Sweet and Wild (4 page)

Quinn leaned against the fence, the
sunset behind her and thought about her immediate future. As much as she loved the
guest ranch and respected and admired what her brother had done with the place,
it couldn’t compete with the ranch she’d grown up on.

She longed for the good old days when
the Emery’s and a handful of employees were the only residents. When they lived
in the old white clapboard farmhouse surrounded by cottonwood trees, instead of
the elegant log structure that dominated the landscape. When she could go
tearing around the ranch yard on the back of her horse without worrying she
might run down some unsuspecting city slicker. Cattle drives that consisted of
nights camping out in sleeping bags under the sky instead of fancy tents and
food prepared on stoves. Where she could give more attention to the cattle and
horses instead of guests.

It had been a life she could sink
herself into. She envied Craig for having the Shady H—a ranch like the one Long
Knife Creek had been in the good old days.

Thinking of the Shady H reminded her
that she had a phone call to make. She left her spot on the fence and went
straight for the. To bypass the guests and the ranch hands who’d gathered out
back, Quinn went in the front door. As she passed the dining room, she glanced
toward the French doors at the end of the room and caught a glimpse of Robby
chatting up some blonde who looked enthralled with whatever tale he was
spinning. She grimaced. A party from Los Angeles had arrived the day before and
was having a grand old time. Just what they needed, glitzy types who probably
didn’t know one end of a horse from another. Well, at least Robby seemed to be
sucking up to them, just in case they were involved anyway in the entertainment
business.

Quinn called him a bad name and
continued up to her room.

After setting up a time to see Shelby
Brock’s horse, Quinn dialed Craig’s number. His voice caused her heart to beat
as erratically as it had earlier. All it had taken was his hello.

“It’s Quinn. Is tomorrow at nine
workable for you?”

“We’ll make it work,” he replied.
“Marisol has been talking about this non-stop since you left. She even helped
me feed the stock. Two days ago I couldn’t have gotten her near a horse, now
she’s all starry eyed. You performed a miracle today.”

The warmth of his voice carried through
the phone line. There was a soothing quality to it that made her want to keep
him talking, but she had no reason to keep him on the line. It had been far too
long since they’d known each other to make small talk.

“Well, she’s a terrific kid. I’m looking
forward to working with her. I can tell she has lots of determination.”

“She does, as soon as she puts her mind
to it. Like her mother.”

At the mention of his wife, some of Quinn’s
elation died. She’d managed to put the memory of the bright and vivacious late
Elise Hahn aside through the years. She hadn’t been able to live up to her as a
ten year old and doubted she could compete against a ghost.

Suddenly she felt ashamed. What a thing
to think. Elise had succumbed to cancer two years ago and Quinn had no right to
feel awkward at the mention of her name. Heck, she shouldn’t even be revisiting
her childhood crush. Whatever giddiness she’d felt in Craig’s presence could be
put down to only memories, nothing more.

“That will do her good throughout life.
I’m glad she’s excited.”

Craig laughed. “Don’t be too surprised
if you find her camped outside your doorstep tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll make sure to look for her just in
case.”

When they ended the conversation, Quinn
hung up the phone, and lay back against her pillows. She stared at the ceiling,
and listened to the sounds of the gathering outside.

A rumbling from the distance, followed
seconds later by a flash of weak blue lightning heralded an approaching storm.
That would cut the party short. Quinn smiled and turned her head toward the
window. She loved storms and decided she might have to go outside to watch it
ride over the prairie.

As soon as the guests moved inside,
Quinn slipped downstairs and went out to the now abandoned back porch. It
hadn’t begun to rain but the enormous black clouds drifting out of the
southwest consumed half of the dark purple twilight. Grayish blue light
flickered in the underbellies of the giants.

She took a seat in one of the Adirondack
rockers under the roof and counted the seconds between the flash of lightning
and the following rumble of thunder. A chilly draft snuck under the cover of
the porch roof, displacing the hot, humid air that had hung like a thick
blanket over the prairie all day.

Quinn lifted her face to the breeze and
inhaled the fresh scents preceding the storm. Delicate primrose mingled with
fresh grass and the faint smell of the livestock moving around the paddocks
below. Other smells, like the smoldering charcoals in the massive barbeque pit
blended with remnants of the dinner.

For a moment, the cool air pulled back
and the dense humidity once again draped over her, but Quinn knew it would only
be a momentary lapse; the cool air would soon sweep back in.

The lightning danced closer and
brighter.

“One… two… three… four….”

Thunder rumbled louder and held on
longer.

“I remember when you were nine you
decided to take a ride out to meet a storm.”

Jacob’s voice from the darkness made her
jump. Her big brother walked out of the shadows and took the seat next to hers.

“I thought Dad was going to kill me,”
she replied and chuckled.

“They talked about sending you away to a
girls’ school but figured you’d probably run away and find your way home.”

“They would’ve been right,” Quinn
assured him. “Mom had a heck of a time making me into a girly girl. I loved to
do anything for a thrill as long as it included a horse and this land.”

“You still do.”

“I’d like to think I’m a little more
sensible now than to go racing off to meet a lightning storm. What surprised me
was that everyone came out searching for me. As if I’d get lost out there.”

She gazed lovingly out at the prairie
even though she could barely see the hills silhouetted against the sky. She
knew every curve, every rise and fall of the land.

“Well, as much as you know it, there was
a lot more to deal with than the landscape. You may have known where every
gopher hole was, but you couldn’t predict where the lightning was going to
strike.”

“I would’ve figured it out in time.”
Quinn smiled at the memory. It wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done, but
when Craig Lynch rode up on his Appaloosa and found her, it made the whole
thing worthwhile. Truth be told, if she thought he would have done it again, she
probably would’ve repeated the foolish ride.

Ah, her knight in shining armor.

The next day, though, when she’d rode
over to the Lynch ranch to thank him, she’d been met by an angry Elise Hahn,
who’d scolded her up one side and down the other. Yes, she’d deserved it, but
it surely hadn’t endeared Elise to her any, or vice versa.

“Okay, it wasn’t my finest hour,” Quinn
admitted with a grin. “At least I never did it again.”

“Nope. If I had to say one thing about
you, you learn from your mistakes the first time around.”

A silence fell over them, filled only by
the rumble of the approaching storm. Lightning strobed bright enough to turn
the landscape a white blue.

“I thought you would’ve quit for the
night,” Quinn commented idly.

“I had a few things to finish up here.”

“Always the businessman. You need to
relax once in a while, Jacob. Take an evening off.”

Jacob chuckled. “And who would make sure
this place ran smoothly? Besides, I love what I’m doing. I like being busy.”

“Better you than me. Still, you should hire
someone on. Better yet, find yourself a wife.”

Quinn heard the smile in his voice. “I’m
not looking. For a wife anyway. An assistant might be a better idea. Unless I
find a local woman, who’s going to put up with living on a busy dude ranch,
much less a dude ranch in a South Dakota winter?”

Quinn chuckled. “Bad attitude, Jacob.
This place is heaven. And what woman in her right mind would resist that spa
you’re adding on? You’ll have the women beating down your door just to use
that.”

“Well, if I have to look, so do you.”
Jacob reached over and jabbed Quinn lightly in the shoulder.

“Good Lord, what do I have to offer a
man? I’m settling for being a confirmed spinster.”

“You sell yourself much too short.” Jacob
pushed himself out of the chair. Rain had finally arrived, falling in fat
splats on the grass, the roof over their heads and on the railings of the deck.

“I better get bed before someone decides
they need me. See you in the morning. Don’t stay out here too long.”

“Night.”

“Oh, and Quinn, you done good today.”

Quinn smiled into the darkness.
“Repaying an old debt.”

Jacob went back into the house, leaving
Quinn alone to face the oncoming storm.

By eight in the morning, Marisol played
in the front yard with Flip and Rowdy, two barn kittens who would move to the
house as soon as they were old enough. Craig had already put in over an hour at
the paddocks but now it was time to head to Quinn’s.

“You ready to go, sunshine?”

“Let me put these two back.” She scooped
up the babies with care and ran to the barn with them clutched to her heart as
if they were her treasures. Within minutes, she returned, running faster now
she didn’t have her tiny wards.

“What do you think the horse looks like?
Is it a boy or a girl? Do you know its name?”

Craig laughed and climbed into the SUV.
“I suppose we’ll find out in about an hour.”

Marisol got into the back seat, still
chattering. “I know I have to learn how to ride with a saddle, but how long
until I can ride bareback like Quinn? Did you ride bareback like that?”

“You’ll ride in a saddle until Quinn and
I think you’re ready. And I rarely rode bareback.”

“What about Mom?”

“She barely rode at all.”

No, Elise hadn’t belonged on a ranch,
had no desire to ride at all. Instead, she became involved in every school
function she could fit into her schedule. At sixteen, she’d gotten her first
job with the Falstad Bulletin as a reporter for all the school events. She’d
been bitten by the journalism bug but good. Though she put in the hours at the
family ranch when she had to, Elise stayed as far away from the Shady H as she
could.

“She didn’t like horses?” Marisol’s
voice rose in surprise. “Well, no, I guess I can’t see her riding.”

By twenty after eight, they pulled up to
the main house at Long Knife Creek Guest Ranch. Marisol rolled down the window,
and let out a drawn out, awestruck “wow” at the sight of the imposing log
structure that dominated the landscape. He recalled back when he and Jacob
Emery were kids; Jacob lived in an old farmhouse not so different than the one
at Shady H. This place was a far cry from that past.

“This house is beautiful.”

“That it is,” Craig agreed. His old
friend had done well for himself.

He didn’t have a chance to think any
more about Jacob’s good fortune. Jacob’s little sister came out the front door
and took Craig’s breath away. Yesterday Quinn wore her hair in a braid, but
this morning it fell in loose waves over her shoulders. Her royal blue tank top
picked up the vivid blue of her eyes and pale coral lips. It also did a heck of
a job accentuating her curves.

I shouldn’t be admiring her body.
But it would be
impossible for any man not to appreciate a woman as beautiful as Quinn. If he
tried hard, though, he would remember that not only was she a little girl not
too long ago, but also the kid sister of one of his best friends.

The smile that spread across her face,
however, was not kid-like in the least. Quinn Emery had grown up.

“Morning,” she said and climbed into the
vacant passenger seat next to him. She gave him a quick crooked grin and turned
her attention to Marisol. “You excited?”

Marisol bounced in her seat. “Just a
bit.”

“It’s about a half hour drive then we’ll
be there.”

“I have a good feeling about this
horse,” Marisol declared with great satisfaction.

Craig hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed.

Quinn drew the conversation away from
the horse, though she must have known that was all Marisol wanted to talk
about. Instead, she questioned the child on her travels and coming to South
Dakota. Craig was rather surprised to hear what a world traveler this cowgirl
was, as she and Marisol compared notes on the various spots they’d both visited
in Europe.

“If I go back, I plan to travel to Wales
and Scotland, maybe Ireland again if I can. Where would you go?”