bedding. “Why do I see more fence building in our future?”

“As long as Cole helps.” He finished spreading the shavings then followed his brother out.

By lunch time, the two of them had the stall ready, Sadie, Sampson, and Tiny Dancer outside, and all the horses fed and watered.

“Cole is going to have to build another barn if he keeps bringing in horses at this pace.” He and his brother stood by the south corral watching the colt prance around Black Jack, while Macy enjoyed the shade of the shelter.

He didn’t blame her for refusing to budge. The thermometer on the barn was reaching ninety-five and would probably top out around a hundred by late afternoon. Plus, the humidity was up, part of the curse of Monsoon Season. The reward would be the rains, but so far, they’d only had a couple downpours to provide a little relief. It would be helpful if they could get another before October, which signaled the end of the season.

Trace nodded. “I think you’re right. Maybe he needs a stable just for those who will stay here for the rest of their lives and one for those who have the possibility of finding a new home.”

“That would make it easy to keep track, but it may not work depending on personalities.”

Trace chuckled. “You mean for horses like Black Jack?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll mention it to Whisper anyway.” Trace took his foot off the bottom rail of the fence. “I’m going to take Lightyear home, grab some lunch and bring the truck down. Call me if the new horse shows up before I get back and I’ll hightail it down here.”

“Will do.” Logan kept his eye on the antics of the colt until his brother rode by on his horse. Technically, Lightyear was Cole’s horse, but since Trace was the only one who could get a bridle on the beast and since his girlfriend funded all the horse care now, no one would ever argue with him about it. Not even Cole.

Turning away from the corral, Logan headed for the house. Charlotte would be going in for a nap soon and he wanted to show her the “baby” as she would see it. It was time.

Once inside, he found her in her playpen happily playing with her stuffed teddy and two rubber horses. His grandmother, who was on the phone, watched him like a hawk.

“How’s my girl? Do you want to see a baby horsey?”

Charlotte’s smile at his voice filled his heart with a happiness he only felt with her. She scrambled to her feet, holding on to the side of her play pen with one hand as she lifted the ever-present teddy over her head. “Up, Da-da. Up.”

Ignoring the frown of his grandmother, he lifted his daughter into his arms. “Ready to see the baby horsey?”

“Baby, da-da. Kissie.”

He chuckled as he left the family room and strode outside onto the porch. Holding his daughter was like a balm to his soul. Everything wrong with the world melted away when he was with her…and she was smiling.

“Baby.” Charlotte’s head whipped around as they passed Sampson in his corral.

Logan smiled. “No Sunshine. That’s a horsey. That’s Sampson, Uncle Cole’s horsey.”

She turned back to look at him. “Samsam?”

“Yes, Samsam.” Cole would love that.

She giggled and smacked her teddy down against his arm.

He stopped at the south corral and pointed to the colt. “Look, Charlotte. A baby horsey.”

She turned her head and when she caught sight of the colt, her eyes widened and her face grew serious. Her words were quiet. “Baby horzie.”

He swallowed hard. “Yes, a baby horsey.”

Spotting them, the young colt bounded toward them, stopping just three feet from the fence. It bobbed its head.

His daughter remained transfixed then lifted her free hand and opened and closed it toward the colt. “Baby horzie.” Her voice was soft with wonder.

The little horse stopped moving for a few seconds, then pranced across the enclosure.

Charlotte turned her head to look at him even as she pointed with her teddy bear toward where the colt went. “Baby horzie.”

“Yes, baby horsey. Just like baby Charlotte.”

Her eyes grew round again and she smiled a toothy grin before batting her chest with her teddy bear. “Baby.”

He grinned, blinking at the water in his eyes. “Yes, another baby.”

Her head whipped back to find the colt, who stood at the other end of the corral. “Eeeeeee!”

Her squeal of delight shocked both him and the colt, who beelined it back to his mom.

“Okay, enough horsey for today.” He turned away, but his daughter looked over her shoulder, leaning over his arm.

Her precarious position forced him to carry her against his chest so she could watch the colt over his shoulder as they walked away, his back being hammered by the teddy as she chanted, “Baby horzie. Baby horzie.”

When he made it to the porch, he found his grandmother watching them. “You’re going to spoil her.”

He shook his head as he walked by her. “Too late.”

She sighed behind him. “You can bring her upstairs. It’s time for her nap.”

Logan carried Charlotte to their bedroom, surprised to see her eyes already closed. Placing her in the crib, he stroked her cheek gently. She’d rearranged his life and taught him so much just by being alive.

His grandmother’s hand on his shoulder had him turning around.

“There’s a truck coming up the driveway. I think the new horse is here.”

He nodded. As usual there would be a lot to learn in a very short time. He left the room quietly and headed downstairs. Before going out, he stopped in the kitchen, following the fresh baked smell of something. On the counter was a plate of blueberry muffins, probably for tomorrow morning’s breakfast. Grabbing up two, he peeled back the paper cup of one and stuffed it in his mouth before the screen door closed behind him.

Two people exited a white double-cab pickup truck with a horse trailer. Pulling in next to them was Trace. Perfect timing brother. His brother came around the front of his truck to greet the man in a black cowboy hat.

Palming one of the muffins, Logan held out his hand to the woman with wavy black hair. “Welcome to Last Chance.”

She smiled. “I’m Dana, the animal rescuer.”

Logan widened his eyes before glancing at the chuckling man who came around the front of the truck.

The man held out his hand. “I’m Bo Fletcher, the people rescuer.” He was Logan’s height, but built more like Cole. Though he wore a cowboy hat, it was obvious he was a firefighter.

“Welcome. Cole said you drove all the way from Dallas to bring us a new horse.”

Dana gave Bo a worried glance, then stood straighter and hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “We did. Let me introduce you to Cyclone.”

Cyclone? Logan glanced toward the north corral they had cleared. Would that fence hold a horse named Cyclone? Only one way to find out. Following Dana to the back of the trailer he froze.

Well, damn. The horse was a fucking Clydesdale!