“Down at the corrals.One of the horses got into some moldy alfalfa and bloated.Want me to run you down there?”
“Yes.”He didn’t feel like being polite and making sure she wasn’t too busy.
Leigh pushed her chair back.‘Let’s go.”
She kept up with his rapid strides as they walked to her truck parked beside the ranch house.The crystal that hung from her rearview mirror flashed rainbows as they drove toward the corrals.
“Freddy’s different this morning,” Leigh said, looking straight ahead.“Do you happen to know anything about that?”
“Did you ask her?”
“Didn’t have a chance.So I’m asking you.”
Ry hesitated.But Leigh had been a friend to him so far, so he told her.“We spent the night together.”
“I thought so.Been expecting it for days now.”
Ry shook his head and chuckled.“Then you were way ahead of me.”
“Haven’t you heard that I’m psychic?”
“I thought that was with horses.”
“Oh, I dabble in people, too.Besides, I know Freddy a little better than you.Or at least I did until last night,” she amended with a smile.“You’ve probably caught up some by now.”
Ry rolled down the window.It was getting warm in the cab.“We—ah—didn’t spend a lot of time talking.”
Leigh whooped and pounded on the steering wheel.“By God, Rycroft, you’ll make a cowboy yet.”
“Tell me about her, Leigh.”
“Her love life, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“She hasn’t been serious about too many guys.”Leigh paused.“Maybe I shouldn’t assume it’s serious between you two, either.”
“Assume it.”
She glanced at him.“I see.Well, her past loves, and there were only two she contemplated marrying, were both high-energy types like you.Like her, for that matter.Once you decided to stick around, I figured it was only a matter of time.”
“What happened to those other high-energy types?”
“Oh, it usually boiled down to the same old argument in the end.Her whole mission in life has always been to run the True Love.None of the guys thought they’d enjoy hanging around to watch her do that.”She glanced at him again.“Of course, with you, she has a different problem.You may want to run the ranch yourself.”
“Not really.”No, the problem was bigger than a mere power struggle.
“That’s nice to know.Then maybe you could make a go of it.I’d like to see her find a man good enough for her.”
He gave her a lopsided grin.“Are you implying I might be?”
“Maybe.”She braked the truck to a stop under a mesquite and opened her door.“For a greenhorn, you’re not so bad.”She paused and turned back to him.“And I’ll just bet you’re dynamite in the sack,” she added with a wink.
With a snort of laughter, Ry left the truck and followed Leigh to the same small corral where Red Devil had met his fate.Freddy stood inside, rubbing the nose of a small dun mare.Duane and Curtis hung over the side of the corral, along with a couple of the other hands.
Seeing Freddy sent a jolt of adrenaline through Ry, which mellowed into a misty-eyed tenderness as he drew closer.He was pretty sure what those reactions meant, although he and Freddy had been careful not to use the word last night.They might have abandoned themselves to each other physically, but emotions weren’t so easily exposed for people like them.That was okay.They had some time.
He just hoped this petroleum drum business didn’t become a major obstacle to the sale of the ranch.That could screw up a lot of his plans for the future, including his future with a certain dark-haired woman who was very inventive in the bedroom.
