Single In The Saddle

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “Stony?” Jasper said. “You maybe had something to say to the lady?”

  Stony coughed into his fist. “Uh, yeah. Daphne, we were talking, and we figure you can just stay here and set up your business in Rio Verde like you planned.”

  “No, thanks.”

  “And Jasper’s going to get a mattress for the—” Stony paused. “What did you say?”

  “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t accept charity.”

  “This ain’t charity,” Jasper said. Then he glanced over at Stony. “Is it okay if I say something, boss?”

  Stony waved a hand in the air. “Go ahead.” Damned if he was going to plead with this woman.

  “We thought you might think this was charity,” Jasper said to Daphne.

  “We did?” Ty asked.

  Jasper shot him a glance.

  “Oh, yeah, we did,” Ty said. “So I guess you’re not interested, huh? I told them this would never work, but they—”

  “Button your lip, cowboy,” Jasper said. “Ma’am, here’s what we figured would take care of the charity angle. To earn your keep, you can start decorating right in this here house.” He swept an arm around the room.

  Stony’s gaze swung to Jasper. “Hey, we didn’t—”

  “I reckon you’d find enough to keep you busy making this pigsty look nice,” Jasper said, ignoring Stony.

  “It’s not a pigsty!” Stony said. “And it’s...it’s practical!”

  “It’s a nightmare,” Daphne said. “If things had turned out differently, I was planning to start on this room immediately.”

  “And do what?” Stony asked, looking around.

  “Break up the furniture, probably,” Ty said. “You know, take that rickety table over there and whap! Right through it with the side of her hand. I’ve seen it on TV. One minute it’s furniture, the next it’s kindling.”

  Daphne seemed to be trying not to laugh. “That’s not a bad idea. Whoever designed that table should be shot.” She grew solemn again. “But I really can’t stay, guys. Sorry. Jasper, will you be the one taking me back?”

  Maybe it was the laughter that sparkled briefly in her brown eyes. Stony thought of how she must have started out on this trip full of high hopes for a new life. He remembered how terrific he’d felt when he left the rodeo for good and bought this ranch. She’d felt that way yesterday. Today her dream was gone, and she was facing her loss with great courage.

  She couldn’t have the home and husband of her dreams, but the business part was possible, with a little help from his friends and neighbors in Rio Verde. Stubborn pride was keeping her from accepting his offer. He recognized that easy enough, having a generous dose of the problem himself.

  “Please stay,” he said, looking directly into her eyes. “We’ve made a mess of your plans. Jasper tells me you grew up in this area, and you were looking forward to moving back.”

  Her expression shifted from stubborn to uncertain.

  Stony pressed his advantage. “And Jasper’s right about this house. It needs a lot of work. I wouldn’t know where to start.” He wondered if he was consigning his furniture to the woodpile. “I’d like you to fix it up. I’d consider it a big favor. There’s plenty of room in this house, and you don’t look like you eat much.”

  “Real smooth, boss,” Ty said, turning to Daphne. “Look, if he don’t feed you right, come on down to the bunkhouse. We all take turns cooking, and most of us are a pretty fair hand with a stove.”

  “She’ll eat up at the house,” Stony said, with a warning glance at Ty.

  Daphne looked around at each of the three men. Then she surveyed the living room. “What sort of decorating budget would I have?”

  “Whatever you need,” Jasper said.

  Stony made a choking sound.

  “Within reason, a’course,” Jasper added.

  “Of course.”

  Stony wasn’t sure he liked the gleam in her eye when she said that.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll accept your offer.”

  Dear God, what have I let myself in for? Stony thought just as the toe of Jasper’s boot jabbed his ankle. “That’s great,” he said, mustering a smile.

  “Real fine,” Jasper added.

  “I hope you won’t be sorry,” Ty said. “Persortally, I don’t think—”

  “That’s for sure,” Jasper said. “Maybe you and me should be moseying along, Ty.”

  “I have a couple of conditions,” Daphne said. “I know how small towns are, and I don’t think I’d have much luck starting a business if everyone thought I was Mr. Arnett’s mistress.”

  Stony felt warmth climbing into his face as he realized that’s exactly what folks around here would think.

  “So I want everyone to say I’m Mr. Amett’s cousin from Hawaii.”

  “We can do that,” Jasper said. “Right, Ty? Right, Stony?”

  “Sure thing,” Ty said.

  Stony merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak. The idea of having Daphne as a mistress was a damn potent one.

  “The second condition is between Mr. Arnett and me, if you wouldn’t mind excusing us for a minute.”

  “Like I said, Ty and I have things to do. Let’s go find that bedstead, boy.”

  “I’ll bet it’s too rusty to use,” Ty said.

  “Yeah, you would.” Jasper grabbed Ty by the arm and headed out the door. Just before they left, Jasper paused and whistled for the dog, who trotted out with them.

  Stony watched them depart and longed to follow. He’d rather not face Daphne alone just yet, which was why he’d hauled Jasper and Ty in on the discussion in the first place.

  He was all jumbled up when it came to Daphne. If he’d been told the truth about her he would never have made love to her, knowing she was just the kind of woman he didn’t dare get too close to because he might begin to care too much and wind up like his father. But he hadn’t known the truth, and he had made love to her, and damn it, he wanted to do that again. He couldn’t allow himself to, of course. It wouldn’t be fair to her. But that didn’t stop the ache he felt every time he looked into her eyes.

  With a sense of foreboding, he turned back to her and touched the brim of his hat. “Ma’am.”

  “First of all, I want you to know I tore up that hundred dollar bill you gave me.”

  Stony winced. “Did you put it in the trash can? Maybe I can—”

  “I flushed the pieces.”

  “Oh.” He sighed. That hundred bucks was probably only the tip of the iceberg as far as what this rodeo was going to end up costing him. “I guess you were pretty mad, and I can’t say as I blame you. We need to get something straight, though. Jasper may have put stuff in the letters about me that was true in its way, but anything he said about my needing a wife was all in his head. I’m not interested in getting married. Not now, and not in the future.”

  She lifted her chin and her dark gaze snapped. “Don’t worry, Mr. Arnett. I’m not going to try and trick you into matrimony. The man I marry will consider it an honor and a privilege, not the jail sentence you seem to think it would be.”

  “You got me wrong.” Stony rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not saying anything against you. I’m sure being married to you would be an honor and a privilege... for somebody else. I’m just not cut out for all that happily ever after stuff. Jasper was way off on that estimation.”

  An emotion flickered in her eyes and disappeared. “Apparently so. And because of that, I deeply regret what happened between us last night.”

  “You do?” His ego began to smart. “Was I... I mean, it wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”

  “That’s not the point. You took my virginity.”

  Stony’s mouth dropped open. “You mean that was for real? But...” He sorted through his limited information about virgins. “It didn’t seem like... isn’t there supposed to be blood or something?”

  “Not in this case. I was a born-again virgin.”

  “Huh?” Stony wondered if his original thou
ghts about this woman were correct, and she was crazy as a bedbug.

  “Seventeen months and twenty-seven days ago I took a personal vow of celibacy, not to be broken until I met the man I intended to marry. I made love to you because I thought you were that man.”

  Stony let out his breath in a long sigh of relief. “So you weren’t really a virgin. Just on the wagon, so to speak.”

  “No, I was really a virgin. And the only reason I’m telling you this is that this morning, I took that vow again.”

  Stony blinked. “Just like that, you can call yourself a virgin again?”

  “I can, and I do.”

  “Yeah, but Daphne,” he said, chuckling, “last night we...I mean, you can’t really call yourself a virgin after what we...considering how much we...well, you know.”

  Her gaze was icy. “As far as I’m concerned, last night never happened. The slate’s been wiped clean. It’s as if you never touched me. As if no man ever did.”

  He wasn’t sure he cared for that. He liked to think a woman couldn’t erase the memory of his loving quite that easily.

  “Although we’ll be living under the same roof, and that might seem like a tempting situation, it won’t be for me,” she said. “I intend to stay pure until my marriage, which will obviously be to someone else. Do you understand?”

  So she was making herself off-limits. That was a good thing, he thought, because he shouldn’t have anything more to do with her, anyway. “It’s fine with me,” he said. And the minute the words were out of his mouth, he knew they were a lie.

  “Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go pick out which room will be mine.” Grabbing her suitcase handle, she started down the hall.

  He watched her go. Her every movement teased and tantalized him. She might have put temptation behind her, but there it was running straight at him, ready to play. He groaned, pulled his hat low over his eyes and headed outside.

  DRESSED IN CUTOFF JEANS and an old T-shirt, Daphne swept cobwebs from the corners of her little bedroom. As she cleaned, Stony’s retriever stayed underfoot and made the job tougher, but she appreciated the company. Finally she put aside the broom and crouched down to scratch behind the dog’s ears and ruffle her fur. The retriever licked Daphne’s face, obviously overjoyed with the attention.

  She looked into the dog’s brown eyes. “You’re way too nice to go without a name,” she said.

  The retriever panted happily and licked Daphne’s face again.

  “Stony can call you whatever he wants, but I’m giving you a name. And I have the perfect one. I’ll call you Chi, which in feng shui represents life force. How do you like that? Wag your tail if you like it.”

  The dog’s tail thumped so enthusiastically on the wood floor that a cloud of dust made Daphne sneeze.

  “God bless.”

  She glanced toward the doorway and saw Jasper standing there balancing a mattress.

  “Getting along with the dog, are you?” Jasper said.

  “She’s a great dog.” Daphne gave Chi a final pat and went over to help Jasper with the mattress. “Did Stony ever try to find her owner?”

  “Yep. Put notices up around town, but nobody claimed her. Best we can figure, somebody let her out on the highway, figuring she’d find a home.”

  “That’s criminal.” She took one end of the mattress and Jasper, the other, as they lifted it onto the springs of the old iron bedstead Ty had brought in earlier.

  “Yep. But the thing is, she’s been real good for Stony. He might not’ve wanted her at first, but now he’d be lost without her.”

  Daphne gave the mattress a final shove into place. “If that’s a not-so-subtle message that I should worm my way into his good graces so he’ll get used to the idea of having me around, forget it.”

  “I was just talkin’ about the dog.” Jasper gave the mattress a pat. “I never asked if you liked firm or soft.”

  “Firm.”

  “That’s how I puzzled it out. I said to myself, A gal with backbone will want firm.”

  “A gal with backbone would be on a bus out of San Antonio by now.” Daphne dusted off her hands and glanced at him. He was the source of her troubles, but she had a hard time staying angry with such a nice old guy. Meddlesome, but nice.

  “Personally, I figure it takes more courage to stick around,” Jasper said.

  She propped her hands on her hips and blew her hair out of her eyes. “Look, Jasper, you’d better give up on this little scheme of yours, because even if I wanted to, which I don’t, your boy Stony is totally against the institution of matrimony.”

  “Is’pose he told you that.”

  “Yep.”

  “And Is’pose you believed him.”

  Daphne threw up her hands. “You do still think it will work! Is that why you came up with plan B? You’re beating a dead horse, Jasper. I’m happy to be back in Texas and I’d love to establish a business in this area, but that’s all that’s going to happen, believe me.”

  Jasper just smiled and walked over to the doorway, where he picked up a large plastic bag. “I got you a couple of pillows and some sheets, too. Stony don’t have any of them double-size, just the king.” He tossed the bag onto the mattress.

  “I appreciate that.” Daphne opened the bag and took out a package of sheets patterned in violets. She’d told Stony in a letter—no, she’d told the boys, it turned out—that she loved violets. A lump rose in her throat as she remembered one of her fantasies, that Stony would meet her at the airport with a bouquet of violets. She gazed at Jasper. “This whole thing is a stupid idea and it just isn’t going to work. Why don’t you just drive me to San Antonio this afternoon and we’ll call it quits?”

  He sat on the edge of the bed and patted a space next to him. “Come and set a spell, Daphne. You been working hard and you need a break.”

  “I don’t need a break.” Daphne went over and sat down, anyway. In spite of herself, she just plain liked Jasper. “You just want to brainwash me.” She stroked Chi, who had positioned herself so she could lean against Daphne’s knee. “Just like you did with those letters, making me think Stony was some sentimental guy who longed for the love of a good woman.”

  “He is.”

  She glanced at Jasper and rolled her eyes. “Ha.”

  “He just don’t know it yet.”

  “Hey, that’s my dream. To hook up with a guy who’s totally clueless about himself. Sorry, but you’ll have to get some other woman for the job.”

  Jasper didn’t seem the least put off by her protests. He just kept looking at her with that same little smile on his face. “I’m plum amazed each time I set eyes on you.”

  “I know. It’s hard to imagine somebody could be as gullible as I am, isn’t it? But those days are over.”

  “I knew you’d be a good one, but I didn’t know how good.” He nodded. “This is all gonna work out fine. Hey, I nearly forgot.” He unsnapped the pocket of his western shirt and pulled out a scrap of paper. “I rustled you up a couple of possibilities in town while I was in buying the mattress.”

  If that was Jasper’s idea of bait, it was working, Daphne thought. She took the paper with growing excitement. If she could interest these people in her services, they would be the first clients who were exclusively hers, the first time she wouldn’t have to share the commission or the credit with anyone. Boy, did that feel good. Maybe she shouldn’t be so hasty to throw away a business possibility. “Thanks, Jasper.”

  “You’re more’n welcome. Guess I’d better quit jawin’ and get back to work.” He patted her shoulder and stood. “Oh, and you gotta promise me you won’t break up none of the furniture in these folks’ houses. That good stuff was bought at a big store in San Antonio, not like Stony’s old hand me-downs.”

  Daphne looked up from the paper with a smile. “Actually, I don’t...” She stopped herself from confessing the truth. The misunderstanding about her martial arts skill might still come in handy in the next few days. “I don’t think Stony
’s furniture is all that bad,” she finished. “It just needs some TLC.”

  Jasper gazed at her and slowly nodded. “Yep. And that about describes Stony, too.”

  5

  STONY HAD SUFFERED through one hell of a day, not even counting the opening sequences with Daphne. Sure enough, a few head of cattle had worked their way through the break in the fence that would have been repaired that morning if it hadn’t been for the interruption in routine. Rounding up the strays had turned into a major hassle, especially after a calf somehow got separated from its mother. Stony had spent two hours of hot riding finally getting them back together.

  And then the fence had to be repaired, plus another section Big Clyde discovered was down in the process of looking for the missing cattle. To make matters worse, they were shorthanded. Jasper spent most of the day fetching a mattress for Daphne, and Ty was out of commission while he cleaned the iron bedstead and set it up in her room.

  All this, Stony thought as he put up his horse and walked toward the ranch house, because the boys thought he needed a woman around. He needed a woman around like a fish needed a bicycle. Things were going along pretty damned good until Jasper got this fool idea into his head, turning Stony’s predictable little world ass over teakettle.

  He’d missed lunch, and he was starving. Ordinarily he’d clean up a bit and head down to the bunkhouse for some grub, but he remembered telling Daphne they’d eat up at the house. Now that suppertime was here, he wondered how in hell he’d manage that. He didn’t think there was anything in the kitchen except maybe a can of beans and a few slices of bread.

  By the time he walked through the front door he’d worked himself into quite a mood. With daylight savings time there was plenty of light to see without any lamps being turned on, so he had no problem noticing that the living room was completely rearranged and all his magazines and catalogs were missing. All his weary frustration settled on one available target.