Raining In My Heart (Book One of the McKay's) (9 page)

"Wel
l, sounds like your
m
om is a busy lady
,
"
t
he old man said, opening the gate to one of the stalls.

Kellie
walked behind him, cautiously
.
"I guess.
Gee, they look so big up close.
Are they wild?"

"Oh no, only the one you were looking at has a wild streak. That's Lightning, he's a pure bred and he has a spirit as wild as anything you've ever seen. No one rides him except
Mr.
Wade
or
Mr.
Cade
."

"I met
Mr.
Cade
, I like him. He seems nice.
He's
handsome.
Are
all
the cowboys that handsome?
"

"
No
.
"
T
he old wrangler laughed. "Just those two
and a couple of young wranglers
. You see
,
they are twins.
Wade
's
the straw boss around here.
He's the reason the place looks so good all the time.
He does a dandy job
,
"
Caleb
said.
"Well
,
I say that,
Cade
is the doer, and
Wade
is the barker."

"What's a barker?"

"The one that barks the orders."

"Oh, then
Cade
does the work?"

"Yeah, he does.
Guess some people overlook that fact.
"

"How do you tell them apart
?"
Kellie
asked curiously as he handed her a brush and showed her how to stroke the animal.

"It's almost imp
ossible for someone that don't
know them.
They are identical twins, you know what that means?"

"Sure…"

"
But they dress a little different now, walk a little different and
Cade
has a softer voice than
Wade
. That's why he was made the straw boss.
You'll see him if you are here long enough."

"Well
,
I hope I am.
I like to curry th
e horses
, it's fun.
If I stay long,
c
an I curry him tomorrow?"

"Well, I don't see why not."
Caleb
chuckled. "You like horses
,
don't you?"

"Oh yes, I think they are the prettiest animals alive
.
"

"How old are you, little missy?"
the old man asked
,
his face screwing up as he looked at her
.

"I'm nearly ten
…but my mother thinks I act much older."
Kellie
smiled.
"My teacher told my mother only children act older."

"And you're an only child
?
"

"Sure."

"Well, you shore do have some big and f
ancy words for a
nine-
year
-
old.
You must be smart as a whip."
Caleb
laughed and patted her on the shoulder.

"Mom says I'm
like my grandpa.
I wish I could have met him. He sounded so…I don't know…mystical."

"
Such words….you must be plenty smart.
Your mom
talk about him much to you?"
Caleb
asked
as he bent
down
to
the horses leg with the brush.

"She used to all the time when I was little.
But then
,
after a while, she just sorta
quit talking about him at all, a
nd my dad.
Sometimes she gets this far
away look in her eye and I feel like she's going to cry. But,
I have a lo
t of questions for her someday about my dad and my grandpa. I don't know much about them.
And…
"
S
he looked
at the old man. "I want to
."

"G
uess she's sorry
she didn't come see him some
,
"
t
he old man said.

"Yeah…she is now…"

"How about your dad, where is he?"
Caleb
asked curiously.

"
Oh him!
I don't
know. I never met him either
.
Mom won't talk about him
. She used to tell me I was a lot like my dad, that I had his eyes. And that he loved horses too
,
"
Kellie
said quietly.

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, and I don't care,"
Kellie
said
,
moving away from the horse and frowning down at the old man who was kneeling in the hay to care for the horse's hoofs.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about your father, is it?"
Caleb
corrected
, as he let go of a hoof and turned to stare at her
.

"Maybe, but if he
loved me, he'd come for me. He'd tak
e me away
. He'd take care of me, listen to me, and be with me.
He'd have time for me.
"
Kellie
's face was a mask of emotions and
Caleb
seemed startled that he had started such a conversation with the young girl.

"Oh now child…I didn't mean to stir up no bee's nest.
I'm sorry.
I'm old and curious about most things, is al
l. Don't you worry.
Maybe some
day your father will show up and do just that.
Maybe it's not all his fault.
"

Kellie
dried her face, wiped it with the back of her hand and shook her
head
.
"No, no he won't.
He do
n't car
e about me…and Mama
…
she likes her job too much
.
If I ran away she wouldn't even notice.
"

"Oh now child
.
"
T
he old man stood up and put an arm around the girl.
"I can't believe your own mother wouldn't notice her little girl gone."

Ke
llie
whimpered
for
a minute then sq
uared her shoulders and pet the horse.

"Don't take on so.
Hey now,
I know a lot about the
McKay
's and they don't cry easy.
So you must be hurtin' bad or you wouldn't be cryin' at all.
I'm so sorry, but life is hard child, and the sooner you learn it, the better."

"That's what my Mama says." She hiccup
p
ed.

"It's a fact.
But it can be good or it can be bad, depends on
your attitude.
If you walk around all mad and festerin' all the time, then that's how life is gonna be.
But if you hold your head high, your shoulders back, and you don't let people get to you that easy, then life can be okay, most of the time. Mama's and daddy's sometimes don't see the problems.
Sometimes we make mistakes, mistake
s that cost us happiness.
But
you're just a child, and you shouldn't be this unhappy."

"I'm not unhappy…"
Kellie
blinked, and then
held up her shoulders
.
"I'm sorry. Crying is for babies.
But
I would like to meet my
father
.
I guess I just got emotional. It won't happen again. Can we curry another horse?" she asked brightly as though nothing had happened.

Caleb
looked at her and something changed in his expression, but he nodded
.
"Sure we can….come on."

Chapter Five

"I brought your daughter back, safe and sound
.
"
Cade
smiled as he walked into the kitchen
and saw all the
Mc
K
ay
girls
were sitting around the kitchen table
.
"
Boy, t
his brings back memories.
All of you sittin' around the kitchen table jawin'.
"

Julie
jumped up
.
"Thanks for showing her around a bit, Cade.
It was nice of you to take the time.
"

Cade
winked. "My pleasure.
This girl sure does like horses.
"

"
Yes, a little too much.
Come here baby, I
want you to meet your aunts now.
It's
time you met them
.
This is
Letty,
Sandy
, and
Wendy
."

"Your daughter?" Letty
repeated
,
extending her hand to
Kellie
and giving her a quick appraisal
. "My goodness, she's half grown
, an
d absolutely beautiful
."

"S
he is,
isn't she?
"
Julie
smiled, grabbing her daughter as she turned to look at all her aunts.

"Well, it's wonderful to finally meet you,"
Sandy
said
as she put a batch of cookies in the oven and pulled another out
,
tempting
Kellie
with the warm aroma
.

Wendy
ca
me forward
.
"I
'm so glad we finally got to meet you
."

Kellie
smiled at them all. "You're all so pretty."

"
McKay
's,
not a throw away in the bunch if you ask me.
"
Cade
smiled at her.
"Including you
,
Miss
Kellie
."

"Still the charmer, Cade?"
Julie
glanced up at him, unable to understand why looking straight at Cade had her reacting in some basic way.
But it went both ways, he couldn't seem to take his eyes from her either.

"Well, better get back, got a heifer giving birth this evening. Holler if you gals need anything."
Cade
winked at
Julie
.

"Can I come watch?"
Kellie
asked.

"If you
think you
can handle it
.
"
Cade
smiled.

"Can I
,
Mama?"
Kellie
glanced at her mother for approval.

"It would be a good education, I suppose
,
"
Julie
admitted
,
thinking about her daughter
who was
almost ready for puberty. Maybe seeing something like this would make it easier to explain the facts of life to her.
She wanted to encourage her learning in every way.
And this would be hands
-
on education.

"Come on down to the barn about sun down
,
"
Cade
instructed.
"Better yet, I'll come fetch you. See ya then."

"Okay…"

"Thanks
,
Cade…"

Julie
watched him leave and wondered why her heart always raced a little faster around Cade. Maybe she was suffering some kind of weird jet lag. That had to be it
, even though she'd driven here
.

"I like him Mama, he's nice,"
Kellie
said
,
watching him walk out the door. "I met another nice man at the ba
rn
;
he's older. H
is name is
Cale
b
.
He let me help curry the horses. It was a lot of fun.
"