The Reluctant Wrangler (8 page)

“My grandfather did. He was quite an artisan. Would you like to see more of his jewelry? Other than my ring, that is.”

“I would,” he answered.

She reached for a box and took out a silver bracelet.
When she held it out to him, he took it from her, fully intending to behave himself, but her fingers brushed his palm. It was her soft sigh that made him look at her instead of the bracelet at the same time she looked up at him, right into his eyes.

Without thinking, he touched her cheek, her skin soft and warm. He expected her to pull away, almost wished she would, but instead, she leaned closer.

“He died before I was born,” she said, her voice as soft as her skin and her gaze locked with his. “I never knew him, but somehow I always felt close to him.”

He had no answer to the sadness in her voice, and instinctively dipped his head, aware that she lifted hers. When their lips met, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop. In spite of all his denials, of all his warnings to himself, he’d taken a step he hadn’t planned.

Just as he was ready to deepen the kiss, he heard a sound. Opening his eyes, he spied Kirby standing in the open doorway. Pulling away slightly from Nikki, he whispered, “Kirby.”

She pulled back farther, her eyes dark and smoky. “What?”

“Kirby. He’s gone,” he answered, feeling a weight settle in his gut. They’d been caught by one of their charges doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. Nothing could change that, but he hoped there’d be no damage—to their jobs, their relationship or to Kirby.

“Kirby was here?” Nikki felt a bit dazed by the kiss—a kiss that still vibrated through her. “Whatever for?”

Mac had stepped back and shook his head. He carefully handed her the bracelet, as if he was afraid he might touch her again. “I have no clue,” he answered. “He was sound asleep when we left them.”

“Something must have awakened him.”

“A bad dream maybe?”

“I don’t know.” Nikki, avoiding thoughts of the kiss they’d shared, was shaken that Kirby might have seen them. There hadn’t been a lot of time between getting the boys settled into bed and Mac’s visit. “Maybe I should go check on him.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“Why not?” she asked, looking up at him into his worried blue eyes.

“He may be embarrassed for walking in on two adults. If there’s anything wrong, he’ll either be back or one of the boys will come get you.”

She was uneasy about letting Kirby go back to the bunkhouse without knowing why he’d come to her room. “After all they ate, he could have a stomachache.”

Mac’s mouth turned down in a frown, and furrows cut across his forehead. “I’ll go check on him.”

She shook her head. “It’s my responsibility.”

“And it’s my fault.”

“Your fault?” Was he going to apologize for kissing her? She wasn’t sure she could handle that. No one had ever apologized to her for that, and she didn’t want Mac to be the first.

“I’m the one who left the door open. I hadn’t expected…”

Here it comes,
she thought.
The apology.
“I hadn’t, either. You don’t need to—”

“Apologize?” he finished for her. “I do for leaving the door open and maybe for the bad timing, but not for kissing you.”

Too worried about Kirby, she didn’t want to think about what Mac meant. “I’m going to check on him.”

As she hurried in the dark to the boys’ cabins, her mind was busy replaying everything that had happened. Just where was this headed? Did he think she’d enticed him into her room only to get a kiss?
Had she?

She tried shaking the strange thoughts from her head and had succeeded by the time she quietly opened the door to the cabin and tiptoed to Kirby’s room. She found him in his bed, sound asleep.

Hurrying back to the main building in the chilly night air, she slipped into her room and closed the door with a sigh. She was positive she wouldn’t get a wink of sleep.

W
HEN
M
AC APPEARED
to help her with the riding lesson the next morning, they decided to forget the whole thing and hope Kirby put it behind him, too.

The boys claimed their attention, ready to start the lesson, so there was no time left for discussion. After drawing straws to see who would go first, the boys
mounted their horses, walking them around the corral in pairs, without problems. But Nikki felt different when around Mac, even though she knew it could all be for nothing. She couldn’t get her hopes up that he had some kind of feeling for her. He didn’t know her, at least, not everything.

Confusion was the word for the day. She wondered if she should tell Tanner she was his sister, but her mother’s warning still echoed in her mind. There was always the possibility that he wouldn’t want her to stay at the Bent Tree when he learned the truth, and she didn’t know if she could handle the rejection, not to mention her mother’s I-told-you-so.

By midweek, the kiss she’d shared with Mac was almost forgotten. Almost. Nikki had seen such an improvement with the boys’ riding that she had an idea. She wanted to run her idea by Mac first before approaching Jules about it, but Tanner had borrowed him for the day.

“What an improvement!” Jules said when the morning lesson was over.

Nikki grinned, unable to hide how proud she was of the boys. She joined Jules at the fence and watched the boys as they dressed down their horses, taking the equipment into the barn. “We switched to two lessons a day, at least for now,” she explained. “The boys are loving it.”

Jules laughed as she watched them. “That’s pretty obvious.” As the last of them disappeared into the barn, she turned to Nikki. “Have you had a chance to look over the EAP information?”

Nikki felt a prick of guilt. Knowing she didn’t have the money or the time, she hadn’t been eager to learn more about something she could probably never do. “Not
really,” she said in all honesty. “The riding lessons have taken up most of my time.” She took a few steps away before offering an apologetic smile. “And I’d better go make sure the boys are cleaning the tack right.”

“When you have time,” Jules called to her as she started for the barn.

“I will,” Nikki called back.
Someday. Maybe.

In the barn she watched the boys clean and check the equipment, giving encouragement and a few pointers on things they missed. They were nearly finished when she heard the sound of boot heels tapping concrete and saw that Mac had returned. The boys saw him, too, and called out greetings to him.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Nikki told him when the boys had finished and gone to wash up for lunch. “I have this idea I wanted to run by you.”

He folded his arms and settled against the nearest stall. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

She smiled. “The boys have improved so much that I’d like to reward them.”

“Another campfire?”

Now that she was sharing her idea, her enthusiasm grew. “No, I was thinking of some kind of riding exhibition where they could show off what they’ve learned.”

“That’s a great idea, and much better than a certificate or something like that.” He looked down at her. “Good thinking, Nikki.”

While she finished the last of the chores, she explained the different things she thought the boys could do. “I’ll have to okay it with Jules, of course.”

“Maybe there’ll be time to do it this weekend.”

They made plans to meet with Jules on Saturday, and then Mac headed for the dining area, while Nikki went to the sink at the back of the barn. When she was
done, she reached for the turquoise ring her grandfather had made, but couldn’t find it. She rarely wore it while riding, knowing there was a chance she might catch it on something, so she usually left it on the ledge over the barn sink. Searching more carefully, and lunch forgotten, she still couldn’t find it. Her heart ached at the loss of it. She’d put up some signs and ask the boys if they’d seen it. Maybe someone had found it and would return it to her soon.

N
IKKI COULD SMELL
the dampness in the morning air before she opened her eyes.
Rain.
There hadn’t been any in the two and a half weeks she’d been at the ranch. It was needed, but it definitely put a damper on her plans for the day.

Rolling out of bed, she realized she’d overslept. Although the weekends were technically her days off, she still spent most of her time with the boys. But today was the day they’d planned to talk to Jules about a reward for the boys.

She showered and dressed with haste, grabbing a jacket on the way to the door. Even inside, she could tell the weather had turned colder. When she stepped into the hallway, intending to check on the boys, Mac was just stepping inside the building.

“The boys are in the dining hall, playing board games with Shawn. No riding today,” he said, wiping drops of rain from his face.

“Thanks.” Nikki decided he looked as good wet as he did dry. Maybe even better.

“This might be a good time to talk to Jules about your idea for the boys,” he suggested.

“I was thinking the same thing, but maybe it would be better to wait until the rain lets up a little.”

“I have a fix for that.” He ducked inside his apartment while she waited, and reappeared with an umbrella. “It’s always a good idea to be prepared for a wet day,” he told her as they stepped outside the building.

“It’s rained today a lot more than I’d thought,” she admitted as she huddled next to him under the umbrella and tried to keep up with his long stride.

Crossing the drive that separated the Bent Tree from the Rocking O, she stepped into a hole full of water and winced. At least she’d pulled on a pair of tennis shoes instead of her boots. They were almost to the house when Tanner’s pickup pulled into the long drive and then up to the house.

“Good day for a duck,” he greeted them when he got out of the truck.

Nikki looked up at the gray sky and wished to see it blue again. Her idea hinged on good weather and lots of practice. “Is it supposed to stop soon?”

Tanner nodded as he joined them on the walk that led to the house. “In a couple of hours it should start to clear up.”

“My weatherman,” Jules said from the doorway as she watched them, a warm smile on her face. “Have you all had breakfast?”

Nikki shook her head.

Jules held the door open for them as they stepped onto the porch. “Good. Bridey was just complaining that she’d made too much. Shawn had breakfast with the boys, so there’s more here than we’ll eat.”

The rain and damp caused Nikki to shiver as she stepped inside the house, and she noticed how wet one foot was. “I should take off my shoes,” she said. “I stepped in a puddle of water on the way. I don’t want to track through your house.”

“Oh, Nikki, you’re shivering!” Jules helped her with her shoe, and then turned to her husband. “Tanner, take Mac on back while I help Nikki. And tell Bridey we have two more for breakfast.”

“I’ll be fine,” Nikki assured her, her teeth beginning to chatter from the cold.

“But you aren’t.” Jules put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Come with me. We’ll get you changed into something warm.”

“Really, I’m fine. I’ll warm up soon. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“You’re no trouble,” Jules insisted as she led Nikki up a curved staircase. They reached the top of the stairs and Nikki followed her through a set of double doors and into a large bedroom. “The bathroom is through there,” Jules said, indicating a doorway. “I’ll bring you something to change into.”

Nikki went through the doorway and found the bathroom. After quickly drying her hair with a towel, she slipped out of her wet clothes and wrapped herself in another big towel. There was a soft knock at the door, and she opened it.

Carrying fleece pants and a top, Jules handed them to her. “They aren’t haute couture, but they’ll warm you up. Just hand me your wet clothes when you’ve finished dressing, and I’ll put them in the dryer while we have breakfast. They’ll be dry by the time we’re finished, and maybe the rain will have stopped.”

Nikki quickly changed and joined Jules in the large bedroom, complete with fireplace. White and gold dominated the room, from the huge four-poster bed to the drapes and carpet. “This is a beautiful room.”

“I was going to redecorate after we married, but it
was so lovely, I couldn’t,” Jules told her as Nikki handed her the damp clothing.

Nikki wondered if it was the same as it had been when her mother had lived here, and couldn’t imagine how her mother could leave such a place.

She followed Jules back down the stairs. “Feeling warm yet?” Jules asked. “The damp just seems to seep in, doesn’t it?”

Nikki nodded. “I’m much better, thank you.”

Jules’s smile was comforting. “Do you drink coffee?” When Nikki answered that she did, Jules said, “Good, because I’m sure Bridey has a cup ready and waiting for you.”

Jules led her to a charming nook just off the kitchen, where the others were seated at the table. Nikki felt a blush when the men, including Rowdy, stood when she and Jules entered the room. “There’s a seat over there for you, Nikki.”

Nikki took the seat next to Mac that Jules had indicated and carefully picked up the steaming mug of coffee in front of her. Just the steam from the drink warmed her, and she took a sip.

“Feeling better?” Tanner asked from across the table where he sat next to his wife.

Nikki set the cup down when she realized he was talking to her. “Much better, thank you.” Feeling exposed with his attention on her, she placed her hands in her lap. Instead of twisting her ring as she usually did when she was nervous, she remembered she wasn’t wearing it and quickly clasped her hands.

“Mac was telling me about an idea you had,” he continued.

Nikki felt an instant of panic. She hadn’t expected to be telling Tanner, only Jules. But neither was she ready
to give up the opportunity to share her idea. She only hoped they’d find it acceptable.

Taking a deep breath, she tried for what she hoped was a confident smile. “The boys have done so well with their riding this week that I wanted to do something special for them,” she explained. “I thought of several things. Certificates, a cake, maybe a trip somewhere.” She stopped suddenly and looked at Tanner and Jules. “If you allowed it, of course.”

Jules nodded and smiled, while Tanner asked, “And what did you come up with?”

Nikki returned the smile before answering him. “A way for them to show off their new skills.”

Jules leaned forward. “How?”

“Something like a rodeo,” Nikki answered, “where they could show off how they can saddle their horse, go through some of the exercises they’ve learned and just generally show that they can ride, after a lot of hard work.”

“I like the idea,” Tanner said, looking at his wife.

“We could invite some friends,” Jules suggested. “Hettie would love to come. She’s always asking how the boys are and what she can do to help.”

“And Dusty, Kate—”

“Trish, Morgan, Aggie… Whoever wants to come,” Jules finished. She turned to Nikki. “Would that be all right? Just a few friends. They’ve all been curious after meeting the boys at the fall festival.”

Mac looked at Nikki. “Will that bother them? Having a bigger audience with people they hardly know, I mean.”

Shaking her head, Nikki addressed Jules. “I think they’d love it. They’re itching to show off their new skills.”

“Typical boys,” Jules said, laughing. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. When were you thinking of doing this?”

“Next Saturday,” Nikki answered.

“A week from today?” Tanner asked, glancing at Jules with a slight frown. “Are you sure they’ll be ready?”

Mac answered before Nikki could. “They’ll be ready.”