Rancher For The Holidays (Love Inspired) by Myra Johnson

interest in riding the trail. Pastor Chris, Ernie Coutu and Pete Oldam had asked to ride, along with Ben and Marley.
    Then at the last minute Marley changed her mind. “Lucas should go in my place. He needs to get familiar with the trail.”
    Ben chimed in, “Forget it. Lucas can take my horse. You two go on and enjoy the ride.”
    Marley smiled uncertainly as she started toward the ranch hand holding Dancer’s reins. Then, from somewhere along the main road, a car backfired and the horses jerked their heads up, ears on alert. Even though Dancer’s reaction was mild and he settled quickly, Marley didn’t look reassured. “I think I’ll sit this one out.”
    No amount of cajoling would get her on the horse, so when it came to a choice between staying behind with Marley or spending the next few hours in the company of Lucas Montero, Ben’s decision was easy. Judy Jackson, the retired teacher, said she hadn’t ridden since she was a girl but would love the chance to sit on a horse again. One of the hands boosted her into Dancer’s saddle and she happily rode off with the group.
    While Ben leaned on the fence rail and watched the riders depart, Aunt Jane invited Marley and Pete’s wife, Bonnie, inside for more coffee.
    “Be right there,” Marley said. She wandered over and stood next to Ben. “Sorry for chickening out.”
    “Didn’t mean to pressure you, but I thought you had a good time when we rode last time.”
    “I did. But...today felt different.” She sighed and rested her forearms on the fence rail.
    Several moments of silence elapsed. Ben glanced over, noticing the fatigue lines around her eyes. “You okay?”
    “It’s been a long week.” She lowered her chin onto her folded arms. “And with this trail ride to organize, things are only going to get busier.”
    “Looks like you’ll have plenty of help, though.” Ben wanted to ask what she had going with Lucas Montero but decided it was none of his business. Besides, something else was niggling at him. “I couldn’t help noticing you looked a little uncomfortable while we were talking about media coverage.”
    She straightened abruptly and marched a few steps away, then spun to face him. “You’re going to keep the publicity local, right? I mean, the plan was to concentrate on the Alpine area, not go for regional or statewide coverage.”
    “I thought we’d start local, yes. But the further we can spread the word, the more interest we can generate to bring in more aid for Candelaria.” Ben cocked his head. “That’s the whole point, right?”
    “Yes, of course, but—” Marley hesitated briefly before her lips twitched in a tentative smile. “You said
we.
”
    Surprised at himself, Ben uttered a soft chuckle. “Guess your enthusiasm is rubbing off on me.”
    * * *
    Marley glanced over her shoulder to see Jane Whitlow smiling from the kitchen window. Great, she probably thought Marley had stayed out with Ben because they had something going between them. The woman couldn’t be sweeter, but she was terrible at disguising her matchmaking intentions.
    With a peek at her watch, Marley started toward the house. “It could be noon before they’re back from the ride. There isn’t much more I can contribute here, and I desperately need to get some work done at my studio.” Something that paid the bills so she could afford to take all this time off for the outreach ministry, keep her studio open
and
get out from under her father’s thumb.
    Ben fell in step with her. “I thought you’d want to wait for Lucas to get back. It sounded like you hadn’t seen each other in a while.”
    His tight tone drew her attention. She’d noticed from the moment Lucas arrived that Ben didn’t appear to like him much. Which was ridiculous since they obviously didn’t know each other. “We see each other at church from time to time. He’s a wilderness guide for Purple Sky Expeditions here in Alpine, but he grew up in Candelaria.”
    “So...you two