“Not at all. I’m just tellin’ you how it is. Joe spent some time chasing after Dot. I didn’t think she ever chose one of those boys, but obviously she did.”
“So you can’t help me narrow the list down from those three men?”
“Sorry, no. Dot never spoke of any of them to me.”
Emily nodded her disappointment and took another sip of her lemonade, reminding herself that at least she had another name to research. She’d talk to Nate for more personal details about each of the men.
She heard a crackling sound, then, “Dad?”
Mr. Thalberg unclipped a radio from his belt and spoke into it. “Yeah, Nate?”
“We’ve got a problem up here and we could use your help. Several dozen cows and calves escaped through a hole in the fence before we could repair it. We’re searching now, but we’re on horseback. You want to bring an ATV up here and give us a hand?”
“On my way.”
“We’re at the Pinelands.”
When he put the radio away, Emily smiled ruefully. “Guess I’ll be going.”
He gave her a grin. “Ever ridden an ATV?”
Her eyes widened. “No. But I’m expected back at the flower shop.”
“We’ll call Monica, but she won’t mind. This’ll be your first ATV lesson. Come on.”
Chapter Sixteen
Nate rode his horse across the grassy pasture. Off in the distance, the ground sloped away, with clumps of pine trees huddled around meandering creeks. The tops of the mountains rose up all around him, as if gathering all the meadows into its arms.
If only the cattle could have stayed gathered, he thought wearily. He was used to chasing them, of course. They could be damned ornery. But up here in the mountains, once free of their grazing lands, they could be mixing with someone else’s herd, or stumbling down a steep drop and breaking a leg.
The radio at his waist crackled as Josh and Brooke took turns calling in their reports.
Nate keyed his radio. “Anyone check where Jackson Creek meets the pond?”
No one had, so Nate rode that way, whistling for Scout to go on ahead. The other ranch dogs were working with Brooke and Josh, and they could find cattle even better than experienced ranch hands.
At the sound of an ATV in the distance, he twisted in his saddle to see if it was his father. Relieved, he waved a hand, then frowned as something seemed . . . different. He saw arms around his dad’s waist, and then a head peeking over his shoulder.
He recognized that wind-whipped strawberry blond hair trailing from beneath her helmet. What was Emily Murphy doing with his dad? Nate was used to keeping his private life separate from the women he dated—it had been that way ever since college. Now as they pulled up on the ATV, and he saw Emily’s wide-eyed excitement, he considered the way he’d always compartmentalized the people he was close to. But it was necessary. No one got hurt that way.
But he couldn’t frown long, seeing Emily’s happy grin. She waved to him, and he smiled and waved back. He saw the relief she couldn’t hide, and that took him aback. Did she think he’d be angry with her? He felt a bit defensive, then looked deeper, wondering if he’d made her feel that way.
His dad cut the power as Nate rode up beside him. Apollo showed no fear of the big machine, having spent his life around farm equipment. Scout jumped up on the rack behind Emily, his regular perch. She laughed and ruffled his fur, and something in Nate’s gut gave a funny squeeze.
Doug gestured with a thumb at Emily behind him. “She was making a flower delivery when you called. Thought she’d like a ride.”
Nate leaned on the pommel and grinned at her. “If I’d have known you liked four-wheeling, I’d have suggested a backcountry adventure.”
“I thought I could trust your dad to give me a more sedate ride than you, but I was wrong! I didn’t know a person could drive so fast!”
Doug glanced over his shoulder, wearing his usual small smile beneath his mustache. “Wait until we ride through a creek.”
“What?” she cried, her eyes glinting mischievously.
“Now you know why I made you borrow some of Brooke’s clothes,” Doug said.
Nate glanced down Emily’s legs and saw that she’d had to stuff the extra long material into waterproof boots. “New boots?”
“These are your mom’s. Her feet are more my size. Hope she won’t mind.”