Ain't No Angel

by Henderson, Peggy L

  She quickly turned her back to him and reached for the water canteen hanging from her horse’s saddle. She wiped a hand across her forehead, and wished she had a fan. If Tyler kept up his teasing, she wouldn’t be able to stop from jumping in his arms and beg him to make love to her. And show your true colors, Laney. Meaningless sex without love is what you’re used to. He wants a relationship with you first. This guy is your dream come true.

  Tyler reached for her hand, and Laney gasped in surprise. The jolt his touch brought to her senses was absolutely mind-blowing.

  “We’ll leave the horses here,” he said, and tugged on her arm.

  Laney wrapped her fingers around his large hand, and matched his strides as he headed across the grassland toward the herd of horses. He led her along casually, his eyes trained straight ahead, while she fought to fill her lungs with air. Did he have any idea how much he affected her?

  Several of the mares trotted off, their foals at their heels when she and Tyler got too close. Rap lifted his head, watching them intently. He faced them, his head held high. A shrill whinny filled the air, and the stallion trotted toward them. Laney observed his movement closely. There was no sign of a head bob that would indicate that he was lame.

  Tyler raised his hand when the stallion was only a few yards away. For a moment, she thought the horse would try and run them down. No doubt he perceived them as a threat to his herd. He hadn’t pinned his ears, though, and when Tyler called “whoa,” he stopped in his tracks and lowered his head. He stood still while she and Tyler approached him.

  Laney extracted her hand from Tyler’s grip, wiping her sweaty palm on her thigh before reaching out to pet the horse. The stallion snorted, then stretched his neck forward.

  “He’s beautiful,” she whispered. She ran her hands along his well-muscled neck and back, and the horse didn’t move.

  “Looks like he enjoys a woman’s touch.” Tyler’s voice had deepened. Laney swallowed, but didn’t turn around. She stepped up next to the horse, and continued feeling along his back and down his stifle.

  “He’s got good conformation, there’s no need to give him such a close once-over.” Tyler chuckled.

  Laney bit her lip. She wished she could do a more thorough feel of his muscles, but with Tyler right there, how would she explain what she was doing?

  “Does he get injured out here on the range?” she asked casually.

  “Hasn’t yet. I’m sure he gets kicked from time to time when the mares keep him in line, but I’ve never seen anything worse than a hoofprint on his rump.”

  “I bet this boy can run,” Laney remarked, almost to herself. The horse was a far cry from the thoroughbreds she’d dealt with, but his powerful haunches and that long, sloping shoulder told her he would be one fast ride.

  “Only lost one race in his lifetime,” Tyler said. There was a certain edge to his voice, and Laney turned to face him.

  “You race him?” Her eyebrows raised.

  “On occasion,” Tyler shrugged. “The neighbors get together for some fun and games a couple times per year. Everyone likes to show off their stock, and wager on the fastest horse.”

  “When was his last race?” Laney asked. Perhaps she was getting closer to an answer.

  “Couple months ago.” Tyler gazed off into the distance, and kicked at the dirt on the ground.

  Laney studied his features. He was no longer relaxed, but stood stiffly next to her, his facial muscles tight.

  “He lost that day,” she guessed. “And that’s why you’re now married to me.”

  His eyes shot to her. “I told you, I didn’t marry you because of a bet,” he growled. He swiped his hand across his face, then abruptly headed back toward where Charlie and the filly grazed in the distance. “Time to head back to the ranch,” he called over his shoulder.

  Laney glanced once more at the stallion. She wouldn’t be able to assess him further today, but she’d learned some important information. Rap was a fast horse. He’d only lost one race, a few months ago. Now he was reluctant to breed. What if it was all related?

  ****

  Laney reined the chestnut filly to a stop at the top of the rise overlooking the vast meadow where Tyler’s broodmares and yearlings grazed. She inhaled a deep breath, her lungs expanding more fully than they ever had in the stuffy city with all of its modern-day pollution. Here, the air smelled clean and she savored the fresh scent of sweet meadow grass. A hawk lazily circled the cloudless sky above her.

  Laney patted her mount’s neck. She’d affectionately named the young mare Mariah, after the first horse she’d ever ridden and because she could run like the wind. She glanced over her shoulder for the hundredth time. No one had followed her the two other times she’d come out here by herself, and she hoped her luck would hold out.

  The day Tyler had brought her here to see his herd of mares and yearlings seemed more like a dream to her now. It had turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days of her entire life, one she hoped to cling to in her memories forever.

  She leaned forward and ran her hand along the filly’s neck in an effort to distract herself from thoughts of Tyler. It didn’t work. No one, especially not a guy, had ever treated her with as much care and respect as he had shown her in the short time she had known him. Not that there had been much opportunity for anything more to develop. For days, he’d been immersed in ranch work. When he wasn’t working with the younger horses, he was gone from before sunup until well after dark.

  Curiosity ate at her as to what he did all day when he was gone, but his vague answers discouraged her from asking too many direct questions. She kept most of her comments about her past as ambiguous as possible, grateful that he never pressed her for more information. On the few occasions when he wasn’t too tired to go straight to bed after a hasty dinner at the bunkhouse, he’d sat with her on the porch, and asked her questions about her day, or made other small talk, mostly about horses.

  Laney enjoyed and looked forward to those moments with him. They’d sit in companionable silence and listen to the crickets chirp their evening songs. Part of her wished he’d hold her in his arms, kiss her, and carry her off to bed, but he kept a respectable distance. Once or twice he’d touched her hand in passing, but nothing else ever happened. She had to be content with sitting on the bench in front of the house with him and enjoy the peacefulness and quiet of the evening.

  A few days ago she’d asked him about the possibilities of a bath. She longed for a hot shower, but that was out of the question until she returned home to the future. She had resigned herself to washing with room-temperature water each evening before crawling into her bed, but the need for a complete soak and scrubbing her itchy scalp became greater every day.

  A creek ran behind the house and through the woods that lined the property, and was the only obvious water source that she could see that was suitable for bathing. The idea of stripping down out in the open, and especially when there were a bunch of men milling about, wasn’t her first choice.

  To her great surprise, Tyler had produced a metal bathtub the following evening, which he set up next to the stove in the kitchen. He’d heated bucket after bucket of water, until the tub was full. Before she’d had a chance to thank him, he had mumbled some excuse that he needed to talk to his men at the bunkhouse, and she hadn’t seen him again that evening.

  Laney missed Tyler during the day more than she’d ever missed anyone, and it was worse at night. Most nights she tossed and turned for hours, thinking about him asleep in the room down the hall. The memory of his kiss that first night was burned forever in her mind. She didn’t dare make the first move, however. During the day, she kept her hair tied back and her dresses buttoned up to her neck. He seemed pleased at her proper behavior, and that’s all that mattered. She sure as hell didn’t want to make him mad like she’d done on that first night. It certainly appeared as if she was successful in the first part of her task – keeping Tyler satisfied.

  Although he seemed comp
letely content with their relationship, some of the looks she’d seen him cast her way said otherwise. Once or twice, she’d caught him staring at her with a hunger in his eyes that left her breathless and wondering why he didn’t make a move on her.

  Laney fanned herself with her hand in front of her face. What was happening to her? These feelings for Tyler became stronger every day, and scared the hell out of her.

  “Time to focus on part two of your assignment, Laney.” She spoke out loud and sat up straighter in the saddle. “You weren’t brought here to fall for Tyler.” She swallowed. She voiced what she’d known for a week already. As much as she’d tried to fight her feelings, it was no use. She was falling in love with Tyler Monroe, but she could never tell him.

  Laney sucked in a deep breath. She had to focus on her other assignment, and get any crazy ideas about Tyler and love out of her mind. She nudged the filly with her heels, and headed slowly down the incline toward the herd of horses.

  It hadn’t been too difficult to leave the ranch and ride out to the south pasture on the days when Tyler was gone. The wranglers who stayed behind to work on chores around the place were too pre-occupied or too shy in her presence to notice her activities or ask about them. Eddie was the only other wrangler besides Gabe who talked to her, and she simply told them she was going for a ride.

  Eddie was easy and fun to talk to, and he’d already taught her how to make some biscuits from scratch, but she hadn’t tried making them on her own yet. She’d asked him to give her some cooking lessons, although his culinary skills seemed to be limited to stew and beans. He’d even agreed not to tell Tyler about it. With a wide grin, he’d assured her it would be their little secret.

  Eddie had shown her how to light the stove in the kitchen at the house, and kept her well supplied with firewood. Not that she needed it. She wasn’t anywhere near ready to try her hand at cooking anything on her own, and she was grateful every day that Tyler hadn’t pressed the issue.

  Laney patted the filly’s neck as they approached the herd. Rap had already spotted them, and whinnied loudly. Many of the mares raised their heads. The stallion trotted across the field toward them, his head and tail held high. Laney’s eyes followed his movements. A slow smile spread across her lips and she gazed further into the vastness of the land. She filled her lungs with clean air. If only she could enjoy the kind of freedom these horses had. The mares grazed contently while their foals slept in the grass. Some of the yearlings bucked and kicked at each other in play.

  Rap whinnied again, and Laney’s attention returned to him. At first glance, the horse looked completely sound, but she’d watched him enough now to detect a slight drag in his right hind leg. She’d observed him move for several hours four days ago, trying to pinpoint any signs of lameness. He’d allowed her to approach him and put a halter on, and stood motionless when she started feeling along his back and hind legs.

  “Tyler did a terrific job with you,” she’d murmured, impressed at the stallion’s manners. She’d worked with some elite horses before that were a nightmare to handle. Rap seemed to enjoy the attention.

  “If only I could figure out what’s wrong with you.”

  A slight swish of his tail, and a step to the side when she palpated down his rump and along his right stifle were the only clues the stallion gave that he might be sore in that area. It could explain his reluctance to breed if he experienced pain when he bore full weight on his hindquarters. A slight increase in heat in the area by his knee convinced her that she’d found the source of his problem. It was all she had to go by. An overextended or stretched tendon was her best guess.

  Laney sighed. She was no expert. She had no formal training. How did the reverend expect her to cure this horse’s problems without telling her exactly what was wrong with him?

  “Dammit. I feel so inadequate,” she huffed. She didn’t have the luxury of following a veterinarian’s prescribed order of treatment. All she could do was listen to what her gut instinct told her to do. She strained her memory for any similar cases she’d encountered while living with the Sheldons. Racehorses were treated for strained muscles and tendons all the time. The subtle injury made sense to her. Running around this uneven terrain, perhaps the stallion had slipped and fallen at some point. Maybe he’d injured himself during that horse race a few months ago. Unfortunately, she had nothing to back up her theory, and there wasn’t any kind of massage therapy she could think of that would alleviate this particular problem.

  “What you need is some stall rest, but I don’t know how I’m going to convince Tyler of that.”

  After wracking her brain for days, an idea had finally occurred to her about another form of physical therapy she could try on the stallion, and Laney was eager to implement her treatment today.

  She stopped Mariah some fifty yards away from the herd and dismounted. After hobbling the filly’s front legs together rather than tie her to one of the sage shrubs that grew in abundance in this area, she pulled the extra bridle she’d brought with her from the saddle horn, and headed out on foot to meet the stallion. She dug a dried biscuit from her pocket and held it out to the eager horse, then slipped the bridle over his head.

  “Good boy.” She patted his neck, and led him toward the fast-flowing stream that skirted the meadow. It looked deep enough in some spots where the horse would have to swim. Hopefully Rap would go along with her plan. He’d been rather cooperative up to this point, but convincing a horse to swim might not be so easy.

  “It’s not a water treadmill, but it’ll have to do,” Laney murmured to the stallion.

  At the banks of the wide stream, she gathered up the reins, and vaulted onto the horse’s broad back. He pranced and stepped to the side, and his muscles tensed slightly. Obviously, he wasn’t used to being ridden all that much. Laney wrapped her legs around his girth, and nudged him forward into the water. There was no way she could get him into the deep part without sitting on his back. After a few hesitant steps, the stallion entered the water, and Laney allowed him to pick his way through the current. Several mares whinnied behind them, and Rap stopped. He returned their worried calls, and Laney waited. If he decided to return to his herd rather than listen to the person on his back, she wasn’t convinced she could stop him. Stallions did what they pleased, especially with mares around. If she wanted to remain in control of this horse, she had to ask, not make demands.

  To her relief, the stallion obediently listened to her leg cues to move forward, and she patted his neck in encouragement.

  Toward the center of the stream, the bottom dropped sharply, and Laney gasped as the cold water saturated her clothing. She ignored the frigid temperature and urged the horse forward until he was submersed up to his neck. His powerful muscles bunched beneath him as he treaded water. Laney stayed off his back as best as she could. She grabbed hold of his mane and shortened the reins, but floated above him to avoid his hooves. If she slipped to the side, there was a good chance that she’d get kicked. If she could keep him swimming for ten or fifteen minutes, it might be just the kind of exercise that would benefit his injury.

  Laney shivered in the cold water, and gritted her teeth. Unfortunately, she forgot to bring a change of clothes. Even though the day was warm, the ride back to the ranch would be miserable. Talking encouragement to the stallion, she managed to keep him swimming in the current for what she estimated to be at least ten minutes before he fought his hold on her too much and managed to reach shallow water.

  “There has to be a lake around here somewhere, where this might be easier,” Laney mumbled. She’d have to ask Tyler or Eddie about that. If she could keep Rap swimming every day, she was convinced it would help him.

  Water streamed in sheets off of both her and the horse when the stallion reached the banks of the stream, and Laney barely had the chance to grab a handful of mane before Rap shook his body like a dog. Laney slid from his back, and patted his neck, then removed his bridle.

  “I’ll try and be back tomorro
w, and we’ll have to do this again,” she called after the horse, which trotted off toward his mares. He tossed his head into the air as if telling her that he didn’t think this was a good idea at all.

  Laney smiled, and wrapped her arms around her middle. Her teeth chattered, and she hurried toward Mariah. The mare’s head popped up from grazing, and her ears flicked in the direction of the rise overlooking the valley. Laney glanced up at what had caught the horse’s attention. A lone rider sat on a horse, watching. Laney gasped. She squinted, but the man looked like a dark silhouette against the sun’s bright rays.

  “Dammit,” she whispered. Who was he, and how long had he been watching her? It couldn’t be Tyler. He wouldn’t simply stay at the top of the rise. Laney’s heart pounded in her chest, and her shivering increased. Whoever it was, he would surely tell Tyler what he’d seen. How was she going to explain herself out of this?

  The rider suddenly veered his horse in the opposite direction, and galloped out of sight.

  Chapter 14

  Laney pulled the saddle from Mariah’s back and removed her bridle, then gave the mare a pat on the neck.

  “Pretend like nothing happened, okay?” she whispered to the horse, and glanced around. Not a soul in sight near the barns. She turned the filly loose in one of the outlying paddocks, which was partly concealed by a grove of cottonwoods. Hunched over, with the heavy saddle slung over her shoulder, she moved as fast as she could toward the house. Her wet denims still clung uncomfortably to her skin, but at least the cotton shirt had dried out somewhat during the ride back to the ranch.

  Laney hung the saddle and bridle on the fence, then ducked quickly between two of the rails and straightened. So far so good. There wasn’t anyone in the yard. It couldn’t be more than a little past noon. The wranglers who were on the property at this time of day would either be in the barns or in the bunkhouse taking a break at this time. If she was lucky, she might be able to sneak back into the house without detection. The guys were used to seeing her ride off alone, and no one had ever questioned her before, but she didn’t want to have to explain her wet clothes. She’d have to wait to find out if the man who had seen her down by the south pasture would tell Tyler about it.