Rodeo Bride by Myrna Mackenzie

that I’m abdicating my paternal responsibilities or anything, mind you, or that I’m foisting him off on you, but…”
    “Here,” she said with a smile and reached out to take Toby from him. “As if I’d complain. He’s a treasure. Right?” she asked the baby, who promptly crowed and smiled and stuffed his fist in his mouth.
    “Nothing like a compliment from a lady, is there, Toby?” Dillon asked as he snagged his shirt from the railing and slipped it over his shoulders. “Did you get everything you needed?”
    “Yes, but I need to talk to you about something.”
    “Not a problem. Why don’t you show me a bit of the ranch? I’ll get a hat for the big guy here.”
    “I’m impressed. Most men wouldn’t have thought of the fact that a baby is more sensitive to the sun.”
    “Yes, well, don’t give me too much credit. Millie’s the one who reminded me. I could only bring him outside to sit with me if I promised to stay in the shade.”
    “But you learned quickly.”
    He laughed. “You should teach school. You’re good at giving pats on the back for small accomplishments.”
    “School? You must have been talking to someone. It’s no secret around here that I’ve wanted to start a ranch camp for girls for several years. I’d especially like to be able to give at-risk girls from the city who’ve never been near a ranch the chance to see how empowering this life can be.”
    “Why don’t you do it?”
    She shrugged. “Money. A proper building for them to sleep in. Maybe a fear that I might not be good at it.”
    “Never know until you try, will you? Of course, that’s easy for me to say, but it looks as if you’ve already made a start with Gretchen and Julie. Millie told me that their father was an abuser and you were aware of that when they came to work for you.”
    “Yes, but they do work here. And they’d grown up on a ranch. I didn’t have to teach them anything or expose them to a lifestyle they’d never lived. All I did was give them a job.”
    “Is that all?” he asked, a teasing tone in his voice. “Just a job where they don’t have to live in fear. Millie told me that you also gave her a place to stay when her husband died and left her with tons of debt.”
    “Millie makes more of things than actually exist. Besides, the women are my friends. They give as much as they get, so even if their situation helped spawn the idea for the ranch camp, it’s nothing like bringing girls here who’ve never even seen a horse and trying to teach them some basic skills. It’s not the same as being in a situation where I might actually harm someone if I do or say the wrong thing. With Julie and Gretchen, there was nothing I needed to teach them about raising, riding or caring for horses.”
    “Just horses? I thought you were a cattle ranch.”
    “No. When my mother, stepfather and stepbrother died in a small plane crash while I was at a rodeo, and the ranch passed to me, I sold the cattle and some of the land to pay bills. We’re a small horse ranch with a number of sidelines. We have an orchard, we open our section of the creek to fly fisherman, Gretchen and Julie make and sell flies and Millie has a small bread-making business. Basically, if we have the time and know-how and we can make money off of it, we try it.”
    While they were talking, they made their way to a pasture where horses were grazing. One of them, a white one, whinnied and slowly ambled over to the fence.
    “Hey, Mr. Peepers.” Colleen shifted the baby to her side to keep him away from the horse and stroked the aging animal. “He’s a sweetheart. Mr. Peepers and I did some fine barrel racing together.”
    “So, you’re a cowgirl. A rodeo queen.”
    “I am a cowgirl, a horsewoman. These are my babies.” Instantly, she wished she could call back the last comment. Already Dillon suspected the truth: that she couldn’t have children and that it broke her heart. She’d seen it in his eyes when they’d discussed her