Once Tempted (22 page)

When she arrived at the barns, the flock of sheep and lambs was being herded into the sheep barn by Pete and Frank and two of the dogs. The dogs were keeping in line the strays that didn’t understand that the sound of Holly rattling a bucket was a good thing, the promise of hay and other delicious feed. She was pretty sure Angie, Arlo, and their mother weren’t that dim.

Tess would have followed the woolly herd but, glancing
to the left, she noticed Quinn, Daniel, and Adele standing by the large corral.

They were watching Ward. He was on horseback, riding a horse whose coat made her think of blue steel as it moved through the dull light of the late afternoon.

She had no idea what he was doing, only that it was complicated and exceptionally beautiful. It involved the horse surging from a stop into a full-out run only to stop again, sometimes stopping so quickly that the horse seemed to sink on its hind legs as its front hooves slid forward in the soft dirt. It looked as if the horse was going to sit down on its muscled rear.

Ward and his horse must have known what they were doing, because they never went barreling through the wooden fence as she half-expected each time they raced from one end of the corral to the other. From what she could tell, this was a standard move, for though Quinn and her parents were watching attentively, Adele hadn’t slapped her hand over her eyes in fright.

Tess recovered her breath only to lose it again; Ward’s full-tilt racing and stopping on a dime ended, to be replaced by an equally improbable move. His horse started spinning around in a tight circle, his rear hooves pivoting in one spot. How it could whirl like a twister was incredible. Even more astonishing was that, through it all, Ward remained motionless in the saddle.

It was an extraordinary spectacle, but she couldn’t say she was sorry when the horse ceased its supersonic circling. As seamlessly as the spinning had started, it stopped, and the gray horse was standing stock-still, its hooves perfectly aligned. Ward leaned over to pat its neck with his gloved hand.

Next to her, Quinn spoke. “So, did you film that?”

To her surprise, Tess realized that she had indeed trained her iPhone on Ward. She supposed she’d gotten so used to taking pictures and short videos during the
past week that it had become second nature, no conscious thought necessary. “Yeah.”

“Don’t stop recording. Reid and Carlos are bringing in the steers now, so Ward can give Bilbao some practice working the cattle. Bilbao’s still learning.”

“You mean Ward’s not done yet? That was like a warm-up?” Tess whispered incredulously.

Quinn grinned. “Pretty much. Ward was working on Bilbao’s rundown and reining techniques. Now Bilbao’s going to track and trail one of the cattle. He’s getting good at it. I think he’s been watching Sirrus, Reid’s horse.”

Quinn’s voice had risen as the air became filled with the lowing and heavy stomp of cattle. Daniel moved away from his place at the fence to open the gate to the corral and waited as a dozen or so black and red cattle entered it, followed by Reid on a light gray spotted horse with an inky black mane and tail. Carlos, another of the hands, was also on horseback, but instead of entering the ring, he dismounted to stand by Daniel.

A big mooing mass of hooves and swishing tails, the cattle trotted into the corral, which suddenly seemed to have shrunk in size. And though Reid was now in the ring, too, Tess couldn’t keep her eyes off Ward.

He had kept Bilbao on the far end of the corral when the cattle entered, but now that they were clumped in a patchwork of red and brown hides he moved his horse toward them. Tess didn’t know what he and Bilbao were supposed to do. She had no idea what tracking and trailing involved, but she could tell that Bilbao was behaving differently. He walked straight into the cattle clustered together and broke them into two groups. She assumed that Ward told him to follow the smaller group that trotted into the center of the ring, for that’s what the horse did.

For a second she couldn’t figure out what was happening, why the horse and the cows just seemed to be standing
still in the middle of the ring. Then it became clear. Bilbao had fixed his attention on one of the steers, staring down a reddish brown one with a funny clump of hair sprouting between its ears. If she’d had to describe it, she’d have said Bilbao was giving the steer the evil eye. Then he shifted, lowering his dark gray head and moving forward with a menacing intent. She was reminded of how the sheepdogs slunk low to the ground when they were herding a stray sheep. The difference was, Ward’s horse was about two thousand times bigger than those dogs. Nonetheless it nimbly mirrored the steer’s every move as it dodged and feinted, trying to get around the horse and back to the herd.

Bilbao wasn’t letting it. As he had earlier when Ward was “warming” him up, the horse sank back on his haunches, moving his front legs from left to right with incredible speed, refusing to let the steer pass. Blocking him the way a guard would in basketball. Tess had a sudden fond memory of the days of not playing basketball in school with Anna. Sister Louisa would have loved to have had Bilbao on defense.

The horse had some crazy moves, all right. Throughout it all, Ward never interfered, just flowed with Bilbao’s rapid shifts, their bodies moving as one.

Then Ward must have given him a signal, for Bilbao’s head, which had been stretched low to the ground the entire time, rose. He stood, his hooves aligned perfectly, looking beautiful and superior, and making it abundantly clear that he could no longer be bothered to summon any interest in something as bovine as a cow. Released, the steer galloped back to the herd.

Even if she lived to be a hundred Tess doubted she’d ever be as cool as Bilbao had been for those brief minutes.

Ward had noticed Tess standing next to Quinn when he ended Bilbao’s run with the steer. He was glad the young horse had performed well and put on a sterling show for her. He didn’t usually show off, but Tess had him doing things he’d never have done before.

Like buying cowboy boots for a woman.

He wanted to see whether she was wearing them. For some reason seeing them on her felt more important—more urgent somehow—than when he’d slipped the big sparkly diamond on Erica’s finger. The realization was startling, considering that he’d been set to share his life with Erica, considering how much he’d thought he’d loved her. At the moment, though, he didn’t care to analyze what his feelings signified. He simply had them. Period.

He waited as Reid took a turn with Sirrus. They were brilliant. Reid was an exceptional rider and Reid’s gelding just loved working the cattle. Ward fully expected Bilbao to become as cow smart as Sirrus. Quinn was convinced Sirrus was teaching the younger horse his best moves. She could be right, because he got better and better with every training session they had with Reid and his horse.

As soon as Sirrus had released the steer and it had run back to the herd, Ward and Reid guided their mounts toward the cattle, moving them to the gate where Carlos and their dad were waiting.

“I’ll take Bilbao for you, Ward, and ride the herd back to the pasture with Reid and Carlos,” his father said.

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. I’m leaving you all with a lot of work starting tomorrow. This is the least I can do. Besides, you looked like you were having so much fun on Bilbao. I’d like to see what tricks you’ve been teaching him. And if we ride for long enough, your mother may have finally
finished her packing. I can’t even see the bed she’s got so many outfits.” His grousing was affectionate.

“Fine by me. I’ve got some stuff to do and I’d like to sneak another peek at the new foal.” He slipped his boots out of the stirrups, swung his leg over the saddle, and dropped to the ground. “I think that colt may prove almost as smart as this guy here.” He gave Bilbao a hearty pat on his neck.

“The foal’s a beaut, all right. He’s already begun kicking up his heels and racing around his dam. Quinn wants to name him Rush. As in Gold Rush.”

“Yeah,” Ward said with a nod. “That’s a good name.”

Already in his chaps, Daniel nimbly mounted Bilbao. Gathering the reins in his left hand, he clucked and Bilbao moved into an easy lope down the track. “Smooth as whiskey,” he called.

Coming from the man who’d not only taught him how to ride at age three but who for years had trained all the cow horses on the ranch, that was high praise indeed.

Pleased as he was by his father’s approval, right now he was more eager to discover whether he’d won a certain woman’s favor.

She was wearing them. And he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed and who was delighted by the sight of Tess Casari in a pair of fine leather cowboy boots. It could be argued, however, that his sister’s and mother’s pleasure was of a different order than his. In addition, theirs was mixed with a healthy dose of speculation. Like bookends, they stood on either side of her, staring down at her new footwear.

“They’re beauts, Tess. Luccheses, right?”

Ward saw her nod. “Um, yes.”

“And the stitching?”

Tess bent over and pulled the leg of her jeans up to her knee. Her back to him, Ward was given a very fine view of her heart-shaped ass. He wondered whether he should say something but then decided no. He was enjoying the view too much.

“Sweet.” There was a hint of envy in Quinn’s pronouncement. “Those boots are the real deal, right, Mom? Real cowgirl gear.”

“Very chic cowgirl gear and perfect for you, Tess. Did you get Ralph to drive you to Clinton’s shop?”

Ward decided the time had come to save Tess from any awkward explanations of how the boots had found themselves on her very sexy feet. “Dad took off on Bilbao for a ride. You can get the rest of your packing done in peace, Mom.”

At the sound of Ward’s voice Tess spun around on her new heels. Any faster and she could give Bilbao lessons. A rosy bloom colored her cheeks, and she couldn’t quite meet his gaze.

She was damned adorable when flustered. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning.

His words provided an excellent distraction. “Oh, good!” his mother exclaimed. “Your father simply can’t understand how difficult packing for two back-to-back trips can be. I’m thrilled to be going, of course, but I do feel bad about leaving you all with so much to do. You, especially, Tess.”

“I like being busy. Really. And Carrie and Brian’s wedding promises to be a whole lot easier to plan now that they’ve found a free weekend to come out and meet with the vendors.”

“It’s a shame Daniel and I will miss them. You’ll send our love, won’t you, Ward?”

“Will do.”

Quinn, an indifferent packer and equally indifferent to the topic of Carrie and Brian’s wedding, wasn’t so
easily sidetracked. “We were just admiring Tess’s new boots. Have you checked ’em out, Ward?”

He let his gaze travel down to the pointed brown leather tips peeking out beneath her jeans. “Sharp. Good to see you now have the right kind of footwear for your new responsibilities documenting life at Silver Creek. Speaking of which, I was going to head over and take another look at the new colt, Rush. Catchy name by the way, brat. You ladies care to join me?”

“I’ll say hi to the little guy later. It’s Tucker time now. I’m going to let him look at the bosal you bought me at Clinton’s. I guess Clint’s been getting lots of business from us.” Ward returned her sly smile with a bland one. “Oh!” she said excitedly. “Guess what. Tucker let me groom him with a soft brush after lunch.” Justified pride rang in her voice.

“That’s wonderful,” their mother said.

“It is,” Ward agreed. “I noticed his cuts are beginning to heal. It’ll be interesting to see what he looks like after he’s gained another hundred pounds or so.”

“He’ll be a beaut. And Glory’s doing real well. As sweet as I suspected. Perfect trail horse. Okay, time’s a-wasting. Ciao, y’all.” She sauntered off with a wave.

“I’ll have to postpone my visit to Rush, too. I need to take advantage of not having your father underfoot and constantly interrupting so I can finish packing. But you should definitely go with Ward, Tess, and take photos. People love pictures of newborn foals.” His mother smiled with innocent brightness.

It looked like his mother, the indefatigable matchmaker, wasn’t going to let up until she stepped onto the plane for South Carolina, Ward thought with amusement.

With Adele gone, Tess found she could no longer ignore how delicious Ward looked. “Delicious” might sound
excessive, but it was the only word that properly described how he looked in worn blue jeans and chaps. Since she’d started coming down to the barns, she’d seen the other hands wearing chaps, but those cowboys hadn’t made her heart thump painfully or feel as if she should suddenly start fanning her face.

Ward wore the kind that zippered down his long muscular legs, hugging them. Made of dark tan suede, they didn’t have the fringes or ornamentation that she’d noticed on some of the ones worn by the wranglers. There was nothing to distract her eyes or to keep her gaze from zeroing in on where the chaps buckled, framing the bulge of his sex. Her internal thermostat soared just from
not
looking at that particular spot.