A Family Name (12 page)

"I'm only laughing because that expression
basically means that you need to keep your fences in good order so
your livestock don't invade your neighbor's pasture. Trust me, that
doesn't make you very popular. One year our sheep ruined the hay
crop of our easterly neighbors. They wouldn't speak to us for a
long time." Will rested an elbow on the saddle horn and knocked his
hat back slightly so he could look his daughter squarely in the
eye.

Lexi studied him with what he thought was
understanding. She nodded. "That makes sense," she said. "About the
fences
and
about the neighbors not talking to you."

Will continued to watch her for a few moments
before starting to ride again. Silence descended on them broken
only occasionally by bird call or the wind whistling in the
pines.

"So, do you still have sheep?"

Lexi's question relaxed the mood and opened
the door to more conversation. Will sat back in the saddle and felt
like maybe he could get the hang of this dad thing after all.

The fences all seemed in good repair on this
section and the calf/mother pairings seemed fine. As they topped a
low rise, Will thought he heard a faint crying sound. Lexi was
chattering away about all the things she was seeing, but even she
stopped when she heard the strange whimper. Her eyes got big and
round as she turned her attention toward him. Will wanted to
reassure her, and he would, just as soon as he could ascertain
where the sound was coming from. Noir pricked his ears up, and
tossed his head in distress. The large black horse danced toward
the edge of the trail. Will hadn't ridden up here since last fall,
but he remembered the large ditch to the south slope of the hill.
Following Noir's lead Will moved slowly in that direction.

"Stay put," he told Lexi, though the girl had
made no move to follow.

Just over the edge of the hill, Will saw a
tiny calf bleating and struggling in a ditch full of water. Given
the general chill of April in this part of the Hills, Will figured
the water had to be just above freezing, and given that there was
no mother around frantic for her calf, he had to assume the poor
thing had been here for awhile.

"What is it?" Lexi called. He could hear the
anxiety in her tone.

"An abandoned calf. Looks like it's stuck in
this flooded ditch. Give me a second to think this through and
we'll get him out." Will quickly took stock of the things he had in
his saddlebags. His rope might be enough, though he wasn't nearly
as good at roping as Walker. Still there was no time to worry about
that. They probably had another hour of daylight before things got
dicey. Riding back to the ranch for help seemed out of the
question. He and Lexi would have to perform this rescue all on
their own.

Maneuvering Noir back up the hill Will said,
"Listen, Lex, we're going to have to work together to rescue this
calf. I'm going to grab a tree limb from that stand of trees over
there. Stay here and keep a look out for the mother cow. I don't
think she's around anymore but you never know. After I get the
branch positioned to give the calf some leverage, we'll tie Bullock
to the fence and you can stabilize the tree limb. I'll get the rope
around the calf's neck and Noir will help me pull the little guy
out. Do you think you can do it?"

"Definitely!" Lexi bounced in her saddle,
swaying precariously from side to side. Her eyes sparkled in a way
that he had never seen before in his daughter. Charlotte had been
completely right in suggesting that he bring Lexi along. Despite
all the challenges of having a greenhorn along, she was thriving
under the pressure of this experience. His daughter was definitely
cut out for ranch life, he mused, maybe even more so than he
was.

Will found a large tree branch near the bank
of pines and jumped off Noir to drag it back to the increasingly
frantic calf. "It's okay, little guy," Will said in his most calm
and soothing voice. He slid the limb into the water, careful not to
bump the terrified animal. When he was satisfied with the
positioning, he climbed back up the bank and helped Lexi off her
horse. After securing Bullock to a nearby fence post, Will showed
Lexi what he wanted her to do.

Once she was in place, Will climbed back on
Noir and set about roping the calf. He made it around the animal's
neck on the third attempt. Despite the nagging voice in the back of
his mind that told him Walker and Wyatt would have landed it the
first time, his adrenaline kicked in and helped narrow his focus to
the singular task of getting the calf out of the ditch. With much
pulling and struggling and splashing the calf finally heaved itself
onto dry land.

The calf collapsed in an exhausted heap on
the grass, but Will only let it have a moment's rest. He knew they
needed to get the calf back to the cow barn, warm it, and feed it,
if they wanted to see it have a chance at survival. He glanced at
Lexi just in time to see her face alight with wonder. She scrambled
up the steep hill and pulled herself up onto Bullock. As she waited
for Will to untie the reins she kept shaking her head.

"That was so cool, Dad. You're totally a
hero."

An unexpected flush crept up Will's neck. He
was used to praise in the academic world, and he garnered his fair
share of compliments in other areas of his life as well, but never
had he felt so flattered. No one had ever told him he would feel
this way about having a child.

Instead of saying anything, Will gave an odd
grunt and focused his attention on prodding the calf to follow the
horse along the trail. By the time they got back to the barn Will
felt exhausted. His shoulder ached from hanging on to the rope with
a tiny calf that insisted on dragging its feet. But whenever he
looked at his daughter's face every second was worth it.

****

"We saved a calf!"

Lexi skidded into the kitchen and threw her
arms around Charlotte. Despite her surprise, Charlotte laughed
delightedly. The entire time Will and Lexi had been out on their
ride Charlotte had fretted that she might have made a bad
suggestion. Lexi didn't know how to ride and Will generally made
the point that he wasn't thrilled to do ranch work anyway. Taking a
thirteen-year-old along with him might not make him anything less
than surly. And yet it seemed from this reaction that things had
gone far better than she had hoped.

"Why don't you go wash up for dinner?"
Charlotte suggested, giving Lexi another hug.

Lexi twirled out of the kitchen. Charlotte
paused, turned down the burner on the stove, and walked to the door
to the living room. Sierra sat quietly on the floor playing with
her dolls, and Shane was watching cartoons. They had settled down
nicely after she had baked cookies with them. The hurt that the two
little ones had been experiencing had abated a little in the past
few days.

"What smells so good?"

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat at the sound
of the already familiar deep voice. She glanced over her shoulder
willing herself to be calm and collected. "Black bean rice. My last
foster mom taught me to cook. This was one of her go to dishes.
Quick and filling."

As Will ambled closer Charlotte's furiously
pumping pulse thundered in her ears. He leaned against the counter
and crossed his arms over his chest. The worn flannel of his work
shirt pulled taut over the broad expanse of his shoulders, and
Charlotte's mouth went dry. Her gaze flew up to Will's face.

A smile curved along Will's mouth and his
blue eyes crinkled in the corners. Charlotte had been doing her
best to ignore her attraction to Will. The only thing giving in to
temptation would result in was to make things more complicated than
they already were. Still, in moments like this she felt the rush of
awareness that had sparked during their first meeting.

"Well, it sure smells good," Will
repeated.

Charlotte licked her lips. "Would you like a
taste?"

She grabbed a spoon from the utensil drawer,
dipped it into the pot, and offered it up to Will. He blew on it
gently before taking a bite.

"Mmmm."

Charlotte's breath caught in her throat at
Will's appreciation. Their eyes met and the spoon trembled in
Charlotte's hand as she lowered it back to the counter.

"That is good."

Did Will's voice sound husky or was she just
imagining things? Was something happening here? Confusion drummed
at Charlotte's head, making her feel slightly dizzy.

Finding her voice, she said, "Thank you. Why
don't you go clean up? Dinner will be ready soon."

Will held her gaze a moment longer, and
Charlotte wondered why she couldn't read the expression in his
eyes. After he left the room, Charlotte let herself breathe again.
Whatever had passed between them, she knew that Will had felt it
too. Shane wandered into the kitchen, drawing her back to the
reality of three scared and hurting children. It wasn't the time to
explore whatever was happening between them. The children had to
come first. No job she had ever held had been more important. To
show these children how very loved they were, she needed to focus
her attention where it mattered most, and not let herself get
distracted. Besides the situation was about to get more complicated
if the envelope that had come in the mail was what she thought.

When Will came back in to the kitchen,
Charlotte nodded toward the mail pile. "Something came from
district court today."

Will's eyes lit up as he grabbed the stack
and shuffled through it. Charlotte turned toward the stove, her
heart aching. Sure she already knew that Will was Lexi's father,
but the confirmation would make the custody proceedings move along
swiftly. Will let out a whoop, and before Charlotte could say
anything, Lexi burst through the kitchen door.

"What's going on?"

Charlotte turned to watch Will sweep Lexi
into a hug. "We got the DNA results today that say you are mine
beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's just a matter of time before the
judge recognizes me as your guardian."

Lexi squealed. "That's awesome, Dad. Isn't
this great, Charlotte?"

"Yes, great. "Charlotte managed a
tight-lipped smile. Will must have caught the tension in her voice
because he arched an eyebrow at her. With a shake of her head,
Charlotte said, "Let's celebrate this over food."

Luckily, she and Will were distracted with
the children during dinner and after. Lexi recounted the rescue of
the calf in great detail, and Sierra hung on every word. Lexi
turned to Will. "Is the calf a girl or a boy, Dad? I need to give
it a name."

Will chuckled. "A heifer, so a girl. A name,
huh?"

"That's the most important part, Dad. Her
name will make her part of our family."

Charlotte hid her smile behind her napkin.
"Maybe you can take Sierra out to the barn in the morning to meet
the newest family member."

Sierra seemed to hold her breath until Lexi's
face broke into a grin of agreement. The moment, this tiny
infinitesimal moment told Charlotte that they had just had a
breakthrough. And when she glanced at Will to see if he had seen it
too, the smile he gave her made her glow.

Charlotte left Will and Lexi to work on her
science homework. She ran a warm bath, and after getting Shane
washed and changed into his pajamas, she helped Sierra into the
tub. As Sierra pushed a duck around the sudsy water, she tipped her
head toward Charlotte and said, "You know, I think maybe Lexi likes
me. Just a little. Do you think she'll share her baby cow with
me?"

"Lexi does like you," Charlotte agreed. She
had to be careful not to say too much. The girls had to work out
their relationship on their own.

Sierra dunked the duck. "I wish Uncle Will
would teach
me
how to ride a horse."

A small smile tugged at Charlotte's lips.
"I'm sure he will when he thinks you're ready."

"I'm ready now." Sierra pouted for a moment.
Charlotte had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"I'll talk to him, okay?" Charlotte wrapped
Sierra in a big fluffy towel.

The little girl nodded then scooted into her
room to get her pajamas on. After stories and songs, Charlotte took
a deep breath and headed back into the kitchen. Lexi was just
shutting her textbook on the table. The girl flashed Charlotte a
smile that said the study session had gone well.

"Dad's out on the front porch." Lexi tapped
her pencil on the table. "He told me I have to go to bed now.
School tomorrow."

Even though Lexi rolled her eyes, the grin on
her face told Charlotte all she needed to know. Clearly Lexi
enjoyed having her father act like her father. After a quick hug,
Lexi headed to her room. Charlotte hovered in the kitchen wondering
what she should do next. Everything in her told her to join Will on
the porch. The two of them needed to be friends, a united front for
the kids, at least for the time being. And the present was all
Charlotte would let herself think about.

She moved to the coffee pot, and poured two
cups, doctoring them just the way she knew Will liked. The jolt of
recognition that she was learning these intimate little things
about him made Charlotte stop in the middle of the kitchen. She had
a feeling that no matter how much she tried to keep an emotional
distance, it just wasn't going to work. Already they were more
intertwined than she had ever intended. And she had a feeling she
would probably end up getting hurt.

The coffee cup shook in her hand as she
decided whether or not the risk of exploring the tangled feelings
she had toward Will was worth it. She only paused a hair breadth of
a second before she pushed open the front door. Will turned. His
face lit up into a huge smile as he saw that it was her. Charlotte
held out the cup of coffee.

"Thanks," Will said as he took a sip then set
the cup on the small wooden table next to the Adirondack chair.