The Cowboy's Surprise Baby (Cowboy Country Book 3) (5 page)

Tessa wasn’t overly surprised that he didn’t sound too enthused about the prospect.

“You want me to load the kids up on horses, lead them out on the trail and show them some of the property. Make them feel like real cowboys.” He shrugged. “All right. I guess I can do that,” he said with a conceding wave of his arm.

“Well...” Griff hedged.

Cole arched his left eyebrow. “There’s more?”

“Yeah, there’s more. We don’t run Redemption Ranch exactly like a dude ranch,” Griff said. “We’re hoping you’ll take up
all
the challenges inherent in your position. You’ll be interacting with the teenagers on trail rides—” He paused and cleared his throat. “And then some. Our hope is that you’ll find both challenge and pleasure showing the youth what ranch life is all about, helping them connect with God and the country.”

Cole’s gaze widened noticeably, but Griff continued, either unaware of the shift of tension in the room or choosing to ignore Cole’s obvious discomfort.

“We’re putting you in charge of overseeing their ranch discovery outings. You’ll be responsible for leading them in their interactions with the animals, teaching them the care and feeding of the stock, how to tack up a horse and other aspects of country living. It’s an interesting position that I think you’ll enjoy once you get used to the idea. I can guarantee it will be the most rewarding work you’ve ever done.”

Cole shook his head. Tessa couldn’t imagine how he felt right now. He was no doubt still overwhelmed in his new role as a single father, and now Alexis and Griff were throwing delinquent teenagers at him.

“Think of it as an art,” Alexis encouraged him. “Very few of these kids have been within arm’s length of a horse. You’ll be starting from scratch and can make true horsemen and women out of them.”

Cole’s brow furrowed, and he shoved his fingers through his hair, rubbing at the knots at the back of his skull. Tessa linked her fingers in her lap, trying not to remember the times she’d rubbed the knots from his neck when he was facing a tough test or a new challenge. He’d always been muscular, but years in the navy had defined the muscles in his shoulders and arms. Just for a moment, before reality reclaimed her, she ached to ease his tension, even after all these years and all that had transpired between them. She shook her head, nipping her misplaced wistfulness in the bud.

“You’ll be a wonderful mentor,” Alexis assured him. “You have so much to give. The kids will be blessed, and I believe you will be, as well. That’s why I was so quick to snap you up once I knew you were coming home.”

Cole’s neck turned red, then his chin, his cheeks, his forehead, until there wasn’t an inch on his face that wasn’t flushed. “I think you’ve got this all wrong. I’m a simple cowboy, not a teacher. Yes, I joined the navy, but those skills don’t transfer to this kind of situation. And I didn’t even go to college. I couldn’t teach a fly, much less a teenager.”

Everyone around the table laughed—except for Tessa and Cole.

“Maybe not,” Marcus said, which earned him a glare. Marcus just brushed it off. “But it sounds to me like you’ve got some skills. You’re going to be a music teacher to these kids, right?”

Tessa cringed. No matter what her personal differences were with Cole, she didn’t think it was fair for everyone to be sharing a laugh at his expense. Clearly the man was ruffled, and why wouldn’t he be? He’d been expecting the somewhat reserved and quiet life of a wrangler out on the open Texas plains, probably a welcome change from his navy days. Instead, he was getting herded into what must seem like babysitting a group of juvenile delinquents—which wasn’t all that far from the truth. The one thing she
could
guarantee was that it would be anything but calm and peaceful.

It was her fault he was only learning this now and not when he’d first accepted the job. She’d interrupted him that day and thrown everyone’s world off-kilter.

Without thinking, she reached across the table and laid her hand on Cole’s forearm. It was as muscular and strong as she remembered it. Even more so. “I know it might sound overwhelming to you right now, but trust me on this—working with young people and knowing you’re making a difference in their lives—well, there’s no better feeling in the world. You’re going to be a real
mentor
to these kids, Cole. Think of all the teenagers you’ll be able to help by sharing your skills and expertise with them.”

Cole shook his head, and she knew from the way the muscles in his forearm tensed that he was on the brink of bowing out entirely. Jobs were scarce in Serendipity, but she was certain he’d be hired on somewhere, either wrangling or else using whatever skills he’d learned in his years as a sailor—and he wouldn’t have to deal with a bunch of juvenile delinquents. Teenagers weren’t everyone’s cup of tea. And he did have a lot on his plate as it was.

She knew without a doubt there would be something for him. He’d been born and raised in Serendipity. The townsfolk wouldn’t turn their backs on one of their own, especially not one with a baby to love and care for.

“I know it sounds like a bit much,” Alexis added, “and I apologize that I’ve had to drop it on you so suddenly, but I want you to know I sincerely believe in the reason I’ve asked you to work here and specifically in this capacity. I don’t ask lightly. I’ve prayed about it, and I truly feel you’re the right man for the job.”

His gaze widened, but instead of looking at Alexis, his eyes landed on Tessa. She couldn’t help but think that the next words out of his mouth were going to be about her—or at least because of her.

“Yeah—no. I’m sorry, but I don’t think so.”

And she was right.

* * *

A
mentor
?

Alexis thought he could be a mentor? To a bunch of impressionable teenagers? How blind was she? Not to mention everyone else sitting at the table with him. They were all acting as if he was something special, as if he could add to the team in some positive way.

What were they seeing that he wasn’t? Because when he looked in the mirror, all he saw was a rough-edged cowboy-slash-sailor who’d made more mistakes in his life than he could count—
major
mistakes. Errors that would affect some people’s lives—like Grayson’s—forever. Cole didn’t want a teenager looking at
his
life as an example of how to live. He wasn’t someone
any
parent would want around their children.

Anyway, wasn’t that what the counselors were for?

Despite the fact that his heart had never healed toward her, he knew Tessa to be the kind of woman a teenager would be smart to emulate. He’d fallen in love with her for a reason. She was as intelligent as she was beautiful, and she had a kind and compassionate spirit that benefited everyone she came into contact with.

Well, everyone except for him. But that was between the two of them. It didn’t have a thing to do with the work—the ministry—she was a part of now.

As for Marcus Ender, Cole didn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him, but again, that was for personal reasons. For all he knew, the same traits that made his hair prickle were the same ones that made Marcus a great counselor.

Whatever. The only thing Cole knew for sure was that
he
wasn’t anything close to mentor material. It was bad enough that he’d been strong-armed to help prepare the kids for some kind of musical number for a barbecue he didn’t even want to attend. But this was too much.

“Hey, look,” he said, holding his hand out palm up and offering an apologetic shrug, “I appreciate what y’all are trying to do here for me. I do. But me and kids? We don’t mix all that well. I’ve had zero experience with teenagers. And to be perfectly honest with you, I’ve already got my hands full with Grayson.”

“That’s true,” Alexis admitted. “There’s a learning curve when it comes to teenagers, but no more so than with babies. And it appears to me you are adjusting quite nicely with your son. I have high hopes for you here.”

Griff barked out a laugh. “My wife is making it sound like you can kill two birds with one stone. Take what you learn with the baby and apply it to the teenagers.”

“And who’s to say you can’t?” Alexis jabbed back in a teasing tone of voice.

“Not helping,” Tessa mumbled, pressing her free palm to her forehead.

The movement caught Cole’s attention, and it was only then that he realized her other hand still rested on his arm. He snatched his forearm away from her touch as if she’d bitten it and clenched his fists in his lap.

His dander rose at her comment. Tessa hadn’t spoken loudly enough for anyone except him to hear, but what she’d said still cut to the core of his ego. Maybe internally he acknowledged that his learning curve on babies was tighter than a hairpin turn on a mountain road, but Tessa didn’t have to agree with him. If his success rate with Grayson was anything to go by, he’d never be able to figure out how to help a teenager, and it sounded as if they expected him to be very involved in the process.

Mentor.

That was a big word.

“We’ll start you off easy,” Alexis assured him. “The teens arrive tomorrow, and then we’ve got a trail ride scheduled for the morning after. Nothing fancy. You can take the time between now and then to familiarize yourself with the land and pick a route you’d like to take. Or ask any of the other wranglers, and they can suggest something for you.”

Cole nodded and cleared his throat, feeling as if he should be rejecting this agreement but finding himself completely without words. It didn’t matter what he said, anyway. He wasn’t going to be able to walk away now. Not and keep his dignity.

“There are twelve kids in this lot, nine of whom have indicated they have never ridden a horse before, so you’ll want to keep that in mind when you’re selecting their mounts. You’ll need to get acquainted with our stable full of horses. Most of our stock are so gentle a toddler could ride them—or in this case, a city kid who has never seen a real live horse before, which, trust me, is close to the same thing.”

“Sometimes worse,” Marcus joked.

Cole ignored Marcus and his attempt to be witty. His gaze widened on Alexis as she pelted directions at him. How was he going to remember all this?

As if she could read his mind—or maybe his expression—Tessa tore a few pages of yellow paper from her legal pad and handed them to him, then clicked a blue pen open and tossed it his direction.

Thankfully his reflexes worked faster than his brain, and he caught the pen with no problem. That was all he needed, to have the thing bounce off the table so he’d have to crawl around on the floor to get it. It was bad enough that Marcus had his eye on him, but the one who really mattered was Tessa.

He’d thought he’d reached the very dregs of personal humiliation with Tessa many years ago, before he’d left for the navy, but now that he was back in town and in front of her again, he had to wonder. Would the awkwardness between them dim with time? Was she even feeling the tension and chemistry inherent between them, or was it all in his imagination?

Probably. He scoffed at himself.

Pulling his mind back to the task at hand, he scribbled a few notes about what Alexis had said. At least she’d paused so he could catch up.

“We own twenty horses in addition to those owned by the wranglers and counselors. You’re welcome to board your own horse here, as well. I know it’s going to take some time for you to get to know the idiosyncrasies of each of the mounts, but I have every confidence that you’ll be able to match up the right horses with the right teenagers.”

“It’s as much about the attitudes of the youths as it is their riding abilities or the temperament of a particular horse,” Tessa explained.

Cole remembered once being responsible for choosing Tessa a mount from Serendipity’s public stable, the very first time she’d ever ridden a horse in her life. He’d been the one to teach her, and they’d spent many hours together exploring the countryside. She’d apparently continued riding after he left, if she was now in possession of her own horse.

His chest tightened. A lot of time had passed since their dating days. He experienced the odd sensation of a gap, the lost time, opening like a large black cavern before him.

So much in Serendipity had stayed the same, and yet so much had changed.

Tessa
had changed.

“I know horses,” he admitted. “But how am I supposed to know what the kids are going to be like, much less what kind of ride to give them?”

Tessa and Marcus burst out laughing simultaneously.

“Trust me,” said Marcus with the annoying grin of his that Cole wanted to wipe off his face, “you’ll know.”

“They tend to wear their emotions on their sleeves,” Tessa explained. “Five minutes in their presence and you’ll know exactly which horse goes with which teenager.”

Great.

He had his doubts that the boys would even try to be straight with him, especially given that they were all delinquents. They’d try to pull a fast one on him, and he suspected their attitudes might make teaching them to ride more complicated than it needed to be.

Then there were the girls, whom he could easily imagine overloaded with emotions. He wasn’t so old and removed from civilian life that he didn’t remember what happened when a bunch of teenage girls got together. Bubbly young ladies and skittish horses really did not mix. The very thought made him shiver. He was the last person in the world who wanted to deal with the racket created by a bunch of young women, with or without adding horses to the equation.

He groaned inwardly as his dream of losing himself on the peace and quiet of the range floated right out the window. Instead, he was supposed to be a
mentor
. Alexis and Griff clearly thought it was possible, but he still had his doubts.

“What about my hours?” he asked, tapping his pen against the table just to have something to do with his hands.

“We know you have a sweet little baby to go home to,” Alexis said. “You’ll have office hours, so to speak, and your weekends will be free to spend with Grayson. We’ll have some of the other wranglers cover those shifts for you.”