One Brave Cowboy by Kathleen Eagle Page A

visitations with Mark after admittinghe didn’t know what to do with a kid who wasn’t “normal.”
    But there was his lawsuit to consider.
    â€œIt’s a good place,” Cougar repeated as he backed away to let Celia out the door. “You can build on a place like this.”
    â€œThe one thing I worry about is that Mark might be a little too isolated, especially when school’s out. That’s why I got started with the horse…” She squinted into the sunlight, shaded her eyes with her free hand and scanned the site. “Where did he go?”
    â€œHe went in the barn. He took me in and showed me around a while ago. He’s the one who found the nails. Hey, what’s the story on that old car back in the—”
    â€œYou asked him for nails?”
    â€œI picked up the hammer, and he saw.” He gave her a silly grin.
    Cute again, but Cougar didn’t get it. Working together was one thing, but Mark wasn’t supposed to play in the barn alone. She set her coffee on the workbench and headed for the barn. “Celia,” he called after her. But she kept going. First things first.
    It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the barn’s murky shadows, but she heard a scraping sound, and when she saw what was making it, she stopped in her tracks. Mark was struggling with the nail keg.
    â€œCut him some slack,” Cougar said quietly.
    She turned, her heart pounding with excitement. “He heard. ”
    Cougar glanced past her toward Mark and then back again. He nodded, but when she started to speak, he signaled her to hold it. “Take a breath, Celia, you’re scaring us.” He smiled. “We’ve got nails.”
    She turned back to Mark. “Let me help you with that, Markie-B.” She hoped to see his eyes before she touched him to get his attention, and she was disappointed when it didn’t happen. In fact, he gave her a less-than-welcoming look when she laid hands on the keg. “No?”
    â€œMark’s got it,” Cougar said quietly. “We’ll have ourselves a corral before dinnertime. I was just telling Mark before you came out, I can hardly wait to show him the Medicine Hat mustang. Told him the horse loaded pretty easy, which is a good sign.”
    She looked at him curiously.
    â€œThat’s what he wanted to know. Sign of what? Sign that the horse is ready. Some signs speak louder than words.”
    â€œYou think so?”
    He thumbed his hat back. “’Course, I haven’t written a damn book on the subject, but I know a thing or two about coming back from a wild place. It takes some adjustment.”
    â€œAnd you can’t be sure who your friends are?” She watched as her son mastered rolling the heavykeg on the bottom rim. She felt rejected. Maybe she was the one who didn’t get it.
    â€œI think you know who your mother is. She’s the one who’s been there since day one. Mine’s gone, but if she was still alive, I’d probably want to lean on her if she’d let me.”
    â€œWould she?”
    â€œI don’t know. It’s been a long time. I like to think she would.” He laid his hand on her shoulder. “For a little while. Maybe you don’t want her to step back right away. But then something new comes along and you forget yourself for a few minutes. And then a few more and a few more.”
    â€œYou’re saying I’m too protective.” Mark rolled the keg through the open door, set it down, looked up at her and grinned. She gave him a thumbs up. “So you don’t think he heard you ask for nails.”
    â€œI’m saying he might just be listening more than you realize. I don’t know if he’s using his ears, but I think he’s trying to hear and be heard.” He slid his hand over her back and nudged her toward the door. “And I’m saying it’ll be good to get this corral fixed so we can sneak