Second Summer Read online

  “Nice girl,” Annie said and sat down across from Heath.

  “Uh, yes.” Heath hadn’t meant for Annie to walk into the restaurant to see him with one of the women he’d been seeing. He’d gone out with Laurel a few times. She was nice but as far from someone like Annie as you could get. “What would you like?”

  “Scotch, neat, would be great.” She enjoyed the look of surprise on Heath’s face, but he recovered quickly and ordered the drink, which came within minutes.

  He picked up his glass. “To your membership on our board.” Heath tilted his glass toward Annie. She responded in kind and took a sip, letting the liquid ease down her throat, warming her as it went.

  “So, tell me exactly why you think I’d be an asset to the board.” Annie studied the remaining scotch in her glass then set it on the table. She sat back, relaxing for the first time since she’d walked into Stanton’s.

  Heath studied her. She certainly got to the point. He liked and admired that in a person. “Your background, actually. None of us have had the experience in the foster care system that you’ve had. We don’t know first-hand how the kids feel—what they fear or expect. Plus, Caroline told us you’ve written grants before. That’s a big issue for us as we want the foundation to stand on its own at some point.”

  Annie stared at her glass before taking another swallow. She hadn’t had scotch since Kit died. Another step for her.

  “Yes, I was in the system from the time I was ten until I was eighteen. That was years ago, and in California, so I don’t know how comparable the experience is to what the kids go through now.”

  “Needs don’t really change from one generation to another, do they?” Heath asked.

  “No, I guess they don’t.” She thought back to her time as a foster child. “The biggest issues for me were security and getting an education. I wasn’t looking to be loved as much as I wanted to be accepted. Moving through the system without falling behind was important to me.”

  “And did that happen?”

  “I was one of the fortunate ones. My foster family was wonderful, they’re still almost like parents. There was no way they could afford to adopt me, but they provided a good home and as much support as they could. They let me stay after I turned eighteen, which was four months before my high school graduation. The money stopped but I worked after school and weekends, and gave them almost everything I made. It was a good experience, much better than many in the system.”

  Heath had heard all types of stories from foster children since the MacLarens had started the foundation. Somehow hearing it from an adult made it all the more real. His home had been nothing like Annie’s experience. He had so many questions. Didn’t she have relatives willing to take her in? Were there siblings? Was she only with the one family? He’d heard some heart-breaking stories over the years and found himself hoping Annie hadn’t had any of those experiences.

  “Were there other children in the family?”

  “Yes, but they were older, out of college. They treated me well. I don’t keep in touch with them much, not like I do their parents.”

  Heath signaled the waiter for another drink, then sat back, absorbed in her story.

  “How’d you meet Kit?”

  “He went to the same church as my foster parents. Kit was older and already married when we met. I just thought of him as a nice, older man.” Annie smiled at the recollection.

  “Older man, huh? How much older?”

  “Twelve years. It seemed like so much more when I was sixteen. We met each other again a few years later. His wife had suffered with cancer for a couple of years then passed away the year before I saw him again. For some reason I didn’t see him as older by that time. We married several months later.”

  Twelve years seemed quite a distance between their ages. Heath sobered when it hit him that Laurel was fifteen years younger than him. Maybe that wasn’t such a stretch if it was with the right person and both wanted something permanent.

  “Do you have children?” Heath asked.

  “Oh yes. Three. Kit had a boy and girl when we met. Then we had a son—he’ll graduate from USC the end of next year. The truth is, they’re all mine. Cameron and Brooke were young when Kit and I married. I’ve been with them most of their lives. Eric is twenty. I don’t believe the oldest two ever think about having a different mother than Eric. It just doesn’t come up.” Annie rested her head back and followed the glowing stained glass chandelier that rotated slowly from the ceiling. Blue, green, burgundy, and gold that threw colored shadows across the table. “What about you, Heath? Caroline told me you were divorced but she never spoke of children.”

  Heath smiled at the thought of Trey and Cassie. “Yes. My daughter Cassandra, Cassie, is eighteen, and Trey is twenty-three. He graduated from the Naval Academy and is now in pilot training. Cassie graduates in a couple of months from high school and will probably head off to ASU in the fall.”

  “It must be hard having Trey so far away and Cassie with her mother much of the time.”

  “Oh, she lives with me, not her mother. Pamela lives in Scottsdale and Cassie has no desire to move to the valley. Not that her mother showed must interest in having Cassie with her.”

  “Sorry, I just assumed you must split custody. I didn’t mean to pry.” Caroline had never shared any details of Heath’s life with Annie other than that he was divorced and dated quite a number of women.

  “No problem. I have custody, which works well for everyone. My life is great and the kids are doing fine. The divorce had been coming for years. It’s better this way.” Heath threw back the last of his Jameson’s and looked at his watch. “Well, I hate to leave but I have an appointment. Thanks for meeting me on the spur of the moment.”

  There was still one finger of scotch left in Annie’s glass. She stood and extended her hand to Heath. “My pleasure and thanks for the drink.”

  Heath accepted her hand in a warm grip then bent forward to place a kiss on her cheek. He stepped back. “What are you doing the day after tomorrow?”

  “Saturday?”

  “Yes, we’re going on a trail ride. Why don’t you join us?”

  “Well, I…”

  “There are plenty of horses to choose from and any of the tack you need. We ride out at eight in the morning. Be there by seven-thirty.” He glanced at his watch again. “Got to run. See you on Saturday.”

  ~~~~~

  Chapter Four

  Annie sat on her bed staring at the clock, debating whether or not to set the alarm for five o’clock. He hadn’t waited for her acceptance, just assumed she’d show up. It irritated her while at the same time amused her. Caroline had said he was a take-charge kind of guy.

  She’d spoken with Caroline earlier that day at the gun range where Annie was taking lessons. Annie confirmed that Caroline and Jace would be on the ride along with Heath’s daughter, Cassie. If Caroline and Jace’s sons, Blake and Brett were interested, they would join them.

  Annie loved to ride. She and Kit owned two horses which she boarded a couple of miles from her home. Her gelding, Rascal, was a chestnut quarter horse. He stood fifteen hands and Annie made every effort to ride him at least once a week. She still owned Kit’s grey gelding, Picasso. Annie just hadn’t had the heart to sell him. She’d made an arrangement a year ago with a young man just back from overseas who’d exited the Army. He loved to ride but didn’t own a horse. He rode both a couple of times a week for a small monthly payment from Annie. It was a great deal for both of them.

  She figured it would be fun to ride another horse, see different trails. Besides, she and Caroline had only had about an hour yesterday and that was consumed with a discussion of the board appointment plus their time at the range today. Tomorrow they’d have time to talk.

  Annie reached over and set the alarm.

  ******

  “You sure she can ride, Caroline?” Heath asked for the second time.

  “Yes. I’ve already told you about her horses. Don’t w
orry. She’ll let you know if Gremlin’s too much for her.”

  Gremlin was a palomino gelding with real personality. At four he was still frisky but well trained.

  “Tell me again who Annie is, Aunt Caroline?” Cassie walked up with her horse.

  “She’s a very good friend of mine and we just voted her onto the board of the foundation. You’ll love her.” Caroline finished saddling Gremlin then walked him over by her horse at the same time Annie’s car pulled up by the house. “Hey, Annie! We’re over here,” Caroline called.

  Heath stopped what he was doing to watch Annie get out of her car. She looked taller, sleeker, in her tight fitting jeans and blouse.

  “She looks a little old for you, Dad,” Cassie teased. She’d been in a restaurant downtown when her father had walked in with a woman who looked like she was twenty. Cassie hadn’t been able to hide her surprise at her father’s choice of dates. Turned out the woman was twenty-nine, still way too young in Cassie’s mind.

  “I am not dating Annie if that’s what you’re thinking. She’s a friend of your aunt’s and now on our board. That’s it. Now, behave,” Heath threw out but in jest not anger.

  Annie waved back, grabbed her hat, gloves, and jacket then starting walking toward the barn. She came up beside Caroline and gave her a brief hug.

  “Annie, this is Heath’s daughter, Cassie.”

  “Hello, Cassie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Annie extended her hand, which the young woman accepted.

  “Hi, Annie. Dad says you’re riding with us today. That’s the horse he selected.” She pointed to Gremlin.

  Annie turned toward a beautiful palomino. “Oh, he’s gorgeous.” She walked over to the horse and ran her hand over his neck and back. “What’s his name?”

  “Gremlin.” Heath stood a couple of feet away, watching her. Her boots were sturdy and well worn, and she’d brought gloves. Maybe she would be okay.

  “Oh, hello, Heath.”

  “Annie. I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure either to be truthful. I usually ride my horse, Rascal, on Saturday mornings, but I wanted to see more of the ranch, and catch up with Caroline. Thanks for the invitation.”

  “No problem.” He saw Jace walk up with his horse. “Looks like we’re ready.” He turned back to Annie. “You need a boost?”

  “Nope, I think I can make it.” Annie did a quick check of the cinch, slipped into her gloves, and mounted in one slow, easy move. She’d brought a baseball cap with an Arizona Diamondbacks logo, instead of the more traditional cowboy hat. It held tighter when she rode at speed.

  “Are you a baseball fan?” Cassie asked.

  “Yes, I am. As well as football. I enjoy watching ice hockey also. You?”

  “All three plus basketball. Dad has season tickets to everything. Maybe you can go with him sometime.”

  Heath had ridden up beside them, hearing the last comment. “You’re welcome anytime, Annie. I have four to each game. Get ahold of Caroline and she’ll set you up. Most games are pretty open.” He nudged his horse, Blackjack, toward Jace. “You set?”

  “Yep, let’s go.”

  Annie, with Cassie and Caroline on either side, rode behind Jace and Heath. It gave all three a chance to talk while the men decided the destination. Two hours later they took a turn up one of the small hills, rode down the other side, then into a canyon before stopping.

  Heath ground tied Blackjack and looked toward the women. He’d glanced behind him several times during the ride to be sure Annie kept up. Caroline was right—her friend was a solid rider.

  “Who’s got the trail mix?” Jace shouted toward the women. He pulled out water bottles from his saddlebag and distributed them to each person.

  “As if the man didn’t know who carried the food,” Caroline said and pulled out two bags of her husband’s favorite snack plus fruit. “Here you go.” She tossed a bag to Jace and kept the other for the women who’d chosen a group of large boulders to lean against.

  “It’s so beautiful out here. How many acres do you have?” Annie asked no one in particular.

  “Over five hundred thousand in three states for our cattle operations. Another several thousand reserved for horse breeding and training programs. We concentrate on quarter and cutting horses.” Heath leaned a hip against a nearby rock and scanned the horizon. They’d all worn heavy jackets as the March temperatures were still in the forties much of the time. If they continued higher they might still find some snow. He doubted there’d be more this year, but you never knew.

  The large amount of acreage surprised Annie. “I had no idea it was that large. It must take all of your time as well as Jace’s to run it.”

  “Not so much anymore. It’s set up like any large corporation with a management team who handle all the aspects of a large-scale cattle operation. Everything is more scientific nowadays than it was a hundred and fifty years ago when it was started.”

  “Has it always been in MacLaren hands?”

  “It has. One generation after the next. I’m hopeful Trey, after his stint in the Navy, and Cassie will want to continue, along with Jace and Caroline’s children. We’ve been fortunate. Most large ranches are owned by corporations that are far removed from the founding families.”

  They relaxed in silence a while longer before Annie’s curiosity kicked in again.

  “What parts of the business do you spend your time on?”

  “I’m still the chairman of the cattle operations. We have a president that actually handles day-to-day decisions. Jace heads up the horse breeding division. My focus is now on our development company. High-end housing, some middle and lower end, plus hospitality and retail sites. I travel a lot as we own properties throughout Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada, plus a few in Colorado. Keeps me busy.”

  “And out of trouble?” Annie joked.

  “Well, not so much,” Heath’s grin lit his face.

  “You just gonna gab all morning or are we going to ride on for lunch?” Jace walked up with Caroline and Cassie.

  “We’re ready when you are,” Heath replied, walked to his horse, and mounted.

  They rode another hour then stopped for lunch at a small Mexican restaurant that bordered their property at the highway. The lot was full of cars from all over, but Juan Carlos had never allowed the horse posts behind his restaurant to be removed.

  The five began to dismount when a back door swung open—a short, slender man standing in the opening. “So you made it today, Heath,” Juan Carlos called out.

  “That we did. You got room for five?”

  “Always, my friend.” He greeted everyone and was introduced to Annie. She’d never eaten at his restaurant.

  The food was good and plentiful. A new basket of hot chips with salsa appeared just as the old basket was nearly empty. Annie was silent most of the time, listening to the MacLarens discuss ranch business, a new townhome project Heath had going, and Cassie’s new boyfriend. The last kept the conversation going for much of the time. She and Seth Garner’s grandson had gone out a couple of times, which was news to Heath.

  They’d known Matt Garner his whole life. He was a year older than Cassie, attended a local community college, and worked in his grandfather’s construction company—a company that did a lot of business with the MacLarens. Matt’s parents had been close friends of Heath and his first wife, Pamela, until they’d been killed in a small plane crash when Matt was ten. Their grandfather, Seth Garner, had raised him, along with his younger brother, Troy, on his small ranch that bordered the MacLarens on one side.

  “I never realized you had any interest at all in Matt.” Caroline put the last bite of an enchilada in her mouth and sat back, interested in this new development.

  “Neither did I until he asked me to a party a few weeks ago. Besides, he was always with Becky Fraser during high school. She went off to college in another state, he stayed here, and well,” Cassie paused a moment, “I guess we both discovered how much we enjoyed
being around each other.” She threw her napkin on the table. “Are we ready to ride back yet?”

  “Guess we are.” Heath thanked Juan Carlos before heading outside. He looked around at the darkening sky. “Looks like we’d better ride straight back, Jace. Those clouds are moving pretty fast.”

  “I see them. Let’s detour through the old gulch. That will get us home within an hour.”

  They didn’t ride hard, just kept a steady pace without stopping. About halfway home Heath heard a sharp whinny, then another. He reined Blackjack around to see Gremlin buck a couple of times, Annie bring him under control for a brief moment before Gremlin bucked again, this time throwing her off. It was pure luck that Annie hadn’t landed in a stand of small cacti a few feet away.

  Gremlin took off but stopped a hundred yards away. Heath rode up to the frightened animal, grabbed the reins, and turned back to the others. Everyone else surrounded Annie, checking for breaks, then helping her stand.

  Heath handed Gremlin’s reins to Jace and slid off his horse. “You all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Something must have spooked him. He just started bucking. I thought I had him under control, but guess not.” Annie grimaced at a sharp pain in her lower back.

  “I’m calling the doc. Get him out to check on you.” He pulled out his cell phone to dial.

  “No, please don’t. I’m fine, really. It feels more like bruising, no breaks.”

  “But…”

  “No doctor, Heath. Please.” Annie’s distress at calling the doctor was more pronounced than the pain she felt from the spill.

  He let out a sharp breath. “If that’s what you want. But if you’re still in pain when we get back to the house I’m calling the doctor. Period.”

  “Deal.”

  The group waited another ten minutes to let Annie walk around and stretch, while Jace and Heath checked on Gremlin.

  “No bites that I can see. Looks like he may have a slight sprain. I don’t think he should be ridden.” Jace knew horses better than anyone else in the family. They were his passion. “I’ll lead him if Annie can ride back with you.”

  “Sure.” Heath let the women know. He helped Annie onto Blackjack then swung up behind her. “Let’s go,” he called.

  He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close, and held the reins in the other. Annie wasn’t prepared for the way the solid wall of man made her feel. She sucked in a breath when they rode up a small hill that had her pushing closer into him.