And this may be the closest I get to having a child, Mandy thought ruefully.
As Mandy helped her mother and Mrs. Jenkins get the picnic table set and the meal ready, Delanie helped in the best way a four-year-old could, by playing her own version of house with the small set of plastic pots and pans Sheila had fished out of the basement and set in the yard. Seeing those old, familiar childhood items sent a pang of regret through Mandy. Those had been lovingly saved for her children. Not that she begrudged using them to amuse Delanie. On the contrary. It just served to remind her of what she wanted and might never have.
*
After traipsing through the line that formed for beef, burgers, and assorted salads, Ty took the seat at the head of the set of long wooden tables decked out with plastic checkered cloth. Surveying the friendly mob of cowhands and family who had gathered under the grove of trees to the side of the ranch house, an unfamiliar emotion filled him. Happiness.
“Great job out there. You two look like you’re born ranchers,” Doug McClane said as he sat down the table from Ty and Trace.
Ty nodded his acknowledgment and hoped the praise was sincere.
“Seriously, that was some real cowboy work. Guess you do know a thing or two about livestock,” Harold, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, chimed in.
“Glad I got home to see it. Next, you’ll be taking on a bronc,” said Tucker, who had sat next to Harold, with a huge pile of food on his plate.
This was a man’s life. Running his own operation, working out in the elements with his herd. Doing something purposeful. Ty turned his back on ranching once. But it had been a certain ranch and for specific reasons.
He glanced over at Mandy, who was helping cut up Delanie’s burger into small pieces. Watching Mandy mother Delanie, he felt an uncomfortable twinge.
He wanted to give her that. To leave her with something. Something of his. The thought scared the living bejeezus out of him. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew it wasn’t anything familiar. And it all centered around the woman hovering over his niece.
If they brought a child into the world, would that bring them closer or make the gulf wider?
“That’s some horse you bought,” Trace said, interrupting Ty’s thoughts.
“Should be. I paid enough for him.” Ty took a chomp of his burger, enjoying the juicy taste, glad for some distraction. He didn’t yet have the rapport with the horse that Trace had with his horse. But that would come. Paddy was so well trained, any rider could get a decent performance out of him.
“So you really are going to be a rodeo stockman as well as run horses and cattle?” Trace shook his head. “Never thought you’d come to this after all that fancy education.”
As if she’d overhead Trace’s comment, Mandy turned her head toward them briefly before Delanie recaptured her attention.
“I enjoy ranching, working with the animals. I always did.” Aware he was playing a role in front of his brother, Ty was startled at the truth of it all.
Trace snorted. “You always had your nose in a book, as I recall. Dad and I could never figure you out.”
Ty had studied hard in order to better himself. And he’d succeeded at that, money-wise, at least. But it didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to ranch. He just hadn’t wanted to be part of the Martin ranch.
Or family.
Deep down he must have blamed his father for his mother’s death even before he’d known it was a suicide. Maybe on some level he had guessed. He’d turned against his father—not outwardly, but inwardly. He’d turned against everything his father was.
“I still like learning. Just working with Mandy and the Prescott outfit reminded me of what else I like.” He sent a wink to his wife and felt a tender pressure on his heart when she blushed.
“Guess J. M. Prescott got back that son he lost.”
Ty met his brother’s hard stare. He knew Trace and his father had resented JM’s interest. But he’d never presumed he could take a son’s place in JM’s heart. JM had been generous and tough, supportive and demanding. His father had only been demanding. “Care to explain that comment?”
“Well, seems he found a man who wanted to follow in his footsteps. Marrying Mandy keeps it all in the family. All worked out damn convenient for you.”
Ty swiped his hand across his chin. Of course he’d never admit to Trace the circumstances of his marriage. How would he explain it and not have it sound like he married for profit? And now she’d thrown him a curveball, and he wasn’t sure he could catch it.
“Life sometimes takes surprising turns.”
“That’s for sure,” Trace said as he looked over at his daughter. “Some good, some not so good. Delanie has been a great gift, and that compensates for a lot.”
“Glad you see it that way,” Ty said.
“Why wouldn’t I?”