Single In The Saddle

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

“Yeah, I guess I could.” He picked up one of the flowers that used to be in the vase. “Do you want to save these?”

  “Sure, if the stems aren’t broken.”

  “I’ll go get something to put them in.” Gathering the fragile flowers carefully , he left the room.

  Daphne used the damp towel to wipe up the floor before standing. She’d need to replace his vase, although she doubted he even realized there had been a collection of them in one of the top kitchen cupboards. She suspected even the dishes had been left by the previous owner. Stony had just moved in and started living, or what he considered living. Without beauty and grace around her, Daphne would consider it more like merely existing.

  He came back with the flowers stuck into one of the ugliest drinking glasses Daphne had ever seen. It had some sort of action figures painted on the sides of it in garish greens and oranges, but she wasn’t about to criticize his choice, not when he looked so earnest as he carefully balanced the arrangement and set it down on the lamp table. “How’s that?” he asked.

  “Terrific. Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry about your candlestick. It looked real pretty.”

  “I’m sorry about your vase.”

  “That was mine?” He looked up with a smile. “Didn’t even know I had any vases. I wondered where you found something to put all those flowers in. The house looks nice, Daphne. Real nice. Especially this room. It was just a dust catcher before, and you’ve made it very...” He fell silent as the warmth in his eyes gradually turned to heat. “Very inviting,” he finished, his voice husky. He cleared his throat and glanced away.

  Her heart thundered in reaction to the stark desire she’d glimpsed in his eyes. There was no candlelight now, no full moon, no romantic setting. Yet the electricity between them was as strong as it had been last night.

  “I, uh, noticed you fixed up the fireplace, just like you said you would.” His chuckle sounded forced. “Now my reputation will be saved, right?”

  “According to the principles of feng shui, it should help.” Unless you try to seduce your houseguest, in which case nothing will save your reputation, or your houseguest’s heart.

  He glanced at her. “I need all the help I can get, I guess. Are you about ready to go to town?”

  “I was.” She glanced down at her skirt, which was split along the side seam at the hip, revealing a section of hot pink silk. “Give me a couple of minutes to change clothes.”

  His gaze had followed hers to the glimpse of underwear, and when she looked up at him, she could almost read the thought smoldering in his blue eyes. For one wild moment, she imagined him slipping two fingers into the ripped seam and tearing the garment away.

  “I’ll go check on the dog,” he said, and left the room abruptly.

  7

  DAMN, Stony thought as he walked quickly down the hall. Even in broad daylight I want that woman. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this way. If he’d ever felt this way. He was used to nighttime passion, the kind ignited on the dance floor of a country-western bar and finished in a rented room. He’d had some good times, but when daybreak came, he’d always been back in control Not with Daphne, apparently.

  He walked into the kitchen and crouched down to stroke the dog’s velvety head. “That lady’s something else, Dog,” he murmured. “Lord knows what I’ve let myself in for this time.”

  The retriever thumped her tail gently. She seemed over the worst of her scare, but she’d probably be content to sleep in the corn for the rest of the afternoon, judging from past episodes. Stony scratched gently behind her ears and tried not to think about pink underwear.

  His first glimpse into Daphne’s room had been enough to start his thoughts in the wrong direction. As she’d stretched up to reach that little curtain thing she’d made, her skirt rode up just enough to make the view interesting. The longer he’d stood watching her, the tighter his jeans had become, as he imagined slipping his hand up inside that little skirt.

  Finally he’d decided he’d better say something instead of standing there gawking, and by speaking to her, he’d caused all the commotion. He hated for the dog to get so scared, but thanks to the dog he hadn’t been able to join Daphne when she fell back onto the bed. Because he most probably would have flopped down on the mattress right after her, pushed her skirt up to her waist and satisfied the lust raging in him. In the middle of the day. Lord.

  He heard her footsteps as she came into the kitchen, and he took a deep breath, hoping the worst of the madness inside him had faded.

  “You think she’ll be okay while we’re gone?” she asked.

  “I think so.” Stony pushed himself to his feet. “Ready to go?”

  “Yep.” Daphne walked over and leaned down to stroke the retriever’s head. “Take care of yourself, Chi.” Then she straightened, picked up the purse she’d laid on the counter and started toward the front door.

  Stony followed. This skirt had more of a flare and swing to it as she walked, which drew Stony’s attention just as surely as the snugger one had. He had to face the fact his attention was tied to this lady as securely as if she’d thrown a heel loop on him.

  “I think it’s a good idea to get groceries and start using this kitchen,” Daphne said as she opened the screen door. “The kitchen’s in the wealth and prosperity sector of your house, so it needs more movement and energy if this ranch is going to be a booming success.”

  “Is that right?” Stony had no idea what she was talking about, but he enjoyed the sound of her voice just the same. He walked beside her down the stone path to his truck. “I keep waiting for the karate chops to start. Are you some sort of black belt in this?”

  She glanced at him with a guilty look on her face. “I have a confession to make. Feng shui has nothing to do with self-defense.”

  He stopped in the middle of the walkway and stared at her. “You mean you just attack people straight out?”

  She seemed to be working hard not to laugh. “Feng shui isn’t about fighting, at all. The boys misunderstood, and I was angry so I let the misunderstanding go on. It’s a philosophy. Part of it has to do with managing space, which is how I got interested. It fits right in with interior decorating.”

  “Well, l’ll be damned. You don’t smash boards with the edge of your hand or do those fancy kicks?”

  She grinned. “Nope. I just decorate rooms.”

  He continued toward the truck and opened the passenger door for her. “The boys will be mighty disappointed. This morning Jasper told me they were hoping you’d feng shui the bunkhouse and break up some of that old furniture they’re sick of.”

  “Do they really want to redecorate the bunkhouse?”

  Stony forced himself to think about her question and not the glimpse of leg he got when she climbed into the truck. “Well, yes and no.” He closed her door and walked around to get behind the wheel “To tell the truth, they mostly want to meet you. Jasper and Ty are the only ones who’ve seen you, after all, and the rest of them—Ramon, Andy and Big Clyde—are dying of curiosity after all those weeks of writing to you.” He started his trusty old pickup.

  “Big Clyde?” She chuckled. “You really call him that?”

  “That’s what he told us to call him when he hired on. And he’s big, all right. Steady as they come, too, with real horse sense. It says something about Jasper’s salesmanship that he was able to convince Big Clyde to go along with the magazine trick.” Stony closed his window and flipped on the air-conditioning, something he didn’t always use but thought Daphne would appreciate, seeing as how she was all dressed up.

  “Jasper is something of a salesman, isn’t he?” Daphne said.

  Stony glanced at her. “What’s he been trying to sell you? Never mind, let me guess. He’s trying to convince you that I’m a lonely, motherless cowboy who doesn’t realize how much he needs a woman around. Am I right?”

  “He cares about you, Stony. Maybe he’s a little misguided, but—”

  “He’s a lo
t misguided.”

  “Maybe so.”

  Stony shifted uneasily in his seat. “Anyway, you’re here now, and the other hands want to meet you, so I promised them I’d bring you down there this afternoon after we get back from town.”

  “I can walk over to the bunkhouse myself,” she said. “I’m interfering with your schedule enough as it is.”

  “I have some business to discuss with Jasper, anyway.” And between now and then he’d think of something that would qualify, he thought. He didn’t want her spending time with his wranglers without him being around. Ramon fancied himself a lady’s man and Ty had already indicated an interest, so Stony wanted to keep a close eye on the goings-on between the men and Daphne. That was all he needed, to have his wranglers start mooning around after this woman. It was bad enough that he was doing it.

  DAPHNE NOTICED HIS possessive stance and decided not to comment on it. Still, it was interesting that he was willing to grocery shop rather than have them both eat down at the bunkhouse, and that he didn’t want her wandering over to see the wranglers by herself. If he truly had no interest in continuing a relationship with her, he shouldn’t care.

  “Then you have a total of five men who work for you?” she asked.

  “They’re supposed to work for me. Half the time I think they work for Jasper and I’m just the one providing the paychecks every month.” He sighed. “But I guess that’s okay. Without Jasper I never would have made it through these first couple of years. He advised me on what cattle to buy, how much hay to plant, when to move the herd—nearly everything. His family owned a ranch when he was growing up. They lost it, so he took to rodeoing, but when I told him I wanted to buy a ranch, he volunteered to be my foreman. Whenever I had doubts about my plan, he kept me pumped up. Without Jasper, there would be no Roughstock Ranch.”

  “Now, that wasn’t in the letters,” Daphne said.

  “If I’d been writing them, it would have been. I owe Jasper a lot, which is why I couldn’t fire him, not even for this stunt.”

  “Then I’d like to help him and the hands redecorate their bunkhouse. Why don’t you tell me something about the rest of them, so I’ll have a better idea of where to start?”

  “Now, don’t go making too much of this project, Daphne. You need to concentrate on the people in town.”

  She almost laughed at his not-so-subtle attempt to limit her interaction with his men. “I promise not to get carried away. Just fill me in on everyone’s personality.”

  Although she had to pull some of the information out of him as they continued down the road, she gradually formed a picture of Andy, only twenty and a redheaded prankster who often got himself and anyone around him in trouble. Ramon was apparently a sentimental type who was also a smooth talker, as opposed to Big Clyde, a man of few words.

  “I think those men could all benefit from having a feng shui arrangement in the bunkhouse,” she said at last.

  Stony grinned. “You mean they have a reputation sector, too?”

  “I can tell you don’t believe a word of this.”

  “Not much. It doesn’t make sense to say that if you fix up a part of the house, it’s going to magically improve your life, unless you unplug a drain or something. Now, that makes sense.”

  “Then I suppose you wouldn’t be interested in hearing about feng shui astrology, either.”

  “Astrology? Oh, boy.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be telling people about this, Daphne. We’re not very New Age in Rio Verde.”

  She refused to let one bullheaded cowboy rain on her parade. “I have to tell them. It’s the basis of my new business. Without feng shui I’m just another decorator.”

  He chuckled. “In Rio Verde you’ll be the only decorator. In fact, I’m sort of surprised that Jasper got you two prospects. Most folks around here hang a set of horns over the fireplace and a picture of cowboys on horses over the couch and call it good.”

  “That’s because nobody ever suggested something else. I think feng shui could be a big hit.”

  “You don’t have to take my advice, but I’m warning you to go easy on it. I can’t picture folks around here believing that a vase of flowers is going to protect their reputation or make them healthy, wealthy and wise.”

  “Don’t they tack horseshoes over the barn for good luck?”

  “I’m not saying we’re not superstitious but we’ve got our own brand, and imported brands might not go down too well.”

  “We’ll have to see about that, won’t we?” She thought he was shortchanging the residents of the town and maybe even his men on the ranch. At least she hoped so.

  “I’d just hate to see you disappointed.”

  She thought about that as they reached the outskirts of town, and she wondered if he’d also hate to see her business fail, which might make him continue to feel responsible for her.

  She turned toward him. “Look, if I don’t get a decorating job lined up in two weeks, I’ll go back to San Antonio and look for work in a big department store or something. So don’t worry that I’ll hang around forever, trying to get people to buy into my feng shui ideas.”

  He looked startled by the announcement. “Two weeks? Well, I don’t know. That doesn’t seem like enough time, Daphne.”

  She’d thought he’d agree immediately and look relieved to have the matter settled. His hesitation surprised her. “I think it’s important to set a timetable, so that you won’t feel as if this is some sort of open-ended arrangement and begin to resent my being here.”

  He parked the truck in front of a small café and turned to study her. “The fact is, I don’t resent your being here. And that surprises the hell out of me. Now, let’s get a bite to eat before we go shopping.”

  LUNCH IN THE CAFÉ PROVED to be a repeat of dinner, as people came up to be introduced to Stony’s “cousin” from Hawaii. Daphne caught a couple of them winking at Stony as they said the word cousin.

  “I’m going to start fixing this situation,” Daphne said. “The next person who comes over to be introduced is getting a pitch for my decorating business. Maybe that will make them realize that I’m here to open a business and that you and I aren’t lovers.”

  “At least not currently,” Stony said, nonchalantly picking up a french fry.

  Warmth coursed through her. “I told you I’ve erased that from my memory. As far as I’m concerned, nothing ever happened between us.”

  He dipped his french fry in ketchup, popped it in his mouth and chewed as he gazed at her. Then he swallowed and leaned forward. “Then why do you get that pink flush on your cheeks and that sparkle in your eyes when you talk to me?”

  “I don’t.” She could feel the blush rising to prove her lie.

  “You do. These folks aren’t blind, Daphne.”

  “You’re the one who’s giving them ideas. I’ve caught you looking at me with those big cow eyes.”

  He tugged his Stetson down and cleared his throat. “I was probably just staring into thin air, thinking about the price of beef, and your face happened to be in the way.”

  “So you don’t think about that night, either?”

  “No more’n you do, sweetheart.”

  “Then I can’t imagine where people get the idea that there’s something between us.” She noticed a paunchy cowboy heading toward their table. “Okay, here comes someone. I’m going to see if he wants his house decorated.”

  The man clapped Stony on the shoulder. “Haven’t seen you in here in a coon’s age, boy.”

  Stony glanced up. “Been busy, Hiram. How’s it going?”

  “The drought’s a pain in the behind, but other than that, okay. Are you going to introduce me to this lovely lady?”

  “Sure thing. Hiram Connelly, meet my cousin from Hawaii, Daphne Proctor.”

  “Ma‘am.” Hiram touched the brim of his hat and smiled, revealing a bad-fitting set of dentures. “For your sake, Stony, I hope she’s your kissin’ cousin.”

  Daphne winced. This might not be
easy. “Stony was kind enough to say I could stay at his place while I set up my business here in Rio Verde,” she said.

  Hiram hitched up his belt. “Jasper said something about that when I saw him in the feed store yesterday. Somethin’ about you being able to order drapes and carpeting and such for folks here in town.”

  “I’m an interior decorator.”

  “That’s it,” Hiram said with another big smile. “I knew there was a fancy name for it.”

  “Maybe you’d be interested in my services yourself, Mr. Connelly?”

  “Well, the wife was talking about ordering new drapes, but she usually just gets ‘em out of the catalog. Are your prices gonna be about the same as the catalogs’? I’d like to help out, if it didn’t cost too much more for the drapes.”

  Daphne was beginning to see the scope of the problem, but she pushed bravely on. “Actually, my job is to help you and your wife choose colors and fabrics to enhance your lifestyle. That fee is in addition to the cost of the items, but my clients consider my services well worth the money.”

  Hiram looked doubtful.

  “Is your life as exciting as it could be, Mr. Connelly?”

  Stony coughed.

  Hiram’s face grew pink. “I shoulda said first off, the drapes are for the living room. We put new ones in the bedroom last year. They block out everything.”

  Now it was Daphne’s turn to blush. “That wasn’t what I meant.” She hurried to repair the damage. “When I decorate a house, I use the Oriental technique of feng shui to enhance your home and your lives.”

  “Fung whatzit?”

  She barreled on. “For example, let’s say your health hasn’t been the best recently.”

  “My arthritis kicks up in the winter, is all.”

  “I would evaluate the health-and-family area of your house, make adjustments to allow the chi to flow more freely, and see if that didn’t help your arthritis.”

  Hiram stared at her as if she’d just touched down from Mars. “Nothing’s wrong with the plumbing. Our chi, or whatever you called it, flows just great. And I don’t think you get arthritis from bad plumbing, anyhow.”