Chapter 4 #2
Her breath came a little faster, and she dropped his gaze, confused by inexplicable feelings.
Jamie thundered back into the kitchen, his T-Rex backpack bulging. “Ready.”
Fiona picked up her phone and texted Tessa.
We’re on the way.
* * *
The ranch spread before them, all open land and sky; the Montana landscape left Rhett feeling both small and infinite at once.
He climbed out of the Honda, which is what Fiona called the horseless carriage that brought them here, and planted his boots on solid ground. Zipping over here so fast sent his head reeling.
A woman with dark hair and boundless energy burst from the house, covering the distance between them at a run. Everything about her radiated joy, from her bright smile to the hand she extended toward him.
“You must be Rhett!” Her handshake was firm and genuine. “I’m Tessa. Cade’s told me so much about you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped his hat.
“Oh, we don’t do ‘ma’am’ here. Just Tessa.” Her laugh was easy and infectious. She turned to Fiona with the comfortable familiarity of true friendship. “C’mon, Cade’s in the barn with the minis.”
As they rounded the corner of the building, he caught sight of the paddock and halted.
Nine horses no taller than his thigh stood grazing in the winter sunshine.
His mind cataloged the impossibility: compact bodies, proportions identical to regular horses but scaled down to something that shouldn’t exist.
“They’re real,” he said.
Tessa’s joyous laughter filled the air. “Very real. Miniature horses, bred down over generations. Cade’s training them for our Rent-a-Reindeer business. We dress them up as reindeer for Christmas events all over the county.”
So Cade was here for good now. Rhett wasn’t sure how he felt about this.
One of the little horses, a palomino mare trotted to the fence. She blew softly through her nostrils and reached toward Jamie.
Jamie froze. Then, with the kind of slow, careful movement he used with the wooden top, the boy lifted his hand. When the mini’s velvety nose touched his palm, Jamie giggled. “Mom, did you see? She likes me.”
“I saw, buddy.” Fiona tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear and ducked her head.
Her grace and beauty hit Rhett full force. He liked this woman. A whole lot.
The barn door swung open, and Cade stepped out into the winter sunlight.
Relief, joy, disbelief, all of it tangled together. He wasn’t alone.
Cade looked lighter than the last time he was with him, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Settled. Content in a way Rhett had never witnessed in him before.
“Rhett!” Cade crossed the yard in quick strides and pulled Rhett into a hug. “I feared I’d never see you again.”
“You came back after that blizzard looking haunted.” Rhett stepped back. “Three days you disappeared. When you showed up looking like you’d been to hell and back and ran off again that same night, we all thought you lost your mind and wandered off into the wilderness.”
“Long story.” Cade glanced at Tessa, and an expression passed between the two of them with such intimacy and understanding that Rhett felt like an intruder witnessing it. “For now, let’s focus on you.”
Jamie tugged at Tessa’s sleeve, bouncing on his toes. “Can I go into the pen? Please?”
“Let’s start with petting over the fence.” Tessa guided him to a white mini with a cream-colored mane drowsing in a patch of sunlight. “You remember Cupcake. She’s the sweetest one we have.”
Fiona moved closer. Her gaze locked on Jamie, tracking his every movement. That boy kept her on high alert.
Tessa straightened and touched Fiona’s arm. “Can I speak to you in the house for a little bit?”
Fiona’s eyes cut to Jamie, then back to Tessa. The war played out on her face, duty pulling one direction, fear tugging another.
“I should stay with Jamie around the horses.”
“He’s fine.” Tessa’s voice was gentle but firm, the tone of a friend who knew what Fiona needed to hear. “He’s having fun.”
Jamie leaned through the gap in the fence railing to touch Cupcake’s thick winter coat. The mini stood stock still, letting the boy run his fingers through her mane.
“I don’t know.” Fiona caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
“We’ll look after him,” Rhett said. “I promise.”
Her eyes met his. She was measuring him, weighing whether she could trust this stranger from another time with the most precious thing in her world.
“Just for a few minutes.” She turned to Jamie. “Buddy, I’m going inside with Miss Tessa. Rhett and Cade will stay with you. Are you okay with that?”
Jamie didn’t glance up from the horse. “Uh-huh.”
Tessa linked their arms and tugged her toward the house. “Come on. Five minutes, tops. I promise.”
She glanced back once, twice, before Tessa got her through the door. The trust she placed in him was heavy, but he shouldered it easily. Whatever she needed. He had no other role here than usefulness.
“Boy’s had a rough morning?” Cade said. “Tessa told me about how he is.”
Rhett nodded. He wasn’t going to share Fiona’s business, not even with Cade.
“Fiona asked the Christmas card for help with him.”
Rhett swallowed. “Yep.”
“Wyatt and I figured out that’s how the time travelin’ works. The women have to ask, even if they don’t realize they’re asking. The card listens.”
“What else do you know about it?”
“The card takes us back when the ladies don’t need us anymore.”
Rhett absorbed that. “So how come you’re here instead of back home?”
“That night I sent back, I realized I didn’t belong in 1878.” He glanced toward the house. “That my heart was here. The next time Tessa called me back, I chose to stay.”
“To be with her.”
Cade met his gaze head-on. “I love her, Rhett, something fierce. We haven’t been acquainted with each other long, but we both feel it. It’s like we’re fated.”
That’s not what he felt about Fiona. He liked her. She was certainly beautiful, but he didn’t know her. Besides, he’d already had his one true love, and that was Clara.
After a moment, Cade reached into his pocket and pulled out a small clear, see-through bag. Inside was nothing but ash. “When I decided to stay forever, the card burned up all by itself. There’s no going back after that.”
Rhett stared at the ashes. “So it’s permanent.”
“For me, yes. For Wyatt too. He and Eliza are together. But it doesn’t have to be for you. Not unless you choose it.”
“How do I get back?”
“The card will take you back when Fiona doesn’t need you anymore.”
He considered that. “What if I want to go home before then?”
Cade shrugged. “I got no answer for that.”
“It’s that simple?”
“Not always.” Cade’s expression grew troubled.
“Wyatt went back once. But when he got there, something was wrong. Nobody recognized him. Not you. Not me. Nobody. His name vanished from Captain Murray’s ledger.
It was like he never existed in 1878. A time glitch, he thinks.
I guess the magic doesn’t always work the way you expect. ”
A chill ran down Rhett’s spine. “So going back might mean—”
“Might mean you don’t exist there anymore either.” Cade met his eyes. “The magic has its own rules, and we’re still figuring them out.”