Tame a Wild Wind (5 page)

Sam swallowed hard.
 
He knew what jockeys wore, with the tight pants and silky shirts.
 
He swallowed again.
 
Jeez!
 
He’d never be able to watch her without getting a hard on.

“You’ve gone a little pale.
 
Are you feeling all right?” concern written on her face.

“Yeah.
 
I’m fine.
 
Just picturing you on top of those big horses.”
 
He was doing more than picturing her on the horses, his mind suddenly pictured her riding him.

“Don’t think I can do it?” She sounded a little defensive.
 

 
“No.
 
I have no doubt you can do it.”
 
He fought not to tell her what he really thought.
 
He wanted to work here, wanted to stay around her.
 
He wasn’t about to tell her that it was dangerous and highly erotic picturing her riding in the racing saddle.

“I’m good at it Sam.”
 
Her tone softened.
 
“I’m really good at it.
 
Michael was amazed at how fast I learned the saddle.
 
I wasn’t used to riding astride when I started learning to jockey.
 
It was a new experience for me, but I took to it right away.
 
Michael always said I was a natural.”
 
She paused.
 
“At riding astride.”

Sam’s gaze swung to her face.
 
A smile played around her lips.
 
Her oh so kissable lips.
 
“You’re teasing me.”

“No, Sam.”
 
She shook her head.
 
Then laughed.
 
“I really am good.
 
But I’m not teasing you.
 
I’m flirting with you.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Oh, yes there’s a difference.”

“What?”

“I think I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself.”

“Great.”

“I came to tell you that dinner is about ready.
 
The ranch hands and the kids will be in shortly.
 
We all eat in the kitchen.
 
Always.”
 
She turned and started for the stairs.

Sam followed slightly behind.
 
Allowing a rare sigh to slip past his lips he couldn’t help but notice the sway of her backside as she walked.
 
He took a deep breath to steady himself and clear his mind.
 
“I noticed that the dining room furniture is covered.”

“My father and brother insisted that we never eat with our employees and we always used the dining room.
 
After they were both gone, Michael and I closed off the dining room and made it a habit to eat every meal with our help.
 
We wouldn’t have a business without them.”

As they made their way into the kitchen the hired hands had begun to file in.
 
All freshly scrubbed clean.
  
A small woman was placing the bowls and trays on the long table.
 
With a bench on either side and a chair at each end the table could easily seat twenty.
 
There were only eleven wranglers today, so there was extra room, which the men were only too happy to spread into.

The woman, Sam assumed she was Bridget, was tiny, even shorter than Cassie, with beautiful white hair pulled back into a neat bun.
 
She had a no nonsense attitude which he saw when she hit one of the drovers with a spoon when he tried to snag a biscuit before she got them on the table.

The table was laden with two of everything.
 
Large platters of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, baskets of biscuits, fresh peas and onions.
 
On the counter he saw two cobblers but he couldn’t tell what they were.
 
From the scent that made his mouth water, he guessed they were his favorite, blueberry.

Cassie went up to the woman and put her hands on her shoulders and hugged her, then turned back to Sam.
 
“This is Bridget.
 
I couldn’t do anything without this amazing woman.
 
She’s my rock.
 
Bridget, this is Sam Colter the new foreman.”

Sam waited.
 
So did every other man in the room.
 
It would appear that Bridget had a lot of clout here.
 
She looked him up and down, looked back at Cassie who was smiling, then said, “Welcome Sam Colter, to our home.”

There was an audible sigh of relief from the men and then each of them introduced themselves.
 
Sam walked around the table and shook each man’s hand, addressing him by name.

After all the men were settled, Cassie fixed a plate and covered it with a cloth.
 
“I’ll be right back.
 
I’m taking this to Pete.
 
He’s the one I told you about who has the broken leg.
 
He’s not too good on the crutches yet, so it’s a chore for him to come to meals, but he’s getting better.
 
It’s only been a week.”
 
She laughed.
 
“By this time next week he’ll be out there telling you how to do your job.”

All the men laughed at her jest.
 
“If you’d like you can come with me.
 
Boys, be sure and leave us some food would you?”

“Sure, Cassie, we’ll leave you the gizzards.” said one cowboy.
 
That got a laugh from the others.
 

“Tony, I’ll make you eat only the gizzards next week if there is not at least half a chicken left when we come back.”

Tony turned beet red.
 
“Sure Cassie.
 
No problem.”

Once they were in the yard on the way to the bunkhouse, Cassie turned to Sam.
 
“The boys like to tease me and I tease them back, but I know that each one of them would give their life for me and my kids.
 
They’re all good men.”

“I could tell.
 
You have a good rapport with them.
 
I hope I can achieve the same success.”

“I’m sure you will.
 
All they really want is respect and I don’t imagine they will have a problem earning that from you.
 
You’ll have to earn theirs as well, which I don’t see you having any trouble doing.
 
In the mean time, lets get this to Pete while it’s still hot and then get back before all we have left is the wings.”

Sam laughed.
 
“My favorite part of the chicken are the wings.”

After dinner, Cassie left Bridget to clean up and went with Sam to the paddocks.
 

They walked past the corrals.
 
“We’ve got twenty-five mustangs to break, five already broke and an army order for forty mounts due in a month.
 
Tony and Jimmy are going to be very busy between now and then breaking the horses that we have.
 
The rest of the men will be capturing mustangs in the mountains.
 
There are a lot of them but they sure can be hard to find.
 
As soon as we get the breeding up and profitable, I intend to cut back and eventually stop the mustang program all together.”

“Why, if it’s a profitable business?”

She shrugged.
 
“Time, I guess.
 
I want to spend my time with the racers not worrying about meeting army orders.
 
I don’t break the horses or wrangle them but I have to go to the forts and negotiate with the army every time there’s a new commander.
 
Luckily, I have standing relationships with several of them now and we do all our business by correspondence, but some of the colonels are due for rotation back east.
 
The new commanders tend to want to meet me before we do business.

“Michael was able to travel and handle the Army.
 
It’s tiresome.
 
Especially now I’m alone with the children.
 
I have to take the kids to Catherine and Duncan’s for two weeks at a time so I can go and hopefully negotiate a new contract.
 
I
 
hate that part of the business.
 
It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
I always worry something is going to happen and I’m not going to be here for the kids.”

“You know they’re fine with Duncan and Cat.”

Cassie turned around and leaned against the paddock fence.
 
“I know but that doesn’t mean I don’t still worry.”

The paddock held a big bay stallion.
 
He came over to the fence and whinnied.
 
Cassie pulled a sugar cube out of her pocket.
 
“There you go Samson.
 
You sweet boy, yes you are a sweet boy,” she cooed to the big horse who nuzzled her shoulder.

“He likes you,” Sam said, patting the horses neck.

“Samson was our first stud.
 
We’ve got two colts and three fillies from him so far.”

“Which of them is going to Kentucky?”

“Delilah will be going first.
 
Followed by War General.
 
Then we’ll just wait and see how it goes and what Jason says about their first few races.
 
I’ll be putting Delilah through her paces a little later if you want to come watch.”
 
She was animated, talking with her hands in her excitement.
 
“She’s amazing to see.
 
She looks like her mother, Juno, a beautiful chestnut mare with two white stocking feet.”

“Of course I’ll watch.
 
After all you told me you were good.”

She laughed.
 
He loved to hear her laugh, a sweet, rich sound.
 
“So I did.
 
So I did.”

*****

Cassie put on her silks.
 
She hadn’t been this nervous about riding since the first time she’d done it.
 
For some reason having Sam watch was titillating.
 
She felt like a school girl with her first crush.
 
Sam awoke something in her she thought long dead.
 
Desire.
 

Sam helped her up into the saddle.
 
The short stirrups didn’t allow an easy mount, the way a western saddle does.
 
She adjusted her legs, put the reins in her left hand and her riding crop in the right.

All the wranglers came over to watch today, because Sam was there.
 
A lot was riding on this.
 
Everyone wanted to see how Sam reacted to watching her.
 
Would he be pleased?
 
Would he be upset because she was a woman?
 
He didn’t say so, just that it was dangerous but it could be he didn’t like for women to ride, aggressively as a
 
jockey must?

A shot rang out and Delilah took off.
 
She was running full out from the starter pistol.
 
Her gait was true and the ride smooth.
 
Cassie leaned forward putting her weight into the stirrups, rocking onto Delilah’s shoulders and taking pressure from her back.
 
The less weight on Delilah’s back the easier it was for her to run.

And run she did.
 
She raced around the one and one half mile track in two minutes, thirty seconds.
 
Cassie was exhilarated and when she walked over to where the men stood cheering she saw Sam’s brilliant smile and returned one of her own.

*****

Harry Borden got off the train from Denver by way of Alamosa and Wagon Wheel Gap just outside the town of Creede.
 
This was the last place he’d heard that Colter had gone.
 
This may be his last chance to get the man who murdered
 
his brother.
 
Sam Colter might not have pulled the trigger but it was him that caught Frank and kept him till the judge hung him.
 
He killed him as far as Harry was concerned.