Bittersweet Return (Dancing Moon Ranch Book 6)

by Patricia Watters

  Ryan's impatience to be done with her also bothered Annie, though she couldn't figure out why, except that maybe she'd lost some of the edge she'd set in place with the plate of beans.

  She also realized it would be harder than she'd expected to stay ahead of him. He appeared to be an unpredictable man in the sense that what was reflected on his face wasn't necessarily what was going on in his mind. He wasn't blatant in the way he eyed her when talking, unlike the local cowboys at Pete's who gawked and focused on her breasts and made it clear they were interested in her for only one reason, and it wasn't to get a kiss from her. It was to get Annie Kincaid in bed and make a claim, then announce it to the others and collect their money.

  Turning Bridgette, she gave the mare a kick and sent her trotting along the flat top of the mesa where, in the far distance, and across a landscape broken by gorges and mesas with slopes dotted in willow and aspen and cottonwood trees, stood the snowy rugged peaks of Steens Mountain, a single mountain that cut into a view that seemed to go on forever.

  After about fifteen minutes the trail led to a break in the rim then cut down along the west side of the mesa in a zigzag path to the valley below. They followed alongside a stream for a short distance then entered the narrow mouth of a canyon that was faced on both sides with rock walls. A small stream in the canyon was still flowing, and in a wide flat area between the stream and the canyon wall stood a grove of poplars intermingled with willows. A short distance beyond the grove of trees, Annie reigned in.

  When Ryan stopped beside her, she pointed upward to the side of the canyon where images, painted in red by an ancient hand, were vaguely discernible on the face of the rock wall, and said, "Those are the pictographs. No one's figured out what they're supposed to be but you can point them out to the guests, and that's about it for this trail since the canyon dead ends about another twelve-hundred feet."

  She was about to double back to the ranch when Ryan dismounted. "I want to take a closer look," he said, while tying Sultan to a poplar. Walking over to the rock wall, he launched himself onto a large boulder then grabbed a fistful of roots poking out from between two large rocks and pulled himself up to the next level where he stood studying the images.

  Annie looked at him with irritation, assuming he was trying to impress her with his agility as a mountain goat. She was about to express her annoyance when he said, "These aren't pictographs, they're petroglyphs."

  "How do you know?" Annie asked, again surprised that Ryan's aptitude seemed to go beyond the usual rodeo tunnel vision.

  "The red's not paint. It's the natural rock after the topmost surface has been scraped away," Ryan said, while running the pad of his finger across the figure. "These are Coastal Indian designs of mythological sea monsters. This one's a sea wolf since it's got a wolf's head, a dorsal fin and a fish tail. Designs like these are pretty common at sites along the coast, but it's unusual to find them this far inland."

  Annie looked at Ryan, curious. "Are you an archaeologist turned cowboy or something?" she asked. Knowing the difference between pictographs and petroglyphs, and recognizing the designs of Coastal Indians seemed odd for a champion rodeo rider.

  "No, my brother, Marc, and his wife are. It was their wedding you attended," Ryan said. He ran the pad of his finger over another image. "This one's a sea grizzly. Marc’s writing his doctoral thesis on petroglyphs so he'd be interested in seeing these, since they're so far inland, which shows a mixing of the Coastal and Plateau Indians. We have petroglyphs in a cave on the Dancing Moon. Marc and Kit figure it was some kind of place where couples came to conceive since the figures on the cave wall are obviously fertility-type figures, and there's a hot spring pool in the cave where they could do ritual bathing."

  Annie knew she didn't want to get into the specifics about fertility figures, especially with Ryan, so she said, "We have a hot spring on the ranch. It's enclosed in a springhouse that was built over a hundred years ago. Dad had the guys clear away all the ivy and underbrush that had completely hidden it from view and fix it up so guests could sit in the pool, but it's too long a ride for today so you'll have to find it on your own. The men can point out the way. Just ask them which way it is to Indian Hollow."

  Ryan turned and hopped to the rock below, and in another spring, landed on the ground with an unusual amount of agility for such a big man. Then Annie realized it was a result of all that rodeo training—a reminder that he was just another glory-seeking cowboy, in case she found herself appreciating the man in other ways. Which she didn't.

  "Is the springhouse on a trail where I'm expected to take guests?" Ryan asked.

  Annie shrugged. "I suppose."

  "Then let's go."

  The glint in Ryan's eyes sharpened, like he was eager to be off with her, though Annie didn't know what happened to change his mood. There had been nothing amiable about their time together so far, which made her suspicious as to why he'd want to continue. "We have less than a dozen guests here right now," she said. "They don't need to go on that particular trail."

  "I've been hired to oversee the trail rides and I want to know all the trails," Ryan insisted, "unless you're worried about being alone with me in the springhouse."

  "I'm not," Annie clipped, and was determined to prove it. Turning Bridgette, she retraced their tracks. But instead of following the valley floor, she started up a trail that took them up a wash, the rocky pathway made by a stream that had long since dried up. Once on the wide flat top of the mesa, she continued, and a few minutes later passed a natural swimming hole that had been referred to as Indian Hollow from as far back as she could remember. The swimming hole was fed with warm water from the hot spring via a long cedar trough.

  Catching sight of steam rising from the surface of the pool, Ryan said, "Looks like a nice place to swim in the raw."

  Annie said nothing, though she found herself intrigued by the idea of seeing Ryan in the raw, while wondering if he was as well put together below the waist as he was above.

  "So, how far is it to the hot springs?" Ryan asked.

  Blinking away the image of a muscular man in the buff, Annie replied, "Just a short walk from here."

  "You told me it was a long ride," Ryan said. "We've barely been gone ten minutes."

  "That's because I didn't want to bring you here at all," Annie replied. "It’s just a hot spring pool in a springhouse."

  "I still want to see it before I bring guests here," Ryan insisted.

  Annie glanced up the footpath. The last place she wanted to be alone with Ryan Hansen was the springhouse. Riding alongside him was one thing. Having him follow her up a narrow path to a tiny stone building hidden in a grove of aspen was another. But not taking him would give him the impression he affected her in some way, so grudgingly she dismounted.

  After tying Bridgette to a juniper she started up the trail at a fast clip. But once at the entrance to the springhouse—a building made of natural stones fitted together like a small fortress—she stood in front of the door while deliberating whether to go inside. She couldn't set aside Ryan’s earlier smile, like something was up.

  "Is there a reason we're not going in?" Ryan asked, when Annie made no move to open the door.

  "Umm… no," Annie replied.

  "Good." Ryan placed one arm around to Annie's left, bracing his hand on the door jamb, and curved the other arm around Annie's right. Grabbing the door handle, while pressing his chest to Annie's back, he opened the door. Moments before, Annie had made up her mind to remain outside, but with Ryan effectively blocking her exit, she stepped inside and immediately walked around to the back wall of the small building, positioning the hot spring pool between them.

  To her alarm, Ryan followed her around the pool.

  "What are you doing?" she asked, glancing beyond him for her escape.

  "Testing a theory," Ryan replied, while closing the gap between them. "You owe me for humiliating me in front of everyone, including your father and the men I'll be working with, and I inte
nd to collect."

  Annie backed away and found herself up against a cold stone wall. "If you do what I think you intend to do you'll encounter a knee again and I won't be as gentle as before," she warned.

  Ignoring her completely, Ryan continued toward her, tucked a finger beneath her chin and kissed her. At first Annie did nothing, both startled and curious to have a man's lips pressed to hers, while also finding it not so disagreeable, actually kind of... pleasant. Her eyes drifted shut and she had a vague awareness of a muscular chest beneath her palms, and little moans of pleasure coming from somewhere inside her, and the scent of licorice filling her nostrils.

  Before she realized the sweetly-pungent aroma was on her tongue, and his...

  Instantly, she broke the kiss and stared at Ryan in shocked surprise.

  He eyed her in amusement. "My theory was right. You are more bark than bite." Releasing her, he crouched on his heels and turned his attention to the pool of steaming water.

  But after Annie had gotten her wits about her, she said, "If you think I'm more bark than bite then you have a lot to learn about me." Shoving him into the pool and drawing from him a string of expletives, she rushed out of the springhouse and raced down the trail. On reaching the horses, she quickly untied them. Taking Sultan's reins, she mounted Bridgette and headed for the ranch, Sultan loping behind. Maybe after walking a long, winding, dusty, uneven trail back to the ranch in the heat of the afternoon, Ryan would think twice before pulling that stunt again.

  Annie also realized, about half way home, that not only would he be really steamed by the time he returned to the ranch on foot after a long hike home in soaking wet clothes, but she'd beat him at his own game. At least she thought she'd beat him, except that his soft, sweet kiss and the taste of licorice on her tongue still lingered, making her heart quicken, while stirring in her a bizarre desire to kiss him again.

  CHAPTER 3

  As Ryan was approaching the stables, after having hiked for nearly an hour in the hot afternoon sun, over a rough rocky dusty trail, Deke intercepted him, and said, "I take it Annie outmaneuvered you again."

  Glaring at Deke, Ryan replied, "Look, I'm a little pissed right now, so just say what you have to say and be done with it." Although his shirt had dried earlier after being shoved into the pool, it was wet again from sweat and open down the front, his face was hot, beads of perspiration ran down his brow and his boots squelched when he walked.

  Deke splayed his hands, palms out, like he didn't want to get into anything with Ryan, and said, "You're not planning on quitting, are you?"

  "You have a problem with that?" Ryan asked, although quitting was the last thing on his mind. Getting his comeuppance with Annie couldn't happen if he tucked his tail between his legs and headed back to the Dancing Moon.

  "Yeah, we'd all have a problem with it," Deke replied. "None of us want to take a bunch of city slickers on rides. We'd rather be moving cattle or mucking around in manure."

  "Well, you can rest easy," Ryan said. "I'm not quitting. I have unfinished business here."

  "Annie?" Deke asked, while looking askance at Ryan.

  "You got it," Ryan replied. "If she were a man we could settle it with fists in about two seconds. Has she always been like this or is it something about me that gets her dander up?"

  "She's pretty scrappy," Deke admitted, "but we've known her since she was two. Matt's ex left him a few months after they adopted Annie so we all pitched in to help. Some of the time we forget she's a girl, but she holds her own against our teasing."

  "Then Ruth’s her step mother," Ryan surmised.

  "Actually no, she’s her real mother, but Annie was kidnapped just before Matt adopted her and it wasn’t discovered until four years later, when Ruth hired on here as a nanny. Ruth already suspected Annie was her daughter but didn’t know for sure until she was here. Ruth’s attempted to change Annie some over the years, but Annie’s just Annie and we’re all okay with that."

  "Well, I'm not okay with it. I take it she doesn't go out with guys," Ryan said, as he headed into the stables to check on Sultan.

  Trailing along with Ryan, Deke replied, "She's already given you a couple of reasons why the cowboys around here stay clear of her, and that's okay with Matt. If anyone manages to catch her he’ll have to get past him first, which will be just as much of a challenge as landing Annie."

  It bothered Ryan that he wanted to meet that challenge, not to land Annie on a permanent basis, but because she'd made a damn fool of him twice, and he wanted to bring her to her knees, figuratively speaking. Having her kiss him back because she wanted to would be a start, but he suspected that taking her to the next level would be a bigger challenge than hanging onto a bullrope for an eight-second ride on a bucking, rearing, kicking, sunfishing, two-ton bull, although the cowboys hanging out at Pete's Pub seemed determined to do just that, which he now found a little puzzling. "Then in high school she didn't date either?" he asked, not trying to analyze where his questioning was leading, but curious to know.

  "The only high school's over a hundred miles away in Crane, and it's one of only a few public boarding schools in the country, so when it came time for Annie to go, she refused, saying she'd complete high school through the state home school program, which she did," Deke said. "Matt and Ruth tried to get her to go because they were worried she wasn't mixing with other kids her age, but Annie wanted to stay here where she could watch the wild horses, and she also wants to be with Boone, the old Indian who lives on the ranch. Boone has a silver studio and he's been teaching Annie how to do silverwork since she was a kid. But Seth and I figure Annie's afraid to venture away from the ranch. She was six when the kidnapping trial against the black market adoption agency took place and she heard all about how she was stolen out of her front yard, and six is a pretty impressionable age."

  "She mustn't be too afraid," Ryan challenged. "She confronted several men in Pine Grove and she's pretty much made a name for herself for… various reasons."

  Deke laughed. "Like protesting bow hunting, leg-hold traps and the rodeo. But whenever she's done that, Matt sends Seth or me out to mingle in the crowd and keep an eye on her, and she knows it, even though we try to keep out of sight."

  "And the cowboys in town?" Ryan asked. "Do you know about the bets they're making?"

  "If you mean bets about Annie, yeah, we know," Deke replied, "but those cowboys are all a bunch of hot air because they know they'd be dealing with us if anyone laid a hand on Annie."

  From the look Deke was giving him, Ryan realized Deke's words were also a warning to the Kincaid Ranch's newest wrangler. To make sure Deke understood clearly where he stood, Ryan said, "Don't include me in that bunch. If I'm ever within kissing range of Annie it'll be because she moved in on me, which isn't likely to happen any time in the next millennium." He looked into Sultan’s stall, where he found Sultan contentedly munching on grain, then turned to find Deke's outstretched hand. Deke smiled. "Welcome to the ranch, Hansen."

  Ryan clasped Deke's hand. "Thanks."

  Deke glanced at Sultan, and said, "Annie looked pretty smug when she trotted in leading the stallion so I take it she took off with him instead of the stallion dumping you."

  "Yeah," Ryan grumbled. "Willful, unmanageable horses I can handle."

  Which, when Ryan added nothing more, sent a clear message to Deke that he couldn't handle one willful, unmanageable woman. But that was about to change. In fact, he made a silent bet to himself that he'd have Annie coming willingly to him, even to his bed—or sleeping bag under the stars if that were the case—within the month, or he'd join her wild-horse crusade.

  The idea of taming Annie wasn't so farfetched. She'd definitely responded to his kiss. No promised knee to his crotch, just a sweet little moan while her hands kneaded his chest and her lips moved on his, and the tip of her tongue shyly teased his in a way that made him wonder if it might have been the first time she'd kissed a man back… or maybe even kissed a man. Which he found puzzling, even if
she was raised in isolation, given the remoteness of the ranch…

  Deke gave him a friendly slap on the back. "None of us who truly know Annie believe she's as ornery and unmanageable as she puts on. We just think it'll take the right man to handle her." His smile widened, like maybe the new wrangler could be that man.

  Ryan eyed him with uncertainty. "Am I to take that as a challenge?"

  Deke shrugged. "You can take it any way you want. And good luck."

  As Deke walked away, Ryan looked beyond him to where Annie was standing beside an older model pickup truck while talking to an elderly man who looked to be Native American, presumably the man named Boone, Deke mentioned. Ryan figured the man wasn't one of Matt's wranglers because he looked too old, but maybe he was retired and living out the rest of his days on the ranch. He could see Kincaid keeping the old guy on out of a kind of family obligation.

  The man had his hands on Annie's shoulders and was bending toward her, like he was explaining something to her. But as he watched Annie listening intently to a man for whom she obviously held a lot of affection, he also saw the angel face that had stuck in his mind from the first time he laid eyes on her two years before. On seeing that sweet look again, the stakes in his silent bet just got higher. He wouldn't settle for just having Annie in his bed. When the big moment came he wanted to see that angel face with its big blue eyes and angel-wing lips looking up at him like she wanted him there too.

  Those cowboys know they'd be dealing with us if anyone laid a hand on Annie...

  On the other hand, maybe he'd better keep it in his pants like his father instructed him and his brothers to do from the time they each learned it did funny things when they played with it, and concentrate on why he was at the Kincaid Ranch, which wasn't to get it on with Annie Kincaid between trail rides.

  ***

  Annie looked beyond Boone and saw Ryan staring at her. It was hard concentrating on what Boone was saying, knowing Ryan had to be fuming mad after being shoved into the pool and then having an hour-long hike back, then on arriving at the ranch, having to explain to Deke why he was on foot. When Deke saw her trotting in leading Sultan and asked what happened, she’d told him to figure it out himself, leading Deke to believe Sultan had dumped Ryan. She also wondered if maybe she'd overreacted to the kiss.