“It’s impolite to stare, Mr. Bentley,” Maggie said, turning toward him.
Will’s face went hot with embarrassment.
Maggie laughed. “It’s okay, Will. I don’t mind you staring at me. I hope you like what you see.”
He grinned, knocked off-balance by her forward comment. It seemed that behind the beautiful features into which Maggie had matured, a good deal of the mischievous child he’d known still lurked.
“Come on,” she said, “I’ll race you to the creek!”
And without waiting for his reply, she spurred Honey, and the magnificent buckskin galloped off, pitching divots of soft earth into the air.
Will raced after her, but Winnie was no match for Honey, and Maggie beat him by several lengths and leapt the creek in a single bound.
She wheeled around and waited for him, laughing and bright-eyed, her face full of color and excitement.
Drawing rein, Will stared again, taking in her happy face, figuring this was a moment worth remembering, a time he would never forget, no matter how long he lived.
Then, as if sensing Will’s thoughts and wanting to stamp this moment onto his memory, Maggie said, “Kick the sky, Honey.”
Instantly, the beautiful mare reared up, kicking with her front hooves.
“You always were good at training horses,” Will remarked.
Maggie smiled. “I enjoy working with horses. I trained all of Father’s horses, especially Bastion, his prize stallion. No matter what I said, Bastion obeyed. It used to drive Father crazy. He would be riding, and I’d call Bastion, and the stallion would come running to me and do whatever I told him to do, not matter how much Father hollered.”
She shook her head, laughing. “I guess I really was a little mischievous as a girl.”
“A little?” Will said.
“Like this one time—it happened right here, come to think of it—I called Bastion over, and Father told me to stop, and as a joke, impulsively, I told Bastion to kick the sky, and he reared up, and Father wasn’t ready and fell into the creek. I got in big trouble that time.”
They had a good laugh over that.
But behind this beautiful woman stood the Kitner house, and after crossing the creek, Will swept the property with sharp eyes accustomed to hunting for danger.
The change in him frightened Maggie. “What is it, Will? What do you see?”
“Nothing,” Will said, “but we’d best be careful from here on out. No telling who’s been shacking up here.”
As he started forward, Maggie brought Honey close to Winnie, so close that Maggie’s leg brushed against Will’s.
If there was trouble, they would be safer spread apart, but Will didn’t point this out. He liked the feel of her leg against his.
Some risks are worth taking.
Will went slowly, studying everything, including the ground before them.
“Hello, the house!” he called, reining in fifty feet from the structure.
There was no response.
A breeze passed, stirring the tall weeds surrounding the home.
He repeated his call. Waited.
Still nothing.
“Nobody’s there, I guess?” Maggie said.
