Her gaze caught his and a smile that rivaled the dazzling sun spread across her face. The warm greeting was the last thing he’d expected from her this morning. She’d not seemed too happy with him or herself after the kiss they’d shared in the garden. When they’d parted on the staircase landing, she’d barely murmured a good-night to him. If anything, he’d expected her demeanor toward him this morning to be on the cool side.
“Good morning,” she said cheerily. “I hope you’re hungry. I have a table all ready for us out on the side verandah.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I’m always hungry in the morning.”
She glanced over at the cook. “Darcella is that nearly finished?”
The other woman nodded and motioned with her hand for the two of them to get out of the kitchen. “Go on. Sit. I’ll bring everything in just a minute.”
Anne-Marie gestured for him to follow her onto the porch. As he stepped outside he noticed this was a different side of the house than where they’d sat drinking juleps last night. This area was also screened to keep out the insects and supplied with a small group of comfortable lawn furniture. At one end, a round wooden table covered with a chintz tablecloth was set with plates and cutlery and a thermos-style coffeepot.
“You and your father must enjoy eating outdoors,” Cordero remarked as he helped her into one of the cane-bottomed chairs.
“We do. Don’t you eat outdoors on the Sandbur?”
His grin was wry as he seated himself in a chair angled to the right of her. “To tell you the truth, in the mornings I barely have time to gobble down an egg taco and swig a cup of coffee before I head out to work.” He gestured toward the table in front of them while noticing someone had taken the trouble to place a bowl of fresh red dahlias in the middle. “I’m not used to all this. But there are occasions when we have big shindigs outside. Like my cousin’s wedding reception this past weekend. And my Aunt Geraldine loves to throw parties. She can find any little reason to have a barbecue and invite the neighbors.”
The smile on her face faded to a sheepish grimace. “We don’t have much socializing going on here at Cane’s Landing. When Mama was still alive, the place was always full of friends and neighbors. But after she died Father didn’t want to entertain. Not without a hostess.”
“He has you,” Cordero couldn’t help but point out.
The frown on her face deepened. “Yes. But I’m not…the partying sort.”
There was so much going on behind that beautiful face, he concluded. He wanted to know everything she was thinking, everything that made her the woman she was now. He didn’t understand this craving she’d brought about in him. He’d never cared to analyze any woman before. As long as she was warm and willing and didn’t try to tie a string around his neck, he was satisfied. Why did this one fill him with one question after another?
“Why aren’t you?” he asked. “Don’t you like to laugh and interact with people? Have fun?”
He’d used that word more than once since she’d met him. Fun. The word made Anne-Marie even more certain that amusement and good times were what this man was all about. Just like Ian. When she’d first met her ex, he’d made her laugh. She’d relaxed and begun to rethink her serious attitude about life. She’d decided that maybe she was too much of a stuffed shirt and she’d tried to let herself open up and blossom. She’d thought her life was headed in the right direction, that a husband and children, a family of her own was her real calling rather than a vow to sisterhood. But then she’d learned that Ian was a phony. All he’d ever really wanted was her money and the fun he could have with it. After that, her fledgling attempt at happiness ended in a heap of humiliation.
To stifle a sigh, she sipped at her coffee. “When the fun doesn’t come at someone else’s expense,” she said bluntly, then looked at him and attempted to give him her brightest smile. “I hope you’re ready for a little riding this morning. The sky is clear and it doesn’t seem too hot yet.”
Before he could reply Darcella walked out on the porch carrying platters of food. He waited until the cook had placed everything onto the table and walked back into the house before he finally said, “I’m very ready to go riding. But I’m also surprised. I didn’t expect you to be so cheerful this morning. Toward me or climbing on a horse.”
A blush swiftly colored her face and she shrugged in an attempt to play down her obvious embarrassment. He couldn’t know that she’d lain awake half the night thinking about him and wondering why she’d reacted so strongly to being in his arms. It was best he didn’t know. She didn’t want to add any fuel to the fire that had simmered between them in the garden.
“Look, Cordero, that kiss we shared last night — I’ve already put that behind me. You’re only going to be here for a few days and you just implied that I should have fun. I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be friends and enjoy these coming days.”
Friends. Did she really believe that prattle she’d just given him, Cordero wondered. The two of them couldn’t be friends. Not after that kiss. Not after the heat he’d felt coming from her mouth and hands, the way her small curves had melted against him. But he wasn’t going to point out any of that this morning. Sooner or later she would learn her mistake. Right now it was enough that she was smiling at him.
Cordero reached for a biscuit and after splitting it open began to slather the bread with fresh butter. “I’m glad you think we can be friends, Anne-Marie. It will make your father happy.” His gaze lifted to her face and settled on her lips. “And me, too.”
Chapter Five
The stables at Cane’s Landing were located about a quarter of a mile behind the big house. Yesterday they’d left the horses in a round makeshift pen made of metal fencing that was situated on a gentle knoll in short walking distance of the horse stalls.
When Cordero and Anne-Marie approached the pen, the two gray horses perked their ears and trotted over to greet them. Anne-Marie laughed as one of them stuck his nose between the metal slats and tried to nibble her fingers.
“Taco and Lightning have been spoiled with treats,” Cordero said with a smile. “Lightning thinks you have something to give him.”
Anne-Marie slid her palm over the horse’s velvety nose and was surprised how drawn she was to the animal. Yesterday, when she’d helped Cordero first get the horses unloaded and settled, she’d basically tried to ignore them. Even before they’d arrived, she’d told herself she wasn’t going to like them or have anything to do with them. She knew they were only pawns her father was using, and she wasn’t going to play his game.
But something about Cordero made her rethink that close-minded attitude. He’d been right when he’d said it wouldn’t hurt to allow Jules to manipulate them a little. Going along with her father would make him happy and perhaps keep him healthier. In the end that was the thing she wanted most.
“I should have brought them some sugar cubes,” she said as she stroked her hand down the horse’s nose.
Not wanting to miss the human attention, the second horse nudged his nose in beside his brother’s and pushed at her hand. Anne-Marie laughed and Cordero smiled at the pleasant sight she made.
Ben, the groundskeeper for the Duveuil homestead, had already given the horses their feed and grain for the morning, so Cordero turned toward the stables and the tack room. “You stay here and get acquainted,” Cordero suggested over his shoulder to Anne-Marie. “I’ll go see about finding us some saddles.”
When he entered the dimly lit space, he discovered the older man was there, pushing an oil-soaked rag over a fancy tooled saddle. Faded overalls, a blue chambray shirt and laced work boots covered his tall skinny frame while a thick head of brown hair belied the fact that Anne-Marie put Ben’s age near eighty. The moment he heard Cordero’s step, he looked up and grinned.
“Good mornin’ to you, sir. You’re up and about early this mornin’.” He peered curiously around Cordero’s shoulder toward the door. No doubt looking for the mistress of the mano
r. “Is Miss Anne-Marie with you?”
Cordero nodded. “Good morning, Ben. Anne-Marie is out with the horses. I came to get the tack.” He stepped over to where Ben was working. “Looks like you’ve been cleaning things.”
The old man’s wrinkled face creased into a semblance of a smile. “Yeah. Everything in here was gettin’ mighty dusty. Course, it’s been a long time since anything has been used.”
Cordero glanced around the room. The wooden shelves were filled with grooming and first aid products. Bits, spurs and bridles hung neatly from pegs on the wall. Saddles were carefully stacked on wooden rests. From where he stood, it looked as though the room and equipment were used every day.
“You can’t tell it by looking,” Cordero admitted, then turned a pointed look on the old man. “You’ve been doing all of this?”
Straightening to his full height, Ben tossed the rag on a nearby work counter. “Yes, sir. Feel like it’s my job to take care of this stuff. Nobody else gonna do it. Mr. Jules used to help. But then Miss Fiona died and he wouldn’t come down here to the stables anymore. Miss Anne-Marie rode for a while after that, but then she lost interest, too.” His old face grim, he gestured to the saddles that had once been used by the people he cared about. “A sad thing to see this stuff mildew. I couldn’t let it happen. Miss Fiona would be mad if she knew I sat around on my hands and let her beloved things ruin.”
Sensing Ben was like many of the old wranglers on the Sandbur, Cordero knew the man was full of the past and devoted to the people who’d given him job security and a sense of family. “You knew Jules’s wife well?” he asked.
He smiled fondly. “Oh yes. She was a beauty just like Miss Anne-Marie. And she was crazy about Jules — worshipped the ground he walked on. She loved horses and he bought her a whole stableful.” He sighed wistfully. “Now those were the good old days. I had plenty to do to keep me busy. Horses to bathe and groom. Stalls to clean, feed and hay to spread. Nowadays I cut the grass and weed the flowers and wonder what the hell happened to this place.”
Feeling for the man, Cordero reached out and patted his shoulder. “Well, I think things are about to change around here, Ben. At least you’ve got two horses to take care of now. Maybe they’re just the first of many.”
“Humph. Who’s gonna ride ’em? Jules ain’t young anymore and it’s been so long since Anne-Marie rode she’ll probably fall off.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that, Ben.”
Both men turned around to see Anne-Marie enter the tack room. Her arms were folded against her breast and she was staring at Ben like a teacher at an unruly child.
Undeterred, Ben reached into the front pocket of his overalls and pulled out two one-dollar bills. “This is all I have on me, but I’m bettin’Mr. Cordero here will have to pick you up off the ground before the day is over.”
Straightening her shoulders, she walked over to the two men. “That’ll be the day.” She glanced up at Cordero’s impish grin. “Unless you sold Father a couple of broncs.”
Cordero laughed out loud. “Hardly. My cousin and I keep the broncs for our own amusement.” His grin deepened as he winked at her. “We need a little excitement once in a while.”
Apparently Ben liked the sound of that. Slapping his leg, he laughed loudly. “That’s it, Mr. Cordero. Don’t let her get nothin’ on you. She’s spoiled, you know. She needs a firm hand.”
Anne-Marie stared at the old worker with disbelief as he ambled toward the open doorway.
“Ben! What in the world has come over you?”
Without looking at her, he swatted a dismissive hand backward in her direction. “I’m just tired of it being so quiet around here. Ain’t you?”
Anne-Marie’s lips parted slightly as she watched the old groundskeeper slip on through the door and out of sight. His question had been a simple one, yet it caused all sorts of layered emotions to swing through her. Two days ago she’d never once thought of Cane’s Landing as quiet. Maybe that was because she’d wanted to slip into the slow-moving silence and ignore the rest of the world. One thing was for certain, Cordero had invaded the place and woken her up whether she wanted it or not.
“He must be getting senile,” Anne-Marie muttered. “I told Father that Ben was getting too old for this job.”
Cordero’s brows lifted as he studied the faint frown on her face. “That’s strange. I thought Ben was perfectly lucid and capable. In fact —” he gestured toward the neat, clean tack room “— I’d say Ben is the one who’s been productive around here.”
And she hadn’t been? The implication of his unspoken words set her teeth together, but even as a retort came to her tongue, she quickly swallowed it down. Maybe Cordero was right. After all, what had she accomplished in the last couple of years? She’d mostly sat around and watched her father like a hawk, waiting to see if he sneezed or had the slightest twinge in his chest. Even when Jules had taken the trip to the Sandbur Ranch a couple of weeks ago, she’d not spent her free time away from the house. Her friends were limited and mostly away working for the Red Cross or some other emergency service. She was close to her cousin, who lived in Thibodaux, but Audra had a daily job and a life of her own.
“I’m glad you think someone around here is useful,” she muttered, then pointed toward the saddle that the old man had been polishing. “That’s the one I used to ride. Does it look okay?”
Cordero checked the latigo, girth and stirrup straps for signs of wearing or tearing. “Everything looks good. No one could tell it hadn’t been used in years,” he said as he looked from the saddle to her.
She let out a long breath. “I guess Ben told you that.”
Cordero nodded and then, to her surprise, he touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Anne-Marie, that your world here at the stables died with your mother. I’d like to help you bring it back to life.”
There was so much compassion in his dark eyes, so much gentle eagerness in his voice that for a moment she was overcome with emotion. Glancing away from him, she swallowed and blinked at the sting of moisture in her eyes. This was not something she was expecting from him and she didn’t know how to deal with him or the feelings swirling around inside her.
After a moment, when she didn’t speak, he asked, “What’s the matter? Did I say something wrong?”
Forcing a smile, she turned to him and shook her head. “No. I’m just glad that you talked me into this, Cordero. I’d forgotten how much I loved horses. It would make mother happy to see me here.”
Smiling gently, he slid his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her against his side. “It makes me happy to see you here, too.”
Dropping her gaze from his, she reached up and absently slid her thumb and forefinger along the fold of his cotton shirt. “I’m glad you decided to stay. It’s been a long time since I — since there’s been anyone around for me to talk to. And ride with,” she added.
She smelled like a field of flowers. Where lilac, lilies and roses nodded beneath the hot sun and their mingled scent danced on the breeze. Cordero wanted so much to kiss her that looking at her lips left him with a physical ache, but he accepted the pain and told himself to wait. Right now getting her on a horse was more important than getting her into his arms.
“Maybe you should hold judgment on that last part,” he teased while easing her away from his side. “Just in case you hit the dirt like Ben has wagered.”
She laughed. “I’m ready to show you both.”
Laughing with her, Cordero gathered up the things they needed to dress the horses for riding. Once they had everything outside, resting on a wooden hitching post, they collected the horses and brought them to the shade beneath the shed row for saddling.
Anne-Marie helped him brush and curry the animals and place the thick blankets on their backs, but after that he shooed her out of the way. She stood to one side and watched Cordero’s quick handiwork until he was ready for the last task, bridling. Then he handed one of the leather headstalls toward her.
�
�Go ahead. I want to see if you still remember how.”
For the first time since he’d met this woman, he watched her blue eyes twinkle. “I remember. Just stand aside, cowboy.”
To his surprise, she did everything right and for a moment — for a tiny split second — the idea that she would fit in his world shot through his mind like a fleeting glimpse of heaven. But just as quickly he mentally laughed at himself for entertaining such a thought, albeit briefly. Anne-Marie had her own ideas about how she wanted to spend her life and it didn’t sound as though she wanted a man in it.
“Very good,” he said. “Now let’s see if you remember how to ride as well as you bridled.”
The look on her face was somewhat provocative as she reached for the reins. She said, “I’m ready. Are you?”
He chuckled and not for the first time Anne-Marie found herself drawn to the warm husky sound.
“Let’s go,” he said.
They walked the two horses away from the stables to an open area. Before Cordero swung himself into the saddle, he stood behind Anne-Marie’s shoulder.
“Want a hand up?” he asked.
She turned and their faces were suddenly a few inches apart. For a brief moment as his green eyes collided with her blue ones, he felt the breath rush from his lungs. The movement of her tongue as it nervously darted over her plush lips caught Cordero’s gaze and held it.
“I think I can manage,” she said.
Just being this close and letting his eyes drink in the lush curve of her lips, the smooth paleness of her skin, was enough to melt the buttons on his shirt. It was all he could do to keep from lifting his hand to her cheek, leaning his mouth down to hers.
“It’s a long ways from the ground to Taco’s back. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
The corner of her lips curled up ever so slightly and it was all Cordero could do to keep from groaning out loud.
“All right. Maybe a little helping hand would be nice,” she admitted.
Snatching up a handful of the horse’s mane, she put her foot in the stirrup to ready herself. Cordero’s first inclination was to put the palm of his hand right in the middle of her pert little rear and shove. But she’d not given him the right to be that personal so he encircled her waist with both hands and eased her gently into the seat of the saddle.
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