Home to the Cowboy’s Arms (Destiny’s River #1)

Prologue

“H ush crying, Cassie. Things will get better. We’re going to find a home. We’ll have a family. If we can’t find one that wants us…then we’ll make one for ourselves. All of us.” The house was quiet in the late hour. Others had gone to bed, but the two sisters huddled on the back porch steps, cloaked in the silence of the yard lit by the silver glow of the full moon overhead.

“What do we know about making a home? None of us have had one of those…not really. And where? Where is this home?”

“It’s where your heart is,” Tori whispered. “That’s what Granny said when she had her right mind. She was smart and kind…she just got too old. So, I figure she knew better than most. Lots of people say that—I read it before and heard it on television once. So, we’ll use that to find our place and make it that way.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. I’ve always looked out for all of us and that will never stop.”

And Tori had kept that promise. She aged out of the foster system first. The money saved working after school and on weekends had been used in part to buy a seat on a bus leaving Baton Rouge, and she headed out with an old, donated suitcase and a mound of determination. Failure would not be an option. She was the first to set foot into the realm known as freedom—her sister and two brothers would be right behind her. They needed to know where home was. Her gaze locked on the vista outside the bus’s window. Her first decision was which way to go.

No reason to go but in one direction: west. That choice was made for no other reason than she loved sunsets and figured there would be more spaces to find a place to have a good view of one and find a likely home in places that weren’t so crowded already. And when she had stepped off the bus at the next-to-last stop on her ticket, she heard that voice inside her say she just might have found the place.

Something had made her take note of her surroundings as she nibbled her food on the park bench. And there was an omen—two as a matter of fact. One was that the light had changed to a warm glowing orange. The clouds in the sky seemed to reflect it and created a patchwork quilt of warmth and welcoming, slowing the approach of dusk. And to seal the deal, while she sat on the bench contemplating the amazing beauty, a small mewing sound had come from the bank of bushes beside her. Upon careful inspection, there was a tiny face, one that seemed too big for the rest of its body, which didn’t amount to much at all. Huge gold eyes watched her with wariness, yet hunger was the predominant interest. In fact, when she had picked up the little creature, it was light as a feather on the breeze. Clearly, it had smelled the half of a bologna sandwich she had saved from her lunch to have as dinner, being economical with her funds.

“Okay, little one, you just might need this last bit of food more than me.” She handed it over and sat both on the bench beside her. The cat gobbled the bit of food down in nothing flat and looked for more.

“We’ll get more soon enough,” she said and scooped him up, where he seemed to settle into her palm against her chest with relief. She wasn’t alone. Neither did it seem either was the kitten. The sign above the bus station creaked in the breeze.

“Destiny’s River,” she read, the words rolling off her tongue for the first time. Tori stood and looked around once more. It seemed to be a quiet place. Lights blinked red and then green along the street she could see from her position. A few ranch vehicles had passed during her time sitting there. And a couple of passersby had even smiled at her. That didn’t often happen…if at all…where she had come from. People kept their heads down and their smiles hidden from view. They hurried. Here, looked like people just walked, maybe even strolled.

After Tori and her siblings had been given over to their grandmother to raise when they were just a little more than toddlers, they had been moved to Alabama. She had heard stories of when her parents had met in Texas and married. Her father had been an oilfield worker. Her mother had worked days as a waitress and nights as a cleaning lady in offices. A neighbor had been their surrogate parent/babysitter. Then fate had sent them all from Texas to Alabama after their dad took off to parts unknown and their grandmother was taken by cancer.

She took a few moments to breathe in the approaching early evening and memorize her first sunset in Texas and possible new hometown. The sidewalks were clean and there were even planter boxes every few feet and she could imagine them filled with flowers in the spring. Oak trees were in abundance on the green spaces. It was a place that seemed to invite one to stay a while and search out hidden treasures in the shops she had seen coming into the town. It could be a postcard that one might expect of a place one called home. Home.

Tori tucked the kitten closer inside the denim jacket she had on and went inside the station. The ticket agent looked up and gave her a kind smile and a nod. She asked for the refund for the rest of the ticket and got it, along with another smile.

“You visiting here, miss? Have relations meeting you?” It didn’t seem intrusive, so Tori returned the smile.

“I don’t really know about staying yet. I might take a look around. Do you know if any of those stores I saw as the bus came into town might be looking for help?”

“I see. Well, you won’t find a better place to stay for a while. Folks round these parts are pretty welcoming.” She paused. “I’m thinking there might be two or three places that could do with more help. And if you’re in need of a place to stay, you give a stop at this address,” and she was jotting down something on the slip of bright pink paper. Then she handed it over. “That’s my cousin Addie’s boarding house. I’m Birdie McGraw, by the way. You go three blocks past the courthouse on the square. Turn left at the gazebo at the edge of the big lawn and go one block and it’s a cute older house with bright green shutters. She might have a little space open. And she’ll know I sent you, so she’ll give you a good deal. Her prices are the best in town.”

“Thank you, I will certainly check with her.” Tori thought of something else before she turned away. “Do you know if anyone might be looking for this little kitten?” She pushed the cloth back a bit and the kitten landed its wide-eyed stare on the older woman.

“That little one showed up here with a couple of others—probably litter mates—about four…five days ago. Made themselves a place in the bushes. I might have left a few nibbles for them here and there, but this isn’t a place for little ones like that…too busy with traffic during the day. And I think the other two might have found homes. Haven’t seen them around for the last couple of days. This little one is on his own.”

That was all she needed to verify. Tori nodded. “Guess the next thing is to find a place that not only takes in humans but a straggly kitten, too.”

The woman named Birdie grinned. “Well, you won’t get any grief from Addie. She has had a neon sign out for all sorts of critters most of her life. Seems you two are partners now. Good luck to you both. Don’t be a stranger. I’m here most days.”

The woman’s kindness enhanced the warmth of the early evening’s glow inside her. And when she located the house with the green shutters, a strange yet peaceful feeling settled over her. She stood outside the garden gate for a couple minutes.

“Well, have you made up your mind?” came the voice from one of the rockers on the deep front porch. A woman, white haired, with round-rimmed glasses sat forward a bit and settled her gaze upon her.

“Pardon me?”

“That gate opens up nicely. Best come up and sit a spell. View of that Texas sunset only gets better from one of these rockers.”