Reckless Heart (10 page)

In only moments she turned onto the highway that led to Cheyenne, pleased she had managed on her own and forgotten nothing. Her confidence soared.

By the end of the week, Molly felt much more secure in her position. She'd mastered shopping, meal planning, and even cooking. Only once during the week had she burned anything and she had hidden the evidence before the men discovered it. Though a couple of them sniffed the air suspiciously.

The house shone. She’d cleaned everything from top to bottom, including Josh’s bedroom. Laundry still proved a challenge to remember to put wet clothes in the dryer, but she made it a habit to wander into the laundry room just after mealtime.

But her book had suffered. Too tired at night to do anything but fall into bed, she hadn't written anything.

Determined to get busy on the novel, she hurried through her chores Friday morning, giving the house a lick and a promise. Since everything had been cleaned in the last couple of days, there was little to do. She made a huge pot of stew, set it on the stove to simmer slowly, and wiped up after lunch.

The afternoon loomed free and she planned to take full advantage of it.

For the first time since she arrived, she wanted to go outside and discover what she could about the ranch.

Strolling to the barn, Molly avidly took in everything her eyes spotted. The few horses in the corral dozed in the early afternoon sun, one back leg bent, resting on the tip of a hoof, heads lowered, eyes closed.

The blue and white pickup she’d driven to the store was parked nose in by the gray barn. She smiled as she remembered how proud she’d felt the other day when she reached home without mishap. And the long assessing look Josh had given her when he found out she’d taken the truck and done enough shopping to last a couple of weeks.

The wide double doors of the barn stood open and the cavernous interior looked dark and mysterious compared to the bright sunshine. The scent of hay and horses mingled in the breeze. It was hushed, no voices murmured in the background. Most of the men were out on the range somewhere. Doing tallies, she remembered. Only four had been in for lunch.

She paused in the doorway to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light. The hayloft ran the length of the barn on both sides, open in the middle. Bales of hay stacked up five high lined the walls. Loose hay drifted over the edge when the breeze gusted. The stalls were empty. The door to the tack room stood open and Molly headed for it.

Jack leaned back in a chair, rubbing saddle soap into a set of reins. He glanced up when she stepped inside.

“Hi. I’m taking a walk,” Molly said brightly.

“Howdy. Set a spell. Finally wanting out of the house?”

“Yes. I’ve caught up on all the work that needs doing right away. I thought I’d find out more about the ranch.”

“Any questions, ask away.”

Molly glanced around. Jack had the only chair and she wouldn’t ask him to give it up. She took a blanket from a hook on the wall and folded it on the floor, sinking down so she could watch Jack work as he talked.

A million questions bubbled up. Some from her own curiosity, others slanted to the new idea she had for her book. Jack answered them all patiently, expanding when she requested, explaining terms to her, making sense at last to some of the conversations she’d heard at dinner.

When a horse rode into the yard, Molly wondered if it might be Josh. She hadn’t seen him since breakfast. He’d been one of the men out doing tallies, so he hadn’t come in for lunch.

Her hands grew damp with nerves when she thought it might be him. He'd maintained his distance since that morning he’d kissed her in the laundry room. But he hadn't had any reason to get angry with her since then.

She’d done her job well and though he watched her during mealtime, he found no fault. While she was pleased she was beginning to measure up, she lived in hope he’d kiss her one more time before she left.

Lance appeared in the doorway.

“Wondered who you were talking to,” he said to Jack, then smiled at Molly, one finger tipping back his hat.

“Just answering some questions the little lady had. Her first time on a ranch, you know,” Jack said.

“Come with me, I’ll give you some pointers,” Lance invited.

Molly scrambled up and rehung the blanket. “Thank you, Jack. Hope I didn’t drive you crazy with all my questions.”

“No, pleasure to talk about ranching. So many people aren’t interested in hearing an old man ramble on.”

“You didn’t ramble, and I found it all fascinating,” she said with a sunny smile. Following Lance into the barn, she walked beside him as he led his horse to the rear. Fastening it in cross ties, he began to unsaddle his mount.

“Where did you go today?” she asked, taking careful note of how he did everything. The horse seemed large, but didn’t bother Lance. He easily hefted the heavy saddle, dropping it on a stand nearby and turning to grin at Molly.

“Out to one of the areas where we’ve got a lot of cattle. We’re taking a tally of how many are on that particular bit of range, checking to make sure we’ve lost none, or none are down and hurting. Or missing.”

“Do you do that kind of thing a lot?”

“Enough to insure the well-being of the herd.”

“The Rafter C seems to be a very prosperous ranch,” she commented.

“Very. One of the top ranches in this part of the country. When Jase ran the place, he got written up in a journal as a rancher to watch.”

“How long ago was that?”

“A few years now. Before I came here. Jase didn’t want a foreman, did all that kind of work himself.”

“And where was Josh?”

“At the university. When he graduated, he started working here as foreman, I guess you’d say.”

“Then Jase left and Josh took over?”

“Yep. Once their sister graduated from the university, Jase took off to ride the rodeo circuit. Josh hired me a few months later.”

“And the ranch continues to be very prosperous,” she finished, feeling a certain vicarious pride in the work Josh did. His brother might have started things in the right direction, but it was Josh’s direction now that kept the ranch prosperous.

“Very prosperous, but why do you care? Worried about your salary?” Josh’s voice sounded behind her.

Molly turned, startled to find him standing so close. She hadn’t heard him come in. She saw his horse standing beyond the open doors. How much had he heard? And what interpretations did he put on her questions? Obviously the wrong ones.

“I wasn’t
worried
about anything, just curious,” she said, flustered.

His hat pulled low, his jeans were tight and dusty. Molly’s heart fluttered and she longed to sit somewhere and stare at him until she had her fill. But ever conscious of Lance standing there and Josh’s unfriendly stare, she looked away.

“Now I wonder why?” Josh glanced at Lance, back to Molly. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’m caught up on the housework and wanted to get out for some fresh air,” she said pertly, her eyes meeting his, her gaze challenging.

“In the barn?” His tone disbelieving.

“Molly wanted to know more about the ranch. Jack answered some of her questions. I was going to show her around,” Lance said easily, his gaze meeting Josh’s, his stance loose and at ease.

Ignoring his foreman, Josh stared at Molly, his eyes narrowed. “I told you I’d answer any questions you had.”

“You weren’t here. Lance and Jack were.”

“I’m here now.”

“I don’t mind, boss,” Lance interjected.

“Don’t you have work to do?” Josh asked, transferring his gaze to Lance.

“Just report in the findings from the tally. I can do it orally if you like.”

“No, write it up. And when the others come in, write up their tallies, too. And while you’re waiting, you can unsaddle my horse.”

Josh nodded toward the standing horse before stepping closer to Molly. Taking her arm in his hand, he tugged her toward the large double doors.

Lance hesitated a moment, then shrugged and smiled. “Sure thing, boss.”

Josh marched Molly out into the yard. In the distance he saw two more men riding in. He kept hold of her arm and moved away from the barn toward the house.

“Don’t you have dinner to fix?” he asked.

“We’re having stew and it’s simmering now.” She tried to release her arm from his grasp, but he ignored her. She didn’t like feeling like a recalcitrant child who had to be marched into the house.

“I told you to stay away from the men,” Josh said in a low growl.

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong, merely asking some questions.”

“For your book?”

“Maybe some of the questions could provide me some background information. But the rest were because I’m curious.”

“Why?” He stopped well before the back stoop.

“Why not? I have never lived on a ranch before. I want to find out more about it.”

“Then ask me, as I told you.”

“You didn’t tell me I couldn’t ask questions about the ranch. You just said stay away from your cowboys if I wanted to do research for my book. I wasn't flirting or anything.”

He turned and started walking around the house until they reached the front porch. Before them the green grass waved gently in the afternoon breeze, the trees that shaded portions of the house rustled softly. The air was clean and fresh and only the faintest trace of hay and horse could be discerned.

Josh released her arm and sank down in one of the rockers that lined the wooden porch. Gingerly, Molly sat in the one next to his.

“Questions?” he said.

“Jack answered a lot I had,” she replied.

“He’s all right. Stay away from Lance.”

“Why?”

“He watches you. He’s interested in you. I don’t want my foreman’s mind on anything but his job.”

“How feudal. He’s entitled to a life aside from being your foreman.”

“Not with some temporary woman more interested in writing about romance than—”

“Than?” she asked, her eyes narrowed as she suspected the ending of his thought.

“Than in doing chores around here.”

“That isn’t what you started to say, is it?”

He took his hat off and dropped it on the wooden floor beside his chair. Raking his fingers through his hair, he leaned against the high back of the rocker and watched her from lowered lids.

“That’s what I said. Never mind what I started to say.”

“I have a good imagination.”

“I’m beginning to believe it.”

Molly remained silent.

“Is it all made up? Your book, I mean?” he asked.

“Mostly.” She glanced away, studied the cottonwoods that rustled in the breeze. The sound should be soothing; why couldn’t she relax?

“Not from first-hand experience?”

“I don’t have much experience,” she said, her eyes now fixed on the distant horizon. Did she have to spell it out for him? Surely he noticed from her kisses.

“You were engaged.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I don’t know. Tell me about the engagement.”

She settled back in her rocker and pushed it to and fro. “I don’t see how that has anything to do with my job here.”

“It doesn’t. Tell me about your engagement.”

She flicked a glance and met his heated gaze. “There’s not much to tell. My father introduced me to Marc. We dated. I thought him very romantic at first. He took me to fancy restaurants, ordered for me, we went dancing. He bought me nice gifts. It was all quite elegant. When he asked me to marry him, I thought it would be perfect, so I said yes.”

“Of course, a woman likes presents, likes to be wined and dined. Did you ever give a thought to the years you two would live together? To building a life together?”

“I thought I did. I thought I was in love, now I think I was just infatuated with the first man who paid me attention. Disenchantment didn’t take long. But it was discovering the deal my father had made with him that caused the actual break.”

“What deal?”

She looked at him. “He had everything a woman could want. He’s rich, well-established in his career, has a beautiful home, decorated by a professional. He likes to go out to dinner, dancing, parties. And the opportunity to become partner in my father's firm if he married me.”

“Would that have been bad?”

She shrugged. “People want to be wanted for themselves, not for career advancement.”

Josh looked out over the grass. Her experiences mirrored his own in a way. Jeannie had been about fun times, parties, clubs and spending money. She'd seen him as a continual source of those funds.

“So how do you write romance novels if you have no first-hand experience?” he asked.

“I told you, I have a good imagination.”

Josh reached over and caught her hand in his, threading his fingers between hers. Molly looked at their linked hands. The heat from his hard palm swept through her like a range fire. The shimmering awareness flooded her. Her own sense of femininity grew and her body began to clamor for more attention. She drew in a shaky breath and slowly tightened her hold on his hand, her gaze slowly, reluctantly, drawn to his.