Love Without End: A Kings Meadow Romance Read online

  “Did she tell you that?”

  “Heavens, no. But, you get to be my age, you pick up on things that others are too busy to notice. Little clues here and there.”

  Chet wondered if he would ever learn to read people that well.

  “I think you should hire Tara to do some work around here. Let her pay for the training and her lessons herself. Don’t let that fall on her mother’s narrow shoulders. If Tara wants this, she should work for it. It will be good for the girl, and it will relieve her mother’s anxiety over how to reimburse you at the same time.”

  Chet grinned. “You sound like Grandpa Abe.”

  “I should. Learned old-fashioned common sense from the Leonards.”

  “Tara Welch is a city girl. She might be more bother than help around the barnyard and livestock.”

  “Let’s start with her helping me go through things in the guesthouse. There’s lots of organizing and winnowing out that has to be done, and some of it could use a younger and stronger back than mine.”

  Chet felt instant concern. “You haven’t overdone, have you?”

  “In three days?” She harrumphed, her glance indignant. “I’m not that fragile, Chet. There’s still some oomph left in me.”

  Her comment made him smile again.

  “It’s settled then. Tara will help me organize and clean out the guesthouse as payment for boarding and lessons. There are so many decades of keepsakes and boxes of papers and who knows what all—it’ll take us weeks to go through it all.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.” Chet laughed softly.

  Anna sighed as she leaned back in the chair, then fell into silence as she sipped her tea.

  “I’d better call her mother and tell her what’s been decided.” Chet stood. “Make sure it meets with her approval.”

  “Yes, you should do that. It’ll take some worry out of Mrs. Welch’s pretty eyes.”

  Chet hesitated a moment. Anna was right. Kimberly Welch did have pretty eyes. Unique eyes. A lighter shade of green than he’d seen before. Or maybe they only seemed lighter because of her dark brown lashes and eyebrows.

  Not that any of that mattered to Chet.

  “MOM, IF I TOOK A DRIVER’S ED CLASS, I COULD GET my license. Then I could drive out to the Leonard ranch by myself if you didn’t want to take me or if it would be too late for me to ride my bike home again.”

  Kimberly looked up from the food on her dinner plate. “You aren’t sixteen yet.”

  “In Idaho, kids can sign up for driver’s ed when they’re only fourteen and a half. That’s what one of the girls at school told me.”

  Kimberly turned from her daughter to Janet. “Is that true?”

  “Yes. Idaho’s a rural state. Farmers want their kids to drive tractors or be able to take the truck to the nearest town to pick up supplies. Plenty of folks in these mountains have been driving anything and everything since they were fourteen.”

  Kimberly shook her head in disbelief.

  “Please, Mom.”

  “Sweetheart, even if you took a class and got licensed, I don’t think I could afford insurance for you. Not until I get a job.”

  Tara dropped her fork onto her plate and pushed back her chair. “It isn’t fair. That’s always your answer. We don’t have the money. I hate this!” She darted from the kitchen.

  Kimberly fought the tears that flooded her eyes, determined they wouldn’t fall.

  “Teenagers are like that sometimes,” Janet said softly. “It isn’t personal. Not really.”

  “I know.” She drew a deep breath. “What Tara doesn’t seem to know is how much I hate having to say no to her.”

  Janet patted Kimberly’s shoulder. “Hang in there, girlfriend. It’ll get better.”

  Would it get better? It didn’t seem that way.

  The telephone rang, and Janet got up to answer it. A moment later, she said, “It’s for you, Kimmie. Chet Leonard.”

  Her stomach flip-flopped at the sound of his name. If he’d changed his mind—and why else would he be calling?—Tara would blame her for that too. With great reluctance, she walked to where Janet stood holding out the receiver. She took the phone and put it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Mrs. Welch?”

  “Yes.”

  “Chet Leonard.”

  She could hardly hear him over the hammering of her heart.

  “About your daughter and her horse.”

  “Yes?” The word came out a breathless whisper.

  “I know you’re concerned how to pay for the boarding and lessons, but I think we have a solution. Instead of you paying cash, we thought Tara could work for us here on the ranch.”

  There came those tears again. Nothing Tara could do on the ranch would come anywhere close to covering his fees. She was certain of that. His generosity touched her, as did his sensitivity toward her situation. He’d managed to let her keep a little of her pride.

  “It would mean she’d have to spend more hours out here. Not just when she’s working with the horse.”

  “What . . . what would she be doing?”

  “It’ll probably change over time. But to start, she’d be helping Anna sort through boxes and such in our old guesthouse. She can help feed the horses and shovel out stalls too.”

  “Mr. Leonard—”

  “How about you call me Chet and I’ll call you Kimberly?”

  “Sure. Okay. Chet, how often would you need Tara to come out to work?” The price of gas flashed in her head, followed immediately by the small balance in her checkbook.

  “Saturdays and a couple other days during the week until school lets out. More often during the summer.”

  She released a soft sigh. “It sounds very generous.” Too generous, perhaps, but an offer she couldn’t refuse.

  “Great. Then let’s plan for her to start next Saturday morning. She can help Ms. McKenna for a few hours, and then Tara and I will do some work with her horse.”

  “All right. Thank you, Mr. L—Chet.”

  He was silent a moment before saying, “You’re welcome, Kimberly.”

  Six

  THANKS TO JANET, KIMBERLY RECEIVED A CALL shortly after eight o’clock on Monday morning with the offer of a temporary position at an insurance agency. The regular receptionist/secretary/girl Friday had taken a bad fall while hiking over the weekend, breaking several bones in her right leg and ankle, and was awaiting surgery in a Boise hospital. Kimberly would be needed to fill in for at least four to six weeks. Perhaps longer.

  To Kimberly, four to six weeks’ worth of wages sounded wonderful after such a long stretch without any income. She wasn’t the fastest of typists, but she was accurate and organized, and she had a nice—if slightly dated—wardrobe for work attire.

  By ten o’clock that morning, Kimberly was at the office learning the ropes. Her employer, Christopher Russell, was an affable bear of a man. He was at least six feet four and must have tipped the scales at two hundred and seventy-five pounds. He not only dwarfed Kimberly, he made the office space seem too small as well. Nonetheless, she liked him at once.

  She returned home shortly after five that evening, tired but surprisingly satisfied. Another surprise awaited her in the kitchen. Tara was helping Janet with dinner preparations—and she seemed happy about it. Hope blossomed in Kimberly’s heart. Maybe they were over the worst of their trials. Maybe this was the beginning of a new era for the two of them. Maybe Kimberly wouldn’t have to disappoint her daughter again. Or at least not on a daily basis.

  “How was school?” Kimberly asked when they sat down to eat. It was a question she asked of Tara most weekdays.

  Instead of the usual shrug and a grunt, Tara answered, “Pete Leonard’s in my English class. I thought he looked familiar when I saw him yesterday. Anyway, Pete said I can start riding with him and his brother this week if I want. That way you won’t have to drive out there so often.”

  Kimberly had a job now, temporary as it was. She could afford to do a little more driving. Bu
t that was no reason to refuse Tara’s request.

  “Please, Mom. I’ll ride my bike if I have to when you’re working or when I can’t catch a lift with Pete and Sam. But riding with them will give me more time with my horse and to do whatever Ms. McKenna or Mr. Leonard need me to do.”

  “All right, honey.” She smiled and nodded. “But you’ll have to confirm with Mr. Leonard that it’s still all right for you to ride with his sons. And you also need to ask what afternoons he wants you to come. Your lessons have to be on his schedule, not yours.”

  “I’ll call him right now.” Tara started to rise.

  “Sit down and finish eating. He’s probably having dinner, too, and you don’t want to interrupt him.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Wait about an hour.”

  Tara picked up her fork even though it was obvious she wasn’t the least bit interested in the food on her plate. Not any longer.

  Kimberly envied her daughter, to have something in her life that she was this excited over. It was hard to remember the last time Kimberly had felt the same way. Troubles had piled so high in recent years that they’d obscured more pleasant memories. Would she ever get them back? She hoped so.

  DINNER IN THE LEONARD HOME WAS A FAMILY TIME, strictly adhered to. Other meals might be eaten on the fly—the boys grabbing something quick from the microwave or toaster oven before they raced out the door for school, Chet doing much the same before beginning his morning chores—but for the evening meal, everybody sat down together. Chet asked Sam and Pete questions about their day, about their friends, about their schoolwork, and his sons were expected to answer in more than a half-dozen words.

  Tonight, Pete didn’t have to wait for any questions.

  “Guess what, Dad? Tara Welch is in my English class. I never even noticed her before. She’s been there three or four weeks already, and I never even noticed.” He shook his head. “Must be something wrong with my eyes.”

  Sam punched his brother in the shoulder. “You’re an idiot.”

  Chet hid his smile. Up to now, his youngest son hadn’t shown interest in girls, preferring to spend his free time with horses and playing video games. Sam, on the other hand, had a date most Friday nights, although the options for “going out” were severely limited in Kings Meadow.

  Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have been amused. Tara Welch was going to spend a lot of time on the Leonard ranch. Would Pete’s new awareness of this pretty newcomer to Kings Meadow prove to be a problem? Chet hoped not. He wasn’t keen on that kind of complication. Every boy had to get his heart broken at some point, but there’d been enough heartache for the entire Leonard family in recent years. Chet would just as soon Pete postpone the kind that came with a crush on the wrong girl.

  The wrong girl. What made him think that? He didn’t know Tara well enough to make that kind of judgment call. The few hours he’d spent with her on Sunday she’d been polite and pleasant. However, she was a city girl, despite her interest in horses. She knew nothing of their way of life. Ranching was bred into the Leonards as surely as the color of their hair and eyes.

  “Dad?”

  Yanked to the present by Sam’s voice, Chet blinked. “Sorry. My mind wandered.”

  “Pete and I want to go down to Boise for a youth rodeo.”

  “When?”

  “Saturday after next. We’d need to use the four-horse trailer. Couple of friends want to tag along.”

  “Sure. It’s okay with me. Just be sure your chores are done that morning before you take off.”

  Sam feigned an innocent expression. “Don’t we always?”

  Chet laughed. “No, come to think of it, you don’t always.”

  “Nana Anna,” Pete said, turning toward her, “would you like to come along and watch us?”

  “Gracious. It’s been ages since I was at a rodeo.” Her eyes sparked with interest. “What events do you enter?”

  “Team and calf roping,” Sam answered.

  “Tempting. Very tempting. But I’d best say no. A bit too far from home and a bit too long of a day, I imagine. Maybe there’ll be another time I can go?”

  “Sure thing. You just say the word. You’re always welcome.”

  Chet didn’t try to hide his smile this time. He took great pleasure in hearing Pete invite Anna to one of their activities without any prompting from his dad. Not that Chet was surprised. He’d known the boys would take Anna to heart.

  When dinner was finished, Sam and Pete cleared the table and washed the dishes while Chet and Anna went into the living room. As soon as they were both settled, Anna said, “I hope I didn’t hurt Pete’s feelings. I would love to go, but the sound of a long drive there and back and sitting on bleachers for an entire day wasn’t very appealing. Not to my old bones.”

  “He understood. Don’t worry about it. You only got here four days ago. You’re entitled to do as you please.”

  Anna released a sigh. “That’s good.” She paused a moment, then added, “I believe I’ll make an early night of it, if it’s all the same to you.” She got to her feet.

  Chet stood too, but Anna waved him to sit down again.

  “Nothing’s wrong, so don’t ask. I’m going to lie down with a good book.” With that, she headed for her bedroom.

  Rather than sitting again, Chet returned to the kitchen. “Nana Anna went to bed,” he said to the boys. “I’m going for a short walk.”

  Sunset was a good hour away, but the air was a lot cooler now than it had been in the afternoon. Chet shrugged his shoulders, tempted to return to the house for a jacket. But instead, he quickened his stride as he walked to the barn. Once inside, he checked the three horses in the stalls. The first was a gelding who’d tangled with some barbed wire. The horse’s wounds needed doctoring a few times a day. The other two were mares who would drop foals in the next week or two.

  Satisfied all was well, Chet moved out the doorway at the opposite end of the barn and went to the nearest paddock where his favorite stud grazed. When Chet leaned his arms on the top rail, the stallion raised his head to stare, looking ready to challenge an intruder. King Billy was a ten-year-old bay who’d already sired many champions, including Sam’s current roping horse.

  “Hey, Billy,” Chet said.

  The horse tossed his head before trotting over to the fence, no doubt in hopes some sort of treat awaited him. All King Billy got was a friendly pat on the neck. After a few moments, he snorted his disgust and trotted back to the center of the pasture, leaving his backside toward his master.

  Chet laughed, and his gaze rose to the smattering of white clouds overhead while words of thanksgiving played in his heart. Thanks for this ranch, this home, this valley. Thanks for his folks and grandparents and Nana Anna, too, who had made it possible for him to live on the same land and raise his sons here. Thanks for all of that and much, much more.

  He stood there for a long while, drinking in the mountains and the sky and the grazing land, enjoying the crisp, clean, pine-scented air. Maybe some folks took the beauty of this area for granted. He wasn’t one of them.

  “Dad?”

  He turned to see Pete exit through the barn door.

  “Tara called. I hollered for you but you didn’t answer.”

  “Didn’t hear you. Did she say what she needed?”

  “She wants to take you up on your offer for her to ride home with us after school a couple times a week. Her mom’ll pick her up after she gets off work. Tara asked what days would be best for her to come. I told her any day but Wednesday since you’ve got your men’s group that night. Hope that was the right thing to say.”

  Chet nodded. “Sure. It’s fine.”

  And it was fine. Only he’d made the offer for the ridealong before Pete had taken notice of the girl. All Chet could do now was hope his youngest son’s attention wouldn’t become something more serious before these training sessions were over.

  Anna

  1944

  CHRISTMAS DAWNED TO A BLANKET OF NEW SNOW on the g
round and temperatures that frosted the windows.

  When Anna first awoke, she snuggled down beneath the blankets on her bed and tried not to think about her daddy and mama. This would be her first Christmas without both her parents, and she missed them so much it was a physical ache in her chest. Memories of Christmases before Daddy went off to war, before he was killed and Mama took sick, flitted through her mind, and she cried. Silent tears. Guilty tears. After all, she had a new home with good people who cared for her.

  A soft rap sounded at her door, followed by Violet’s voice. “Anna, are you awake?”

  “Yes.” She swiped away the lingering tears as she sat up. “I’m awake.”

  The door opened and Violet stuck her head in. “Merry Christmas, Anna. I’ve made pancakes. Put on your robe and come down to eat. There are presents to open when we’ve finished breakfast.”

  Guilt hit Anna again. She didn’t have anything to give to the Leonards. Why hadn’t she thought of presents before this moment? How could she be selfish and thoughtless when they’d been so kind?

  Violet smiled. “Hurry now. I’m a kid in a candy store on Christmas morning.”

  Anna reached for her robe. A short while later, slippers on her feet and robe cinched around her waist, she went down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Violet was there ahead of her, turning bacon on the griddle. A stack of pancakes waited on a plate nearby.

  “Good morning again.” Violet glanced toward the back entrance. “Abe went to check on something in the barn. Could you call for him to come and eat?”

  “Okay.”

  She walked to the door and opened it. But she didn’t have to shout anything. Abe was standing in the snow, just beyond the steps, holding the lead rope to a palomino mare.

  “So, Anna,” he said, “what do you think of her?”

  “She’s beautiful. Did you buy her? Is she yours?”

  “Yep. She’s ours. She’s sort of your Christmas gift to me and Vi.”

  Anna shook her head. “My what? I didn’t—”

  “I got to thinkin’ about what you said, a couple months back. About raising Quarter Horses. Goldie here is the start. Golden Girl, her papers say. As long as Shiloh’s Star is willing to do his part, she oughta throw some nice colts.” His eyes twinkled in the early morning light. “What do you think, Anna? Can we do this?”