To Tempt a Cowgirl (7 page)

And he’d told Stewart he could get the property.

All he needed was a logical reason to keep in contact with Dani, to get to know her better—to get her to trust him. A legitimate, motive-will-not-be-questioned reason.

There was only one solution he could think of, although it had a few inherent flaws he’d have to work around, like not having ridden a horse in twenty years. But maybe riding a horse was like riding a bike. Maybe you never forgot.

Hoping that was indeed the case, Gabe went to his computer and brought up the Montana Craigslist and started shopping for horses.

* * *

D
ANI LEFT THE
house through the back door so that she could set a bucket of compost on the pile next to Allie’s neglected garden. Every year her sister had poured all of her energy into tending flowers, tomatoes, vegetables, the same way she’d attempted to tend her marriage. After the first year, the marriage had done about as well as the garden was doing now—struggling along without much hope of growth.

Everyone had liked Kyle when Allie first brought him home. He was caring and protective of Allie, charming and easy to talk to, but as time passed, it became apparent that he also had a huge sense of entitlement that kept him from engaging in such mundane things as daily chores and responsibilities. He dreamed big dreams, starting projects he never finished, forging ahead with half-baked ideas, then cut corners to get them done fast. When Allie had tried to discuss matters, he’d accused her of having no faith in him. If anyone had had faith in him, it was Allie, but even she had been worn down. And then bitter.

Dani snorted softly as she emptied the bucket then left it next to the compost pile. Not that long ago, she’d been thankful that Chad wasn’t like Kyle, that they worked on all aspects of their shared lives as partners, except for the Megan Branson aspect. Chad worked on that all by himself.

“Hey,” she called softly as she approached the three mares standing in adjoining pens. Lacy ambled closer to the fence, then stopped a few feet away as always. Gus wandered into the pen and Lacy approached him slowly, sniffed at his coat, then nudged him with her nose as she used to nudge Dani for treats. Gus touched her nose with his and then moved on to the next pen.

Dani was a little surprised at the contact, since Gus generally ignored horses and cows, preferring bunnies and deer, which he charged after even though there was no possibility of catching them. It was like a canine duty thing, which always left Dani smiling.

She tossed hay into Lacy’s feeder, then moved on to the next pen, where two young mares, her first contract, stood side by side. Both three-year-olds, they’d been raised together and barely touched beyond being halterbroken. As near as Dani could tell, the owner, a recent transplant from Seattle, wanted them gentled into kids’ horses ASAP. Dani had patiently explained that thirty days would give them the basics and sixty days would get them to the point that a person who knew how to ride would have a well-trained, confident mount, but achieving kids’-horse status took a few years and a certain temperament.

The woman had simply beamed at Dani, as if she thought Dani was being modest about her abilities, and said she was certain Roxie and Rosie would surprise her. They were so gentle. They ate treats out of her pocket and came when she called. Dani didn’t have the heart to tell her that the treats were probably a large part of the reason for their affection.

She fed the mares and then leaned on the fence, soaking up a few minutes of early-morning sun before heading out to feed the cows. This contract would pay for two months of living expenses if she was frugal, and allow her to put ten percent into savings. The furniture would have to wait until she had a few more horses on contract, but she didn’t care about that. It wasn’t as if she was entertaining or anything. She needed enough money to make a down payment on a canvas-covered arena, allowing her to train year-round, and that wasn’t going to happen if she blew her money on furniture. Like Kyle, she was dreaming big, but unlike her ex-brother-in-law, she was also making a plan.

The phone buzzed in her pocket and Dani pulled it out as she headed to the cow pasture to check the water tank with the sticky valve. “Hey, Kelly,” she said.

“I might be a few minutes late. My brother went to town and Corrie needs me to help her load some hay, but as soon as we’re done, I’ll head over.”

“Not a problem. See you soon.”

Dani pocketed the phone again. Living alone was one thing. Training alone was another. It was so easy to get hurt and if no one was around, who would render first aid? So she’d arranged the equivalent of a babysitter until Jolie moved home. Her friend Corrie’s young sister-in-law was studying for the SATs, so Dani had arranged for her to study at the house during her training time. She’d have to come up with something else once school started, but for now, this worked. When Jolie came back home, as she promised to do when her internship ended, the problem would be solved.

As she walked back to the house, she saw Gabe’s low-slung car cruise by her house. She was surprised he was awake this early, since as near as she could tell, he didn’t sleep at night. For the past few nights—since the standpipe incident—she’d woken up every few hours on alert, despite the fact that Gus hadn’t stirred. Every time she’d awoken, the lights across the field had burned brightly. City guy.

Well, until recently she’d been a city girl, although she had a feeling that Gabe would not consider Missoula a real city. She didn’t know his background, but his demeanor didn’t cry out rural. Rural guys didn’t wear ironed button-down shirts with their jeans. Not that he didn’t look great in those shirts. And not that she was looking. Much.

* * *

B
UYING A HORSE
that needed training was more of an ordeal than Gabe anticipated. His goal was to find an animal that needed work, but not one that was so ill-tempered that it would be a danger to Dani. And then there was the matter of him actually riding it...he hadn’t been on a horse in two decades and he had a feeling that Dani might notice a small detail such as that.

As he walked to his car from his fourth unsuccessful attempt to buy a suitable mount, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, noted the name on the screen and smiled wryly as he brought the phone to his ear. “Serena, I thought you weren’t going to call.”

She gave a small sniff before saying, “I’m just checking on you as a friend, not as a business associate.”

“Ah. In that case, I can tell you that living alone in a rural area is trying my patience. I need to find a hobby.”

“What about the park you’re designing?”

“Done.”

“Design another.”

“I’m working on a spec project.” It was a design he doubted he’d be able to use, but just in case Stewart was amenable to moving Dani’s house, he was trying to come up with suitable surroundings. It seemed a logical way to fill downtime.

“I see.”

“So, how’s vacation?”

“Good. Good.”

“Great.” A healthy stretch of silence followed, which Serena finally broke by saying, “If I had called about business, what would you have said to me?”

“I would have said that getting to know Dani is slow going. I don’t really have a reason to hang out with her.”

“After getting shot down.”

“Yes. Twist the knife, Serena. You know how much I like that.”

She laughed softly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that getting shot down does limit your options a bit, unless you two join the same club or something.” She paused for a thoughtful moment before going on to say, “How did you originally plan to make and keep contact?”

“I planned to wing it.” He figured if he could dig up some information on her, he could decide how to proceed. It had seemed to work the first few days—the horse sale, her call to come and help her with the standpipes. Even the horse escaping had been fortuitous. But since calling her to make certain that everything was okay on her property—nothing. Not one bit of contact and Stewart’s call had only served to remind him that the days were slipping away.

“And now?”

“I’m buying a horse.”

“Great idea. Do you know which end to feed?”

“Yes. One of the few things I do know.”

“So...you’re going to buy a horse and have her train it.”

“Yes.”

“And somehow not let her know you don’t ride.”

“I’ve ridden.” In fact, some of the happiest days of his life had revolved around a big brown gelding of uncertain breeding, owned by the only foster family who’d treated him like one of their own kids.

Serena made a disparaging noise. “When?”

“A long time ago. Okay?”

“So what are you going to do? Ask her to give you brush-up lessons?”

“She prefers horses to people.”

“And therein lies your problem,” Serena said on a note of amusement.

“Maybe I could flip the horse.” The idea struck him out of nowhere, which was why he needed to talk to actual human beings sometimes. “Then my rusty riding ability won’t be an issue.”

“Is horse flipping like cow tipping?”

Gabe frowned, wondering what the hell she was talking about. “It’s like flipping houses. I could buy a young horse, have Dani train it and then sell it at a profit.”

“Not a bad idea,” Serena said slowly. “Except I kind of wonder how cost effective that would be. And flipping horses might sound kind of mercenary to a horse lover.”

“Okay, forget flipping. Maybe I had a traumatic horse incident as a child that I want to get over.” And maybe he needed to be careful not to stack up too many lies. Or any lies for that matter, other than those made by omission, which really weren’t lies in this case. Stewart needed the land. Dani and her sisters had once been on the brink of selling. Timberline personnel couldn’t find out about the prospective purchase. Given all those factors, omission was the only sane course of action.

“From what I hear from Neal, your entire childhood was a traumatic incident.”

“I overcame,” he said darkly, and then he smiled as the perfect answer struck him. “I’m going to give the horse to you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes. I am. You can keep it here. Sell it. Whatever. That way I can have it trained and not have to ride it.”

“Well, this has been a great hypothetical conversation. Would you keep me posted so I don’t have to call and
not
ask about business?”

“You bet, Serena. Enjoy the rest of your time off.”

“I hope I can,” she said softly. “Bye, Gabe.”

“Bye.”

Gabe pocketed his phone and started the car, waving at the horse owner, who’d started toward him and was possibly wondering if Gabe had changed his mind about the nasty beast he’d advertised as being the perfect mount for the right person. The right person apparently needed to be able to mount a horse that skittered sideways and reached back to try to bite the rider’s knee. Granted, the owner had been suitably embarrassed by the animal’s performance, but Gabe had no doubt that the guy would sell to anyone just to get rid of the horse.

He turned onto the main highway and started following the GPS directions to the final place on his list. Now that he had a plan, as in giving Serena a horse whether she wanted it or not, he felt better. More confident.

More honest.

He didn’t like lying to people and now he wouldn’t be lying to Dani. He just wouldn’t be telling her the entire truth. And if he didn’t owe Stewart a debt of gratitude, he didn’t know that he’d be doing any of this.

CHAPTER FIVE

D
ANI HAD THOUGHT
it would take time to grow her business, but less than a week after putting out her advertisement, she booked her last training slot. Feeling a deep sense of satisfaction, she finished the notes she’d made while talking to her client, then shoved her feet into her boots and headed for the door. Later that evening she’d make up an official work schedule, and in the future she’d have to stagger her clientele. She was okay right now because she had four thirty-day clients, three sixty-day clients and one that wanted a two-week tune-up. That filled eight hours a day and when she added on care and feeding...yes. Full schedule. And the best part was that she wouldn’t need to touch her severance pay for living expenses. If things continued like this, she could probably take on a few more horses and hire a part-time assistant until Jolie moved back home to join the business.

Marti Kendall wasn’t going to like this one bit. Oh, well. As far as Dani was concerned, she was due. She’d always had to work pretty damned hard for everything she’d ever gotten and even then she had a way of catching things at the tail end of success. SnowFrost was an excellent example. It had been a thriving business when she’d first been hired, but the owners were slow to change and the market had passed them by. Other more nimble companies had filled the available niches and left SnowFrost in the dust, which was a lesson in itself. She needed to pay attention to the business end. Sudden success could evaporate at any time, leaving her struggling to make ends meet.

Jolie would have smacked her for thinking like Allie, but Dani couldn’t help herself and Jolie didn’t need to know.

The day was hot and sweat was trickling down her back between her shoulder blades when she finally brushed down the piebald filly, her last horse of the day. All in all, she was satisfied. Exhausted, but satisfied. She tossed hay and scared a few mice out of the grain barrel. They practically ran over Gus’s feet and the dog watched them go by with a bemused expression. Small rabbits, perhaps? Dani made a mental note to check the Humane Society for cats, then closed the barn door. She was halfway across the drive when she heard a vehicle pull into the drive and stopped dead in her tracks.

Kyle.

Great.

Calling Gus close, she waited under the poplars that edged the front yard until Kyle pulled to a stop and got out of his vehicle. Gus pushed his big body closer to Dani’s legs and lifted his head, zeroing in on the man crossing the drive. He made no sound, but there was no mistaking the fact that he was in full protection mode. Kyle, smart man that he was, stopped a few yards away.