9781631053566SpringsDelightBallNC (15 page)

She stood close to Heidi
noticing just how much higher Heidi’s back was than she’d thought. “Hello,
Heidi, we’re going for a ride. Be gentle, I’m new.”

“Ready?” Colt put the step
stool in position and steadied Heidi.

Spring nodded, gritted her
teeth and stood on the stool. Now if only Heidi would stop shuffling. She
exclaimed in surprise when Colt grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in
the saddle. She grabbed the saddle horn so tight her knuckles turned white.

“Here are the reins.” Colt
tried to hand them to her.

“How can I hold this thing and
the reins at the same time?”

“Usually you only hold the
reins. Here take them. I’ll hold Heidi still.”

She took the reins and
immediately returned one hand to the saddle horn. “See? I can do both.”

Colt grinned. “You’ll get the
hang of it.”

He mounted Heavy Duty and off
they went at a very slow walk. Heidi decided to circle one way then the other
before she followed the other horse.

They started on a trail, and
it wasn’t long before Heidi stopped and pulled her head to reach the grass
below. Spring pulled the reins, trying to get her to lift her head but to no
avail. “Listen Heidi, I can understand the appeal of green grass but we’re
supposed to be following Colt and you’re making me look bad.”

Heidi turned her head a bit
and then went back to munching.

Finally, Colt turned to see where
she was. “Pull the reins up!”

“That’s what I’ve been doing.”

Colt rode back to her. “Pull
harder, she needs to know you’re in control.”

“And hurt her poor mouth? I
don’t think so. She’s hungry.”

He guided his horse next to
Heidi, reached for the reins and pulled. Heidi’s head came straight up, and she
looked ready to go. “See, it didn’t hurt her. It’s true you never want to pull
too hard. Horses do get hurt that way, but I don’t think you’re strong enough
to hurt a horse. Plus the horse will let you know if it’s in pain.”

Relieved, she nodded and off
they went again. This time she tried to ride holding just the reins until they
started up a hill, and she almost went toppling backwards.

“Lean forward!”

“Now you tell me,” she
grumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing.
Just having fun.”
Surprisingly enough, she was having fun
and when the barn came back into view, she wasn’t ready for the ride to end.

They rode to the barn, and
Colt eased himself out of the saddle. She looked down at the ground wondering
how the heck she was supposed to get down. She took her right foot out of the
stirrup and tried to slide off only to end up stuck.

“Don’t move, Spring.” Colt
reached up, lifted her out of the saddle and set her down. She was so close to
him she could smell him, a scent like leather and earth. Feeling a spark in her
stomach, she quickly stepped back. Rejection she couldn’t handle today.

“Thank you for taking me. I
really enjoyed myself.”

Colt stared at her. “You
really are lovely. I enjoyed myself too.”

There was no way she could
hide the smile that spread across her face. “I have things to do inside.”

“See you later.”

Spring nodded and began to
walk away. Her legs were sore and her walk slow.

“Want to go riding again
tomorrow?” She knew from the laughter in his voice that he knew she was sore.

“We’ll see.”

Chapter Ten

The next day, Colt asked Bibbs
about Peggy Jo and was amazed to learn she was now living with Bibbs and Shady.

“Tell me how that happened?
What did Shady say?” Colt was wrapping one of the horse’s legs.

“I’m not exactly sure. She’s
really nice and down on her luck. I gave her my room, and I’m on the couch now.
Shady likes her too. His girl isn’t too happy about the arrangement.”

“You gave her your room? Is
she paying rent at least?”

“In a couple weeks, she’ll
start kicking in. The tips at
Autumn’s
Bounty haven’t
been great.”

There was something about the
look in Bibbs eyes leading Colt to believe Bibbs had fallen for Peggy Jo. He
never imagined that one complication. “Shayla works at
Autumn’s
place, and is raking in the money, at least that’s what she told me.”

“Well, Shady and I will give
it a few weeks and see how it goes.” Bibbs did not look like he wanted to hear
anything negative about Peggy Jo.

“Hope it all works out for you
then. We need to move some of the cattle down to the pasture past the pond.
Here comes Shady. I can’t figure why you two don’t carpool.”

“I refuse to have him drive me
anywhere. He’s a lead foot, and he thinks I drive like an old biddy. It makes
for a better friendship.”

“Makes sense to me.”

The weather had gotten warmer,
and the sun beat down on the three men. By the end of the day, they were all
sweaty and covered in dirt. Shady and Bibbs elected to go home rather than
track dirt into the house. Colt waved them off and headed for the house.

He sat on the front porch and
pulled off his boots. His jeans were just as bad, and he hesitated before
taking them off as well.

Dirt verses embarrassment, what to do?
To hell with it
.
He shucked his jeans and
walked into the house.

By the shock on
Spring’s
face, he decided he made the wrong call. Her mouth
dropped open, and her face turned bright pink. She stared at his underwear, her
eyes widened, and she quickly turned around.

“Sorry, honey, my jeans and
boots are covered with mud among other things. It’s best to let them dry
outside so we can shake most of the dirt off before washing them.” Getting no
response, he quickened his pace to his bedroom. His body had reacted to her
scrutiny, and there was no mistaking what she saw. He was hard as a rock,
certainly not a reaction he’d anticipated.

He undressed and stepped into
a cold shower, trying to alleviate his problem. It took a while but things went
back to normal. It was too hard to deny his attraction and damn near impossible
to stay away from her. She drew him to her without even knowing it.

She’d had some bad breaks but
she was a survivor, with a heart as big as the Montana sky. He dried himself
off and dressed, shaking his head. She didn’t want or need a man in her life,
and he’d best remember it.

He wandering into the kitchen
and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Spring gave him
an assessing look, assessing all of him. Her face turned red, and she twisted
her hands.

“I didn’t see anything,
really. There was nothing to see, I mean…”

He couldn’t hold his laughter
back any longer. “There was plenty to see, and I hope you’re not insulting me
by saying it was nothing.”

She looked everywhere except
at him. “I wasn’t looking there.”

“Looking where?”

Putting her hands on her hips,
she gave him a long glare. “I did not see your great big erection. Is that what
you wanted me to say?”

He stopped laughing.
“Actually, yes.
I was teasing you, and I didn’t mean to make
you mad.
Great big huh?”

“If the sound of your laughter
didn’t sound so good I’d—well I’d... Heck, I’m going to have to ask Bibbs to
give me a list of good threats against you. I never have good comebacks. I
think of them later but never when I need them.”

“Yep, mean old Bibbs could
probably give you quite the list.”

She glared at him again.

“Spring, you have no mean
factor,
even your glare is cute.”

She sighed and sat down at the
table. “That’s me. Too nice for my own good and I still jump at shadows a time
or two.”

He walked behind her and put
his hands on her small shoulders. “I like your niceness, and I happen to think
you are one brave woman. You’ve been through a lot but you aren’t cynical or
jaded. I’ll give you the same advice you gave me: you just be you.”

As she turned her head to look
at him, he leaned down and kissed her soft cheek. Kissing her lips would have
been much nicer but he didn’t want her to shy away. Good friends would have to
be enough, to bad his libido didn’t agree.

* * * *

Behind her closed bedroom
door,
Spring
finally relaxed. Yes, she had seen it,
yes, she had stared at his erection, and God help her she wanted him. His sly
smile all through dinner didn’t help her nerves any. You’d think she’d never
seen one before! She smiled to herself. It was true she hadn’t seen one that
looked to be as big as his was. Billy’s—she didn’t want to waste her time
thinking about that creep. A shudder went through her. Hopefully, he was out of
her life for good.

Why wouldn’t the past just let
her go? Enough was enough, especially now with Peggy Jo in town. She never
referred to her as mom or mother, because she wasn’t. She was simply a thorn in
her side
who
gave birth to her and filled her head
with dreams and lies. No matter how Peggy Jo treated her as a child, she waited
for Peggy Jo to come back and take her away. A Cinderella story except her
prince coming to take her away was Peggy Jo. She’d held tight to her fairytale
until right after her eighteenth birthday. She aged out of the system, and for
some foolish reason, she expected Peggy Jo to be there waiting to take her
home.

Until the ranch, she never
felt part of any home. All she knew was distrust and anger. She wasn’t a
person, just a number. Even in the tiny place where she and Billy lived was
never hers.
Billy’s apartment, Billy’s rules.

Here in Carlston with Colt it
was different. Here she felt welcome, and Colt, Bibbs and Shady had become part
of her family. They valued her contribution in running the ranch, and they
actually seemed to like her. Things would change with Peggy Jo so close; she
felt it deep in her heart. That woman was in Carlston to make trouble.

Spring crawled into bed and
tried to sleep but it eluded her. The picture of Colt in his underwear would
not leave her brain. He did look damn good.

The next morning, Bibbs and
Shady arrived by the time
Spring
had the coffee all
ready and was working on bacon. They both smiled and nodded.

“You know where the mugs are
help yourself. How are you two this morning?”

Bibbs and Shady exchanged
glances and smiled. “We had a home cooked breakfast this morning,” Bibbs said.

“Was it good? Which one of you
cooked or was it your girlfriend, Shady?”

Both Bibbs and Shady found the
floor very interesting all of a sudden. They kept staring at it, shuffling
their feet. Finally, Bibbs looked up. “Well you see it was Peggy Jo. She’s a
mighty fine cook.”

She had to have heard wrong.
“Did you say Peggy Jo made you breakfast? Is she working at a diner now?”

They filled their mugs with
coffee, but they didn’t fool her with their little stalling tactic. “Well?”

“Is it true she’s your ma?”
Shady asked.

Her eyes widened. “Bibbs, do
you have something you’d like to tell me? And no, she is not my ma, she might
have given birth to me, but she does not have the right to the word ma, mom or
mother.”

Bibbs grimaced. “Oh hell, I
knew it would be this way but Peggy Jo insisted you’d come around. She’s
staying with Shady and me. She’s had a hard time of it lately and I—we lent a
helping hand.”

“She’s living with you? How
big is your bachelor cave?”

Shady turned a bright shade of
red.
“Two bedroom apartment.”

“Which one of you gave Peggy
Jo your room?”

Bibbs gasped. “How’d you know?
It was me.” He hung his head. “She seems like a real nice lady.”

“Listen, you can do what you
want but I don’t want to hear her name ever again.”

Shady sipped his coffee,
staring at her over the cup rim. “You’re not mad at us, are you,
Spring
? I had no idea.”

“No, she has a knack for
getting people to do things for her. You are just kind-hearted.” She smiled at
the relief on both men’s faces.

“Come on, Shady. We better go
and catch up with the boss.”

Shady put down his mug and
followed Bibbs. Before they got outside, she heard him ask, “How’d she know
about the bedroom?”

“She’s smart, that’s why.”

Chuckling, she shook her head,
but her laughter faded beneath a frown before long. Peggy Jo got Bibbs and
Shady to take her in? How did that happen?

The front door opened and Colt
walked in. “I just heard. Are you okay? Peggy Jo must be some sweet talker to
get Bibbs to give up his room.”

The concern on his face melted
her heart. “She supposedly cooked them breakfast. I don’t ever remember her
cooking. I just hope she doesn’t do too much damage before they end up kicking
her out.”

“Say the word, and I’ll get
them to put her out.”

She took a deep cleansing
breath. This man cared about her. “No, I don’t want any hard feelings. She won’t
stay long, she never does.”

“You didn’t answer my initial
question.” He took a step forward and cupped her face in his hands. “Are you
okay?”

“Yes, thanks for asking.” She
smiled into his eyes.

Colt leaned down and kissed
her nose. “Good.” He gave her an intense look, then let go.

She watched him walk out the
door feeling warm all over. Her lips had begun to tingle in anticipation when
he leaned down. A kiss on the nose, what did that mean? She’d never been kissed
on the nose before. For the first time, she wished she had a girlfriend she
could ask. In fact, her only friends were Colt, Shady and Bibbs. Her entire
life had been a lesson in the avoidance of getting close to people.

A couple hours later,
Spring
heard a knock on the door, and dread filled her. When
she opened it, she was immediately assaulted by the woman’s powerful perfume.
The stranger had magenta hair, and the grim look she sported didn’t bode well.

“Good morning. I’m Beverly
Rain. I have been remiss not introducing myself to you sooner. I like to get to
know all the people in my community.”

Spring opened the door wider.
“Glad to meet you. I’m
Spring
, come on in.” Spring
smiled, wondering what exactly she meant by ‘my community’ “Can I get you some
coffee?”

“Of
course, dear.”
Beverly took off her sweater and scrutinized the
house.
“Looks nice and clean in here.
I’m glad Colt
got a maid.”

Spring planted a big old fake
smile on her face. This wasn’t her first go round with this type of woman.
There was no way she was going to be baited by this biddy. “Takes a lot of work
but it’s worth it.”

Beverly made
herself
comfortable on the couch and waited for Spring to
bring her coffee.

“Cream
or sugar?”

“Black is fine.” She took the
offered cup. “Thank you.”

Spring sat on the plush chair
opposite the couch. “What can I do for you?”

Beverly sipped her coffee,
stared at
Spring
and blinked. “Like I said I’m just
here to get to know you. I’m considered the matriarch of society in Carlston,
and it’s my duty to greet all newcomers. Where are you from?”

Greet? It seemed more like an
interview. “I’m from Texas.”

“Oh? How’d you end up here on
the O’Malley ranch?”

“Caleb invited me to
come
work here. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of his passing
before I arrived.”

“What an awful reminder of
Caleb it must be to Colt, having you underfoot.” There was a squint to Beverly’s
eyes as she smirked.

“I’m not sure about that. You’d
have to discuss that with Colt. I don’t talk about my employers.” Spring
smirked back.

“I see, well maybe you can
tell me why you kicked your sweet mother out into the street? Poor Bibbs and
Shady had to take her in. It’s a disgrace if you ask me. Here in Carlston we
believe family takes care of family.” She raised her misshapen eyebrows and
tilted her head.