Free Reuniting With the Rancher by Rachel Lee Page B

simple touch reminded her of how much she had given up when she left him to pursue her dream.
    “Actually, I have.” She had to clear her throat, as it felt oddly tight. “I’d just begun to consider it after what you said. Of course, there are a million hurdles, but I could see it in my mind’s eye.” She heard the growing excitement in her own voice. “It could be so great.”
    He put the lid back on the ice chest and set it near the door. “I hear a but in there.”
    “I think I need to talk to a friend of mine, Laurie. She’s a child psychologist.”
    “Why? What worries you?”
    She met his gaze, feeling her smile fade. “Taking those kids and showing them life out here, then throwing them back onto the same city streets? I’m not sure it would be good in every case.”
    “Don’t some of these kids already go to camps of different kinds?”
    “Some do. I just need to get advice on the right way to do it so that it’s helpful, not harmful.”
    “Makes sense. It’s something that never would have occurred to me. I guess that’s why you’re the social worker. I was just thinking how great it would be for kids in the city to spend some time on a minifarm.”
    “Oh, it would!” She felt her excitement return. “I could see having a vegetable garden, maybe a few sheep or goats, bunkhouses for them. But I’d have to come up with a whole raft of confidence-building ideas for them, maybe get some trained counselors to participate...but that’s the end idea, the big idea. First I think I’d have to start pretty small.”
    She was bubbling again with the ideas that had been percolating before Lisa had showed up. “Maybe I’ll have them stay for the entire summer break.”
    “That might be good. And don’t give up on winter. We have Nordic skiing, sledding and ice-skating. Hell, I could make you a skating rink out back over the garden plot. And there’s a new guy up north of here. He bought out the old Olmstead place and is running sled-dog trips over the winter. I bet you could get him interested, and he might even like some helping hands from time to time.”
    Her eagerness was growing by leaps. It always helped to find that someone else thought an idea was good. “Really? You’d help?”
    “Of course I would.”
    Lisa’s voice startled them both. “Of course he’ll help,” she said with acid in her voice. “He’s quick to promise and quick to change his mind.”
    Whatever she might have thought of Cliff in the past, in that instant Holly’s heart went out to him. She saw his face tighten, saw his brilliant eyes darken. He appeared all too much like a man taking another lash from a familiar whip.
    Before he could respond, Holly turned to Lisa. “I don’t remember including you in this discussion. How about we have some ground rules if you want to stay here? First, you look after yourself. Second, if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it.”
    “Or what?” Lisa demanded.
    “Or I’ll throw you out.”
    Lisa rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
    “Listen,” Holly said calmly, “I’ve dealt with a lot worse than you. This is my house, so it’s my rules. Live by them or leave. And yes, I can throw you out. Easily.”
    Lisa glared, then flounced out the front door, slamming it behind her.
    “Bravo,” Cliff said quietly.
    “She’s actually quite breathtaking,” Holly admitted. “She doesn’t know me, but she’s carrying on like this. And no, I’m not going to ask.”
    “Ask away. The answer is no, she wasn’t this petulant when we were dating. So she does know how to behave.”
    “Only when she wants something, evidently. I guess she really does believe I won’t throw her out, so she has all she wants from me.”
    “Damn, Holly. I don’t want you to have to put up with this. I swear I’m going to find another solution.”
    “It’s just ten days. I’ve dealt with worse, believe me. We’ll either jolt along or she can clear out.”
    His frown darkened