Galloping Hearts (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Texas Heat series: Book 2, Mitchell and Moira's story) (3 page)

When Mitch saw Moira step off the porch, it took all he had not to scoop her up and kiss her there and then. She was everything you heard about country girls. He never thought, in all his time in the city, that he’d find a woman from the country who could seem at home in a lecture hall
and
a cornfield. Somehow, Moira pulled it off, and pulled it off
well
.

As he watched her climb into Billy’s truck, he almost laughed. She could even make that look elegant and sexy. He wondered how she’d learned to do that. He would have to ask her that
some time.

As soon as they arrived at the bar, he went into action. He wanted to do what he could to get closer to her that night. When Billy went to get the first pitcher, he looked at her.

“Hey, Moira. Want to play a game of pool? I’m probably worse than your brother but it would be fun.”

She smiled. “Sure. Cue ‘em up.”

He did just that, letting her break. He watched the way she bent over, poised over the table. He tried to stay focused on the game but he was a twenty one year old male. Her jeans looked
really
good on her when she bent over. In fact, he stared so hard, he didn’t even realize when Billy had come back.

As he poured the three of them a drink, he smiled and said. “Hey, Mitch, you stare any harder and you might burn her pants off her ass.”

His head jerked up and he felt his cheeks warm and redden. “Shit. Sorry, man.”

Billy shrugged. “Like I told you at the field… she’s a big girl. I don’t have a problem with whatever. Just treat her right if you guys get together. She deserves respect.”

He nodded. “I don’t plan on treating her with anything but.”

Billy handed him a beer. “Good. I think she finally stopped sinking them. Your turn.”

He turned to the pool table, dismayed to find half of her solids already in the sockets. She sauntered over, taking a glass of beer from her brother. “Your turn, Mitch.”

He shook his head but went over to the table. He scratched out on the first try. He had been serious as a heart attack when he’d told her he couldn’t play to save his life. When he turned around to head back, he saw that Billy and Moira’s friends had shown up. They were all corn-fed country boys with stained hats and a Skoal ring in their jeans. He saw Brady, who he’d met the night before, give her a hug. He felt the jealousy rise even though she’d made it abundantly clear she wasn’t attracted to him – and never had been.

Just then, he walked back. “Your turn, Moira.”

She smiled mischievously as she handed her beer to her brother. “Hold my beer. I need to finish this game so I can beat you next.”

“Everyone,” Mitch included and laughed. Sure enough, she managed to finish the game. As he watched in wonder, Brady came over, taking a swig from his long neck.

Nodding toward Moira, who was racking the balls for a game with her brother, he asked Mitch. “Did either of them tell you how she made money in high school until the older guys found out?”

He shook his head.

Laughing, Brady told him. “She’d learned to play pool from Red when she was young. She became really good at it too. Well, anyway, she would come in and wager that she could win against these guys, right? Well, she would. Then, of course, being that she was a teenage girl and their testosterone couldn’t handle that, they would double or nothing. She’d come home with loaded pockets by curfew.”

He laughed at the thought of a teenage
anyone
being a pool shark. “Why’d she stop?”

Brady laughed harder. “It wasn’t by choice. One night, she was here when Red came in for a beer with some of his friends. I guess he was
livid
. She was grounded for a good while after that and the pool table was gone the next time I came over to spend the night.”

Mitch laughed and took another drink. “Nice. How old was she?”

Brady thought for a second. “Well… Billy and I’d just passed our driver’s test so she was right around fifteen.”

“How did she get here then?”

Brady had a Cheshire grin. “Like I said, we just got our cars. We extorted her for our silence and gas.”

Mitch had to appreciate the enterprise. All he did was nod as he watched the brother and sister duo play their game out. When they finished, Brady and Billy played a game. This let Mitch have the chance to talk to Moira alone.

He smiled at her as she took a drink of her beer. “So, Brady told me you were a pool shark in your younger years.”

Her smile lit her face. “Yeah… about that. What can I say? It was quick money and it wasn’t like our parents paid us allowance for helping on the ranch. I needed money for junk food. Too bad it only lasted a month or two before I was busted.”They both laughed as she poured him a beer.

Looking at her, he asked. “So what are your plans after graduation next year?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was thinking of staying in Austin because there are more design firms there. Some reason, I don’t see that flying though.”

“You could always open up something here.”

She laughed. “Have you looked around? Most of the folks here have had their ranches or farms they have had in their families long enough to be a state sanctioned historical site. Most won’t want most of the design ideas I have. Not even the ecological ones. They like their old family homes and I think most of them won’t leave them until they go out feet first.”

Laughing, he shrugged. “Come on. Give people in town a little credit. Remember, you aren’t the only young person coming up through the families.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “No, I’m not. But the sad thing is, more of them are like my brother, Andrew, than like me. There are a few like Billy – where they would at least be willing to listen to new ideas – but most of them
wouldn’t. How about you? I know you said something about geo architecture.”

He nodded. “I want to end up in the country. I’ve had enough of the city through my life. It’s time to go country.”

She laughed. “They won’t like your ideas either. Of course, there’s no city dweller or new blood in the world that could tell them better than what they already know. I mean, information and technology for farming and ranching couldn’t change
at all
over a hundred years, could it?”

He laughed. Her brother was right. She was quite the firecracker. “Well, look at the bright side, maybe things have changed enough for you to try at things. They know you around here. In fact, they have since you were born. That has to carry some weight.”

She shrugged as he thought about how nice it would be to have people who knew him since the day he was born. Instead, he’d had a mother that could barely remember her own name most of the time and a revolving door of foster homes.

When she answered his comment it was with a note of disgust. “Not likely. In fact, I’m surprised any of them think I can string together a sentence worth of words. I wish I’d been raised in the city so no one would know me.”

He laughed. “It can’t be that bad in this small town.”

She looked forlorn. “No, it’s worse. Let’s play some darts. I think the boys have taken over the table for the night.”

He scratched his head. “Uh, I’ve never played darts.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

He shook his head. “Never had the chance and I never really go out much when I’m at school. Too much studying and not enough extra cash.”

She smiled. “Now
that
I can understand. Come on, let me teach you.”

He followed her as they headed to the one empty board. He watched her as she concentrated on her first throw. The points were high. He shook his head.

“You know I don’t have any money to play, much less lose, right?”

She giggled. “I know. I still want to teach you. Come here.”

She handed him a plastic dart and lined him up in front of the board. She then came behind him, dragging her hands down his arms. One steadied him on his left side and the right came to his wrist to guide his hand. He liked having her hands on him, even if it was just on his arms.

They played a couple rounds and he’d been so busy concentrating on her that he didn’t learn a whole lot about darts. At the end of the game, she came over and handed him his last dart. When she did, she reached on her tiptoes, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

He felt way more like a girl over that simple kiss than he’d like to admit. His heart fluttered and he could’ve sworn he closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds. What neither of them noticed was that Billy had saw what happened. He elbowed Brady as both men smiled.

******

They left the bar later than Mitch thought they would. It was close to midnight and he had to be in the barn by five. Thing was, with his arm around Moira’s waist as he led her wobbly body to the truck, he would’ve preferred it had been later. He was having fun and getting to know a girl he’d spent the entire school year gawking after from afar.

They had a good thirty minute drive home from the bar. Barely ten minutes into it, he felt Moira rest her head on his shoulder. By the time he looked over, she was out. Billy wasted no time breaking into buddy – buddy talk.

“So you and sis got along really well tonight. I saw the kiss at the dart board, man. You looked one step off swooning.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I kinda bitched out. Not my proudest moment.”

Billy chuckled. “I bet not but it was one of mine.”“Why? Because you never chick out on the kind of kiss grade school kids give each other?”

Billy laughed. “No, because it’s nice seeing that for two reasons.”

He felt curious at that comment. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve never seen my kid sister so into someone. She’s always been super strong and independent. It’s nice to see her attracted to someone – even if it’s a city slicker.”

He laughed this time. “Yeah, still, she’ll probably forget about me once we go back to school. I mean, she has to have a lot of chances with guys at school.”

Billy sighed. “Know how many steady boyfriends she’s had?”

He had to bite the bait. “How many?”

“Zero. At least, none
she was serious enough about to bring home and she’s never talked about anyone either.”

“She didn’t exactly bring me home though.”

Billy laughed. “True, but she doesn’t seem opposed to bringing you around the family and she’s real intent on getting to know you better.”

“Yeah, I still chicked out on that kiss too.”

Billy nodded. “That’s the other thing I liked, see? Seeing how much you like her let me know that it doesn’t seem to be
only
about getting into her pants.”

Both men laughed as they continued the drive. The rest of the ride home was quiet except for the low volume of the local country station piping the likes of Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith into their ears. When they’d finally got back to the ranch, it took all Mitch had to let Billy carry Moira to her bed instead of doing it himself. He just wanted to tuck her in and make sure someone had taken her shoes off. Both things he wished he’d had done to him growing up by someone who cared.

The next morning, Moira woke up with a headache that wouldn’t quit. She wasn’t a big drinker and her body was railing against the seeming binge the night before. She took a couple aspirin dry before heading to the bathroom. She didn’t have time to shower but she would at least wash the war paint off before breakfast.

When she finally made it to the breakfast table, she saw that she was one of the first ones down. As soon as she sat down, she poured herself a mug of coffee. She left it black, not wanting to throw too much at her poor stomach. As she sighed after the first sip, Grannie looked to her with a smile.

“You know, I talked to Billy for a minute last night. I saw him lugging a girl shaped rug to your room last night.”

Moira gave a small smile. “Yeah, not a proud moment but at least I’m legal now. Plus, I can say honestly, the way I feel this morning, I won’t be doing it again soon.”

Grannie laughed. “It’s alright, sugar. You know you’ve always been wise beyond your years. It’s okay to let your hair down sometimes.”

She sighed. How did she tell her grandmother it was because of the weird feelings Mitchell stirred in her. She’d never been serious with anyone. Sure, she’d had crushes on boys, been smitten and even gone on a few dates… but she’d never been so
drawn
to someone before.

Her grannie smiled as she sat down at the table. “What is it, Baby Girl? You look lost.”

She sighed deep, taking another drink of coffee as she tried to collect her thoughts. Finally, she just looked at her hands wrapped around her mug before speaking.

“One of the farm hands went with us last night. The new one, Mitch. I think I like him, Grannie.”

She smiled. “He’s a sweet boy. I was there when he applied for the job over spring break. Red interviewed him and he was just so proper. You could be smitten with worse boys, that’s certain.”

She couldn’t help but grin as she looked at her grandmother. “You know, he’s in the engineering program at U of T too. He said he wants to move to the country when he’s done. Work on making things more ecological out here. He said he thinks he has ideas that might help with the farm crops too.”

Grannie nodded. “I can believe it. I wonder how long it’d take him to convince some of the locals. Hell, he’d probably need a local on his side to convince them to try the easiest of ideas.”

She snickered. Her grannie was a true southern belle and rarely swore. Still
she knew how to keep things honest and she’d been around these parts long enough. She only nodded. When she looked up, her grandmother was smiling.

“How about this, sugar. I’ll get you a basket set up. Take that boy some coffee and some of my biscuits. If he’s anywhere near the shape you’re in, he’ll need the strength for mucking and roping today. You can even invite him back here for an honest breakfast if you choose.”

Her head shot up. “I don’t know about all that.”

Grannie’s smile was large. “Let me fill you in on a secret, sweetheart. You won’t be able to hide everything long. There are eyes everywhere here. Most of them working the ranch beside you and Mitchell. Might as well get it over with. They all gonna see it anyway.”

She closed her eyes. When Grannie’s twang started coming out, there was no use fighting. Instead, she just nodded. “Okay. How about some of the strawberry preserves for those biscuits.”

Her grandmother just winked. “How about I just give you some plain biscuits and you can lure him back here with my canned sweetness. You can even tell him I’ll have out the peach
and
strawberry.”

She laughed. “Now, you’re just playing dirty. You know I’ll all but drag that boy into the house to have my choice of the two, or even some of each.”

Then something happened she’d never heard. Her elderly grandmother
giggled
. “Whatever it takes, Moira.”

She shook her head as she watched Grannie fill a thermos with coffee.

******

Twenty minutes later, Moira was walking into the barn. Sure enough, Mitch was already feeding and grooming the horses. She watched as he took each animal its morning grains and a treat, whether it was part of an apple, sugar cube, or carrot. He also seemed to know which treat each animal liked best. When he’d finish filling their buckets, he’d nuzzle against each one.

The only one he had a problem with was Caliber. That wasn’t a real surprise. For whatever reason, only her and Daddy could handle Caliber. Still, even that old man seemed more relaxed around Mitchell than any other hand. She was certain with a little time, Caliber would accept him.
When he finished with the last horse, she walked in all the way to greet him. He was just walking from Caliber’s stall.

“Morning, Mitch.”

He wheeled around, almost falling over in the process. She laughed.

He stuttered out. “Good morning. You gonna take a few of them out today?”

She nodded. “Probably only one or two. Need to check on some of the further herds and might as well work one or two of them in the process.”

He nodded.

She held up the basket. “Grannie made some amazing biscuits again this morning. Want some? I know I want one before breakfast. It’ll calm my stomach.”

He nodded and smiled. “That sounds great. I kinda over slept. I didn't hear my alarm this morning.”

“Yeah, I hear you were out late last night.”

She loved the way his smiled broadened, showing his slightly crocked teeth. “A few of us did, if I remember correctly.”

She giggled as she poured them both a cup of coffee.

Handing him one, she asked, “So, you want to come in for breakfast? Grannie said to bribe you with her preserves. I think that was meant more for me.”

He laughed. “I already smell like horse.”

She shrugged. “There are worse smells around that table sometimes.”

“With all your brothers, I don’t doubt it. If that’s the case, I would be honored.”

She was so happy in that moment, she was certain her heart might well bu
rst.

******

Mitch followed Moira into the house. Everyone was already at the table. Well, everyone except Andrew, who still wasn’t back from wherever it was he’d gone. He noticed that there were two noticeably empty chairs – right next to each other. He was fairly certain that wasn’t a coincidence after his conversation with Billy the previous night. Still, he washed his hands in the sink and sat down at the table.

Throughout the breakfast, dishes of food and conversation were passed around the table naturally. He looked around, awed at what he was witnessing. There was easy banter between the siblings and good food too. He could see the love they all had for one another. What he was witnessing were the things his dreams, and the O’Connors, were made of. He made sure to keep his mouth full so he wouldn’t talk and get kicked from the group. Plus, Grannie’s food was too good to let go to waste. The woman made food better than Paula Dean – although it probably had as much grease and butter.

Once breakfast was done, he went to help Grannie start cleaning up the kitchen. It was how he’d been taught in the foster homes he stayed in; clean up after yourself.Just as he went to start washing up some of the dishes, Miss Elaine scolded him. “What are you doing, Mitch? I have that. Go on out and do what you are hired you to do.”

He looked down, embarrassed. “Sorry, ma’am. I was just doing what I thought was proper.”

She laughed as she swatted him on the arm. “What’s proper is making sure the animals are well taken care of. If you start taking my job over, they might put me to pasture too.”

He chuckled. “For some reason, I highly doubt that, Miss Elaine.”

She shook her head. “Go on now. And might I make a suggestion? I know Moira is going to be checking some of the stock today in the further pastures. Why don’t you go with her? I know Billy was thinking about going with her but he has other things to do. Still, it’s something that’s better done in pairs.”

He nodded. It was obvious the old woman was playing matchmaker but he wouldn’t look the figurative gift horse in the mouth. He didn’t say anything else as he went out to the barn to find Moira.

When he found her, she was saddling Caliber. Billy was still saddling up a mare to ride out on. He looked between the two of them before speaking.

“Hey, Moira, would you mind if I ride out with you instead of Billy? Miss Elaine said he had some other things to do.”

She shrugged but he noticed the smile on her face. “That’d be nice. We gotta make sure we’re in for noon meal, though. I don’t think Granny will let me have a picnic too. Plus, as much as you piled back, I think it boosted her confidence. I don’t see her letting you from the table until we go back to school in the fall.”

He shrugged. “I don’t think that’d be all bad. Still, if lunch is around
noon, we need to get going to get most of the first paddock done.”

Billy grinned, patting him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Mitch. It lets me get other things done that I need to… like sleeping in the hammock.”

He shook his head but laughed as he climbed on the horse. He and Moira walked the horses from the barn. Once they were a distance from the house, she broke the horses into a nice steady canter to warm them up. She obviously knew what she was doing and he loved watching her with the horses. The way she moved on them showed how much she cared about them. This was especially true of her bond with Caliber. If she was that close to an animal, she must be really gentle with humans.