A Cowboy For Christmas (5 page)

Dancer snorted at him, like
he was asking where Ben had gone.

“
Sorry, buddy.”
Sorry Ben’s not here.
He
faced forward, and though he wanted to turn and look at the
stallion, he couldn’t.

Shaking his head, he left.
How had he gotten so spooked about the whole thing? The horse
couldn’t blame him. No one did. So why did he feel so guilty about
Ben?

Outside again, he headed
for his house, but he spotted Missy walking on the road, bundled up
in her red coat and a scarf. Guess the cougar comment hadn’t scared
her enough to keep her inside after dark.

“
Want company?” he called
out because she looked lonely. How could she not be when she’d left
her life to come out here? It looked like she shrugged, so he
jogged over. “What are you doing out here by yourself? It’s
late.”

“
It’s seven in the
evening.” She rubbed her nose in the cold.

“
And cold.”

“
You’re out here, too.” She
blew out a breath. If she hadn’t run earlier, he might have asked
her to go into town for a movie or dinner.

“
Did you eat dinner yet?”
Where had that come from? That was worse than inviting her into
town. One look at her expression in the yard light confirmed that
she was not going anywhere alone with him. He spared them both.
“Guess not. Are you heading back?”

“
Yes, want to walk me
again?” They turned together. He spotted mud on her boots. She
hadn’t balked at hard work or getting dirty. Maybe she’d done this
before.

“
So you didn’t grow up in a
city?” He remembered her expensive suit, the glitter on her ears
and fingers, and the perfume that made him want to lean in closer
to sniff.

With a laugh, she asked,
“You don’t believe me?”

“
Tell me about it.” The
fancy clothes and jewelry were gone, but she still smelled like
that perfume. It was a light smell that seemed to evade him. He got
whiffs of it here and there.

“
Not much to tell, really.
My dad owned cattle, but we didn’t live on a ranch.”

He could tell her mind was
going off somewhere.

“
Did you want to?” Could
that be what she was sad about? He knew so little about
her.

“
No, not at all. I wanted
to go somewhere bigger and better. So I went off to the closest
city at the first chance I got.”

Maybe that’s where things
went wrong. He was sure something had somewhere along the line, but
he didn’t know how to ask her about it.

She looked at the ground
like she was ignoring him, but she started talking. “I think that’s
why our father left his money to Ben.”

“
Whoa, because you didn’t
want to live on a cattle ranch?” he asked, hearing the hurt in her
voice. A picture of her came to mind, when she came to his house
the first time, and looked so hurt and lost.

“
Ben chose a more
traditional lifestyle, and our father was proud of his Nez Pierce
heritage.” She shook her head as if she wanted to end the
conversation. But she added, “I didn’t mean to insult that, I just
wanted excitement. I was raised as an only child, and it was quiet.
All the time.”

Hearing this made him want
to reach out to her, but again, his instincts told him she’d freeze
up on him if he did. “Most young people do.” And she did look
young, maybe twenty-five. Her age didn’t agree with the hurt he saw
in her eyes sometimes.

“
That’s why I didn’t come
here sooner . . . to see Ben.” She rubbed her nose again to warm it
up, but she still didn’t look at him. “Our father left everything
to Ben. I didn’t even know about him until Dad died. I didn’t want
to know him at first.”

They reached her house and
she stepped up, turning to say goodbye.

“
Missy, I got the wrong
impression of you.” He didn’t like saying he was wrong, but he
figured that came pretty darn close.

“
Thanks, I think.” She
tried for a laugh and turned. He didn’t want this to end and
grabbed for something to keep her talking.

“
What about your job? What
happened there?”

She glanced back while
keeping her hand on the door handle. “Listen, I appreciate your
interest, or concern if that’s what it is, but there’s certain
things I can’t share with you. Goodnight.”

The door shut before he
could answer. Yeah, things went wrong for her, and it had to be her
job, and the boss she’d mentioned. Russ.

Turning, he started back.
So they both had their secrets.

* * * *

She left the cabin when the
morning light was strong enough to see. Brent hadn’t mentioned what
time he started in the morning, but she usually found him working
when she headed down to the stables.

Though he’d never admit to
it, she felt certain he was taking it easy on her, and that was
both endearing and disappointing. When she said she wanted to prove
herself, she meant it.

The high, thin cloud cover
cracked here and there, showing off stretches of innocent blue. She
couldn’t ignore the sweet scent in the air or the bright colors all
around, from the thick green grass to the array of oranges in the
autumn oak leaves. A squirrel stopped on the road ahead of her and
clicked as she approached.

The road took her past
Brent’s house on the way to the stables. She looked over when a
door shut. Brent jogged down the stairs and came her way, wearing a
bulky green coat that hid his torso, but his jeans didn’t hide
anything about his legs.

He touched his hat when he
reached her. “Morning, Missy. You’re up early.”

She got a shiver when he
said her name, but she blamed it on the cold. “Yeah, I’d thought
I’d come by and try to catch you in the shower.” She hoped for his
grin and wasn’t disappointed. It wouldn’t bother her to spend some
time appreciating his easy style and charm while she was here.
Nothing wrong with that, right? As long as he didn’t show any
interest in her, or in taking advantage of her, she liked this
setup.

“
What gross or painful
chores do you have planned for today?” She thought about the first
time she’d seen him. At least they weren’t enemies now. Friends?
With the hormones zinging between them, she wasn’t sure they could
ever be friends, but a truce was nice.

“
I’m going to check the
paths and fences. Thought you said you’re ready to take a horse out
of the corral.”

“
How could I be ready?” One
riding lesson and he thought she could ride a horse? He looked like
he enjoyed watching her expression, so she sucked it up. “Sure, why
not?”

“
Don’t worry. I’m good at
teaching. It’s part of what we do out here, remember?”

She kept a good two feet
between them as they walked. They had flirted and eyed each other
the past few days, but she wanted to put a stop to it. If they got
involved, how would she get a fair chance here? How would she trust
him?

He glanced over several
times. She bet her thoughts were written all over her face, but
that was a good thing, at least this time. He needed to know how
things were between them.

“
How long are you planning
on keeping that rental?” He asked as they neared the
stables.

“
I need a vehicle.” She
needed something to remind her she could leave if she chose, and
that she was here by her own decision.

“
There’s a pickup we keep
around. Why don’t I give you keys to it?”

She met his eyes, uncertain
of his intentions. It would save her money, at a time when she
didn't have it coming in. Still, she said, “I don’t
know.”

“
I hadn’t thought about it,
but Ben paid cash for it last year. Just a little truck, about
fifteen years old, but it runs. Suppose it’s yours.”

Uncomfortable, she
tightened her scarf and thought it over.

“
I guess . . . Then I can
take the rental back and not worry about it anymore.” She didn’t
like how awkward it felt at times, to use Ben’s things. Did it
bother Brent? When she looked back at him, he met her gaze,
probably seeing her doubt.

“
It’s just the way it is. I
was pissy when you got here, but it wasn’t about you. Believe
me.”

Unable to answer with
words, she nodded. At the stables, he took her around to the tack
room. “We keep the keys right here. Here’s an extra
set.”

He dropped them in her
hand.
Thank you
stuck in her throat. Just a few days ago, he had wanted to run
her off. Now he handed her keys to one of the ranch
vehicles.

He watched her face, so she
nodded like it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“
You can take Speckle
today. She’s gentle and isn’t particular about who rides her.” He
pulled equipment down for them to use.

“
Speckle?”

“
She’s an Appaloosa like
Jeffery, and she came with the name. She’s your horse, now, guess
you can rename her. But she might not like it.” He waited for her
to lead the way into the stables. She noted he’d grabbed one
saddle. “Pad first.”

Since he held it out to
her, she assumed she was going to learn how to saddle a horse. So
she laid the blanket over the horse’s back. The black horse, across
the way, watched and protested loudly. Missy gave Brent a look
since she didn’t get horse talk yet.

“
He wants to go, but I’m
not taking him out with you along.” He didn’t elaborate on why, but
Missy turned to the angry beast, remembering it had been Ben’s
horse.

“
What’s his name
again?”

“
Dancer.” He flicked a look
back at the horse and turned back. She hadn’t seen him pay
attention to Dancer at all, now that she thought about
it.

“
He misses Ben,” she said,
wanting to sooth the horse but didn’t dare reach out to him. Brent
waited with the saddle, so she went to work.

Judging by the look in
Brent’s eyes and the emotional charge to the air, he missed Ben
too, but she wouldn’t say that now.

She heaved the saddle up
and adjusted it. A book she’d checked out had shown her how to lace
up the girth strap and cinch it. Though he didn’t direct her, she
gave it a try.

“
Hook the stirrup,” he
said, pointing.

“
That’s it?” she asked,
looking it over. Should she ask him to check it?

“
Looks good,” he said as he
tugged on it here and there. “Lead her out. I’ll saddle
Jeffery.”

Outside, she made it up on
the first try. It was easier without Brent standing behind her
where he could stare at her bottom.

“
Hey, Speckle,” she said to
the horse and rubbed her neck to get acquainted. They needed to
trust each other. Trust wasn’t something she gave away easily, but
this felt different.

Brent emerged with
Jeffery.

“
Hey, look at me. First
try, even.” She couldn’t remember the last time she felt gleeful.
She breathed in the cold air, feeling snappy and alive.

“
I am looking.” He mounted
his horse and clicked. She almost missed his comment, but suddenly
did a double take at him.

She started to say
something about it, but she did ask for it, didn’t she? One side of
his mouth lifted, and he moved his horse up next to
hers.

“
Speckle knows what she’s
doing,” Brent said, tilting his head to look at her, “So you’ll be
getting used to sitting up there on the trials.”

They rode out along the
pasture and then turned into the forest of cedar and pine. Brent
glanced over every few minutes, but he never commented. She hoped
that meant she was doing okay. Ferns grew in clumps on the ground
under the forest canopy. Water dripped off everything.

“
Feel okay?”

“
I love it.” She didn’t
want to look so happy in front of him, but when he gave her an
honest, friendly smile, she couldn’t hold it in.

“
I thought all this would
be hard for you.” He ducked under a pine branch. “You sure you’ve
never done this before?”

She shook her
head.

“
Missy?” he
persisted.

“
All right. I wanted to
ride when I was younger.”

“
Your father wouldn’t let
you?”

“
They used four wheelers.
And feedlots. I couldn’t stand to see the cattle in their pens. It
seemed like they were always slaughtering.” She stopped and turned
her face away. She didn’t care how friendly they got, she wasn’t
going to cry in front of him.

“
Sounds like it’s a good
thing this is a horse ranch.”

They rode in silence until
they reached the top of a hill, where she could see the ocean far
below, rolling in wave after white wave. She’d never smelled the
ocean before, and could only describe it as a salty deep sea
smell.

The water jetted up where
it hit giant boulders. Cold. Dangerous. And breathtaking. Since he
let her sit for several minutes to just gaze out, she forgot that
he watched her.