Chapter 6
“Luke and Jubal want to see how each one of this group rides,” Susan explained as she turned toward the trail pointed out to Ross earlier. “Luke checked them out yesterday in the ring but he wants to see how well they do outside it and what kind of advanced instruction they want or need.” She paused, then asked, “Feel like trying to catch up?”
He nodded.
She knew he would. Throw out a dare to a military guy and he was going to take it every time.
After several minutes, she turned to him. “You have a fair seat for a motorcycle jockey,” she noted.
He grinned. “What do you have against motorcycles?”
He’d apparently noticed her lack of enthusiasm for his choice of vehicle. She just plain didn’t like the damn things. A close cousin died on one. She knew the grief it cost her family.
“They’re dangerous,” she replied.
“So are horses if you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said.
“It’s more likely you’ll get killed on a motorcycle.”
“Not if you know what you’re doing,” he threw back at her.
“Do you go everywhere on one?”
“Mostly. Have you ever ridden one?”
“No,” she admitted. “I don’t have a death wish.”
“Then you wouldn’t know the freedom you don’t feel anywhere else,” he said with that wry grin that set off a flurry of reactions inside her. “With a bike, you’re riding the wind.”
“I get that feeling on a horse,” she argued.
“Not the same. You’ll have to ride a bike to understand.”
She didn’t get it and had no intention of proving or disproving it herself. In any event it was none of her business. His safety on the horse was. She turned all her attention to that.
He had a natural seat and moved easily with the animal. Of course, Cajun was probably the most rideable of the unselected horses despite his size, and Ross was obviously both a natural and a trained athlete.
She noticed he was light on the reins and she didn’t know if it was remembered from long ago or just instinct. He’d been a little hesitant at first but he was catching on fast. She suspected the hesitation came from doing something he wasn’t sure he was mastering.
She smiled at the remembered image of his frustration in her bathroom.
He gave her a questioning look. “Am I that bad a rider?”
“No. I was thinking of last night and wondering who was giving who a bath.”
A pained expression passed over his face. “I’m trying to forget it. I told your friend Danny not to let Hobo near a mud puddle.”
She laughed. Had it just been last night when they first met? It seemed they’d known each other longer. Much longer. She tried to concentrate on the here and now. “Actually, your posture is good. You might hold the reins a little tighter. Let Cajun know you’re in control.”
“He seems to know where he’s going. I think he has a crush on your mare.”
“Well, he might see another lady along the way, one he likes better, and take off.”
“That doesn’t sound very gentlemanly of him.”
“You never know about the male species,” she retorted with a smile. “He just might decide to test you.”
“Okay.” He tightened the reins. They were moving at a fast walk now.
“How long has it been since you rode?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Not since I was a kid.”
Her curiosity was aroused now. “How old?”
“Ten.”
“Why not since then?”
“A few things, like the army, college, graduate school.” His voice was nearly toneless now. She knew the sound. She’d heard it from some of the vets when they talked about combat. There was a lot he wasn’t saying, but an inner voice warned her against pursuing that particular subject.
Her curiosity had grown stronger since this morning. He’d shaved and his face was deeply tanned. His sandy blond hair glimmered in the sun, and his eyes appeared a darker gray. His body had a grace to it, even now on a horse he didn’t know.
Quit it, Susan. He’s a rolling stone. You’re a monument. “How do you feel about a faster pace?” she asked. “A slow trot, not a gallop.”
“I’m game.” The uncertainty was gone. He was sitting a little taller and she’d noticed he’d been watching her hands and following suit. He was a quick study, or maybe it was remembered. She wondered about his slight hesitancy just before he mounted. He didn’t seem to be the kind of man who hesitated.
She rode beside him, noting the smile that started to stretch across his face. Riding did the same for her, especially on a fine fall day with a cloudless sky and the hint of a breeze. Hells bells, but he was a fine-looking man. Not handsome in the traditional way, but there was a quiet strength.
Josh thought highly of him. She was beginning to understand why. He was a big man with a gentle heart. She saw it in the way he treated Hobo, in the way he respected others, even in the way he’d run his fingers down Cajun’s neck before mounting. Small but telling things. But there was also a reserve. She sensed he didn’t let anyone get too close to him.
Her breath caught as they glanced at each other at the same second. Their gazes held for an instant. Awareness flashed between them. Her heart beat faster and her breath caught somewhere in her throat. She forced herself to look ahead. She’d never believed in the myth of two strangers whose glances met across a crowded room, and they knew at that second the other was the person for them. It only happened in novels and movies.
No one, she reminded herself, could know the character of that person in one instant. No one could know their weaknesses. They might be serial killers for all one knew. She swallowed hard. She’d learned caution the hard way. Still, she couldn’t deny the attraction, that there was a spark between them, a powerful one that shot through her body. Hells bells, it was already fire and headed toward an explosion.
She’d warned herself against spending time with him, but she’d agreed fast enough when Josh asked her to drive him to Jubal’s ranch. She could have pled inn business or personal business, but Josh would know that to be a lie. She had no personal business other than the inn and the New Beginnings program.
That was sad. She hadn’t thought so until now. She’d been perfectly content with her life. Content with her friends and her job and her projects.
Content with safe after years of turmoil.
She still was, she told herself. She didn’t want anything to change. She certainly didn’t want to be attracted to a stranger who was going to leave in a week or two. That was especially true now that she learned he worked with the rich and famous.
He was around beautiful people just as her ex-husband had been. It had been seductive until it became a nightmare. How could Covenant Falls compete with Los Angeles? He could never be interested in staying in a small town that had no hospital, no gyms, and not much of anything but scenery and good people. And she wasn’t going to leave again. Everything she loved was here.
But then, no was asking her to leave.
Susan took a deep breath. Just think about the party tonight and making it good for the guests.
“Susan?” His glance was curious.
She shrugged off her thoughts. “Just thinking about tonight. You’ll meet more of the veterans who moved here. Clint, a former chopper pilot turned police chief, will entertain. He plays a mean guitar and has a repertoire of cowboy songs.”
“And you? What’s your role tonight?”
“None. I can sit back and enjoy.”
“Ha,” he said. “I suspect you will be in the middle of everything, trying to make everyone feel comfortable.”
“I think they already do.”
“Maybe not yet, but they will in another week or two.”
She’d been intrigued by him last night because of his dogged determination to do things he appeared to not want to do. And he did it with a sense of humor. She liked men who didn’t take themselves too seriously. She’d been married to someone who always had to win, even if he cheated to do so.
“How did you get roped into being here all day?” he asked.
“I love it,” she said. “How can you beat being outside on a day like this? Sun shining. Good horse. People I like. A party tonight. It always starts a little stiff but when Clint starts playing the guitar, accompanied by a cowboy from Luke’s ranch who plays harmonica, everyone loosens up. Before long they’re all calling out songs.”
She paused, then asked, “Question is how did you get roped into it?” It seemed each time she learned something about him, there were more questions.
“Josh asked,” he said simply.
“That simple?” She was being intrusive but she couldn’t stop herself.
“I served with Josh. There was never a better leader, and he saved a bunch of lives, mine among them. A lot of us owe him.”
“How did you become a physical therapist?”
“As a Ranger medic, I saw far too many injuries. All I could do was patch them up with what little I had and send them on.” He shrugged. “It was damned frustrating. I decided to get my BSc degree and go for a doctorate in physical therapy. I’d accumulated a number of college credits online and received credit for military courses and experience. It took two more years to get my degree, then another three for my doctorate. I’d just finished a job when Josh called, so it was also good timing.
“Where were you?”
“California.”
“Is that where you practice?” she asked.
“I don’t have one place. I’m what you call a per diem or traveling physical therapist. I don’t work with one facility or business. I’m basically an independent contractor. I can choose cases and locations. Sometimes it’s filling in at a VA facility or city hospital. Sometimes it’s an individual patient. Basically, it gives me a freedom I wouldn’t otherwise have.”
“Like the bike does?” she said.
He smiled. “Yeah. Like that.”
“Where do you call home?” she asked.
“I don’t,” he said bluntly.
“No home base?”
“No.”
He’d told her as much before, but it was so odd. Surely even a wanderer had someplace to hang his hat, to be at Christmas or keep belongings. You must live somewhere.”
“Why?”
“Everyone does.”
“I’m not everyone.”
He most definitely was not. He was more clam than human when it came to personal information. She had to drag everything out, and she was usually good at that. He was a challenge.
“But you must have a house or apartment or boat or office. Something for legal purposes.” She couldn’t help herself from persisting. It had become a challenge to learn more, not only more, but why.
He shrugged. “A friend handles that for me. I use his address for bank cards, driver’s license and the few bills that come in. He also keeps equipment I might need and can send for. He can always get in touch with me.” He hesitated, then added, “It doesn’t make much sense to either buy or rent if I’m never there.”
“Doesn’t it get lonely?”
“Nope,” he replied simply. “There’s always new and interesting people to meet.”
“I can understand that,” she said.
“I thought you could,” he said.
“But don’t you have family somewhere?”
“No,” he said simply.
The flatness of the answer did not invite more questions but she couldn’t leave it alone. It seemed sad and lonely to her. She had a mom in Covenant Falls and a couple of aunts. She had six cousins, only one that still lived locally but the others visited often.
They should try to catch up to the other riders, but she wanted to know more. “Then where in California were you last?”
“Los Angeles.”
“Where were you born?”
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “About a hundred miles south of here.”
“Ranch country,” she said. “Or were you a townie?”
“We’re going to miss the others,” he said.
She knew pressing him was not going to yield any results and it really wasn’t her business but she’d never met anyone so completely rootless.
Darn Josh for being his usual taciturn self and omitting a great deal of information when he’d told her Ross was staying at the inn. But even if he had explained more about his friend, she didn’t think she would have been prepared for his slow smile and easygoing manner. Except when it came to his personal life.
She changed the subject. “Think you’re ready for a slow trot?”
“I do,” he said. Ross sounded relieved to leave behind the topic of his residence or lack thereof.
“Just tighten your knees against his side,” she said. They soon caught up with Luke and Jubal’s group, who had stopped at the side of a pond.
She listened as Jubal talked to the vets. He apparently had been waiting for the two of them to arrive. She knew it all, and more, but Ross didn’t. “New Beginnings has around fifty acres,” Jubal said. “Luke, here, has nearly a hundred and leases more. He and his wife run cattle as well as raising and training quarter horses. Toward the end of this program you’ll have a chance to work the cattle if you’re so inclined.
“I have two pastures. One is for the riding horses. They go out every night and return the next morning. Beyond that is the pasture for mares and young offspring. They stay together.”
Jubal continued as his audience listened intently. “There’s a path from here that goes up into the mountains. In the last week, we’ll take pack horses up there. It leads to an abandoned gold camp. There’s several of them around us. All of you should already have had survival training, but we’ll review it.
“In the meantime, we want you to spend time with your horse even when you’re not riding or in class.
“When Luke thinks you’re ready, you can ride on my property without one of us along, but not alone. I want at least two of you together. Got it?”
“Ross Taylor will meet with each of you this week and suggest programs that will help your riding and physical health.”
Jubal looked up at the sun. “It’s time to go back. Anyone uncomfortable with a trot—or maybe a canter?
Two raised hands. “Good,” Luke said. “There’s no shame in admitting what you don’t know, only if you don’t let either Jubal or me know about it. You’re here to learn as well as enjoy. We don’t expect you to be expert riders today. We do expect you to be good ones in six weeks.
“Adam and Carl,” he said to the two who had raised their hands, “you ride back with Susan and Ross. You’re lucky. You get to ride with Susan instead of me.” He then led his group into a fast pace toward the bunkhouse.
“Come on, guys,” Susan said. “They may have speed but we’ll have a nice leisurely walk, then a slow trot. The doc here is a beginner, too.”
She saw him wince at the word “doc” and grinned at him. It would stick now. She knew it. He knew it.
They didn’t talk on the ride back. Susan was too occupied with the two other riders and making sure they didn’t get into equine trouble.
She didn’t worry about Ross. He wasn’t completely at ease on horseback yet, but she trusted Cajun. She did worry about herself. She’d never met anyone like Ross Taylor before. He was a contradiction: a loner who melded seamlessly with others.
As if he knew she was thinking about him, he moved next to her. “Do you ever slow down?”
“Not when I love what I’m doing,” she replied.
Dammit, but his eyes were challenging. She
was as helpless against them as she was against that sheepish grin in her bathroom. “Let’s try a trot,” she told her three companions. We’ll take it slow. Just relax in the saddle.”
She was grateful when they finally reached the stables. “You did great,” she told the three.
The two young vets beamed. Ross simply raised an eyebrow.
“Cool off the horses and rub them down before leaving,” she said. “When you finish, a nice reward for your horse is in order.” She knew they would have been told about the bottomless bucket of carrots.
“Yes, ma’am,” one of them said. She remembered his name was Carl.
“Make that Susan,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am, I mean Susan,” Carl said, and blushed to his scalp before leading his horse into the stable.
She glanced at Ross. He was watching her with a small smile.
She wasn’t surprised when Ross dismounted and led Cajun inside. He did everything right. It was incredibly frustrating.
In fact, he was probably the most frustrating man she’d ever met. And, damn it, the most interesting.
Chapter 7
Maybe you never do forget how to ride, as Jubal claimed.
As Ross cooled Cajun down and gave him his carrot, he realized he knew each step without prompting. Apparently, they had been imprinted on him when he was young.
The stable here looked nothing like the old barn his family owned, nor did the rich green grass look like the often-dry, inhospitable ground where he’d grown up.
But now he allowed himself to remember the joy of riding Bandit before everything came to an end.
After feeding Cajun, Ross walked over to the bunkhouse area while Susan stayed inside the stable to help the vets. Lawn chairs and camp chairs were scattered in front of the building.
The inviting scent of grilling meat had lured both program participants and visitors over to the cooking area.
Josh was at the grill with several younger guys. When he saw Ross, he left them and hurried over.
Home on the Ranch: Colorado Cowboy Page 8
