Dusty Britches (14 page)

Sitting down next to the cool pool of water fed by the waterfall, she let her feet slip beneath the water
’
s surface.
“
Ahhh,
”
she sighed, closing her eyes. She opened them immediately when the first vision to pass before them was that of Ryder and his mischie
vous grin. She hated that grin—that
triumphant,
“
I-got-the-better-of-you
”
grin. He
’
d grinned it forever. For
as long as she could remember,
that teasing, adorable, infuriating grin had
always
existed. And yet, as she thought of their proximity in the trough, as she contemplated how exhilarating it had been to have him holding her against him as he bound her hands at her back, she began to give in.

There was no fighting it. There was no fighting
the reality that the man was fantastic—
even more magnificent than he
’
d been five years ago! She would have to ac
cept and learn to live with it—
learn to live with him! Undoubtedly, he would winter at the ranch. H
e’d already told her father so;
she
’
d heard him that morning during branding. And if she
were going to survive—
if she w
ere
going to be able to soften herself toward her father and si
ster as she’d promised herself—then
she was going to have to come to terms with the fact that the perfect, wonderful man
who
had
been so out of reach to her before was going to be
near to her every day,
a
painful
reminder of what she still could never have.

She let herself fall backward into the cool grasses
lining the banks of the pond. She breathed
deeply of their green fragrance and the warmth of the day. Though her mind fought
surrender for several moments,
she finally
allowed memory
to flood
her mind
. From the moment
she
’
d turned
to see
Ryder
standing behind her the day before, they’d called to her. There were so many memories—
too ma
ny to count, too many to recall. A
nd they were
,
all
of them, good—a
lmost.

“
Mama
,
I can
’
t do this! I te
ll you, I can’t!” Dusty whined. P
ut
ting her head down on the table, she
dramaticall
y
bang
ed
her fist on the to
p of it
.
“
Mrs
.
Fitzpatrick is a demon of torture, Mama! This arithmetic is far too hard
.
I can
’
t do it
.
I can
’
t!
”

Dusty he
ard her mother’s impatient sigh. Still, she spoke rather calmly,
considering how long Dusty had spent whining about her schoolwork instead of doing it.
“
She wouldn
’
t give you that assignment if she didn
’
t think you were capable of figurin
’
it out, Dusty!
”
Elly Hunter untied her apron and folded it, laying it on the counter.
“
Now, I
’
ve done all I can to encourage you. I
’
m worn out. I
’
m goin
’
in the other room to do some readin
’
of my own
,
and when I come back in
thirty
minutes…I want that assignment finished and you ready to turn in. You hear me?
”

“
But I can
’
t!
”
Dusty sobbed.
“
It
’
s too hard and
—”

“
Angelina Hunter! I
’
ve had it!
”
Her mother left the room,
shaking
her
head
.

It wasn
’
t more than a few moments before Dusty heard the door to the kitchen open. Assuming it was her
father coming in for the night,
she sniffled, wiped her tears
,
and straightened in her chair. There would be heck to pay if her father found out how she
’
d been whining at her mother.

“
I can hear you whinin
’
all the way out to the corral,
”
Ryder whispered. Dusty turned to see Ryder walk quietly into the room.

“
I thought you boys were all in bed,
”
Dusty sniffled.

“
With you yowlin
’
like a hung cat?
”
he chuckled quietly.
“
What
’
s ol
’
Mrs. Fitzpatrick torturin
’
you with tonight, Britches?
”
he asked.

Ryder always came to her rescue. Always.

Dusty smiled. He had helped her through all of Mrs. Fitzpatrick
’
s awful arithmetic assignments. It was fairly often he
’
d come sneaking into the kitchen well past his own bedtime to help Dusty a
nd Becca with their schoolwork—
patient as ever in spite of being completely wrung out from a hard day
’
s work. Dusty
’
s heart twinged as she thought of her mother. No doubt her mother had been wise to it the entire time. Looking back, it was too coincidental that her mother would disappear each time there was a dramatic schoolwork complaint, only to suddenly reappear the moment Ryder walked out the door.

If you wanna play with me
,
Ryder had said, looking down at her in the trough that afternoon. Ryder
’
s voice echoed through her mind. He had played with her when she was younger. They
’
d played marbles and kick the stick. He
’
d been the one to teach her to waltz, for pity
’
s sake. She and Becca had even talked him into being their patient on occasion when they wanted to play nurses and hospital. Sometimes Felle
r could be talked into it too—
on a hot afternoon when the work was done early. Both men would always end up lying under a tree by the creek, wrapped up like mummies in bandages the girls had made out of scraps of any kind of fabric they could find. Eventually, Becca and Dusty would get tired of their drifting in and out
of sleep and leave them to nap—
pink calico bandages around their heads and all.

In fact, when Ryder first arrived, he
’
d been more like a novelty cousin or something to Dusty. But thing
s changed as she grew older—
as he grew older and more comparable to a knight in shining armor than a friend.

He is beautiful
,
she thought with a sigh, h
er body finally relaxing.
A beautiful dream that I
’
m living again. But dreams end. They always do.

Sleep was peaceful by the pond
,
and she accepted it gratefully.



It was that sense of
someone watching
her
that woke her.
Even b
efore she opene
d her eyes, she knew who it was—
for the air around her was charged with his presence.

“
You sure have a lot of time on your hands for braggin
’
about what a hard worker you are
,”
s
he grumbled as she opened her eyes to see Ryder was indeed hunkered down beside he
r, chewing on a blade of grass—
a mischievous grin plastered across his face.

“
Yeah, well,
”
he mumbled,
“
I got a bit of a talkin
’-
to from your daddy
’
bout pullin
’
his young woman of a daughter
—
who ain
’
t a little girl anymore
—
into the horse trough…even though it was that young woman
’
s foot planted on my behind that found me there in the first place
.”
He raised his eyebrows accusingly and then continued,
“
So…I figure…if I wanna warm bed to sleep in this winter and food in my belly…well, I guess I gotta say I
’
m sorry.
”

“
Well, don
’
t say it if it
’
s gonna choke y
a
to death,
”
she grumbled, pulling herself to a sitting position.

“
It ain
’
t,
”
he chuckled.
“
I
’
m sorry. Sorry that I was a pill in the kitchen…not that I pulled you in the tr
ough with me. That you deserved.”

“
Well,
”
Dusty said, brushing her hair back from her face. She suddenly realized what a complete mess she must look.
“
If that
’
s your apology, I
’
d hate to hear what y
ou’d have
to say i
f ya didn’t feel guilty at all.”

“
I just wouldn
’
ta said nothin
’
.
”
He grinned and groaned dramatically as he sat down beside her.

“
Things are different than when you were here before,
”
she blurted out.

“
Yep,
”
he agreed.
H
e did not elaborate.

“
N
o, really,” she assured him. “I-
I want you to be able to stay here and work for Daddy. Daddy
’
s a good, fair man and…but I can
’
t…you have to…I
’
ve changed. I
’
m not a child anymore
,
and…
”

“
Yeah, I noticed that,
”
he mumbled
with insinuation. He winked
at her when she looked to him
,
astonished
.

“
That
’
s what I mean! I
’
m…yo
u can’t treat me like I was ten.”

“
Not even when y
a
act it?
”
he asked, his grin disappearing. She was hurt into silence
,
and he continued,
“
You
’
ve changed. And I don
’
t mean the way you fill out a dress now or that you grew up. I mean
—
and yes, I
’
ve heard the tale about what happened a couple of years ago
—
but I mean, your heart has changed. You used to be this wild, excited, happy little girl. Most times people like that grow up to be w
ild, excited, happy adults. But
you
’
re wa
llerin’ in self-pity and hate…a
nd that makes for a mighty unhappy woman.
”

“
You
’
ve been here one day, Ryder! One!
”
she argued, raising her voice.
“
How can you suppose to know
—”

“
Because you were already mostly grown when I left. And I knew y
a
then
,
b
et
ter than anybody. Don’t deny it,”
he growled.
“
Heck! I was in trouble over you
most of the time I was here…
not to mention the way I…
”
H
e silenced himself and clenched his jaw tightly for a moment.
“
I come out here to apologize to y
a…b
ut, dang it all, if I don
’
t want to take you over my knee and paddle your behind by now!
”