LITMIR.BIZ

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go get mounted up. Can Aaron ride behind you? It looks like his cinch has just about had it.”

      “I’ll be glad to have Aaron ride behind me,” Daniel said.

      The ride back down the mountain wasn’t nearly as hurried as the trek upward had been. Aaron sat on the skirt of Daniel’s saddle and kept his small arms wrapped tightly around the deputy’s waist. At first the child was quiet and seemingly content just to be out of immediate trouble. But after a while the adventure of the moment caught up with him and he began to chatter with his rescuer.

      Behind the two of them, Maggie carefully guided her mare down the rough trail and listened to the mostly one-sided conversation. Aaron had never been a bashful child, but she had to admit that she was surprised by her son’s openness with Daniel Redwing. As far as she knew, Aaron had only met the man those two times he’d come to the house to interview her during the probe into Noah Rider’s murder. Apparently there was something about the deputy that had gained her son’s trust. Or maybe the fact that Daniel was a deputy explained Aaron’s friendliness, she thought suddenly. Aaron was simply dazzled to be carried down the mountain by an honest-to-goodness lawman.

      Just as she’d been dazzled to be kissed by one? Don’t even think about it, she quickly scolded herself. That had been just a momentary lapse of her senses because she’d been so upset over Aaron. She didn’t go around impulsively kissing men she hardly knew! Since Hugh’s death, she hadn’t kissed any man. Period. She hadn’t wanted to.

      On the way down the mountain, Daniel was able to pick up one of the deputies on his walkie-talkie and inform him that Aaron had been found and to spread the word among the other deputies and the ranch hands who were out searching.

      Darkness had settled in by the time the three of them rode up to the little barn. While Daniel and Maggie worked to unsaddle the horses, Aaron’s eyes darted from one long shadow to the next.

      “Gosh, I guess I am glad I wasn’t up there on the mountain in the dark. I thought I wanted to camp out by myself. But there might be mountain lions up there. Do you think they’re up there, Daniel?” Aaron asked him as Daniel carried one of the three saddles into the tack room.

      “Probably. I’ve heard several men talk about sighting them. And my grandfather used to hunt the big cats up in the southern mountains of Colorado. That’s not that far away from us.”

      Standing close to Daniel’s hip, Aaron looked up at him with childlike fascination. “Is your grandfather an Indian, too?”

      “Yes, he’s Ute. He lives on the Ute Mountain Reservation in Colorado. His name is Joe SilverBear.”

      “Does he hunt with a bow and arrow like the Indians used to a long time ago?”

      Daniel’s lips curved with amusement. “Sometimes. But he’s getting older now. He doesn’t hunt as much as he used to.”

      Aaron turned toward his mother. “Wow! Did you hear that, Mom? Daniel says there’s big cats on the T Bar K!”

      “Yes, I heard.” Maggie stepped into the tack room carrying a handful of bridles. “That’s one reason you’d better not ever try this camping thing again, young man,” she added sternly.

      Daniel fastened the saddle to the swinging loop of rope, then reached for the breast collar Aaron was holding. As he hung the piece of leather and mohair roping on a nearby peg, he said, “Aaron, if you really want to go camping that badly, maybe your mother will let me take you some time. Do you like to fish?”

      At first, Aaron was so surprised by the deputy’s suggestion he could only stare at him with wide, wonder-filled eyes. Then he looked at his mother and the words began to burst excitedly past his lips. “Mom! Did you hear that? Daniel said he’d take me camping! And fishing!” His eyes sparkled as he looked back at Daniel. “I love to fish and I’m good at it, too! Once I caught two trout at one time!”

      Daniel actually chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve already learned how to tell fishing stories.”

      “That’s not a story! That’s the truth,” Aaron insisted, then turned pleading eyes on his mother. “Mom, can I go? Can I?”

      Maggie thoughtfully began to hang the bridles in their usual places along the wall. She didn’t know what to make of this new development. A few minutes ago she’d been feeling a little guilty because she’d refused to allow Aaron to go on the camping trip with the boys’ club in town. She hadn’t realized just how upset she’d made him. But that didn’t mean she wanted her son to go on such a personal outing with Daniel Redwing. She hardly knew the man. And she didn’t even want to try to imagine what his motive in this might be. Still, she was reluctant to upset Aaron all over again. And she certainly didn’t want to offend Daniel after he’d gone to such lengths to find her son.

      “I’m sure Deputy Redwing has very little time away from his job. It might be a while before he could take you camping,” she gently warned.

      “That doesn’t matter. Just, can I go?”

      “We’ll see,” she said, using the vague promise to pacify him for the moment. “Right now I want you to run ahead and get in the shower. I’ll be along shortly to fix supper.”

      Aaron looked anxiously over at Daniel. “Are you leaving soon?”

      Daniel reached out and patted the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll stop by the house to say goodbye.”

      The child’s eyes suddenly lit with anticipation. “Okay!”

      He leaped through the doorway of the building and took off at a dead run up the trail to the house. Turning toward Daniel, Maggie shook her head in a hopeless gesture.

      “I’m so sorry about all this, Daniel. I’ve caused you and the department so much trouble. Thank God you didn’t have helicopters out looking.”

      “I’m just glad we found him safe and sound. You were very lucky. I guess you know that.”

      Nodding, she suddenly felt as if the darkness was swallowing them up, cocooning them in the little barn. With Aaron gone they were totally alone, a fact that Maggie couldn’t push from her mind.

      “Yes,” she murmured. “All the way down the mountain I kept thinking of the hundreds of things that could have happened to Aaron. And I kept thinking, too, that maybe—well, if something had happened to him, it would have been my fault. I guess I should have allowed him to go on the camping trip. It certainly wouldn’t have been as harmful as what might have happened today.”

      Frowning, Daniel stepped over to where she stood. “Look, Maggie, you were right earlier. I don’t have any children. I can’t tell you or anyone how they should raise their kid. But I believe you can’t allow a child to have his own way all the time just to keep him from running away. That isn’t any sort of discipline.”

      Her gaze dropped to the toes of her boots. “No. You’re right. But I feel so guilty.” She lifted her eyes back to his. “I’m sure you’ve already guessed that Aaron doesn’t have a whole lot of male companionship. Oh, there’s Skinny and the other ranch hands and there are his uncles, Ross and Jess, and their cousin Linc, but he doesn’t get to spend any serious, intimate time with any of them. They’re all so busy, and I guess none of them ever stop to think that Aaron misses having a father.”

      “Does Aaron remember his father?”

      Shaking her head, Maggie turned and began to straighten the bridles she’d hung on the wall. “No. Aaron was too small to remember anything when Hugh was killed. Sometimes I think that’s the worst part about it. I have my memories to hold on to, but Aaron doesn’t have anything. He doesn’t even know what it’s like to have a father.”

      Daniel placed his palm upon her shoulder because he wanted to comfort her and because standing so close to her made it impossible for him not to lay a hand on her in some way.

      “Neither do I,” he admitted quietly. “But I made it. So will Aaron.”

      Quickly

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