by Renee Roszel
Her breath caught, for his double meaning was brazenly clear in the huskiness of his tone. He knew excitement about Freckle’s performance wasn’t the only reason for her actions. Not wanting to dwell on that, she grabbed her hat from his hand and spun away. “Freckle isn’t the only one around here who needs hosing down,” she muttered. Then she caught the mare’s reins and stalked off.
His low-pitched chuckle chased after her, wordlessly implying that she might need cooling off, too.
ANNA SHOWERED and changed into clean jeans and a rose-colored tank top. She was about to head back to the arena to watch more cuttings when the ringing of her phone stopped her.
“Hello?”
“Sweetie? It’s Thad.”
Anna frowned, suddenly worried. “What’s wrong? You sound upset.”
There was an uneasy pause, and she thought she’d better sit down. Perching on the bed, she asked, “What’s the matter, Thad?”
“There’s been a fire at your ranch,” he said. “I’m afraid your house is gone. And, uh, your uncle...”
“Uncle Bud? Is he okay?”
“He managed to get out a window, but, well—” Thad cleared his throat “—he’s in St. John’s Hospital, in Tulsa. Mainly for smoke inhalation.”
“Oh, my Lord!” Anna cried. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I’ll stay here at the hospital until you get here.”
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver,” she said before hanging up.
When she found him, Dusty insisted on taking her to Tulsa immediately, even though the cuttings were still going on in the three-year-old class, and the winner wouldn’t be announced for another hour. He also made arrangements with Ed to get the horses back to Bent River.
Anna sat in apprehensive silence during the whole trip back. When Dusty pulled into the hospital parking lot, she asked, “Did you want to come up? If not, Thad can give me a ride back.”
He looked over at her, frowning. “No, I won’t come up. I’ve got some business to take care of. So, you’d better let Thad give you a lift back.”
Stung by his dismissal, she hopped out of the truck and dashed through the double doors of the hospital, trying to believe that he wasn’t really uncaring. But hadn’t she always known he was the sort of man whose own interests came first? Typical, she groused inwardly, wondering why his lack of concern hurt her so much.
As she sprinted along the white-tiled corridor toward the bank of elevators, she made a grim vow. This was absolutely the end of any silly fantasies about that self-centered cowboy. Thad was the man for her. He was dependable and trustworthy. Even though Thad had only met Uncle Bud a few times, he was here.
ANNA YAWNED and was sorry she’d chosen that exact second to do so, for just as her mouth opened Thad leaned across the front seat of his car to kiss her good-night. “Oh,” she said sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s just that I’m worn out.”
“That’s okay. It is late. Nearly midnight.” He pecked her cheek. “Good night, sweetie. I’m glad Bud’s going to be okay. Call me tomorrow and let me know how he’s doing.”
She nodded, yawned again. “You were great to stay the whole time.” Smiling, she slipped out the passenger door and waved as he drove away.
Taking only a few steps in the direction of her cottage, she remembered she needed to fetch some invoices from Dusty’s den. When she got there, she was surprised to find him sitting behind his desk. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I came for the farrier and saddle-repair bills.”
“No problem,” he said, standing. “I was just leaving.” Picking up a stack of papers, he handed them to her. “Here they are, plus a few more I’ve gone over.”
He seemed preoccupied, and she wondered why. “Thanks,” she said. “And good night.”
She turned to go, but he stopped her. “How’s your uncle?”
She managed a small smile. “He’s fine, considering. They figure he’ll be in the hospital a week—if he continues to do well.”
Dusty nodded, but didn’t smile. “That’s good.”
She watched him for a second, again trying to figure out what was troubling him. Then she had a frightening thought. “Is something wrong with Freckle?”
He stared at her, his face registering puzzlement, then he shook his head. “No. She’s fine. Ed brought her back an hour ago. He said she won. You should be proud.”
Anna’s relieved smile was genuine. “She’s a great horse. I had a feeling she’d win.”
He nodded, then frowned as his mind seemed to return to some bleak thought. Anna’s smile died, too. “Anything wrong?” she asked. “Did you lose the dance thing?”
“The dance—” Then understanding apparently hit him. “No, I didn’t lose.”
He must have thought he read surprise on her face for he asked, “Is that so unbelievable?”
“No, you were fantastic!” she blurted, then bit her lip, wishing she hadn’t been quite so gushy. He might take it wrong. She clutched the papers to her chest. “You should be proud, too.”
He nodded, his half smile hardly cheerful. “Thanks.”
She shifted uncomfortably, not sure what was going on with him, but positive he wasn’t going to share it with her. “Good night, then,” she said.
He nodded distractedly, his attention already elsewhere.
She left the house feeling strangely deflated. Although he seemed to have mellowed in his original opinion of her abilities, he would always see her as the sister of a thief. And he could still put her brother in jail and take away her home. Not that much was left of it—a scorched barn, some frightened horses and goats, and a pile of ashes where her house had stood.
Thank heaven Euby Hobbs had seen the smoke and brought his hands over to find her uncle, hose down the barn and rescue her livestock. She’d spoken with Euby this evening, and they’d worked out a deal where he’d care for her livestock, instead of paying his training fees for a while.
She exhaled sadly. To Dusty, her family troubles were her own concern. He obviously didn’t think they affected him, except as far as the return of his property was concerned. He hadn’t even asked about her house.
A few nights later, Anna slipped into Dusty’s office to leave some cost figures and purchase orders he wanted to go over before he left for work the next morning. It was very late, because she’d gone into town to visit her uncle, who, thankfully, was still improving.
The den was dark and the house silent, which was no surprise, since it was after eleven. On her way out of the office, she heard a commotion coming from upstairs. There was a female squeal, followed quickly by a rapid thudding. Worried, she rushed toward the staircase, hoping no one had fallen down it.
When she reached the foyer, she saw Dusty descending the long curving staircase holding a wriggling and squealing bundle encased in a bed sheet.
Anna found herself watching openmouthed as she recognized the whining voice as Nicole’s.
When Dusty halted at the bottom of the steps, he deposited his niece on her feet. His features were set in both concern and irritation. He shook his head, seeming at a loss. “Look, Nicole, you can’t go around surprising men with candlelight snacks in their bedrooms, wearing—” he ran his hands roughly through his hair “—whatever that is you’ve got on under that sheet.”
“It’s a teddy and—”
“I don’t want to know,” he cut in, his voice gruff with frustration. “Just...just don’t do it again, okay?”
“But Dusty,” she wailed, struggling from the sheet to reach for him and baring one shoulder. “I love you. Don’t you love me... a little?”
“Nicole,” Dusty said sternly. “I’m afraid you’ve mistaken kindness for something else. I’m your uncle. Maybe just by marriage, but I have no intention of being anything more than that to you.”
The girl stumbled back a step, her face screwing up in anguish. “But I’ll never love anybody else!”
Mouthing a curse, he patted her covered shoulder. “Ye
s, you will,” he assured her. Firmly turning her away, he gave her a nudge between the shoulder blades in the direction of her room. “Now go to bed, young lady, and we’ll forget this.”
“You think I’m just a kid!” she cried, wheeling back. When she did, her eyes widened, and Anna realized she’d been spotted. She felt badly for the child, having her humiliation witnessed, but she didn’t speak and couldn’t move.
“I think,” Dusty said thinly, “you’re a lovely girl who’s been watching too much TV.”
With a heart-wrenching sob, Nicole gathered the sheet about her and made an ungainly, loping getaway down the hall. After a few seconds, her footfalls died away and a door slammed.
Anna remained frozen, staring at Dusty’s bare chest. He looked tousled and shaken by the incident. She’d never seen him so disconcerted before. He was always completely in control, and this glimpse at the vulnerable side of him was endearing.
As he turned to go back upstairs, he noticed her standing there and sent an exasperated glance toward heaven. “Good evening, Miss Andrews. Did you want to talk to me, or are you here for the late show?”
She shook her head and stepped out of the shadows. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I left those papers you wanted in your—”
“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he broke in, dismissing her, and started up the steps.
He looked so grave, so upset, Anna’s heart went out to him. “Maybe she needs a hobby,” she offered quietly.
“She needs a spanking.”
“I’ll talk to her—explain the term ‘jailbait.’ ” She shrugged, adding more to herself than to him, “I’d meant to have a talk with her, anyway.”
He stopped on the stairs and eyed her. “Why do I suddenly get the feeling it was Nicole who was spying on me at the pool that night?”
The vision of his nude body rushed through her mind, and she became strangely tongue-tied.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Miss Andrews?”
Her gaze flitted around the big entryway. Didn’t he remember? Instead of giving her time to explain, he’d tugged her into his arms and planted a bruising, breathtaking kiss on her.
Anna’s silence was answer enough, it seemed, because he chuckled bitterly. “Hell, I’m sorry,” he said, sounding disgusted. “I should have known.”
She was startled by the regret in his voice. “Apology accepted.”
Their glances met, and Anna grew self-conscious beneath his stare. Time passed, or possibly it stood still—she couldn’t be sure. Somewhere along the way, though, the message in his expression changed from apology to attraction and promise. Let me make love to you, it seemed to say. She feared he could detect the struggle her body was having with her brain.
Swallowing hard, she somehow managed to control her emotions and began to edge around him in a wide arc, frightened that if she got too close, she wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation in his eyes. “You... you handled that thing with Nicole pretty well,” she offered in the pitiful hope that inanities would blot out her wayward desires.
He smiled a humorless smile. “I could tell by the sobbing.”
“You have to understand,” she said, concentrating more on her escape route than her words, “being rejected by someone when you’ve offered yourself to them is terribly painful.”
A shadow passed across his features, but he maintained his show of teeth. “Really?” Though that one word was uttered casually, there was a steel-edged irony in his tone, and Anna winced at the subtle reminder that he’d just been rejected—by her. Not knowing how to reply to that, she simply turned and fled.
ANNA HAD BEEN TRAINING Freckle to take tighter turns, and the mare was lathered and tired. While the horse rested for a moment, she glanced around and was startled to see Nicole lurking nearby. Sensing the girl wasn’t there by accident, she walked Freckle over.
She hadn’t seen her at all on Sunday. According to Max, she’d said she was sick and stayed in her room. Poor kid. Anna knew what Nicole’s problem had really been. Rejection was hard at any age, but at fifteen...
“Hi, Nicole,” she ventured. “How’d you like to ride Freckle if I hold the reins and walk her. She needs to cool off, and you ought to get used to being up on a horse if you’re going to live on a ranch.”
Nicole sent a brief angst-ridden glance Anna’s way. She looked bad—red puffy eyes and lank dull hair. She clearly hadn’t slept much. Anna dismounted and looped the mare’s reins over the top rail, then climbed the pole fence and jumped down to the other side. “Come on. It’ll take your mind off... things.”
The girl had been toying with a button on her green shirt, acting completely disinterested, but Anna wasn’t fooled. Nicole was down here for a reason, and it wasn’t her love for horses. It was painfully apparent that she wanted to talk. And since her mother wasn’t here, Anna supposed Nicole had decided she was the next best thing. Besides, she was already aware of the problem. Taking the girl’s hand, Anna urged, “Come on. Freckle’s real gentle. It’ll be fun.”
Anna was astonished when Nicole ran into her arms, practically knocking her over. “Oh, Anna, he hates me,” she wailed forlornly against her shirt. “And I love him so much it hurts!”
Anna grimaced, feeling badly for the child. She hugged her and stroked her hair soothingly. “Now, now. It isn’t as bad as all that. Dusty doesn’t hate you, not even a little.”
“But he does. You saw how he treated me. And I’ve loved him from the first second I saw him. He’s so big and handsome, and he smells so good.”
Anna gritted her teeth. There was a lot of that going around—Dusty seemed to affect women of all ages. She squelched the thought. “You don’t really love him, Nicole,” she insisted gently. “You just think you do. It’s normal for a girl your age to have a crush on an older man. I loved a teacher once the very same way.” She didn’t go on to say that she’d never climbed into her teacher’s bed, however.
Nicole lifted her head, her face a picture of agony. “But my mom’s second husband was twenty years older than she was. Dusty’s only twenty-one years older than me!”
Anna sighed. “Maybe so. But your mother wasn’t fifteen, Nicole. Don’t you know that a man could go to jail if he, er, got romantic with a girl your age?”
Nicole sniffed, looking through teary eyes. “Huh?”
Anna nodded, deciding the age thing was as good an excuse as any. “It’s against the law for a man of Dusty’s age to be intimately involved with a minor.”
Nicole wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “It is?”
“Yes. So, you can see why your uncle was upset. You were trying to make him break the law.”
Nicole’s eyes widened. “But I didn’t mean it. I just wanted him to know I loved him.”
Anna smiled reassuringly, smoothing the girl’s long hair through her fingers, trying to untangle it. “Maybe it would be better if you had a hobby to take your mind off your uncle. It’s clear that the goats and your kitten aren’t enough to keep you occupied. And you don’t seem to like the horses.”
Nicole sniffed again and shook her head. “Horses stink.” She ran a hand through her hair, frowning thoughtfully. “I like music. Mom said I could maybe take lessons sometime.”
Anna nodded. “Sounds good. Singing? An instrument? What sort of lessons?”
Nicole shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“Tell you what—why don’t you and I walk Freckle, then I’ll get her groomed while you go clean up. After that, we can drive into Tulsa and check out a music store I know of. They rent instruments and hold classes.” Motioning for Nicole to follow, she climbed the fence. When they were inside the pen, Nicole walked beside Anna as she cooled down Freckle.
“So, how old do I have to be to date Uncle Dusty and not send him to jail?” Nicole asked after a few minutes.
Anna shook her head helplessly. This was one stubborn girl. “Eighteen, I’m afraid.”
“Eighteen?” Nicole echoed. “I just turned fi
fteen last month. Bummer.” She kicked at the dirt with her combat boot. “Do you think he’d wait for me? He’s so cute and all.”
Anna chewed the inside of her cheek. It was plain that Dusty’s problem with Nicole wasn’t easily solved. But it was very likely, considering the fickleness of teenage girls, that in the next three years, Nicole would get over her crush and find someone nearer her own age. “I can’t speak for him,” she said, choosing her words carefully. She couldn’t make this girl any promises, and she doubted that Dusty was in the habit of waiting for anything. “I always try to think of the future this way. If something’s meant to be, it’ll be. No sense in sweating it.”
“Anna?” Nicole asked. “Don’t you think Dusty’s a hunk and a half? I mean, isn’t he the most totally doable stud-muffin you’ve ever seen?”
“Totally doable studmuffin?” Anna repeated. “Where in the world do you pick up language like that? Do you even know what it means?”
“Sure, it means—”
“Never mind,” she said with a laugh. “And to answer your question, I think Mr. Dare is a perfectly average man.” It was an utter lie, which was too bad, because she’d have given anything to mean it.
CHAPTER TEN
THAT NIGHT, Anna had to venture back to the main house to talk to Dusty about some estimates for fence repairs, although she’d have rather jumped off a cliff into a cactus patch. It had been two days since their encounter in the entryway, but somehow it didn’t seem like two seconds. And, here she was, standing at his office door, expected— and late.
He looked up from his reading and gave her a where-have-you-been frown. “Come in,” he said, with a curt nod toward what she’d come to think of as the punishment chair.
She took her seat, deciding not to explain her lateness, since her reluctance to face him was the only reason. He probably already knew that, anyway. Instead, she reached across the desk and handed him the papers. “Boomer Fencing’s bid is the lowest, but I’m not sure we should go that route. You’ll see by my notes—”
