“What’s the foal’s name?” Renee looked over her shoulder at Dan.
“Peaches.” Dan smiled, seeming to enjoy her delight.
She glanced at the palomino. “That fits.” She looked back at Dan. “Can we go riding sometime?”
“How about this afternoon?” he asked as he went to a fifty-gallon oil drum and removed the lid then scooped out a small can of pellets. “I need to visit Mrs. Grady down the road. I can introduce you to her.”
“I’d love that.” Excitement flowed through her veins.
He returned with the feed and handed the can to her. “You can feed the girls some pellets if you’d like.”
She accepted the can, poured some of the pellet feed onto her palm and let Apple snuffle her hand. Her nose felt soft, her breath warm as she ate the pellets from Renee’s hand. From her position on the paint can she couldn’t reach Peaches, so Dan fed the foal some pellets.
Renee ran her fingers down Apple’s face and looked into her big eyes that seemed to study her so patiently. Dan swung Renee down from the paint can unnecessarily, but causing her to laugh. She fed pellets to the other horses and stroked their necks. Only the stallion didn’t seem to appreciate the attention.
“Firebrand is a little high strung sometimes.” Dan patted the stallion’s neck. “He’ll get used to you.”
Dan showed her around the rest of the small ranch. The back of the house with its lawn and shady sycamores was as well kept as the front, but there was a fenced-in patch of land that was weed-choked.
“Was that a garden?” Renee asked as she met Dan’s gaze.
“My mama raised tomatoes, peppers, squash, lettuce, radishes, garlic, and onions, along with watermelon and pumpkins,” Dan said. “I never have had time to keep it up. I’ve thought about taking down the fence and letting the lawn overtake it, but just haven’t had the heart to.”
“I love to garden.” Renee looked at the patch of land, itching to plant something now that she saw the small plot. “The one in my backyard was much smaller but gardening was something I enjoyed doing. This summer is the first time I haven’t had a garden in ages.”
Dan’s cell phone rang. He un-holstered it and answered with, “Sheriff Cooper here.” He glanced at Renee. “Hi, Zane. Yes, Renee is right here with me.” Dan paused as he listened, then said, “Just a moment and I’ll check.” He held the phone away from his ear. “How does tomorrow sound for the barbeque with the Cameron bunch?”
She smiled. “Terrific.”
“Yep,” Dan said into the phone. “What time?” When the call ended, Dan closed his phone and re-holstered it. “Noon tomorrow,” he told Renee.
“That should be fun.” She imagined getting to see the twins, Wayne and Wyatt, and Dillon again. She’d never met their little sister, and she wondered if Danica would be there, too. Renee would love to meet the youngest Cameron and her bull rider husband.
“Ready for that ride?” Dan asked as they walked toward the house.
With a nod she said, “Can’t wait.”
Inside the house, she changed into jeans and a pair of sturdy shoes in the guest room then jogged downstairs to the kitchen. Dan had prepared roast beef sandwiches on multi-grain bread cut in halves. He also had a bag of potato chips out and bottles of cold water.
They sat at the kitchen table and her stomach growled as she put a sandwich and chips on her plate. She happily munched on her food. “Do you remember putting chips on our sandwiches when we were kids?” She opened the second half of her roast beef sandwich and laid chips on it then grasped it by both hands and bit into it. It crunched and she laughed as he grinned and did the same with his sandwich.
When they finished their lunch he helped her apply sunscreen to all her fair skin that showed. She liked the feel of his callused hands on her as he rubbed in the lotion. Even though the atmosphere between them was for the most part relaxed, there was still a sexual tension that always hummed beneath the surface.
Once they were ready, Dan saddled up the twin sorrel mares, Nanette and Natasha. He would ride Nan. Both mares were spirited but well trained and easy to ride, according to Dan. He put bottles of water into one saddlebag.
He helped her mount Tasha and for a moment she had to gain her bearings. She hadn’t ridden a horse for almost thirty years. Dan mounted his own horse and then they started out.
“Wow, but it’s been a long time.” Renee felt the coiled energy of the big horse as it moved beneath her while they headed over a rise behind the outbuildings and corrals. She gripped the horse with her knees and clenched the reins for a few minutes before she started to relax and fall into the rhythm of the horse’s gait.
“Like falling off a bike,” he said as he looked at her.
“Only a lot higher up.” She smiled at him. “Not to mention a horse has a mind of its own, as opposed to a bike.”
“You’ve got me there.” He grinned. “Why don’t we ride around a bit and then we’ll go to Mrs. Grady’s.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They rode over rolling grasslands and through pockets of oaks and mesquite. There were places where washes had carved out small canyons that made for secluded areas. Thanks to the rain last night, water was in the washes and in the two small tree-shaded canyons. In those areas, the ground was untouched by the sun and cool and soft, the horses leaving deep hoof prints. They saw rabbits and ground squirrels along with birds, but no other animals.
The day was nice and they rode up to a rise that was high enough that they had a wonderful view of the valley that stretched far and wide until it ended at the foot of steep mountains.
As they talked and laughed, a part of her felt a little sad that she had missed out on so much of this country life once she was taken and moved back East. But a greater part of her chose to live for the moment, to enjoy today. She pushed Jerry and all the problems that went along with him to the back of her mind. Only small flits of thoughts came to her here and there—all of which she banished. She wasn’t going to miss out on having fun with Dan.
He had a good memory for things they had done as kids that she’d forgotten until he brought them up. She’d had fun being the only girl in the Cameron bunch and had been part tomboy. Aunt Grace and Maria had made sure she had girl-fun too, and she’d felt like she’d had the best of both worlds. When her mother and stepfather had taken her, she’d had to leave the tomboy part of her behind.
They had been riding for some time before they reached a dirt road that led to Mrs. Grady’s house. It was a weathered farmhouse with a well-tended vegetable garden in the back along with three apple trees. To the south was a pigpen containing three small pigs and one large pig. A milk cow stood watching them from a pen on the other side of the pigpen, and there was a vine-covered henhouse with close to a dozen chickens. Both the pigpen and the cow pen had lean-to shades for the animals to go under during the heat of the day, and they contained large water and feeding troughs.
“Mrs. Grady trades apples, vegetables, milk, and eggs to the neighbors in exchange for feed for the animals,” Dan said as he dismounted his horse. “When it’s time to butcher her pigs, she sells hams, bacon, and other pork cuts to pay for staples that she uses year round.” He looped the reins of both horses over the porch railing.
“How old is Mrs. Grady?” Renee asked as Dan came around, grasped her by her waist, and helped her dismount.
“She just turned seventy.” He set Renee on the ground. “I help her out when I can. She insists on sending me home with eggs. Farm raised eggs are the best, so I don’t complain,” he said with a smile.
The screen door squeaked as an older woman stepped out of the house and onto the porch. She looked more like she was in her sixties than seventies.
“How are you doing today, Mrs. Grady?” Dan said as he walked to the porch steps with Renee by his side.
“Doing good, Sheriff Cooper.” The woman smiled. “I see you have a friend with you today.”
“This is Renee Winfield.” He
rested his hand on her shoulder. “She lived with the Camerons for a short time when she was young.” He, in turn, introduced Renee to the older woman. “Renee, Mrs. Grady has been a long time family friend.”
Renee smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure,” Mrs. Grady said.
After introductions, Mrs. Grady showed Dan a few things she needed taken care of. He oiled the screen door’s hinges, fixed a broken kitchen drawer, changed some high-up light bulbs, and poured a fifty-pound bag of feed into a drum, along with taking care of a few other things.
While she helped the woman around the kitchen, Renee’s mouth watered the whole time because of the smell of the apple pie baking in the oven.
It turned out that Mrs. Grady was somewhat of a history buff and she talked about the nearby ghost towns and the history of the San Rafael Valley as Renee listened.
Dan came in when he’d finished the odds and ends Mrs. Grady had needed done.
“Time for some apple pie a la mode,” Mrs. Grady said as he walked through the doorway.
“Sounds wonderful,” Dan said and Renee chimed in her agreement.
Mrs. Grady served big pieces of hot apple pie with fat scoops of ice cream, and they sat around her round kitchen table. Dan and Renee cleaned up every bite of pie on their plates and Mrs. Grady looked on, obviously pleased by the way they ate their desserts with gusto.
“Amazing.” Renee sighed. Her fork made a light clinking sound as it settled on the plate. “Thank you so much for that wonderful dessert. I adore apple pie with French vanilla ice cream and I think that’s the best I’ve ever had.”
“You’re quite welcome.” Mrs. Grady went to the fridge as Renee carried the bowls and forks to the sink.
As Renee washed the few dishes and Dan dried them, Mrs. Grady brought out two cartons of eggs. “Here you go,” she said as she set them on the table. “Thank you for the help around the house.”
Dan dried the last bowl. “It was no problem. I appreciate the eggs and the pie.”
“Be sure and bring your special lady back soon.” The way Mrs. Grady said “special lady” made Renee’s cheeks warm. It was clear the woman believed Dan and Renee were more than friends.
“I’ll do that,” Dan said with a wink at Renee.
She felt her stomach flip just from that sexy little wink.
Renee and Dan said their goodbyes and then they walked to the horses. She tilted her head to the side. “How are you going to get those eggs home on horseback?”
He reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a padded insulated bag. “This usually does the trick.” He put the eggs away then helped Renee mount her horse before mounting his own.
In moments they were headed back to his home and Renee felt happier than she’d been in a long time.
The sun hung low in the sky by the time they returned to the ranch. She helped Dan unsaddle and brush down the horses. After they were taken care of, Dan and Renee walked to the west side of the house and stood on the wraparound porch to watch the sunset.
Renee studied the orange and pink tinted sky. “Arizona sunsets are so beautiful.” Streaks of purple and blue crossed through the tint and the sun was a big orange ball nested in the mountains. “I missed them, too.”
Dan took her hand as they watched the sun sink behind the mountains, until dusk settled over the land. Still holding hands, they turned and walked into the house.
The feel of his hand holding hers sent a sizzling kind electricity throughout her body. The connection between them felt charged and exciting. When they entered the house and he released her hand, she still felt a wild energy linking them.
After they washed up and changed into clean clothes, they made spaghetti with giant meatballs and homemade sauce. As they ate at the small table, he leaned closer to her and reached out and brushed her cheek with his hand. He came away with sauce on his fingertip and he licked it off. Her cheek tingled where he’d brushed it and she rubbed the rest of the sauce off with her napkin.
They cleaned up the kitchen and Dan went upstairs for a few moments while she went into the bathroom.
When she returned to the living room, he had an old trunk on the floor by the couch. “I haven’t opened this since I was a kid.” He blew dust off the top of the trunk then flipped the latch that made a scraping sound.
Hinges creaked as he raised the lid. He pulled out an old Parcheesi board that she recognized.
“We used to play that.” She laughed. “I would kick butt.”
“That’s not how I remember it.” He winked at her and she smiled as he set the board and the game box on the coffee table.
Next he pulled out a stack of old holiday and birthday cards. He took the top one off the stack, opened it, and handed it to her. “My card to you for your eleventh birthday,” she said with surprise as she recognized her girlish signature at the bottom of the card. Inside the card was a pressed dried flower. “That’s the flower you gave me that day, isn’t it?” She reached out and ran her finger along the flower that was rough beneath the pad of her finger.
“You left it here.” He took the card from her and set it back on the stack it came from. “You weren’t the only one with a crush.”
“Seriously?” She looked at him with surprise. “I had no idea.”
The corner of his mouth quirked into a smile. “Just like I didn’t have a clue that you liked me in that way.”
His smile sent a shiver of excitement through her. The sexual tension between them was strong but at the same time it was easy to be with him.
“What else do you have in there?” She peered over the edge of the trunk. “An old football, an autographed baseball, a glove, and a whole lot of other things.”
He brought out old 4-H ribbons along with rosettes and a couple of trophies from his junior rodeo competitions along with his high school letterman’s jacket. Black and white class photographs were in the box, the photos including a couple of teachers she recognized.
“Mrs. Eddie was pretty nice,” she said as she pointed to the music instructor. “On the other hand Mr. Norton was, if I can be blunt, a real bastard.” He’d been her first grade teacher.
Dan laughed. “We can agree on both accounts.”
They went through old yearbooks and he showed her kids they’d known when they were young and what they’d looked like when they graduated. “Some of them are still around, like most of the Sharpe family,” he said. “But a good many of those we knew moved away.”
“Like me,” she said and he nodded.
She found herself yawning as they put everything away. “Thanks for that.” She got to her feet at the same time he did and she looked up into his eyes. “I really enjoyed today.”
“So did I.” He picked up the trunk and carried it as they went up the stairs after they’d turned off all of the lights.
When they reached the guest room, he set down the trunk. Her stomach flipped as he took her by the shoulders. Heat radiated from his hands through her clothing, warming her skin. He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering as she heard him inhale deeply of her scent.
When he stepped back he still had his hands on her shoulders and butterflies tickled her belly. “I don’t dare do more than that. It’s hard enough keeping my hands off of you.”
“You don’t know how badly I want more than a kiss from you.” She rested one hand on his chest and felt his heart beating fast. She swallowed hard as she thought about how much she wanted him. “But you’re right. Not yet.”
“I don’t think I can sleep with you tonight.” His chest rose as he took a deep inhale and released her shoulders. “It’s too dangerous.”
Disappointment ebbed through her but she nodded. “I understand.”
He kissed her on top of her head this time then picked up the trunk and headed down the hall to his own room.
She watched him as he walked away, feeling as if a part of her was disappearing through the doorway. She wanted to run to him, to tell him she didn’t care a
bout it being too soon. She wanted to beg him to stay.
But in her heart she knew they were doing the right thing.
One day at a time.
Now if she could just make it through the night without him there to hold her.
Chapter 13
Sleep wouldn’t come. The moon peeked through clouds and its light glittered through tree branches outside the window, causing shadows to play across the ceiling. Renee stared up and looked at the patterns winking across the white surface as the tree moved with a light wind.
Even as she watched the shadows move, her mind was elsewhere. Dan was in her every thought. The time they’d shared so far seemed like it must be much longer than it actually was and she found herself wishing she hadn’t turned him away. She should have told him that she wanted him. Should have told him to stay.
Because she did want him, more than anything. It had nothing and everything to do with putting the past behind her.
She wanted to feel his arms around her, his hard body against hers. She wanted him in every way a woman could want a man.
Was he lying in bed awake, too? Was he thinking about her?
There was no doubt that he was as attracted to her as she was to him. It was in his looks, his touches, the way he smiled.
Before she could change her mind, she slipped out of bed. The floor was cool beneath her bare feet as she padded through the dark room that had only the silvery moon to light her way. It was darker in the hall and she ran her fingertips along the wall as she walked.
Her heart beat faster and flutters filled her belly as she neared his room. His door was partially open and she moved into the doorway.
Moonlight stole into his room, too, and she could see his features as he stared up at the ceiling just like she’d been doing. The moment she stepped through the opening, his gaze moved to her.
She moved closer to his bed. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) Page 9
