People Will Talk (4 page)

As they drove over the rolling January-brown
hills, the battered pickup surprised flurries of crows from the
occasional clumps of brush. The sun streamed down from a pale
sky.

Nora drew in a breath of the warm air that blew
in through the crack of the lowered window. Despite the rumors,
she'd done the right thing in coming home.

She couldn't help the contentment that seeped
into her as she rode beside Bret in the bouncing pickup. Being with
him might be dangerous to her peace of mind, but at least he didn't
treat her like a scarlet woman.

The windmill was visible from down the hill,
its old-fashioned blades a serrated circle in the sky.

Brett halted the truck at the base of the
tower, a structure of galvanized iron that lifted the windmill head
nearly fifteen feet off the ground.

It wasn't until they'd stopped and Bret had
gone around to the back of the truck that Nora first thought to
wonder what exactly Bret wanted her to do, Getting out of the
pickup, she waited as he carried several new windmill blades around
and propped them against the tower.

"I tell you what," he said. "You climb up and
I'll hoist the blades up to you."

"You want me to climb the tower?" Above them,
the windmill whirred, its hum seeming part of the breeze that
streamed past.

"Yeah." He gathered up tools and shoved them in
his back pockets. “Just go up and reach down. The blades aren’t
heavy."

Thank the Lord she'd never been afraid of
heights.

Bret looked up. “Just climb right up," he
encouraged. "It's as safe as the back of a horse."

"Of course," she said as she placed her foot on
the first rung. The metal felt warm to her hands. Once in motion,
Nora refused to let herself stop. A brisk breeze darted playfully
around the tower's legs, brushing at the wisps of hair that had
escaped her braid. She kept climbing, her eyes focused on the rungs
in front of her until at last, she reached the top.

Clambering onto the small wooden platform, she
glanced up to the full spread of sky and land.

"Okay," Bret called. "Turn around and lie on
your belly. I'll hoist the blades up to you one at a
time."

The platform was about five feet square.
Abandoning any hope of gracefulness, Nora positioned herself on her
stomach and reached down for the blade Bret offered. One by one, he
raised up each curved metal piece until all three rested on the
platform.

"Good. You stay there. I'll be right up." Bret
turned to grab a pair of pliers off the bed of the
truck.

Nora looked around the platform. He wanted her
to stay up here while he worked on the thing? Good grief, there was
hardly room for her and the blades, much less a broad-shouldered
Bret.

The tower reverberated with Bret's steps on the
ladder. Nora scooted to one side, trying to make herself
small.

He poked his head through the opening, a wide
grin breaking on his face. "Hi, there. Enjoying the
view?"

She glanced out over the pasture, her senses
still captured by his smile. "Yes, it's wonderful."

He climbed up and settled himself next to her,
so close she could feel the warmth of his body and breathe deeply
of his male scent.

Nora shifted closer to the edge.

"Here, hold this."

She took the tool he held out.

"One thing about windmills," he said. "They're
simple machinery. We'll have these blades on in no time.
"

"Good." For heaven's sake, she scolded herself,
how much less intimate could the situation be? She was perched on
top of a windmill with the guy. People for miles around could see
them.

But it didn't feel that way. With the wind
sweeping silently around them, the world could have been an empty
place.

Despite focusing her attention on anything but
Bret, Nora was aware of his every movement. He handled the windmill
as if it were a Tinker toy, his work seemingly
automatic.

Grasping the metal upright with one hand, Nora
scooted to the edge of the platform to make more room for
him.

"Hand me those pliers."

Surrendering the tool, she eased further away
and risked dangling her legs off the platform.

All around her lay the glorious tapestry of
prairie and sky. The winter grass rippled golden in the sun,
hugging the ground. Each hill ended in a trickle of a valley where
scrubby live oaks clustered.

Occasionally, crows lifted from the fields
below, circling in a flurry of blue-black wings, only to settle
down again near where they'd started as if involved in a
shimmering, shifting dance.

The clunk of a tool against the platform behind
her seemed like a minor accompaniment to the performance of the
moment. Nora drew in a breath and held it like a treasure before
allowing a sighing release.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Bret's voice came from so close behind her that
she jumped.

"Hey," he laughed, steadying her with his hands
on her upper arms. "No swan dives allowed."

"No," she murmured shakily, acutely conscious
of the heat and strength of his hands through the thin cotton of
her shirt.

"This is why I do windmill work," he said. "On
days like this the place looks like God's country from horizon to
horizon."

Instead of letting go of her, he moved closer,
sliding his arms around to hook together in front of her
body.

Nora's heart started its own rendition of the
"Star Spangled Banner." Locked against him, she was surrounded by
sensation, the warmth of him, the solid feel of his muscled
chest.

"What I really love," Bret went on, "is the way
the earth looks from the sky. Leaving the ground is so freeing.
"

His breath wafted against her ear, sending her
nerve endings into a frenzy. She tried to hide the involuntary
shiver that skated over her skin.

"I-I guess that's what you like about flying,"
she said, compelled to speak even though her voice felt
strangled.

"Mmmhm." Bret leaned back slightly, settling
her more comfortably against his chest. "I've always loved heights.
Sometimes when I'm at the top of a tall building, I get the
craziest urge to jump."

"That is crazy." She'd always known he had his
moments of insanity, which made her intense attraction to him even
more strange.

"Yeah," Bret said. "I guess the craziness
explains my parachuting and bungee jumping phases."

Nora chuckled, tilting her head back to look at
him. "Your mother must worry about you all the time."

His smile flashed and died as he looked down at
her. She saw the darkening of his eyes, felt the tension in the
moment, and knew that if she held still, he'd kiss her.

Yearning possessed her with an urgency. She
knew she couldn't trust him with her heart, that he was trouble,
but now she just wanted to kiss him. The realization should have
terrified her out of his arms and off the windmill
platform.

But at the moment, she couldn't move. Nora's
eyes fluttered shut as Bret bent closer. She felt the brush of his
lips against hers, the soft catch of electricity that funneled
through her body. He murmured something in his throat, pulling her
tighter as he angled to taste her mouth.

The scent of him flooded her and left her
hungry and aching. She opened to his kiss, welcoming the taste of
him, the sensation of being surrounded by him. He kissed her with a
softness that held no hesitancy, a thoroughness that sent a ringing
to her ears and a rush of blood thundering through her
body.

Never had she experienced such an overwhelming
kiss.

She told herself to be grateful when he lifted
his mouth from hers. It took all her effort to focus on that
thought.

''I'm glad you came home, Nora." Her eyes
popped open.

"Now I know who to call when I need to do
windmill repair."

She stared at him, dumbfounded by the chaos of
her nervous system while struggling to return to the normal world
of speech. Good Lord, she was acting as if she'd never been kissed
before.

"Glad to be of help," she said as coolly as she
could.

He laughed, keeping one hand on her arm as he
shifted back to the center of the platform. She scooted after him,
swamped with a sudden need to feel the ground beneath her
feet.

Bret Maddock was the kind of guy who could make
a girl forget her upbringing and cast her reputation to the
winds-and then go merrily on his way.

Following him down the ladder, Nora reminded
herself of her situation. Because of Richard's betrayal, the town
censured her for something she hadn't done. Trusting Bret was
absolutely out of the question.

Hoyt's feed store always smelled the same. The
odors of hay and pesticide mingled with the dusty scent of dog.
Nora stood inside the door, her eyes adjusting to the sparse light
filtering down from the occasional light fixture.

The dusty shelves were still crammed with feed
and fertilizer. Along one wall hung all manner of harnesses and
cinch straps. Even the old, bone-idle bird dog that was lying by
the electric heater looked the same as the last time Nora had been
here.

No matter how old she got, she'd always
remember the combination of scents in this place. Hovering in the
front of the door as memories flashed through her mind, Nora slowly
became aware that she was the center of attention.

Although Hoyt was busy behind the counter
writing out an order for a customer, the cluster of men sitting
around the heater all stared at her.

Small towns were notorious for fostering
interest in one's neighbors, but the expression on the faces
watching her held more than friendly interest. There was an
assessing quality to their stares, an overly bold, lingering
inspection.

She saw their exchanged glances, their sly
smiles, and she felt her backbone stiffen. Even here in this
bastion of masculine activity, gossip reared its ugly
head.

One younger man in particular looked her over,
a smirk on his face as he pushed back his black cowboy
hat.

A surge of frustration rose in Nora, and she
squared her shoulders. She'd never realized how petty and
small-minded people could be, and how quick to judge.

Moving forward with determination, Nora skirted
the stacks of seed on the floor. She shuffled the flyers in her
hands as she reached the bulletin board, turning her back on the
group by the heater. Her purpose in being here had nothing to do
with them, and if they chose to be rude, let them.

Irritated, she forcefully skewered her
announcement with a push pin. Getting the riding academy going was
the important thing.

She stepped back to make sure the paper was
straight.

The announcement had turned out well. Even the
gold-apricot paper was a good choice. "Announcing the Opening of
the Stoneburg Equestrian Center," it said.

Smoothing the paper, Nora allowed herself a
moment of pride. This business was her dream, and if she had to
ignore several hundred rude people to get it going, she
would.

Just then the door to the feed store swept open
and crashed shut. Nora glanced up as footsteps echoed on the wood
floor.

Wearing tight pink jeans and a fringed western
shirt, Cissy Burton crossed the store, sashaying over to the heater
with a flirtatious smile on her face. She placed her hand on the
shoulder of the cowboy in the black hat, her voice pitched low and
sultry as she leaned over to make some remark.

The men in the group grinned.

Nora looked away, remembering the girl she'd
known in school. Even then, Cissy had worn tight jeans and lots of
makeup, and would chase any guy that caught her eye.

Even though Cissy had been popular for obvious
reasons, Nora had never envied her. Her flirtations always seemed
desperate, her attention shifting quickly from one boy to
another.

Cissy had boasted of her sexual conquests in a
way that was distasteful to Nora. It always seemed as if Cissy was
hungry to belong, always offering what she thought people
wanted.

Her current animosity toward Nora probably
stemmed from Cissy's high school crush on Richard. Before Nora
started dating him, Cissy hadn't appeared to give her a thought,
but since that time, the girl hated her.

Giving her announcement one more glance, Nora
turned away from the bulletin board.

The black-hatted cowboy caught her gaze and
held it before letting his stare slide down to her
chest.

Nora felt the burn of his inspection from
across the room; it was as if he believed that she was available to
every man she met.

Lifting her chin, she met his stare angrily,
resentment flooding her at this undeserved insolence.

The cowboy turned his head a little, still
staring at her body, and made a comment to Cissy.