Cowgirl Up!

by Carolyn Anderson Jones

“That doesn’t make it easy. Maybe it wasn’t someone working for the Lazy W. Maybe it was someone who comes around a lot. Know of anyone who’s been hanging around a good bit lately?”

  “Not right off, but I’ll give it some thought and keep my eyes and ears open.”

  “I would love to find the jerk who injected those horses,” Sam said with fervor. “Brilliante died a horrible death and Brio suffered tremendously. No animal deserves that and I’d like to find the person or persons responsible.”

  “I would too, Sam. I wanted Lance to turn everything over to Sheriff Olson and have him investigate, but he was afraid word would get out and the ranch would get some bad publicity so he wouldn’t do it.”

  There was silence for a few minutes as they both dwelled on their own thoughts. Sam decided it was time to change the subject to something more pleasant.

  “Do you go to all the out of state shows?” She asked casually as she relaxed under the warm spring sun.

  “Usually. Why? You gonna miss me when I’m out of town?”

  “Oh, I don’t think I’ll miss you all that much,” Sam said nonchalantly.

  Cheyenne slowly drank the rest of his wine and stared at her. He leaned back against the log, took his cowboy hat off and placed it beside him.

  Sam picked up their empty wine bottles and started to stand.

  Before she could get to her feet Cheyenne reached up, grabbed her shirt and pulled her on top of him.

  “We’re not going yet.”

  His eyes were dark and serious. Sam watched his face as he reached up and slowly pulled her cap off and gently loosened the band around her ponytail. He rubbed both hands through her hair and she melted under his touch.

  “Why do you always hide your beautiful hair under a cap?”

  His mouth curved as he stroked his hands up and down her arms and pulled her into his chest.

  Sam trembled and Cheyenne felt it.

  “Are you afraid of me, Samantha?” He smiled and Sam could feel his lips brush ever so gently against hers.

  She stiffened and pulled back, but his grip tightened and she couldn’t move.

  “I’ve never been afraid of you,” Sam told him defiantly.

  Cheyenne chuckled softly as he rolled over on top of her.

  “I didn’t think so.”

  Sam felt Cheyenne’s fingers move gently across her shoulder as he leaned in and kissed her softly. Then his hands moved down her sides and up to caress her breasts. She moaned as he kissed her neck and then moved his mouth lower so his tongue could tease the cleavage peeking out of her tank top. His hands roamed possessively over her body, and then his mouth came down with a powerful crush against hers.

  His kiss was seductive and dangerous. Sam was lost in a world she’d never been in before. In one breath she wanted him to stop, and in the next she didn’t. Cheyenne softened his kiss and pressed his lips to her chin, down her neck and then back to her lips again. When he turned Sam loose, she was comatose.

  “Now tell me you won’t miss me,” he said huskily as his hand touched her face.

  “Okay, well maybe a little.”

  He rolled over on his side and they were stretched out on the blanket face-to-face.

  “Who’d of ever thunk it,” Sam whispered with a sultry smile. “Samantha Kendrick and Cheyenne Wells nose to nose and toes to toes making out.”

  Cheyenne looked at her darkly. “I want to do more than make out, princess.” Then he seduced her with another kiss.

  Sam pushed him back and looked into his eyes. She couldn’t breathe. Not even her yoga could help her now. She felt out of control and wanted to slow things down.

  “We have to follow the date rules. We can’t do that until the third date.”

  “I don’t follow rules. I thought you knew that by now.”

  He continued his feather light kisses down her neck and her heart skipped several beats. He stopped his kisses and gazed into her eyes.

  “I want you, princess. And I want you now.”

  Sam put her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. To hell with the date rules, she decided. They sucked anyways.

  Things were getting hot and steamy. Sam liked hot and steamy. Cheyenne pulled Sam’s shirt open and she could feel his cool hands on her warm body. Sam liked cool hands on her warm body. Then he put his hands behind her neck and pulled her into another powerful kiss. It was hard and sexy. No surprise. Sam liked hard and sexy too.

  Sam thought about the commando thing and her hands shook as she reached down and unbuckled his belt

  A second later distant thunder rumbled overhead.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cheyenne looked up at the sky then down at Sam. “We better get back to the trailer or we’ll get caught in one of Colorado’s famous afternoon thunder showers. There could be lightening, so we better hurry. We’ll continue this later.” He kissed her one last time and then pulled her to her feet.

  Shit! What a time for Mother Nature to interfere with my love life! Sam thought. But she knew the dangers of lightning in the high country. She and Cheyenne gathered up the remnants of their picnic and headed for the horses.

  The ride back was equally gorgeous even though there were ominous black clouds forming to the east. As they were making their last stream crossing before the rocky climb over the hill to the truck, Sam suddenly felt a jerk and realized her saddle was loose. She quickly pulled back on the reins to stop Dakota but she could feel the saddle slipping off the horse and she was falling with it. Sam hollered to Cheyenne, who was ahead of her, and he turned to see what was going on. It was at that moment Sam and the saddle hit the water at the same time with a big splash. Although startled, Dakota didn’t bolt. He stopped and stood near Sam. Dundee was having a fit, barking and circling around her. Cheyenne galloped back and jumped off Brio. He grabbed Sam and lifted her out of the stream.

  “Are you alright?”

  I… I think so. I just got the wind knocked out of me, but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

  Cheyenne slowly put her down. “Can you move your arms and legs okay?”

  “Yeah, everything works, I’m just wet and cold. What happened to that saddle? All of a sudden it just popped loose.”

  Cheyenne reach down and picked the Aussie saddle up out of the water and looked it over. It was then that he saw that the cinch strap had been cut.

  “Damn! Someone cut this strap.”

  “Why would anyone do that?”

  “I don’t know.” He looked at Sam. “But this is Marietta’s saddle.”

  Sam shivered. “So you’re thinking this fall wasn’t meant for me, it was meant for Marietta?”

  “Could be. No one knew I was going to borrow it this morning for you.” Cheyenne noticed her wet clothes and shivers.

  “You need to get back to the truck to warm up. Here, you ride Brio and I’ll walk with Dakota and carry the saddle.”

  Sam was wet and cold so she didn’t argue. She quickly mounted the stallion and headed over the hill to the truck with Dundee at her heels. When she got there she tied Brio up to the trailer, got in the truck and started the heater. She found an old blanket behind the back seat and wrapped it around her. Dundee snuggled up next to her and gave her a consoling lick on the hand. Sam heard Cheyenne come up with Dakota and load the saddles in the tack room at the front of the trailer. He loaded the horses and then crawled in the truck with her.

  “I don’t know if I’m shivering because I’m cold or scared,” Sam told him.

  He reached over and wrapped his arms around her. It took several minutes before Sam stopped shivering and her blue lips turned back to pink. She could finally feel her body relax.

  “Let’s get you back home so you can get out of those wet clothes and take a hot shower,” Cheyenne said softly. “Then I’m going to find out who saddled these horses this morning.”

  They returned to the ranch in record time and made it before the storm broke. Cheyenne stopped the truck by the barn and jumped
out. He yelled to Jose, who came running up immediately.

  “Help me unload the horses and tell me who saddled them this morning,” he demanded.

  Jose looked confused as he opened the door to the trailer and started unloading the horses.

  “Senor Mitch saddled them this morning, and I loaded them.”

  Cheyenne came around and helped Sam out of his truck. Suddenly the storm broke and the rain came down in torrents. They both ran for Sam’s Chevy and were drenched by the time they reached it. Cheyenne quickly opened the door and Sam and Dundee slid in. Dundee headed for his shotgun spot on the passenger side.

  “I’ll give you a call later on,” Cheyenne told Sam as he shut the door.

  Sam rolled down her window. “Thanks for the ride and picnic. It was great, really. And I loved Dakota. Give him a good rub down for me.”

  “I’ll do that,” Cheyenne said and ran his thumb softly across her cheek. “Now get on home and out of those wet clothes.” He leaned through the window and gave her a kiss on her nose.

  Sam looked at him closely before rolling up her window, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He had those deep brown eyes that were impossible to read. As she headed down the driveway she saw Suzanne standing inside the barn watching them. The dark look on her face gave Sam more shivers than the cold rain. This place was creeping her out and she decided it was time to get out of Dodge.

  Chapter Eighteen

  When Sam got home, she pulled her wet clothes off and headed for the shower. She let the hot water pound on her body and soaped up with her favorite Bath & Body shower gel. As she toweled off she saw bruises forming on her body.

  Sam put on her favorite pajamas from Victoria’s Secret. Not one of the sexy, see-through camisole jobs, but a pair of soft, long flannel pants with a tank top that read ‘I’m too sexy for my shirt’. Then she padded into her kitchen, fed Dundee and put her teakettle on to boil. This was a good evening to stay in, have some hot Celestial Seasonings tea, and finish ‘Sex and Sizzle’, she decided when she heard the rain beat against the kitchen window.

  Sam settled on her couch, took an extra strength Tylenol with a sip of Green Tea and started to catch up with the adventures of Sienna and Seth when her doorbell rang.

  Probably Mom or Mason, She thought. Or both.

  Sam flung the door open ready to give her brother a big hug when she froze. There on the doorstep stood Cheyenne with a hot pizza, a six pack of Coors and rain drizzling off the rim of his black cowboy hat.

  “I felt like a pizza tonight and thought you might want some. I also wanted to make sure you were okay. Can I come in?”

  Sam opened the door wider and Cheyenne stepped through and headed for the kitchen.

  “That smells wonderful. Did you get it at Johnny’s?” Sam asked.

  “Yep, one of Johnny’s ‘sweep the kitchen’ pizzas. Doesn’t get any better than this.”

  Sam pulled two plates from her cupboard and handed one to Cheyenne. In a matter of minutes they had their plates piled high with pizza and two bottles of beer on the coffee table while they sat side by side on the sofa.

  “I talked to Mitch after you left and he swore he never did anything to that saddle. He said he didn’t notice anything wrong with either of the cinch straps. He was upset when I told him what happened. He got real agitated and wanted to come by and see if you were okay. I told him not to worry, that I was bringing you some dinner and would check on you. He seemed distressed you got hurt. I can’t figure out if he’s acting to cover up something or if he’s just got the hots for you.”

  The beer was warming Sam’s blood and relaxing every muscle in her body. She was too tired to think of an appropriate comeback so she rested her head on the back of the couch and chewed on her pizza for a minute before she answered.

  “I talked to him when we danced at the auction and he seemed to be a compassionate, sincere person. I’m usually a pretty good judge of people. I just can’t imagine him cutting that strap.”

  Sam finished her pizza and got up and opened two more bottles of beer. She handed one to Cheyenne and sat back down. As she sipped her favorite brew she could feel the fatigue set in.

  Cheyenne got up and took the empty plates and bottles into the kitchen. Sam could hear him loading the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen while she lounged on her sofa. She was full, warm and content and unable to keep her eyes from closing. Seconds later she was sound asleep.

  In Sam’s dreams she felt someone pick her up, carry her to her bedroom and slip her under the covers. She snuggled under her comforter and could feel Dundee lay down beside her. Then someone kissed her forehead, caressed her hair and tucked the comforter up around her.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Sam murmured as she drifted off to a deep sleep.

  WHEN THE ALARM woke Sam the next morning, she could see the bright sun beaming through her windows. She jumped up quickly and groaned when her sore muscles came to life.

  Sam moved slowly around the room and looked at the clock. She had just enough time to get ready and get to her office. Then she stopped and looked in the mirror.

  “Holy shit!” Sam moaned when she saw her reflection. Her hair was sticking up all over and she had big bruises on her arms and butt.

  Sam limped into the kitchen and saw the empty pizza box and beer bottles in her trash and remembered the night before. So it wasn’t a dream. She must have fallen asleep on the couch and Cheyenne had carried her to bed and tucked her in.

  Then Sam saw the note on her kitchen table.

  “You really are too sexy for your shirt. Cheyenne.”

  Sam remembered her last comment before she fell asleep.

  “Oh, God! I called him Mom!” Sam put her head in her hands. “I am such an air head!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sam barely made it through her office door before the phone started ringing. She needed a bagel fix and she needed one badly, but neither Doc nor Melanie was around so she decided to grab the phone first before leaving for Bunker’s.

  “Dr. Kendrick speaking.”

  “I’m checking to see if you’re still breathing this morning,” said Cheyenne.

  Sam was surprised but pleased to hear his voice.

  “Yep,” she answered. “I’m a pretty strong girl so it takes more than a fall in a mountain stream to keep me off my feet.”

  “Somehow I knew you’d be up and at’em. I wanted to let you know that Lance and Marietta received another nasty note late last night. It was delivered right through their front living room window.

  Sam sat up. “Wow! Was it wrapped in a rock?”

  “Yep. Just like in the movies. It caused quite a stir around here. The note read like the others. Don’t sell out to developers or they would regret it. I asked Lance to turn it over to the sheriff and he’s thinking about it. Seems like the threats are getting more and more aggressive. I also wanted to tell you that I’m having background checks run on everyone we’ve hired in the last year. You may be right. It could be someone on the inside.”

  “Where do your hands sleep? In a bunkhouse together?”

  “We have a really nice bunkhouse for our men. Not like in the old days when they had one big room with actual bunk beds. They tore that building down years ago and remodeled the old foreman’s house and made it more upscale. It’s actually a nice ranch house with 5 bedrooms with separate baths. Jose, Ramon and Alberto have lived in it since they came from Puerto Rico, and Mitch and Frank moved in when they started. The only two that live off the ranch are Suzanne and Matthew and they both live with their parents in Fairview. Before Mitch we had a goofy ol’ guy named Roscoe. He was pretty good with horses, but kept to himself and didn’t socialize much. There’s nothing wrong with that but now I wonder if he was planted to investigate how we operate and learn our schedules because he worked here for about six months and then left abruptly. No notice or anything. He just told me he was leaving one day and that was it.”

  Sam thought a moment.
“So maybe we need to check out Roscoe, Frank and Mitch. Although I still have a hard time believing a vet student would intentionally inject horses with a deadly virus, it would be a good idea to clear him.”

  “Yeah. I’m going to call on the background checks and mosey on over to the bunkhouse today and see if I find anything unusual. I’ll talk to Maria, too, because she cleans the place. In the meantime, I’d like both you and Doc out here to vaccinate our horses tomorrow and I’ll make sure all the hands help out so you can hear their voices. You might be able to recognize the voice you heard using the cell phone the other day.”