by Starla Kaye
Maybe, maybe not. Time would tell, but first they needed the chance to be around each other. He hoped like hell he wasn’t making a mistake.
He stood, noting Cal driving toward the ranch road, heading into town to get the tires repaired. “How about I take you out to meet Starbright? At least from a respectable distance.”
Her eyes danced with eager anticipation and she gave him a dazzling smile. “Won’t Cordell object?” she questioned, but her tone held mischievous delight at thwarting him.
“Probably. Will that keep you from going with me to the horse barn?”
“Nope.” She all but skipped out of the room to get her coat in the foyer.
Chapter Five
Ruby walked beside Daniel from the warmth of the big log house across the ranch yard, shivering inside her coat. The sky held thick, grayish-white clouds, and the air had turned colder than when she’d first left her trailer. At least there wasn’t snow on the ground, yet. She’d heard a large winter storm was headed this way in the next couple of days. Driving her rig could be challenging enough at times without adding bad weather to deal with as well. But if Cordell got his way, she would be leaving here just in time for that pleasurable experience.
She glanced around the main yard, impressed by the well-kept state of everything. The closest building to the house was a smaller log home with a rocker on the front porch and a silver mid-sized pickup parked to the side. Probably a foreman’s house. Another long but narrow log building sat maybe fifty feet away, the bunkhouse for eight men, according to Daniel. This time of year there were four ranch hands living on the Circle C, more would come in the spring. She’d seen a couple of the thirty-something-aged men coming out of the bunkhouse when she’d left her truck earlier and headed to see the rancher. They tipped their hats to her and seemed to watch her with curiosity. But they hadn’t spoken to her.
“Cal’s got an impressive spread with over 800 acres in prime Flint Hills country,” he said, obviously having seen her looking around. “His great-great-grandparents started the ranch, but each generation since has added to the holdings, including Cal.”
“I’ve read some of the ranch’s background he has up on his website for selling quarter horses.” She smiled up at him, noting the pride in his expression. “He’s done well, built quite a reputation for his stock. The Circle C has some of the finest quarter horses in the Midwest.”
They were halfway across the graveled yard when his face tightened. She followed his line of sight and found the vacant spot where the former barn had burned down over two months ago. “That fire about killed Cal, not physically…emotionally. All but two of the sixteen mares inside were rescued, most of them by Cal. Losing those two…. Well, it devastated him.”
Her gaze shifted away from where the large patch of concrete foundation remained to the new, brick-red and brown barn with a hip-pitched roof. She could tell he hadn’t spared expenses on erecting the structure. Still, she hurt for the gruff rancher and his losses. “At least someone got Starbright out. I know how valuable the mare is, how important she is to his breeding program.”
Daniel stopped and faced her. “That horse means more to him than whatever monetary value she has. They found each other at a horse auction he went to in a tiny town in Oklahoma several years back. He’d come home from his last tour of duty with the Marines in Afghanistan hurting—for a lot of reasons. Reasons not mine to tell.”
She wanted to ask more about Cordell and his background but didn’t press his friend. What made her curious had been the they found each other comment. “A marine, huh?” She wouldn’t have guessed that. His hair was wasn’t anything close to a military cut, which she was glad of. Not that her likes mattered.
They continued walking toward the barn. “Twelve years, did two deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. But he won’t talk about them. Understandable.”
Yes, she understood. She’d been around other veterans, and they carried such sadness in their souls. “I imagine his parents were proud of him.” Where were they? “Are they retired? Did Cordell take over the family ranch?”
He hesitated in front of the horse-barn’s massive sliding door. His forehead wrinkled, and his gaze hardened. “All I can tell you is Cal hasn’t spoken to them in fourteen years. They were opposed to him quitting college and joining the Marines.”
“Fourteen years?” The idea horrified her, but she hadn’t seen or spoken to her mother in twenty-three years. She didn’t know if her mother still lived. She’d been lucky to have her dad until recently. “Siblings?” She hadn’t read about anyone else connected with the ranch on the website. He was the only one listed as owner. She hadn’t considered that before.
Daniel shook his head. “He’s been alone a long time, like me.”
Curious, she wanted to ask about his familial life. His firm-set jaw and a haunted look in his eyes told her to leave the subject alone. She gave him a gentle smile. “You’ve got each other. That must be a good thing.”
“Yes, we’ve got each other.” The tension left his shoulders, as did the pain in his gaze. “Most of the time it’s a very good thing.”
She wondered at the most of the time but decided to leave the matter alone. Not her business. She would only be here another day or so. Odd how the idea depressed her.
As he opened the door, she stared in amazement at the cavernous interior, lit up by automatic lights. The long center aisle looked a good dozen feet wide, and she counted sixteen stalls with eight on each side. There were skylights and glass windows in the stalls. A closed door at the back of the building probably led to a tack room. The air smelled fresh and clean with a hint of hay and the familiar scent of horses, although there didn’t appear to be any inside at the moment.
A disgruntled snort followed by a frustrated whinnying and an obvious pawing of the ground came from the far corner in the rear of the barn. She faced him, anticipation curling through her. “Starbright?”
He slid the door back into place, shutting off the cold breeze. “Yes. It’s been the strangest thing, but the mare refuses to leave her double stall.”
“I’m surprised. Usually a horse surviving a fire would fight going into another building.” When he nodded, she added, “There is nothing ever absolutely consistent when it comes to behavior, a human’s or an animal’s. I learned that over the years, working with my dad.”
He headed down the concrete floor and the row of empty stalls. “At first Cal couldn’t get her to stay in the corral. She was so crazed, wouldn’t let anyone near her.”
They stopped within sight of the last stall, and she got her first view of the famous, pure-black quarter-horse mare. Her beauty took Ruby’s breath away. But the mare’s coat had lost its luster. Starbright needed grooming, and her heart went out to the troubled animal.
“It took a great deal of patience and begging, but Cal managed to coax her into the corral behind the hay barn. He wanted to keep her well away from where the contractors built the new barn.” He stared at the horse, watching them, stiff and cautious. “The noise and chaos kept her on edge. She wouldn’t eat, barely drank anything. And the vet warned Cal she might not live. That she might worry herself to death.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “Poor Starbright. Poor Cordell.” Oh, how she wanted to have a chance to work with the mare. Starbright needed her. She knew that with every fiber of her being. The cowboy needed her, too.
What? Am I nuts? Where did that ridiculous notion come from? She shook the thought off.
He glanced around the barn, narrowing his eyes as if looking for something. A fat, orange-and-white tabby cat with part of one ear missing slunk under the rails of a stall to their left, crooked tail waving behind as the cat pranced down to Starbright’s stall. The horse whinnied in what sounded like a relieved greeting.
“Sampson, that cat, came with the vet the day Cal finally got Starbright in the corral. Somehow the two animals bonded, and he hasn’t left the ranch since. The weirder part is he sort of led Starbr
ight into this barn the day after completion. He pretty much stays in the stall with the horse.”
“Ahhh, so sweet.” She dashed at a tear trickling down her cheek. She loved a heart-warming story, especially involving animals. “A lot of troubled horses have other animals they make friends with. They can’t seem to function without being near them. I’ve run into dogs, cats, even goats having such relationships.”
Daniel turned to look at her, his gaze serious, hopeful. “I realize you haven’t gone near Starbright, but do you think you’ll be able to help her?”
She believed so, but there were still a lot of questions she needed answered. “Can you tell me more about her behavior? I see she’s calm in her stall, but I would suspect it’s become her safety place.”
Starbright watched her, and Ruby decided to do a small test. She took a few steps toward the horse. Immediately, the animal jerked her head up, tossed it around, and her long, black mane shook from side to side. Her eyes glazed over, and she pawed the ground.
As Ruby retreated a step, the horse calmed enough to inch back and blow out a deep breath. Relief. “Definitely her safe place.” She cocked her head at him. “I don’t smell anything horrible from the stall, so she must be letting someone in there to clean the soiled straw.”
“More or less.” He nodded, his expression worried. “Cal has managed to find a way to get her to move over to one side while he rakes out the dirty straw, and he moves her to the other side. It’s a time-consuming process, but he’s the only one Starbright will let anywhere close to her.” His brow pinched. “Still, she’s nipped at his arm a few times. Kicked him in the ribs once. I’ll admit I’ve been pretty worried about him ever since.”
She considered what he’d said, looked at the horse that had gone back to eyeing her. Sampson found a perch on the windowsill and studied her as well. “She’s not as bad as I feared when I first read about the incident. Definitely suffering from PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But I think she can be helped.”
His cell phone rang from the clip on his belt. Starbright panicked, eyes flashing with fear, nostrils flaring, whinnying and shaking her head. He cursed and grabbed the phone, hurrying toward the barn door. “I’ve been expecting an important call, so I’ve got to take this. I’ll just be outside. Will you be okay?” He hesitated as the phone rang again. “Maybe you’d better come with me.”
She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I just want to stand here and observe Starbright a while longer.”
He seemed reluctant to leave her alone but heaved a sigh and rushed to open the door then left, closing the door.
***
All the way into town and back to his ranch, Calhoun weighed the pros and cons of letting Ruby stay around his ranch and work in a very limited way with Starbright for two days. The cons outweighed the pros. Making him nervous for too many reasons topped the cons list. Ever since he’d opened the door and first laid eyes on the pint-sized female, she’d knocked him off-kilter. He didn’t like the feeling.
As he turned from the ranch road into the ranch yard, he made his final decision. No. He would put the tire back on her truck—Pink! God a’mighty, pink! —pay her for coming here, and send her on her way. Today. Within the next hour, he hoped.
Pulling up next to her rig, he gaped in dismay at big fat snowflakes swirling in the air. He had partially listened to the weather report on the drive. But he recalled the words that would upset the rest of his day, We’re expecting possibly the biggest snowstorm of the season. Double darn damn! How could he send her on down the road in such weather?
He climbed out and stomped to the truck bed, tugged down the tailgate, and reached inside for the tires. Even in those few seconds, the snow started coming down faster. He’d best get the chore done and help her re-hitch the trailer and truck before the storm got nasty. Already his nose and ears were cold from the biting wind.
Frustrated with the situation, he finished putting the tire back on in record time. He’d removed his gloves to work the lug nuts and his hands were near-frozen by the time he tossed her spare tire in the pickup’s bed. While he’d been working, he hadn’t seen any sign of either her or Daniel. He figured they were in the house all nice and warm by the fire. He’d sure like to be there.
He took a step in that direction and turned toward the stable. With this storm, his men would have already brought the dozen quarter horses making up the heart of his breeding program inside. Since they were normally kept outside during the day, their presence would upset Starbright. But pretty much any change in her life these days worried the mare. He’d best check things out before he went to find her and deal with hitching up her fifth wheel.
By the time he stepped inside the barn, he was chilled to the bone. As he closed the large door, warm heat surrounded him and he took a second to stand there and absorb it. The familiar scents of sweet-smelling hay from the stalls drifted to him, along with the earthy, warm smell of horses. From the sounds of chewing, he knew his stock had been fed. Good. One less worry.
He didn’t hear the expected sound of Starbright’s panicky whinnying. No doubt that old, sometimes crabby cat Sampson was in the mare’s stall. He wasn’t fond of the cat because it had clawed and hissed at him more than one time. But he appreciated his affect the feline had on the horse.
“You’re sure a pretty one, aren’t you?”
An anxious whinny responded to the softly crooned words and snared his attention. At the sight of Ruby standing next to Starbright’s high stall door, one hand on the top, he sucked in a breath, heart racing. The mare had lashed out at anyone, including him, too many times to count for being too near her safe space. His men stayed clear of her.
“You’re a handsome fella, too,” she mewed as she glanced down at the cat held in the crook of her other arm.
“What the hell are you doing?” he bellowed and sped to the far end of the barn. His mind’s eye envisioned Starbright moving forward and nipping at her hand on the railing, Sampson showing his persnickety side and clawing at her. His stomach twisted, making him stride faster.
The tiny blonde turned in his direction, spine snapping ramrod stiff, and annoyance flashing in her eyes. Starbright snorted, pawed the ground. Sampson nestled against her chest and shot him a back-off glower. He didn’t slow down, didn’t calm down.
“Didn’t anyone teach you to use your indoor voice?” Ruby protested as she ran her slender fingers over the old Tom’s head and down his back. Sampson’s feline expression shifted to one of bliss.
He had the bizarre wish she were touching him. He shoved away the idea. “What are you doing in here?” he growled, unable to stop watching her stroke the cat, not missing Sampson’s low-rumbling purr of contentment.
“Making a new friend.” She lifted the feline enough to bend her head down and nuzzle her nose against his head. “Checking out Starbright.”
The damn cat gave him what he took for a smug look, which irritated the heck out of him. “I told you I wouldn’t let you be alone around the mare.” His thoughts returned to his experiences with how crazed the horse got at times, how she could have done serious damage to the foolish woman. She’d been in the house when he’d left the ranch, with his friend. He bristled. “Where’s Daniel? Did he let you come out here by yourself?”
Starbright gave another nervous nicker, and Ruby set Sampson on the ground, nudging him toward the stall. “Better go comfort your buddy.” As she straightened, she faced him and said, “Calm down, cowboy. Daniel brought me in here, knowing how much I wanted to see Starbright. We kept our distance—”
“Sure doesn’t look that way to me,” Calhoun growled. Her hand remained on the stall, and terror poured through him. Scowling, he gritted out, “Where’s Daniel?” He wanted to have more than a few words with his friend about leaving her in here alone.
“Probably in the house. He needed to take an important phone call not long after we came in here.” Her chin tipped up at him in challenge. “I didn’t need a babysitter.
”
Behind him the other horses reminded him she hadn’t been in here alone all the time he’d been gone. His men had brought the mares inside. Why hadn’t one of them stayed with her? Or insisted she go back to the house until he returned? He would have to talk to them, too.
“I got the tire back on your truck,” he grumbled, trying to control his temper. He didn’t usually get so upset, but she worried him. Again he pondered all of those cons and his decision to tell her to leave.
Before he could say anything, she glanced at Starbright’s stall and back at him. “She needs me.” Her stance exhibited determination. Her eyes showed sadness, sympathy. “I can help her, I know it.”
He started to cave, but the mare butted her nose into the stall gate.
She jerked in surprise, gasped. She still stood all too close to Starbright. He panicked and snagged her arm, pulling her farther away, pulling her against him. His heart pounded, more so as her plump breasts pressed at his chest. Her heat, feminine scent, made him lose all good sense. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in place for a few mindless seconds.
When his cock swelled in reaction and an aching need tore through him, he ground his jaw and dropped his arms. He took a long step away. Breathing hard, what he’d done made him uncomfortable. Distance. He needed a hell of a lot more distance between them.
And then the woman he fought to resist moved toe-to-toe with him. She lifted her tempting gaze to his. “Kiss me.”
He blinked, needed to refuse, but wanted to…. “Oh hell!” he blustered.
She didn’t flinch but simply stood there. “Cowboy, kiss me.”
Her eyes held a dare, heat as well. No! Don’t do it.
Yet, he reached down to cup her firm butt and lifted her against him as if she weighed nothing. He suffered nearly-forgotten pleasure at the sweet rub of her breasts. Savored the wildness of her pounding heart that matched his own. Wrong. This is wrong. Remember Daniel.