Dusty Britches (65 page)

Ryder let out an,
“
Oof!
”
and a slight moan as he helped Makenna situate herself farther down on his legs.
“
There now, darlin
’
,
”
he groaned as he smiled at her.
“
What can I do for my Kenna?
”

Makenna giggled and took Ryder
’
s face in her hands.
“
Mama said we could come over to Mr. Hunter
’
s ranch even though Daddy is still sore. He
’
s sittin
’,
and Mama
’
s talkin
’
wiff the ladies
,
and now there
’
s dancin
’
!
”
she exclaimed excitedly.
“
You have to dance wiff me, Ryder Magics!
”

“
Is that so?
”
he asked, grinning delightedly at her.

Dusty smiled, filled with
pure joy and amusement. How she loved to watch Makenna tag along after Ryder. How she loved
to watch Ryder respond to her—
completely enchanted by the little girl
,
a slave to her every whim.

“
Um
-
hum!
”
Makenna nodded.
“
Come on, Ryder Magics! The musics is startin
’
again!
”

“
Pardon me, Miss Dusty,
”
Ryder chuckled, rising awkwardly to his feet and taking Makenna by the hand.
“
I
’
m goin
’
waltzin
’
with the prettiest little angel in town!
”

They began to walk toward the others
,
Makenna tugging mercilessly on Ryder
’
s hand to hurry him along.
“
Hold on there, angel!
”
he groaned.
“
I got me a hitch in my get-along here.
”

Dusty giggled. But as Ryder limped away, her heart began to feel cold and lonely.
Dusty nodded and winked, however, at Makenna
,
who threw her arms around Ryder
’
s neck
. He
bent down and waved at Dusty happily as he lifted
Makenna
i
nto his arms, carrying
her the rest of the way.

Little girls would always love Ryder, she thought. She certainly hadn
’
t been
the last! She was sure of that.
She wondered again what the girl who had died meant to him. Slowly
,
she walked over to where everyone was dancing next to the corral. The music was so pleasant, that oh
-
so
-
familiar tune. She watched Ryder
’
s lips move, singing the words of the tune to
Makenna as he danced with her,
her tiny feet swinging this way and that in the breeze.
Dusty smiled and bit her lip as Makenna giggled with delight in Ryder
’
s arms.

“
Well, I
’
ll kiss you tonight, little darlin
’
…
a
nd I
’
ll hold you so tight, in my arms
,”
Ryder mouthed, kissing the toddler tenderly on the forehead. Makenna laid her head on Ryder
’
s shoulder, delirious with joy as Ryder continued to sing to her.

Dusty stood humming and watching everyone dance until she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to see Feller standing next to her.

He smiled, nodded, and said,
“
You enjoyin
’
the evenin
’
, Dusty?
”

“
Now and then,
”
she answered teasingly.
“
You?
”

“
Now and then,
”
he mimicked with a friendly smile.
“
You been up to no good where your daddy and Miss Raynetta is concerned.
”
He winked approvingly at her.

“
I
’
ve been up to very good where they
’
re concerned,
”
she told him.

The song ended
,
and the fiddler called out.
“
Grab your partners
,
folks! It
’
s hot out tonight
,
and it
’
s a flea-swappin
’
dance!
”
Everyone clapped and hooted and hollered
,
and Dusty, glancing to where Titch was leading Becca out to dance, saw an opportunity.

“
Aren
’
t you gonna be a gentleman, Feller, and ask me to dance?
”
she coaxed.

“
It
’
s a flea-swap, Dusty. I hate them kind,
”
Feller grumbled.

“
Oh, come on. Toughen up!
”
she told him, linking
an
arm with hi
s
and dragging him over to the dancing.

A flea-swap dance was something she
’
d always disliked too
—
especially if
she
w
ere
dancing with someone
she
wanted to be with. During a flea-swap, every once in a
while the fiddler would shout,
“
Old dogs a
-
scratch
’
em!
”
and everyone had to change partners.

Ryder had set Makenna down and was striding toward them. Catching his sleeve quickly and coaxing him to bend near, Dusty whispered,
“
Would y
a
watch and tell them fiddlers when to start and stop the swappin
’
?
”
He raised his eyebrows in admiration as he glanced at Feller and nodded.

“
Oh, I can
’
t believe I let you drag me on out here,
”
Feller grumbled as the music started and they began to waltz.

“
It
’
ll be fun,
”
Dusty told him.
“
I promise.
”

As they danced, Dusty noticed the way Feller
’
s eyes kept glancing to where Titch and Becca were dancing
near
by.
“
Oh, look,
”
she whispered.
“
There
’
s Becca. She doesn
’
t seem to be havin
’
much fun.
”

“
Hadn
’
t noticed,
”
Feller grumbled. Dusty was delighted by the blush
rising
to his cheeks.

“
Really? The way you don
’
t notice that little wiggle she
’
s perfected when she walks?
”

Feller
’
s eyes widened with indignation just as the
f
iddler shouted,
“
Old dogs a
-
scratch
’
em!
”

Ryder stepped up and caught Dusty as Feller more than willingly released her and took
Alice
in his arms.

“
Oh, he
’
s mad now!
”
Ryder chuckled as he saw the glare Feller shot to Dusty across the way.

“
He
’
ll get over it,
”
Dusty assured him
—
though a mild case of guilt did travel through her. It vanished quickly, however.

“
They
’
re gettin
’
closer…
”
Dusty whispered, not even realizing
she
and Ryder
were hardly dancing at all—more holding each other,
both star
ing
expectantly at Feller. Ryder raised his hand and nodded to the fiddler again.

“
Old dogs a
-
scratch
’
em!
”
the man shouted, and Dusty and Ryder
each
exhaled
with disappointment
as Feller turned the opposite direction from Becca and ended up with someone else again.

“
You in or out
,
Ryder?
”
Titch asked as he approached Dusty.

To Dusty
’
s great surprise, Ryder took hold of her hand and fairly yanked her out of the circle of dancing couples.
“
We
’
re out for now,
”
he told his friend, who happily took someone else as a partner.

“
That was
nearly
rude,
”
Dusty scolded him.

Ryder shrugged his shoulders.
“
I don
’
t feel like sharin
’
anymore,
”
he mumbled as he intently watched Feller.

A smile escaped across Dusty
’
s face
;
an odd fluttering in her stomach delighted her. How possessive of him! How fantastically possessive!

Dusty followed Ryder
’
s gaze
,
and sure enough, Feller and his current partner were dancing directly next to Becca and hers. If Feller avoided Becca now, it would be too brutally obvious
.
Dusty knew he wouldn
’
t take the chance at hurting her so terribly. Ryder raised his arm, nodded to the fiddler again, and this time
—
success!
Feller turned to Becca, inhaled
deeply
,
and took her in his arms. Dusty couldn
’
t help giggling with delight and wrapping her arms around one of Ryder
’
s large, powerful ones. He chuckled too,
grinning
down at her.

“
Ryder!
”
Makenna squealed as Dusty turned in time to see the curly-topped child run headlong at Ryder
. Th
ro
wing her arms around his thighs,
her head, which had been bent toward him, hit his body hard, causing him great distress in his lower extremities.

“
Oof!
”
he breathed again, doubling over this time and tugging patiently at the child
’
s arms until she released her vice grip on him. Dusty bit her lip,
once more
trying to stifle the amusement she knew she shouldn
’
t be experiencing.
Poor man
, she thought.

“
There now, sweet thing,
”
Ryder breathed to Makenna as he hunkered down awkwardly to face her.
“
You need to be more careful with ol
’
Ryder
,
or I ain
’
t gonna ever be able to have my own babies to spoil.
”

Dusty secretly thrilled as she remembered the last time Ryder made such an implication at the Fourth of July picnic.
A
giggle escaped her throat next as Makenna actually seemed to understand Ryder
’
s plea.

“
I
’
m sorry, Ryder Magics,
”
the child cooed, taking his whiskery face in her hands.
“
My daddy keeps tellin
’
me we won
’
t have no more babies at our house either if I don
’
t watch better where I sit.
”