Distraction by Tess Oliver

he
wore loosely around his neck partially concealed his strong chin.
There was a long weapon strapped to the side of the saddle. His
long legs were covered with a layer of some type of soft leather.
It was as if Nonni had sprinkled my sketch with magic and the
knight in my picture had turned in his armor and helmet for a black
hat and cow hide.
    He lifted his face toward the house and the light
caught his handsome features. I sucked in a breath.
    “That boy has grown into such a fine young man, I
sometimes find it hard to believe he’s the same trouble making boy
I raised. I always knew he’d be handsome but . . .” She laughed and
turned off the water before the basin spilled over. “There isn’t an
unmarried girl within a twenty mile radius of this ranch who
doesn’t have her sights set on Cade Tanner.”
    I watched as he rode the horse all the way into the
yard. He caught a glimpse of me staring at him, and I could see a
slight smile over the blue neck scarf.
    “Does he always carry a musket?” I asked.
    “A musket? That’s his hunting rifle. As you witnessed
yourself, there’s plenty of dangerous wildlife out there. You can’t
be too careful.”
    Libby looked out the window again. “That’s a fine new
horse. Cade has always had a good eye for picking horse flesh.” The
horse lifted off its two front legs for a moment before dropping
back to all fours. “I just hope he doesn’t break his neck riding
that filly.” She turned back to me. “I just remembered, I found you
a pair of denim waist overalls that belonged to Cade when he was a
boy. I think they’ll fit you fine.” She glanced back at the mound
of potatoes and sighed. “You can try them on once we put a dent in
peeling those spuds.”
    Libby’s kitchen was large and sparsely appointed, but
it felt cozy sitting at the long, scarred table with the green
smell of freshly peeled potatoes and the rich steam of black tea
surrounding us. My shoulders were suddenly heavy with homesickness.
I wasn’t completely sure how Nonni would set about finding me, but
she was so clever and powerful, I was certain it would not be long.
I wondered how distraught poor Mari was over my absence.
    “You’d better watch what you’re doing there, Poppy,
or the doctor will have to come back here and stitch on one of your
fingers.”
    I smiled. “I guess I was just thinking about home.
Nonni and I would sit at our small work table sipping tea and
peeling vegetables just like this.”
    “I’m sure your Nonni will be here soon to fetch you.
It sounds as if you love your grandmother very much.”
    “I do. She’s raised me since I was a young girl, just
like you’ve done with Samuel and Cade.” I pushed aside a pile of
wet peels and picked up another potato. “If you don’t mind me
asking, what happened to their parents?”
“Don’t mind at all. Rick Tanner, their daddy, and my brother, died
two days after Cade’s sixteenth birthday.” She shook her head.
“Cade took it harder than Samuel. They were real close.” Her gaze
lifted and her eyes seemed to sparkle. “Cade is just like Rick,
tough as nails, a real fighter, but with a big heart. Their mother,
Caroline, was a beautiful girl. Cade has her eyes and dark hair.
Rick met her when he was traveling to New York to buy stock for the
ranch. She was a wealthy, fine young woman who sadly had no chance
out here in the wilds of Montana.” Libby resumed her task of
peeling. “Ten years ago, we had a terrible winter— worse than any
other I’d endured. Snow was piled up to the roof top. It hurt just
to take a breath.” Libby’s face softened as she drifted off in
thought again. “Didn’t think it would ever end. Caroline was always
frail, and the winter was just too brutal. She passed away three
days after the New Year. The boys were heartbroken.”
    “Well, they were lucky they had you to take care of
them. I don’t know where I would have ended up if Nonni had not
been there for me after my mother