“I don’t know if he’s interested in babies, but you can safely say he’s interested in Abby,” Toby agreed. “He kept his hands on her all weekend.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. You kept yours on me, like I was an escaped prisoner or something,” she pointed out.
“I was trying to keep you safe. I told you that.” He kept his eyes on the road but she saw his hands tighten on the wheel.
“Well, I’m glad we’re going to be back home so you won’t have to worry about me!” she snapped, irritated by his attitude. And their ride had been so pleasant until now.
“I want to warn you now. Don’t go off with Lonnie, even on a simple errand. He’s not to be trusted.”
“If he’s that awful, why is he your friend?”
“It’s just with women that he—he’s fine when it comes to horses and…things.”
“That doesn’t make sense at all. He’s either a good person or he isn’t. You can’t divide life up like that.”
“It’s a man thing, Elizabeth. Just do what I say. And don’t for any reason get in a vehicle with him.”
“Toby, I’m an adult. We’ve been through this before. I can make my own decisions,” she returned, folding her arms over her chest.
“Yeah, but I might not be around to save you next time.”
His drawl made her feel weak and stupid. “I am not an idiot. I’ll manage.”
“Do what I say!” he snapped back.
She stared straight ahead, ignoring him. Fortunately, they’d reached the ranch road leading to the house. Maybe they’d be home before they actually got in a fight.
“Elizabeth?”
She didn’t acknowledge his one word in any way. His voice may have changed to all sweetness, but she knew he was trying to coax her to agree to his rules.
“Elizabeth, I just want to keep you safe. Please?”
“You’re not sweet-talking me into putting you in charge of my life, Toby. You can’t disappear for so long and then think you can tell me what to do. I’ve grown up.”
“That’s the problem,” he muttered.
A sound distracted him and he looked in his rearview mirror. “Damn!”
“What is it?” she asked, looking over her shoulder to see a pickup coming up fast behind them.
“It’s Lonnie. I told you he was a crazy driver.”
“He must not have stopped for lunch,” Elizabeth speculated.
“His mind wasn’t on food. I hope Mom and Dad don’t mind him staying a week. I should’ve called them.”
“You know they won’t mind. They’re always inviting people to stay. Besides, they want you to stay here and train horses, not return to the rodeo. They’ll do anything to encourage you.”
ON FRIDAY, Toby leaned against the corral and watched Lonnie put the horse they’d ultimately chosen through its paces. It had taken them longer than Toby had expected to select the right horse. Like him, Lonnie was tall, but he didn’t have the bulk Toby had. The best horse was a little too strong for Lonnie to control.
That delay had been time-consuming. Not a bad thing. It had ensured Lonnie not having much time for Elizabeth. And, much to Toby’s approval, she hadn’t encouraged his friend.
But the weekend was here. Elizabeth wouldn’t be in school. And Lonnie had already talked about taking her into town tonight.
He figured that meant he’d have to waste his Friday night in town, too, sticking to Lonnie and Elizabeth like glue.
He saw the men riding in. Russ had spent the first half of the week in town with Bill, having lunch with Abby each day. But tonight he was here on the ranch. Toby wondered if he’d made plans with Abby.
Waving Lonnie to a halt, he indicated they should take care of the horse and go to dinner. In the barn, joining the other men, he pulled Russ aside.
“You got plans with Abby tonight?”
Russ grinned. “Yeah. Our first real date.”
“Ah. Congratulations. I guess you don’t want company, do you?”
“Uh, well, we could—”
“Never mind. I’m not going to make you suffer. Enjoy yourself. Are you going to the movies?”
“Yeah, after dinner. I’m taking her to that fancy steak place in Buffalo.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Toby assured him, all the while trying to figure out how he was going to keep Elizabeth out of his friend’s clutches.
Rich stepped over to his twin’s side. “What are we going to do tonight?”
Russ ducked his head. “I’ve got a date.”
Rich didn’t appear happy. “You didn’t tell me.”
“I forgot. Abby and I planned it a couple of days ago and…I forgot to mention it.” He slapped his horse on its flank as a goodbye and slid away from his twin.
“Maybe I can find a date and we can double,” Rich called as Russ moved away.
Russ turned and nodded. “Sure, uh, that would be fine. We’re going to dinner as soon as I can get cleaned up, so hurry.” Then he rushed away.
Toby had kind of envied the twins when they were younger. They always had each other, no matter who else was involved in whatever they were doing. Now he could see it might be a problem. “Hey, Rich, I think Russ and Abby want to be alone.”
“I know,” Rich said, his teeth gritted.
“You have something against Abby?”
“Yeah. She wants to marry my brother!”
“It’s gonna happen someday, Rich. At least Abby’s a nice girl, and she’s crazy about Russ.”
With a sigh, Rich agreed. “I’ll adjust. It’s just—strange.”
“How about you hang out with me and Lonnie tonight?”
Toby shifted his gaze to his friend. “Lonnie, are we hitting the town tonight?”
Lonnie didn’t look at him. “I need to talk to Elizabeth first. See what she wants to do.”
“I imagine she’ll want to stay in and rest,” Toby said, knowing that wasn’t what Lonnie would want to hear.
“Give it up, Toby. You’ve kept me away from her all week. It’s Friday night. Let Elizabeth speak for herself.”
“We’ll see.” Toby turned around, ready to head for the house and get a word with Elizabeth before Lonnie could talk to her. If she was going into town, he’d be going with her, Lonnie or no Lonnie.
Rich stared at the two men. “This could be interesting,” he muttered and hurried after Toby.
Lonnie was right behind them.
ELIZABETH was tired. The children had been restless. The excitement of school starting had worn off. The realization that school wasn’t all fun and games had set in. It took a lot more effort to keep the kids happy.
Plus, the tension at home was wearing. Every evening, Lonnie had wanted to spend time with her. It took a lot of effort to entertain a stranger, especially when he wanted so much more than she had any interest in giving.
Then there was Toby. He’d followed her around like a pet Rottweiler, threatening to snap off any of Lonnie’s body parts that got close to her.
Keeping the peace between Toby and his friend took even more effort. She’d had enough. And had taken her own action to end it.
With a determined smile on her face, she climbed the stairs, planning a soothing bubble bath to start her evening.
A knock on the bathroom door shocked her as she relaxed in the hot bubbly water. “Yes?”
“Elizabeth?”
With a sigh, she asked, “What do you want, Toby?”
“Lonnie’s downstairs wanting to ask you what you want to do tonight. You do remember all the things I warned you about?”
She swirled the bubbles in the water, a smile on her lips. “How could I forget? You’ve been reminding me every day. Now go away.”
“Elizabeth, I think it would be good if we planned what to do this evening. You know, if you say you want us all to go into town together, then I could drive, and I could help you keep Lonnie at a distance.”
“Really?” she asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
“Elizabeth!”
“Go away, Toby. I’m trying to relax. Today was difficult. I’ll be downstairs in about half an hour.”
The door rattled, giving Elizabeth a shock. “Don’t open that door!” she squealed.
“I’m not, but I think you’re being difficult!”
“Go away!”
To her surprise, he did.
The water was getting cold, but now she had to stay in the tub another few minutes on principle if nothing else. She certainly didn’t want Toby thinking he had intimidated her. She was determined to make her own choices.
She timed her arrival downstairs for exactly half an hour later. Dinner was over and everyone was sitting around talking. She’d had several discussions with her mother during the week about Toby’s attitude. Her mother had encouraged her to trust her own judgment.
When she entered, Toby and Lonnie leaped to their feet and came around the table to greet her.
Elizabeth slipped around them to go to her father. “Hi, Daddy. It’s been a busy week, and I’ve scarcely seen you.”
“I know, baby. You’re looking good tonight.”
“Thank you,” she said, and bent to kiss his cheek.
“You going out?” her father asked.
“Yes, I am,” she assured him, again ignoring anyone else’s reaction.
“Want any company?” Rich asked.
“Hey, you can’t—” Lonnie protested. Then he collected himself. “I was going to ask the same thing, Elizabeth. You can hang out with Rich whenever, but I have to leave tomorrow. How about going out with me?”
“I think we should all go out together,” Toby argued, staring at Lonnie. “There isn’t a lot to do here, so we might as well all enjoy ourselves.”
“Next thing I know you’ll be inviting her parents, too!” Lonnie roared. Then turned bright red. “I mean—I didn’t mean any disrespect, Mr. Randall. But I’d like to spend some time with Elizabeth without half her family hanging around.”
“How nice of you, Lonnie. Too bad you didn’t say something before now,” Elizabeth said with a smile. Then she stepped over to the hooks on the wall where they all hung their jackets. Taking hers down, she turned to look at the three handsome men standing there, ready to escort her wherever.
“I already have plans for tonight.” Then she walked out the door.
Chapter Eleven
Toby figured he’d never understand women. Elizabeth knew Lonnie wanted her to go out with him.
Then he had to move because Lonnie was already out the door following Elizabeth. Rich came after him.
“Elizabeth, wait!” Lonnie called.
Toby caught up with him just as he reached Elizabeth.
“Yes?” she asked as she pulled car keys from her purse.
“Where are you going? You knew I wanted to see you,” Lonnie pointed out.
Toby decided his friend wasn’t as fast a learner as him. He wouldn’t have pointed that out, since it appeared to be a factor in her behavior.
As if explaining the rules of life to a child, Elizabeth said, “Lonnie, a gentleman extends an invitation ahead of time when he wants to see a lady. And not at the last minute.”
Which left Lonnie red-cheeked and tongue-tied.
“Where you going, Lizzie?” Rich asked.
“The church hayride. Didn’t you hear about it?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot. Mind if I go with you?”
“No, I don’t mind. Even better, I’m sure the others won’t mind either. It will cost you five dollars, of course, and you’d better go call and tell them you’re coming or they won’t have enough hot dogs.”
A hayride. Toby decided that might be better than heading to the bar in town. There’d be less single guys at the hayride. All the women would have drafted them as dates.
“Mind if we come, too?” Toby asked casually.
When she shook her head, he asked Rich to add their names to the list.
While Rich was inside, Lonnie tried to apologize his way out of the hole he was in. “Uh, Elizabeth, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I mean, I was thinking of you, but I forgot the social niceties. It’s Toby’s fault. He—he distracted me. I intended to—”
“Lonnie, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the hayride. We’ll cook hot dogs and visit. And they’re nice people.”
Toby couldn’t resist teasing his friend. “Yeah, but mind your mouth. They don’t approve of cursing.”
“Hey! I don’t— I mean, on occasion, but I wouldn’t— I’ll be careful.”
Elizabeth sent an admonishing glance at Toby, but she said nothing.
Rich came out the back door and sprang off the porch. “All set. Mrs. Smith said she had extra hot dogs and as long as we paid her five dollars, we were welcome.”
They finally agreed to take the Jeep Elizabeth drove. Toby offered to drive, but Elizabeth pointed out that it was her car. She slid behind the wheel and the other three jumped for the empty seats before she left without them.
“I wonder why Russ didn’t take Abby to this,” Rich muttered. “It would’ve been a lot cheaper.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Because you don’t impress a girl by being cheaper, and I don’t think he wanted to share her company with every cowboy in the county.”
“She’s got a point there,” Toby agreed.
“Do you think he’s serious?” Rich asked.
“She’s pretty enough,” Lonnie pointed out and was surprised when Elizabeth glared at him over her shoulder.
“There’s a lot more to Abby than being pretty!”
“Well, yeah, but—of course,” Lonnie agreed, cutting short any attempt to justify his words.
Toby, having captured the front seat next to Elizabeth, decided keeping silent might be his best choice. Not that he disagreed with her. Elizabeth was beautiful, but he’d been with other beautiful women. It wasn’t her beauty alone that had captured his heart long ago.
Once they reached the meeting point for the hayride, he introduced Lonnie to Mrs. Smith, one of his teachers from long ago.
“I’m glad you decided to come. We have several others who didn’t come with dates, so you’ll have people to talk to,” she said briskly and pointed them to the wagon.
It suddenly occurred to Toby that Elizabeth might have arranged to meet someone here. He hurried over to the wagon, Lonnie trailing after him.
“Elizabeth?” he called.
From the sound of her voice as she responded, he guessed she was on the other side of the pile of hay. He hurried around to find her sitting with a group of young people.
“Mind if we join you?” he said to the group in general. He was relieved to see there were more females than hungry males in the group.
Before he and Lonnie could get settled, the wagon started to roll. “Rich? Did you make it on?” he called out.
His cousin waved from the front of the wagon. It appeared he’d already found a young lady to snuggle up to.
A half hour later, Toby had discovered several truths. Neither he nor Lonnie were going to get close to Elizabeth any time soon. And they should’ve brought a blanket.
The hay was scratchy and the wind was cold.
When they reached the place for dinner, the driver pulled the horses to a halt and jumped off to bring a short stepladder to the side so everyone could get down.
Toby jumped down, ignoring the lineup. Then he moved over to the ladder to offer his assistance. Which meant he put his hands around Elizabeth’s small waist and swung her to the ground, ignoring the rest of the ladder.
Unfortunately, it also meant he couldn’t follow her. He still had a line of ladies wanting assistance. Damn!
Lonnie immediately strode alongside Elizabeth, murmuring in her ear.
Mrs. Smith began organizing her troops to prepare the hot dogs. She recruited wood gatherers. Since Elizabeth volunteered to gather wood, Lonnie and Toby did, too.
“Over there, Toby,” Lonnie called. “There’s some good wood.”
>
Toby, however, knew his friend’s tricks. “Yeah. Come on, Elizabeth.” He took her hand and tugged her in that direction.
“No! I mean— There’s some smaller pieces over here for Elizabeth.” Lonnie pointed in the opposite direction.
“You get those, Lonnie,” Toby said. “Elizabeth and I will get these.”
Elizabeth muffled her chuckle so only Toby could hear it. “I think you’re frustrating your friend.”
“Damn right. He had no intention of gathering wood.”
“But you’re so hungry you’re keeping us on the right track?”
“Yeah, right. Hunger. That’s what’s driving me.” Since he was wearing gloves, he insisted on picking up the wood initially to be sure there were no creepy-crawlies. Then he handed a few sticks to Elizabeth. “That’s enough. Let’s go back and start cooking.”
They beat Lonnie back to the fire. When he finally arrived with his load of firewood, Toby and Elizabeth were seated on the ground, leaning against a tree, eating their hot dogs.
He filled his plate and joined them, but he wasn’t a happy camper.
“I brought back more wood,” Lonnie said, glaring at Toby.
“You certainly did, Lonnie. Good job,” Elizabeth said soothingly.
A female voice interrupted them. “Do you mind if I join you?”
A young woman whom Elizabeth vaguely knew had apparently decided Elizabeth had more than her share of men. She seemed pleasant, though very determined. Elizabeth greeted her with a nod and a smile. Lonnie, after a bitter look at Toby, turned his attention to the young lady. They wandered off a few minutes later, hand in hand.
Toby carefully noted that Elizabeth didn’t show any distress over Lonnie’s abandonment of her. “You okay with that?”
“What?”
“Lonnie finding another girl.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “I’m pretty sure his infatuation with me had a lot to do with your pushing him away.”
“Don’t be silly,” Toby told her.
“Anyway, she’s much more interested in him than I am.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on, let’s go find us a good seat before everyone else is finished.”
Randall Pride Page 11
