A few minutes later, they had Star, Joaquin, and four fresh lesson horses saddled and waiting in the corral. “So everyone’s already tried their hand with the practice horns, right?” Tommy asked as he distributed the lassos to the guests.
Four heads nodded.
“Alright, then. Let’s get started.”
Rebecca beamed as she placed her foot in the stirrup and swung onto Star’s back. She spun her mare around and was about to say something to Tommy when her eyes drifted beyond the corral. Shania was standing outside the round pen, leaning her arms against the railing as she watched Alec and Onyx circle the perimeter.
“Bec?”
The sound of Tommy’s voice brought her back to the present. “Yeah?”
“I’m missing my heeler.”
She tore her eyes from the round pen and moved Star forward to join Tommy and the guests near the chutes. Rebecca tried to focus on Tommy’s lecture, but curiosity got the better of her. She snuck a discreet glance over her shoulder, and it was all she could do not to gasp.
Now Alec was standing in the center of the round pen, holding Onyx’s reins while Shania swung into the saddle.
For the third time that week, a flare of jealousy surged in her throat. Loaning Shania his hat was one thing; putting her on Onyx was another. Alec was fiercely protective of his horse. Rebecca often teased him that if she and Onyx were hanging off a cliff and Alec could only save one of them, she’d have a long fall to the bottom.
No one except Alec rode Onyx, plain and simple. Rebecca had been lucky enough to ride him twice during her first summer on the ranch, but the offer had never been extended again. Tommy had stopped asking years ago if he could try him, because Alec’s answer was always no.
Shania had been here for three days, and there she was, trotting the magnificent black stallion around the round pen.
Her dismay must have been written all over her face, because seconds later a gentle hand landed on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Tommy and Joaquin standing beside them.
“You okay?” he asked.
Rebecca gave an unconvincing nod. “I’m fine.”
*
Later that morning, Alec headed up to the lodge to grab a bite to eat before Shania’s presentation. He strolled into the kitchen and said a few hellos to the cooks, who were busily preparing the last items for the lunch buffet.
“So did the world run out of cowgirls or something?”
Alec stopped in his tracks and turned to Ryan. “What do you mean?”
He nodded towards the staff lounge. “Your new girl out there. She doesn’t look like any horse wrangler I’ve ever seen.”
“Probably because she’s not a wrangler. She’s a biologist.”
Ryan looked even more impressed. “So what’s she doing here, then?”
“She’s just helping us out for a little while, that’s all.”
He peered at Alec from beneath his Yankees cap. “I take it she’s a friend of yours?”
Why do people from the east coast always talk in circles? he wondered. Rebecca and her family did the same thing sometimes. They’d spend an hour tiptoeing around a subject without ever actually addressing it. It drove him crazy.
“She’s a friend of the family, yes.”
Ryan nodded like he knew there was more to the story, but to Alec’s relief, he didn’t press him for details. “Fair enough,” he replied, turning his attention back to the grill. “I was just curious.”
There was an odd sensation in Alec’s gut as he continued through the kitchen. It wasn’t jealousy, exactly, but he was surprised by how protective he felt.
So what if Ryan had noticed Shania? Every man on the ranch had undoubtedly noticed her by now. She was just that type of woman.
He was so lost in thought that he nearly jumped when he opened the door to the walk-in cooler and realized it wasn’t empty. Rebecca glanced up with a sheepish grin, and he couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the half-eaten sandwich on her plate.
“Hi,” she greeted.
“Well, hello. Are you eating away our profits?”
“Something like that.”
He sifted through the pre-made sandwiches on the shelf until he found the roast beef. “Is there a particular reason you’re inside the fridge?”
She gave a little shrug. “It’s cool in here. It feels good.”
“It does,” he agreed, folding his legs to sit beside her. “How’d the lessons go this morning?”
“Good,” she replied as he unwrapped his sandwich. “How’d Shania do with Onyx?”
Alec didn’t miss the bitter tinge in her voice. “Fine,” he said, hoping she’d drop the subject. “He responded well to her.”
Rebecca was silent for a minute. “You know, Tommy’s been begging you for ages to let him try that horse.”
Nope. She wasn’t going to drop it.
He glanced at her sideways and didn’t bother to mask his aggravation. “Really, Bec? You really want to start an argument over this?”
“It’s just a bit of a double standard, don’t you think?”
Apparently he was going to talk in circles with his chef and his wife today. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shot him a pointed look. “Maybe if Tommy was as pretty as Shania, he’d get his chance, too.”
That did it.
“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” Alec replied, furiously pushing himself to his feet. “I can’t win with you. One second you say she’s fine, the next second she’s your enemy. Is this how it’s going to be all summer? Are you going to attack me for every single thing I say and do around her?”
Rebecca rose from the floor and planted her hands on her hips. “Don’t even pretend like it’s not true.”
He narrowed his eyes. “She was my friend long before she looked the way she does now. She asked to try Onyx, and I said yes. It didn’t mean anything, Rebecca, so grow up and get over it.”
Alec spun on his heel before she could respond. He opened the door and was about to storm out when something else sprung into his mind. Rebecca glared back at him as he slammed the door and turned to face her again.
“Actually, while we’re at it, I have a bone to pick with you, too.”
“Oh, yeah?” she replied. “What’s that?”
“What on earth possessed you to tell the president of the city council that I have the same abilities as my father?”
She gave him a blank stare. “What are you talking about?”
“Dan Ward. You met him at the rodeo.”
Rebecca frowned at the sudden change of topic. “He asked if I’d ever seen Walter perform. I said no, but that I got a glimpse of it when I see you work with a horse.”
“No,” Alec corrected her. “It’s not even a fraction of a glimpse. I can’t do what he can do, Rebecca. I’ll never be able to do it.”
“Because you’ve never had the guts to try!” she threw at him. “You’ve never even given yourself the chance. Instead you’ve spent all these years hiding on this ranch and using your father’s misfortune to justify why you didn’t do something bigger with your own life.”
Her words struck him like a slap in the face. “I had a choice to make,” he hissed. “Between my life and my father’s. I chose his. And if you’re going to condemn me for it–”
“I’m not condemning you, Alec. You’re the most unselfish person I know, and I love you for that. But it has been so long since you’ve given any thought to yourself that I wonder sometimes if you even remember what it’s like to have your own identity.”
She stepped closer and touched his arm. “What are you going to do when he’s gone? What happens when there’s no one left to hide behind anymore? What excuse will you have then?”
Alec shook off her hand and reached for the door. “I don’t have to listen to this.”
Rebecca grabbed his sleeve. “You know what I’ve realized since I’ve been with you? You know what your fear actually is? You’re not afraid of
trying and failing. You’re afraid of trying and discovering that you’re just like your father and you can do what he can do. Because when that day comes, you’re not going to be able to keep hiding here behind this business that you never wanted in the first place.”
She placed her lips beside his ear. “You’re going to have to step up and take hold of your own life and do something for yourself instead of somebody else. And the idea of it scares you to death.”
Chapter 25
For the rest of the week, Rebecca and Alec didn’t speak. She went to sleep each night long before he did, and he was already up and out the door by the time her alarm sounded. If they did happen to pass each other in the barn or the lodge, he wouldn’t even acknowledge her. She knew she’d been hard on him–probably too hard–but she wasn’t going to apologize for the things she’d said.
Not when she whole-heartedly believed that they were true.
Still, the stress of their argument was taking its toll on her. Her energy was zapped and she felt a constant uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. Working with their guests from sunup to sundown didn’t help, either.
After two twelve-hour shifts in a row, Friday was her much-needed day off. Rebecca made a generous helping of French toast and strode into the living room to join her father-in-law. She was still in her pajamas and had every intention of remaining that way for the entire day.
“I’m going to keep you company today, Pop,” she said as she settled onto the couch. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, my dear.”
She returned his smile before she started cutting his French toast into tiny pieces. “I thought maybe we could watch a movie together. We haven’t done that in a while.”
“No, we haven’t. I would like that very much.”
They shared breakfast in companionable silence before Rebecca stood to carry their empty plates to the kitchen. On her way back through the living room, Walter cleared his throat.
“I haven’t seen you and Alec together much lately. You kids okay?”
Rebecca nodded as she opened the cabinet that housed their movie collection. “Yeah. We’ll be fine.”
“I worry about you two, you know.”
“I know you do.” She selected several videos and made her way back to the couch. “We had an argument earlier this week.”
Walter raised a brow. “Let me guess. My son was being his usual pig-headed self, wasn’t he?”
“Actually, he was. Although I have to admit that I was egging him on.”
“Well, whatever it was, I’m sure he deserved it.”
Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh as she sifted through the videos in her lap. Whenever she and Alec did have an argument and she confided in Walter, he almost always took her side.
“How about this one?” she asked, holding up The Man from Snowy River.
“It’s one of my favorites.”
She popped the movie into the VCR and stretched out on the couch. They were halfway through the film when Walter spoke again. “Did Alec ever tell you about the band of wild horses that used to roam around here?”
Immediately Rebecca reached for the remote to pause the film. “No. He didn’t.”
“Well, it was before his time, so that doesn’t surprise me. All that’s left now is the herd down in the Pryor Mountains, but back then we used to have mustangs all over these parts. Every fall, me and my father and my uncle would assist with the round-up efforts. It was the government’s form of population control. Still is, come to think of it. They round up a percentage of the herd and auction them off to private buyers.”
“Did you ever adopt any?”
“Oh, yes. Quite a few over the years. In fact, I was working with a wild colt when I first realized I had the gift.”
Walter had her undivided attention now. She sat up on the couch and turned to face him, resting her chin on her hands.
“Tell me.”
There was a glimmer in the old man’s eyes that she’d never seen before. “Duke, we called him. Big blue roan, probably three or four years old, and way too smart for his own good. Stubborn thing, just like your husband. Actually, the two of them would’ve been a perfect match.”
Rebecca giggled.
“Anyway, the first week we had him, Duke took it upon himself to bust my uncle’s leg and put my father in a sling. They were ready to wash their hands of him, but I managed to convince them to give me a chance.”
He smiled in memory. “I was fifteen. And I still remember how fast my heart was racing when I climbed into the corral and locked eyes on him. He was no more than ten feet away from me. No saddle, no bridle. They couldn’t even get a halter on him without a fight. That horse wanted nothing to do with humans, and he let us know it.”
She could perfectly picture a teenaged version of Walter, crouching low in the dirt as he stared down a massive colt. “So what happened?”
Her father-in-law smiled. “I’ve spent the past fifty years trying to explain what happened. All I know for sure is that I was looking at Duke, and he was looking right back at me. But not the way a horse looks at you when you’re grooming it or feeding it. This horse was looking at me like he was examining every fiber of my being. And suddenly I realized that all of his so-called bad behavior was nothing more than pure, old-fashioned fear. Horses are driven by fear. They’re controlled by it. And until you break down that barrier, you don’t have a chance of controlling them.
“So that’s what I did. I sat there in that corral for half the day until Duke was convinced that he had nothing to fear from me. I didn’t move towards him; he was the one that came to me when he was ready. From that moment on, he was an entirely different creature. The next day I got a leg over him, and within a couple of weeks he responded better than any of our cowponies. And for the next twenty years, that horse was my most cherished companion. He’s buried out in the meadow, right where the aspens meet the pines. Alec knows the spot if you ever want to see it.”
A lump had formed in Rebecca’s throat as she listened to his story. “You were able to help a lot of people with their horses, weren’t you?”
Walter chuckled softly. “I didn’t help people, my dear. I helped horses. That was my purpose, for as long as I was able. It’s Alec’s, too, if he ever chooses to believe it.”
*
Alec had enough on his own agenda that week to keep his mind off his argument with his wife. He spent most of Wednesday in town at his accountant’s office. Then, on Thursday, he met the crew from the game department and drove all over his property with them in search of the best location to place the bear trap.
In all the summers they’d offered the Friday night dinner ride, Rebecca had never once missed it. She’d told Alec many times that it was her favorite weekly activity; her chance to cozy up around the bonfire and listen to him play his guitar.
But by the time he and Tommy had the horses tacked and the guests started to show up, Alec realized she wasn’t going to join them. “Should we wait for her?” Tommy asked when the final guest arrived.
Alec shook his head. “Looks like it’s just us.”
He could almost feel the icy chill rolling off her when he climbed into bed that evening, but still neither of them said a word. The next morning he awoke before his alarm and realized that all of the anger had finally drained from his body. When he turned his head and saw Rebecca sleeping with her back to him, he knew that he couldn’t endure another day of silence.
He scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”
To his relief, she laced her fingers through his. “I’m sorry. What I said to you was horrible.”
“It wasn’t horrible. It was true.”
Rebecca cringed as she turned to face him. “I still could’ve found a nicer way to say it.”
She buried her face in the crook of his neck and gave a quiet sigh when he kissed the top of her head. They’d never gone four days without speaking. He never wanted it to happen again.
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“I’ve been thinking, Bec. If having Shania here is going to stress you out like this, we can let her go. We can get by with the staff we’ve got.”
“That’s the last thing I want you to do,” she replied, pulling back to look at him. “Honestly, Alec, it’s not her. It’s me. I just…I haven’t felt like myself lately.”
He gave a little grin. “You have kind of been on the attack this week.”
“I know. And I’m sorry for that.”
Alec was silent for a moment. “You were right about what you said. Every word of it was the truth. My life stopped nine years ago, and it’s been on hold ever since. It has been easy to blame the ranch for all the things I never got to do. And no, I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m going to do with myself when the day comes that it’s just you and me.”
Rebecca nodded. “I kind of feel the same way. I mean, I spent the past seven years working so hard on these degrees, but I don’t have any idea what I’m going to do with them yet. And it’s so strange to think that I’m not going back to school this fall. It’s like one phase of my life is over but the next hasn’t started yet. I don’t even know what the next phase is going to be.”
“Well, that makes two of us. But there’s no rush, alright? Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together.”
She mirrored his smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. He frowned as he studied her expression. “What is it?”
Before she could respond, the telephone rang. Alec gave a silent groan and rolled onto his back, stretching across the nightstand to answer it. “Hello?”
“Mr. Westin?”
“Yes.”
“This is Bill Hodgkin, with the game department. You’re gonna want to get down here and see the bear we just caught.”
*
Rebecca was all too eager to decline Alec’s invitation to join him. “I’ll be fine right here,” she said. “You should take Shania, though. She’ll want to see him.”
“Okay.” He was about to head downstairs when he paused in the doorway. “What were you going to say? Before the phone rang?”
Indian Summer Page 17
