Sandra Chastain by Firebrand

insisting on buying his own ticket. Cade only hoped that Rusty would find something on the ranch to keep the crusty old man busy.
    Doak, Rusty’s foreman, had been sent to meet their plane and drive them back to the ranch. The drive was long and tiring for a six-year-old making her second move within a year.
    “Where’s the snow, Daddy?” Pixie asked.
    “In the mountains, Pix. They’ve had a light fall this year.”
    “Oh,” Pixie said in a quiet little voice.
    “Where’re the trees, Cade?” Eugene asked, disgruntled.
    “In the mountains. The Mormons who first came here cleared the land for planting.”
    “Oh,” Eugene said.
    “All right, you two. This isn’t any easier on me than it is on you. I know that it’s different from Alaska, but we agreed that we’d come to Utah and give it a try.”
    “Maybe, but I thought the ‘it’ we were trying out was the widow Wilder, and I don’t see any sign of her,” Eugene grumbled as he tried to fold his long legs into the small space behind the front seat where he’d insisted on loading himself. “Seems to me that she could have found time to meet us personally.”
    “Rusty would have come,” Doak insisted, “except she had a meeting of the state water commission, and she won’t be back until tonight. She didn’t know when you were coming.”
    “Trouble?” Cade questioned.
    “She didn’t say,” Doak answered without elaborating.
    By the time they reached the ranch, the temperature was beginning to drop, and the sky was swimming in thick gray clouds.
    “Looks like there’s a storm coming up,” Doak observed with a frown. “Hope Rusty gets on in here ’fore it breaks.”
    Cade didn’t have to be told how dangerous it would be for Rusty to land in a snowstorm, particularly in the dark. He didn’t comment.
    The first big flakes were floating to the ground as the house came into view.
    “Daddy, it looks like Zorro’s house in the movies. Are there horses?”
    “Yes, honey. It’s built like a Spanish hacienda,and there’re horses and cows and a few chickens,” Cade answered as he began to unload their cases, preoccupied now. Where was Rusty?
    “Cade! And this must be Jennifer.” Letty came through the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. “You all come in here quick before you freeze. Who’s this?” She turned to Eugene with a critical frown.
    “I’m Eugene P. Manderville,” the man in question answered testily, adding, “And I’m part of the family.”
    Letty’s only comment was “Humph.”
    Manderville? Cade bit back a smile. If he’d ever heard Eugene’s last name, he’d forgotten it long ago.
    Pixie was soon settled at the big oak table in the kitchen, Letty pouring hot chocolate and serving a plate of big chewy cookies. Eugene, on the other side of the table, was eyeing Letty with his best “show me” expression. When she offered him a cup, his eyes widened in disbelief.
    “Hell’s bells, woman. Is that all you’ve got to offer a man who’s come thousands of miles? I see I’m going to have to introduce you to Tundra Tonic.”
    “You haven’t traveled thousands of miles, Eugene, and it’s the middle of the afternoon.” Letty dismissed his complaint and filled his cup with chocolate. “What in heaven’s name is Tundra Tonic?”
    “It’s a little something that I bottle myself, good for what ails you.”
    “I’ll bet.” Letty rolled her eyes skeptically. “But maybe I do have a little something extra for you.”
    “Well, I should hope so.”
    Letty beamed at Eugene and plopped a marshmallow into his cup.
    Cade shook his head to Letty’s offer of hot chocolate. He couldn’t be still. He walked to the window and peered into the snow, not yet falling heavily but blowing gracefully across the open ground between the house and the barn. “How’s the bull doing?”
    “Hard to tell,” Letty answered slowly. “Whoever decided to call him Pretty Boy had a real sense of humor.”
    “ ‘Pretty Boy’?”