A Father In The Making by Carolyne Aarsen Page A

led him back to the pasture where the other horses whinnied in greeting.
    He tugged his truck keys out of his blue-jeans pocket and checked his shirt pocket for his cell phone. A quick brush of his hands over his pants and he was ready to go. He didn’t figure on being back at the ranch until after supper again.
    He climbed over the fence separating the horse pasture from the ranch yard and strode across the packed dirt, swinging his keys on his index finger.
    And then he came to a stop.
    Mia’s van was still parked on the yard. She was supposed to have been gone by now.
    But the hood was up, the sliding door open. And he could hear one of the girls crying. Obviously, something was wrong.
    Denny was still working and Evangeline’s car was gone, as well, so it was up to him to find out what.
    Tamping down his own misgivings, Nate hurried over. From this point all he could see were Mia’s legs in the front of the van, the rest of her bent over the engine.
    â€œNate. You are here,” he heard Josh call out from the inside of the van.
    Mia pulled back so abruptly she banged her head on the hood. She cried out and grabbed her head, then grimaced as she looked at Nate.
    â€œYou okay?”
    Mia winced, then rubbed her head. “Yeah. I’m fine. But something’s wrong with the van. When I started it the oil light came on. Which doesn’t make sense because I just got an oil change on it before...before the fire.”
    â€œDid you turn it off right away?” Nate asked, pulling the dipstick out.
    â€œYeah. I didn’t dare let it run.”
    â€œSmart girl,” he said, wiping the dipstick off on the lower edge of his pant leg. He slipped the dipstick back in, pulled it out again, but nothing registered. Strange.
    He bent down to look under the van and then he saw a greasy spot of oil on the dirt. He crouched down and looked up into the engine. “I see the problem. There’s no oil plug in the line. All the oil has drained out.”
    â€œBut I drove it to the therapist the other day.”
    â€œThe plug was probably not put in properly and jiggled loose on the road back into the ranch,” Nate guessed. “Good thing it didn’t happen sooner or you would have seized up the engine and been stranded halfway between here and Cranbrook.”
    Mia pulled her hand over her face, releasing another sigh. “This is not good.”
    â€œYou needed to see the insurance guy today, didn’t you?”
    â€œHe’s leaving tomorrow and won’t be back in the office until next week Wednesday. I need to get my claim started as soon as possible. I can’t keep staying here at the ranch.”
    â€œI’m sure Denny and Evangeline don’t mind having you here,” Nate said, tightening the dipstick and closing the hood of the van, the clang of it reverberating over the yard with a sense of finality.
    â€œI know they don’t,” she said, releasing a sigh. “But they have Ella, and Evangeline does enough running around back and forth to town every night. As well as having her own stuff to deal with from the fire and they’re planning a wedding. Me and my four extra blessings definitely complicate things for them.”
    â€œBut your kids are such cute blessings.” As soon as the words left his mouth he felt like doing a face palm. Not the way to keep your distance, Lyster.
    But it earned him a smile from Mia. “I think so but I’m prejudiced.” And then she looked at her kids and in spite of all the stuff that life had thrown at her, Nate saw a gentle smile curve her lips.
    She didn’t resent the presence of these kids in her life one iota. Not a jot.
    He wiped his hands again and looked at the kids, then at his truck parked by his stock trailer across the yard. It was a double cab and if they squeezed, they could put the car seats and one of the kids in the back. The console in the front flipped up, which meant Josh