Her Unforgettable Cowboy. Debra Clopton
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Ranch had always been geared toward boys who had been totally abandoned by their families. The ranch became their home; the people, their family.
The poor kid got a wistful look on his face, then patted the desk next to him. “You can have this desk, Joseph,” he called to Joseph—obviously Sammy’s hero—as Joseph watched the rodeo going on over who got which desk.
“I’m too big to sit on the front row.” Joseph brushed his brown bangs out of his eyes. “One of the shorter kids can sit there, and I’ll sit in the back so I can make sure all you goofballs behave. Hey, goofballs!” he yelled, drawing all eyes in his direction. “One of you to a desk.”
“Yeah,” Wes barked loudly, crossing his arms and stepping up beside Joseph. “What kind of animals are y’all anyway?”
It looked as if Wes and Joseph had decided they were going to make certain the boys behaved for her. Jolie hid a grin—and then her gaze met Morgan’s. Morgan’s eyebrow hitched upward, his dark denim eyes cool.
He has no confidence in me, she suddenly thought. Jolie was fairly certain Morgan would think she needed help in that department—if, that is, he even remembered how she’d let her class get out of control on her first day of student teaching. It had been a long time ago, and he might have easily forgotten the laugh they’d shared over the little boys letting the mice out of their cage and the hysterics that had ensued. Meeting his sardonic gaze, she hiked a brow of her own. “It’ll be okay, guys. They’re just excited. We’re going to be fine,” she said to Wes and Joseph, assuring all of them, as well as herself.
“Can you ride a horse?” Sammy asked, drawing her attention. She was grateful for the change of subject.
“Yes, I can. Can you?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Never been on one.”
“He helped us work cattle yesterday, though.” Morgan stepped up beside the boy, giving him a smile that sent an arrow straight to Jolie’s heart. Morgan McDermott had a soft spot for these boys.
He placed a hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “You did good, Sammy.”
“It was scary. I almost got trampled, too.” Sammy’s eyes were huge.
“Aw, come on, kid, it wasn’t that bad,” Joseph called from the back of the room where he was trying out his new desk. “If you stick with us, you’ll learn not to be scared.”
Sammy didn’t look too sure about that.
“I ride,” yelped Tony, a skinny kid around fifteen or so who looked like a young Elvis Presley with his swath of black hair, blue eyes and a crooked smile that made his eyes twinkle. He skidded to a halt in front of Jolie.
This led each boy to reveal he could ride. Jolie caught the flicker of fear in Sammy’s expression as he realized he was the only one who couldn’t ride. She glanced at Morgan to find his guarded eyes staring back at her.
“We’re gonna learn to mug steers tomorrow after church,” Caleb said, his freckles crinkling with his smile. “You can come, too, Jolie.”
Sammy slipped his hand into hers and looked up. “Would you come?”
Jolie melted right there in the middle of the room. Turned right into a pool of liquid. “Sure I will,” she said. She was pretty sure she would have jumped from an airplane if he’d asked her. “I love to calf wrestle, and scramble, too. But muggin’ is my favorite! I used to be one of the best here on the ranch, you know.”
“Seriously?” Joseph jerked to his feet, gaping at her from across the room. He and Wes exchanged disbelieving looks. “You can take down a steer?”
Jolie nearly shook her head. Males.
“Hey, y’all look like you don’t think I can do it!” she teased.
“We just aren’t used to girls—I mean, women—wantin’ to do something like that,” Wes drawled, glancing at Joseph and Tony.
Jolie smiled at the cocky, young cowboys, with their worn jeans tucked into their rugged boots and their T-shirts with the arms cut out of them. It was obvious that they’d been working that morning, most likely hauling hay, an ongoing job she remembered quite well growing up on the ranch. A picture of Morgan in that same getup at that age raced through her head and she glanced his way. He looked about as happy as a grizzly bear that had been awakened in the middle of a really good nap.
“I’m a little insulted here! Girls do this sort of thing all the time.” She laughed when they all swallowed and looked a bit meek. “You’ll find for the most part that I look at life with a bring-it-on attitude.” She looked directly at Morgan before shifting back to the boys. “I haven’t done it in a long time, but it sounds too fun to pass up. I’ll be there.” She looked at Mr. Grizzly Bear again. “May I speak to you outside?”
“Sure,” he growled, swiveling toward the back door. “You boys don’t tear anything up while we’re gone.”
Jolie thought Morgan was teasing even though he seemed far from a teasing mood. Surely he wasn’t thinking the boys were going to destroy all the work they’d just put in. But then again, there was the incident with the desks.
Looking back over her shoulder, she was struck by the group. The picture they made reminded her of an old John Wayne movie, The Cowboys, about a bunch of ragtag boys who’d needed a gruff old cowboy to teach them life lessons. Although Morgan was far from an old cowboy, it was plain to see that these boys respected and admired him. And needed him.
Smiling at them, she winked. “If y’all want to finish turning the desks and lining them up, that would be great.”
They all chorused, “Yes, ma’am.”
Smiling at their politeness, she followed Mr. Grizzly outside and then passed him, leading him out of earshot of the class. There was a large, gnarled oak tree still bent over as it had been all those years ago. She didn’t stop until she reached it, turning his way only after they were beneath the wide expanse of limbs.
Morgan crossed his arms and studied the tree. “I remember having to climb up this tree and talk you down after you scrambled up to the top and froze.”
She hadn’t expected him to bring up old memories—it caught her off guard. “I remember how mad you were at having to rescue the silly little new girl.” Mad? Actually, furious was more accurate.
A hint of a smile teased his lips, fraying Jolie’s nerves at the edges. It had been a long, long time since she’d seen that smile.
“I got used to it, though,” he said, his voice warming.
She laughed, encouraged by his teasing. “You had no other choice! I guess if you hadn’t rescued me I’d never have made it to my teen years.” But she was grateful to Morgan for more than that. She’d grown into a teenager who could handle almost any situation, a girl confident in her own skin. She hadn’t been afraid to try anything because she’d been so crazy adventurous—and free to learn from her mistakes, thanks to Morgan and his brothers, Rowdy and Tucker, who had always been there to help her through. She’d idolized them, but at the same time, wanted them to stop babying her.
Morgan especially.
Of course it was Morgan who’d made her the angriest, and Morgan whom she’d fallen for. Their relationship had never been an easy one. The push and pull of attraction had started when she’d demanded independence, and then changed when she’d found herself desperate for his approval. But it became something incredibly complicated when she’d realized she wanted his love.
And then the pull of competitive kayaking entered the equation when Morgan introduced her to it on a lazy summer afternoon and things grew more complicated. She’d been fifteen, and her instant infatuation with the sport had been too much to ignore. For a young woman who craved the adventure world-class competition offered, Sunrise Ranch suddenly seemed...small. When Morgan made it clear that he had no desire to leave the ranch, Jolie decided