Mountain Sanctuary by Lenora Worth

a handful and he’ll try to get out of doing his lessons,” Stella said, shading her eyes from the bright sun. “He rides home with a friend of mine who lives around the corner. She has a son a couple of years older than Kyle. He’ll want a snack, then he knows to do his homework.”
    “They have homework at his age?”
    She laughed. “Just word pictures and learning how to write correctly. And maybe some light reading.”
    Adam let out a sigh. “Guess I don’t know much about kids.”
    She grinned. “Didn’t you say you came from a big family?”
    “Yep. Two sisters and a baby brother.” He didn’t want to go into detail, though.
    Stella’s laughter rang out over the still backyard. “Two sisters? No wonder you know how to handle women.”
    He watched as realization caused her freckled skin to turn a pale pink. And he couldn’t help but add to her discomfort. “So you think I know how to handle women, huh?”
    She looked everywhere but at him. “I didn’t mean it exactly in that way, Callahan.” She shrugged. “It’s just that…well, you’ve seen me at my very worst—having a hissy fit in the middle of the kitchen—”
    “You were having a bad day.”
    She laughed. “You could say that. But that’s the thing. I don’t like having bad days. I’m not one for a lot of feminine theatrics. That was more my mother’s way of handling things. You know, high drama on a daily basis.”
    “I’ve seen lots of feminine theatrics in my day, that’s for sure, so, yeah, I get it. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled every now and then. And I’m sure not gonna hold it against you.”
    “That’s what I mean. You handled the situation with tact and understanding. I’m not used to tact and understanding.”
    She looked so uncomfortable, he regretted teasing her. “Hey, it’s okay. We all have meltdowns now and then.”
    “Not me,” she said, shaking her head. “I was always the one who had to keep things together, at least when my mother was still around. Then after she left, I had to grow up really fast just to help my daddy. I don’t have meltdowns.”
    He leaned against the ladder, hoping to hear more of the story. “So you took care of things, right?”
    She nodded. “Can you see a pattern here? I took care of things whenever my parents would fight. I’d cook and clean, hoping to impress my mother. But she never noticed. Then after she left, I took care of things, trying to help my daddy. He was too brokenhearted to notice.” Pushing at her bangs, she looked down at the flower bed. “Then I married Lawrence. He was too good to be true—literally. So I had to learn how to take care of him, in order to keep him, or so I thought. That is, until I wised up on that account. After I had Kyle, I only wanted to take care of my son and protect him. And now, things are coming full circle. Kyle’s daddy left me brokenhearted and with a pile of bills, so Kyle, bless his heart, thinks he has to take care of me. I aim to break that particular pattern.” She shrugged. “I just want my son to be a little boy for a while longer.”
    Adam lifted off the ladder. He wanted to touch her, to push her long bangs away from her face. But he held back. “So what you’re telling me is that you’re a very good person, but you’re tired of being the ‘go-to’ girl?”
    That made her smile, but it looked forced and unsure. “You might say that. Right now, I’m torn in three directions with taking care of my daddy, my son and this place.” She held up a hand. “And normally, I’m not one to complain—”
    “You need a spiritual advisor,” Adam said, trying to help.
    “Excuse me?” She looked as if she’d seen something disturbing, the way her eyes went wide with fear.
    “Church,” Adam replied. “I meant to explain that to you a little better the other day. I’ll always be in church on Sunday, after breakfast. I just need that hour or so to regroup. Hope you don’t mind.”
    Stella