A Lesson in Patience (8 page)

It would have been easier to assess if the last ten minutes of their conversation hadn't turned him on so much. When she stood up and stared him in the eye and told him to back off, he just about split his pants.

Ginny was a brave woman. He hadn't met too many women willing to stand up to him. Of course, he hadn't been in any situations where a woman would have to stand up to him.

Many of the conversations he'd had with Eloise had ended with her backing down almost immediately. The few times she found the courage to speak to him about his brother's behavior, he had managed to quash any suggestion that he handle the situation. After all, he wasn't paying her to do her job for her, was he?

He knew that Frank and Nate were a handful. But what was he paying a teacher for if she couldn't handle them? Colby had too much else to worry about without having to deal with that as well.

He'd always admired strong women. His mother was strong, as any woman would have to be to live on the frontier. She helped his father build their home, gave birth to seven children, five of which lived, and took care of all the household duties herself. His father would often be riding his cattle down south for market, leaving his spouse for a month at a time to care for all his children and his home.

Naomi was a strong woman too. Over twenty years earlier, she came out west to avoid her preacher father's influence. When things got tough, she hooked up with Ma Belle and made a name for herself as a whore. Not an easy life for anyone, but she was smart and saved her money. She helped Ma Belle run her business and which became one of the most successful brothels in all of Wyoming Territory. In the end, it paid off, with her taking over the business and continuing its success.

And now, there was Ginny. Strong, independent and as far as he could tell, smart. When she told the boys to return the bale to the barn, they didn't hem and haw, but jumped to it. And that after only knowing them a few hours. What did she do to inspire that kind of obedience?

Reaching his destination, a small watering hole, Colby climbed off his horse and allowed the animal to drink. Picking at a cattail near the edge of the water, he started swinging it around like a sword, just as he did when he was a kid. He and his older brother, Robert Jr., would spend hours pretending to be pirates or knights of England.

It was days like this that he missed RJ the most. At eighteen, RJ announced that he was off to make his way in the world. He needed to prove to himself that he was a man, despite his mother's begging and his father's pleas.

Colby thought about all the letters they'd received in the ten years since RJ had left. They came from all over the world: Europe, Africa, the far East. Each letter that his father would read, would only make Colby wish more to be away, doing his own thing as well.

So, when Colby turned twenty-three, he too left the ranch to make his way in the world. He moved to Denver and became an apprentice to an attorney. It was his hope to save up his money and move east to go to a university and study the law formally. Then, after gaining an acceptance to Columbia University in New York City, he had received word that his parents had been killed by a flash flood, not far from their ranch. The blow had been devastating, and he returned immediately.

His younger siblings were in no position to run the ranch, and his closest friend, Antonio was no where to be found. It was up to Colby to take over and give up his dreams of practicing law.

The last nine months had been a living hell. Not only had he lost the two most important people in his life, the two people who believed in him more than anyone else, but he had to give up his dreams as well. That and being saddled with caring for his family, instantly the patriarch, some days it took every ounce of Colby's will just to get out of bed.

In the end, Colby should be thankful that Ginny was so strong. Maybe she would stick it out longer than Eloise had. Maybe she could get through to his brothers. And maybe, she would just end up driving him mad, with anger, exasperation, and worst of all, lust.

Ginny sat in the Miller kitchen, talking to Nizhoni about her cooking. The old woman was quite the gossip, providing small details about the Miller family that Ginny doubted she would have ever found out on her own. For instance, Nizhoni loved telling Ginny the story of how Colby and her son Antonio stole a couple of horses so they could ride to Cheyenne to visit a brothel. They were discovered the next day, lost in the wooded area just north of the ranch. They were thirteen at the time.

Ginny wished she could share some stories with the old woman. So far, it was the only relationship that made much sense. But without any memories from the body she inhabited, she was out of luck. It wouldn't be very appropriate to tell her stories from the future, no matter how amusing the look on the old lady's face would be.

It didn't take long before the rest of the clan joined them in the kitchen for lunch, everyone except Colby. As Ginny ate her cold meat and bread, she wondered where she'd driven him off to. Surely she hadn't intimidated him that much. No one else seemed surprised that he wasn't joining them, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

After lunch, Ginny made the boys help Nizhoni clean the kitchen. The old woman was delighted for the help, especially from the two youngest Millers. After the kitchen was clean, Ginny took the two boys into the dining room to look over the books.

Ginny had a lot of work ahead of her. She had never taught children before. She'd helped train new physician assistants, but that was adults only. Her nieces and nephews had told her about their time at school, but she wasn't sure that was enough information to provide a formal education to two errant boys. She knew the information, but did she know how to teach it?

As she sat rifling through the books, Colby walked into the dining room. His face was passive, but it was only a matter of time before that changed. Ginny was beginning to think he was moodier than a teenage girl with her period.

“Nate, Frank, could you please excuse us for a moment?” Well, at least he sounded pleasant.

Nate and Frank turned to Ginny for confirmation. Ginny gave the slightest flick of her head and off the boys went. Before they got out of earshot, she yelled, “Keep reading, boys. There will be a quiz.”

She could hear them hem and haw as they left the house to presumably read outside. It occurred to Ginny that she shouldn't leave those two alone for long. It would lead to trouble.

“What can I do for you, Colby? Sorry you missed lunch. We had lots of fun chatting it up.” Ginny kept it neutral, but part of her was dying to bait him.

“Yeah, uh, I had something to take care of... in the fields, ya know.” Ginny didn't know, but took him at his word.

She waited patiently for him to get to whatever it was he wanted to talk about. Keeping her eyes on him the whole time, she saw that he paced nervously. He would stop and look back at her, but before he would utter a word, he'd begin pacing again.

What the hell
, she thought as she watched him burn a hole in the carpet.

Finally, after a few minutes of pacing, Colby sat on one of the available chairs. “I wanted to get some things straight between us.”

Finally
, Ginny thought that this would be the apology for his behavior earlier.

“I would like to get a plan from you on how you will go about teaching the children. Maybe you could put something together before dinner, and we can discuss it afterwards.”

Before dinner?
“Colby, I've never taught children before.”
Wait, I might have.
“As far as I can remember, I've never taught anyone before.”
Good save!
“I'm only now going through their books, trying to decide what do with them.”

His stare turned cold and Ginny realized it was time for yet another fight. A person could only walk on so many pins and needles before they bled to death.

“How long do you need?” Ginny would have thought he was being reasonable, except for the exasperated sound in his voice.

“Give me a few days. I will be able to assess where the boys are in their books by then. I will have a chance to see what materials I have and get a better idea of a lesson plan.”

“I'll give you until tomorrow after dinner.”

All sorts of colorful phrases came to Ginny's mind, but she knew that it would not help the situation. So, in keeping with her own personable, pleasant personality, she said, “Or what?” Ginny could be a diplomat when she wanted to be.

“Or what?” he hissed. “Or you will be out of a job.”

“And you will have no one to rein in the boys, and you will be out five dollars. So, instead of taking it to that extreme, shall we see where I am tomorrow night and reassess?”

Colby was in trouble again. He could feel himself responding to her. Felt his insides begin the slow burn of passion. Along with the passion, though, was also anger. How dare she speak to him like that? He was the head of this family and he deserved respect. Colby focused on the anger, trying to keep the passion at bay.

“Ginny, I don't think you realize your position here,” he muttered, through clenched teeth. “I'm the employer, you the employee. What I say, goes. Got it?”

“Colby, I am happy to listen, but I won't blindly obey. I also would be happy for your suggestions, since you know your brothers a lot better than I do. But if you are going to come to me every day, in a pissy mood, and try to bully me, then you're right. It's time for me to leave.”

Colby realized he had no where to go, in his reasoning anyway. So instead, he muttered something about seeing her at dinner, and left the room. Would he ever win an argument or hear a sorry from her? He was beginning to see that he probably never would.

A few days later, Ginny had begun to settle into her routine. The boys were both intelligent and creative. She had come to see both qualities when witnessing some of their stunts, each more interesting than the last.

Nate was a brilliant planner and strategist. Ginny realized it was usually his idea that the two executed. Frank, on the other hand, could build anything from the simplest materials. In her head, she began to call him MacGyver. Frank could make a bomb from a toothpick, a rubberband, and a paperclip.

She had to admit that she was really starting to like the two kids. Sure, she had to sit through Frank's feeble attempts at cursing. Never in her life, either before she started living romance novel lives or after, did she ever think she would be correcting a thirteen year old boy's use of swear words. Just that morning, Ginny found herself saying, “Frank, you might want to consider using jackass, instead of cow shit. I think it flows better.”

Nate had a quiet strength about him. He was the observer, taking everything in and seeing what he could use. He didn't speak much, and almost exclusively to Frank, but Ginny felt him coming out of his shell.

They decided that afternoon that the weather was too fine to sit inside and do their lessons. So the three set out for the meadow with a picnic basket prepared by Nizhoni and sat on the blanket doing their math. Ginny had some math skills to her credit. She could calculate a tip in record time and figure out how much something cost after the percentage discount. But when you added letters with the numbers, she was lost. Thankfully, the books they had were still basic, concentrating mostly on fractions and percentages, and the usual adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. All things that even Ginny could handle.

After going over their lesson sheets, the cheerful group got to talking about the neighbors and the townsfolk. It was Saturday, and they would all be attending church the next day. So Ginny decided to ask about the minister.

“Oh he's real mean, if you ask me,” Frank replied.

“What does he do to make you think that?” Ginny asked, hoping that the two tight-lipped boys might expound a little.

Nate scratched his head and replied, “Well, for one thing, he calls Nizhoni a heathen. Just 'cause she ain't the same religion.”

“She isn't, not ain't.” Ginny said automatically. “I find that some religious people are not very open-minded.”

Frank liked this idea. “Yeah, all the stories the preacher's wife told us during Sunday school said that Jesus liked everyone.”

Smiling, Ginny asked, “Do you still go to Sunday school?”

“Nah, we sit with the regular service now.” Nate sounded as though it wasn't by their choice.

“Are you too old,” Ginny asked, suspecting that the two had gotten into some trouble to cause themselves being kicked out of Sunday school.

Both boys looked in any direction but Ginny's. Neither had a chance to respond when Colby walked up.

“Why are you out here when you should be in the classroom?” It came as no surprise to hear him being surly. Ginny had grown accustom to it.

“It was such a beautiful day that we decided to do our math lessons outdoors,” Ginny had also perfected her “cheerful despite his anger” voice.

“Boys, go back to the house. Take all this...” Colby waved around at their picnic. “with you,” he concluded when the right word wouldn't come to him.

Ginny stood up and helped the boys pack up their basket. Not a moment later, both boys were off toward the house. Before they were out of earshot, Ginny called, “You both have to read two chapters from your readers this afternoon.” Their reply was more hemming and hawing. They were always amazed that Ginny could remind them of their duties, even before being chewed out by their big brother.

Turning toward Colby, Ginny prepared to listen to his complaints. That's all she'd heard since her arrival. She never gave him a lesson plan, she didn't teach the boys the way he thought they should be taught, she didn't help out enough. Every accusation she was able to defend which only made Colby madder.

“This is a damn waste of time.”

That's the best he's got
, Ginny thought.
Weak, truly weak
.

“I beg to differ. The boys are excelling in their math, especially Nate. I was going to ask if I could order some higher level math books from Cheyenne.” The trick was to not get mad in return. Something that wasn't going to work much longer, because Ginny was reaching her end.

“We've discussed this, Ginny. Eloise always kept the boys in the classroom, and she's a professional teacher. Maybe you should go and talk to her about lesson plans.”

Well, that was the end. “And what did the boys learn from her? From what I hear, they got in even more trouble because she never got through to them. The boys and I have connected. Have they gotten themselves in any real trouble since I came? Have I complained even once about their behavior to you? No, I haven't. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!” Ginny's voice became more elevated during her speech. Colby's eyes got even wider.

Moving forward and standing right in front of her, Colby looked down into her eyes. Keeping is voice low, hissing at times, he said, “I will decide what is appropriate. I will decide what is best for
my
brothers. You are, at best, a short term guest in my home. Don't push me on this, Ginny. You would do best to heed this warning.” With that, Colby turned and walked back toward the ranch at a fast clip.

Ginny stood and watched his retreat, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.
Damn him, damn him to hell
.

She hadn't done anything wrong. As a matter-of-fact, she was doing everything right. Perhaps it was unorthodox but still highly effective. He didn't want the job himself, but couldn't resist telling her she was wrong. Ginny was so mad, she knew she couldn't return yet. So she walked slowly toward the barn and corral. Maybe she could walk off some of her anger.

As she wandered back to the house, taking the longest route she could, she became lost in her thoughts. How was she ever to come to an understanding with Colby, the arrogant jackass? Yes, he was just this side of gorgeous, and he had a body to match, but that didn't make much difference when he had the personality of the devil himself.

Now she was feeling sorry for herself. She had to remember that Ian had been a very unpleasant man to deal with as well. She managed to weather that for the three months she was with him. And who could forget how unpleasant Colin could be when reciting all his rules. She managed to turn him around a little, didn't she?

Looking up from her thoughts, she heard the sound of a horse approaching. She watched as small plumes of dust trailed behind the lone rider. He seemed to be riding as if the devil were on his heels.

The rider seemed to change direction when he noticed her standing alone in the field south of the house. He slowed his horse as he approached her. Ginny caught sight of the rider from a few dozen yards away.
Holy shit
, she thought as she saw the perfect jawline, underneath the rim of a low, black hat.

Jumping off his horse before the animal had fully stopped, the man took the reins and came to stand before her. Removing his hat, Ginny was treated to one of the most handsome faces she'd ever seen. Along with his strong jawline, the man had a straight nose, big brown eyes and full lips. His face was covered in day old beard growth and dust. His hair, which at first appeared short, was actually pulled back in a tight, long braid that reached halfway down his back. He was tall, taller than even Colby, and he wore the clothes of a cowboy.

Ginny couldn't speak. He was god-like in his masculine perfection. His skin was deeply tanned, or perhaps it was his natural tone. The man clearly had Native American in his blood. She continued to stare, her mouth dry, at the magnificent creature.

Thankfully, she did not affect him as much. “Good day to you, ma'am. I don't believe we've ever met.”

Finally finding her voice, if just to avoid looking like an idiot, she replied, “My name is Ginny. I'm the boy's new teacher.” She sounded strong, not as breathless as she felt.

Smiling, he showed off his perfect, white teeth. “Well, that explains it. My name is Antonio Vasquez.”

Oh, yeah
. “Your Nizhoni's son. She talks about you a lot.” Smiling now, Ginny felt herself loosening up.

“You
speak
to my mother?” He sounded surprised.

“Yes, I speak Spanish. Otherwise, I would be in the same boat as Eloise was. What brings you back to the ranch?”

Cocking his head to the side slightly to regard her, instead of answering, he asked a question of his own. “How long have you been here?”

“Not even a week.”

“Oh, that explains it. I live here, most of the time. My father became partners with the Millers, so now I own part of the ranch.” He turned and pointed at a small cottage just a hundred yards or so south. “That's my home. Although I've been away for a few months now.”

“Well, welcome back Antonio.”

“Vas,” he replied, as if that were to mean something.

“I beg your pardon?”

“People call me Vas. No one has called me Antonio since my father died.”

“Did he only use your name when you were in trouble?” Ginny asked, arching an eyebrow. She'd already heard many stories about Nizhoni's only child.

Smiling, he said, “Depended on the tone. If he was yelling, I needed to be on the lookout for the switch.” Deftly changing the subject, he asked, “Would you care to walk with me to the corral? Then I can go see my mother and hear all about you behind your back.”

Ginny laughed. Besides the boys and their antics, she'd had little to laugh over in the past week.

“Okay. I'm sure your mother won't have much to tell. I haven't done anything extraordinarily stupid yet.”

“I can't see you doing anything too stupid.” They laughed together, and Ginny told him to give it time.

Before they could reach the barn, Colby walked up. Vas smiled at his long time friend and held out his free hand. Colby shook it, but still had the same churlish look on his face.

“How are you, amigo? I told you I'd be back before it was time to run the cattle to Denver.”

“Yeah, you said you'd be back. I see you met Ginny.” Colby tilted his head in Ginny's direction as if he needed to point her out. She was the only other person there.

“Where did you find such a pretty teacher for the boys?” Vas winked in her direction, and Ginny barely suppressed the giggle.

“You mean my wife, don't you?”

Ginny's head whipped around to look at Colby. What kind of game was he trying to play now? After all they'd discussed, after all the bad feelings, now he wanted her to play his wife. Not bloody likely.

Vas turned again to look at Ginny. He had a questioning expression on his face. “Wife? I didn't realize you'd married, my friend. Congratulations.” His whole speech was meant for Colby, but directed at Ginny.

Ginny was shocked. Turning back to Colby, she asked, “Where did that come from?”

Colby gave her his full attention. “The boys are getting into mischief. You'd better get inside before they cause trouble. I'll help Vas here with his horse.”

Whatever
, she thought. “It was nice to meet you Vas. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon.” With that, she turned toward the house and left the two men to piss on things and get territorial.

“Lo siento, amigo. She told me she was a teacher.” Vas explained when Ginny was out of earshot.

“She is, technically. I bought her from a match maker in Denver. We decided to not let it get personal, but I don't need you causing trouble with her. I need her to stick it out longer than the last one did.”

“And I wouldn't marry her?” Vas said, with mock derision.

“No, you wouldn't.” With that, Colby turned on his heel and headed back to the house.