Page 40 of A Rancher's Heart
Heaven save him. She was going to be a handful once she reached her teens. He spoke softly, but sternly. “Apologize to Tamara. You may state your opinions as bold as you’d like, but you’ll do it politely. Yes?”
Her fake bravado bled away and she was back to being his sweet, protective, worried little girl. “Yes, Daddy.” Sasha lifted her gaze to peek at Tamara’s face. “Sorry I was rude.”
“Apology accepted.” Tamara lifted the coffee pot. “Caleb?”
He nodded at Tamara as he stepped close enough to give Sasha’s shoulders a squeeze. “Yes, please. Hey, Emma. You plan to leave any of those muffins for me? They look amazing.”
Tamara made a noise, but when they looked her direction, she was wiping innocently at her mouth. “Sorry. Swallowed wrong.”
“You’re taking us Halloweening, right, Daddy?” Like a resilient perennial, Sasha had returned to her favourite topic.
“We had this conversation last night.”
“But you’re still taking us.”
He tweaked her nose. “Nothing changed in the past eight hours.”
She nodded firmly then glanced over to see if Tamara was looking. When the coast was clear, she snagged a muffin and gobbled it down.
It was his turn to fight to keep from snorting in amusement.
Caleb was well into his afternoon work when he ran into Josiah Ryder, co-owner of the local veterinary clinic. The man had moved into the community right around the time Caleb and Wendy’s marriage had fallen apart, and once the dust settled, Josiah had become Caleb’s closest friend. It was the best thing to have come out of that time.
Josiah had been off on holidays for the past couple of weeks, just returned on Sunday, meaning Caleb hadn’t caught him up on the most recent developments. Specifically, the full-time nanny situation. Josiah knew Tamara was there, but they hadn’t talked about how it was working out.
Caleb shook his head—had it been only two weeks since he’d agreed to have Tamara join them? Everything had changed in the blink of an eye.
For some reason Josiah was lying flat on his back in one of the horse pens. An empty one, thank God.
Caleb raised a brow. “Good thing you’re not any uglier, or I might have wondered why there was a pile of shit in the middle of an otherwise clean pen.”
Josiah laughed as he rolled to his feet. “Jackass. One of your dogs has lead poisoning. Ashton mentioned a few of the pens got redone recently, so I was checking them out.”
“That’s not the source of the problem.” Caleb frowned. “I had extra time so I did them myself—all new wood, no old paint or toxins.”
Josiah whistled. “Extra time? You invent a thirty-six-hour day since I’ve been gone? Because I’ve never noticed you slacking off with the twenty-four the rest of us mortals get, and you’ve never had extra time before.”
“It’s the new nanny,” he admitted grudgingly. “It’s amazing how much more I can get done when I don’t have to keep breaking off in the middle of a project.”
“I’m glad.” Josiah clapped him on the shoulder. “You deserve a break for a change, so I’m happy to know it’s working out. Maybe I’ll be able to convince you to come spread your wings and start to enjoy life a little more.”
“I enjoy life plenty,” Caleb insisted.
“Let me rephrase that. I wouldn’t mind seeing you outside of a work setting, or have you forgotten how to have a good time?”
Caleb wasn’t sure if he’d forgotten, or if it had been beat out of him. “Always ready for a game of cards. Luke would join us, and Walker, since he’s home.”
“That’s all good and well, and I like your brothers, but I like doing stuff with you even if it’s just us, remember?”
Amusement struck, and Caleb pursed his lips to make a crude smooching noise. “Yes, darlin’. I love you too.”
Josiah retched exaggeratedly. They grinned at each other then put aside the teasing and ran their way through the animals Caleb wanted checked. Easy talk flowed, except when it didn’t, but the entire time they worked.
The two of them were good enough friends that the silent moments were as comfortable as conversation. Men of the land, working with their hands, helping without a comment when needed. Caleb could fall into that same rhythm with Luke or Walker. Even with Ashton, but it seemed extra special having a friend he hadn’t grown up around who inspired that same feeling of comfort.
They’d nearly finished for the day when Josiah brought up the topic again.
“I have to admit it. Every time you say the word nanny, it throws me. I keep picturing someone slightly crazy. You know, like Mary Poppins, with strange outfits—”
