Chapter 1

1

DIANNA

D ianna let out a heavy breath as she forced herself to move forward toward Shane's friend Tristan and the little boy at his side. This was what she wanted, right? A new lease on life, something to give her purpose. She loved children and Shane's idea to try out his services with those struggling with autism had warmed her heart.

Shane was the kind of guy who selflessly continued to give and give. She couldn't think of one occurrence when he'd been involved in something just for himself. Word got around town about how he'd given jobs to those who needed money, and how his equine therapeutic center had been planned way before the country club.

He had enough money to come into Copper Creek and do whatever he wanted—and it turned out he was far more genuine than anyone she'd met in town. If she was ready to date someone, she might have swooned over him like most of the other women who lived in the area.

But the truth was, she wasn't ready for anything.

Brielle said it was because none of her sisters had been given the opportunity to explore relationships due to their father's strict rules. She didn't know what Brielle was talking about. Dianna was perfectly content to sit back and let her older sisters have all the dating fun and deal with all the drama that seemed to come along with it.

Only now, there were no rules. Her father had finally had some sense talked into him about his strict dating rules. She could date anyone she pleased. And now she felt like the whole town was staring at her and expecting her to find love at the snap of her fingers.

Well, if they expected her to fall in love with someone that fast, they would be terribly disappointed.

Her steps slowed and she avoided looking directly at Tristan. She'd heard enough about him from Shane. College friend. Single father whose wife didn't want to stick around.

He probably didn't want her pity. Not to mention, he'd brought his son here to get him some support. They'd probably both agree that the little boy was her priority.

She stopped a few feet away from the boy and got down at his eye level. "Hi, I'm Dianna."

"Mathew doesn't really talk much to anyone but me," Tristan interjected. "Even his speech therapist thought he was nonverbal for almost a whole year until Mathew warmed up to him." He offered her a crooked smile and Dianna's stomach twisted unexpectedly.

Still crouched with snow around her, Dianna smiled broadly at Mathew, who eyed her with distrust. "You know what? You're really lucky. Because I didn't like talking that much either when I was your age. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You're here to ride horses, right?"

He nodded but remained close to his father.

"Wonderful."

He held something clutched tightly to his chest and her focus dipped to examine it.

"Is that a Belgian Warmblood?"

Mathew's eyes widened and he pulled the horse away from his body a few inches to gaze at it before he glanced at her once more.

"Sure looks like it," Dianna said. "Around here, we have special events and those are the horses I see the most."

He hugged his horse once more but still refused to speak.

She got to her feet and gestured toward the side of the club as she met Tristan's gray eyes. "I know you probably have a lot to do to get settled, but how about we take a quick tour so you can be ready for the full day ahead of us tomorrow?" Dianna tore her gaze away from his intense stare and looked down at Mathew as Tristan placed a hand on his shoulder.

While deep and full of authority, Tristan's voice was also gentle and patient. "How does that sound? Do you want to go see the horses?"

Another nod.

Dianna beamed at them. "Come on. I'll show you around. Maybe you can even pick the horse you want to ride tomorrow."

Tristan fell into step next to her with Mathew on his other side. He leaned closer to her, his words soft as if he didn't want his son to hear. "I appreciate your willingness to help us out, but I wanted to give you a heads up that Mathew might take a long time to warm up to you, if he does at all."

A small smile touched her lips. "I'm not here for my benefit, Mr. Wood. I'm here for Mathew. If he doesn't want to talk to me, that's fine. He doesn't have to."

His brows creased and his whole body stiffened. A frown marred his features as he said, "Isn't that what we're here for? To help him with his social skills?"

They arrived at the barn and Dianna turned to Mathew. "Hey, buddy. How about you find your favorite horse and wait by his stall for me? I'm going to talk to your dad about some of the more boring stuff."

Mathew glanced from Dianna to his dad, then reluctantly wandered down the aisle.

Dianna watched him go, then faced Tristan and folded her arms. "Equine therapy is meant to help calm the child so they can better accomplish their goals. The skills Mathew might work on can include speech, social skills, and fitness, but it also includes learning how to care for something besides themselves. We'll work on following instructions and safety. But he'll also be focused on having fun."

The longer his stare drilled into her, the more uncomfortable she became. Dianna shifted and glanced in the direction where Mathew had gone. Shane had put her through a training program so she knew what to do, but she felt like she was just making excuses. Tristan knew his son better than she did. What right did she have to tell him how this would go?

She cleared her throat and offered another smile she hoped appeared more confident than she felt. "Autism affects everyone a little differently."

"I know that."

"Of course you do. That's why you warned me that he might not even talk to me during your visit."

His features tightened. This probably wasn't what he had wanted to hear, and she prayed she was on the right track as she attempted to make her point.

"Mathew needs to trust me, and he's not going to do that if I push him. The more I put him in an unsettled position, the more he's going to withdraw. I suggest you take a step back and let me try things my way. Yes, we'll work on social skills. But that doesn't always mean speaking. It's body language and respect. Let's just see how the next few weeks go before you decide that I'm not doing what I was trained to do."

His brows creased as he glanced back toward where Mathew was standing outside of a stall, staring up at a horse that had its head over the stall door.

Dianna shifted so she stood beside Tristan. "I take it that Mathew likes horses."

Tristan puffed out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's an understatement. He named every type of horse we passed on our way here. He knows what they eat and how big they can get. He knows what events they can participate in. Honestly, if we could afford to own one in the city, I probably would have gotten him one already."

"Has he ever ridden a horse before?"

He shook his head, then met her gaze. "This will be the first time, and the only reason I agreed to come was because Shane offered to let us have ten weeks of therapy for free."

Dianna's shock must have been written all over her face because he looked away and his expression darkened.

"If we could afford something like this, I would have done it already. The truth of the matter is that our insurance only covers the kind of therapy that takes place in an office setting. But something tells me this will be better for Mathew."

She glanced over to Mathew, finding him rubbing the nose of the horse, a bright smile on his face and completely oblivious to everything else around him. "You're not wrong."

Tristan glanced at her once more, his gray eyes no longer hard, now more curious. There was a yearning she could read in his eyes as if everything hinged on this experience.

Dianna motioned toward Mathew. "It doesn't matter if you're a child, an adult, typical or atypical—everyone has a currency. There are love languages, and hobbies, interests that pull us out of our shells. Autistic children are no different. Some like trains or dinosaurs. Mathew likes horses. I think you'll be surprised how much he comes out of his shell while he's here."

He didn't look convinced. When Tristan wasn't showing his exhaustion in his features, he was carrying it in his shoulders. He let out another sigh and raked his hand down his face. "Okay. If you think you can break open his shell, then you do what you think is best."

She smiled, a chuckle escaping her lips as she shook her head.

"What?"

Dianna stilled and stared at him. "Hmm?"

"What was that look for? Are you mocking me?"

"What? No, of course not."

The frown from before marred his handsome face. "Then why were you laughing at me?"

Eyes wide, she forced the lump in her throat down with a hard swallow. "I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing—Well, I guess I found it humorous that you've been around him for his entire life and you have yet to see what you're doing wrong."

"What I'm doing wrong?" His voice had a bite to it that she hadn't heard before and she flinched. "I'm sorry, why don't you enlighten me, what am I doing wrong in raising my child?"

"For heaven's sake," she said, still quiet enough that Mathew wouldn't hear. "I didn't mean it like that. I only meant that you have this mentality that you have to make him conform to society's standards. You want him to speak to everyone he meets and behave the way you want him to behave."

"That's not fair. I never said anything like that."

"Not technically . But let me ask you this. Are you trying this therapy because you think it'll be good for him? Or are you doing it because you think it's his best shot at being ‘normal'? Or at least what society deems normal."

She'd overstepped. The realization hit her like a slap in the face when Tristan's face turned a deep shade of red. She cleared her throat and looked away, feeling her own face flush with embarrassment. "The point I'm trying to make is that Mathew is different. He's never going to be what you or the world deems normal . People will always think he's disrespectful because society has taught them how to think. There's no such thing as ‘normal,' and people need to get used to that. Yourself included." Before she said another word that could get her in trouble, she spun on her heel and strode toward Mathew.

She was off to a great start. Nowhere in the manual that she'd read during all of her training was there a policy that stated she could speak to the parents that way. While she hadn't exactly yelled at him, she'd basically told him he hadn't been raising his child right.

Everything she'd said she'd meant. Opposition came from all sides when it came to autism. The ironic thing about Shane hiring her for this position had come after she'd gone through her training. There were several similarities between the way her brain worked and the way a typical child with autism thought. She'd never been diagnosed, but she'd always felt a little different—she'd just managed to hide it really well by keeping her nose in books.

When she was a child, she was great at pretending to be what others considered ‘normal.' She'd honed her skills, and every so often, she could pull herself together to go out with friends to the club and dance. But those moments took a lot out of her, much like she assumed would happen with Mathew.

She slowed her steps as she drew closer and crouched down beside the boy. "Do you want to know what his name is?"

Mathew gave her a sideways look, his right hand still clutching his toy horse, his left rubbing the horse's nose.

Dianna sensed more than saw Tristan approach. She tilted her head and let out a small laugh. "His name is Molasses. Isn't that silly?"

Mathew's face split into a grin and he looked at the horse again.

"I like him, too." She shot a look over her shoulder, finding Tristan's eyes boring into her. Unnerved by his stare, she forced herself to focus on Mathew. He was the reason she was here. And maybe after things got settled, she'd be able to find some common ground with his father.