she agreed. “But I still think Becky is a big crybaby.”
“Don’t push your luck, kiddo,” Kendra warned.
She got behind the wheel, fastened her seat belt, started the engine.
“None of this would have happened,” Madison offered reasonably, “if I had my own cowgirl boots.”
Kendra closed her eyes for a moment, swallowed a laugh. She wanted Madison to be spirited and proactive, yes. But a demanding brat? No way.
“One more word about those boots,” she said, glancing at the rearview mirror to read her daughter’s face, “and there will be no visit to Mr. Carmody’s ranch, no horseback ride and definitely no day at the rodeo.”
Madison’s jaw clamped down tight. She obviously had plenty more to say, but she was too smart to say it.
She wanted that ride.
Half an hour later, after a quick stop at home, where Kendra and Madison both changed into jeans and T-shirts and gave Daisy a chance to lap up some water and squat in the backyard, the three of them set out for Whisper Creek Ranch.
On the way, Kendra told herself silently that she was making too big a deal out of this. Nothing earthshaking was going to happen; Hutch would lead a horse out of the barn, Madison would sit in the saddle for a few minutes and that would be it.
She and Madison could turn right around and come home, none the worse for the experience.
Big Sky Mountain loomed in the near distance as they drove on toward the ranch, towering and ancient. If there was one thing in or around Parable that made Kendra think of Hutch Carmody, it was that mountain.
How many times had they gone there, on horseback and sometimes on foot, to be alone in that hidden meadow he loved so much, to talk and laugh and, often, to make love in the warmth of the sun or the silvery glow of starlight?
A blush climbed her neck and pulsed in her cheeks.
Too many times, she thought glumly.
It had been wonderful.
Her grandmother had found out about the trysts eventually—probably by reading Kendra’s diary—and said, “You’re just like your mother. I can’t trust you out of my sight any more than I could trust her. You turn up pregnant, girl, and I’ll wash my hands of you.”
Kendra had taken great care not to get pregnant, but not because of her grandmother’s threat—the old woman had long since washed her hands of her daughter’s child. No, it was because she hadn’t wanted to trap Hutch, force him into marriage because she was having his baby. A few of the other girls in school had gone that route with their boyfriends, and the consequences were sobering, to say the least.
Though she’d loved Hutch, and sometimes feared that she still did, Kendra had wanted to go to college. Yes, she’d wanted children, but at the right time and in the right way. Knowing what it felt like to be a living, breathing burden, she’d been determined to wait, to start her family when she and Hutch were both ready.
Instead she’d gotten involved with Jeffrey Chamberlain. It had been an innocent friendship at first—she’d been fascinated by Jeffrey’s accent, his dry British sense of humor, his style and manners.
Still, she hadn’t married him out of love, not really. She’d wanted to love him, wanted the fairy-tale life he offered, wanted things to be settled, once and for all, so she could get on with her life.
But right up until the moment she’d said, “I do,” she’d expected Hutch to step in, to reclaim her, to be willing to slay dragons to keep her.
He’d done none of those things, of course. And she’d been a dreamy-eyed fool to expect him to.
Now nearing the gate at the base of Hutch’s long driveway, Kendra put the past firmly out of her mind.
That was then. This is now.
Hutch was in front of the barn, and he’d saddled three horses—two regular-size ones and a little gray pony with black-and-white spots.
Daisy began to bark, noticing the shy black dog lurking nearby, and Madison, spotting the pony, gave a delighted squeal.
But Kendra was still counting the horses.
By her calculations, there was one too many.
She barely got the car stopped before Madison was freeing herself from the restraint of her safety seat, pushing open the rear door, scrambling out.
Daisy leaped out after her, and Hutch laughed as both the dog and the little girl bounded toward him and the horses. He introduced his own dog, Leviticus, who stayed a little apart, looking on cautiously.