He was glad he’d asked his mom whether they’d keep Faith on after the emergency was past, but he hadn’t asked her if Faith knew she had a permanent position. Parking his truck by the barn so he could load his saddle easily later, he walked over to the arena. Maybe he’d ask now.
His mom glanced at him and smiled. “I don’t see a trailer hitched to your truck.”
“I looked at a beauty. Great price, but it was a double.”
“That’s too bad. You only looked at one?”
“That’s all. I spent a lot of time browsing the camping aisle at the hardware store. Found a bargain on a Coleman stove.”
“Is the latch on your camper fixed?”
“What…oh, yeah. It’s fine.” He’d come damn close to asking what latch she was talking about. He’d never make it as an international spy. Crouching next to her, he gazed across the arena at Faith, who’d climbed down to adjust the position of the rider’s feet in the stirrups. “Who’s the student up on Strawberry?”
“Believe it or not, that’s Deidre.”
“You’re kidding.” He’d known Deidre all his life but he hadn’t recognized her in boot cut jeans, a Western shirt and a riding helmet. He was used to seeing her in the fashionable outfits she wore when she was selling real estate or the colorful leisure outfits she wore when she was hanging out with his mom.
Deidre and two other women, Christine and Judy, had been in his mom’s high school graduating class. They’d all stayed in town and had remained close friends, forming what they called the Whine and Cheese Club. They’d insisted for years that his mom was the only one with the riding gene. “What got her out here?”
“I think it was the idea of having Faith teach her instead of me or even Zane.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Not really, if you think about it. She admitted that it’s hard to be a beginner in front of someone you’ve known forever, or worse yet, the son of somebody you’ve known forever. At least it is for her. She’s very competitive.”
“Then should you even be sitting here?”
“We talked about it and she likes having me watch from a distance but I’ve been instructed to keep my mouth shut.”
Cody grinned. “How’s that working out for you?”
“I’ve ground all the enamel off my back molars.”
“You don’t think Faith’s doing it right?”
“Oh, she’s doing it perfectly. I just keep wanting to add my two cents.”
“I’m so surprised.” Cody gazed at Deidre as she started around the arena, her movements tentative. That was so unlike the woman he knew, so maybe she did need a relative stranger like Faith to guide her. He hadn’t put it together until now, but without Deidre, he might never have met Faith.
Two months ago, when his mom broke her leg, Deidre happened to be selling a nice little place on Wagon Wheel Lane to Jim Underwood. Faith had asked Deidre if any ranches in the area needed a good hand and Deidre had told Zane and his mom that Faith looked like an excellent candidate to fill in while his mom recuperated.
He’d forgotten how Faith had come to be here, but Deidre was the link. If Jim had chosen a different real estate agent…but he hadn’t. As a result, his daughter was no longer a virgin. Cody would keep that secret safe in his heart. A surge of protectiveness warmed him.
He glanced up at his mom, whose jaw was tight from keeping her comments to herself. “Does Faith know her job is secure?”
“Yes. I’ve told her.”
“Good. I forgot to ask that before.”
“I was serious about inviting her and her dad over to dinner. How does tomorrow night sound?”
“Great.” He couldn’t respond any other way, but the idea curdled his blood. What a nightmare, after what he and Faith had done last night and what they planned to do tonight. Meeting Jim before the action had taken place had been awkward, but now? Cody wouldn’t be able to look the man in the eye.
“Why don’t you want to?”
“I want to.”
“No, you don’t. I recognize that tone of voice when you say great. You’d rather have a root canal.”
He scrambled to supply a reason for his negative reaction. “He’s a nice guy, but I’m not sure he did right by Faith, raising her in a bunkhouse.”
“I doubt he had a lot of options. Besides, she loved that time in her life.”
“I can see why she would, but she also missed out on a lot.”
“So did you.”
“What?” He turned to stare at her.
“After your father died, well-meaning people advised me to make a greater effort to expose my boys to male role models. They even suggested I was shirking my responsibility by not remarrying as soon as possible.”
“That’s crap.”
“I thought so, too, but it’s true that you didn’t have a strong male role model in your life.”
“No, I had you. I had your girlfriends from high school. I had Aunt Jo. I’ll take that setup over some bogus replacement dad.”
She smiled. “Thank you. But do you see my point? He did the best he could under difficult circumstances. Most of us do.”
“You’re right.” He gazed at her. “But then, you usually are.”
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”
Chapter Nine
Faith forced herself to concentrate on Deidre’s lesson, but it wasn’t easy after Cody arrived. She was glad to see him and she’d missed him like the devil, but knowing he was over there talking to Kendra was beyond distracting.
Deidre must have noticed her preoccupation, because she pulled up to where Faith sat on the rail. “I don’t blame you,” she said in a stage whisper. “He’s a cutie-pie.”
“I guess.”
“Oh, honey, there’s no guesswork involved. We’ve all been in love with Cody McGavin since he was six months old. You should get Kendra to show you the picture of Cody on a furry rug at that age. We all predicted he’d grow up to be a beautiful man and we were right.”
Faith hoped Deidre hadn’t noticed her pink cheeks. “Do you want to take one more circuit around the arena?”
“Yes, yes, I do. Thank you for being so patient with me. I’m going to conquer this. I’ve envied Kendra for years because she could ride.”
“You’ll catch on in no time.”
“I will, because I’m awesome, and don’t you forget it.”
Faith laughed. “I won’t.” She’d liked Deidre since the day they’d met. Thanks to Deidre, she’d been hired at Wild Creek Ranch and had been swept up in the lives of Kendra, Zane and Mandy. Jo wasn’t officially a McGavin but it felt like she was. Then there was Cody.
When he’d driven in this afternoon she’d noticed that he wasn’t pulling a trailer and she’d smiled. He’d meant what he’d said about taking his time buying one. She cherished that about him. Cody meant what he said, and so did she.
That was important in a friendship, and that was ultimately what she was going for. She would make the most of this time and she believed he would, too. For her it would be everything, even if for him it would only be a chapter, an episode, a bright spot. That was okay. She was content to be a temporary bright spot in the life of Cody McGavin.
“Faith?”
She glanced up. Deidre looked amused as she sat astride the roan gelding. Strawberry just looked bored. Faith had no idea how much time had passed. “Did you go all the way around the arena?”
“Twice. And I’ll have you know my seat was perfect.”
“I’m sure it was. Listen, I promise I’ll be more focused next time.”
“Honey, you don’t have to explain anything to me. If he weren’t my dear friend’s son, I’d go for him myself. I can cougar it up with the best of them. But McGavin blue is off-limits for this woman.”
“Excuse me?”
“It became a thing when they were in school. They’re as different as can be, but they all have those eyes. It became known as McGavin blue.”
“I’
ve only met two of them, but I can see what you mean about the eyes.”
“Three. You’ve met three.”
“Who’s the third?”
“Kendra.”
“Oh, of course.”
“So how do I get off this beast without embarrassing myself? I’ve lost all feeling in my feet.”
“I should have brought the mounting block. Hang on.” She hopped down. “Hey, Cody, Deidre needs assistance. Would you kindly show her how a gentleman helps a lady down from her horse?”
“Sure thing.” He stood and climbed over the rail. “Hey, Deidre.”
“Hey, yourself, Cody. You’re looking good.”
“You, too.” He crossed the arena. “Like you were born to the saddle.”
“More like welded to the saddle.”
He nudged back his hat and gazed up at her. “It’s great to see you out here. Before you know it, you’ll be moseying down the trail with Mom.”
“That’s the plan. By the time she’s cleared to ride, I can go along without crippling myself. It should work. Faith is a wonderful teacher.”
“Thank you.” Faith’s cheeks heated. She hadn’t been very attentive towards the end but she’d been dealing with a major distraction.
“I’m sure she is.” Cody gave her a warm glance.
McGavin blue, indeed. When she met his gaze, images from last night came flooding back and her heart raced. She’d thought maintaining a breezy attitude with him would be easy when other people were around. Boy, had she been wrong.
Fortunately, he turned his attention back to Deidre. “Let’s get you down from that animal. Put one hand on the saddle horn and the other on the pommel. Then take your right foot out of the stirrup and swing it over Strawberry’s rump. I’ll hold onto you so you won’t fall.”
“Are you sure about this? I’m not a lightweight like your mother. You might drop me.”
“No worries.” He grinned. “We have insurance.” He grasped her around the waist and guided her gently from the saddle to the ground. Then he made sure she was steady on her feet before he let go.
“Thank you, Cody.” She turned and smiled at him. “But now you’ve spoiled me. I’m afraid you’ll need to stick around a few more weeks so you can help me down after every lesson. You’re okay with that, right?”
“Absolutely. I’m here to serve.”
Faith knew they were kidding around, but the thought of having him stay for several weeks tantalized her. It would never work, though. She could manage an affair for a couple weeks without her dad finding out, but any longer than that and he’d know. So would everyone else.
Or maybe she’d just blown it. If Kendra had noticed her staring at Cody when she was supposed to be watching Deidre circle the arena, that would be a clue. Or maybe not. Deidre said women routinely stared at him, so Kendra might be used to it by now.
Cody opened the gate and Deidre led Strawberry through. Teaching a student how to handle a horse whether riding or walking back to the barn was important to Faith. Next lesson she’d show Deidre how to saddle and bridle the gelding.
Kendra stood and balanced on her walking cast. “You did great, Dee.”
Deidre laughed. “And you kept your mouth shut like you promised. I’m impressed, girlfriend.”
“Wasn’t easy considering I’m such a buttinski.” She glanced at Faith. “You did a fabulous job.”
“Thank you.”
“Listen, I was just suggesting to Cody that it would be fun if you and your dad came to dinner tomorrow night. Do you think you can make it?”
Yikes. Instinctively she wanted to look at Cody but she managed not to. Kendra was unknowingly taking away one of their precious nights together, but the invitation was a generous idea. “That sounds wonderful,” she made herself say. “I’ll check with my dad, but he should be available.” He would be. He was a guy without plans. She was the one with plans that would have to be scratched.
“I hope so.” Kendra turned to Deidre. “Could you come, too? You were the magician who made all this happen. I don’t know what we would have done without Faith the past two months.”
“I’d love to come.”
“Good.” Kendra sounded pleased. “Which reminds me. Cody, will you be here for supper tonight?”
“Yes, but I’ll be late. I’ll help feed, and then I’m going out to Faith’s house so I can take Bert for a test drive.”
Faith was impressed with the casual way he said it.
“That’s fine.” Kendra gave his arm a pat. “I’ll go ahead and eat, then. You can warm yours when you get home. Oh, and one of you needs to ask Jim if he can come to dinner tomorrow night. Don’t forget.”
“We won’t.” Faith and Cody said it in unison.
Kendra smiled at them. “That’s cute. Now if you’ll all excuse me, I have email to catch up on. The weekend trail rides are almost full, which makes me very happy. See you tomorrow night, Dee.” She hobbled toward the house.
“I’ll be there with bells on!” Deidre watched Kendra make her way up to the porch. “She’s doing great.”
“She certainly is.” Faith admired Kendra’s spirited recovery more than she could say.
“So what’s next?” Deidre returned her attention to Faith. “Do we need to take everything off this horse and hose him down or something?”
“No hosing down today, but we’ll remove his tack and give him a good grooming.”
“I’ll leave you two ladies to it,” Cody said. “I need to fetch my saddle and put it in the truck for our ride tonight.”
“Sounds good.” Faith didn’t dare look at him. As she and Deidre made their way over to the hitching post with Strawberry, she talked about the great progress Deidre had made instead of watching Cody load his saddle into the truck. Thankfully once he’d accomplished that he went up to the house.
But an hour later, after Deidre had left, Faith was in the middle of sweeping the tack room floor when Cody walked in. She stopped sweeping as her heart launched into overdrive. “I thought you didn’t want to be alone with me.”
He came toward her. “Being alone with you is all I can think about.”
“But we can’t—”
“I know, I know. I just wanted to apologize for the dinner thing.” Although he looked like he wanted to kiss her, he paused and stuck his thumbs in his belt loops. “Mom brought it up while we were watching the lesson and I couldn’t do anything except go along with it.”
“Of course you couldn’t. My dad might be happy about going or he might not want to. Ever since his accident he’s been a different person. He used to sit around with the other ranch hands, playing poker and drinking beer. He was a social guy. But he says he’s through with that life.”
“All we can do is ask and let the chips fall.” He glanced at the broom in her hand. “I interrupted your work. Let me help.”
“Thanks, but I—”
“Cowboys like to help pretty ladies.” He walked over and took the dustpan and whiskbroom from a shelf. “It’s part of our DNA.”
“I’m not pretty dressed like this.”
“You’re right.” He used the whiskbroom to sweep the pile of dirt and straw she’d collected into the dustpan.
“Hey, you aren’t supposed to agree with me.”
He dumped the contents into a trash barrel and set the whiskbroom and dustpan beside it. “You’re not pretty.” His voice roughened and he turned toward her. “You’re beautiful.”
She met his gaze and her breath caught.
“I don’t know how I missed seeing it that first day, but you’re a stunner.” He came toward her, desire burning in his eyes.
She loved hearing him say such things but she knew what was going on. “You’re addlepated with lust.”
“That’s part of it, but you really are gorgeous. Your cheeks are so soft.”
“Freckled.”
“That makes you look more interesting. And your smile is magic.”
“I have a space between my front
teeth.”
“Again, more interesting. You’re fascinating to look at.”
“Especially without my clothes.”
“Okay, let the record show that you sent the discussion in that direction. I was only referring to the area above your neck. But now that you mention it, you blew me away last night when you posed in front of your window buck naked. That was bold, lady.”
“You were just standing there, so I thought I should give you something to look at.”
“You certainly did. I’ll never forget it.”
“Never? That’s a long time.” But she hoped he would remember.
“Never is a long time. But that was a spectacular view.” He swallowed. “I want to kiss you so much.”
She had trouble breathing. “Just kiss me?”
“For starters. All over your freckled body.”
“Cody, I’m getting juicy again.”
“And I’m getting hard. We need to stop this.”
“How?”
He heaved a sigh. “We should talk about something else.”
“Or you could go back to the house.”
“That’s just it. I don’t want to. I like being with you.” He tugged on the brim of his hat. “And by the way, I bought two camping mattresses for tonight. Can we take them out there without your dad seeing them?”
“You really are worried about doing it on the ground, aren’t you?”
“Yes, damn it! It’s not as much fun.”
“You’d know better than I would.” Thinking about him with another woman was a real buzzkill. But if he hadn’t gained some sexual experience, he wouldn’t be so knowledgeable on the subject. She liked that he was. She only had to stop picturing how he got that way.
“What do you think?” He gazed at her. “Can we smuggle the mattresses out there or not?”
“We can if my dad doesn’t come down to the barn with us. I wasn’t going to ride past the porch on our way to the clearing, because I planned to take a blanket.”
“These will feel good under the blanket.”
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