“I am,” he said. “It’s a long story, but I meant what I said. I’ll let you go if you want me to,” he continued. “I’m sure you can make your way home with Michelle.”
Marissa wiped the tears from her eyes with an angry swipe. “I’ll figure this out,” she said. “I don’t need your help.”
Trace reached out across the short space between the two horses. “I know you don’t need my help, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it.”
Something in Marissa’s heart turned over. The man she had thought she was going to spend her life with had walked away, but this stranger was willing to offer help. It was hard to stay mad at someone who was only trying to be nice.
“I’ll let you know if I do,” she finally said pulling the reins toward the large old building and heading for her sister.
Trace watched the young woman kick the dark horse up the rise and swing down by the old mill. He hoped that somehow she could find her way at this difficult time and prayed that somehow Kade’s wife might be able to get through to her. Life came with many decisions but some of those decisions brought regret too deep to believe.
Turning he let his horse make its way back toward the barn as his heart lifted a prayer to heaven on behalf of Marissa.
Chapter 6
“I’m home,” Kade called walking into the house that evening. “Where’s Mini-mar?” he added stepping into the kitchen and kissing Michelle on the cheek.
“She’s upstairs,” Michelle said. “She came to the mill today after a ride with Trace and was very upset.”
“Oh,” Kade sounded surprised, “Trace is one of the easiest guys to be around on the ranch.”
Michelle looked up at her oversized husband and raised a brow. “Well, whatever he said hit her hard.”
Kade wrapped an arm around Michelle’s shoulders. “Has she talked to you anymore?” he asked pulling his wife into his warm bulk. “You know arguing with her isn’t going to work honey, the best we can do is pray.”
Michelle nestled into Kade breathing in the smell of wide-open fields, horse, and something that was all Kade. “I know,” she said, “but that doesn’t stop me from worrying.”
Kade squeezed Michelle tighter, still not sure how God had managed to bring the perfect mate to him. She was smart, funny, and full of spunk now that she had found her peace. “Chase wanted me to see if Marissa would babysit tonight,” he finally said dropping a kiss to his wife’s dark locks. “You think she’ll be game?”
“We can ask,” Michelle replied laughing as Kadence trundled into the kitchen pushing a yellow dump truck, and revving an imaginary engine. “She played with this little guy a while today, what’s one more baby?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kade chuckled, “just a load of diapers and a sour disposition if I gauge the situation properly.”
“I’ll go call her,” Michelle said lifting Kadence and handing him to his father with a grin as she headed for the stairs.
“Come in,” Marissa called when Michelle knocked on the door. “Oh, is supper ready?” she asked rolling off the bed and rubbing her eyes.
“Almost,” Michelle said standing in the doorway and studying her younger sister. She wanted to wrap her arms around her and pull her tight and tell her that she would make everything better, but she hadn’t been able to do that for years. “Kade’s home,” Michelle said. “He told me that Chase was wondering if you’d be up to babysitting tonight. I guess you told Phil you’d pitch in if she ever needed a break.”
Marissa stood stretching her slim body and pushing her rumpled hair over a shoulder. “Oh, yeah, I can do that. It’s been a few years, but babysitting paid for a lot of new shoes at one time.”
Michelle smiled remembering how busy Marissa had been in their old neighborhood. She was well known for her common sense, and her taste for fun when babysitting as a teen. It was one of the reasons she had decided to be a teacher. She had such a quick connection with children of almost any age.
“Come downstairs when you’re ready and we’ll eat. I’ll have Kade call Chase and let them know you can watch Megan for them.”
Marissa nodded. “Be there in a minute,” she offered, watching her petite sister turn and walk back down the hall.
Hurrying to the bathroom, Marissa washed her face, brushed out her hair and pulled it up into a hair clip before looking in the mirror, and checking that no trace of her earlier tears remained. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself otherwise she couldn’t quite relegate Trace and his kindness to interference or nosiness. No, the cowboy with the light red-gold hair and kind eyes seemed to truly care.
Pasting a grin to her face Marissa hurried down the stairs her mind turning over her ride that morning with the handsome cowboy and wondering how far he would be willing to go to help her. Would she be so worried if she knew she had a safety net to count on?
Stepping down into the main floor of the house Marissa smiled seeing Kade lying on the floor playing cars with his son and she couldn’t help but smile. Michelle was a lucky woman to have a man like Kade, and she wondered if she could ever have what the two of them had.
“When does Chase need me to babysit?” she asked tossing the question to Kade as she rested her hand on the banister.
“He said about six if you can manage it,” Kade called back. “Michelle’s getting dinner on now, so we can eat then you can head over there, or I can drive you.”
Marissa rolled her eyes at the big lunk that was her brother-in-law. “I can walk to the house in the field,” she said. “Unless you’re afraid I might get trampled by a herd of excited yearlings.”
Kade laughed and the
