Healing Trace (31 page)

The
last month flew by with everything happening. Between getting Katie and
Savannah on the bus every morning before heading to work at the clinic, and
then helping with the chores, Joan always looked forward to the weekends when
everyone was together at the ranch.

She
caught sight of Katie helping Savannah make more snowballs, and smiled.
Savannah never questioned them about her father after they explained that he'd
died in the house fire. Although the doctor Savannah saw twice a week told them
both that Savannah was opening up more and questioning what was going on, she
still tended to pretend that her life on the reservation never existed.

Trace
made sure Savannah went back to the reservation often and learned to bolster
through her new fears. He didn't want her to go through most of her life
worrying and doubting the way he had.

Brody
popped up in front of her. "Hey Joan!"

"No,
no, no…" She tried to turn and run, but the snow was too deep and she fell
to her knees. "Trace!"

Devon
came out of nowhere and Trace crouched down beside her, covering her with his
body while Devon pummeled them with snowballs. She laughed, letting Trace take
the brunt of the attack.

Soon
their ammunition ran out, and they all agreed hot chocolate sounded good right
now.

"Before
we go in, I want to show you all something." Devon motioned them over to
the trailer hitched behind the tractor.

As
they all clambered up and took a seat, Devon drove, pulling them through the
snow to the stables. Joan held Savannah on her lap, warming her up. Trace in
return put his arm around Joan's shoulders and rubbed her arm. She smiled up at
him. Devon had informed her a couple months ago on what he planned to do, and
she couldn't wait.

The
tractor stopped, and Devon hurried them all inside the stable and closed the
door. He motioned Katie to stand by him, and she skipped to his side. Katie
still had a young crush on her idol and Joan hoped when her sister left for
college in the fall, Katie would learn a relationship with a man seventeen
years older was foolish. Devon would never see her for anything more than a
young girl who tagged his every step.

Devon
stood behind Katie and put his hands on her shoulders. "After a long time
of listening to Katie's dream of opening a stable and offering riding lessons,
amateur rodeo, and horse boarding when she's older, I've given it serious
thought, crunched a few numbers, and I think this would be a great business for
Lakota ranch."

Katie
whipped her head around. "What? Really?"

Devon
turned her back around, pointed in front of her, and watched Brody remove the
horse blanket off the table to reveal a scaled down model of a horse arena and
stable. "Go check out, Katie's Equestrian Emporium."

"Oh,
my God." She shrieked and ran to peer inside the model, squealed again,
and headed back to Devon to give him a teary-eyed hug. "Thank you, thank
you, thank you!"

"Hang
on, kiddo." He stepped back and gave her a pointed look. "There are a
few stipulations. I've talked things over with everyone, especially your
sister, and we have some conditions that must be kept."

Katie
nodded. "Anything."

"First,
you're going to college in the fall after you graduate this June, and you will
become a veterinarian like you dreamed. We'll need an on-site vet at Lakota
ranch." Devon lowered his voice. "Second thing we want you to do is
make sure you come back in the summer, to your home, and help us with the
ranch. We're gonna miss your sassy mouth around here, and we want you to know
this will always be your home…even if you decide to move away sometime in the
future."

She
shook her head, and wiped her cheeks. "Never. I'm gonna stay here
forever."

Joan
hugged Katie. She whispered, "Say thank you."

 "Oh
shit. I forgot." Katie laughed

Trace
coughed. "Katie…"

"Sorry,
Trace. Ex-nay the it-shay." She grinned, not looking a bit sorry because
she knew she got away with everything around the men. "It just slipped
out. I promise."

After
Katie made the rounds, thanking everyone, Trace stepped out into the aisle and
called for attention. "There's one more thing. I know you didn't have a
horse when you lived in Durham, Katie, but now that you live on Lakota ranch we
can't have you without your own mount."

Katie
covered her mouth, finally knocked speechless for the first time since moving
onto the ranch. Joan held Savannah's hand and squeezed.

Trace
walked down the aisle, grabbed a lead rope, and continued to the far stall. He
returned, leading a small black mustang. Beside the mustang was a one-month-old
filly. Joan pulled Savannah up in front of her, so she could see the horses.

"Before
I married your sister, I bought this pretty mare with you in mind. She's all
heart, and with a little bit of training, she'll make you a fine mount."
Trace handed the lead rope to Katie.

"Thank
you, Trace." Katie threw her arms around the mustang's neck and kissed the
horse. "She's beautiful."

Trace
squatted in front of Savannah. "Hey princess, don't think I forgot about
you. It's time to put you to work around here. I was thinking you're just old
enough to make sure the little filly gets fed and watered every morning, and
claim her as your horse."

Savannah
nodded. "I can do that. Katie lets me help her. I know how."

"I
thought so." Trace held his hand out. "How about we go pet your new
horse? She won't be ready to ride for a couple years but in the meantime, you
can ride with any of us when we go out. For right now, you need to love the
pretty, little baby, and care for her."

Savannah
petted the filly's nose. "Can I name her?"

Trace
winked at Joan. "She's your horse, so giving her a name is your
responsibility."

Savannah
bit down on her lip, tilted her head, studied the horse, and then said.
"Dee-wah-hay."

Trace's
arm came around Joan and pulled her close. She gazed up at him for translation,
but he hesitated, moisture growing thicker in his eyes and the muscle in his
jaw ticked. She looked to Brody and then Devon for an answer, but they appeared
to be struggling to hold it together too.

"What
does it mean?" she whispered to Trace.

He
kissed her hard. "It means family."

The End

Biography

Top Selling Romance
Author, Debra Kayn, lives with her family in the beautiful coastal mountains of
Oregon on a hobby farm. She enjoys riding motorcycles, gardening, playing
tennis, and fishing. A huge animal lover, she always has a dog under her desk
when she writes and chickens standing at the front door looking for a treat.
She's famous in her family for teaching a 270 lb hog named Harley to jog with
her every morning.

Her love of
family ties and laughter makes her a natural to write heartwarming contemporary
stories to the delight of her readers. Oh, let's cut to the chase. She loves to
write about REAL MEN and the WOMEN who love them.

When Debra was
nineteen years old, a man kissed her without introducing himself. When they
finally came up for air, the first words out of his mouth were…will you have my
babies? Considering Debra's weakness for a sexy, badass man, who is strong
enough to survive her attitude, she said yes. A quick wedding at the House of
Amour and four babies later, she's living her own romance book.

You
can visit Debra's website at www.debrakayn.com

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