Decker's Daughter - Caroline Lee
Chapter 1
“You kids wanna see something cool?”
When the surrounding children—who were all visiting Cauldron Valley Ranch on a summer camp field trip—shouted their encouragement, the man in the corral smiled and nodded.
“Well, alright then. Up, Contessa!”
Decker Cauldron smiled right along with the kids as the beautiful mare rose up on her hind legs and began kicking at the air, in a glorified show of power.
All his cousin Jim—the ranch’s resident horse whisperer—had to do, was flick his fingers, and the magnificent horse whinnied so loud, it had a few of the children clamping their hands to their ears.
But not the little girl beside Deck.
He’d been concentrating on a new stamp he was modifying in his workshop behind the stables, when the camp group had made their way into that area of the ranch. He’d wandered out to see what all the fuss was about, and had soon found himself standing with one booted foot propped on the lowest rail of the corral, and his arms folded on the top one.
He was getting a kick out of watching Jim work his magic, but not nearly as much as the little girl beside him seemed to be.
Her dark hair was pulled up into two poof-y pigtails atop her head, and she was wearing a pair of jean shorts, a red t-shirt, and had sneakers on her feet.
When Contessa reared up, the girl squealed with happiness, planted her foot on the next-higher rung, then scrambled up to the top, dangling over the top rail beside Deck, as if she was desperate to get closer to the horse.
“Should you be up there?” he asked in a mild voice.
“Yeah!” When she turned and smiled brightly, he saw she was missing one of her lower teeth, and the image she presented was adorably rumpled. “How else can I get a good view?”
He lifted one brow, not bothering to hide his own smile, and shrugged. “Your logic makes sense, kid.”
“I’m CJ, what’s your name?”
“I’m Decker.” He intentionally left off his last name, because he didn’t want to find out she was the child of one of the superstitious townspeople who’d been raised to think he and his brothers and cousins were bad luck.
But the little girl’s attention was already back on the mare in the corral, one of the ranch’s fastest racers, and Decker was sure she wouldn’t have given his name a second thought even if he had told her.
“I’ve never seen a horse this close before!”
Deck blinked in surprise. He knew ranching wasn’t in everyone’s blood, but this was Montana.
“Well, just be careful,” he cautioned, as he scooted a little closer to the kid, though he tried not to be too obvious about it. “I don’t see any of your friends standing on the top rails like that.”
When he nodded around at the other children, who were all watching with their faces pressed against the corral—and their feet firmly on the ground—CJ scoffed.
“That’s because they have no adventure in their souls. That’s what mama says about me, anyhow. Wow, look at that!” She pointed at Jim, who had Contessa high stepping around the enclosure.
“Okay,” Deck warned, “but keep both hands on the rail, yeah? I don’t want you falling off.”
The little girl rolled her eyes and turned to him. “How could I—”
He never found out what she was going to say, because the movement caused her to lose her grip on the top rail, and when she scrambled for purchase, it only made things worse.
Decker lunged for her, but he was a half-second too late. With a startled squeak, the little girl fell from the top rail, somehow managing to kick off and twist in mid-air, so she was facing the ground when she landed, which was a small blessing.
What wasn’t a blessing, was the fact she hit knees-first, then came down hard on her palms.
Deck was already wincing when he reached her. “Are you alright, honey?”
She was quiet, as if she’d had the breath knocked out of her, but as he lifted her upright, they both saw the blood on her knees, and she began wailing.
He wasn’t sure what to do.
Well, he knew what he wanted to do, but would she appreciate a stranger hugging her?
Her cries brought over a frazzled-looking woman, wearing the same red t-shirt as CJ.
“What happened?” she called, her hands flapping.
“CJ fell, ma’am,” Deck explained as he held the little girl. “Looks like some scrapes.”
“Oh, CJ…” the woman sighed, drawing out the name as if she were used to complaining about