It Takes a Cowboy

eekend—at least until Jeffrey had pulled his stunt that morning.

She glanced through her lashes at her nephew, who was talking with Scott. Jeffrey responded so well to Scott, who seemed to understand how the boy’s mind worked. Would the lessons Jeffrey had learned during the past few days stay with him after they returned home?

Would either of them ever see Scott again?

After lunch, they cleaned the kitchen, then loaded their things into the Jeep. “I don’t want to go,” Jeffrey muttered. “I like it here.”

“You can come back another time,” Scott assured him. “We’ll go fishing again—with your aunt’s permission, of course.”

Jeffrey’s grim expression didn’t alter. Blair knew her nephew had heard too many empty promises from his father to trust Scott’s easy assurances. Like Jeffrey, she tended to be skeptical that they would ever be back. It was easy enough for Scott to make promises now, but real life had a way of interfering with even the most well-intentioned plans.

The plane was waiting in the small hangar where they’d left it. Scott pushed it out, transferred their belongings, then drove the Jeep into the hangar and secured the heavy padlock. Again, Blair let Jeffrey take the copilot’s seat, strapping herself into the back.

“Do you need help with your seat belt, Jeffrey?” she asked, leaning slightly forward.

“No, I’ve got it.” She heard the buckle snap into place.

Scott slid his aviator glasses onto his nose. “At least I’ve got someone to talk to during this flight. I usually have Cooper with me in the copilot’s seat, and he’s not much of a conversationalist.”

“Who’s Cooper?” Jeffrey wanted to know.

“My dog. Smart as a whip, but I can’t teach him to carry on a decent conversation.”

“What kind of dog is he?”

“Yellow Lab.”

“Have you had him long?”

“Since he was a pup. He’s five now.”

“You bring him to the cabin with you?”

“Yeah, he loves to fly. He keeps me company when I need a break from people.”

“I’ve never had a pet,” Jeffrey said with just a hint of wistfulness.

“You’ve never had a pet?” Scott sounded surprised. “Of any kind?”

“No. I tried to tame a stray cat once when I lived with my grandmother. I fed it every day and talked to it and stuff. He got to where he would let me pet him sometimes, but then he just disappeared. Grandma said he probably got hit by a car or something. I like cats, but Grandma said they don’t make good pets.”

Blair raised her eyebrows. She’d had a cat when she was growing up. It had been a wonderful pet, and a treasured friend. She hadn’t thought of getting a pet for Jeffrey. Had it been suggested a few days earlier, she might have argued that her busy schedule would make it too difficult to give the animal the proper attention. But this weekend with Jeffrey and Scott had made her start to see things in a different light. She’d been so concerned with Jeffrey’s physical well-being and his performance at school that she’d overlooked some of the emotional needs of a young boy. It hadn’t been that she didn’t care, she assured her stinging conscience; she had just been overwhelmed by the sudden responsibility of having to raise her nephew herself.

The conversation in the front seat turned to the operation of the plane, and Blair sat back, letting their words be drowned out by the roar of the engine. She made no effort to read during the flight this time. She simply watched Scott and Jeffrey, trying to analyze her complex emotions toward both of them.

*

“IS THAT EVERYTHING?” Scott asked when they’d transferred all the bags from the Cessna to the trunk of Blair’s white sedan.

Blair closed the trunk. “Yes, that’s all. Jeffrey, you have your backpack?”

He seemed almost surprised by the question, which made her realize that she’d hardly seen the battered backpack all weekend. Usually he kept it close to him, never letting it out of his sight. She’d respected his privacy about its contents, assuming he kept his most cherished possessions in the bag. As uncertain as his life had been, she didn’t blame him for wanting to keep his personal belongings close by.

“I put it in the back seat,” he said.

“Good. Then I guess there’s nothing left for us to do except thank Scott for the weekend and get on our way.”

Jeffrey’s lower lip jutted in his usual pout. He didn’t want to say goodbye to Scott, didn’t want the weekend to end.