Inside the barn, Wyatt led Amber into the tack room for a moment and then through the double doors and out into the corral where the kids had often practiced their riding. They crossed to the gate on the far side, where Susannah joined them to gaze out over the wide, rolling pasture beyond. Only a few horses grazed the tall grass—the kids had taken their animals out for a trail ride this afternoon. In the distance loomed the Bighorn Mountains, sharp peaks in shades of purple and green, accented by puffy white clouds being chased by the wind across a wide, bright blue sky.
“Beautiful,” Susannah breathed. “Such a magnificent landscape.”
“It is.” Wyatt pulled in a deep breath. “I’m privileged to work and live here.”
She understood his point. Before she could say so, he put two fingers in his mouth and produced a long, sharp, three-note whistle.
“Ooh,” Amber said. “Do it again.”
Wyatt obliged. A horse trumpeted from far away, and then from closer, and closer still. The horses nearby startled and began to run across the field, their hooves drumming on the earth.
Amber jumped up and down. “Is he coming? Is it Caesar?”
“He’s on his way,” Wyatt said. “Watch, now.”
In another moment, a horse charged over the horizon, gleaming silver in the sunlight. Ignoring the other animals galloping around the field, he headed straight for the gate at full speed. Susannah grabbed Amber’s shoulders to pull her out of the way. She didn’t see how the horse could possibly stop in time.
He swerved at the last instant, circled and returned to prance in place in front of the gate. Up close, his coat wasn’t silver but spotted white on gray, contrasted by his black mane and tail. Head held high on a proudly arched neck, he surveyed them with expectation in his dark eyes.
“Yeah, I know what you want.” Wyatt reached into the pocket of his jeans and brought out sugar cubes. “Big baby.” He flattened his hand and reached through the gate so Caesar’s mobile lips could suck the treat into his mouth.
The inevitable happened next. “Can I feed him?” Amber asked. “Can I?”
“Hold your hand just like this.” Wyatt demonstrated and Amber followed suit. “Now I’ll put the sugar on your palm. Just reach out...right...leave your fingers flat...”
Susannah held her breath, but Amber followed directions, allowing Caesar to take sugar without biting her. “It tickles!” She giggled. “Can I do it again?”
Wyatt took the halter off his shoulder. “Let’s get him inside and brushed first. Don’t want to spoil him too much.”
Susannah expected the horse to resist being caught after months off work. But Caesar calmly put his head down and allowed the red halter to slip into place, and then he followed quietly as he was led to the barn.
Watching Wyatt brush the horse, she was struck by the closeness between man and animal. “You have a real relationship, don’t you? You’re not just... I don’t know...just using him. And Caesar understands that.”
“I like to think so. I depend on him when we’re working, so I take care of him the best I can.” He glanced down at Amber, who was brushing the horse’s dark legs. “How’s it going, Princess?”
“Good. His knees are really dirty.”
Susannah noticed the streaks of grime on her daughter’s face and grinned. “So are you now.” With grooming, Caesar’s beautiful mottling had become even more obvious. “What do you call his coat color?”
“He’s a dappled gray.” Wyatt pulled a comb through the black mane. “He’ll bleach out as he gets older and might be pure white one day. Or he could stay dappled. We’ll have to wait and see.”
“That would be beautiful, too.”
The saddle Wyatt brought from the tack room was dark mahogany leather, well-used but not worn. A red saddle blanket went underneath.
“Can I sit on him?” Amber asked. “Can I ride him?”
He scooped her up and set her in the saddle. “How’s that?”
“I’m so high!” She picked up the reins, which were lying on the horse’s neck. “Let’s go, Caesar!”
Susannah was glad they were still in the stall and couldn’t actually walk off. “I don’t believe horses are in our future,” she told Wyatt. “You probably shouldn’t encourage her.”
“They will be if Nate has anything to say about it. Have you watched him on a horse?”
“Yes, but I doubt the next place we live will be anything like your ranch. In fact...” She blew out a breath. “I probably should start looking for a job and a new place to live. It would be good to be settled before the kids start school.”
“There’s no reason to hurry.” His back was to her as he lifted Amber down. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want to.”
She tried to make a joke of it. “Now that your life will be returning to normal, you won’t be needing me anymore.”
He straightened up, and their eyes met. “I don’t think that’s true.”
His words were polite. But his expression—intense, questioning, somehow wistful—meant more than just manners. What did he want that she could give?
Then Caesar snorted and stamped his foot. Wyatt moved away. “Tired of standing there, son? Let’s take a walk.”
Out in front of the barn, Susannah kept Amber off to the side while Wyatt checked the fit of the saddle and the cinch. “Yeah, you’re two holes bigger than last spring—eating too much and not exercising enough.” He winked at her. “Just like me.”
But for a man who hadn’t been riding, he mounted with amazing ease—his left foot went into the stirrup and then a smooth swing of the other leg up and across put him on the saddle. He shifted his hips, settling in, and looked down at them. “I will join you ladies for supper. Have a good afternoon.”
Susannah could only nod—she found herself speechless at the sight of Wyatt seated on his favorite horse. His broad shoulders and flat waist, his tight butt and the pull of denim across the strong muscles of his thighs, the easy curl of his fingers around the reins—all revealed an aspect of him she hadn’t been aware of, a physical authority she couldn’t help responding to.
She’d loved Wyatt for weeks now with her heart and her mind and her soul.
Suddenly, she wanted him with a fierce desire she hadn’t experienced since she was a teenager.
As he rode away from them, Amber pulled on her skirt. “Mommy, can we have lunch? I’m hungry.”
“Me, too,” Susannah said. But her gaze hadn’t strayed from the vanishing cowboy. Me, too.
* * *
NATE WAS ON the cleanup team after lunch, so Becky waited until he’d finished to talk to him about the dance. She could tell he was reluctant to join her by the way he dried the dishes as slowly as humanly possible. Doodling in her notebook, she just smiled and waited for him to give in.
Finally, he sat down across the table from her. “What is it we’re doing here?”
“Well, first we need a theme. For the dance.”
“Isn’t dancing a theme? As opposed to... I don’t know...football?”
Boys were dumb. “You have to pick an idea to organize everything else around—decorations, food, clothes. You know, like for a fiesta, you would do Mexican food, have a piñata, wear sombreros.”
Nate nodded. “That sounds good. Do that.”
“Everybody does that. We should have something different.” She was beginning to understand Lizzie’s point of view.
“I got it.” He slapped the table. “We could do a Western theme. We’d all wear jeans and boots. Especially since they’re pretty much the only clothes we have.”
She didn’t want to shut him down. “It’s an idea. Keep thinking.”
But he got mad anyway. “What is the big deal? It’s just a couple of hours on a Friday night with some music.”
“It’s our last night at camp. Don’t you want to make it special?”
“Oh, yeah.” A funny expression came over his face, part surprise, part worry. “I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
“And since Lizzie and Lena refused to help, I want to do something that everybody will think is awesome.”
“Awesome is hard to pull off.” His resistance seemed to have melted. “You could have everybody dress as the horse they’ve been riding. I’ll wear blue and you could wear a chestnut color.”
“And we’d eat hay and oatmeal?” She grinned at him and was thrilled to get a smile in return.
“Carrot sticks and oatmeal cookies—my mom makes great ones. We could have an apple-bobbing contest. See who can pick it up with their teeth out of a tub of water.”
“That’s kind of crazy. But it could be fun. What do you think Marcos and Thomas would say?”
Out of nowhere, Lizzie appeared on Nate’s side of the table. “About what?” Without being invited—and definitely not wanted—she pulled out a chair and sat down. “What are you two doing?”
“Planning the dance,” Nate told her. “Becky said you weren’t helping.”
“Well, I didn’t know there was a meeting. I’m always interested in dancing.” She gave him a wink.
Becky groaned silently. Her big chance was gone.
“So what are you planning?” Lizzie propped her arms on the table. “The fiesta idea or the hoedown theme? I thought they were both pretty boring.”
Nate explained his idea. “But I was just kidding. It’s a dumb idea.”
“No, it’s not,” Becky protested before Lizzie could say something mean. “It’s different. I like it.”
The glance Lizzie sent her way pretty much declared war. Then she smiled sweetly at Nate. “I think it’s a good idea. Different from the usual stuff. We can use hay bales around the dance floor as tables or to sit on. I’m not sure about the apple bobbing, though. It would mess up my hair.”
“Maybe only the boys will do that,” Nate said. “And the winner gets a prize.”
“Good idea!” Lizzie put her hand on his arm. “What kind of prize? Wait, I know...a kiss from the girl of their choice!”
Nate’s face flushed red. “Uh, could be, I guess.”
“I can’t see the grown-ups going for that,” Becky said. “They’re always pulling Lena and Justino apart.”
“We won’t tell them. It’ll be a secret for just the kids. That makes it even more fun.” She clapped her hands. “This will be great.”
Marcos came over from the couch. “What’s going on?”
“We’re planning the dance,” Lizzie said. “And we’re having a contest with a secret prize.”
“Yeah?” He sat down beside Becky. “What’s the prize?”
In another minute, Thomas had joined them. He and Marcos both approved of the apple-bobbing idea. With Lizzie, they started tossing around wild ideas for decorations and music. Nate, of course, had gone silent. He never tried to compete with the other boys.
Becky closed her notebook. So much for getting him to notice her.
Lizzie looked her way. “Why don’t you talk to Ms. Susannah about the food? The boys and I will work on the decorations.” She managed to include the three of them in her flirty smile. “You three are strong, so I’ll need you to move the hay bales.”
“Right.” Becky understood she’d been dismissed, so she stood up and pushed her chair in. She mouthed thanks in Nate’s direction. But his eyes were on Lizzie.
Outside the bunkhouse, the bright sun made her squint, which sent tears dripping onto her cheeks. She wiped them off quickly. If he could be fooled by Lizzie, Nate wasn’t worth crying over. There would be a guy someday who wanted more than just makeup and smooth blond curls. Who didn’t mind red hair. Or freckles. Who would defend her instead of abandoning her.
Like Mr. Ford, who’d left a big job in California to be with Ms. Caroline in Wyoming. Because she mattered more to him than anything else in the world.
Behind her, the door opened and the four of them came through, laughing, the three boys clustered around Lizzie like bees on a daisy.
Becky sighed and headed for the barn. Or maybe not.
* * *
FORD CAME INTO the barn as Wyatt was unsaddling Caesar. “I take it your doctor’s appointment went well?”
“I’m cleared for duty, more or less.” He carried the saddle into the tack room with Ford following. “Though I won’t be lifting any hundred-pound bales for a while yet.” He set the saddle on its rack, pulled a soft cloth out of the nearby bucket and began to wipe off the leather. “But we’ve got a problem. Travis Bradley accosted Susannah and Amber in Casper today.”
“An unlikely coincidence.”
“It is. Evidently he’s been on the property. He told her we’ve got plenty of land and it’s easy to watch us without being seen.”
The attorney’s list of swear words was long and colorful. “Did you call the sheriff?”
“I wanted to let you know first. I didn’t catch him following us. Susannah and Amber were both shaken up, so we just came back here.”
“At least you told me this time.” Ford’s voice was dangerously smooth.
Wyatt acknowledged his mistake with a nod. “She was afraid he’d get more worked up, do something worse. It was her choice, so I went along with it.” Which, in hindsight, had been a bad idea.
Ford confirmed that opinion. “Not your best thinking, Boss. He could have been in jail by now instead of lurking around, waiting to pounce on her again.” Those blue eyes, so like their dad’s, were stern. “I’m her attorney. I need to know when things happen. Makes me wonder what other secrets you’ve been keeping.”
I killed him, Wyatt thought. If it weren’t for me he would have stayed home and passed out in his bed. I’m the reason he died. He hadn’t been able to face that confession when he was sixteen, and he couldn’t now.
“I’ll get hold of Deputy Wade Daughtrey,” Ford said, again heading for the tack room door. “Maybe he can have Bradley locked up before bedtime. Assuming they can find him.”
The bad news came in late that night after all the kids had gone to bed—Travis Bradley could not be located. No one at his regular bar had seen him for weeks. He’d always been a loner, so there were few friends to question and none of them knew where he was. The trailer Susannah had lived in showed no sign of being occupied in recent days.
“He’s out there somewhere,” Wyatt said, when Ford had left the house to walk Caroline up to the girls’ cabin. “And we can’t do a thing about it.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I should have hauled him in when I had the chance.”
“This is my fault.” Susannah stood beside the fireplace with her arms wrapped around her waist. “I convinced you not to call the sheriff. Instead of appeasing Travis, I’ve only made the situation worse. I ought to have trusted Ford.” She looked at Wyatt. “I ought to have trusted you.”
“You were protecting your kids.” He wanted to put his arms around her, to make her feel safe. But he stayed where he was across the room. “Maybe you ought to get some rest. It’s been a long day.”
“You could be right.” She straightened her shoulders and gave him a smile. “There’s something comforting about watching children sleep. They relax like there can’t be anything wrong in the world.”
He left a lamp on for Ford and then followed her as she started down the hallway. “I guess we lose that trust when we realize the world isn’t always going to take care of us.”
“Which you found out at an early age.” She stopped at her door and took hold of the knob, but she rested her head against the panel instead of opening it. “I wish my children hadn’t learned it so soon.” Despair wavered in her voice.
“Susannah.” Wyatt closed his han
ds over her shoulders, massaging gently the tense muscles under his fingers. “It’ll be alright. You’ll get through this. I’ll make sure of it.”
She sighed. “That feels good.” More softly, she said, “Your hands are so big and strong.”
His body tightened at the husky words, but only a deep breath betrayed him. When she tilted her head from side to side, he moved his grip to the cords between her shoulders and neck, still kneading at the stiffness.
“Wonderful,” she whispered. After a few moments, she turned around to face him. Her palms came to rest on his ribs. In the dim light of the hall, she gazed up at him, her eyes wide and dark. “You’re wonderful.”
Before he could shake his head, she raised up on her tiptoes and kissed his mouth. Once. And again.
The second time, he kissed her back. Tenderly, unselfishly, he hoped. No demand, no compulsion, just the intent to make her feel how much he cared. How much he loved her.
So it was Susannah who pushed them over the edge. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips urgently sought his, requiring response. He gave her what she asked for—the surge of mouth against mouth, the desperate press and slide of sensitive flesh, a sensuous dance of tongue against tongue. He pulled her tight against his body, fueling the ache she kindled inside him.
Voices and the squeak of the screen door in the living room brought Wyatt to his senses. He lifted his head, breathing hard.
Susannah gave a choked sob and let her forehead drop to his chest.
“Shh, shh.” He stepped back, bringing his hands to her shoulders. “Go in your room now. Go on.”
She disappeared behind the door, and Wyatt waited until he heard his brothers cross into the kitchen. He scrubbed his hands over his face, took a deep breath and blew it out. Then he went down the hall to the kitchen door.
They hadn’t turned on many lights, which was good for him. “What’s going on?”
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