Randall Pride (11 page)

“I imagine she’ll want to stay in and rest,” Toby said, knowing that wasn’t what Lonnie would want to hear.

“Give it up, Toby. You’ve kept me away from her all week. It’s Friday night. Let Elizabeth speak for herself.”

“We’ll see.” Toby turned around, ready to head for the house and get a word with Elizabeth before Lonnie could talk to her. If she was going into town, he’d be going with her, Lonnie or no Lonnie.

Rich stared at the two men. “This could be interesting,” he muttered and hurried after Toby.

Lonnie was right behind them.

E
LIZABETH
was tired. The children had been restless. The excitement of school starting had worn off. The realization that school wasn’t all fun and games had set in. It took a lot more effort to keep the kids happy.

Plus, the tension at home was wearing. Every evening, Lonnie had wanted to spend time with her. It took a lot of effort to entertain a stranger, especially when he wanted so much more than she had any interest in giving.

Then there was Toby. He’d followed her around
like a pet Rottweiler, threatening to snap off any of Lonnie’s body parts that got close to her.

Keeping the peace between Toby and his friend took even more effort. She’d had enough. And had taken her own action to end it.

With a determined smile on her face, she climbed the stairs, planning a soothing bubble bath to start her evening.

A knock on the bathroom door shocked her as she relaxed in the hot bubbly water. “Yes?”

“Elizabeth?”

With a sigh, she asked, “What do you want, Toby?”

“Lonnie’s downstairs wanting to ask you what you want to do tonight. You do remember all the things I warned you about?”

She swirled the bubbles in the water, a smile on her lips. “How could I forget? You’ve been reminding me every day. Now go away.”

“Elizabeth, I think it would be good if we planned what to do this evening. You know, if you say you want us all to go into town together, then I could drive, and I could help you keep Lonnie at a distance.”

“Really?” she asked, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

“Elizabeth!”

“Go away, Toby. I’m trying to relax. Today was difficult. I’ll be downstairs in about half an hour.”

The door rattled, giving Elizabeth a shock. “Don’t open that door!” she squealed.

“I’m not, but I think you’re being difficult!”

“Go away!”

To her surprise, he did.

The water was getting cold, but now she had to stay in the tub another few minutes on principle if nothing else. She certainly didn’t want Toby thinking he had intimidated her. She was determined to make her own choices.

She timed her arrival downstairs for exactly half an hour later. Dinner was over and everyone was sitting around talking. She’d had several discussions with her mother during the week about Toby’s attitude. Her mother had encouraged her to trust her own judgment.

When she entered, Toby and Lonnie leaped to their feet and came around the table to greet her.

Elizabeth slipped around them to go to her father. “Hi, Daddy. It’s been a busy week, and I’ve scarcely seen you.”

“I know, baby. You’re looking good tonight.”

“Thank you,” she said, and bent to kiss his cheek.

“You going out?” her father asked.

“Yes, I am,” she assured him, again ignoring anyone else’s reaction.

“Want any company?” Rich asked.

“Hey, you can’t—” Lonnie protested. Then he collected himself. “I was going to ask the same thing, Elizabeth. You can hang out with Rich whenever, but
I have to leave tomorrow. How about going out with me?”

“I think we should all go out together,” Toby argued, staring at Lonnie. “There isn’t a lot to do here, so we might as well all enjoy ourselves.”

“Next thing I know you’ll be inviting her parents, too!” Lonnie roared. Then turned bright red. “I mean—I didn’t mean any disrespect, Mr. Randall. But I’d like to spend some time with Elizabeth without half her family hanging around.”

“How nice of you, Lonnie. Too bad you didn’t say something before now,” Elizabeth said with a smile. Then she stepped over to the hooks on the wall where they all hung their jackets. Taking hers down, she turned to look at the three handsome men standing there, ready to escort her wherever.

“I already have plans for tonight.” Then she walked out the door.

Toby figured he’d never understand women. Elizabeth
knew
Lonnie wanted her to go out with him.

Then he had to move because Lonnie was already out the door following Elizabeth. Rich came after him.

“Elizabeth, wait!” Lonnie called.

Toby caught up with him just as he reached Elizabeth.

“Yes?” she asked as she pulled car keys from her purse.

“Where are you going? You knew I wanted to see you,” Lonnie pointed out.

Toby decided his friend wasn’t as fast a learner as him. He wouldn’t have pointed that out, since it appeared to be a factor in her behavior.

As if explaining the rules of life to a child, Elizabeth said, “Lonnie, a gentleman extends an invitation ahead of time when he wants to see a lady. And not at the last minute.”

Which left Lonnie red-cheeked and tongue-tied.

“Where you going, Lizzie?” Rich asked.

“The church hayride. Didn’t you hear about it?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. Mind if I go with you?”

“No, I don’t mind. Even better, I’m sure the others won’t mind either. It will cost you five dollars, of course, and you’d better go call and tell them you’re coming or they won’t have enough hot dogs.”

A hayride. Toby decided that might be better than heading to the bar in town. There’d be less single guys at the hayride. All the women would have drafted them as dates.

“Mind if we come, too?” Toby asked casually.

When she shook her head, he asked Rich to add their names to the list.

While Rich was inside, Lonnie tried to apologize his way out of the hole he was in. “Uh, Elizabeth, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I mean, I was thinking of you, but I forgot the social niceties. It’s Toby’s fault. He—he distracted me. I intended to—”

“Lonnie, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the hayride. We’ll cook hot dogs and visit. And they’re nice people.”

Toby couldn’t resist teasing his friend. “Yeah, but mind your mouth. They don’t approve of cursing.”

“Hey! I don’t— I mean, on occasion, but I wouldn’t— I’ll be careful.”

Elizabeth sent an admonishing glance at Toby, but she said nothing.

Rich came out the back door and sprang off the porch. “All set. Mrs. Smith said she had extra hot
dogs and as long as we paid her five dollars, we were welcome.”

They finally agreed to take the Jeep Elizabeth drove. Toby offered to drive, but Elizabeth pointed out that it was her car. She slid behind the wheel and the other three jumped for the empty seats before she left without them.

“I wonder why Russ didn’t take Abby to this,” Rich muttered. “It would’ve been a lot cheaper.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Because you don’t impress a girl by being cheaper, and I don’t think he wanted to share her company with every cowboy in the county.”

“She’s got a point there,” Toby agreed.

“Do you think he’s serious?” Rich asked.

“She’s pretty enough,” Lonnie pointed out and was surprised when Elizabeth glared at him over her shoulder.

“There’s a lot more to Abby than being pretty!”

“Well, yeah, but—of course,” Lonnie agreed, cutting short any attempt to justify his words.

Toby, having captured the front seat next to Elizabeth, decided keeping silent might be his best choice. Not that he disagreed with her. Elizabeth was beautiful, but he’d been with other beautiful women. It wasn’t her beauty alone that had captured his heart long ago.

Once they reached the meeting point for the hayride, he introduced Lonnie to Mrs. Smith, one of his teachers from long ago.

“I’m glad you decided to come. We have several others who didn’t come with dates, so you’ll have people to talk to,” she said briskly and pointed them to the wagon.

It suddenly occurred to Toby that Elizabeth might have arranged to meet someone here. He hurried over to the wagon, Lonnie trailing after him.

“Elizabeth?” he called.

From the sound of her voice as she responded, he guessed she was on the other side of the pile of hay. He hurried around to find her sitting with a group of young people.

“Mind if we join you?” he said to the group in general. He was relieved to see there were more females than hungry males in the group.

Before he and Lonnie could get settled, the wagon started to roll. “Rich? Did you make it on?” he called out.

His cousin waved from the front of the wagon. It appeared he’d already found a young lady to snuggle up to.

A half hour later, Toby had discovered several truths. Neither he nor Lonnie were going to get close to Elizabeth any time soon. And they should’ve brought a blanket.

The hay was scratchy and the wind was cold.

When they reached the place for dinner, the driver pulled the horses to a halt and jumped off to bring a short stepladder to the side so everyone could get down.

Toby jumped down, ignoring the lineup. Then he moved over to the ladder to offer his assistance. Which meant he put his hands around Elizabeth’s small waist and swung her to the ground, ignoring the rest of the ladder.

Unfortunately, it also meant he couldn’t follow her. He still had a line of ladies wanting assistance. Damn!

Lonnie immediately strode alongside Elizabeth, murmuring in her ear.

Mrs. Smith began organizing her troops to prepare the hot dogs. She recruited wood gatherers. Since Elizabeth volunteered to gather wood, Lonnie and Toby did, too.

“Over there, Toby,” Lonnie called. “There’s some good wood.”

Toby, however, knew his friend’s tricks. “Yeah. Come on, Elizabeth.” He took her hand and tugged her in that direction.

“No! I mean— There’s some smaller pieces over here for Elizabeth.” Lonnie pointed in the opposite direction.

“You get those, Lonnie,” Toby said. “Elizabeth and I will get these.”

Elizabeth muffled her chuckle so only Toby could hear it. “I think you’re frustrating your friend.”

“Damn right. He had no intention of gathering wood.”

“But you’re so hungry you’re keeping us on the right track?”

“Yeah, right. Hunger. That’s what’s driving me.”
Since he was wearing gloves, he insisted on picking up the wood initially to be sure there were no creepy-crawlies. Then he handed a few sticks to Elizabeth. “That’s enough. Let’s go back and start cooking.”

They beat Lonnie back to the fire. When he finally arrived with his load of firewood, Toby and Elizabeth were seated on the ground, leaning against a tree, eating their hot dogs.

He filled his plate and joined them, but he wasn’t a happy camper.

“I brought back more wood,” Lonnie said, glaring at Toby.

“You certainly did, Lonnie. Good job,” Elizabeth said soothingly.

A female voice interrupted them. “Do you mind if I join you?”

A young woman whom Elizabeth vaguely knew had apparently decided Elizabeth had more than her share of men. She seemed pleasant, though very determined. Elizabeth greeted her with a nod and a smile. Lonnie, after a bitter look at Toby, turned his attention to the young lady. They wandered off a few minutes later, hand in hand.

Toby carefully noted that Elizabeth didn’t show any distress over Lonnie’s abandonment of her. “You okay with that?”

“What?”

“Lonnie finding another girl.”

Elizabeth chuckled. “I’m pretty sure his infatuation
with me had a lot to do with your pushing him away.”

“Don’t be silly,” Toby told her.

“Anyway, she’s much more interested in him than I am.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on, let’s go find us a good seat before everyone else is finished.”

That suited Toby. He would help Elizabeth on and then follow her. He didn’t want to be stuck with helping all the other women. Before he’d be able to get to her side, she’d be surrounded by the other men.

The rest of the evening, they leaned against each other in the hay and talked to their neighbors. Toby couldn’t remember when he’d spent a better evening.

The last half hour of the evening, however, a cold front blew through. The wind picked up, and its sting grew colder. Toby pulled Elizabeth against him, wrapped her inside his coat and huddled with her until the ride ended. Though they were still cold, Toby felt warmth inside him. He would’ve gladly taken another half hour with Elizabeth pressed tightly against him.

They ran for the car as soon as their feet hit the ground. This time Toby took the wheel and Elizabeth didn’t protest. He warmed up the engine while they waited for Lonnie and Rich to say good-night to the women they’d found.

“Man, that heater feels good,” Rich said as they slammed the doors behind them. “I didn’t know a norther was on the way.”

Toby said, “I heard Uncle Pete say something
about one tomorrow. I guess it got here faster than expected.”

“I’m glad I’m heading south in the morning. I’m going to Reno for the big rodeo,” Lonnie said.

“You won’t be much warmer there,” Toby warned him.

“Warm enough. It’s in the valley. I’ll be gone by the time you get up, Elizabeth.”

There was an awkward silence, as if he expected Elizabeth to plead with him not to go.

She smiled over her shoulder and said, “I hope you have a safe trip, Lonnie. And I hope you win. We’ll be watching for the results.”

“I’d have a better chance if I could take Cocoa with me.”

“Your regular ride will have recovered from the sprain, Lonnie. You know that,” Toby reminded him.

“Yeah, but Cocoa is better.”

“I know, but I’m training Buster. He’ll be ready next year.” Toby wasn’t going to send Cocoa off with Lonnie. He tended to be careless with his livestock. It was all right as long as Toby was there, but he wouldn’t betray Cocoa’s trust by loaning him to Lonnie without him there to care for him.

“Some of the other guys were talking about getting you to train for them, too. I hope you don’t.” Lonnie added, “Promise me?”

“Can’t do that, Lonnie,” Toby said. “I’m thinking about starting up a business. I’ll train horses and maybe even train riders. Make a little extra cash.”

“Like you need it. Being in all those ads must pay a pretty penny.”

“Yeah, but if you win this season, you’ll begin getting some offers.”

“You giving it up?”

“Not necessarily. I’ll listen if someone calls, but it’s not my favorite thing to do.”

Rich laughed. “Yeah, right. Getting cozy with those glamorous models must be real tough.”

Toby stole a sidelong look at Elizabeth, wondering how she was taking the conversation, but her face was turned toward the window. “It’s harder than you think,” he finally said.

He pulled to a halt by the house. Elizabeth was out first, and she didn’t stop until she reached the porch. Then she turned suddenly, leaned toward Lonnie and kissed his cheek before he knew what she was doing. She then wished him a safe trip. By the time he caught his breath and tried to say something, she had disappeared into the house.

Lonnie stood there holding his cheek. “I guess she’s not going to miss me,” he said with a sad face.

Rich slapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve all enjoyed your visit, Lonnie.”

Toby knew that wasn’t what Lonnie wanted, but it was a nice gesture on Rich’s part.

“I’ll let you know how Buster’s training goes. You just keep winning. Come on, let’s hit the sack. I’ll even get up early with you in the morning.”

Because he was going to be glad to see the last of Lonnie.

T
OBY HAD
been sure Lonnie’s going would be a good thing. He wouldn’t have to protect Elizabeth from Lonnie’s lecherous ways. He could turn his attention to work. He could concentrate on important things, like training Buster.

It was good work. He enjoyed it. But after three or four days of it, he realized it didn’t satisfy him. And he had absolutely no connection with Elizabeth. No excuse to grab the seat next to her. No reason to guard her at night. No need to touch her.

Well, that wasn’t true. He had a need. He remembered the last half hour of the hayride with pleasure and warmth. And need. To hold her against him, sharing a good time, almost as one.

What was he going to do?

That question popped into his mind while he was riding on Thursday and caused him to miss a calf he was trying to rope. He took a lot of razzing from his family about missing. It even wounded his pride, but he knew the reason. It wasn’t that his skills were going bad. No, it was that his mind wasn’t clear.

He gathered his rope and roped the calf clean as a whistle, silencing the teasing. But the question wasn’t as easily silenced. What was he going to do? He couldn’t live in a constant state of near-arousal, his mind elsewhere. Cowboying carried heavy consequences if you did it haphazardly.

“You all right, son?” Jake asked a few minutes later as they met at the campfire someone had built to heat the irons. They were branding the late calves that had missed the spring roundup.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Something on your mind?”

Toby stared at Jake. It was scary how often in his youth his father had read his mind. It seemed he still had that ability. “Yeah.”

“If you want to talk, you know where I am.” Jake didn’t wait for an answer but mounted and started working again.

Toby grinned. Yeah, he’d always known where Jake was. And that he’d listen. What a gift the man had given Toby. A father who cared and would always listen.

But the whole point of avoiding Elizabeth for the past seven years, of promising himself he’d leave her alone, had been to keep his passions a secret from Jake. Hadn’t it?

The emptiness in his head scared him. Had it been something else? He’d thought he hadn’t wanted to shame Jake, and he didn’t. But was there something else?

He couldn’t find an answer, and Uncle Chad yelled for him to come help, so he swung up on Cocoa’s back and shoved all those questions to the back of his mind. He had work to do now.

At dinner that night, he kept an eye on Elizabeth. Not to protect her but to judge his own reaction to
her. Maybe he’d imagined this whole attraction thing. Maybe… No, it was still there. He still wanted to be by her side. To talk to her, to touch her, to hold her forever. Damn, that was definitely real.

He’d never even kissed her! Maybe she’d be a lousy kisser. Would he still want her? Oh, yeah. He could teach her. Maybe—