In The Rancher's Arms

“Mom agreed with you. For a while after that she was actually on the committee of parents and teachers to make sure the rules were applied fairly and without going overboard.”

“Well, glad to know some good came out of the uproar. I don’t think the administration liked me very much my senior year.”

Neil shrugged. “Sometimes you have to poke the bear to make it move.”

“Hmm, I like it. You should make T-shirts with that saying on them.”

“Maybe I will. Always looking for new ways to keep the ranch afloat.”

Arden opened her mouth a little, as if she was about to ask a question, but just then one of the bulls in the pen got rowdy and kicked the fencing. Arden yelped and jumped back.

He reached over to steady her with a nonthreatening hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. He’s not getting out of there.”

Even in the dimmer lighting behind the pens, Neil could see that the color had drained out of Arden’s face. It looked similar to how it had in the convenience store that first day she’d been home. He did his best not to show his sudden anger at the people who’d done this to her. He hoped the soldiers who’d rescued her had left the kidnappers where they’d fallen. Let them be carrion for whatever roamed the wilds of Uganda.

Neil felt a tremor run through Arden’s body, and he had the strong urge to pull her into his arms. But instead of making her feel protected, he suspected that action would freak her out even more. With more reluctance than he should feel, he dropped his hand away from her and took a step back. He turned his attention to the team roping competitors, allowing Arden time to pull herself together without him watching.

When she stepped up next to him, she rested her forearms along the top of the fence as he did. Good, she was tough under the layers of fear that had accompanied her home from Africa.

They stood there, side by side, during the rest of the rodeo events, stepping away from the fence only when it was time for the bulls to be moved into position for the bull riding event at the end. He kept the conversation light, mainly talking about what was taking place in the arena or catching up on what some of the people she and Sloane had gone to school with were doing now. He wondered if their lives seemed boring compared to hers.

A couple of times he spotted people moving in their direction and ran interference with a simple shake of his head that did the trick without Arden noticing.

When they fell into silence, he couldn’t keep his thoughts from drifting back in time to when he was the one on the receiving end of all the stares. He’d only been five at the time, but there were some images and feelings that were burned into his memory as if they’d been put there with a cattle brand. He had a feeling that Arden was feeling something similar.

Part of him wanted to walk away and shove all those long-ago memories into the dark corner of his brain where he tried to keep them. Being near Arden, with her trauma so recent it clung to her like the scent of smoke when you’d been near a fire, had seemingly opened a door to those memories, letting them come to the surface for air.

But his parents—his adoptive parents—had raised him and his adopted siblings to be good, decent, caring people. And right now, Arden was the one in need of a protective barrier and someone she could talk to about anything but her ordeal. He barely knew her, but there was no denying the connection he’d felt from the moment he’d spotted her in front of Franny Stokes, looking as panicked as an insect caught in a spider’s web.

After the last of the bull riders got tossed into the dirt, the crowd started to head for the cars. Arden didn’t make a move to leave, so he stayed by her side.

“I better go find my parents,” she said finally. “It was nice talking to you.”

“You, too.” Instead of parting, however, he fell into step beside her as they headed toward the grandstands.

The look of gratitude on Ken and Molly Wilkes’s faces told Neil that he’d done the right thing sticking by Arden throughout the evening.

“Neil, nice to see you again,” Molly said.

“You, too, ma’am.” He directed his attention to Ken. “How you doing, sir?”

“On the mend.” He wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “This one here is the best medicine this old heart could have asked for.”

Neil saw a pained look pass over Arden’s eyes before she managed to hide it. He couldn’t imagine how she must have felt when she’d been rescued only to find out her dad had suffered a heart attack.

“I’m glad to hear you’re doing better.”

Ken nodded then followed everyone else toward the parking area. Molly squeezed Neil’s hand and said, “Bless you,” softly so that the words dissipated in the noise of the departure of half of Blue Falls before they could reach Arden’s ears.

He was surprised by the sudden lump in his throat so he simply nodded. As she followed Ken and Arden, he watched them walk away, hoping they all had better days ahead. Arden looked over her shoulder at him and smiled the tiniest bit. It might be all she could muster at the moment, and he felt lucky to be on the receiving end.

When he shifted his gaze away from Arden, he was met by the curious stares of two of his siblings. While Ben lifted his eyebrow, Sloane nodded in the direction Arden had taken.

“You seem to be making a new friend,” Sloane said.

“Just helping to give her some space. This was all a bit much.”

Not wanting to wait to see whether they believed him, he slipped into the flow of people heading home. Even though his siblings knew about his history, and he theirs, he didn’t want to talk about why he’d evidently appointed himself Arden’s temporary bodyguard. He didn’t even want to think about it because he didn’t care to consider there was more to his decision than helping out someone in need. If he ever got involved with someone, it didn’t seem wise to choose someone with as many demons as she had.

* * *

“DID YOU HAVE a nice time tonight, dear?” Arden’s mom asked as she moved into the line of cars leaving the fairgrounds.

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