Out Rider

by Lindsay McKenna

  “That’s wise,” Sloan agreed. He stepped out of the way because she was going to have to swing Goldy wide to step into her awaiting oak box stall.

  The whinnies of the other animals grew in volume, a pleasant horse chorus welcoming Goldy to her new home. Her mare whickered back in a friendly fashion, as if thanking them for their welcome. All the curious horses had their faces pressed against the wide iron bars across the upper half of each of the stall gates, watching their progress. The sweet smell of alfalfa and timothy hay made Dev inhale deeply. It was like perfume to her. She spotted the open door at the end, on the right stall. The other enclosures were all filled, probably with either USFS-owned horses or horses privately owned by some of the rangers.

  It was warmer in the barn due to the body heat of the ten animals. The breeze was cold, flowing in and out of the barn. Dev was pleased to see thick cedar shavings in Goldy’s new stall. To her left was a steel watering bowl that had a heater in it to keep the water from icing up when below freezing. Hanging in a net in the corner near the bars at the front was a flake of timothy hay. Goldy eagerly stepped up into the roomy stall, plunging her nose into the large watering bowl.

  Looking around, Dev wanted to see if there were any nails or other items that could accidentally injure her mare. The stall was bright, large and airy with a second window opposite the sliding door. Horses hated being in dark stalls. They got depressed just like a human without adequate light. Slipping the snap off Goldy’s halter, she pulled the door halfway shut and slowly examined every oak panel in the stall. She could feel Sloan’s silent interest, her back prickling lightly where his gaze rested upon her. Before Gordon’s attack, Dev wouldn’t have reacted to any male interest with anxiety, but now, she did. Moving her hand along the wall, fingertips skimming the sanded, honey-colored hardwood, Dev told herself that Sloan was not Gordon. Or was he? Looks were so damned deceiving. Feeling guilty because Sloan did not deserve this kind of paranoid reaction from her, Dev turned and walked to the other side of her mare, who was lifting her muzzle from the bowl, water dripping from it.

  “This is nice,” Dev said, pointing to the water dish. “Not only self-filling, but with the temperature gauge in there, it will keep ice from forming over the top of it.”

  Sloan leaned against the stall and nodded. “I think you’ll find everything in the stall in shipshape. Charlotte is a nice lady, but she’s strict about keeping the animals clean and safe, too. She’s a good supervisor and I think you’ll like meeting her.”

  Pushing her hair away from her face, Dev patted Goldy on her broad wither one more time and then slid the door open and stepped out. The horse next to her, a big gray gelding with a black mane and tail, had his nose pressed between the iron bars, wanting to say hello to Goldy. But Goldy was more interested in that clean-smelling timothy hay in the hanging net after sating her thirst.

  “I have an appointment to officially meet her tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.,” Dev said. Glancing at her watch, she said, “Next order of business is to find my new apartment. I leased it over the phone after going on the internet and looking at what was available in this area.”

  Sloan took the heavy oak door and slid it closed, and then latched it so the mare couldn’t possibly get out. “I’ll bet you had sticker shock on the prices of an apartment and condo here in Jackson Hole.”

  Groaning, Dev said, “Yes. Even worse, I have a dog and most places don’t allow you to have a pet, so it got pretty worrisome.” She rubbed her hands down the thighs of her Levi’s and hung Goldy’s red nylon lead on a horseshoe that was attached to the door.

  “There are two places that allow pets,” Sloan said. “The Pines, where I live, and a condo group known as Winterhaven. Which did you rent at?”

  Dev walked slowly down the aisle toward her truck at the other end. “I took a two-bedroom apartment at The Pines. It was a lot cheaper. I mean, it wasn’t really cheap at all, just less than Winterhaven.”

  “That’s a good choice. It’s a nice place. I live there with my dog, Mouse.”

  She smiled a little, feeling a sense of protection coming from Sloan as he walked at her shoulder. He’d pulled his gloves off and stuffed them in his back pocket. The male grace of the man told her he was in top shape, although pretty much hidden from the waist up with his utilitarian Carhartt heavy canvas jacket. She could always tell a real rancher or farmer from the wannabes. That particular line of clothing was built tough for hardworking men and women. Instead of buttons, they were fastened with rivets. Dev had a dark brown Carhartt jacket packed away in her suitcase and would always be wearing it anytime she was working in the barn or around Goldy when it was cold. “What were the chances we’d meet each other on that highway? And that you’d be a ranger like myself? And then we end up living at the same apartment complex?”

  Sloan shrugged and slanted her an amused look. “Dharma? Or Karma, depending upon how you take it all in.”

  “Kismet,” Dev said. His low, husky teasing flowed through her and touched her heart. She chided herself inwardly for thinking Sloan was a wolf in sheep’s clothing just like Gordon. The warmth dancing in Sloan’s blue eyes made her feel safe. And since the assault, Dev had not felt safe at all. Anywhere. With any man. Except Sloan. Frowning a little, she tucked her feelings away, concentrating on leaving the barn. Above, some sunlight managed to peek through the gray fluffy clouds gathering with what looked like rain or snow.

  Sloan lifted his Stetson, ran his fingers through his short hair and settled it on his head. “I’m going that way. Got to get out to the Triple H to shoe some of their horses. Want to follow me?”

  “Yes, you’re really being a guardian angel for me, Sloan.”

  “Okay, but first, back your trailer over there.” He pointed to five other trailers that sat in a neat row east of the barn.

  Dev was used to hauling and backing up her horse trailer. It wasn’t hard to do, but one had to know how to turn the wheels on the truck to back the trailer straight and next to the red-and-white one at the end. “Got it.”

  “I’ll help you.”

  “I appreciate it,” she murmured, climbing into the cab of her truck. Horsemen usually helped one another and Sloan wasn’t disappointing her at all. She turned on the truck’s engine and then drove around the circle, jockeying her truck and trailer. Within minutes, thanks to Sloan’s hand signals, she had her trailer parked. By the time she got out of the truck, he had lifted the trailer hitch off the truck and had it standing and ready for the next time she would want to hook it up.

  “You’re going to spoil me,” Dev said, smiling up at him. “Thanks.” She saw that gleam come to his eyes again, and she swore she could feel his care and protection once more.

  “Horse people always help one another,” Sloan said, shrugging a bit. “What building and apartment are you in, do you know? There are three units to The Pines.”

  Frowning, Dev pulled out a note from her jacket pocket and opened it up. “It says ‘unit two, apartment 224.’” She saw his brows rise, and a surprised look come to his face. “Why? Is this not a good apartment?”

  A grin edged Sloan’s mouth. “You aren’t going to believe this, but I’m in the same unit and my apartment is directly across from yours, 225.”

  Her lips parted and Dev wasn’t sure she felt good or bad about that news. “Well…uh…this is really something, isn’t it?”

  “I guess so,” Sloan said, shaking his head with amusement. “Look at it this way. If you need to borrow a cup of sugar, I more than likely will have it on hand. It’ll save you a trip to the grocery store.”

  “At least I’ll know one person in Jackson Hole,” Dev said, stunned by the development. When Sloan smiled that slow, lazy smile of his, heat flooded her lower body. The reaction surprised the hell out of her. The man was not flirting with her. He was simply being a gentleman, trying to help her out, her heart told her. He was a ranger, and so was she. Sloan was just doing his duty was all. But the heat in his gaze for a split
second unnerved her. Dev wasn’t even sure she’d seen it. Maybe she wished she had? God, she didn’t know—her emotions were still a tangled mess within her since Gordon’s attack.

  “Come on,” Sloan urged. “I’ll get you over to the manager’s office at The Pines and then I’m going to skedaddle down the road to go shoe those Triple H horses.”

  Without thinking, Dev reached out and briefly touched the sleeve of his jacket. “Thanks…really. I truly appreciate the time and care you’re giving us, Sloan.” Her fingertips tingled slightly and she saw his expression darken for just a moment, as if he hadn’t been expecting her to reach out and make physical contact with him. Maybe she had overstepped her bounds with him? “I’m sure your wife can also loan me anything I need,” she added.

  Sloan said, “Not married. I’m divorced. Me and Mouse are the only ones in that apartment and I don’t think my dog, as smart as he is, is up to pouring you a cup of sugar.” He cracked a grin.

  “Point taken.” She saw Mouse with his head hanging out the passenger window of Sloan’s truck. “Pretty dog. What breed is he?”

  “Belgian Malinois,” Sloan said, slowing his pace for her sake. “He used to be my combat-assault dog when I was in the Army.” Hitching his shoulder, he added, “But that’s another story for another day. We got places to go and people to see right now.”

  The first raindrops plopped around Dev. She glanced up, seeing the clouds had lowered and become dark and threatening. “Good timing. Looks like it’s going to pour any minute.”

  “Oh, it’ll turn to snow up here real quick.” Sloan gestured south as he opened the door to her truck for her. “Jackson Hole will more than likely get rain because it’s a thousand feet lower in elevation than where we are here. Follow me?”

  Dev climbed in. Bella whined and tried reaching across her to smell Sloan, but he left too quickly for her to get a friendly and curious sniff. As she petted Bella, the yellow Lab placed herself on the passenger side, her brown eyes alight with excitement. “Soon, we will have a new home,” Dev promised her dog.

  Bella thumped her tail, watching Sloan climb into his truck. Her eyes, though, were on Mouse, who was craning his neck out the partially opened passenger-side window, staring intently at her.

  “You already have an admirer,” Dev teased Bella, putting her truck in gear and slowly following Sloan out of the barnyard. And she almost added that she had an admirer in the form and shape of hunky Sloan Rankin. Did she really want that kind of attention? No. Not right now. Dev was still sorting out the assault, trying not to take every male she saw as a potential attacker. It was a terrible thing for Dev to see her once overly trusting self shattered and destroyed by one man. Gordon had changed her life in those moments. Forever.

  *

  SLOAN TOLD HIMSELF to slow down with Dev. What the hell were the chances they’d meet on a highway and then find out their other connections with one another? It was almost scary. Certainly surprising. As he drove through Jackson Hole at a crawl, tourists everywhere, he told his body to settle down. There was nothing to dislike about Dev. His mind churned over things she’d said. Damned if she hadn’t looked relieved when he told her he was divorced. Why? Was he misreading that look? Was Dev personally interested in him, man to woman? Or was it wishful thinking on his part, because he was lonely and craving a serious, healthy relationship with a woman once again?

  Mouse sat on the seat, his nose stuck out the open window, sucking up all the scents he could find. Sometimes, Sloan wished life was dog simple. They ate, slept, exercised and slept some more. Human lives weren’t so straightforward. Because he’d worked with his dog for two years in Afghanistan, Sloan had developed a powerful intuition. He could sense people even if their faces were completely unreadable. Sometimes, he could feel Dev wanting to warm up to him. And then, she’d retreat for some unknown reason. He’d sensed her wariness about him, too. Not that he’d given her any reason to distrust him.

  Something was going on and damned if he could figure it out. Yet. And because he was drawn to her, rightly or wrongly, Sloan wanted to know why Dev’s reactions and signals toward him were mixed and confusing. He’d already figured out she was either single, divorced or widowed because the apartment was for her and Bella, her dog. There was no man with her. Sloan knew he shouldn’t be happy about that realization, but he was.

  Mouth thinning, he took a left turn and drove down a street that would lead them out of Jackson Hole. It would be a mile down the road and another left to where the newer condos and apartment buildings were located. The rain was splattering more heavily now and the gray pall hung over the hills clothed in evergreens in the distance. The beauty of the area always lulled him and made him feel relaxed. He drove by a huge power pole on his right. Up on top of it was a huge osprey hawk nest and there were two adults in it. Soon, they would have eggs to sit on, and would raise another generation of fishing hawks that would ply the nearby Snake River for food.

  His body was heating up and Sloan groaned inwardly. Dev was pretty, no question. He was eager to see her without that big down-filled coat, see her hips and her upper body hidden beneath it. He was such a fool. Suddenly, his body, which had been pretty much dormant since the divorce, was coming back online with a vengeance. All he had to do was look at Dev’s soft mouth, that winsome smile that had tugged at the corners, and a sheet of burning heat flowed powerfully through him. She wore no makeup. Her black hair was straight with slightly curled blue-black tips. He liked her oval face, those high cheekbones giving her large eyes a slightly exotic look. Sloan had a lot of questions for Dev and found himself starving to sit down over coffee and ask her them. But that would be rude. His parents had taught him better than that. He needed to give her space to acclimate to a new apartment, new area and new job first.

  Glancing to the left, Sloan saw Mouse sniffing up the rainy air, his sleek muzzle now shiny and wet. Maybe the best way to get to know Dev was slowly, to try to figure her out a step at a time. With that unexplained wariness of hers in place like a shield between them, Sloan knew patience was going to get him what he wanted. If she wanted anything to do with him, that is…

  That was the great unknown.

  Hell, did he really want to get involved with a woman? Again? Sloan’s brows lowered as he turned and headed down Moose Lake Road, condos sprouting up as tall towers on his left and a blocky three-story apartment building coming up on the right. The rain was worsening. No surprise there. It was going to be an all-day rain, too. It would turn yellowed meadows into lush green grass for the wild animals. All of them looked close to skeletons, their thick winter coats peeling off them now. The animals were looking forward to that nutritious grass peeking above the snow.

  Sloan never lied to himself anymore. He’d lied to himself once, when married to Cary. He pretended her quixotic moods that always kept him off balance were just a natural part of her effervescent personality. Going home to her at night was like entering an emotional battlefield that never ceased. Sloan yearned for a woman like Dev to come into his life: someone who was thoughtful, stable, had a good sense of humor and shared some of what he loved, such as trail riding, having a dog at his side and enjoying the healing silence of nature.

  Dev fit the bill so far. Did she have a significant other that she’d left behind? Maybe a long-distance relationship still between them? Maybe the guy was trying to get a transfer out here to be with her? Sloan’s head filled with all kinds of scenarios that would stop him in his tracks from getting to know Dev better. Rubbing his jaw, he slowed his truck as the turn came up for the unit-two apartment building in the crescent-shaped complex. Sloan didn’t feel any guilt about hoping Dev was completely free of any relationship obligations. But one look into her face and Sloan was sure that wasn’t going to be the case. She was young, pretty, fresh and confident. Any man worth his salt would be attracted to her.

  Slowing, he pulled his truck next to an open parking spot so Dev could turn in beside him. The rain was constant no
w, the day turning a depressing gray. Depressing for some, but not him. Easing out, he kept Mouse in the cab and shut the door. He walked around her truck and opened the door for Dev. He then pulled up the dark brown corduroy collar on his coat to stop the rain from running down his neck. She had already pulled up her collar, grabbed her leather purse and pulled the strap over her shoulder. She told Bella to stay and the dog promptly sat down on the seat.

  “This way,” Sloan urged, pointing her toward double glass doors to the left of them.

  Dev nodded, slid out and hurried to get under the eave of the cedar shake roof. Waiting, she watched Sloan shut the door and trot in beneath the eave, as well. He moved around her and walked to the glass doors, opening one of them for her. She slipped in, thanked him and wiped her boots on a coarse mat before walking into an office where a woman sat behind a desk. She had red hair, with green eyes and a welcoming smile, and looked to be in her midforties.

  “Hey, Sloan,” she called, grinning. “Wet enough out there for you?”

  Sloan returned the grin, took off his Stetson and cupped Dev’s elbow, guiding her up to the desk. “Sure is, Carol. Hey, this is a new tenant, Dev McGuire.”

  “Oh, yes,” Carol said, shaking Dev’s hand, “we’ve been expecting you, Miss McGuire. Welcome.”

  Dev smiled. “Thanks. And call me Dev. If it weren’t for Sloan here, I’d probably have had trouble finding you folks.”

  Settling his hat on his head, Sloan looked at the women. Pinkness had flooded Dev’s cheeks after he’d cupped her elbow. Why had he done it? Out of a desire to touch her? His body was growing tight against his zipper. Damn. “Gotta go, ladies. You’re in good hands with Carol,” he told Dev.

  “Great…thanks, Sloan…”

  “I’ll drop by tonight after I get home to see if you need anything.” Again, there was that wariness in her eyes. She tucked her lower lip between her teeth for just a moment. “Well,” he said, giving her a warm smile, “let’s do it the other way around. You know I’m across the hall from you. Just knock if you need anything.” Instantly, Sloan saw her worry disappear. He filed that reaction away and would chew on it later.