Jack’s eyes narrowed, but then he touched the brim of his hat. “Glad to have you, ma’am.”
Morgan heard the words of welcome but didn’t believe them for a second. Once Gabe had announced that she’d be riding with them, a decided chill had settled over the group. She kept her smile firmly in place. Maybe there was still time for her to return Gabe’s horse and call the stables to fetch Geronimo.
“Time to move out!” Jack raised his hand like an old-fashioned trail boss.
So much for that. She’d have to see this through, hold her head high and keep her shirt snaps together.
“MORGAN AND I will follow Nick,” Gabe said as the group started lining up behind Jack. That wasn’t the order they’d planned on, but Gabe thought it was for the best.
When they’d talked about this the night before, his family had settled on having Jack lead, followed by their mother. Gabe was supposed to ride behind her, with the wagon next, and Nick at the end on Gold Rush as a sentimental tribute to their dad, who’d always been the entry’s grand finale. But Gabe didn’t want to be sandwiched in between his mother and the wagon in case Geronimo acted up or Morgan had any problems. He’d rather be at the end where there was a little room to maneuver before the next group came along.
Jack hesitated. “I don’t …” Then he paused and shrugged. “Whatever. We need to go. Ready, Sarah?”
“Yes.” She guided her roan paint, very similar to
Gabe’s in color if not in markings, onto the parade route.
Next Emmett slapped the reins against the rumps of the two matched bay paints pulling the wagon, and it started off with a creak and a groan.
Nick glanced over at Gabe. “You’re sure you want to be last in line?”
“Yep.”
“All righty, then.” Nick gave Gold Rush a nudge with his heels and the butterscotch paint, silver saddle winking in the sunlight, started after the wagon.
“Just stay on my right,” Gabe said to Morgan. “We’re going to be fine.”
“You changed the order, didn’t you?”
“A little.”
Morgan kept her voice down. “This was a mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Gabe knew what she was talking about. Except for Nick and Dominique, the group had appeared less than thrilled about Morgan’s presence. “It’s just the real estate thing. It’ll be fine. Wave.”
“What?”
“Wave to the people on the sidewalk. It’s what you do in a parade.”
“Oh!” She immediately turned on the charm, swiveling in the saddle so that she could pay attention to the good citizens of Shoshone lining both sides of the street.
Meanwhile Gabe concentrated on keeping the pace slow. Mary Lou was throwing out wrapped candy, and kids scuffled for it. He watched carefully to make sure nobody ran toward the street.
“Hey, Gabe!” It was Elmer, who owned the town’s only gas station. “What’cha doing riding an Appaloosa?”
“Just trying to be different!” Gabe called back.
“I didn’t even think about that.” Morgan kept smiling and waving, but she sounded upset. “Because of me, you’re on the wrong kind of horse.”
“Lighten up, Morgan. I’m not going to ruin the family’s reputation with one ride on a different breed. Besides, you’re supposed to be having fun losing your parade virginity, not obsessing about my rep.”
That made her laugh. “I am having fun. Sort of.”
“You’d better start having even more fun pretty soon. It’s not a very long parade.” He wished like hell his mom and Jack had been more enthusiastic about having Morgan, but he could understand why they weren’t.
Morgan blew a few kisses to the crowd as she continued her conversation with Gabe. “So how bad was the real-estate-agent traffic around your house last fall?”
He blew out a breath. “Bad. After Dad died, a gazillion of them beat a path to our door with all kinds of dreams and schemes, thinking we’d want to sell all or part of the ranch and they’d make a bundle. They drove my mom crazy and the whole subject of real estate agents was taboo for months. Finally they quit calling.”
“So your family thinks I’ll do the same thing, now that I’ve met you and been invited to ride in the parade with them?”
“Maybe.” And Gabe wasn’t sure if she would or not. He hadn’t thought that far. “Would you?”
“Absolutely not! I love the idea that your family has owned that land for years. My parents never owned so much as a parking space for the van.”
And he could tell that still bothered her, even now when she was an adult and didn’t have to deal with their drifter ways. “Keep waving.”
“Oh. Sorry.” She went back to her parade duties.
“How are you liking the parade now?”
“Better. I wish I’d brought candy to throw out to the kids. I didn’t think of it.”
Gabe took advantage of a temporary halt and called out to Nick. “Hey, bro, can you snag a bag of candy from the wagon and pass it back?”
“Sure thing.” Nick trotted forward, reached for the bag Mary Lou handed him and fell back until he was on Gabe’s left. “Here you go.” He handed the bag over to Gabe. “Gonna impress the rug rats?”
“Morgan wants to.” Gabe held out the bag to her.
She took it with a smile. “Thanks! And thanks to you, too, Nick.”
“My pleasure, Morgan.” Nick touched the brim of his hat.
Gabe expected Nick to move back into his position ahead of them, but instead he stayed even with Gabe.
“Everything all right back here?” he asked.
“We’re doing okay.” Gabe glanced over at Morgan, who seemed totally absorbed in tossing candy to the kids. “Thanks for asking.”
Nick lowered his voice. “You know it’s the real estate thing.”
“I know. I explained it to her.”
“Did you also explain that she’d better not make a sales pitch for her services?”
“I didn’t have to. She has great respect for the Chance family heritage, probably even more than I do.”
“Good. Then rock on, bro.” Nick urged his horse forward and got back into line ahead of them.
Gabe wasn’t sure what rock on meant in this context. Nick had found himself a woman, one he’d no doubt marry some day. Maybe he thought his two brothers should do the same.
Gabe wasn’t thinking that way himself. He was enjoying competing too much, and that wasn’t the kind of life he envisioned leading as a family man. One of these days, maybe after Top Drawer made the Hall of Fame, he’d retire from the circuit, but for now he still loved the challenge.
Sure, he’d been temporarily sidelined by Jack’s penny-pinching, but Gabe wouldn’t allow his brother to deny him permanently and rob Top Drawer of his chance to shine. They’d work something out. Gabe believed his dad would have wanted him to continue competing, especially with Top Drawer getting closer to that milestone.
In the meantime, though, Gabe was here and so was Morgan. He admitted that he found her sexy. Each time she tossed out that candy her breasts quivered. He couldn’t help noticing the fit of her jeans, either. Yeah, if given the chance, he’d be more than willing to get cozy with