The Horseman (14 page)

It was a far-fetched imagining at best. But
Briney chose to drift to sleep on the wings of it. If Gunner’s
voice couldn’t carry her to slumber that night, then her hopes and
dreams of him would.

“Gunner Cole,” Briney whispered to herself.
“Gunner and Briney Cole,” she softly giggled. “Oh, what heaven
would that be?”

It was afternoon when Briney began her walk
to Gunner’s ranch. She’d spent a wonderful morning with Bethanne
and Mrs. Kelley, learning how to make Mrs. Kelley’s delicious peach
pie. She was proud of her work and had brought a pie with her,
intending it for Gunner.

“My mother always told me that the way to a
man’s heart is through his stomach,” Bethanne had said to Briney
just before she’d left to walk to the Horseman’s ranch to ride
Sassafras. “So you take one of those peach pies you baked, and you
win Gunner Cole’s heart for good!”

At first, Briney had not wanted to take the
pie, thinking it would seem rather like a ploy to Gunner—an obvious
attempt to win him over.

“So what if it does?” Bethanne had asked.
“I’m sure a man wants to know a woman is sweet on him, as much as a
woman wants to know a man is sweet on her. So take that pie,
Briney.”

Thus, Briney found herself on the crest of
the hill overlooking Gunner’s ranch, holding a peach pie and
preparing to see if it were good enough to help her win his
heart.

She paused, glancing to the north a moment
and frowning when she saw the dark clouds gathering in the
distance. She shrugged, however, thinking that getting caught
riding Sassafras in the rain surely couldn’t be any worse than
having her face sunburned to a crisp for having ridden out in the
sunshine for too long.

Anyway, it was almost three miles back to
town and less than half a mile to Gunner’s largest stable. So
quickening her step, Briney hurried down the hill toward the
ranch.

She was disappointed when she drew near,
however, to see Gunner and Charlie exit the big stables accompanied
by three men in Cavalry uniforms. Her hopes of Gunner being able to
ride out with her were dashed, but at least she had the pie for
him. Of course, she worried that offering him the pie with Charlie
and three Cavalry men looking on might be too brazen. Still, she
didn’t want to walk three miles home without at least seeing
Gunner. And she did so want to ride Sassafras.

“Afternoon, Briney,” Gunner greeted as she
approached the group of men. Looking to one of the Cavalry men,
obviously an officer, Gunner said, “Pardon me a moment, won’t you,
Lieutenant? I’ll be right back with you.”

Striding to meet Briney, Gunner smiled one of
his dazzling smiles as he looked at her. “Well, ain’t you a nice
surprise,” he said. “Are you plannin’ on takin’ Sassy out?”

“Yes,” Briney answered. Her heart was racing!
“If that’s all right with you, of course.”

Gunner chuckled. “I told you, she’s yours.
You can ride her anytime you want. If you give me, oh, half an hour
or so, I can help you tack up.” His eyes narrowed, and he winked at
her. “And if you wouldn’t mind, I could ride out with you a ways at
least. Unless you would rather ride alone today.”

“Oh no!” Briney assured him, feeling almost
desperate to have his company while riding. “I would love to have
you ride with me. I…I just want to make sure it wouldn’t be an
imposition.” She glanced past him to the waiting Cavalry men still
conversing with Charlie.

“Oh, darlin’, you could never be an
imposition,” Gunner said.

Again Gunner’s blue eyes seemed to smolder
with desire as he continued to stare at Briney. In fact, she was so
overwhelmed by the excitement beginning to course through her at
being so close to him and under his wildly alluring gaze that she
suddenly babbled, “I’ve brought you a peach pie, as well, as my
thanks for helping me with Sassafras and everything. Of course, I
baked it, so I’m sure it’s not as good as Mrs. Kelley’s. But I hope
you’ll enjoy it all the same.”

Taking the pie from her hands, Gunner lifted
the dishcloth she’d placed over it and inhaled its fresh, sweet
aroma.

“Mmm mmm!” he moaned. “I’m gonna have to hide
this away for me and myself only. And I’m sure if you baked it,
it’s the tastiest pie ever made.”

Gunner had been restless all night long. He’d
spent the previous night tossing and turning—worrying that if he
didn’t throw his hat in the ring to claim Briney Thress, one of the
other men in town surely would. It wasn’t until after he’d decided
to pursue the pretty girl that had captured his heart the first day
she’d ridden his horse—pursue her with the persistence of a posse
chasing an outlaw next time he saw her—that he was able to fall
asleep at last.

Gunner had been distracted all morning as he
tried to keep up with everything that needed doing at the ranch so
he could ride into town for supper at the Kelleys’ restaurant as a
chance to call on Briney. Gunner’s daddy had always told him not to
let the grass grow under his feet when he felt strongly about doing
something—no matter what it was. And Gunner felt strongly about
winning Briney, that was for sure and for certain.

And now here she stood, having walked right
up to him—even handed him a pie—and he had to fiddle with the
Cavalry boys. Still, he figured he could wrap up his business with
them quick enough. After all, they were only giving him the number
of horses they wanted, and he simply had to give them a price to
get them on their way. They wouldn’t be back for near to a
fortnight to collect and pay.

“Here,” Gunner said, handing the pie back to
Briney. “You go on ahead and see Sassy. And put this somewhere safe
until I can get away from these fellas, all right? I’ll be in
shortly to join you.” He reached out, caressing the back of her
soft cheek with his hand. “I promise it won’t take long.”

She blushed, biting her lip with delight, and
Gunner winked at her once more.

“Of course,” she said.

Stepping around him and heading for the barn,
Briney called, “Good afternoon, Charlie…gentlemen.”

Gunner rubbed his hands together with
anticipation of spending the afternoon with Briney. Turning on his
heels, he marched back to where Charlie and the others stood,
announcing, “All right, boys, let’s get this done so we can all get
on with what else needs doin’.”

Briney entered the stable and was immediately
met by all the scents of horses and leather she was fast growing to
love more and more. Quickly finding a shelf on which to place the
pie, she looked around her, glad to see a shovel close at hand.

Taking the shovel, she hurried to Sassafras’s
stall. “Hello, sweetheart,” she greeted the horse. “You don’t mind
if I come in for a bit, do you?”

Briney knew Sassy didn’t mind, for she’d
spent near to an hour learning how to muck out her stall the day
before under Gunner’s tutelage. Stepping into the horse’s domain,
Briney quickly closed the stable door behind her to ensure the
horse would not leave it.

Then, going to one front corner of the stall
and using the shovel to clear the straw away, she hastily dug a
hole in the dirt. When she’d dug to a bit over a foot deep, she
reached into the pocket of her riding skirt and removed the small
jam jar she’d asked Mrs. Kelley for earlier.

Briney had determined that morning that the
tins of coins Mrs. Fletcher had given her were simply too heavy to
carry unnoticed for three miles, especially when Briney would be
carrying a peach pie as well. Therefore, she’d asked Mrs. Kelley if
she could purchase a small, empty canning jar for something she was
working on. Naturally, Mrs. Kelley had assured Briney that she
could simply have the jar; there was no need to pay for it.

And so Briney had packed the jar with as many
silver dollars as she could. She figured she could bury a jar every
week or so, each containing fifty dollars—the amount of coins
necessary to fill Mrs. Kelley’s jam jar—and within no time at all,
part of her savings would be safely tucked away with her beloved
Sassafras.

Once she had buried the jar, she packed the
dirt covering her cache and spread the straw over the space before
returning the shovel to its proper place.

“Here you are, Sassy,” Briney said, giving
her horse a large carrot she’d acquired from Mrs. Kelley’s kitchen.
“There now. Don’t you tell anyone our little secret, all
right?”

Standing outside of Sassy’s stall, she
lovingly rubbed the horse’s jaw, talking to her as easily as she
talked to Bethanne.

“It looks rather cloudy out today, Sassy,”
she said. “Are you still up for a ride? Even in the rain
perhaps?”

The horse whinnied, nodding her head as if
she’d actually understood exactly what Briney had told her.

It was only a few more minutes before Gunner
came sauntering into the stables. Yet as he did, one of the horses
in a front-most stall coughed or sneezed, sending the contents of
its nose to splattering on one sleeve of Gunner’s shirt.

Stopping in his tracks, Gunner grumbled,
“Dammit, Shakespeare! I swear you’re doin’ that on purpose.”
Briney’s eyes widened as Gunner proceeded to unbutton his shirt and
strip it from his body. “You keep that up, boy, and I’ll move you
to one of the small stables, out back with Stackhouse. Damn horse
snot everywhere.”

Briney covered her mouth in an effort to
stifle her giggle. There was something amusing about seeing a
stabled horse get the better of a man like Gunner Cole.

“Boss?” Charlie said, stepping into the
stable then. “It looks like it’s gonna start comin’ down any
minute. The Cavalry’s moved on, so do you mind if I head over to
the bunkhouse to wait it out?”

“That’s fine, Charlie, you know that,” Gunner
said, wadding up his soiled shirt and tossing it into a large
wooden box that stood nearby. Charlie turned and jogged away, and
Gunner grumbled, “That’s three shirts this week, Shakespeare.
Dammit to hell!”

All at once, however, Gunner seemed to
remember that Briney was watching. Reaching up to rub his whiskery
chin, he exhaled a heavy sigh, placed his hands on his hips, and
said, “My apologies, Briney,” he said. Shaking his head, he
continued, “That ain’t proper language to use in front of a lady.
It’s just that Shakespeare here…well, he likes to try and get my
dander up, and when I’m in a hurry, I forget to stay clear of
him.”

Gunner removed his hat, raked his fingers
through his hair, and started toward her again. “I hope you don’t
judge me too harshly on my bad behavior just now.”

But Briney couldn’t speak, being paralyzed
and mute at how entirely provocative—how entirely seductive—Gunner
appeared. She’d heard the word
seductive
used in hushed
tones throughout her life—knew what it meant. But never before had
she owned a true understanding of what it meant; never had she seen
anything to exemplify it—until now.

As Gunner stood before her, apologizing once
more for his rant because of Shakespeare, she didn’t hear a word he
was saying, for she was overpowered by his presence—by her
unmatched attraction to him.

His muscular torso and arms were bronzed from
hours in the sun, his skin as smooth as polished marble.
Furthermore, the tousled condition of his chestnut hair—for he
still hadn’t returned his hat to his head, a gesture of humility
and sincere apology—somehow only intensified his good looks. As his
strong hands continually turned his hat over and over, the powerful
muscles in his forearms were all the more evident.

“Do you forgive me then?” he asked, finally
rattling Briney from her admiration of him.

Briney smiled at him. “I’m the one who should
apologize…for being amused by Shakespeare’s antics.”

Gunner rather plopped his hat back onto his
head so that it sat low, just above his brow. Then, as the first
few drops of rain began to dance on the stable roof, he shrugged
his broad shoulders and said, “And now it’s rainin’, and I can’t
get back to the house for a clean shirt.”

Briney said nothing in response—only
continued to smile at him. Though propriety demanded she shouldn’t,
she liked seeing him in such a state of undress. She liked the way
his hat was rather catawampus and that he had to tip his head back
a little in order to look at her from under its brim. He was
indescribably alluring, and she was glad the rain was starting so
that he couldn’t get back to the house for a clean shirt.

“It looks like you might be stuck here a
while, Briney Thress,” he said then, a mischievous grin spreading
across his face. “So…you wanna climb up to the hayloft with me and
watch the thunderhead roll in?”

Briney felt her own smile broaden. “Oh my,
yes!” she assured him with exuberance.

Gunner’s grin became a smile, and he reached
up, securing his hat to a more comfortable position. “Come on
then,” he said, holding one hand out to her. “It looks to be a
powerful storm. We oughta be able to see the lightnin’ strikin’
over near town from here.”

Placing her hand in his, Briney was instantly
awash with bliss from the warm strength of his grip.

“This way, darlin’,” Gunner said, winking at
her as he headed toward the ladder leading to the front loft of the
stable.

Sassafras whinnied, and Gunner looked over
his shoulder, saying, “Oh, you be patient. You’ll get your turn.
You don’t like to ride in the rain much anyhow.”

“After you,” Gunner said, stepping aside so
that Briney could climb the ladder up before him.

Briney giggled and began climbing. And as she
stepped off the ladder and into the loft, the sweet smell of hay
filled her lungs with comfort. She could smell the storm coming as
well—smell the easy drops of rain that were falling, moistening the
dirt—and she thought that the aroma of rain on the dry soil and
grasses of the west was one of the most beautiful she’d ever
experienced.