by Joanna Wayne
“Gotta say, that whole tragedy has the ring of a soap opera.”
“I agree,” Riley said. “Angela was a year behind me in school until we moved to Kansas to live with Uncle Raymond. She was always a spoiled brat. A form of affluenza, though we didn’t have a name for it back then.”
“And now her behavior is just weird. I know that Charlie thought the world of Dudley Miles, but now I have to think the whole Miles family is living on the edge of reason.”
“I’m considering paying a visit to Dudley Miles.”
“In prison?” Tucker asked.
“Why not? He’s in a state facility not more than a couple of hours from here.”
“I know he was charged with manslaughter, but how did that come about?” Tucker asked.
“The way Esther described it, he was supposed to be watching his toddler grandson, had a drink or two too many and the kid fell off the kitchen counter and died from a head injury.
“I won’t bring up the reasons he’s behind bars,” Riley continued. “I’d just like to get his take on whether or not Charlie committed suicide.”
“Good idea. Pierce may want to go with you. I know he’s still wrestling with that in his mind. I’d go, too, but I can’t stay but a few more days and I think I’ll do more good by helping out around the Double K.”
“Yeah. I’ll stick around until next week’s roundup myself—maybe longer.”
Maybe a lot longer, though if he was smart he’d run like crazy soon.
He knew himself. Too long in one place and the urge to roam would take over and he’d just wake up one day and hit the open road.
To the next ranch. The next adventure. Alone and uncomplicated.
It was his way.
* * *
RILEY LOWERED THE windows in his truck, letting the bracing air flow through Dani’s hair and across her face. She was convinced that there was no more invigorating and beautiful time and place than April in the Texas Hill Country.
Trees and rolling pastures turned greener by the day and a million wildflowers burst into bloom with each new sunrise. The late afternoon sky was a background of royal blue, iced with layer upon layer of fluffy white clouds that looked as frothy as the whipped cream she doled out so generously in her shop.
Dani shifted in her seat so that she was facing Riley. He’d showered in her bathroom again before they left for the ranch. She had no doubt that for months to come she’d imagine him naked and glistening with suds every time she stepped into that same shower.
He smelled of soap and musk and a walk in the woods on a spring morning. He reeked of virility. And if she didn’t stop thinking like this, she’d wind up in his arms again with or without any pretense of dancing.
She turned her gaze back to the road that stretched in front of them. The road Riley had come in on just yesterday on his way to the Double K Ranch.
The road he’d leave on any day now.
Riley reached over and flicked on the radio, keeping it low so that they could still talk if they had something to say. So far they’d ridden most of the way to the ranch in silence.
“Is the wind too much for you with the windows down?” he asked.
“No, it feels good. Clears the stench of bleach and cleansers out of my sinuses.”
“I always ride with the windows down unless the heat and humidity are like an oven—which definitely happens when summer arrives full blast in Texas. Most women complain that it messes up their hair.”
“Mine is always a mussed tangle of curls, so that’s not a problem for me.”
“I like your mussed look,” he said. “It suits you.”
“Mussed suits me? That doesn’t sound exactly like a compliment.”
“Ah, but it was. Makes me want to wind those curls around my fingertips. Makes you so touchable.”
“Best not to while you’re driving,” she teased. “My curls are dangerous. Your fingers might become so entangled in the thick mass we’d end up in a wreck.”
“Not if we pulled off onto the shoulder first or turned onto a dirt road.”
She wasn’t sure if he was serious or joking, but her insides quivered at the thought.
Her phone rang. Saved by the bell. She answered quickly, her voice tinged with the unfamiliar sensations rushing her senses. “Hello.”
“Hi. It’s Crystal. I just heard about the break-in. Are you and Constance okay?”
“We’re fine.” She explained the situation, providing only the details necessary for clarity.
“I hadn’t heard about the vandalism. Is there anything I can do to help? Bring you dinner? Scrub floors? Come pick up Constance?”
“No. Constance spent last night at the Double K Ranch. I’m on my way to pick her up as we speak. The bakery is clean and ready to go.”
“So you’ll open again on Tuesday?”
“Believe it or not, I’m actually taking a few days off. I want to keep Constance having so much fun she can’t worry about our being burglarized.”
“I’m impressed and I think that’s a great idea. I’m closed on Monday. Why don’t we take the girls hiking at the state park? The drive there is beautiful this time of the year and we’ll get some fresh air and exercise.”
“I’d love to, but I have some business in San Antonio I have to take care of tomorrow.”
“Then let Constance spend the day with us. The girls always have fun together.”
That would be the perfect solution—provided the DNA kit actually arrived in the morning. Otherwise she’d have to take Constance into the city with her to be certain she collected the sample correctly.
“Constance would love a hiking outing, but can I get back to you in the morning? I want to get a feel for how Constance is handling all this first.”
“Sure thing. And do let me know if I can do anything to help around the shop or if you just need a place to crash for a few days.”
“I will, but right now everything’s under control.”
More specifically, as much under control as it could be under the circumstances.
By the time she’d broken the connection, Dani couldn’t wait to see Constance. And once again she wondered what kind of perverted bastard James Haggard was that he basically wanted to sell his own daughter.
But then her sister had sold herself for far less than a million dollars, so this might be exactly the kind of man she’d have a child with.
Dani jumped from the truck the second Riley stopped in front of the sprawling ranch house. Constance met her at the door, all smiles and showing no sign of distress.
Dani pulled her into her arms and held so tight Constance pushed her away.
“You’re hurting my ribs.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. I missed you so much.”
And she’d fight the devil himself to keep her safe. The scary part was, it might come down to exactly that.
Chapter Nine
“Jaci couldn’t ride the big Ferris wheel because she’s too young, but I rode it with Carolyn Sawyer. Her little brother was too young to ride it, too.”
Jaci put her hands on her hips. “I can ride it when I’m six.”
“We both rode the carousel,” Constance said, “and Esther rode it, too.”
Esther put her right hand to her heart. “About the only kind of horse I can ride these days. That was enough excitement for me.”
“I got prizes,” Jaci said. “Want to see them?”
“Prizes? Wow,” Dani said encouragingly. “Of course I want to see them.”
“All I got was a whistle and some bubble-blowing liquid,” Constance said, “but the bubble-blowing stuff is all gone. I shared with Jaci.”
“That was nice.”
For the past half hour or more, the girls had talked non
stop about their adventure at the spring carnival. Clearly, Constance hadn’t let any concern about the break-in interfere with her fun. It was nice to be eight.
Jaci returned with her prizes, all five of them together probably worth less than a dollar. But she’d won them and that was all that mattered.
“You girls had positively too much fun,” Riley said. “And yes, I’m talking about you, too, Esther.”
Jaci and Constance giggled at the thought of Esther being a girl.
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Dani said. “I can’t thank you enough, Esther, for taking Constance with you.”
“No trouble at all,” Esther insisted.
“Keeping up with these two wound-up bundles of energy has to be exhausting. Constance and I will get out of here now and let you get some rest.”
“You can’t run off before supper,” Esther said. “I’m making macaroni and cheese for the girls.”
“That’s far too much trouble.”
“No, it isn’t, Aunt Dani. Ple-e-ease. I love macaroni and cheese, and Tucker is fixing the rope on that broken tire swing so that Jaci and I can play on it.”
“You’ve already put Tucker to work for you, too?”
“He’d promised Jaci yesterday that he’d get to it today,” Esther said. “All my Lawrence boys are as good as their word. They got that from Charlie.”
“We’re not exactly boys anymore,” Riley said, “but Charlie taught us a lot about good living and being a man of your word. That’s no lie.”
“C’mon, Jaci,” Constance said. “Let’s go see if the swing is fixed.”
Dani gave up on the idea of leaving before supper. That wasn’t a sacrifice on her part. Everything Esther cooked was delicious. Even better, the girls hadn’t gotten tired and cranky and started fussing with each other yet.
In spite of the three years between them, they got along well most of the time. That was one of the reasons she and Grace had become such good friends so quickly. They were both new to town. They were both still learning to be caretakers of energetic, precocious little girls.
Grace’s role as new stepmother was somewhat different than Dani’s, but both Grace and Dani loved every part of their new lives, including the responsibility. Neither of them wanted to make a single mistake, though they knew that was impossible.
“Did you hear from Pierce or Grace today?” Dani asked.
“Heard from both of them,” Esther said. “They were sipping margaritas on the River Walk and having a wonderful time.”
“Sounds romantic,” Riley said.
“Yes, but they’re cutting the short honeymoon even shorter.”
“Why?” Riley asked. “Is anything wrong?”
“Plenty.” She reached over and patted Riley on the shoulder. “You and Tucker are here and Pierce is not. It’s like we’re having a family reunion without him.”
“How does his new bride feel about that?”
“Land sakes. That wife of his is sweeter than stolen honey, and Grace understands Pierce. She’s the one who made the decision that it was silly to be in San Antonio now when they can go there anytime.”
“He’s probably just worried Tucker and I aren’t following all his orders,” Riley joked.
“That, too,” Esther agreed. “He told me to remind you to feed and water the horses tonight and Tucker to put out feed for the rest of the livestock and check on the pregnant cows.”
“With all that to do around here, now I really feel terrible that I dragged you and Tucker off to help me,” Dani said.
“Exactly,” Riley agreed. “Now it’s payback time. You get to help me take care of the horses.”
“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. I know ridiculously little about horses.”
“Not a problem. What you don’t know, I’ll teach you.”
The humor in his tone and the mischievous glint in his eyes insinuated he wasn’t only talking about horses. Fiery flashes of desire heated her senses.
They weren’t strangers anymore. They’d spent most of the last two days together. In chaos, fun, frustration and cleansers.
It was inevitable that the sexual tension that tinged each touch, each moment they spent together, would eventually erupt into a roaring fire. That eruption might very well come tonight.
* * *
THIS WASN’T DANI’S first time in the Double K’s horse barn, but it seemed entirely different this evening.
It seemed smaller, as if Riley sucked all the oxygen from the area and left her struggling for air. Every nerve in her body seemed to vibrate with anticipation, though she wasn’t exactly sure what she was anticipating.
Wooden signs with the horses’ names hung over each stall, but Dani was familiar enough with a few of them that she could recognize them even when they were in the pasture.
Some, like Dreamer and Beauty, she felt fairly comfortable around. The bigger stallions, like Rocket and Torpedo, she shied away from.
A few of the horses neighed as Riley walked past them on his way back to the feed storage area. Dreamer pawed and stuck her head over the top of her stall to be sure she was noticed. Beauty, the black quarter horse that Constance usually rode, pretended she didn’t notice him.
Dani walked over to Beauty’s stall and stood still for a few moments so as not to startle her. Then she put her hand out below the horse’s nose, palms up, fingers pressed together, just as Pierce had shown her. Beauty lowered her head and stepped closer.
“Hello, Beauty. I don’t usually get to visit you this late. Are you glad to see me?” She reached over the top of the stall and scratched the horse’s neck and withers.
“I see you’re not a total novice around horses,” Riley said.
“Pierce, Grace and Esther have taken me under their wing.”
“Have you fed the horses before?”
“Carrots, apple chunks or an occasional peppermint.”
“Want to try ladling their grain mix into their feed pails? Unless you’d rather fill their water pails. The feed is easier.”
He was serious about her helping. She felt foolish for thinking he had an ulterior motive for asking her to come with him. It was her own infatuation that was getting out of hand. “I’ll feed them the grain if you show me how much and where to put it.”
He gave her basic instructions and she measured the mixture and ladled it into the feed buckets as Riley took the pails to the outdoor hose and rinsed and refilled them.
He talked to the horses in a voice that calmed them and resulted in nuzzling and head movements that seemed to indicate they understood him. These were horses that had never seen him before yesterday.
He stopped at Huckleberry’s stall. “What’s the matter, boy? You’ve got a limp there. Want me to take a look at it?”
He opened the stall, squatted and picked up the right front hoof. “Looks like you have a stone wedged in there. Doesn’t feel too good, does it? I’ll take care of that. Won’t even hurt.”
Dani watched as he retrieved a hoof pick and loosened and removed the stone from the horse’s hoof. Then he brushed the hoof thoroughly, removing smaller pieces of debris.
“We got it, boy. All done.”
Huckleberry made a low nicking sound and nuzzled Riley’s shoulder as if he was saying thank you. Dani stood silently and watched the show of affection, too moved to speak.
Finally she walked over to where Riley was putting away the brush. “Are you a horse whisperer?”
He laughed. “Never been called that before.”
“But you’re so good with the horses. It’s like you’re speaking the same language.”
“Horses aren’t that big a mystery if you pay attention to their actions. They show you what they need from you. Just like a man does. If you don’t need the same, you have to let hi
m know.”
His voice had softened to a whisper. His gaze was intense, hypnotic, and she knew they were no longer talking about horses.
The need inside her swelled until she was dizzy.
Riley pulled her into his arms and lowered his face until their lips touched. In that moment every ounce of control vanished, melted in the heat of his kiss.
Chapter Ten
Dizzy with desire, Dani swayed against Riley as the kiss deepened. The pulsing need swelled, vibrating through every erogenous cell in her body. She parted her lips, and his tongue slipped inside her mouth. Thrusting. Probing. Ravenous. As if he couldn’t get enough of her.
He pulled her closer still and she arched toward him until his erection pressed hard against her trembling body. He lifted her and let her slide down the hard length of his need.
A soft moan escaped her lips and he slipped his right hand beneath her shirt, his fingers like fire on her skin as he traced a path to her breast. The first two snaps on her paisley Western shirt burst open.
He cupped her breasts and her nipples tingled and grew hard as he massaged and tweaked them. He sucked her bottom lip and then kissed his way down the smooth column of her neck until his face was buried in the swell of her breasts.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t deal with anything except the pleasure that possessed her. Right or wrong, she was lost in the ecstasy with no will to fight it.
Her phone rang. She was so riveted to the carnal hunger that gripped her that she didn’t even hear it until Riley pulled away. She checked the caller ID. “It’s Cavazos.”
“Damn bad timing that man has. But you should probably see what he wants.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, hoping to regain enough composure that Cavazos didn’t detect her passion overload over the phone. “Hello, Sheriff.”
“Glad I caught you, Dani. I have good news. I think we’ve arrested your burglar. No proof yet, but my hunch is he’s a credible suspect.”
She hadn’t expected that. “Who is it?”
“Young feller named Cory Boxer. He and a group of his fraternity brothers are using one of the fishing cabins a few miles up the river from here. Doing more partying than fishing from what I could tell.”
