He couldn't keep his lips from stretching into a satisfied grin. "Admit it, you like it when I whistle."
"Do not."
"Yeah, you do."
"In your dreams."
He could hear her soft chuckle even with her face turned toward the open window, the wind blowing her blond streaks in a wild mess around her face.
She finally looked at him and he caught the first real glimpse of her smile. Lord, how he'd missed that face.
"Okay, you win. I think it's kind of funny."
He pretended to be offended. "What's wrong with the way I whistle? It's jovial, it's--"
"Off key! You can't carry a tune to save your life," she said, laughing. "And what's worse is you think you're on key so you whistle louder. Then you tap your other foot on the floorboard to give it added emphasis. Drives me crazy."
He laughed himself, taking his eyes off the road a time or two to enjoy her laughter.
"And it doesn't matter where you are in the house or in the barnyard, I know where you are because I hear you whistling all over the entire ranch."
"You keeping tabs on me, again?"
Her expression changed. Afraid to break this sudden change between them, he quickly changed the subject.
"So what have you been doing these last eight years?"
She adjusted herself in the seat before she spoke. "If you're looking for a complete rundown of my life it could take all day."
"Give me the reader's digest version." In truth, Beau would have taken all day to hear about all he'd missed in Mandy's life. But he knew as soon as they got back to the ranch, there'd be other people to intrude on this solitude he had with Mandy now. Selfish as it was, he liked having her all to himself. One of the unexpected little perks of Hank's plan.
"Hmm. I lived in Boston for a few years while in college and now I work for my father's advertising firm."
"Just like you always planned."
"Yeah," she said quietly.
"I imagine advertising must be a high stress job. Demanding. How'd you manage to get away for a few weeks like this on such short notice?"
She laughed again and he felt his heart skip a beat. It had been a long time since he'd heard that musical lift in her voice. Forgotten how much it reeled him in.
The distance between them was so great. But was it insurmountable? Beau didn't want to think so.
"I don't sleep much."
"Can't live on no sleep. I guess it's good you're getting away for while then. At least for the rest."
"Guess again. I probably won't be sleeping much while I'm here, either. I had a big ad campaign presentation due right before I flew out. I worked two days straight on it. That's why I looked like I'd survived a tornado when you picked me up at the airport."
"You mean, that wasn't the latest styles coming out of all those New York City boutiques this year?"
"Hardly. After the Hill Crest Industries people left, I managed to catch a few hours of sleep on the sofa in my office right before I took my flight to Texas. I thought I'd nailed that presentation. But Dad..."
She stopped herself from saying anything more. And she didn't really have to. It had been a bone of contention between Mandy and Damien Morgan all her life. Nothing Mandy managed to achieve was ever quite good enough to live up to her father's expectations.
That was something Beau and Mandy always had in common, a common thread that bound them. Unlike Mandy, who forged on trying to do her best to win that elusive approval, Beau had accepted early on that the life Mike Gentry thought Beau should be living wasn't in line with what Beau wanted for himself.
"Anyway, the Hill Crest Industries people haven't made a decision yet. Just in case they aren't quite as happy with the work I've presented and want a different slant, I'll be burning the midnight oil to produce something new."
"You've got to sleep some time."
"Yeah, well, sleep is overrated."
He stared at her. The road ahead was flat and straight and he didn't mind taking the extra few seconds to linger on her mouth to see her smile had faded.
"Are you happy?" Please tell me you are, Beau prayed silently. He wanted to hear that the life he'd sent her back to was the life she wanted and now loved. He needed to know that giving her up eight years ago hadn't been in vain.
"What about you?" she said, turning his question back at him. "You're going for World Champion this year, right?"
"Yeah," he said quietly. And he was. As soon as he knew Hank was going to be okay, he'd hightail it back to the circuit. The World Championship title was within his reach for the first time in his career and there was no way he was going to miss it.
"Doesn't this time away put a cramp on things?"
"A little," he said honestly. By right he should be busting his butt, hitting every rodeo he could to make sure his spot was secure. He'd told Hank he might steal himself away from the ranch for one of the closer shows coming up. Mitch being gone put a dent in that plan, but now that Mitch was back there was no reason he couldn't.
"Then I guess it's in both our best interests to convince Hank to have that surgery as soon as possible. So we can both get back to our lives."
"Yeah."
He didn't know why, but the thought of leaving Texas didn't seem so bad. Leaving Texas without Mandy didn't sit as well with him. He'd done it before. He was going to do it again. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be any easier the second time around.
# # #
Chapter Five
Mandy ran a soft cloth over the pictures on the fireplace mantel, giving each one a good long stare before dropping them back into place.
"Now what do you think you're doing," Alice said, coming into the wide pine-paneled room carrying a bucket and scrubs. "Your Aunt and Uncle hired me for a reason, young lady. You'll be doing no house cleaning while I'm still walking around these floors."
"I was looking at the picture and got my fingerprints all over the glass. I made the mess, I figured I might as well be the one to clean it up. Besides, it gave me a reason to linger a little longer."
"If you do it all, I'll have nothing left to do."
Mandy chuckled softly. "I'm sure these hands track in enough dirt and muck to keep you busy."
"That they do," Alice said, smiling.
She dropped the bucket on the floor, stood next to Mandy by the mantel.
"Every so often Corrine would rifle through that big box of photos and rearrange the pictures on the mantel. As soon as she knew you were coming, she did it again. We're all so happy having you back with us."
Squashing a cascade of guilt, Mandy picked up a picture and showed it to Alice. "Remember this one?"
Alice's face grew solemn. "That I do."
It was the first time she'd visited the reservation with Uncle Hank and Aunt Corrine, her first summer at the Double T.
Alice and her daughter, Sara, lived on the reservation. Aunt Corrine had told her all about Sara when her mother had gone home to Philadelphia, leaving Mandy behind for the first time. She'd been so sad that first week that everyone, including Alice, thought it would do Mandy a world of good to visit and have the two young girls play together while Hank visited with his mother.
"That snapshot was taken the day you met my Sara," Alice said, taking the photo from her.
"How is Sara doing?"
"Like you, she hasn't been home in a while. In fact, she hasn't been back home since that summer before you left."
"That's too bad. I was hoping to see her."
Alice's face brightened. "I have her address in California. I'm sure she'd love it if you dropped her a letter now and then. Even though she doesn't say it, I think she's homesick for Texas."
"I'd like that. Sometimes you don't know just how homesick you are until you come home."
"Ain't that the truth?"
Mandy placed the picture down carefully on the mantel.
"It's so good to have to you back home," Alice said, picking up her bucket and brushes again.
/> She left Mandy alone to look at the pictures. She heard the high pitched whinny of a pony out in the paddock filter in from the open window. There was a slight breeze today, but she knew it would do little to salve being in the hot sun.
As she made her way down the row of pictures, her hand stilled on an old photograph. It was taken the same day Mandy had met Sara on the reservation. Her uncle looked so handsome when he was a young man. She'd forgotten just how much. She remembered sitting on his lap as Aunt Corrine snapped the shot of them with Hank's mother.
Mandy had only met Regina Promise the one time. She remembered her as being very old, but very kind, like Hank. Looking at the picture now, she didn't seem that old at all. Worn perhaps, from a hard life, but she was beautiful with her thick dark hair and eyes. Mandy stared at the picture for a long time until she heard the sound of whistling in the barnyard.
Beau.
Sighing, she dropped the picture back in place, and took the next one, immediately wishing she hadn't. Why on earth would Aunt Corrine keep this picture?
Deep longing swept through her as she stared down at a young Beau Gentry sitting on the porch steps. His arm was lazily draped around Mandy's shoulders. She stared up at him like the star-crossed, lovesick teenager she was. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, making her look even younger. She was wearing a pair of faded shorts that were too tight, but she liked the way Beau's eyes lit up when he saw her in them.
Uncle Hank on the other hand, did nothing but scowl when she wore them. She couldn't help but laugh at the memory. At every opportunity, he'd tell her there was enough testosterone running wild on the ranch. She didn't have to give the hands any more reason to make fools of themselves.
But not Beau. Oh, he'd made a fool of himself, all right. But she never cared. He'd tell her repeatedly that she was the prettiest thing his eyes had ever seen.
And like a fool she was, she believed him.
* * *
"Now ain't she the prettiest thing you ever did see?" Beau said, leaning the full weight of his body against the fence.
"Nothing more beautiful," Hank agreed.
And she was, Beau thought with awe. Though he could certainly think of at least one other filly who'd spun his head by her sheer beauty.
"Be careful. This little girl's a spitfire," Hank warned. "Gotta handle her with kid gloves. Even then I think she'd just as soon stomp you in the ground just for looking at her."
"That's the way I love 'em," Beau said, securing his hat firmly on his head as he opened the gate to the paddock. "The feistier the better. Makes it all worth it in the end."
"You going to test her out?" Mitch asked.
"If she'll have me."
Hank nodded knowingly. "Lady like this needs to be taken real slow," he said. "You can't tie her down or try to make her think you're the one in control. She won't give it up before she's ready."
The screen door slammed hard and Beau turned to see Mandy standing on the porch peering out to where the men stood. She settled on the top step, her hands slipped deep into the pockets of her crisp denim blue jeans.
"I've been down this road before," Beau assured his old friend. "I think I can handle myself."
Chuckling, Hank cast a quick glance at the porch, then back at Beau. "We are talking about the horse now, aren't we, son?"
Beau propped his hat low on his head and chuckled. "Course."
He watched Mandy out of the corner of his eye as she strode through the yard toward the paddock. He shouldn't be nervous. He'd done this a thousand times over, but suddenly it was if he'd been transformed back to the first time he'd climbed into a chute to mount a bronc before the ride.
When he finished rosining up his rigging, he pulled on his leather gloves and into the chute where he could see the young filly was already itching to charge out bucking. He could already tell she wanted no part of him.
The wild horses Mitch had just purchased at auction were both mares and still testing their new boundaries. It would take a while for Mitch to do his magic and gentle them enough to be good riding horses. Still, Beau couldn't help but take a chance at trying to mount one of them while their spirit was still raw and free, feel that adrenaline rush when in her wild way she tried to buck him off. It had been over a month since his last rodeo and every nerve ending in him was itching to get back to riding again.
He fought the urge to steal another quick glance at Mandy, to see if she was hanging the fence, chewing on her lip with anticipation like she used to do, or if she was hiding her eyes for fear of what was to come. The very first rodeo he'd ever entered, she was there standing at the gate just the way she was now. Except then, he'd been so distracted by that kiss for luck she'd given him, he'd been thrown from his mount just as soon as he left the chute. He'd crawled out of the arena like a beat dog with his tail tucked between his legs.
Mandy had a way of making him feel he could do anything back then. He'd been so green but not to Mandy. She'd just looked at him, her breaths kind of shallow like she'd had the air sucked from her lungs instead of him when he hit the dusty ground. She'd said, "Come on, Beau, there's another rodeo this afternoon."
That was all. Not a word said about being bucked off, not a mention of what had happened, as if it didn't matter. A little shove from behind to move him in the right direction and Mandy had him feeling as if he could move a mountain. He'd forgotten that about her. But he remembered now. To Mandy, it really didn't matter.
He could see she applied the same principle to her own life. Instead of accepting that she'd never be exactly what her old man wanted of her, she tried anyway. And had gotten far because of the trying. Mandy had told him years ago that Damien Morgan didn't give free rides. Daughter or no daughter, if she didn't pull her weight at his advertising firm, she wouldn't be there. He had the feeling she pulled her weight and a whole lot more to get where she was.
Turning his attention back to the mare, he realized the horse wanted no part of him as he approached the chute. And why would she? Not too long ago she'd had no barriers keeping her from running free. Now it didn't matter how much room she had, she was caged like a bird that’d once soared the skies.
When she'd settled some, Beau talked soothingly to her. He got close enough to let her get the scent of him, let her take her time and get her fill while he readied himself to mount her. All the while he talked to her until he had his seat on her back.
"You sure you want to do this?" Mitch asked, ready at the gate.
Beau stared at a spot on the mares neck, felt anticipation surge through his veins and nodded once. It always happens in a heartbeat after that. The young mare sees her shot at freedom again when the gate flies opens, and then explodes out of the chute and realizes she still has company.
Beau held on, dug his boot heels into her side and rode for all it was worth. He'd missed it. Four long weeks of not riding. He lasted a few seconds he thought the mare had enough and he jumped off and raced out of her way.
Still feeling the adrenaline high from his ride, he glanced at the spot where Mandy stood next to Hank. She was standing on the rail of the fence, hanging on with a tight grip as if her life depended on it. And she was smiling with a face filled with pride. Mercy, it was as if he'd ridden just for her instead of himself. And maybe he had. He pulled off his hat and smacked it on his chaps, creating a small dust cloud, as he walked toward the fence, shaking his head as he went. He was such an idiot. Had he really been trying to impress Mandy, show her that like she had, he'd risen above and achieved what he'd set out to do?
Hank was looking more worn for the wear when Beau reached them. Being in the hot sun had to take a lot out of him. He'd slowed down considerably since his diagnosis, trying to reserve his energy, but Hank wasn't a man who could be contained for too long. No doubt he'd been up and at it with the rest of the hands this morning and was now feeling the ill effects of overdoing it.
"I'd forgotten what it was like to see you ride," Mandy said. Her smile was gone.
She shook her head slightly, her delicate lips twisting into a frown.
"The horse wasn't all that uptight about me being there."
"Bunch of fool cowboys, every single bowlegged one of you."
"You didn't always think that way, doll," Hank said, chuckling as he turned and slowly headed back to the house.
Watching Hank go, Mandy said, "I was young and foolish myself back then."
Beau dropped his hat low on his head to shield the sun so he could stare at her. Lord, but this woman was beautiful out here in the sunshine. "Got to have something to believe in."
She eyed him squarely. "I've never been a good judge of character."
Beau couldn't help but laugh. "Admit it. You like seeing me ride."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I saw you hanging on the fence. Saw you smiling, too. You still like watching me."
"It's hot as Hades out here. I came out to make sure Hank wasn't over doing it."
"If that were true you'd have followed him back in the house when he left. Since you're still here, I can only guess you came out to see me."
Rolling her eyes, she sputtered, "In your dreams."
"All my dreams are about you, Mandy."
And that was definitely the wrong thing to say.
# # #
Chapter Six
She needed to laugh more, Beau decided.
Mandy may not have realized it yet. She may have even forgotten what it was like to be happy. But Beau was going to make it his mission to remind her. He was going to do all he could to make her laugh again.
Except for that brief time in the truck when she'd giggled at his whistling, Mandy had been stingy with her laughter. Somewhere buried behind all the deadlines and late nights of work, was the same girl that had thrown his heart for a loop eight years ago.
It was only right that she'd be on edge about Hank. They all were. But Beau had a feeling that Mandy had lost the ability to just laugh at life. It couldn't be that she was still angry with him. It was more than that. She wasn't happy anymore. Not like she used to be anyway. Before he left the Double T, he was going to make sure she was happy again.
Her Heart for the Asking Page 5
