Red Hot Rancher by Maureen Child

Author:Maureen Child
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-04-10T14:59:33+00:00

Seven

I’m home. Everything’s good. Emma’s staying at Caden’s till after the storm.

Gracie hit Send and waited, hoping Madison would answer right away. When she did, Gracie smiled.

Be careful. I’m fine, too. And I’m in for the night unless that cow has other ideas.

Frowning, Gracie texted back.

Let the cow handle her own problems. You’re not used to driving in snow like this.

A moment later, Don’t worry so much.

But Gracie was worried. She looked out the open stable door at the wall of icy white outside and shivered. This kind of storm could blow out in a couple hours or settle in for days. No one knew what would happen, not even the weather guy on TV who had predicted mostly cloudy skies today.

“Gracie! Need some help over here!”

She shoved her phone into her back pocket and rushed down the wide center aisle to the stall at the back. Her latest purchase, a gelding named Herman of all things, was refusing to go inside. So she’d take care of business, help her father with the baby and hope that Emma and Madison stayed safe.

An hour later, she was in the house, looking for hot coffee, and found her dad in the kitchen with the baby.

“Where’d you find the high chair?” Gracie asked, watching Molly slap both hands on the tray in front of her.

“Up in the attic,” Frank said. “Your mom never threw out anything that her girls used.”

True. Somewhere in that attic was every report card, every history paper and even a few stuffed animals that Gracie and Emma had outgrown. A swell of regret filled her when she looked at Molly and realized how much Gracie’s mom would have loved having a baby in the house again.

Heck, she was enjoying it. Molly was happy, always smiling and seeing what a miracle the baby had brought to Gracie’s father was especially endearing.

“I’ve got her tied into the chair,” Frank was saying. “She can’t really sit up well on her own yet, but that’ll come, won’t it, Nugget?” He tapped Molly’s nose with his index finger and the tiny girl laughed in delight.

Gracie poured a cup of coffee and looked around the large, familiar kitchen. The walls were still a sunshine yellow because that was what her mom had loved. The cabinets were white and the oak floor was scarred, but shining clean. The old table under the window had been the spot that she and Emma had gravitated to after school, for cookies, milk and homework.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” Gracie dropped tiredly into a kitchen chair.

“Having my granddaughter in the house?” Frank asked, obviously surprised at the question. “’Course I am. About time you girls started giving me grandkids to spoil.” He winked at Gracie. “It’ll be your turn soon.”

She only frowned and looked down into her coffee to avoid meeting her father’s gaze. “Hard to do it on your own,” she muttered.

“Oh, you’ll find someone when the time’s right.”

She risked a glance at him and wondered what he’d say if she told him her secret.

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