His Cowgirl Bride (7 page)

“I can't picture you as a gal who didn't assert herself. Quiet and obedient don't compute when thinking of you.” Brent chuckled.

Her laughter joined his and reverberated through the woods. “Believe me, I was never quiet. Obedient could be argued—my teachers would attest to that. But I did know my limitations when Dad put his foot down. I knew not to cross him.”

“But as an adult it's different?”

She nodded, but said nothing.

“So you know how to work a horse and train it?”

“Dad didn't have a problem with that. It was the breaking that he objected to. Sound familiar?”

He shot her a droll look, hiking a brow. He'd been observing her for days, and everything she said about natural talent and a natural seat for the horse was true. If she was a man, he'd be glad to take her talent to the next level. Pace had helped him do that while they
were in Idaho by sharing his expertise as far as gentle breaking was concerned. Brent couldn't help wondering if he'd known more—if he'd had the horse a little more ready to receive a rider—would Tina have been spared all the pain and trouble she'd been through over the last two years? It was something he'd never know. Of course, the one thing he
did
know was that if he'd listened to his dad and hadn't been so full of himself and alcohol, nothing would have happened that night. He wouldn't have let Tina get on that horse. He would have known it was a bad idea. “Your dad sounds like he loves you very much.”

“Never a doubt there. But that can't stop me from living my dream, my choice.”

Brent wouldn't have expected any other answer from her. “So you loaded up, came down here where Pace has agreed to help you and, as luck would have it, you ended up with me. The guy who feels just like your dad. Only I have the tragic consequences to back up my convictions.”

Tacy reined in her horse, and he did, too. She stared at him with thoughtful eyes. “Actually, I don't believe in luck. Or coincidence. I could leave here today, head down to any number of ranches I know of and learn to break horses. Or I could sign up for weekend workshops taught by talented cowboys. This is not my only option. I
chose
to come here. I wanted to learn from Pace because he is a legend. The best.”

Everything she said rang true. She could go learn to break horses anywhere. And, okay, he'd admit she
seemed like she'd be good enough. She was a better rider than Tina had been. Still, if he put Tacy on that horse and something happened, it would be his responsibility. And he couldn't take that.

“But,” Tacy continued, studying him hard, “Pace had to leave, and now you're here. And you know what?” She smiled, tilting her heart-shaped face slightly as solemn green eyes locked with his.

“What?” he asked.

“I believe we're here for a reason. I don't think this is a chance meeting. I can feel it. I think maybe God has brought us together for a purpose—a purpose
other
than for you to aggravate me.”

T
acy wasn't sure what she'd been thinking the day before when she'd blurted out that God had brought them together for a reason—a purpose. Brent had just looked at her like she was crazy and she'd actually felt a bit insane even thinking such a thing! She'd refused to elaborate, telling him she wasn't sure why she felt that way. She just had a hunch…and her hunches were usually right. Thankfully, he'd laughed at that and then let it go, probably assuming she'd only been teasing—little did he know that she hadn't been.

It was easy to see he was hurting—that he was eaten up with remorse and guilt over his sister. And this thing with his dad—well, that was going to eat him alive. Really, she and her dad might not see eye to eye but she could not imagine anything so horrible happening that they no longer spoke to each other. Tacy felt a strong sense of loss for Brent and her heart ached for him.

When they'd arrived back at the barn, she'd wanted to watch him work, but she held back. She could tell he wasn't sure what to think about her not hassling him. Though she still wasn't afraid of anything happening to her, she did respect that Brent had a reason for not wanting her in that arena.

So she'd left him alone.

Thoughts of him distracted her the rest of the day and she ended up sitting out on the back porch, staring at the moon and contemplating everything banging around inside her head.

Her daddy always said she could be sassy as a new colt kicking up his feet on a fresh spring day when she wanted something, or quiet as a mouse when something was on her mind. Brent was definitely on her mind—the pain in his eyes, the attraction she felt for him—the matching attraction she saw reflected in his eyes when he looked at her. Needless to say, she didn't sleep well and was dragging her feet as she stopped to talk to Esther Mae this morning in front of the Sunday-school annex.

“Esther Mae, how's y'all's contraption comin' along?” Applegate asked as he strode up to the two of them.

“Goodness, App,” Tacy said, giving him a quick hug. “You are lookin' dapper in your Sunday best.” That won her a grin and a lifted right brow.

“Thank ya, little lady. Yor lookin' like a fresh spring day yourself.”

Tacy glanced down at her moss-green dress. “Thanks.”

“Now, App,” Esther Mae broke in, “you know I'm not going to give away any of our secrets, so don't even think about sweet-talking me. And don't bother asking Hank if he knows them, either. I've threatened his life if he so much as opens his mouth about anything he hears or sees at the house.”

Applegate grunted. “I ain't about ta sweet-talk you. And Hank done told me you'd put him in the doghouse if he said anything.”

Esther Mae smiled. “My Hank is a smart man.”

Applegate scowled at her as he turned his sharp gaze toward Tacy. “Have you seen the design?”

Tacy had to smile as his face turned into a cascade of wrinkles. “No, sir, not yet, but I'm going out there later.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “If you'll give me a big ole smile I might be willing to give you a few insights. How's
your
contraption comin' along?”

“Hey!” Esther Mae squealed. “You'd better do no such a thing.”

“Hang loose, Esther Mae. I'm just teasing. You people are taking this far too seriously.”

“You bet your daddy's boots we are,” Stanley said, coming out of the annex and catching the tail end of the conversation. “Who don't take men versus women serious? Us fellas gotta win or we look bad. Ain't that right, App?”

“Shore 'nuff.”

Esther Mae harrumphed. “I hate to break it to you boys, but there's no amount of winnin' that's gonna make y'all look good.”

Tacy covered her mouth with her hand and held in a laugh. The “boys” glared at Esther Mae. She lifted a hand and patted her hair. “Now me—well, Lacy has done a lovely job of making me look fantabulous.”

Applegate's bushy brows became one. “Fantabu-what?” he practically shouted.

“Fantabulous. Do you like my new color?”

Stanley and App looked at Esther Mae as if she'd just spoken in a foreign language.

“It's bull's-eye red, Esther Mae,” App said at last.

“Men!” Esther Mae rolled her eyes. “In case you hadn't noticed, boys, all reds are not created equal. This is Chili Pepper red, for your information.”

Tacy gave her a thumbs-up. “Perfect for you.”

“I thought so. It's a tad spicier than my natural color, but I figure these days the brighter the better.”

“I'm with you on that,” Tacy said. “Maybe we should paint our catapult red or something equally bright.”

“We gonna paint ours?” Stanley asked App, who just headed toward the annex shaking his head.

“I guess that's a no.” Stanley grinned, then followed his friend.

“They're a tad touchy when it comes to this competition,” Tacy said.

Esther Mae waved a hand. “The thought of getting beat by women terrifies ole App.” She grinned. “Of course, he's not too fond of losing to a man, either, yet that happens with checkers every day.”

“Now, Esther Mae. You know it's the thought of
being beaten by you and Norma Sue that's not sitting well with him.”

“This is true,” she said, looking amused. “It's fun tormenting him.”

Tacy laughed. “Seems we have something in common as far as men are concerned.”

“My Hank gets on me all the time when I tease him, but he says that since App and Stanley give me such a hard time, they deserve all the torture I can dish out to them.”

Hank came out of the annex. He was a short man with a paunch and a pleasant grin. “There you are,” he said to Esther Mae, then gave Tacy an affable smile. “Mornin' to you, Tacy. Class is about to start, so I thought I'd better come see where Esther Mae got to.”

“I didn't get lost, just ambushed by Applegate.”

Hank looked past them toward App and Stanley, who had stopped to talk to a group of men. “He asked you about that contraption, didn't he?”

“You know he did. It's driving him crazy.”

Hank shook his head. “She loves giving that man a hard time. If I didn't know she was so crazy about me, I might have call to get jealous.”

Tacy paused before heading toward the singles' class. “I don't think you have anything to worry about, Hank.”

Esther Mae took her husband's arm and squeezed it fondly. “I only have eyes for you, Hank. Even after all these years. It's amazing, isn't it?”

“Yep. I'm a lucky man.”

App and Stanley came into the building. “You jest keep a tellin' yerself that,” App said, adjusting his hearing aid as he passed them.

Hank and Esther Mae chuckled as they followed App and Stanley down the hall to their Sunday-school class.

Tacy watched them go, hanging back, feeling unusually chicken-hearted today. Earlier, when she'd first arrived, she'd seen Brent heading her way and she'd changed direction. Why? Avoiding someone was certainly not her style. But after yesterday—she couldn't believe she'd actually opened her big mouth and told him she was in his life for a reason. Crazy talk—that's what it was. Wasn't it? She breathed a quick prayer, asking God to calm her nerves, then entered the classroom. Immediately, she saw Brent and her crazy heart started doing the rumba inside her chest. “Okay, God, I'm trusting you to help me get through this,” Tacy mumbled inwardly.

She took a deep breath and gave Brent and the fellas he was talking to as easy a grin as she could muster. Then she chose the seat right in front of Brent. She refused to let herself avoid him any longer. Fear of anything was just something she wouldn't accept. Even this unexpected attraction to Brent. She could handle it.

The last thing she'd expected was for Jess to walk in and take the empty seat beside her.

 

Brent let go of the table saw's trigger and set the saw to the side. “Fellas, I am not going to try to spy
on Tacy so I can learn how the ladies are building their catapult.” Brent had come out to App's straight after church and so far it had been a miserable day. He'd been forced to sit and watch Jess-the-flirt giving Tacy his best shot all through Sunday school. Didn't the man know you weren't supposed to flirt in church? It was ridiculous.

The cowboy didn't even come to church. He was too busy hanging out on Saturday nights over in Ranger at the bars. Brent hadn't been able to keep from asking around about the cowboy after seeing Tacy wink at him in the diner. It was obvious that Jess had come today for one reason and one reason only—and it wasn't to encounter God. No, it was to encounter someone with copper hair that fell midway down the back of her chair and bounced with life every time she nodded or chuckled at something Jess said to her.

So she liked wild cowboys. Kinda hypocritical on her part, seeing as how she'd been down on him about the tabloid covers. Thing was, he'd learned and left that life behind…and here she was smiling and teasing Jess.

“What has you in such an all-fired bad mood, anyway?” Applegate asked.

Brent scowled. “I'm not.”

Stanley spat a sunflower seed onto the barn floor. “Then I'd hate ta see ya in a bad mood if this ain't it.”

“Yup.” Applegate snorted. “I know what's eatin' ya. You seen that Jess at church, didn't ya?”

Stanley crossed his arms. “That boy ain't walked through them doors ever before. Probably too hung-over most Sunday mornings ta ever consider it.”

It was none of his business, Brent told himself. But it bothered him. He was attracted to Tacy—there was no denying it. But he had no hold on her and no reason to be aggravated that she seemed to be her usual sassy self this morning while he'd felt all ill-tempered and…jealous. There. It was out. He'd been jealous.

He grabbed his measuring tape and strung it along the two-by-four. “What's that measurement?”

Applegate plucked up the drawing and squinted at his handwriting. “Seventy-two inches,” he said.

Brent marked it with his pencil, snapped the tape so it would recoil then dropped it to the table and picked up the saw. “You fellas really believe God orchestrates our lives?”

App's bushy brows crinkled as he rubbed his chin. “Thar's different opinions on that. I believe He's in control…but I don't believe He sits back and works me like a puppet. I got free will. I mess up all the time. If ya haven't noticed, I kin get purdy cantankerous, too.”

“Ever'body's noticed,” Stanley drawled. “The way I see it, God's got us here and we're learning as we go. If He was guiding our every move, thar would be nothin' fer us to learn. Now don't get me wrong. I thank the Bible is purdy clear that He knows what our choices are goin' ta be. That don't mean He orchestrates our lives, though.”

Brent tapped his finger on the edge of the saw trigger, but didn't engage it. “What about sending people into your life when you need them?”

“Oh, He definitely does that,” App said. “No doubt about it.”

“Yeah, seen plenty of that in our own lives,” Stanley agreed. “Not to mention here in Mule Hollow. Now that I thank about it, that sort of contradicts what I jest said. Still, jest 'cause He puts us in people's paths don't mean He uses us like puppets. Why?”

“Tacy said yesterday she thought she was put in my life for a reason.” Just as he'd expected, both older men started grinning.

App was the first to speak. “She done told all them cowboys in the diner that she ain't here ta date. How'd you get her ta change her mind?”

“I'm not dating her. She'd probably kick me in the knee if I asked her.”

Stanley's grin turned to a grimace. “You ain't asked her out? Are ya addled in the brain? Been tossed on yer noggin a time or two too many?”

“No.
This has nothing to do with me being attracted to her.”

“Hear that, App? He admits he's attracted to her.”

“The boy's got hope, then.”

Brent pulled the trigger and welcomed the blaring grind of the saw. Why had he opened his big mouth? He finished cutting the board and took the plunge. “So what's up with her not dating?”

“She ain't interested, so she says,” Stanley said.

“But why is that?” She'd pretty much told him to back off the other day in the barn. Sure, she'd said she didn't date and that she'd made it clear to all the cowboys, but the woman was flirting and winking in the diner all the time. Especially with Jess. Did she not realize that kind of behavior was sending mixed messages? He was certainly confused.

Applegate studied him. “She says she's got things ta get done before she puts marryin' some old cowboy and raisin' a family at the top of her list.”

So her career was top priority. Horse training. Things became clearer to him. She was serious about this horse business.