The Rancher's Legacy

Chapter Three

Kodiak snored near Rhett’s chair as he sifted through the files Macy had left in his office yesterday. Each name and picture made his heart twist.

Gabe Coalfield, seventeen, wants to be a veterinarian someday.

Harris Oaks, eighteen, would be happy to do anything to have a job.

Deena Rich, seventeen, just wants to feel useful for once.

Rhett pushed the papers away and covered them with one of the financial ledgers. As he made decisions he wanted to continue being able to think of all the children involved in terms of a faceless, nameless group—not as individuals with hearts and dreams.

With ambitions in their lives he might crush if he closed the ranch’s doors to them.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Why had he been put in this situation?

Going over the calculations in his father’s books had only solidified Rhett’s decision to cut programs. Brock had neglected the cattle business that went along with the ranch, among other things. While the Jarretts enjoyed the cushion of an ample bank account for now and healthy investments in a few other areas, the ranch hadn’t turned a profit in years, which meant Brock had been slowly dipping into the family’s savings in order to keep the daily functions of the ranch running.

Fine to do once in a while, but the records showed it had become the way of Red Dog Ranch. That couldn’t stand any longer. If they kept operating in such a manner, eventually funds would run out. Money Rhett needed to pay for his mom’s medical care. Funds he needed to use to compensate staff dependent on the ranch for their livelihoods.

Additionally, he wanted to be able to leave Wade’s daughter, Piper, and Boone’s daughter, Hailey, something someday. As well as any other nieces and nephews who might come into the family down the road.

His father may not have cared about the Jarrett legacy—about providing for the long-term future of their flesh and blood—but Rhett did.

And there was nothing wrong with that.

Rhett dug his elbows into the desktop and sat straighter in his chair.

He would not allow himself to feel guilty for doing the right thing.

One of the teenager’s photos had slipped loose when he shuffled them under the ledgers. Rhett picked it up and studied it. The girl had crooked teeth; her smile appeared forced. The look in her eyes—lonely and beaten by life—gutted him. She would have an internship, but she represented so many kids waiting for an opportunity, a break. One he was considering taking away.

He turned the picture over.

A soft knock on his door. Macy, more than likely.

Rhett massaged his temples. Earlier in the chapel he had opened up way too much to Macy. How did she do that to him? They’d been around each other for twenty-four hours and his resolve to stay distant had already crumbled.

And she lived a stone’s throw from his house, so even when they weren’t in the office he couldn’t escape her presence. They hadn’t spoken in three years and yet she knew him. Knew how his mind worked. Knew how he ticked. It was unnerving.

He dropped his hands to his desk and studied the spot on his arm where her fingertips had rested.

Since they were little, Macy had always had a way of cutting through his nonsense and zeroing in on pieces of Rhett he thought he’d hidden from the world. Then again, he’d always been terrible at playing hide-and-seek.

When they were young, it had been one of Macy’s favorite games. She’d never failed to find him and find him quickly. However, she had also possessed a knack for unearthing the most unimaginable spots to hide in. Once they were a little older it had become near impossible to ever locate her. Most times she ended up having to reveal her spot, no matter how hard he’d searched.

It would seem he was still terrible at hiding from her.

“Come in.”

She opened the door, clipboard in hand. Her smile was tentative. “Have you had a chance to go over the files I left?”

He nodded.

She took the chair on the other side of his desk. “Great. Let’s decide who each of them will be placed with.”

“Do you know what a liability it is having them here? Our insurance rates are sky-high with all the minors on the property.” He had spent a chunk of his morning reading legal nonsense and now his head felt foggy with all the information.

“The social workers have signed off on the waivers,” she reminded him.

Rhett sighed and slid the files to her side of the desk. “You can go ahead and make all the placement decisions. You’ve been at the ranch all this time and I’m only just back, so I’m deferring to your knowledge here on what’s the best fit for each of them.”

She didn’t move to pick up the paperwork. Macy opened her mouth. Closed it. Looked toward his mom’s painting and then back at him. “I’m more than happy to help.” She spoke each word deliberately. “But your dad always wanted to be a part of the process. He said it was—”

“Mace,” he cut in. “If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not my dad.”

“I realize that. I should have phrased that differently.” She hugged her clipboard to her chest. “No one is asking you to be a replica of Brock.”

Wasn’t that exactly what everyone wanted him to be? His dad’s will had set him on a lifelong course where he’d have to hear again and again and again how he didn’t measure up to Brock. If he succeeded with the ranch he’d have to hear how he was following in his dad’s steps, and if he failed he’d have to hear how disappointed his dad would have been.

“Aren’t they?” He hated how hoarse his voice sounded.

She offered him the hint of a smile. Her wide brown eyes studied his face. “I’m not.”

Wasn’t she though? After all, wasn’t she the one who kept bringing up how his dad had done things?

“I really promise I’m not.” She gave a small shrug. “It’s just really hard to strike him from all conversations when I’m missing him.”

Understandable. Talking about Brock was clearly healing for her, but the same thing opened Rhett’s wounds deeper.

“Then what do you want, Mace?” His question was soft, guarded. “Because when you look at me like that...”

She skewed her lips to the side as if trying to find the right words. “I’m just wondering where the boy I knew went.”

He sighed. She might as well have said she didn’t like the person he’d become.

Not that it mattered. He shouldn’t care about what an old friend thought of him.

Rhett crossed his arms. “He grew up.”

“That’s a pity,” Macy said. “He had this amazing ability to dream big but plan well, stay rooted and focused—something this place really needs. He had the heart and determination to grow Red Dog Ranch into an amazing place if he’d wanted to. I think that boy could have shaped the ranch into something beyond what his father possibly ever could have.”

He clenched his teeth and reminded himself that Macy was just being Macy. She’d been known to kick a hornets’ nest before—literally. She’d treat him no differently. It was her nature to push and he had loved that about her.

Just...not right now.

He pressed his palms against his armrests. “You finished?”

“For now, sure. Forever?” she asked. “Not a chance.”

Rhett couldn’t hold in the chuckle that escaped from his lips, though it had an edge of desperation in it. “I don’t doubt it one bit.”

This was the Macy he remembered—his Macy—someone who would stand against the wind and glare at a coming storm. Someone who didn’t flinch.

Well, not his Macy. He wasn’t quite sure where that thought had come from.

Macy ran a slender finger down the to-do list on her clipboard. “Now, about the Easter egg hunt...”

“Wait. That’s still on?” He flipped through a stack of paperwork in his dad’s inbox. “I’m sorry, I’m not caught up on everything. I thought we still had time to alter things.” And he had figured his father was waiting until the last minute to reach out to previous vendors like he always had. His father had possessed a huge heart, but he hadn’t been much of a planner. Rhett had been considering his father’s lack of planning a blessing for once because it would make the event easier to cancel if nothing had been set in stone yet.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Of course it’s still on.”

Rhett rubbed his forehead. “How much do we usually spend on it? In total.”

She thumbed through a few pages on her clipboard. “At least ten thousand. We always have a huge turnout,” she added quickly.

Some people might have thought she was estimating high, but Rhett didn’t believe she was. The Red Dog Ranch Hunt had become an event that drew many foster families from far away. People booked every room at nearby hotels in order to attend. The event had taken on a life of its own, complete with his father hiring a private helicopter pilot to drop candy over the fields as the children watched. When it came to these events his father had been nothing if not excessive. They also provided a full ham supper for around a hundred people who stayed afterward. The dinner was a ticketed event that raised money specifically for a college scholarship program for foster kids. Not to mention purchasing the eggs and prizes, paying staff to run various games and do setup, hiring a company to put up and tear down decorations and seating. Renting outhouses and paying for random other items.

Honestly, she was probably guessing low.

Rhett flipped the ledger to the latest financial records and twisted the book in Macy’s direction. “Tell me how we can afford to host any event with this kind of bank account?”

Macy sucked in a sharp breath. “I had no idea he’d let it get this bad.” She held up a finger. “He would sometimes mention that we should cut expenses here and there and then never did it so I figured we were fine. I never pushed the issue.”

“Seriously?” He cocked an eyebrow. How could she not know? She’d been his assistant.

Macy waggled her head. “I promise you, I had no idea. You know how your dad could be about these things. He managed the accounts himself. I entered the bills into the finance software and entered payroll, but I only handled submitting those expenditures for his approval. I didn’t balance the accounts. I never saw the actual money in the account.” She pulled the ledgers closer. “Oh, Rhett. What a mess.”

He believed Macy. Brock had been a man who kept many things close to his chest. Judging by how she had responded, Rhett knew she had never seen these books. Hadn’t realized the foster programs were draining the family’s personal accounts.

Rhett pressed his fingers against his forehead. “My dad had a big heart.”

She looked like she might cry. “He had a huge heart, but that doesn’t excuse this.” She gestured toward the ledgers.

Rhett nodded. “Huge heart. Not a lick of business sense.”

Macy snaked her hand across the desk to cover his. “You have a better sense for these sorts of things than he ever had.” She gave his hand a pump.

Rhett slipped his hand from under hers and it instantly felt cold, lacking. He could have so easily turned it over and leached comfort from her, but he had to keep his head on his shoulders when it came to Macy. Uncle Travis was right. Macy could help him—but Rhett had to stay focused on keeping their partnership about working toward what was best for the business.

“So you understand why we have to nix the egg hunt this year?” Rhett asked. “Can you double check the recent bills to see if the ranch has made any deposits to secure vendors? I doubt it, but a quick check can’t hurt.” His dad had been notorious about scrambling at the last minute to get things done. Rhett tucked the ledger away. “That’s potentially thousands of dollars we can immediately save.”

Macy held up a hand. “I think recouping as much as we can is the right step. But, Rhett, we can’t outright cancel the egg hunt.” She tugged a newspaper clipping from her stack of papers and shoved it toward him. “It’s already run in the paper.”

Of course his dad would set up the announcement while procrastinating on the actual work of pulling together the hunt.

Instead he groaned. The sound made Kodiak’s ears twitch. “This is bad.”

Macy set down her clipboard. “What if we can run the event without touching your family’s money? Or at least, minimally touching it. We can do this. We just have to think it through.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“If we work together, I think we can secure donations and get others to pitch in. I’ll look through the bills and see if we can get refunds on the few things he might have secured, and if not refunds maybe we can renegotiate the contract terms.” Her eyes lighted with excitement. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “If we can do this without too much expense, are you on board?”

“I’m tempted to say yes.” Rhett was worried it would be hard to throw an event together so quickly, but his dad had done it all the time. Besides, Rhett knew not to doubt Macy’s tenacity. “Though it will be a lot of work in a short amount of time.”

“We’ve faced bigger obstacles together,” she said. Macy sent him an excited smile. “I don’t doubt what we can accomplish if we both commit to this.”

He couldn’t say no. Not to that smile. “All right, then. Let’s do this.”

“Great.” She popped up. “In that case, I’ve got a lot of work to do so I’m going to dive in right away.” She reached to grab the clipboard she’d forgotten in her exuberance. “We can do this.”

He gave her a thumbs-up.

When she was about to leave, Macy hesitated in the doorway, her back to him. “You know, you don’t have to be your father.” She slowly turned to face him, her hand braced on the frame. “But you do need to be the best Rhett you can be. You need to live up to the potential God’s placed inside you.” She moved her hand from the frame so she could hug her clipboard to her chest. “Understood?”

Standing there with her chin held high, her eyes slightly narrowed at him and pure challenge lighting her features... Rhett had never seen anyone more beautiful.

The realization forced all the oxygen from his lungs.

“Mace, I—” His voice cracked.

“I’m going to be here, beside you in this.” She pointed at him. “And I’m going to keep challenging you.”

That’s what he was afraid of.

* * *

In the following days, Macy tossed herself into researching how to plan a charity event and began to make a list of all the companies and local residents she could call. She made a second list that she dubbed her pie-in-the-sky list that was made up of actors, famous singers, news anchors at the big stations, radio deejays—anyone she believed was worth reaching out to. Even if one or two of them chose to give a monetary donation, it could make a huge difference. Texas was home to plenty of celebrities and many of them were proud to support Texas-based events.

Hey, a person could dream.

It was something she’d learned from Rhett when they were young. Too bad he’d lost his wide-eyed belief in chasing after big dreams somewhere along the way. Though his dog-training business had been a bit of a dream chase for him, hadn’t it? Maybe there was still a part of the boy she knew somewhere inside the jaded man. Deep, deep inside.

Macy found herself praying while she worked—often more for Rhett than anyone else.

Please help me help him. Give me the right things to say when we interact. I know he’s hurting and he probably hasn’t talked about it to anyone.

A boy with freckles and a wide grin ducked his head into her office. “Hey there, Miss Howell.”

She rose from her desk and smiled at the teenage boy. Gabe had attended Camp Firefly for the past four summers and he volunteered hours at the ranch, mucking stalls and helping feed the horses, already. Making him an official intern had been a no-brainer.

The interns were starting today.

Rhett was working with one of his dog-training clients in the far field again, so they had agreed that she would give the kids a quick tour and then hand them off to their appointed mentors to shadow for the day. Macy was happy Rhett had started seeing his clients again and wanted to do whatever she could to encourage him to keep his business alive. It had only been two appointments so far, but she knew he loved training dogs and didn’t want him to have to lose Straight Arrow Retrievers.

Initially Macy had challenged Rhett about working with the foster kids, but she had promised herself she would stop forcing Rhett to do things the way his father had. Just because Brock had insisted on training the interns himself, it didn’t mean Rhett had to. With that in mind, she had told him she would help run things—help take the load—so it was nice to see he was willing to trust her to do just that.

Macy joined Gabe outside and introduced herself to the seven other interns. She rattled off the speech she’d heard Brock recite multiple times but knew she wasn’t doing it justice. Normally Brock spent the first two or three days showing the interns the entire ranch and explaining every part of its workings. He introduced them to every staff member and made sure they knew what to do in an emergency. He got to know them and made sure each one felt valued at the ranch. But with plans for the egg hunt looming over her, each day—each hour—was an imperative for Macy to seek donations and coordinate every aspect of the event. She also had to start devoting time to mapping out the plans for Camp Firefly because summer would be here before they knew it.

So for the first time in the history of Red Dog Ranch, Macy handed the interns over to each of their appointed mentors right after the tour and headed back to her office. She worked on drafting letters to some of the people on her second list—the dream-big list—and emailed them before her nerve waned.

Less than an hour later, Gabe banged open her door. He was panting and his face was tomato red. “There’s been an accident. Miss Howell, you’ve got to come quick!”

Macy sprang from her desk. “What type of accident?”

Gabe was already at the front door, motioning frantically. When he saw she was following he headed out the door and started running for the closest horse enclosure. “This way.”

Judson, one of the ranch’s field hands who had been assigned to be Gabe’s mentor, was crouched over Piper, Rhett’s four-year-old niece. Piper was curled in a ball sobbing, her tiny shoulders shaking.

Rhett came tearing across the opposite field, Kodiak at his heels. Rhett’s face drained of color as he dropped to his knees beside Piper and lightly brushed her long brown hair from her forehead. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” His chest heaved. No doubt Judson had radioed him and Rhett had sprinted the whole way.

Kodiak whimpered as she pranced around the pair.

“M-m-my aarrrrm,” Piper wailed.

It was then that Macy noticed Piper’s arm was twisted at the wrong angle. Broken. Macy’s stomach threatened to pitch.

And suddenly, as she watched him crouch over Piper, Macy noticed the back of Rhett’s neck turn red. “How did this happen?”

“Uncle Rrrrhett. It hu-hurts.” Piper’s whole body shook. “Huurrrts.” Kodiak crawled forward and gave Piper a tentative lick on her cheek.

Macy hadn’t noticed Judson take off when they appeared, but he must have headed for the barn. He came back, sprinting in their direction with one of the red emergency totes full of medical supplies that were stowed all over the ranch.

Judson panted. “I called Cassidy. She was in town getting groceries but she’s on her way back. She should be here in minutes.”

Wordlessly, Rhett took the medical bag and found the sling inside. Since Piper was so small, he knotted the top to shorten it. Then he helped her sit up.

“I’m so sorry, baby girl. This might hurt.” He gingerly lifted her broken arm and set it in the sling. She let out a yelp of pain and started to cry harder, her cheeks going red.

Rhett pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. “You’re so brave. That will help your arm not move around too much until the doctor can see it.”

She bit her trembling lip and nodded. Despite him living far away for much of her life, Uncle Rhett was her favorite person in the world and it was obvious that she trusted him completely. He’d given her Sheep, the miniature horse, for her birthday and her mom, Cassidy, had often talked about the weekly video chats Piper and Rhett had when he lived far away.

Cassidy’s van rounded down the driveway.

Rhett scooped his niece into his arms, avoiding the injured arm.

He turned toward Macy. “Find out what happened and call me.”

He gave both Judson and Gabe a significant look. Then he charged toward the van with Piper in his arms. Seconds later they watched Rhett, Cassidy and Piper head off toward the hospital.

Macy prayed that Piper would be okay and that nothing else was wrong with her, and she prayed for Rhett too. The man was fiercely protective when it came to his family and he was bound to want consequences for whoever had let Piper get hurt.

Thirty minutes later, once Macy had calmed down an upset Gabe and a profusely apologetic Judson, she called Rhett. She’d already texted with Cassidy, but she knew she needed to talk to the boss. “How’s Piper?”

“Broken arm and a sprained foot.” He sounded tired. “She says the kid put her on one of the big horses bareback. Is that true?”

Macy sagged into the chair at her desk. “Judson went into the barn for a minute. He knows he shouldn’t have left Gabe on his own with one of the horses, but we know Gabe well. He mucks the stalls for us all the time.” Macy pressed on.

“Piper knows Gabe so she ran out to see him. Gabe said Piper told him she wanted to ride the big horse so he let her sit up there. He turned his back for a second.” The teenage boy had been so upset about the little girl getting hurt. He had teared up in Macy’s office. “He didn’t realize the horse was only green broke. He thought it was one of our calm trail horses. He didn’t know, Rhett. He’s just a kid himself.”

When Rhett didn’t say anything, she continued, “Judson was going to teach him how to work the green broke correctly, so he went to get a longer lead line. That’s the only reason Gabe was out there alone.” She was rambling, but Rhett had to understand that it was an accident, pure and simple. “It could have happened to any of us.”

“And if Piper had said she wanted to light the mess hall on fire—” Rhett’s words were clipped “—would he have let her do that too?”

Macy dropped an elbow onto her desk and pressed her forehead into her hand. “This wasn’t his fault.”

“So is it Judson’s?”

“It was an accident, Rhett. Accidents happen.” She knew it wasn’t wise to get into this on the phone, but Macy had always had a hard time biting back her words. Frustration was hard to pack away for later. While Rhett lived by facts, she was fueled by emotions.

“An accident took my brother. An accident took my dad. I’m done with accidents, Mace.”

Ouch. He was right. But facing losses, facing accidents, didn’t mean a person should never take a risk again. “Next time—”

“There won’t be a next time. Our intern program ends today.”

That immediately cooled her thoughts. “You don’t mean that.”

“I already sent messages to all the teens.”

“Rhett, please. Just hear me out,” she said. “The intern program doesn’t cost the ranch a cent, but it provides free labor. It makes zero sense to cut it when we’re trying to save money.”

“If a kid other than my niece gets hurt and someone sues us, how’s that saving money? Or if an intern got hurt? Managing interns divides the staff’s focus. It’s really not as mutually beneficial as you might think.”

“Rhett—”

“I’ll talk to you later, Mace.” And he was gone.

Couldn’t he understand that even with a mentor nearby things could happen? People got hurt every day. It was called life. Piper was a perfect mix of curious and courageous, which meant she was always taking risks. Rhett wouldn’t be able to protect his niece from every bump and bruise in life no matter how hard he tried.

He loved his family fiercely. It was a quality Macy had always found attractive about him, but she found herself wishing he cared about the foster kids too. Maybe it was wrong to put that on him—he wasn’t Brock and she didn’t want him to be Brock. Really she didn’t.

But she was so torn between the family she loved and the children she was dedicated to helping. Macy needed to decide where her loyalties lay. With the man who had once stolen her heart? Or the kids who desperately needed an advocate?

If only the answer could be both.