Cowboy Kisses

by Diane Michele Crawford

  Kenzie hurried to the rear of the trailer and was about to open the door when she saw Steve Calvert. How long had he been standing back there? Had he heard everything they’d been saying?

  Without a word, Steve climbed into the trailer and backed Ali down the ramp Kenzie hastily slid into place. He silently handed her Ali’s lead line and picked up the Arabian’s saddle and bridle as Kenzie’s friends joined them.

  Hoping she sounded normal, Kenzie quickly made introductions, her face still hot with embarrassment.

  Steve shook hands with the guys and tipped his cowboy hat at Jeanette. “Nice meeting you,” he said, then turned away and headed toward the barn.

  Kenzie hurried after him, leading Ali. Turning back to her friends, she briefly rolled her eyes.

  “He’s gotta be Deputy Ramrod!” Paul said much too loudly.

  Kenzie cringed. Had Steve heard? It was hard to tell because his hat shaded most of his face, but in profile he didn’t look upset. Reluctantly she admitted that Steve had a very nice profile. His straight nose, interrupted slightly by a bump in the middle, and long dark eyelashes made him look both rugged and oddly gentle.

  He made a detour into the tack room, placing Ali’s saddle on a rack and hanging the bridle on a peg. Then he stroked Ali’s neck while they walked to the stall he’d pointed out to Kenzie on her first visit to the ranch.

  “What’s his name?” Steve asked.

  “Ali Ben,” Kenzie answered. “I call him Ali.”

  Steve opened the stall door so Kenzie could lead the horse in. “How long have you had him?”

  “Five years,” Kenzie said, unfastening the lead line from Ali’s halter. She decided to ask him a question for a change. “Do you have your own horse?”

  “Sure.” Steve gestured with his thumb to a saddled Appaloosa gelding tied nearby. “That’s Cheyenne.”

  “Cheyenne?” Kenzie repeated.

  Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah—Cheyenne. It’s not a fancy name like Ali Ben, but then he’s just a plain old mustang, not an expensive Thoroughbred.” He stomped out of Ali’s stall, grabbed Cheyenne’s reins, and swung into the saddle, trotting out of the barn by the rear entrance.

  Kenzie stared after him. “What did I do?” she asked her horse. Ali nickered sympathetically, which made Kenzie smile. She made certain that Ali was comfortable in his new stall until she heard the Jeep horn.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll explore the Lucky R together,” she promised, giving the Arabian a kiss on the nose before she left.

  As she headed for the Jeep, Kenzie saw Steve and Cheyenne in the main corral. “Hey, Blondie,” Steve yelled. “Don’t forget to wear a hat next time, or you might fry your brains!”

  “The name’s Kenzie,” she shouted, climbing into the Jeep and glaring at him. “Don’t you forget that!”

  “Fighting already?” Jeanette asked as Brad drove through the Lucky R gates.

  “Deputy Ramrod’s ticked off about something,” Kenzie said, “but I'm not sure what it is. All I know is that he’s a royal pain, and I’m stuck with him for the rest of the summer!”

  Pizza and video games didn’t do much to improve Kenzie’s bad mood. By the time Brad’s Jeep pulled into the Sullivans’ driveway, everyone had noticed that she wasn’t her usual sunny self.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Paul asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

  “Yeah—you’re awfully quiet. Maybe Silent Sarah’s condition is affecting you already,” Brad joked.

  “She’s fine,” Jeanette said. She smiled at Kenzie. “A little nervous about the job, huh?”

  “A lot nervous,” Kenzie confessed, getting out of the Jeep.

  Paul got out, too, and walked with her to the door. Pulling her close, he said, “I have an excellent cure for nervousness,” and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

  “I feel better already,” Kenzie said with what she hoped was a convincing smile, but she didn’t really. Steve Calvert had ruined her entire day, and not even Paul’s attention could cheer her up.

  Kenzie waited while Paul got back into the Jeep, then waved as he drove away. What’s the matter with me? she asked herself. Who in her right mind wouldn't love being kissed by Paul? Well, maybe I'm not in my right mind, she decided, and unless I can figure out how to get along with Steve Calvert, I'll probably stay that way.

  Much as Kenzie disliked Steve, it seemed that making peace with him was the smartest thing to do. His opinion of her might mean the difference between keeping and losing her job, and Kenzie simply couldn’t afford to be fired.

  On Sunday morning Kenzie’s father gave her a ride to the Lucky R. When she entered the barn, she found Sarah Whitman grooming a palomino in one of the stalls.

  “Hi,” Kenzie called to Sarah. But Sarah totally ignored her, just as she ignored her classmates at school. Kenzie groaned inwardly. If Steve didn’t have anything nice to say and Sarah wouldn’t speak to her at all, she didn’t think she could stand it. Well, she’d give Silent Sarah one more try.

  “Hi,” Kenzie repeated loudly, stopping in front of the palomino’s stall. Sarah pushed a strand of stringy brown hair behind one ear and mumbled something that might have been a greeting, her eyes fixed intently on the palomino’s right foreleg.

  “I start work here tomorrow,” Kenzie said, brightly. “I’m Kenzie Sullivan. And you’re Sarah Whitman, right? I’ve seen you in school.”

  The other girl nodded and began brushing the palomino.

  Silent Sarah certainly was living up to her name! “Is Steve around?” Kenzie asked.

  “Day off,” Sarah replied.

  Forcing a smile, Kenzie said, “Thanks. Well, see you around.” She went to Ali’s stall, and the gray whickered a greeting. Wrapping her arms around Ali’s neck, Kenzie sighed. “At least someone at the Lucky R is happy to see me!”

  When Ali was saddled, Kenzie led him down the aisle between the stalls. As they passed Sarah, who was still busy with the palomino, Kenzie said, “I’m going for a little ride. Will you be here when I get back?”

  Sarah glanced up for just a moment, then shrugged and looked away.

  Kenzie led Ali out of the stable and mounted. Was it her imagination, or did Silent Saran Whitman have very pretty blue eyes? Impossible, Kenzie decided, then bit her lip, ashamed of how mean she was being. But Sarah always walked as though she were looking for something on the ground. If she did have nice eyes, who could see them? And was it Kenzie’s fault if the one word that best described Sarah was “drab”?

  Of course not, Kenzie told herself. She urged Ali into a trot, then a canter, and soon they were flying over the rolling hills of the Lucky R. They didn’t stop until they reached a small meadow. Cattle with the Lucky R brand grazed or lay in the shade of the willow trees along the bank of a shallow creek.

  Kenzie dismounted, and after she and Ali drank from the creek, she tied Ali to a tree, took off her boots and socks, and plunged her bare feet into the clear, cold water. Leaning back on her elbows, Kenzie closed her eyes and listened to the peaceful sounds surrounding her.

  She was beginning to doze off when the sound of approaching hoofbeats made her pull her feet out of the water and whirl around. Somebody was galloping much too fast!

  Then Kenzie recognized the rider. As he pulled the Appaloosa gelding to a stop inches away from where she was sitting, she scowl at him, shading her eyes against the sun. “Trying to scare me to death before my first day on the job?” she grumbled angrily at St Calvert.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Steve s mouth.

  “Sorry, Blon—I mean, Kenzie. I didn’t mean to scare you. You were just too busy daydreaming to hear me,” he said as he dismounted. “You’ve got some temper, you know that?”

  “For your information,” she said haughtily, “I hardly ever get mad.” They looked at each other for a moment, then suddenly they both burst out laughing.

  Kenzie liked his deep, hearty laugh and the dimples t
hat appeared in his tanned cheeks. Whoever would have thought that Deputy Ramrod could turn into Deputy Dimples!

  Steve led Cheyenne to the creek for a drink. “Don’t let us disturb you,” he said. He wrapped the Appaloosa’s reins around a low tree branch and then sat in the shade beside Kenzie.

  She dunked her feet back into the cool water. “I thought this was your day off,” she said.

  “My days off are the only times I can ride for pleasure.” Steve took off his hat. As he crossed his long legs and settled back on his elbows, Kenzie decided this was the perfect time for patching things up between them.

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t want any hard feelings between us, Steve,” she said quietly. “And I don’t know what I did yesterday to make you mad, but whatever it was, I apologize.”

  Steve sat up and tossed a rock into the creek. “I thought you were being a snob, acting like your Arabian with his fancy name was better than Cheyenne.”

  “You shouldn’t jump to conclusions so fast,” Kenzie said indignantly.

  “You’re right,” Steve admitted. “I’m sorry. If I accept your apology, will you accept mine?”

  Kenzie smiled at him. “Let’s forget the whole thing so I can start my new job with a clear record.” Kenzie paddled her feet in the water and steered the conversation into neutral territory. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “One brother. Matt’s three years older than me. He’s a junior at State.” Steve answered. “What about you?”

  “One older brother—Adam.” A twinge of regret flickered through Kenzie. Only last week she’d have said that Adam was going to the University of Colorado. “He’ll be going to J.C. in the fall.”

  “So did Matt for two years,” Steve said. “Our folks couldn’t afford four years at State so he took his undergraduate course requirements here, then transferred.”

  Kenzie was surprised at Steve’s casual reference to his family’s finances. She’d rather die than reveal how poor her own family was. “Is that what you’ll do? Go to J.C., then State?” she asked.

  Steve nodded. “I want to be a vet, so that means a lot of schooling.”

  “I’m not sure what I want to do yet,” Kenzie confessed. “I mean. I’ll go to college, of course, but I don’t have any career goal in mind.”

  “You’re what my guidance counselor refers to as ‘unfocused’,” Steve said seriously.

  “Well, maybe working at the Lucky R will help me ‘focus’,” Kenzie said with a smile. “I’m really looking forward to working with the kids in the therapeutic riding program.”

  To Kenzie’s surprise, Steve suddenly looked disapproving. Had she said something wrong again? To avoid yet another misunderstanding, she asked, “What’s the matter, Steve?”

  Gazing at her levelly, he said, “I’m wondering how you’ll feel about your adventure at the Lucky R after a couple of weeks.”

  “My adventure?” Kenzie repeated, confused.

  “Yeah. Isn’t that what you’re looking for—adventure? Why else would someone like you want to work here?”

  “What do you mean, someone like me?” Kenzie was getting angry. “You don’t know anything about me, Steve Calvert!”

  He tilted his head, regarding her intently. “I overheard the remarks you and your friends made about the Lucky R and about Sarah Whitman. This isn’t really your scene, Kenzie. You’re a country club girl with a country club horse and an attitude to match.” He stood up then, towering over Kenzie. “I’ll bet you don’t last one week,” he predicted coolly. “By then you’ll be tired of slumming.”

  Furious, Kenzie leaped to her feet. “I’ll make a deal with you,” she said, willing a calmness she didn’t feel into her voice. “After one week and one day on the job, you’ll owe me a pizza. A large combination, hold the anchovies, okay?”

  Steve grasped her extended hand and shook it. “Deal. And if you quit—or get fired,” he told her, “you owe me the same. With anchovies.”

  “Ha!” Kenzie scoffed, flustered by the warmth of his callused hand that still held hers. Why did she have the feeling that some of the sparks they were striking had ignited a corner of her heart?

  Shaking off the notion, she continued, “If you’re so sure you’re going to win this bet, let’s up the stakes. Buy me a pizza at the end of every week I’m at the Lucky R, and maybe I'll even share them with you.”

  Steve grinned wickedly. “Deal,” he said again.

  Kenzie jerked her hand out of his, and as she pulled on her socks and boots, she said, “You’d better buy bigger pants, Steve. With all the pizza we’ll be eating this summer, you’ll be bursting out of those in no time!”

  Steve’s hearty laughter rang in her ears as Kenzie strode over to Ali and mounted. The Arabian took off at a gallop, and it was only when the meadow was far behind them that she slowed All’s pace.

  “This is one bet I won’t lose,” Kenzie told the horse. “Steve Calvert doesn’t have the faintest idea what the real stakes are. If he knew that your future depends on my job at the Lucky R he’d realize just how determined I am.”

  Shortly before eight on Monday morning, Adam pulled up outside the Lucky R gate. “This is as far as I go,” he told Kenzie, reattaching a corner of the FOR SALE sign to the side window of the truck.

  Kenzie didn’t argue. She was still too nervous about her first day on the job to be concerned about anything else.

  “Thanks, Adam,” she said. “See you at five.”

  “Don’t be late,” he warned. The minute Kenzie got out of the truck, he drove off in a cloud of dust.

  Kenzie walked down the dirt road that led to the barn, glad that she had avoided an argument with her brother. Starting the day with a shouting match wouldn’t have calmed the butterflies in her stomach.

  Hank Rudloff greeted her with a friendly smile as she walked into the barn. “Today’s your ranch-hand day,” he said. “I’m going into town, so Sarah’ll show you the ropes.” He gestured toward the far end of the stalls where Sarah and Steve were talking. “Have you met Sarah?”

  Kenzie nodded woodenly, wondering if Steve was telling Sarah what Kenzie and her friends had said about her on Saturday. He wouldn’t do that, would he?

  Hank let out a piercing whistle, and Sarah joined him and Kenzie.

  “Don’t forget to take Kenzie over to the house later,” Hank told Sarah, who as usual was staring at the floor. “Nora needs guinea pigs today.” He put a hand on Kenzie’s shoulder. “You’ll do fine,” he said just before he left, as though he sensed her discomfort.

  Kenzie’s mind reeled with confusion. Ranch-hand day? Guinea pigs? What was he talking about? And who was Nora? Summoning what little self-confidence she had left, Kenzie turned to Sarah. “Lead the way,” she said.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Uh—what’s a ranch-hand day?” Kenzie asked as she followed Sarah. Sarah didn’t answer. She just kept on walking until they reached Ali’s stall. The horse immediately stuck his head out over the door and greeted Kenzie with enthusiastic nudges. Outside the stall were a wheelbarrow and a shovel.

  Sarah finally spoke. “During the week we each take turns cleaning the stalls. Hank keeps a schedule in the tack room.” Raising her eyes, she took in Kenzie’s floral blouse and clean jeans. “It’s a good idea to bring an extra set of clothes when it’s your day.”

  “I wish I’d known in advance,” Kenzie grumbled, picking up the shovel.

  Sarah’s face showed no expression as she went into the stall next to Ali’s. Kenzie watched her put a halter and a rope on the horse inside.

  “The back door of each stall opens into the paddock area,” Sarah explained, patting the horse’s neck. “Unsnap the rope after you’ve led the horse out so he can run around while you muck out the stall. And don’t put the white mare in the paddock with any of the other horses—she’s a biter.”

  Kenzie was surprised at the change in Silent Sarah. She was actually speaking clearly, and for once she didn’t seem nervous.
Maybe being around horses relaxed her.

  When Sarah returned from the paddock, she tossed the rope into Ali’s stall. Kenzie reached for it but missed, and as Sarah bent down to retrieve it, her hair fell forward. She quickly smoothed it back, but not before Kenzie caught sight of the hearing aids behind each ear. When Sarah glanced in Kenzie’s direction, Kenzie pretended she hadn’t noticed a thing.

  “See you at lunchtime,” Sarah said, leaving the stall.

  Gazing after her, Kenzie realized that a hearing problem certainly explained Sarah Whitman’s strange behavior. Maybe Sarah hadn’t ignored her. Hank’s loud whistle suddenly made sense, too. He’d wanted to get Sarah’s attention.

  Kenzie winced, remembering the rude remarks she and the other kids at school always made behind Sarah’s back. She wished she could take back every mean word. Unfortunately, she couldn’t change the past, but she could do something about the present by treating Sarah with understanding and respect from now on.

  Shortly before noon, Kenzie had cleaned out only four of the stalls. She had just finished scrubbing her face and hands in the sink next to the tack room when Sarah arrived to escort her to the farmhouse for lunch.

  They walked in silence to the small house shaded by willow trees, but it wasn’t an unfriendly silence.

  “Hi, Nora,” Sarah greeted the trim older woman who stood on the front porch. “This is Kenzie Sullivan. She’s new. Kenzie, this is Nora, Hank’s wife.”

  Nora wiped her hands on her apron, smiling. “Welcome to the Lucky R,” she said to Kenzie. “Congratulations! You two are my first guinea pigs.” She led the way to a table at the far end of the porch and took the aluminum foil off two large plates in the center of the table. “Shrimp puffs,” she announced, pointing to one dish. The other held lemon, chocolate, and strawberry tarts.

  Kenzie’s mouth was watering. “They look delicious!”

  “Now I want your honest opinion,” Nora said. “Everything has to be perfect for my catering job on Friday night. I haven’t made these shrimp things before and if they don’t pass the Lucky R taste test, I won’t make ’em for the party.”