Chapter 5

5

DIANNA

D ianna could empathize with what Tristan was saying; she could . But when he pointed out how good she was with Mathew, it didn't feel quite right. He probably meant well. She could tell he was trying to pay her a compliment.

She should just accept it and move on.

There was just one small thing she couldn't stand. It was like an itch she couldn't scratch. Everything she was doing was just how she would have liked to be treated when she was younger. Granted, she didn't have to grow up in the public sector. She knew most everyone in Copper Creek, and she didn't feel uncomfortable around them. But had their family moved after her mother passed, she might not have fared so well. It was easy to slide under the radar here.

That fact alone almost made her want to recommend that Tristan consider moving to Copper Creek. He hadn't made any comments regarding a job to get back to, which forced her to assume that his career was likely remote. From what Shane had mentioned, his wife was out of the picture, but that was all he said.

If he didn't have anything or anyone to get home to, this place would be a great one to settle down in—especially considering that Mathew loved horses.

Tristan's presence was starting to get to her in a way she hadn't anticipated. Of course she knew he would be around during their sessions. And that hadn't bothered her in the slightest. But after their strained conversation and all the events that followed, she was becoming more and more aware of him. She couldn't put her finger on what it was. It could be the way she continued to catch him staring at her like she was going to do something wrong.

But then that didn't make sense considering how often he kept complimenting the way she was with Mathew. She thrived when everything made sense and her mind could place everything in little compartments.

Right now, her head was starting to hurt and her heart was beating a little faster than normal.

She folded her arms even more tightly than before, forcing herself to focus on Mathew and the job he was doing. "Next, I'm going to teach you about the saddle. Then tomorrow we'll go for a little ride in the arena."

Mathew gave her another smile, but he still wasn't speaking. It would come. If Tristan was right, Mathew would have about ten weeks with her. She was confident they'd have their own form of breakthrough.

They finished up their little session and Dianna walked with Mathew back to his cabin. She hadn't planned on it, but Mathew had tugged on Tristan's hand and whispered something to him. Apparently, he wanted to show her something at their cabin.

They got to the house and Tristan opened the door, gesturing for them to enter. She stood in the entry area with Tristan as Mathew skedaddled off to go get whatever it was. When he returned, he had a sheet of paper in his hand.

Mathew held the paper out to Dianna and smiled broadly.

Dianna stared at the rudimentary drawing, though it was far better than most seven-year-olds could draw. It reminded her of the pictures she used to draw when she was younger. She crouched down and pointed to the image. "Did you draw this?"

He nodded.

"It's very good, Mathew. I can tell you're a wonderful artist." She offered the paper back to him, but he shook his head. When she glanced up at Tristan, she found his eyes on her. Man, she wished she could read his mind. It was moments like this she wanted to know what he was thinking.

"He wants you to have it."

Dianna blinked. "Really?"

Mathew nodded.

She smiled. "Thank you. You know, I like drawing, too. Maybe I can bring you a picture."

His eyes widened and Mathew nodded again.

When she got to her feet, she only briefly met Tristan's gaze. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'll come a little early so we can figure out what we're going to do about his schooling."

"I look forward to it," he said.

Tristan opened the door for her then paused, preventing her from leaving the cabin. It was getting dark already and her family was probably eating dinner. She needed to get going if she didn't want them to eat everything and leave her with scraps.

She stared at Tristan expectantly, hoping he would get the hint and let her get past him.

"Let me walk you to your truck."

"That's not necessary. I'm?—"

"Mathew." He glanced over his shoulder to where Mathew sat on the loveseat in the sitting area with a notebook and marker.

His son lifted his head and glanced in their direction.

"I'm taking Miss Callahan to her truck. Would you like to come with us?"

Mathew shook his head.

"Okay, you can stay here, but you have to stay inside."

He nodded and settled in with his notebook once more.

Dianna opened her mouth to tell him he should just stay put, but he stepped aside, motioning for her to take the lead. She could see it in his demeanor. Tristan wasn't going to take no for an answer.

She took a deep breath and let it out as she zipped up her coat and started down the path. They walked in silence, side by side. The tension in the air from earlier returned and she shoved her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting.

"I wanted to thank you," he said.

Her head snapped around to stare at him.

"For what you're willing to do with Mathew. I've never seen him open up this fast. You've taken a lot of the guesswork out of whether we should stay or not. I'll be making several calls in the morning to get him set up with the work he needs to do this semester." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a wry smile. "Just—thanks."

"We haven't even gotten into the thick of it—" she started.

"Regardless. I wanted you to know that I appreciate it—you."

She forced a smile. "You're welcome." This blatant appreciation from him felt strange and all she wanted was to move past the conversation.

They made it to her truck and he hovered as she unlocked it and opened the door. She climbed in and glanced at him once more. "Thank you for walking me to my truck."

"Of course." He still hovered, and for a second, she thought he might have something else he wanted to say. When he didn't speak up, she pulled the door shut and drove away. He shrunk in her rear-view mirror as she headed toward the main road.

"That's amazing, Matty! I didn't know you were so good at riding!" Dianna peered up at Mathew from the side of the horse. She probably didn't even need to walk beside him because he had a natural talent for riding, but it was policy for her to stay close by in case something went wrong and she needed to intervene.

Mathew sat tall in the saddle, a riding helmet on his head and the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face. He held tightly to the reins just like she'd shown him. So far they'd only managed to walk around the perimeter of the indoor arena, but she had a feeling he'd be up for more by this time next week, if not within a few days.

She could feel Tristan's focus on her from where he stood near the bleachers. It took everything in her willpower not to look in his direction and meet his gaze. Their meeting that morning couldn't have gone better. Tristan was all business. When it came to Mathew, he knew what he wanted. He was a good dad. It was a good thing she wasn't interested in starting any sort of relationship right now, because that was exactly the kind of guy she wanted to find. Someone who could take care of their kid the way Tristan cared for Mathew was one in a million.

Dianna swallowed hard and focused on Mathew again. "Let's take another turn. What do you say?"

He nodded.

"You know, when you get really comfortable with being in the saddle, you'll be able to get your horse to speed up just by pushing your heels into your horse's flanks."

Mathew nodded again, shifting in his seat.

Still no talking. That was fine. One of the first things they'd discussed was having him get used to her before urging him to do more than what he was comfortable with. She took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. According to Tristan, Mathew was very bright. He could retain a lot of information even if he had a harder time reading. He was great at math, so they didn't need to focus on that as much.

Her purpose would be to help him become more verbal and tutor him on his reading. That was simple enough. Those were her two favorite subjects.

Dianna glanced up at Mathew. "Do you know that one of my favorite things to do is read?"

Mathew glanced down at her and grinned.

"I was thinking if you'd like, we could spend some time each day reading whatever book you want, and then we could draw pictures of what we read about. How does that sound?"

His smile widened further. Mathew was such a sweetheart. It was a shame that people didn't see that part of him.

"Your father thought that you might want to start today. I figured I'd let you decide. You might be too tired after our riding lesson." She peeked at him, finding him shaking his head vehemently. "Good. I'd like to start today too. After being out in the cold for so long, I'm ready to sit in front of a fire and read a good book."

She let their ride continue for the allotted thirty minutes, then raised her hands to help Mathew down. But then Mathew's whole body grew tense. He held on tight to the reins and shook his head when she offered to help him dismount.

Once again, Dianna felt the eyes of Mathew's father drilling into her. This was what she'd trained for. She was supposed to help Mathew use his words and understand that there were moments he had to relinquish control. But there were also moments when negotiating was permitted.

"Hey, buddy. I only get to spend a short amount of time with you today. No one else is waiting to ride Molasses, so we could make one more trip around the arena. But I have to leave by dinner time. So I'm going to give you a couple of choices. You ready for ‘em?"

He stared at her with surprised eyes.

"One choice is that you go ahead and get down and we go do our reading and drawing and get plenty of time to do both."

Mathew's features pinched.

She let out a soft laugh. "The next choice is that you take one more trip around the arena and we get to read, but we might not have enough time to draw."

Mathew frowned.

"It's totally up to you. What's more important?"

He shot a look over to his father. No meltdown. No tears. So far, so good. He pointed forward.

"You want to go one more time?"

Mathew nodded.

She smiled brightly. "Okay. Let's go one more time."

He grinned.

"Just so you know, sometimes we won't get to have that choice. If someone else needs to ride Molasses for whatever reason, then we have to be respectful and let them take him."

Mathew's brow creased in the most adorable way. He frowned again, but then he did something she hadn't expected.

He nodded.