Teaching the Cowboy (28 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

R
onnie opened her eyes to find John standing at her bedside once more. This time he wore plaid pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved University of North Carolina T-shirt. That made her giggle. She patted the bed beside her and closed her eyes. Doc was right. She looked like shit because she felt like shit. Joey was sapping everything out of her, and she was just damned tired all the time.

The side of the bed sank as John lowered himself into it and shook some more as he made himself comfortable.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Around one. How long have you been asleep?”

“Not sure I have slept, but I think I lay down around ten. Talked to Phil and Lan—” She clamped her lips.

John didn’t force her to elaborate.

She listened to the sound of his breathing, counting inhales and exhales and willing her brain to click off for the evening. How could her body be so tired but her brain be so active? Didn’t make good sense, the way she saw it.

“Ronnie?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re having Thanksgiving with us, aren’t you?”

She opened her eyes and rolled over to find him staring at the ceiling. “I honestly hadn’t given it any thought. Did Anna tell you to ask?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Liss heard me skulking around tonight. Wanted to know where I was going.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“Lied. Told her some of the hands had been hearing a bunch of coyotes nearby and that I would stay out there with them in case we needed to deal with it.”

“Why don’t you just tell her the truth? Don’t you think she has enough grown-ups lying to her?”

“What exactly would I say?”

“Just tell her you’re helping me listen. For Joey, I mean.” She opened her mouth in a wide yawn and tapped it with her hand. Her eyelids drooped. “Kids understand a lot. You don’t have to worry about hurting their feelings as long as you’re speaking to them in language they understand.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So, where’d you get the shirt?”

“Well, I thought it would be funny if…”

The next time Ronnie opened her eyes, it was due to the sound of a whimpering infant hovering over the bedside in her father’s arms. John rocked Joey in a gentle sway, but the motion didn’t seem to be calming the tot any. He gave Ronnie an apologetic look.

“Sorry. She’s not having it tonight.”

She sat up and patted her lap, already pulling out a breast. He set Joey in her arms and stood back, obviously uncertain what to do. Ronnie swiped the back of her hand across Joey’s forehead.

“She’s a little warm. I gave her a little acetaminophen before bed just in case her injections bothered her. Probably wore off. Can you get the bottle out of the junk drawer in the kitchen?”

“Of course.” He started moving even before he got the words out of his mouth. When he returned, he knelt at the bedside with the dropper already filled.

“Thanks.”

“I’m her dad, Ronnie. Don’t act like you’re putting me out.”

She didn’t have a reasonable response for that, so she didn’t try to give him one.

“Think she’ll go back to sleep all right?”

“Probably. Not much fun to be had in the dark.”

His face fell, and his shoulders drooped. “I guess I’ll get back, then. Busy day tomorrow, and I’ve got to get up early.”

“Every day is a busy day for you.”

“Yeah. Gets a little busier around the holidays, though. Trying to get everything nailed down before the place turns into an iceberg.”

She nodded. She may have been sick as a dog last fall, but she remembered all the hustling and finally earned a clue about what making hay when the sun shined really meant.

He waved and was gone.

She wished he didn’t have to go, but it was better if he did. They still were on opposite sides of a chasm when it came to Landon, and although Landon tried to keep cheer in his voice, when she talked to him, she knew how much he hurt. She hated feeling like John had swapped out one child for a new one as if he were clearing a slate. It wasn’t right, and she wasn’t going to reward it.

John could hardly keep his eyes open as he signed paychecks and figured out bonuses. It’d been a busy year, and the only thing keeping him from handsomely rewarding the longtime staff members was the rising number of brawls occurring on the premises in recent weeks. He’d never witnessed so much bloodshed before, and it seemed as though the shit was only getting worse with Eddie at the helm. The sheriff had warned if he responded to trouble at the ranch one more time, he’d find something to cite John for.  After returning to the main house early in the morning, he hadn’t managed to get any sleep. He rolled around on the bed for a while, sure, but after about an hour of that, he got up and stared at Liss and then Peter as they slept.

He’d always prided himself in being a dad who was there at the table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He was there physically, but mentally? They would have been just as well off with a scarecrow at the head of the table. He hadn’t exactly been going through the motions, but he’d always had to compartmentalize a part of himself and store things away so that in front of the kids, he was this calm, staid presence, while on the inside his gut churned with all the worrying. In some ways, that was probably good for them.

They’d never seen his rages. They’d never seen him at his lowest when he slunked off to drink it all into oblivion. He bottled it all up and unleashed it elsewhere. But while he was doing all that bottling, he was keeping some good things away from them, too. His excitement, hell, his manic energy when he had some great news to share? That’s where Peter had got it from. Didn’t surprise him a lick the kid had impulse issues when he’d had all the same ones. Of course, his coping techniques were far less healthful than the ones Ronnie supplied Peter with.

They’d only ever seen him at even keel, except for Landon who’d gotten the full bore of his vitriol. Somehow, that made him feel almost as absent from them as Charlene was. They needed to know he had some passion about things, so maybe they’d develop some of their own. Who knew what those kids were capable of?

Well, besides Ronnie, anyway.

He picked up his desk phone and stabbed some numbers in. When his father picked up on the other end, he said, “Have you already bought your plane ticket for Christmas?”

“No. I thought this year I’d stay between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Spend some extra time with the kids. Miss ’em. Gets lonely here in Florida.”

“Oh, I was thinking earlier maybe we could have Christmas somewhere else. Somewhere fresh.”

“I’m listening.”

“Kids have never really been anywhere, and I thought maybe we could fly east.”

“Florida?”

John twirled his pen between his fingers. “No.”

“North Carolina.”

“Yes. I mean, I don’t know where we’d go and I know it’s not the right time of year, but maybe the kids could see the ocean for the first time. Maybe it’ll keep Ronnie from feeling so homesick.”

“Well, that’s using your head. How long were you thinking of staying?”

“Don’t know. A week, maybe? Two?”

“I’ll meet you there. What are you going to do about the ranch?”

John sighed and spun in his chair. “Don’t know about that, either. If Eddie can’t get these damned brawls under control, it might not happen at all.”

“Just give him a chance. They’ve got to learn to respect him, is all. He’s still new and they’re probably not scared of him. Give him some incentive.”

“Like what?”

“Hell if I know. Profit sharing? I mean, if he’s serious about Sid, he’d buy right into that because he’d be living there.”

“Yeah, I’ll see. Let me call the travel agent and see what she can find.”

“Are you going to tell Ronnie? I mean, think about it. She ran last Christmas. This may be a good reason for her to stay put this year.”

“I knew there was a reason I talked to you.”

“Yeah, I’m good for a few things.”

“I’ll call you.”

“Yeah. You get that Charlene situation worked out?”

“Forgot to tell you. She’s officially Charlene Darrow once more, and is henceforth legally childless.”

“How do the kids feel about it?”

“Haven’t told them. If they ever ask, I’ll tell them the truth. Otherwise…”

“Yeah, I get ya. Later.”

Ronnie chewed her bottom lip and wrung her hands as she watched Peter pulling a sled carrying her most precious cargo up and down the path. Liss had a tight grip around her sister in her puffy snowsuit, but still, Ronnie couldn’t help but to fret. Pete was being very careful, and she didn’t want to be
that mom
, but it was hard not to react. She was thankful for the buzz of her cell phone if only for a partial distraction.

“Hello?”

“Is that Veronica Lundstrom?”

She cringed and stared at the phone display. Unfamiliar number. “Veronica Silver.”

“Sorry, Celia gave me bad info, I guess. This is Megan Anderson, principal at the community school. I know this is out of the blue, but would you be interested in some sub work starting January third?”

“I’m sorry, what? And Celia?”

Peter made a U-turn and started streaking in the other direction with the sled.

“Celia Hanson? Was principal here until about twenty years ago. She told me you’ve got a master’s degree? Secondary education?”

Celia did?
“Well, yes, but my certification is for North Carolina.”

“Oh, doesn’t matter for sub work. Look, we had to let a couple of teachers go. Our school has just been notified that we’ve got the lowest rating in the state, and things are a mess here. We had to combine a couple of classes. Are you looking for work at all? I heard you got the Erickson kids caught up. If you could do
that
, you’re something special
.
”

“Nah, I just listen as much as I talk and that seems to work for most students. I’m flattered you thought of me, but I have a seven-month-old nursling at home I’m not quite ready to leave, and the drive to town isn’t exactly a short one.”

“Oh, that’s right, the baby. Saw her picture. Very cute. You could let our students watch her, you know.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“We’ve got this Red Cross babysitting training program some of the girls take as an elective. It’s probably the only course we have that isn’t under watch right now. They’re really sweet girls, I promise.”

“I believe you.”

Peter, cheeks flushed, but grinning wide, started pulling the sled down the driveway. Ronnie sagged with relief.

“Can I have some time to think about it? I homeschool my other kids and…”

Whoa.

If Ms. Anderson caught the goof, she didn’t call her out on it. “I understand. It’d be a disruption. If you think you can swing it at all, give me a call by December twenty-first, okay?”

“Sure. I’ll do that.”

“Bye, now.”

“Who was that?” Peter asked, coming to a stop in front of the carport stoop.

Ronnie reached down and took the baby from Liss and then extended a hand to help the child up from the sled. “A Ms. Anderson from the Storafalt school.”

Peter blanched, an impressive feat considering it was seventeen degrees outside. “You’re not sending me back, are you?”

She laughed. “No, honey. That’s not my choice, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. She wanted to offer me a job.”

“You said no, right?”

“I said I’d think about it, which I will. Let’s get inside and warm up. Anna’s bringing soup.”

“Can Joey have some?” Liss asked as she pulled off her toboggan cap.

“I don’t know. Let’s see what it is.”

The soup turned out to be a rustic chicken noodle, which Ronnie drained one small serving of and served to Joey on the tray of her high chair.

John had tagged along, but didn’t seem interested in lunch. “Hey, Ronnie, can I talk to you in the office?”

She looked up from Joey to find him wringing his hands near the stove.

Anna gave him a curious look.

Ronnie stood and ruffled Liss’s hair. “Okay.” She really wished he wouldn’t do that in front of the kids. She always felt like a student getting called into the principal’s office.

“I’ll keep an eye on her, Ronnie,” Anna said from the stove where she was smashing grilled cheese sandwiches. “She’ll be okay for thirty seconds.”