Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch (5 page)

“I must be. My
name’s Daniel Trent.”

The boy gave a
single nod, like an aristocrat acknowledging a peasant. “I’m Toby Mercado. This
is my ranch.”

Daniel decided
not to dispute the issue at that moment. “It’s a nice place, from what I’ve
seen so far.” He looked around them and shrugged. “Although this doesn’t look
exactly encouraging.”

Toby nodded. “We
haven’t used this barn for a long time, not since our foreman got his own land
and decided to live there. You’ll have to bring in your own equipment.”

“What kind of
equipment?”

The dark eyes
went round. “Man, you need tractors and seeders and spreaders and rakes and
chains and trailers. You need tools for building and mending fences, just for
starters. How many head do you have coming?”

That would refer
to cattle, Daniel assumed. “How many do you think I should have?”

Toby gave him a
look of pure disdain. “Don’t you know anything?”

“Sure. But I’m
new to the ranch business. I’ve got a lot to learn.”

The boy shook
his head in disgust. “You’re telling me.”

“Speaking of
learning…” Daniel glanced at his watch. “It’s noon on a Tuesday afternoon. Shouldn’t
you be in school?”

Scuffing the
dirt floor with one toe, Toby avoided his eyes. “Nah.”

“There’s no
school today?”

Hands in his
jeans pockets, Toby shrugged, still staring at the ground.

“I guess that
means you’re playing hooky.”

“What’s that?”

“Skipping
school. Cutting class.”

“Oh.” Another
shrug, and then another sneeze. “School’s useless.”

“Why is that?”

“’Cause when I
grow up I’m gonna run this ranch, just like my dad did. I don’t need school for
that. I can learn what I have to know staying home, working with my mom and the
hands.”

“Did your dad go
to school?”

Toby looked up
at him with a surprised expression. “I don’t know.” And sneezed again.

Daniel nodded.
“You should ask your mom about that. I’ll take you home so you can talk to
her.” He turned toward the barn door, but the boy hung back.

“She’s gonna be
mad.”

“Probably. I
imagine she likes to know where you are during the day.”

Toby hung his
head and sniffed. “I’m in big trouble.”

After letting
him anticipate the worst for a minute, Daniel put a hand on his shoulder to
move him forward. “You might as well face the inevitable like a man. Get it
over with.”

“What’s
in-inevble?”

“Something you
can’t avoid.”

“Oh.” He sighed.
Sneezed. “Yeah.”

Once they were
in the truck and headed back to Willa’s house, Daniel said, “How’d you get out
of going to school, anyway? Do your brother and sister know you’re not there?”

“I said I was
sick this morning. Once Robbie and Susannah left and Lili and Rosa were in the
garden, I just went out the front door.” He shrugged. “No big deal.”

“Pretty slick.”
But Daniel had a feeling Willa would think it was a very big deal, indeed.

After a minute
of silence, Toby said, “So what did you do to your leg?”

“My truck hit a
landmine in Iraq.” After eighteen months, he could say it without gritting his
teeth.

Toby looked out
the side window. “That’s what happened to my dad.” His voice was subdued. “He
died.”

“I know. I’m
sorry. Three of my friends got killed when I was hurt.”

After a minute,
Toby glanced at the hand controls Daniel used to drive the truck. “Do you mind
having a…a limp?”

An honest
question deserved an honest answer. “Well, what would you think, if you
couldn’t play ball anymore—very well, anyway—or sit down easily, walk smoothly
or stand up for a long time without your leg feeling like it was on fire?”

“I’d hate it.”

“Sometimes I do.
But at least I came home.”

“You were
lucky.”

“Yeah, I was.”

He could hear
other questions seething in Toby’s brain, but the boy didn’t give voice to his
thoughts. They rode down the driveway of the ranch house without another word. Once
Daniel stopped the truck, Toby took a deep breath and wrapped his fingers
around the door handle. “Thanks for the ride. I—”

Before he could
finish, the door was yanked open from the outside. Willa stood there, clearly
furious.

“Tobias Rafael
Mercado, where have you been? What do you mean, sneaking off without telling
anyone? You’re not too old for a spanking, mister, and this may just be the day
you get one.”

She grabbed his
arm and pulled him off the truck seat to stand in front of her. Bending down,
she looked him straight in the eye. “Lili and Rosa have been worried sick,
Toby. Why would you do something like this to them?”

Toby had adopted
the toe-scuffing technique again. One shoulder lifted in a shrug.

Straightening
up, Willa blew out a short breath. “We’ll talk later. Go to your room…and stay
there.” The boy turned to start for the house, but she put a hand under his
chin and made him look up at her. “Do you understand, Toby? Do not leave your
room.”

“Yes, ma’am.” With
a slump to his shoulders, dragging his feet, he went into the house. In the
stillness of the day, the slam of a door could be heard clearly.

Willa stood for
a moment with her shoulders hunched, too. Then she straightened up and looked
at Daniel through the open truck door. “Where did you find him?” Her cheeks
were bright red with what he figured was pure embarrassment.

“In the barn at
my place. He was up in the loft, and he sneezed. Maybe he really does have a
cold.”

“If he was sick,
he should have stayed home in bed instead of worrying my aunts to death.”

“I guess so.”

“He’s been a
handful recently. Always up to something.” She said it almost to herself…or as
if he were a friend she’d turned to for advice.

But Daniel knew
she didn’t want help from him. He put his hand on the key to crank the truck
engine.

“Wait.” Willa
reached out, and he turned off the engine again. “I haven’t said thank you.”

“Not necessary.”

“Of course it
is. I appreciate you bringing him home—you saved us hours of worry.”

“Anytime.”

“I hope not.”
She flashed a smile that took him straight back to last night, to the
incredible satisfaction he’d found with her. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother
you again.”

Daniel’s mood
crashed like a falling rock. “I’m sure you will.” Once again he reached out to
start the engine.

“Willa?” Two
women came scurrying out the front door and across the veranda, both of them
tiny, about sixty years old, with bright, dark eyes and identical faces. “Willa,
we just talked to Toby. Is this Major Trent?”

“Yes, Lili.
Daniel Trent.” She gestured to the aunt wearing a pink-flowered dress. “Daniel,
this is my aunt, Lilianna Mercado.”

“Pleased to meet
you,” he said automatically, wishing he was outside and standing up instead of
talking awkwardly across the interior of the truck.

The other aunt,
wearing blue flowers, crowded in next to her sister. “This is Rosa Mercado,”
Willa said from behind them.

“Miss Rosa.” Daniel
nodded. “It’s a pleasure.”

“We’re so
grateful to you for bringing Toby home,” Lili said. Rosa nodded in agreement.
“He slipped away while we thought he was napping, and we had no idea where to
look. And with Willa gone, we weren’t at all sure what to do.”

“It’s no
problem. I just found him in the barn and drove him back.”

“We do
appreciate your effort.” Rosa put a hand on her chest, somewhere near her
heart. “And we’d like to thank you properly. Please come in and join us for
lunch.”

Daniel glanced
at Willa and saw her mouth tighten. “Thank you for the invitation, but it’s
really not necessary. I’ll just get on back—”

“Oh, you can’t!”
Rosa leaned into the truck, bracing her hands on the passenger seat. “I’m sure
you don’t have much in the way of groceries up at that house, and it’s so far
to drive to the nearest town, you’ll be starving before you get anything to
eat. Please, come in. Willa should have asked you before now.” She gave her
niece a reproving look.

Trapped.
While he was still trying to think
of a way to say no, Willa cleared her throat. “Lili and Rosa are right, Daniel.
Come in and have some lunch. It’s the least we can do since you brought Toby
home.”

His stomach
chose that moment to growl fiercely, and the Mercado sisters laughed. Lili
clapped her hands. “You see, you need some food right now. You’re a big man.
You shouldn’t be going hungry.”

Daniel grinned
and surrendered. “Who am I to argue with a lovely woman? Thank you, Miss Lili.
I’ll be glad to stay for lunch.”

Lili and Rosa
fussed over him all the way into the house, herding him through the large main
room, with its twenty-foot ceiling, into the dining room beyond, where they led
him to the head of an antique table that could easily have seated twenty
people. The chairs were equally old, ornately carved and upholstered with red
leather, but remarkably comfortable.

“You sit and
relax—” Lili instructed, laying a hand lightly on his shoulder “—while we get
the food ready. It’ll just be a moment or two.”

In little more than
that, the table was spread with a lunch the size of which Daniel had seldom
seen outside an army mess hall. He’d expected Mexican food, but instead there
was a huge casserole pan of lasagna, with hot cheese and tomato sauce bubbling
on top, plus a crisp salad in a glass bowl, warm bread in a napkin-lined
basket, sliced apples and pears on a silver plate…

“This isn’t
lunch,” he said when they joined him, the aunts on his left and Willa on his
right. “It’s a banquet.” He looked at Willa. “Toby doesn’t get to eat?”

“I took a plate
to his room,” she said, her eyes on the salad she was serving herself. “He had
fallen asleep. I guess he does have a cold.”

“I thought he
had a slight fever when I touched his forehead this morning.” Rosa shook her
head. “But not enough to keep him in bed, I guess.”

“Ten-year-old
boys are pretty hard to tie down.” Daniel forked up a bite of the lasagna. “Wow.
Delicious.”

Rosa and Lili
smiled at his appreciative groan. Willa took a deep breath and let it out
slowly, finally allowing herself to relax a little. She’d been afraid, though
of what, she wasn’t quite sure. She hadn’t really thought Daniel would try
to—to sweep her off her feet in her own home, in front of her aunts and her
child. Despite what they’d done…together…last night…she didn’t know him at all.
But she believed she could trust him to behave in front of her family, at
least.

Maybe she didn’t
trust herself?

She dropped her
fork at the thought, and everyone looked up as it clattered against the china
plate. “Sorry,” she managed. “The lasagna is terrific, Lili. As always.”

Focusing on her
food again, she had to admit it was nice to have a man at the head of the table
once more. Jamie had sat at the other end, nearest the kitchen, and Lili and
Rosa had avoided putting Daniel in his seat. But the sheer size and presence of
a strong, virile male made a difference in the room. A difference she had
sorely missed.

And wasn’t that
just wonderful? Here she was, already putting Daniel Trent into her dead
husband’s place. This was just what she’d hoped to avoid, warning him off. They
didn’t need another man in their lives, stirring up hope in the kids, getting
Lili and Rosa all flustered, making Willa herself wish for more of what she’d
had last night. She’d simply have to resist any urge to get closer. How hard
could that be?

Looking up just
as he smiled at Lili after yet another compliment, she got an inkling of
exactly
how
hard, indeed. The man was a charmer. And she was far from
immune.

She couldn’t
help noticing he made a good meal—two helpings of lasagna and salad, three
pieces of bread and even seconds on the flan Rosa brought out for dessert. Willa,
on the other hand, found her appetite had deserted her. Her plate returned to
the kitchen with most of the food untouched.

“That was quite
a meal,” he commented as she walked him back to the front door. “Please be sure
your aunts know how much I appreciate their efforts.”

“I think you
made it clear.” She opened the heavy door to the veranda and ushered him out
ahead of her. “Anyway, they love having company. We haven’t seen many guests in
the past couple of years.”

Standing in the
shade, he turned to look at her, his blue gaze serious, his face solemn. “I’m
sorry, Willa. I know this wasn’t what you wanted.”

She shook her
head, then waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m the one who should apologize. I
wasn’t…nice…this morning.”