скачать книгу бесплатно
With a few yanks, he pulled the last nail out of Copper’s hoof and the horseshoe clattered to the pavement.
He plucked the tape from her fingers without meeting her gaze. He tore off a few strips and expertly lined them along the edge of Copper’s hoof, working quick but competently, still an accomplished ranchman. There was something about Justin’s combination of down-to-earth country, stoic strength and capability she would always admire.
“That ought to get you two home. Just go slow. No galloping.” He lowered Copper’s hoof to the ground and retrieved the shoe. “Want me to put this in the saddle pack?”
“Sure.” The wind gusted in a hot airless puff, stirring leaves in the aspens that marched down the sidewalks. A dust devil whirled a thick funnel in the feed store’s lot, giving her an excuse to look down the main street. The sidewalks were as empty as the road. Way down at the far end of town, the distant sound of kids’ voices rose from the drive-in, known for its selection of ice cream.
What did she say to him? He didn’t seem concerned about the silence as he unbuckled the pack slung behind the saddle and slid the shoe into it.
“Grocery shopping?” His brow furrowed as he inspected the pack’s contents. “Wouldn’t it have been quicker to drive?”
Okay, this was even more awkward. She felt the weight of his gaze searching her face for signs. Maybe he was noticing the discount-store T-shirt, the denim shorts she wore and the inexpensive flip-flops on her feet. Knowing how small-town rumors went, he was probably curious where her luxury sports car was and her designer clothes. Maybe even her wedding ring.
Humiliation swept through her. Likely as not he was holding back an “I told you so.” Maybe he was waiting to hear that the life she’d left Wyoming to find after graduation had not turned out better, just different. And the man who’d taken her to the opera and symphony hadn’t compared to the one she’d left behind.
“I suppose you miss riding.” He filled the silence without a hint of an “I told you so.”
“Something like that.” She lifted her chin, wiser these days and stronger than she ever could have guessed, even if her knees were wobbly when she went to untie Copper from the hitching post. “I haven’t been in a saddle for so long, I almost forgot what to do.”
“You didn’t have a horse boarded somewhere in Dallas?” A hint of surprise dug into the corners of his mouth.
“No.” Life was like that. She’d wanted a horse; Brad had said it would be an outrageous expense they couldn’t afford. Things simply hadn’t worked out. She knew God was in charge, taking her where He thought she should be. “Besides, I still have Copper. How about you? Still riding Scout?”
“Now and then. He’s retired from ranch work these days.”
“You must miss him.”
“Work isn’t the same without him. I didn’t know you were coming back for Terri’s wedding.”
“Coming home was a last-minute decision.” She gathered Copper’s reins and drew him away from the post. It was easier to concentrate on rubbing his nose than on meeting Justin’s gaze. She didn’t want her old beau to know how wrong she’d been and how stupid. A country girl like her hadn’t suspected Brad’s duplicity until it was too late.
“Hope you have a nice stay in town.” He tipped his hat, walking backward. A gentleman, for he could have vented his anger at her, he could have asked questions about her life she did not want to answer, things she did not want him to know. He could have brought up how she’d hurt him and that would have torn at her conscience, but he didn’t. He squared his shoulders, nodded goodbye and ambled away, tools and tape in hand.
Lost chances. They troubled her as she slipped off her flip-flops and stowed them in the pack. You chose a path in life and you followed it. You never knew if it would take you where you wanted to go. You just had to trust, even if the choice had been a mistake. She never would have guessed the road she’d followed would have led her back home, full circle, standing right where she’d started.
Copper blew out his breath impatiently, as if to remind her that time was wasting. The sun bore down on her, and the blacktop sizzled beneath her feet. She swung into the saddle, ignoring the burn of hot leather, and reined Copper toward the edge of town.
At least that was over. Meeting Justin. Recovering from the shock of seeing him again. Her palms went damp, and it wasn’t from the midday heat. She wished she could rewind, hit delete and replay the past few moments. She should have apologized to him. She should have asked how he’d been. She should have explained that the reason she’d come back wasn’t only to attend Terri’s wedding, although she had planned on going.
“I hadn’t been prepared to see him so soon,” she explained.
Copper shook his head, plodding along the strip of Main reserved for parking, a totally understanding friend. She rubbed her free hand along his warm neck, his coarse mane tickling the backs of her fingers. She’d been reconciled to the idea of seeing Justin later today at the ranch, where he would probably be busy in the fields. She hadn’t been prepared to talk with him, to look him in the eyes and see how much bitterness had taken him over.
She still owed him an apology. She didn’t intend to shirk from it. As a Wyoming girl, she knew how to stand up and take a hit on the chin.
The front door of the diner swung shut. A new neon blue and yellow sign proclaimed the establishment to be The Greasy Spoon, but everyone called it Clem’s. Clem had initially run the place beginning with the First World War, when he’d bought the building new. He’d made the best milkshakes in the county. Bittersweet, she remembered sitting in a vinyl booth sipping on a shake and laughing with her high-school friends with Justin always at her side.
Was he thinking about those days, too? As Copper circled around the new white pickup parked along the curb, she kept her gaze glued on the empty road ahead. She didn’t want Justin to think that she was looking for him through the sun-washed windows. The afternoon would prove to be tough enough without adding the memories of their old romance to the mix.
Chapter Two
Justin swiped the last two steak fries through the puddle of ketchup on his plate and jammed them into his mouth, already rising from the kitchen table. Eating takeout was getting old, especially since the town diner’s menu variety was limited, but it was better than the alternative.
“Hey, not so fast, bud.” His sister, Autumn, strawberry blonde and fragile-looking, unhooked her leg from the chair rung, snatched her tan Stetson from the sideboard and stole a wedge of pickle from his plate. “It’s your turn to clean up.”
“I’ll do it after supper.” He loped toward the back door and the mudroom, where his boots were waiting. “I’ve got fences to repair and a lupine patch I gotta spray.”
“That can wait ten minutes. Dad, tell him, will you?” Autumn, two years younger and the bane of his existence when they were little, snagged a water bottle from the fridge. “If I’m stuck with a kitchen mess again, I’m going to chase you down, big brother, and rope you like a calf.”
“Best listen to her, son.” Frank glanced up from the current issue of a cattleman’s magazine. “I wouldn’t mess with a woman when she’s got that tone in her voice.”
Autumn shot him a triumphant grin on her way out the door. “And wipe down the counters and the table, too. Use soapy water, not a wet paper towel. Or my threat stands.”
An empty threat, but still. What was the world coming to? He had a good eight more hours of work to do for the day, and the Sunday-morning service and errands in town hadn’t helped. “What we need is to lure Aunt Opal out of retirement with a huge raise.”
“Not going to happen. Don’t think I didn’t try it.” Frank slapped the magazine shut. “Might as well clean up. Got that interview in a few minutes.”
“Great.” Justin stuck his head in the mudroom to give Autumn a few instructions on the yearlings, but she was already outside. Determined to catch her, he hit the screen door, sending it flying against the wall with a bang.
A horse neighed in protest, he heard a woman’s “whoa!” and a thud of something hitting the dry dirt. A dust plume rose, shielding the rider who had taken a fall. Justin shrank a few inches, recognizing the red gelding skittish in the driveway.
Copper.
A tall, willowy figure rose up, at first a slim feminine shadow in the dust, but as the cloud began to settle, details emerged. The things about Rori he would never forget—the swirl of her long straight hair in the Wyoming breeze, the curve of her porcelain-cut chin, and the way she looked classy even wearing a battered baseball cap.
“What are you doing here?” He heard the venom in his words and winced. He hadn’t meant to sound harsh. His thoughts had somehow influenced his voice, the same unexplainable way he had found himself mysteriously on the edge of the lawn without realizing he’d moved a single inch off the porch.
“I’m falling off my horse, apparently.” She dusted herself off. “Copper still doesn’t like loud sudden sounds.”
“If you’re out of practice riding, then you are out of practice falling.” There were a couple of dried blades of grasses stuck in her hair and a streak of dirt on the hem of her shorts. “Hurting anywhere?”
“I’m tougher than I look.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her soulful eyes. He didn’t know what her life had been like in Dallas, but the bright sparkle that used to light her up was gone.
“Howdy again, Rori.” Frank’s voice behind him was deep with amusement. “If your grandfather wasn’t able to replace that shoe for you, I can take Copper to the barn and get it done.”
“Really? I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”
“Me? No trouble for me. I didn’t say I would do it.”
Yep, leave it to Dad. Not that he wouldn’t have made the same offer, but his old man didn’t have to sound so pleased about it. “I’ll take the horse. Go back inside and finish your lunch, Dad.”
But did Frank listen? No. “You and Rori go on inside and get settled. I’ll be back to start the interview in a few.”
“Interview?” His brain screeched to a stop. He meant to set out after his father to take the horse and get Copper shoed, but his boots mysteriously stuck to the lawn. Rooted in place, he tried to shake the fog out of his head. He couldn’t have heard that right. “Interview?”
“For the housekeeping position.” Frank tossed over his shoulder as he took the reins from Rori. “Don’t let his bark trouble you none. Justin’s gotten cranky over the years. We manage to put up with him because he’s family.”
“I’m sure that’s the only reason.” Her laugh was like a trill of a creek, bubbling, quiet and inviting, leaving him thirsting to hear more. Unaware of her effect on him, she shoved a stray strand of hair beneath her baseball cap. “Thanks, Mr. Granger.”
“If you’re gonna be working for me, you’ve got to call me Frank.” He clucked to the gelding, who followed him confidently, and the two set off down the gravel and dirt road to the horse barn.
“Thanks, Frank,” Rori called out with a smile, earning a wave as man and horse turned the corner and disappeared from sight. She faced him, looking a little pale. “I guess you didn’t know I wanted the job?”
“Would I be standing here with my jaw dropped if I did?” He jammed his hands in his jeans pockets, mostly wanting something to do with them. Throttling his dad didn’t seem like a good idea, and it certainly wouldn’t solve his problems with Rori. “Why didn’t you say something in town?”
“I thought you knew.”
“If you’re looking for work, then that means you’re staying around and this is not a quick trip home for Terri’s wedding.” Anger unrooted his feet and he marched toward the house. “You lied.”
“No, I am going to Terri’s wedding. I assumed your dad told you that I was here for an extended stay.”
“Dad didn’t tell me anything.” Nothing unusual about that. He could guess at what his father was up to.
The wind gusted as if it were in cahoots with his dad because it brought the faint whiff of Rori’s rose-scented perfume. He strode the same path they used to walk hand-in-hand. He marched up the back porch and ignored the swing where they’d spent many a summer afternoon sipping homemade lemonade and doing their homework.
Judging by Rori’s silence, she might be remembering, too.
“Maybe I should ask. Do you want me to apply for the job? I understand if you don’t.” She swept past the screen door he held for her and waltzed into the mudroom like she’d done hundreds of times a dozen years ago. “The thing is that I need a job, and there aren’t many positions available in town. Nothing else, as a matter of fact. That’s the only reason I answered your dad’s ad.”
“Sure, I get it.” He let the door slam shut and followed her into the kitchen, boots and all. “I suppose that fancy lawyer you married will be following you soon. Will he be putting up a shingle in town?”
“No. Brad won’t be coming. I’m on my own.” Raw emotion cut across her face and while she set her chin, straightened her shoulders and visibly wrestled it down, her sorrow remained. Sadness that was banked but unmistakably bleak in her violet-blue eyes.
Sympathy eked into him, and he did his best to stop it. No need to feel sorry for the girl who’d gotten everything she wanted. He yanked the refrigerator door open. “Sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Me, too.”
He set his heart against her. He was no longer swayed by her emotions. He felt sorry for her. A failed marriage was nothing to celebrate. But that was as far as he was willing to go. He plunked the pitcher onto the table and went to fetch a glass out of the cupboards. He ought to say something more to fill the silence, but anything he could think to say would make him seem interested in her life.
Hardly. She’d made her decision, and now he made his. She might be thinking she’d settle for her second choice. After all, he was still available, right? Oh, he knew how women thought. They were largely a mystery, but he’d learned a thing or two over the years. The bottom line with them was wanting security, marriage and a man to pay the bills. The bigger the man’s wallet, the better.
He slammed the glasses onto the table with enough force that the clunk reported through the kitchen like a gunshot. He glanced down, surprised that he hadn’t broken them. That was when he realized half of the table was free of foam containers, plastic bags and the plates from lunch. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Clearing a place so we can talk about the job.” Rori calmly set the armful she’d gathered onto the nearest counter, studied him with her steady gaze and backed toward the door. “But now that I see what you really think, I’m going to go. I thought we were adults and what we had was water under the bridge, but I was wrong. I’m sorry, Justin. I really am.”
Uh-oh. His scars were showing, wounds he’d vowed to keep hidden and buried. He hung his head. “Didn’t mean to growl at you.”
“It’s okay. I know you well. Your bark is worse than your bite.”
“I never bite.”
“I’m glad that hasn’t changed.” She gripped the screen door handle.
“You don’t need to go.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you wouldn’t mind me working here?” She’d been the one to leave. She’d broken his heart. That she was here at all showed how desperate she was. She didn’t need to read minds to know what he was debating. She opened the door, fighting to hide her disappointment. “I don’t blame you. I understand.”
“No, wait. Give a fellow the chance to think.” He paced after her, squinting at the sunlight when he joined her on the porch. “I haven’t had time to prepare myself for seeing you again. I need to think this through. You, the interview, it was all sprung on me.”
“I suppose that was your dad’s plan.” She could see that now. Frank had been downright cheerful on the phone when she’d first called. He’d been welcoming earlier that morning in town. And now he’d set them up in the kitchen together. He wanted to give them time alone. Frank had meant well, but this wasn’t what she wanted or Justin, either, judging by the frown carved into his granite features. There was nothing else to do but to leave. She eased down the steps and into the burn of the sun. “Your dad is destined to be disappointed.”
“I think I heard the front door shut.” Justin cocked his head, listening. “Suppose he’s sneaking in through the living room listening in to see if his plan is working?”
“I can’t believe he would do this. Your dad is not a romantic.”
“He always liked you, Rori. He said you were good for me.”
“You were good for me. You were a great boyfriend. I’ll always be grateful for that. We grew up together.”
“Up and away.” He hadn’t forgotten. His face was set, his emotions stone. But had he forgiven?
She didn’t think that was likely. She didn’t blame him. She’d been overwhelmed when he, the quarterback of the football team, had asked her, a freshman, to go to Clem’s after school for shakes. For as long as she had been able to remember, she’d had a crush on Justin Granger. Three years older, he’d been every girl’s wish—smart, kind, strong, funny, popular and drop-dead gorgeous. There had only been one thing she’d wanted more in life than being Justin Granger’s girl—a college education and the chance to study music.
“So, are you back to stay? Or is this a temporary thing?” Justin’s deep voice hid any shades of emotion. Was he fishing for information or was he finally about to say, “I told you so?”
“I will probably go back to teaching in Dallas when fall quarter starts, but things could change. I’ll just have to wait and see.” The things in life she used to think were so important no longer mattered. Standing on her own two feet, building a life for herself, healing her wounds—that meant everything now.
God had given her no other option but to return to her grandparents’ tiny house for the summer. She had to think He had a purpose in bringing her here. One of her favorite verses was from Jeremiah. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
“And this man you married?” he asked. “Did he leave you, or did you leave him?”
“He threw me out.” She adjusted her baseball cap brim and waited for Justin’s reaction. Surely a man with that severe a frown on his face was about to take delight in the irony. She’d turned down Justin’s love, and her husband of five years had thrown away hers. If she were Justin, she would want her off his land.
“You were nothing but honest with me back then.” He leaned against the railing, the wind raking his dark hair, and a different emotion passed across his hard countenance. “I was the one who never listened. I loved you so much back then, I don’t think I could hear anything but what I wanted.”
“I loved you, too. I wish I could have been different for you.” Helpless, she took another step toward the driveway. She didn’t know how to thank him. He could be treating her a whole lot worse right now, and she would deserve it. “Goodbye, Justin.”
“I suppose you need a job?” he called out from the railing, casually concerned.
“I’ll figure out something.” Needed a job? No, she was frantic for one.
How did she tell him the truth? That she’d been given enough money for a bus ride home. That she’d never thought twice about letting her husband handle the money, or the fact that he’d cleaned out the bank accounts and cancelled her cards before he’d replaced her with his plastic-surgery-enhanced receptionist.
“I haven’t had a chance to get that shoe back on Copper,” he called out.
“Gramps can do it tonight.” Probably. If not, she could always call in the farrier. Costly, but it had to be done.
“Tell you what? You stay and round us up some decent supper, and I’ll take care of your horse.” Justin loped down the steps, his long-legged stride eating up the distance between them. “That will be the interview. If the food is edible, then as far as I’m concerned the job is yours. It’s really up to my dad.”
“Really?”
“I’ll hardly be around most of the summer anyway. You know how it is. Long hours on the range.”
“You’re agreeing because you’ve figured it out, haven’t you?”
“Discount-store clothes a size too large—probably your grandmother’s. Am I right?”
Rori ignored the sting of her pride. The plain yellow T-shirt was Gram’s, something the older woman had never worn much, and so were the flip-flops. “I didn’t have a whole lot of time to pack.”
