Читать книгу Home to Crossroads Ranch - Linda Goodnight - Страница 11

Nate faced Saturday afternoon with a mixture of dread and anticipation. Long before Rainy’s minivan zoomed down his driveway, he worked the horses on a lunge line, rode every single one of them to get rid of any pent-up energy that might cause an issue with inexperienced riders and checked all the tack for wear. But any cowboy worth his boots knew there was only so much he could do to prepare. The rest was up to the riders and the horses.

He shut the door to the horse barn and leaned there a moment to whisper a prayer that none of the visitors would get hurt. A cool, meadow-scented breeze dried the sheen of sweat from his forehead.

“Quit your frettin’, boy, and come on. They’re here.” Pop came around the end of the barn from the direction of the calving shed.

Spring was calving time, and they’d gathered the expectant heifers into the lot for close observation. The old cows did fine birthing on their own most times, but the first calving heifers sometimes required attention. This crop of calves in particular was important to his expansion plans. He’d spent a fat sum of money on artificial insemination from one of the premiere Angus bulls. Sale of the calf crop would go a long way toward the purchase of the Pierson land next to his.

“We have better things to do today than entertain visitors,” he groused.

“You been saying that all week.”

“But you haven’t been listening.”

“Nope. Sure haven’t.” Pop clapped him on the shoulder. “Little relaxation won’t hurt you none. Don’t tell me a good-looking feller like you hadn’t noticed how pretty Miss Rainy Jernagen is.”

Nate kept quiet. Anything he said at this point would be used against him. Of course, he’d noticed. That was the trouble. But he didn’t want to be attracted to a woman whose entire life revolved around children.

“I like them,” Pop said.

Still Nate remained silent. Pop had decided to befriend Rainy and her pack of foster kids and nothing would stop him.

“Place needs a little noise. Even old Yo-Yo is tickled.” Sure enough, Yo-Yo had dashed away, furry tail in high gear, at the approach of a car engine.

“They’re your company,” Nate grumbled, refusing to be mollified. “Not mine.”

“Then I’m a lucky man.” Pop rubbed his weathered hands together. “Here they come.”

Sure enough, like a mama duck Rainy led her charges across the wide front yard. As soon as the kids spotted him and Pop they broke into a run, leaving Rainy to saunter alone.

Nate tried to remain focused on the children instead of Rainy, but somehow his eyes had a mind of their own. They zoomed straight to her.

Pop was right. She was pretty in a simple, wholesome manner. Not knock-your-hat-in-the-dirt, tie-your-tongue-and-make-you-stupid gorgeous, but pretty in a way that made a man feel comfortable around her. Made him want to know her better. Made his belly lift in happy anticipation.

Today she reminded him of the daffodils sprouting up in the front yard, bright and pretty and happy in a yellow fleece shirt above a pair of snug old jeans and black boots. He did a double take at her footwear and grinned. Rolled-up pant legs brushed the tops of a pair of spikeheel, zippered dress boots that sported a ruffle of fur around the top. Girly. Real girly.

“What you wearing there, Slick?” he asked, moseying out to meet her. He leveled a penetrating gaze at her fancy high heels.

“You said to wear boots if we had them.”

“Um-hum. Boots.” He angled one of his rugged brown Justin Ropers in her direction. They’d seen better days. “Real boots.”

“These are real boots.”

“Yep, if you’re walking down Fifth Avenue in New York.” His grin widened. “Or Tulsa. City slicker.”

The corners of her full lips tilted upward. “Are you making fun of my choice in stylish footwear?”

“Sure am.” In actuality, he thought they were feminine and sassy even if they weren’t the best boot for riding horses, but giving her a hard time was easier than a compliment.

She waggled a foot at him. “Laugh if you want, cowboy, but I already had them in the closet. After I shelled out money for four pairs of kid boots this week, I decided these would have to do.”

Hands fisted on his hips, Nate tilted back, his mouth twitching in amusement. “You bought the kids new boots for this one day?”

Rainy rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Your granddad said we could come out as often as we’d like, so I thought the boots a sound investment.”

Suddenly the joke was on him. “Pop said that?”

She grinned. “Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to get rid of us?”

Because I am. But he didn’t say that. He did, however, send a scowl toward his annoying, meddling grandfather. What was the matter with that old coot anyway? He knew Nate’s feelings about kids. He also knew the reasons his grandson never planned to have a family. He had one. One messed-up, constantly-in-need family was all he could handle.

“Nate, Nate!” Emma, the blond bombshell, barreled at him as fast as a first grader’s legs could run. She didn’t slow down until she slammed into his kneecaps.

“Whoa now.” Nate caught her little shoulders. Bright blue eyes the color of cornflowers batted up at him. She was a gorgeous little girl, already stealing hearts. Some daddy would have his hands full with this one.

His chest squeezed at the thought. Emma didn’t have a loving daddy to protect her.

“I got pink boots. See?” The little charmer twisted her foot this way and that for his perusal.

“Nothing but pink would do for Princess Emma,” Rainy said.

“They’re gorgeous, darlin’,” Nate said.

The child’s smile was as bright as Rainy’s sweatshirt. “Joshy’s got red ones and Will gots brown. He told Rainy he wasn’t having no sissy boots. Will wanted man boots like yours.”

Nate chuckled and glanced toward the corral, where Will and Joshua had gone. Both boys had their hands sticking through the fence. His smile disappeared. “You boys watch out doing that. If the horse thinks you have something in your hand, he might bite.”

Both children yanked their hands inside and turned stunned faces toward Nate.

“They didn’t know, Nate,” Rainy said softly.

“That’s the trouble,” he groused. “They don’t know anything about a ranch.”

His sharp tone brought a puzzled look. “I’ll keep a close eye on them.”

“See that you do.” He started toward the barn, where Pop was hauling saddles and tack out into the corral. Rainy kept stride, rushing a little as her fancy-heeled boots poked perfectly round holes in the soft earth.

“Will you teach us how to saddle the horses?” Hands shoved into her back pockets, yellow shirt as bright as the sunshine overhead, Miss Rainy’s face was alive with interest and enthusiasm. Was she always so…so…optimistic?

He slid her a sideways glance. “Why?”

“Learning new things is good for the kids.”

Yeah, so they could hang out on his ranch and bug him.

“And it will be fun, too.”

He made a huffing noise, but Rainy didn’t get the message that he was in a bad mood. She chattered right on.

“Where’s your donkey?”

Nate tilted his head in question. “All you’ll find on this ranch are cows and horses.”

“But you said…” She bit her bottom lip, looking confused.

“I said what? That we own a donkey?” He remembered no such conversation. Was she losing it?

“Last Saturday at my house. You said you had horses for fun but you rode a donkey…” She paused, a small furrow between her pale brown eyebrows. “…or maybe it was a mule, for the real work. Aren’t a mule and a donkey the same thing?”

Nate couldn’t help himself. He laughed. Once he started he couldn’t stop. He looked at his grandfather and things got worse. Pop leaned on a fence post doubled over, one arm pressed against his belly and a fist against his mouth. His cheeks flared out, ruddy and misshapen below his shiny, balding head.

All around his feet riding tack lay scattered, as if he’d dropped everything the minute he’d heard Rainy’s comment. The strangled, chuffling sounds coming from his short, round body were a failed attempt to be polite.

Nate’s sour attitude vanished faster than tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant. Hands on his thighs, he bent forward, his whole body shaking with laughter.

Meanwhile, Rainy and her children stared in bewildered curiosity at the two chortling ranchers. Joshua and Will exchanged glances, each lifting his shoulders in a shrug.

When Nate could finally catch his breath, he took Rainy’s arm. “Come here. I want to show you something.”

Still chuckling, he led the way into a covered area at the side of the barn where all vehicles, tractors, mowers, etc. were parked.

“This,” he said, grinning as he approached an ATV with a small pickup bed on the back and a sturdy four-wheeler front. “Is the only Mule you’ll find on Crossroads Ranch.”

Emblazed across the vehicle’s front were the words Kawasaki Mule.

“Oh.” A becoming shade of pink neoned from Rainy’s pretty cheekbones. She touched three fingers to her lips, lifted blue-gray eyes to his and giggled. “Oops.”

Her cute reaction got him started laughing again. She joined him, laughing until she grabbed her side and said, “Stop. You’re making me hurt.”

By now, they were surrounded by the rest of the gang.

“Can we ride it?” one of the kids asked, awed by the camouflage green machine. Both boys had crawled inside and were investigating.

“Maybe sometime,” Nate said before he could think better of such a promise. “Not today. Today we ride horses. Come on. I’ll show you where the rest of the tack is kept.”

“Can we pick our own horse?” Joshua asked, pointing. “I like that brown one.”

“Champ’s a good pony. We’ll saddle him up.”

“I want the blue one,” Emma said, pointing toward a blue roan Appaloosa mare who grazed quietly outside the fence.

“Hold on there. We’re only saddling three horses today—Champ, Patches and Bud.” They were the oldest and most gentle.

“But there are seven of us,” Will protested. “Do we have to share?” He said the last word as though it tasted sour.

Nate nodded. “Today you learn inside the corral. Grandpop and I will stay on the ground and teach. Maybe another time we’ll all trail ride on separate horses.”

Another dumb comment on his part. If he kept talking, the Brady Bunch would be regulars around here.

The group looked a little despondent, but Nate wouldn’t budge on the issue of today’s ride. Not one of them knew anything about a horse. Before he’d take them outside the corral, they needed instruction.

Demonstrating the proper method of saddling a horse took a while. Except for Will, the kids were all too small to lift the saddles or tighten cinches on their own. With Pop’s help, Nate let the kids think they’d done the work. Saddling was the easy part. It was the riding that worried him.

“Okay, kids, go stand on the fence until I call your name.”

All four of the children broke into a run. Emma ran directly behind the horses. One of the animals startled and hopped forward. Katie screamed.

Nate thanked God on the spot that all of his horses were dead broke and unfazed by the racket. The fact that Bud had jumped was proof, though, that even the best trained animal could be unpredictable.

He handed a set of reins to Rainy and one to Pop, taking the last one for himself.

“Ever ridden a horse before?” he asked Rainy as they led the horses forward into the center of the lot.

“Well…”

Nate looked heavenward. “That’s a no.”

“We can learn,” she said, all chipper-like.

“Um-hum. Tell you what, I’ll use you to show the kids how this is done. Then Pop and I will lead you around until you get the hang of it.”

Which he figured would never happen.

“Sounds good.” She dusted her fingertips in that pretty way and approached the horse.

“Other side,” Nate said, hiding a smile.

“Does a horse know right from left?”

Was she serious? One look at her dancing eyes and he knew she was joking. “Most horses are trained to the right. Hear that, kids? Always approach a horse from the right. Never walk behind a horse where he can’t see you. It scares him. And since he’s a lot bigger than you, he might accidentally hurt you, not because he’s mad but because he’s scared.”

Rainy did as he instructed, going to the right side. As he helped her into the saddle, her sweet scent mingled with the more familiar smells of leather and warm horseflesh. Coconut. She smelled like coconut. Keeping one hand on the reins and the other on the back of the saddle, he stepped back. A man didn’t go around noticing how good a lady smelled if he wasn’t interested in her. Which he wasn’t. He couldn’t be.

“You okay up there?” he asked.

Leather squeaked and shifted as she adjusted her feet in the stirrups. “Great. This is awesome.”

At her delighted expression, Nate’s heart bumped and he had trouble looking away. “Be careful of those high heels.”

Concern creased her brow. “Will they hurt the horse?”

Nate’s nostrils flared with humor but he held in a laugh. “Champ doesn’t care what kind of boots you wear. For all I know he might even prefer fancy, furry lady shoes.” Actually, Nate was growing rather fond of them. “But heels that thin and long could get stuck in a strap or hung up in the stirrups.”

“Am I in danger?”

“You’re okay. I’ve got you covered.” He hoped it was true.

The kids set up a howl. “When’s our turn? I want to ride.”

Nate shook off his unwanted entrancement with the lady and refocused on the children. There were four of them, all too young and inexperienced to go unsupervised for even a minute. Hadn’t past experiences taught him anything about the dangers of kids and ranches?

“Hold on now. Miss Rainy and I are going to show you a few things first.”

He ran through the basics, emphasizing safety for both horse and rider. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the kids, he was abnormally conscious of Rainy watching him from her horseback perch. He couldn’t help wondering what she was thinking as she looked down. Was she watching to learn or because she liked what she saw?