First thing Sunday morning Trace experienced the thrill of trying to mount a sixteen-hand mare bareback without jarring his left shoulder. It was doable...kind of. At least there was no one around to see him climb up onto a fence and ease himself onto the horse’s back, just like little kids had to do—although it wasn’t unlike mounting in the chute. Yeah. That was it. No shame there.
After settling on the mare’s back and doing a few practice circles in the wide driveway to make certain that she and he were communicating properly, he started down the road toward the mountains. The dogs complained bitterly about being left behind, but he wasn’t going to risk taking Lex’s dogs out on the road, no matter how lightly traveled it appeared to be. Riding felt good—no, it felt great—after weeks of being cooped up, and after a good two hours exploring the foothills, he finally headed back, hungry and thirsty. He hadn’t expected to explore for so long, but there was no reason for him to hurry back to the lonely ranch.
The ranch, however, wasn’t as lonely as he’d left it. He spotted a small white car parked in front of the house when he rode into the driveway and immediately recognized the little girls poking their fingers through the fence at the dogs, who were wiggling ecstatically. Grady’s sister and nieces had come to call. Annie was on the way back to her car from the front door when she shaded her eyes against the sun and spotted him.
“Hey!” one of the girls yelled as he rode closer. “That’s my horse!”
“Katie,” her mother warned, and although the girl’s mouth clamped shut, she didn’t look happy. Trace dismounted stiffly several yards away, sliding down the horse’s side carefully, so as not to jar his stiff shoulder too badly, then led the mare up to the car where the girls started petting her shoulder and neck.
“Can I please have Daphne’s reins?” one of the girls asked. Trace looked at Grady’s sister. She gave a small nod and he handed the reins over.
“We’ll get her a drink,” the other twin announced.
Trace watched them lead the mare toward the trough then turned back to find Annie regarding him. Yesterday, with wet hair slicked back from her forehead, she’d been all serious blue eyes and unsmiling lips. Today the long brown hair spilling in waves around her shoulders softened the angles of her heart-shaped face and accentuated the fullness of her mouth, the soft blue of her eyes—but her expression was just as serious as it had been while dealing with a flood and a stranger at the door. Somehow those full lips of hers didn’t look right pressed into a flat line.
“Look, I’m sorry for being short with you when you came by the house. I didn’t know—”
“It’s all right.” The naturally husky notes of her voice strummed along his nerves in a pleasant sort of way.
“I was rude.”
“Understandable, given the circumstances.”
Annie didn’t reply. She shifted her weight and looked past him to where her girls were watering the mare, presenting him with her delicate profile. Trace rarely had a problem filling in gaps in conversation, but as she brought her gaze back to his, he found himself at a loss. She was a small thing, serious, yet sexy in a girl next door sort of way...and being near her stirred something deep inside of him. Something he didn’t particularly want stirred.
“I appreciate your understanding,” she said coolly.
“Not a problem.”
No problem at all, although he couldn’t help but wonder if being attracted to Grady Owen’s sister might introduce a complication or two into his life.
Trace Delaney was tall for a bull rider. And since Annie was short, she had to look up at him. The guy had great cheekbones, a really nice mouth and, unlike her brother, no visible scars. Deep hazel eyes, more green than brown, studied her solemnly from beneath slightly frowning dark eyebrows, and she realized that she was staring. She pulled her gaze away and a few awkward beats of silence passed. Neither of them seemed able to come up with anything to say, but she refused to shift uncomfortably.
“By the way,” she said, breaking the silence. “I’m Annie Owen. Those are my daughters. Kristen in red and Katie in blue.”
“Cute kids.” At least he didn’t say they took after her, as many people did, because they didn’t. They looked like their blond-haired, green-eyed father who was long gone. Not that that bothered Annie anymore. She was grateful to be raising her girls alone.
“Thank you.” She dove into the reason she’d come. “Obviously there was a miscommunication between Grady and me, and I wanted to stop by to apologize for chasing you off my porch.”
Trace smiled and Annie fought to keep from catching her breath. Holy cow.
“He and I talked. It’s fine. Did everything turn out all right last night?”
“After a lot of mopping.”
“What about repairs? Do you have someone handling those?”
She looked at him in surprise. “I went to the hardware store for a hose and a new wrench.” Because she couldn’t find hers and had a feeling it had been involved in some project the twins had cooked up. “We’re on our way home now.”
“Ah.” Again the silence settled in and Annie was about to do them both a favor and call the girls so that they could leave, when Katie and Kristen headed back toward them from the trough, pulling the ever-patient mare behind them.
“She drank a lot,” Katie announced, still holding tightly to the reins.
“Warm morning,” Trace agreed. “And we went a long way.”
Bareback. Annie couldn’t help but wonder if his butt was sore. Hers would be. How long had it been since she’d ridden?
Katie tilted her head up. “Can I come and ride Daphne next weekend?”
“Katie!” Annie flashed Trace a quick glance of apology, catching the deer-in-headlights look that crossed his face. He might have been willing to check in with her, but it was blatantly obvious that he didn’t want his space invaded. Fine, because she didn’t want to invade it. Not when he made her feel so crazy aware of him. Like riding, when was the last time that had happened to her?
“We’ll wait until Lex comes home to ride,” Annie said in her mom voice.
Katie drew in a breath, as if to argue, but Annie cocked an eyebrow and she let out the breath in a whoosh. “All right,” she mumbled. She and Kristen turned as one and headed for the car.
“Sorry about that,” Annie said.
Trace gave her a tight smile in return. “It probably would be best if they waited for Lex.”
Annie gave a nod, even though a small, contrary part of her wanted to say, Hey, it isn’t like you have to be around while they ride.
“Agreed.” The car door opened and closed behind her. “I need to go. Lots of chores ahead of me. Give a shout if you need anything.”
He wouldn’t. She knew that as certainly as she knew that she was going to spend the drive home explaining why the twins had to wait for Lex to get home before riding the horses they’d ridden regularly for the past several months.
Because that was the way it was. End of story.
* * *
WELL, THAT HAD been awkward.
He shook his head as Annie turned her car onto the county road, and then led the mare toward the pasture.