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but pulled Lily away a few inches. Was Mark just being a kid? Or was he becoming more like his dad? Not now. Not this young. She had a lot of years yet to shape him into the man she hoped he’d be. When she’d met Victor in college, she’d been taken in, not by his looks, though he was quite handsome, but by what she took as an intense drive to better himself. After they were married she discovered how wrong she’d been. Victor was full of words, full of ideas, full of everything except the ability to follow through.
    Though he’d promised she could finish school she’d had to quit and go to work. If she hadn’t, they would have starved. Victor was too busy trying out one get-rich-quick scheme after another to keep a job. It had been a bitter lesson.
    What made it worse was his appetite for the good life. He wanted the best money could buy as long as she paid for it.
    She watched Mark as he once more led Lily close to the water’s edge.
    “That’s it, Mark. If you can’t obey, we’ll go back to the house.” She refused to let Mark turn into another Victor.
    “Mo…om,” he wailed.
    “No. You were told.”
    “I promise to be good,” he begged.
    “Let’s go.” She started back the way they’d come only to see Donovan and the new kid, Cal, heading toward them.
    Mark gave Lily a bump with his foot. “Who’s that with Donovan?”
    Phyl didn’t bother to answer as Mark had already pulled Lily up next to Stormy. She watched them. Cal seemed as happy as Mark. Was he for real or a good actor? Donovan was sober-faced until Mark pulled up next to him, then his face broke into a smile.
    With his Stetson low on his forehead, that dark beard and his devilish smile, no wonder her heart did the tango. This had to stop. Now.
    Donovan touched his Stetson with one finger; Cal took his off.
    “Hi again,” Cal said.
    “Who are you?” Mark asked.
    Cal laughed. “I’m the new hired help. Call me Cal.”
    “I’m Mark. Are you going to work here?”
    “I am.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    “Donovan said I could stay in the homestead or the room in the barn. I decided to take the barn.”
    “Whatcha’ going to do?”
    Donovan chuckled. Phyl liked the rumble of it. Darn. What didn’t she like about the man? Okay. He could do without the beard.
    “He’s going to help with the cattle,” Donovan explained.
    “Does that mean you’ll have more time to go riding?” Mark asked Donovan.
    Donovan shot a glance toward her. Phyl shrugged.
    “Maybe,” he said. “Right now, I’m showing Cal the ranch.”
    “Can I come?”
    “Mark. We’re going to the house. You know why. Turn Lily around and move.”
    Mark’s shoulders drooped, his head hung low. Donovan gave her a questioning look. She shook her head. Not today. He wasn’t going to make her change her mind. Mark had to learn. Self-discipline was a difficult concept, but it started with obeying rules.
    Mark pouted in silence as they rode back to the house.
    He went straight to their room. Phyl followed. They needed to talk. Now was a good time.
    “You won’t let me do anything,” Mark accused. “I’m not a baby.”
    She went to his cot where he sat with his arms crossed over his chest. Sitting beside him, she tried to explain. “You’re growing up, Mark. Before we know it, you’ll be a young man.”
    He glared at her.
    Inwardly, she had to admit she understood how he felt. “Part of growing up is learning right from wrong.”
    “I know right from wrong.”
    She ran a hand over his head, ruffled his hair. “That’s good. But obeying the rules is part of that.”
    Tears glimmered in his eyes. Maybe she was being too hard on him. He didn’t complain when she got him up early so she could do her job. Didn’t complain when she packed his breakfast and juice to eat later when he got hungry. He didn’t complain when she kept him so close. She didn’t want to smother him. She just wanted to keep him safe.
    At their home in California, Mark had a special