Kitabı oku: «Home to Crossroads Ranch», sayfa 3

The teasing brought a tentative smile from the slight-built Will. As one of the smallest boys in fifth grade, nothing could make him happier than to grow taller.

“My car’s parked in the south lot,” Guy said, motioning in that direction. “Want to ride with me to the restaurant and I’ll drop you back here afterward?”

Rainy was about to refuse, but the boys were already racing across the grass toward Guy’s vehicle.

By the time they’d battled the long line at the restaurant, finished their meal and returned to the church, mid afternoon had arrived. Rainy was glad she’d gone, though, because the dinner had settled her mind about Guy’s interest. They really had talked only about the ministry and, of course, her foster children.

With the kids anxious to get out to the ranch, they’d rushed back to the house, changed clothes and departed in record time. Rainy thought about giving Nate a quick call but then changed her mind. They’d agreed upon three o’clock. As reluctant as he’d been about letting the kids come, she was taking no chances. She would simply go as planned.

With the kids glowing with excitement, she aimed her minivan toward Crossroads Ranch.

With a sense of relief, an agitated Nate turned his truck beneath the crossbars of Crossroads Ranch. After an afternoon of trying to counsel Janine and Sal and listening to a dozen excuses about why they couldn’t get their lives together, home was a much needed refuge of peace. Now more than ever he was glad he’d had the foresight to leave a message on Rainy Jernagen’s answering machine, telling her not to come to the ranch.

The thought had no more than formulated when he rounded the curve in the long driveway and saw a green minivan parked next to the fat cedar tree in his front yard. He frowned, not recognizing the vehicle. Oh, well, he wasn’t a hermit. He liked company. One of his buddies must have traded vehicles. All of them, it seemed, now had families. Everyone but him.

Finishing off the last slurp of a fountain drink, he parked his Crew Cab next to the green van and hopped out, expecting Yo-Yo, his border collie, to come flying around the house in ecstatic excitement.

The sun had disappeared, and clouds added a nip to the ever-present March wind. Still, the weather was pleasant and he considered taking the four-wheeler down to the fishing pond before dark. Bible Fellowship no longer had Sunday night service, urging its members, rather, to have family time.

He’d had all the family time he wanted for one day, thank you.

“Yo-Yo?” he called. No answer. Ah well, the dog must be outside somewhere with Pop.

As his boots thudded against the long, ranch-style porch, the sound of voices caught his attention. They came from back toward the barns and outbuildings, so Nate hopped over the end railing and rounded the house.

What he saw stopped him in his tracks. A groan escaped his throat.

Standing on the corral fence feeding carrots to the horses were four kids, his grandpa and Rainy Jernagen. Yo-Yo gazed on with pink-tongued adoration.

Nate looked heavenward, wondered if God was laughing at him or punishing him, and then stalked toward the giggling, wiggling, chattering group.

Backs turned, they didn’t notice his approach. He planted his boots, his hands on hips and growled, “I guess you didn’t get my message.”

Six heads swiveled his direction. Yo-Yo leaped to his feet.

Nate’s scowl must have startled everyone except Pop, because he was the only one who spoke. Lowering his foot from the fence rail, his grandpop said, “Nate, boy, you made it back.”

Obviously. “What’s going on out here?”

“Rainy brought the children for a tour. Said you invited them.”

No use explaining to Pop that Rainy had twisted his arm until he’d yelled “uncle.”

“She told me what you done to help her yesterday,” Pop said. “When the young ones got scared. Mighty nice of you.”

Nate recalled squatting in front of a dark closet, assuring a shaking boy and girl that he was big and he could protect them. It was a lie. He couldn’t protect anyone, but they’d come crawling out anyway, trusting him, messing with his heart.

“I called,” he said, turning his attention to the guilty party. “Didn’t you get my message?”

Rainy hopped down from the fence, dusting her fingertips together in a feminine gesture that didn’t accomplish a thing but sure looked cute. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked fresh and pretty in jeans, sneakers and a blue hoodie that matched her eyes.

“What message?” she asked, smiling at him despite his obvious irritation.

“I left a message on your machine. Told you not to come, because I wouldn’t be here.”

One of her slender shoulders hitched.

“Sorry. I didn’t get any message.” She didn’t look sorry at all. Neither did the kids, who now huddled around her, eyes wide as they stared between Rainy and him.

“Don’t matter anyway, Nate boy,” Pop said. “I’ve had a fine time showing them around. I’d forgot how much I enjoy having kids running around the place.” His grandpa winked at Rainy. “Even if they are greenhorns.”

As if the two were old friends, Rainy made a face at Pop and then said, “Your ranch is really beautiful, Nate. And so big. Your granddad was kind enough to drive us over the fields in the hay truck.”

“We seen baby cows, too,” Joshua said. “They’re real nice. I petted one right on the nose and he licked me.”

The boy extended a hand as if the image of a calf’s tongue would be there as evidence.

Emma lifted a foot toward him, nose wrinkling. The bottom of her light-up pink sneakers was filthy. “I stepped in some…stuff.”

“But she’s not mad,” Joshua hurried to say. “Are you, Emmie? She liked it. We like everything about your ranch. Crossroads is a real good ranch. The best I ever saw.”

Probably the only one he’d ever seen, but at the child’s efforts to please, Nate softened. The deed was done. Rainy and the children had had their visit to the country and nothing terrible had happened. He should be thankful, he supposed, that Rainy had come while he was gone. Now he wouldn’t have to dread the visit. It was done. Over. Never more to return.

“So, you’ve had a good time then?” he managed, feeling a little guilty for his original gruffness. In truth, his bad mood had less to do with Rainy than his own family. No use taking his troubles out on her.

Rainy’s sweet-as-honey smile was his answer. “The best. A field trip of this kind is beneficial. They’ve loved it. Thank you so very much for allowing us to come. I can’t even express how special the afternoon has been.”

Rainy Jernagen was as nice as she was pretty. And he was a certified jerk.

He displayed his teeth, praying the action resembled a real smile.

“Great.” His head bobbed. “Glad you enjoyed yourselves.” And when are you leaving? If she kept staring at him with that sweet smile, he might start having crazy ideas about inviting her again.

And that was not about to happen. No way, Jose.

“So,” Pop said, clapping his hands together. “Why don’t we all adjourn to the kitchen? I got some banana bread in there somebody needs to eat. Maybe a glass of milk. Whatd’ya say, Will? Could you use a little sustenance?”

Will grinned but didn’t say anything. The rest of the group chorused their approval, so Nate had little choice except to fall into step. Yo-Yo, the traitor, didn’t even bother to say hello. He was too busy making a fool of himself over the children.

“Katie went all afternoon without screaming,” Rainy said to him.

“Good thing. That Hollywood scream might cause a stampede.”

Rainy stopped in mid-step, eyes wide. “Really?”

Her reaction tickled him. “No. Not really. You are a greenhorn.”

“Am not,” she said amicably, and Nate wanted to tease her again. He liked teasing her. Liked her gullible reaction. He looked ahead where four children pranced around his grandpa, yapping like pups. He was glad they were up there with Pop and Rainy was back here with him. And no, he wasn’t going to examine that thought too closely.

“Bet you wouldn’t know a stirrup from a saddle horn,” he said, baiting her.

“Guess I’m going to find out, Mr. Smartie.”

Something in the way she sparkled with energy gave him pause. “What do you mean?”

“Your grandpa invited us back next weekend.”

Nate battled back a cry of protest and more than a little panic. He shot a look at his grandfather’s flannel-clad back. “He did?”

“Sure did.” Rainy tapped his arm with one finger. “To go horseback riding.”

Like a punctured balloon, all the air seeped out of Nate.

Without upsetting everyone—including his grandfather, who would never let him hear the end of it—Nate couldn’t refuse. He wasn’t that much of a jerk.

Uneasiness crawled over his skin like an invisible spider.

Of all the dangerous ideas, Grandpop would have to come up with this one. Horseback riding. Small children on the backs of very large animals with minds of their own.

A recipe for disaster.

He sneaked a glance at Rainy Jernagen’s upturned face. His belly dipped.

From the moment she’d opened that red front door looking like a combination of mother earth and the bride of Frankenstein, he’d known she was trouble.

He should have run while he had the chance.

Chapter Four

Nate faced Saturday afternoon with a mixture of dread and anticipation. Long before Rainy’s minivan zoomed down his driveway, he worked the horses on a lunge line, rode every single one of them to get rid of any pent-up energy that might cause an issue with inexperienced riders and checked all the tack for wear. But any cowboy worth his boots knew there was only so much he could do to prepare. The rest was up to the riders and the horses.

He shut the door to the horse barn and leaned there a moment to whisper a prayer that none of the visitors would get hurt. A cool, meadow-scented breeze dried the sheen of sweat from his forehead.

“Quit your frettin’, boy, and come on. They’re here.” Pop came around the end of the barn from the direction of the calving shed.

Spring was calving time, and they’d gathered the expectant heifers into the lot for close observation. The old cows did fine birthing on their own most times, but the first calving heifers sometimes required attention. This crop of calves in particular was important to his expansion plans. He’d spent a fat sum of money on artificial insemination from one of the premiere Angus bulls. Sale of the calf crop would go a long way toward the purchase of the Pierson land next to his.

“We have better things to do today than entertain visitors,” he groused.

“You been saying that all week.”

“But you haven’t been listening.”

“Nope. Sure haven’t.” Pop clapped him on the shoulder. “Little relaxation won’t hurt you none. Don’t tell me a good-looking feller like you hadn’t noticed how pretty Miss Rainy Jernagen is.”

Nate kept quiet. Anything he said at this point would be used against him. Of course, he’d noticed. That was the trouble. But he didn’t want to be attracted to a woman whose entire life revolved around children.

“I like them,” Pop said.

Still Nate remained silent. Pop had decided to befriend Rainy and her pack of foster kids and nothing would stop him.

“Place needs a little noise. Even old Yo-Yo is tickled.” Sure enough, Yo-Yo had dashed away, furry tail in high gear, at the approach of a car engine.

“They’re your company,” Nate grumbled, refusing to be mollified. “Not mine.”

“Then I’m a lucky man.” Pop rubbed his weathered hands together. “Here they come.”

Sure enough, like a mama duck Rainy led her charges across the wide front yard. As soon as the kids spotted him and Pop they broke into a run, leaving Rainy to saunter alone.

Nate tried to remain focused on the children instead of Rainy, but somehow his eyes had a mind of their own. They zoomed straight to her.

Pop was right. She was pretty in a simple, wholesome manner. Not knock-your-hat-in-the-dirt, tie-your-tongue-and-make-you-stupid gorgeous, but pretty in a way that made a man feel comfortable around her. Made him want to know her better. Made his belly lift in happy anticipation.

Today she reminded him of the daffodils sprouting up in the front yard, bright and pretty and happy in a yellow fleece shirt above a pair of snug old jeans and black boots. He did a double take at her footwear and grinned. Rolled-up pant legs brushed the tops of a pair of spikeheel, zippered dress boots that sported a ruffle of fur around the top. Girly. Real girly.

“What you wearing there, Slick?” he asked, moseying out to meet her. He leveled a penetrating gaze at her fancy high heels.

“You said to wear boots if we had them.”

“Um-hum. Boots.” He angled one of his rugged brown Justin Ropers in her direction. They’d seen better days. “Real boots.”

“These are real boots.”

“Yep, if you’re walking down Fifth Avenue in New York.” His grin widened. “Or Tulsa. City slicker.”

The corners of her full lips tilted upward. “Are you making fun of my choice in stylish footwear?”

“Sure am.” In actuality, he thought they were feminine and sassy even if they weren’t the best boot for riding horses, but giving her a hard time was easier than a compliment.

She waggled a foot at him. “Laugh if you want, cowboy, but I already had them in the closet. After I shelled out money for four pairs of kid boots this week, I decided these would have to do.”

Hands fisted on his hips, Nate tilted back, his mouth twitching in amusement. “You bought the kids new boots for this one day?”

Rainy rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Your granddad said we could come out as often as we’d like, so I thought the boots a sound investment.”

Suddenly the joke was on him. “Pop said that?”

She grinned. “Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to get rid of us?”

Because I am. But he didn’t say that. He did, however, send a scowl toward his annoying, meddling grandfather. What was the matter with that old coot anyway? He knew Nate’s feelings about kids. He also knew the reasons his grandson never planned to have a family. He had one. One messed-up, constantly-in-need family was all he could handle.

“Nate, Nate!” Emma, the blond bombshell, barreled at him as fast as a first grader’s legs could run. She didn’t slow down until she slammed into his kneecaps.

“Whoa now.” Nate caught her little shoulders. Bright blue eyes the color of cornflowers batted up at him. She was a gorgeous little girl, already stealing hearts. Some daddy would have his hands full with this one.

His chest squeezed at the thought. Emma didn’t have a loving daddy to protect her.

“I got pink boots. See?” The little charmer twisted her foot this way and that for his perusal.

“Nothing but pink would do for Princess Emma,” Rainy said.

“They’re gorgeous, darlin’,” Nate said.

The child’s smile was as bright as Rainy’s sweatshirt. “Joshy’s got red ones and Will gots brown. He told Rainy he wasn’t having no sissy boots. Will wanted man boots like yours.”

Nate chuckled and glanced toward the corral, where Will and Joshua had gone. Both boys had their hands sticking through the fence. His smile disappeared. “You boys watch out doing that. If the horse thinks you have something in your hand, he might bite.”

Both children yanked their hands inside and turned stunned faces toward Nate.

“They didn’t know, Nate,” Rainy said softly.

“That’s the trouble,” he groused. “They don’t know anything about a ranch.”

His sharp tone brought a puzzled look. “I’ll keep a close eye on them.”

“See that you do.” He started toward the barn, where Pop was hauling saddles and tack out into the corral. Rainy kept stride, rushing a little as her fancy-heeled boots poked perfectly round holes in the soft earth.

“Will you teach us how to saddle the horses?” Hands shoved into her back pockets, yellow shirt as bright as the sunshine overhead, Miss Rainy’s face was alive with interest and enthusiasm. Was she always so…so…optimistic?

He slid her a sideways glance. “Why?”

“Learning new things is good for the kids.”

Yeah, so they could hang out on his ranch and bug him.

“And it will be fun, too.”

He made a huffing noise, but Rainy didn’t get the message that he was in a bad mood. She chattered right on.

“Where’s your donkey?”

Nate tilted his head in question. “All you’ll find on this ranch are cows and horses.”

“But you said…” She bit her bottom lip, looking confused.

“I said what? That we own a donkey?” He remembered no such conversation. Was she losing it?

“Last Saturday at my house. You said you had horses for fun but you rode a donkey…” She paused, a small furrow between her pale brown eyebrows. “…or maybe it was a mule, for the real work. Aren’t a mule and a donkey the same thing?”

Nate couldn’t help himself. He laughed. Once he started he couldn’t stop. He looked at his grandfather and things got worse. Pop leaned on a fence post doubled over, one arm pressed against his belly and a fist against his mouth. His cheeks flared out, ruddy and misshapen below his shiny, balding head.

All around his feet riding tack lay scattered, as if he’d dropped everything the minute he’d heard Rainy’s comment. The strangled, chuffling sounds coming from his short, round body were a failed attempt to be polite.

Nate’s sour attitude vanished faster than tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant. Hands on his thighs, he bent forward, his whole body shaking with laughter.

Meanwhile, Rainy and her children stared in bewildered curiosity at the two chortling ranchers. Joshua and Will exchanged glances, each lifting his shoulders in a shrug.

When Nate could finally catch his breath, he took Rainy’s arm. “Come here. I want to show you something.”

Still chuckling, he led the way into a covered area at the side of the barn where all vehicles, tractors, mowers, etc. were parked.

“This,” he said, grinning as he approached an ATV with a small pickup bed on the back and a sturdy four-wheeler front. “Is the only Mule you’ll find on Crossroads Ranch.”

Emblazed across the vehicle’s front were the words Kawasaki Mule.

“Oh.” A becoming shade of pink neoned from Rainy’s pretty cheekbones. She touched three fingers to her lips, lifted blue-gray eyes to his and giggled. “Oops.”

Her cute reaction got him started laughing again. She joined him, laughing until she grabbed her side and said, “Stop. You’re making me hurt.”

By now, they were surrounded by the rest of the gang.

“Can we ride it?” one of the kids asked, awed by the camouflage green machine. Both boys had crawled inside and were investigating.

“Maybe sometime,” Nate said before he could think better of such a promise. “Not today. Today we ride horses. Come on. I’ll show you where the rest of the tack is kept.”

“Can we pick our own horse?” Joshua asked, pointing. “I like that brown one.”

“Champ’s a good pony. We’ll saddle him up.”

“I want the blue one,” Emma said, pointing toward a blue roan Appaloosa mare who grazed quietly outside the fence.

“Hold on there. We’re only saddling three horses today—Champ, Patches and Bud.” They were the oldest and most gentle.

“But there are seven of us,” Will protested. “Do we have to share?” He said the last word as though it tasted sour.

Nate nodded. “Today you learn inside the corral. Grandpop and I will stay on the ground and teach. Maybe another time we’ll all trail ride on separate horses.”

Another dumb comment on his part. If he kept talking, the Brady Bunch would be regulars around here.

The group looked a little despondent, but Nate wouldn’t budge on the issue of today’s ride. Not one of them knew anything about a horse. Before he’d take them outside the corral, they needed instruction.

Demonstrating the proper method of saddling a horse took a while. Except for Will, the kids were all too small to lift the saddles or tighten cinches on their own. With Pop’s help, Nate let the kids think they’d done the work. Saddling was the easy part. It was the riding that worried him.

“Okay, kids, go stand on the fence until I call your name.”

All four of the children broke into a run. Emma ran directly behind the horses. One of the animals startled and hopped forward. Katie screamed.

Nate thanked God on the spot that all of his horses were dead broke and unfazed by the racket. The fact that Bud had jumped was proof, though, that even the best trained animal could be unpredictable.

He handed a set of reins to Rainy and one to Pop, taking the last one for himself.

“Ever ridden a horse before?” he asked Rainy as they led the horses forward into the center of the lot.

“Well…”

Nate looked heavenward. “That’s a no.”

“We can learn,” she said, all chipper-like.

“Um-hum. Tell you what, I’ll use you to show the kids how this is done. Then Pop and I will lead you around until you get the hang of it.”

Which he figured would never happen.

“Sounds good.” She dusted her fingertips in that pretty way and approached the horse.

“Other side,” Nate said, hiding a smile.

“Does a horse know right from left?”

Was she serious? One look at her dancing eyes and he knew she was joking. “Most horses are trained to the right. Hear that, kids? Always approach a horse from the right. Never walk behind a horse where he can’t see you. It scares him. And since he’s a lot bigger than you, he might accidentally hurt you, not because he’s mad but because he’s scared.”

Rainy did as he instructed, going to the right side. As he helped her into the saddle, her sweet scent mingled with the more familiar smells of leather and warm horseflesh. Coconut. She smelled like coconut. Keeping one hand on the reins and the other on the back of the saddle, he stepped back. A man didn’t go around noticing how good a lady smelled if he wasn’t interested in her. Which he wasn’t. He couldn’t be.

“You okay up there?” he asked.

Leather squeaked and shifted as she adjusted her feet in the stirrups. “Great. This is awesome.”

At her delighted expression, Nate’s heart bumped and he had trouble looking away. “Be careful of those high heels.”

Concern creased her brow. “Will they hurt the horse?”

Nate’s nostrils flared with humor but he held in a laugh. “Champ doesn’t care what kind of boots you wear. For all I know he might even prefer fancy, furry lady shoes.” Actually, Nate was growing rather fond of them. “But heels that thin and long could get stuck in a strap or hung up in the stirrups.”

“Am I in danger?”

“You’re okay. I’ve got you covered.” He hoped it was true.

The kids set up a howl. “When’s our turn? I want to ride.”

Nate shook off his unwanted entrancement with the lady and refocused on the children. There were four of them, all too young and inexperienced to go unsupervised for even a minute. Hadn’t past experiences taught him anything about the dangers of kids and ranches?

“Hold on now. Miss Rainy and I are going to show you a few things first.”

He ran through the basics, emphasizing safety for both horse and rider. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the kids, he was abnormally conscious of Rainy watching him from her horseback perch. He couldn’t help wondering what she was thinking as she looked down. Was she watching to learn or because she liked what she saw?

The second notion made him uncomfortable, though he couldn’t pinpoint the reasons. Maybe he should have shaved this morning.

Finally, Rainy said, “I think I can do this, Nate. And the kids are anxious to try. Let’s give them a chance.”

With a degree of anxiety, Nate helped her down and then queried each of the children on the lesson he’d just presented. Satisfied that none of them would do anything crazy, he assigned horses, and the adults each helped a child mount. Nate took responsibility for the little girls, putting them both on Patches, an old mare with the patience of Job. Rainy took Will, the oldest and most responsible, while Pop worked with Joshua.

After a while, the boys were riding on their own around the lot, blissfully unaware that the horses knew what to do without any help from the inexperienced riders. Pop walked along beside the boys, talking and instructing as they rode. With Will plodding around in a circle, Rainy drifted over to help Nate with the girls. At least that’s what Nate told himself she was doing.

“Want me to saddle another horse for you?” Nate asked. “You look kind of bored.”

Rainy, her hands inside the pouch of her daffodil sweatshirt, shook her head. “Not bored at all. Next time, though, I hope we can all ride together.”

Oh yeah, next time. Uh-uh. “Maybe.”

“The kids are doing really well, aren’t they?” Her gaze slid to the two proud boys, sitting straight and tall in the saddle, listening to Pop as if their lives depended on it. Which, in fact, they might.

Grudgingly, he had to admit the afternoon had gone better than he’d anticipated. At least no one had been trampled underfoot or thrown over a fence. “Not bad for a bunch of tenderfoots.”

“So you’ll let us come back again?”

Did he have any choice? “I thought Pop already invited you.”

“He did, but this is your ranch. I’d like to know you’re okay with our visits, too.”

Nate twitched under her scrutiny. She was smart. She knew he didn’t want them here. She just didn’t know why. And Nate was not about to share that little tidbit of guilt. “Why does my opinion matter?”

Rainy studied him with cool appraisal but changed subjects so quickly Nate couldn’t help wondering. “Your grandfather told me you have a brother and sister. Do they live nearby?”

“My brother’s in OKC.” Or he had been last time Nate had bailed him out of trouble. “My sister lives on the other side of Tulsa. Why?”

“Just curious.” She walked along beside him, her boot heels making phht-phht sounds as they sucked in and out of the loosely packed soil. “I only have one much younger brother. I envy people with big families.”

She didn’t know how lucky she was. Tempted to say so, he instead stopped the horse and spoke to the two little girls. “Ready to get off for a while, ladies?”

Two heads nodded, so he lifted Emma from the saddle first. She wound her arms around his neck and surprised him with a hug. “Thank you for the ride. I like your horse.”

“Mighty welcome, Princess Emma.” He handed the little girl off to Rainy, but her needy embrace lingered in his mind right next to Rainy’s sweet coconut fragrance. “Come on, Miss Katie. Down you come.”

He swung her up and out, braced for a scream that never came. Instead, she too hugged his neck. Nate swallowed a lump of disquiet.

“Can I lead Patches into the barn?” Katie asked.

“No, I want to,” Emma said. Inserting herself between Nate and Katie, she worked those baby blues to good advantage.

“Girls, stop.” Rainy went to her haunches in front of the children. “If you fuss, Nate won’t want us to come back. Fussing scares the horses.”

“Both of you can lead Patches,” Nate said, handing a rein to each child, while keeping his hand on Patches’ headpiece. The old mare would take herself into the barn, for that matter.

“You’re certainly diplomatic,” Rainy said, a smile in her voice as she fell into step beside him. “Ever consider a career in politics?”

Him? Diplomatic? Now that was a good one. “Ever consider a career in stand-up comedy?”

She laughed. “Maybe. I put on puppet shows. They can be funny sometimes.”

One corner of the barn filled with hay caught the attention of Emma and Katie. They dropped Patches’ reins and made a beeline for the bales, which were stacked in stair steps all the way to the open-beamed ceiling. Though prickly and itchy, Nate figured the hay was an otherwise great spot for the girls to play safely. He could keep an eye on them from about anywhere in the barn, and as long as he could see them, they’d couldn’t get hurt or do anything dangerous.

He led Patches into a stall for unsaddling. Rainy trailed him, looping both arms backward along the top of the half-stall behind her.

“Seriously,” Nate asked. “You do puppet shows?”

“Don’t look so stunned, cowboy. Even a city slicker has hobbies.” She looked around the boxy, cell-like structure. “Can I help in some way?”

The confines were crowded with the three of them inside, though the wide-rumped mare took up much of the space. Smells of dusty hay and sweaty horse mingled with well-worked leather and sweet coconut. That coconut was going to kill him before the day was over. He was sure of it.

“Grab a brush over there.” He motioned toward a wall, where various types of grooming tools hung from hooks. “You can brush her mane. She likes that.” He pulled hard on the cinch buckle, loosening the tight belt around the horse’s middle. “Got a horse puppet?”

“Might get one now that I’m an expert cowgirl.” She came up next to him, brush in hand.

Nate decided he liked her gentle humor, liked teasing her and knowing she would appreciate the effort.

“Well, Slick, being how you’re an expert and all, why don’t you remove this saddle and brush Patches down?” He stepped back, grinning.

The cute greenhorn took the comment as a challenge.

“You think I can’t?” She made a proud little sniffing sound, tossed her head, and then bumped him with one shoulder. “Move over, Cowboy. Let me show you how it’s done.”

Feeling unusually lighthearted, Nate stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s all yours.”

“Okay, I can do this.” Rainy bent low to look under Patches’s belly. “All unhooked. Okay. That’s a start.” She patted Patches’s neck and leaned close to the mare’s ear. “If it’s all right with you, Patches, I’m going to take this big old saddle off your back. You’ll feel so much better when I do. Ready now?”