by Helen Conrad
They used the hose at the corner of the house. The adrenalin pumped up by their sensual encounter served as fuel for a pushing, shoving, teasing match that ended with each squirting the other until they were both soaking wet. Soaking wet, but laughing. And very hungry.
“I’ve got food,” David announced. “You choose the picnic spot.”
“What are you talking about?”
He gestured towards his car. “I came prepared with a picnic lunch. I was hoping to kidnap you and drive off into the hills somewhere. But we might as well eat it here.”
They got the basket from the car and she led him across the field to where the river cut into her grandfather’s small piece of land.
“Do you suppose the Spanish caballero gave the Indian maiden a feast like this?” David asked as he brought out the delicious contents of his basket.
She watched as he set out porcelain bowls so delicate they were almost transparent, filled with asparagus tip and bay shrimp salad, parsley rolls, and seasoned butter. He produced a tall bottle of a crisp white wine with a flourish that would have done a maitre d’ proud.
“I don’t think the Indian maiden would have known what to do with all this,” she admitted. “But then the caballero wouldn’t have either. He would have been more likely to come up with beef jerky and tortillas, with maybe a nice pumpkin pudding to top off the meal.”
The rest of the afternoon floated by like a dream. They ate, talked, lay back and watched the clouds. David didn’t try to touch her again, but there was an intimacy between them that seemed almost tactile. When his gaze swept across her bare arm, she felt as though he’d placed a hand there. Goose bumps spread across her skin and she shivered delightedly. Then he told a joke and she laughed, meeting his eyes and feeling warm and happy.
“I... I want to thank you for what you did with my grandfather,” she said at one point. “You realized where he was coming from and joined him there. I appreciate it.”
His grin was wide and open. “You may not believe this, but he reminded me of my father,”
“Your father? Dan Santiago?” It hardly seemed credible that her grandfather’s arch enemy would have been like him.
“Yes. He had his own dreams to live in. They involved the days when California belonged to Spain. He was always reading about those days, old diaries and journals, anything he could get his hands on. He was working on a book about the rancho when he died.”
Two old men, both caught up in the past. What a shame they both had claimed the same land. If they could only have been friends . . .
Fascinating.
“Listen, do you still have the manuscript?”
David looked surprised. “I suppose so. I could look for it.”
“I’d love to see it. While Reid was going through files looking for evidence that you people had scammed my grandfather after all….”
“Ah, your avatar.”
“He came across a book written years ago about your family.”
“No kidding.”
“I’m reading it now. I’ll show it to you. It’s full of amazing things.”
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Let me get this straight. You’re reading a book about my family?”
She nodded, making a face at him. “And enjoying it, too. You were a rowdy bunch.”
He started to laugh.
“Did you know you had a great great aunt who ran off with pirates?”
“Right.”
“I’m serious. Wait until you read this thing.” She talked on, telling him some old stories he’d never heard before. And he listened.
When she was through, he started his own narrative. He told her about his ambivalence about his life here on the ranch. He told her how he’d wanted to go to graduate school in engineering, how his friends had all been working for big, multi-national companies while he was stuck here out in the country. How he’d resented his older brother for running off with the woman he loved and leaving all the responsibilities of maintaining Rancho Verde and the Santiago legacy to David.
But as he talked, he began to realize he was telling her about the past. That thought broke over him like the sun coming out from behind a sky full of clouds. It wasn’t really like that now. He’d begun to feel a certain pride in the land and the culture. He was accomplishing something bigger than his own transitory feelings could encompass. He was learning to treasure things he once dismissed. And now that this annoying, irresistible woman had come into his life….things were changing.
She listened, she heard what he said, but she didn’t believe him. Her original picture of him as an arrogant bully was still lingering in her thought processes. She was pretty sure it was all a part of his long-term seduction, and when he leaned closer and began to drop tiny kisses along the line of her neck, she thought her suspicions were confirmed.
“David…” She tried to push him away, but she didn’t put much strength into it.
“What?” His kisses found her lips and he began to nibble provocatively.
She drew her breath in. “Stop.”
“Why?”
She took a deeper breath and told the truth. “Because you make me dizzy, that’s why. Because you set off something in me that is scary and wild and I can’t risk it.” She stared up into his eyes. “Please,” she said simply.
He sat back and stared at her. “Wow,” he said, somewhat gob smacked. “I’m sorry, I… .” He didn’t know what to say. Frowning, he shook his head. “Shawnee…..”
“No.” She held up her hand. “My turn to talk. You’ve told me all about your ancestors. I’ve got a few of my own. Want to hear about them?”
He tried to grin. “Not much,” he admitted.
“I know that. But I don’t care. You’re going to listen anyway. This is important to me.”
He looked at her, hard, then shrugged and sat back. “Okay. I’m game.”
She took a deep breath and began to talk. After all, she had a family, too, and it was worthy of respect. She wanted to make sure he knew that. She filled him in about the Carringtons, how they’d all come from the original family who’d been one of the founders of Destiny Bay. How most of the Carringtons had done well, made a lot of money. The first generation had been farmers and sea captains. The next generation had become doctors and lawyers and accountants. The next were a mixed bag, including professionals, but also ranchers and hippies and losers. The ranchers had mostly spread out into the valley, while the others stayed along the coast. And now there was a strong leaning toward entrepreneurs in the current crop.
“We’re still all Carringtons though,” she warned. “And we tend to stick together.”
He nodded. “I’ve noticed.”
By now, she was lying back, letting the grass tickle her legs. David reclined nearby, resting on one elbow, his long, muscular body so near, so hard to ignore. He told a long, convoluted story about some other early settlers of the valley and she only half listened, watching him through her eyelashes, falling into a dangerous dream.
What if, she mused hazily—what if things were different? What if she’d met David in some other time, some other place? If there were no Granpa Jim to protect, no Native Silver whose blindness had to be hidden—would she fall in love with David? Would he fall in love with her?
The sudden sound of hoof beats brought them both upright in a hurry. Two horses were coming over the hill that bordered Santiago land. Two horses with two female riders. They both came to a thundering halt at the other side of the stream and stood, waiting, neither rider waving or calling out a greeting. Shawnee felt a cold hand on her heart. She knew this wasn’t an idle visit.
David shaded his eyes against the late afternoon sun. Shawnee blinked, trying to make out the identities of the riders. “Who are they?” she asked at last.
There was a long silence before David answered. “Allison is reminding me of my obligations,” he said evenly.
Looking again, Shawnee could see that it was Allison on the black horse. Then the other rider became
clearer. She was blonde, with a halo of hair that cascaded about her shoulders. Even without seeing her features, Shawnee knew that she was beautiful.
“I’m going to have to go,” David said, still watching the motionless riders.
“Do you have guests staying at Rancho Verde?”she asked uncertainly.
He lowered his hand and turned to her, but his eyes had lost their warm humor. Instead, they looked hard as black obsidian.
“Not exactly,” he said shortly, rising and reaching for the basket. “Megan Reilly is more of a fixture than a guest.”
Megan Reilly. Wasn’t that the name Allison had mentioned the other day in the barn? Shawnee glanced back at the golden-haired beauty on the palomino. Of course. The “particular friend” of David’s.
She walked behind David as they made their way back towards the house. It wasn’t only that he was striding much too quickly for her to keep up. She didn’t really want to be close to him until she was sure she could control the desolate feeling that was rushing through her.
Here she’d been losing herself in silly dreams of how it might be if only she could solve her problems, and all the while she’d been ignoring the fact that David was out of reach no matter what she did. David was meant for golden girls like Megan Reilly, and not for insignificant people like Shawnee Carrington. She flushed as she realized how naively she’d been acting. The only thing that interested David was her elusiveness. She presented a challenge he enjoyed trying to overcome—the Romeo and Juliet scenario. Nothing more. She had to guard things more carefully before she made a complete fool of herself.
They were passing the stables when Miki snickered. He must have recognized her footsteps going by and wondered why she wasn’t stopping in to give him an apple or to stroke his velvety nose, as she usually did. She wished she could run in and reassure her old friend that he wasn’t forgotten, but she didn’t dare. Not right now.
David’s steps slowed and he looked towards the stable. Miki nickered again and David came to a complete stop.
“Is that your silver horse?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered quickly. “He’s just saying ‘hi’. If you want to get going . . .”
“Mind if I take a look?” He didn’t wait for an answer.
She ran behind him, thinking fast. “Yes, I do mind,” she blurted out. “He’s in training and I like to keep his afternoons entirely quiet.” Weak, very weak, but she couldn’t think of anything else.
“What do you think I’m going to do, whip him into a frenzy?” David asked drily, not hesitating a moment. He stepped into the shaded building and walked straight for the stall where Miki was moving impatiently, glad for attention he would hope was from his mistress.
“Wait!” Shawnee called, running in behind him, but he paid no heed, striding up to the horse as though the animal could see him coming.
Of course, Miki could hear him, but he wouldn’t know just who David was. He would know immediately it wasn’t Shawnee, or her grandfather, and he didn’t care for strangers he couldn’t see. He would buck away, terrified, flashing out with hooves that could splinter wood and perhaps even come down on David in the panic a stranger’s hand could produce. Shawnee felt a cry of anguish breaking through her chest, ready to split the air. She was running down the middle of the long line of stables, but she would never get there in time to stop the inevitable clash of an arrogant man and a panicked horse.
But Shawnee had reckoned without taking into account David’s natural instinct with horses. After all, he’d grown up on a ranch and had worked with the animals all his life. He saw the sudden apprehension in the toss of Miki’s head, read the danger in the tension in his muscles, and acted accordingly.
“Hello, big fella,” he said soothingly, stopping just short of the stall. “Remember me? I met you at the river the other day.”
Shawnee skidded to stop and watched in wonder as he moved slowly, liquidly, raising a hand just short of Miki’s nose, murmuring soft words, letting the big horse feel his nearness with every sense before actually touching him. And Miki responded, quieting as though he knew he was in the control of a master of the game.
“That’s right, you big baby,” David crooned, running his hand over Miki’s nose, then rubbing behind his ears. “You just stand still for me. I know you can do it.”
Could he tell? Did he sense the blindness? Shawnee was sure he must. Why else would he have reacted so accurately to what had been about to happen? Her pulse throbbed frantically as she stood back, watching, heart aching. If he knew, he would surely have her disqualified from the horse-show.
“So you’ve entered him in the horse-show, have you?” David asked, as though he’d read her mind.
She nodded, then answered “Yes,” breathlessly, because he couldn’t see her nod with his back still to her. She waited for the inevitable question.
“What’s the matter with him?”
Her breath was coming very fast. “What do you mean?” she managed to croak out.
“Is he blind?” That would be the next question. She almost wanted to answer before it was asked, to present her case, to plead with him to pretend he didn’t know, hadn’t noticed. But what good would that do? He was on the Californio Days board. He would never be able to overlook it. Nor would he want to if he thought Miki might threaten his sister’s chance at the title. She waited through the long silence, ready to scream.
Come on, she urged silently. If you’re going to ask, do it!
Finally, David spoke again. “He’s a little spooky around strangers, isn’t he?”
Shawnee closed her eyes, then forced them open again. This was pure torture. Why didn’t he come on out with it? “He’s just a little shy,” she answered stiffly. “He’s a one-woman horse, I guess.” And she waited, tense, for the question.
David turned towards her, his hand still on her horse’s silver coat. One eyebrow was raised. He looked at her for a long moment, then grinned. “One-woman horse, huh? He seems to be taking to me pretty well. What would you do if I stole his affections?”
For just a moment, she stared at him, confused. Wasn’t he going to ask it? Had he noticed? Or hadn’t he?
“I. . .I. . .” She couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“Never mind.” He stepped away from Miki and came up in front of her. “It’s not his affections I’m interested in.” His mouth turned down at the corners. “But you don’t want to hear about that right now, do you?” he noted with regret. He glanced out of the window of the stables at the two riders who still waited on the hill. “And I don’t have the time to convince you.”
He turned, saluted Miki, and began to walk out of the long building. She followed behind, still not sure if he knew, not sure of anything any longer.
“You bring that horse over to Rancho Verde tomorrow. Say at seven in the morning.” He gave the order like a man used to no questioning of his decisions. “You can’t possibly train him here on this land. We’ve got a professional set-up for Allison. You can make use of it.”
Her head was spinning. What could he be talking about?
“W . . . what?” she stammered out.
He spun and stared down at her. “You. And Native Silver. You’re entered in the show, aren’t you?”
She nodded, eyes wide, dark hair swinging.
“You need to train him, don’t you?”
Again she nodded.
“Bring him over in the morning. You’ll get training, plus advice from Allison’s coach. I’ll see to it.”
Over Allison’s dead body, she had no doubt. What was he, crazy?
“That’s impossible,” she breathed.
He shook his head. “Nothing’s impossible,” he said softly. “When are you going to learn that?” He touched her chin with his finger. “It’ll do Allison good to have a little competition around. She needs some incentive. She’s getting lazy.”
So that was it! He didn’t think she had a chance. Her natural pride reared up and she flashed back,
“I’m going to beat your sister, you know.”
His grin showed how little credence he gave her boast. “Good attitude,” he said. “But I hope you’re a gracious loser. You may be good, but you can’t be that good.”
She wanted to throw something at him. “I wouldn’t come and train at Rancho Verde if it was the only . . .”
His hand cupped her chin, forcing her to stop, and his frown gave evidence that he was losing patience. “You ask for a lot from me, Shawnee,” he said evenly, his eyes piercing hers. “Every time I see you, you’re making more demands. And yet you refuse to do this one thing for me?”
She was speechless. What was he talking about? What had she ever demanded of him? Except that he let her grandfather keep the land he’d lived on for forty years. She stared back at him. Was he suggesting that he might relent in that area if she did as he asked and came to train with Allison? Did Allison really need that sort of spur so much? Or was there a deeper purpose to his request? She had no idea. His fingers tightened on her chin.
“All right,” she whispered. “I’ll come.” She wasn’t sure why she said that, but it satisfied him.
His face relaxed and he dropped his hand. “See you tomorrow,” he said, lifting the picnic basket and walking quickly towards his car. She watched him go, more confused than ever. The last dust devil made by his car’s passage had died away before she turned back to look at the hill. The two riders were gone.
CHAPTER NINE
TRAINING DAYS
Shawnee could think of a thousand very logical excuses for not showing up at Rancho Verde the next morning. She went over every one of them, weighing each, and at times her hand was actually on the telephone, ready to call and tell David she wouldn’t be coming.
But in the end, she had to go.
If only she knew what David had meant by what he’d said. Was this some sort of bargain he was striking? What did he really want with her? And what was she willing to give up in order to get David to let her grandfather stay on his dusty acres?
She didn’t know the answer to any of those questions, and so she went to Rancho Verde, her pulse pounding in her throat, to see what she would find there.