Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch by Lynnette Kent Page A

mad. Then he grinned, so she’d know he didn’t mean
it.
    After she stuck
out her tongue at him, Susannah said, “Why do you think Toby’s so interested in
Major Trent?”
    “Duh? Because
it’s like Dad coming back again?”
    She didn’t say
anything. When he looked around, she’d bowed her head over her arms, and he saw
a tear splash on her wrist. After a minute, though, she sniffed and
straightened up. “So you think Toby wants Major Trent to take Daddy’s place?”
    Robbie shrugged
one shoulder.
    “Marry Mom, and
everything?”
    “Don’t make me
gag. Mom doesn’t need another husband. She’s got us to take care of her.”
    “She’s pretty
lonely. So maybe—” Susannah stared at him, her eyebrows wrinkled. “Would that
make him our dad?”
    “Nope.”
    “And would he
run the ranch? Would he…would he own it, once he married Mom?”
    “I—I don’t think
so.” Robbie could still hear in his head what his dad had said, kneeling in
front of him just before he got on the plane. “I’m counting on you, son.
Take care of your mom. And take care of the Blue Moon.”
    Susannah tugged
on his sleeve. “Robbie, are you sure?”
    Robbie realized
he’d closed his eyes. He opened them wide and saw his mom and Toby emerge from
the examination area across the room. “The Blue Moon belongs to the Mercados,
Suze.” He made his voice strong, so she’d believe him. “Always has, always
will.”
    He’d make sure
of that, somehow. For his dad’s sake.
     
    N IGHT HAD F
ALLE
N BY THE TIME Willa pulled her truck into the
driveway at the house. She cut the engine, climbed out and went to help Toby
off the high seat.
    “I don’t need
help,” he complained, but then leaned heavily on her hand as he came to the
ground.
    “I know you
don’t. But humor me—moms like to help when their kids have cracked ribs.”
    “Okay.” He
pulled free soon enough and walked into the house under his own steam, but with
a tired slump to his shoulders.
    “He doesn’t feel
good.” Susannah came up on Willa’s right. “Maybe they should have put him in
the hospital.”
    “He’s just
begging for sympathy,” Robbie countered. “You watch—he’ll want extra dessert
because he’s hurt.”
    “I think he’s
sore,” Willa told them. “But maybe he’s learned a lesson.” They both looked at
her in question and she shrugged. “My guess is he tried to fall off…and
succeeded better than he expected.”
    Susannah held
out her hands in a helpless gesture. “But why?”
    “I told you. ’Cause
he wanted to stay with his new hero,” Robbie said with disgust. “He’s all hung
up over the Trent guy.”
    “That’s Major
Trent to you.” Willa gave him a severe look. “Be respectful. He’s an officer in
the Army and was wounded in the service of this country.”
    Her son hunched
his shoulders. “Yeah, yeah. Why should he have come back, when…” Abruptly,
without finishing the thought, he turned on his heel and headed away from the
kitchen door, around the corner of the house.
    “Dinner’s going
to be ready,” Willa called after him. “Don’t stay out long.” She sighed when he
didn’t answer.
    Susannah put a
hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get him.” She took off after her twin at an easy
jog.
    Alone in the
twilight, Willa seized the opportunity to sit down on the courtyard wall and
catch her breath. The day had been hectic even before Robbie had come riding up
to report Toby’s accident. Two cowboys had quit on her this morning, demanding
back pay that stretched her cash flow to its limit. Her foreman, Jorge Ramirez,
had reported that at least fifty head of cattle were missing, thanks no doubt
to the rustlers working out of the desert. She’d called the sheriff, again, but there wasn’t much he could do after the fact and he didn’t have the
manpower to police her fence line every night.
    Added to those
concerns, worry and tension over Toby had taken their toll as she and the kids
made the long trip