LITMIR.BIZ

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the potential to be his dream job with a future, even though it landed him back in one of the many places he’d had no intention of ever returning. To a town where he—and no doubt plenty of others—could still smell the lingering stink of his no-good father.

      * * *

      “I understand your concerns, but I have reason to believe Cash will be a good fit,” Grandma Jo assured her for what seemed the hundredth time since Rio appeared at her office door an hour ago. “You’re like I was at your age. Restless. Independent. Wanting to strike out on your own. Bringing Cash on will allow you to do that.”

      But Grandma’s striking out on her own had involved marrying Rio’s grandfather and joining him in overseeing Hunter’s Hideaway. Not exactly the same thing as Rio’s desire to, as her brothers teased, “save the world.”

      “I don’t think Cash is the best we can do.”

      “So you’re willing to stick around indefinitely to give us more time to drum up and try out additional candidates?”

      “That hardly seems fair, does it?” She’d had everything worked out months ago with her cousin J.C., only to have his abrupt departure and her own looming one send her Grandma Jo scrambling to find someone to take over the management of a critical segment of the family operation. Grandma had nixed Rio’s suggestions of pulling Grady back in to oversee it. He’d moved on to other business-related responsibilities.

      “Well, then, there’s your answer. Cash is our man.”

      She wasn’t leaving her granddaughter grounds on which to further an argument, but Rio had to give it one final try. “Did you know he was bringing a kid, or did he just show up with one?”

      “I didn’t know initially, but he did call ahead to confirm that bringing his son was okay. I assured him it was. So, sweetheart—” Grandma Jo put her arm around Rio as she walked her to the office door “—even if you were willing to delay your departure, an offer has been made and accepted. Give Cash the benefit of the doubt and focus on getting him up to speed on our operation. Not only are we preparing for that events contractor’s visit, but in a week we’ll see a big uptick in guests coming from the Valley and elsewhere for a cool weather retreat.”

      “I know the drill, Grandma. I’ve lived and breathed it since I was old enough to sit on a horse.”

      “Then take care of business here and before you know it—” Grandma gave her a hug “—you’ll be free to take care of business elsewhere.”

      So this wasn’t a ploy to get her to stay after all. Could it be that the whole family was tickled pink to see her depart?

      When a disheartened Rio entered the lobby, her mother was manning the front desk. At sixty-one, Elaine Hunter looked amazing in jeans and a light, mint-green sweater. Nobody who didn’t know the shoulder-length sandy brown hair was a wig would ever guess she’d been battling breast cancer since early last fall.

      Rio’s heart swelled with love. “Hey, Mom.”

      “Hi, honey.” Her mother’s face lit up at the sight of her. “I’m sorry I missed you when you got back this morning. Then I had lunch with your dad in town.”

      “Grady told you I needed to see Grandma, right?”

      She nodded, her gaze probing. “How did that go?”

      “As expected, I guess. I was basically instructed to forget the fact that her new hire has a past we don’t need in our present. Just keep my chin up and carry on.”

      “That’s how your grandmother’s dealt with life—the death of her parents when she was a teen, the loss of an infant child, your grandpa’s sudden death. It’s not a bad thing.”

      “I’m not saying it is. It’s just that...” If only someone understood. Understood why Cash wasn’t a good fit.

      “It’s that,” her mother echoed quietly, “you don’t want to look back on your departure with regrets.”

      Rio searched her mother’s eyes. Having come face-to-face with her own mortality this past year, did Mom look back over her life with regrets? Things she wished she’d done—or hadn’t done? Things she might not now have time to do?

      But far more than the fear of regret was now driving her daughter. Rather, it was a secret she’d never told anyone—that when Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last September, Rio had told God she’d make her own life count for Him in exchange for Him saving her mother. That she’d no longer ignore the earlier inner promptings to devote herself to counseling those who—like her—were victims of all-too-common dating violence.

      As much as she loved her family, the horses and the Hideaway, what she was doing here now fell far short of fulfilling the vow that kept her mother safe.

      “Rio!” One of her two sisters-in-law waddled—for want of a more flattering word—into the lobby, her arms filled with pillows and bedding. With a huff of breath from the exertion, she plopped them atop the front desk. “You’re exactly the person I need to see.”

      Rio eyed her warily. “What’s up?”

      Shaking back waves of long blond hair, a weary-looking Delaney Marks Hunter slipped her hand protectively over a well-rounded belly. Rio’s formerly widowed brother, Luke, was ridiculously proud of that upcoming addition soon to put in an appearance not even a year after he and his new bride tied the knot.

      “Someone needs to take these out to the new hire’s cabin. There’s a double bed, but Grandma Jo’s also having a single rollaway delivered for his boy.” She patted the stack. “That’s quite a hike for me and Junior here...so we’re looking for a volunteer. Any takers?”

      “Do I have a choice?”

      “Very funny, but you don’t fool me, Rio. I caught a glimpse of that guy this morning when he was here to see your grandma. Whoa.” Delaney fanned her face with her hand. “I can’t imagine dropping this stuff off will be too much of a hardship.”

      Rio made a face. No doubt female guests at Hunter’s Hideaway would more than approve of Cash. Admittedly, there had been a time when she’d have been hyperventilating in the presence of a good-looking, well-built man like him. But she’d learned her lesson. God looked not at the outside of a man but at his heart, something she was learning to do, as well.

      And as far as she was concerned, any man who’d struck a woman had the darkest of hearts imaginable.

      But there was no point in going into that with Delaney. Rio lifted the bedding off the front desk and pulled it into her arms, noticing that her sis-in-law, mindful of the cool nighttime temperatures at this higher-than-Denver elevation, included light blankets. “I’ll take care of it.”

      Delaney’s eyes twinkled. “Cabin 10. Junior and I both thank you.”

      Once outside, Rio chose to walk rather than drive and followed the perimeter of the parking lot, diving off into the trees to pass by the barns and corralled horses that made up her world. The familiar scent of horses and hay, as well as a horse’s welcoming whinny as she strode by, tugged at her heart. She’d miss them. But God had more important plans for her life now.

      Branching off from the horse facilities, she entered a pine-lined, winding trail that led to bunkhouses and cabins sheltering employees of Hunter’s Hideaway. Overhead a raven squawked, and afternoon sun filtered through the pine boughs. She found her steps slowing as her mind wandered, trying to piece together what she knew of the grown-up Cash and his son.

      Cash wasn’t wearing a ring, for one thing. She’d checked that out immediately, much to her shame. So he was a single dad who’d once punched out his ex-wife. But how was a man with his background able to gain custody of Joey?

      Lost in thought as she continued past the cabins scattered along the trail, she was brought up short as someone behind her shouted her name. She spun to look back at one of the cabins, its door now standing open, and a hatless Cash on the porch staring

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