Wild At Heart (10 page)

Hand to her chest, she stared up at him with ruby cheeks. “Thank you. She took me by surprise.”

“You’ve gotta remember many of these animals are still half wild.” The sun glimmered off the end of Mariah’s silver hatpin. He removed his hand from her arm and stepped back, irritated with himself for enjoying her nearness. He’d do well to remember Miss Lansing could turn into a wildcat faster than he could unholster his gun. Those hatpins of hers were a danger. “You want to see inside the barn?”

“I’d love to.”

The sling’s knot pinched his neck. He shifted his arm and loosened the pressure. Thankfully, the pain from the movement wasn’t as sharp as a couple of days ago. He’d give it a few more days then try drawing again.

“Is your arm hurting?” Mariah’s face puckered with concern.

He shook his head, tired of having his injury at the forefront of everything. “You never mentioned why you’re traveling in this part of the country.”

Her gaze darted to the left as she entered the barn. She wrinkled her nose in an appealing manner. “Several reasons, actually. The main one being… um… I need some time to get away and think.”

“Seems a long ways to go just to think.”

Suddenly, she twisted around to face him. “Would it be possible for me to ride a horse while I’m here?”

Adam got the distinct impression she was trying to change the subject, but he didn’t press her further. She had a secret, and that just made her more interesting. Maybe if she learned to trust him, she’d share it with him.

“There’s no other way to see the ranch except by horseback. That black mare is yours.” Adam nodded toward the two horses Hank had saddled at his request. Hank tightened the cinch on the black horse then untied the reins and walked toward Adam, leading the mare and Adam’s gelding.

“Your horse is named Sugar. This is my blue roan, Chief.” Adam patted his horse, glad to be able to ride his old friend again.

Anna’s shadow darkened the barn opening as she rode in. Her horse nickered, as if it were happy to be back home. “Going for a ride? You sure you’re up to that, little brother?”

Adam scowled at his sister’s reference to his birth order. She loved to point out the fact that she was eleven minutes older than him. He ignored her question, studying Mariah instead. She stared at the black horse, the color fading from her face. She looked petrified. Had she changed her mind about riding?

“I—uh—don’t you have a sidesaddle?” Mariah asked.

Ah, so that was the problem. He couldn’t help grinning. “Sorry. The only sidesaddles in these parts are owned by the marquis’ wife.”

“Would it be possible to borrow one?”

Adam shook his head. He held on to the bridle of Anna’s horse as she dismounted. “I don’t think anyone is living at their house anymore. They’ve been gone for years.”

Anna walked over to Mariah. “You can’t truly appreciate the West riding sidesaddle. Much of the country is too rugged. You can borrow one of my split skirts, if you don’t mind wearing it. I believe it should fit you, even though you’re thinner than me.”

Adam handed the reins to Hank, and he took Anna’s mare into her stall. Anna followed. “I’ll groom her. We had a good ride today, and she deserves a treat.”

Mariah glanced at the horse again and then at Adam, her face even paler than when the train robber first took her captive. She leaned closer to him and whispered, “I’m sorry, but I can’t wear Anna’s skirt. It’s simply too immodest.”

Adam watched her flee the barn, irritated that her high ideals made her too good to try something new. Anna’s skirt covered everything a dress did. There was nothing improper about it. As much as he’d hoped he was wrong, Mariah Lansing didn’t belong on the Rocking M.

Mariah stomped up the steps and into the house. Now that her initial embarrassment had fled, anger moved in. Had Adam deliberately tried to put her to shame by suggesting she ride astride?

No, she didn’t believe that he’d stoop that low.

At breakfast and lunch, she had pleaded with him to take her on a tour of the ranch, thinking it would be something he could do to occupy an hour’s time. She just hadn’t thought about needing a horse for the tour. Wouldn’t a buggy work just fine?

Mariah plopped on a stuffed chair in the parlor. What truly irritated her the most was that she really wanted to try riding astride. Surely a Western saddle would be easier to stay on than a sidesaddle. But it was so unladylike. Grandmother would have a fit if she learned that Mariah had ridden Western style.

A tiny smile tugged at her lips. Hadn’t she come west to learn all its secrets? How could she pen lifelike horseback-riding heroines if she wasn’t willing to ride astride like them?

She had to do this. There was no other option. If only there were some way to do it without wearing that scandalous split skirt.

Mariah swayed forward and then back in the saddle, holding on to the horn with a death grip.

“Try to relax. Don’t hold on to the saddle horn if you can keep from it.” Adam sat on the top rail of the corral watching her.

Relax?
Mariah nearly let a sarcastic laugh slip. How was she supposed to do that while risking her life on the back of a horse? She loosened one handhold slightly and took a deep, calming breath.

Adam nodded at her. “Good. Hold the reins looser, otherwise the horse will think you want to stop.”

Mariah was so thankful her grandma couldn’t see her. First, she’d lowered herself to wear that horrible split skirt. Her ruffled shirtwaist looked much too fancy to wear with it, but she wasn’t about to don one of Anna’s flannel tops. She had her fashion limits, after all.

She pressed down Anna’s Western hat. Adam’s sister had tried to talk her into wearing her hair in two longs braids like hers, but Mariah wouldn’t agree. Her normal hairstyle, plaited and pinned in a bun on her nape worked well since the Western hat sat atop her head.

Mariah peeked at Adam as the horse plodded past him and circled the corral.

“You’re doing fine. Think you could handle riding out of the corral, or do you want to save that for another day?”

She wanted to tour the ranch, and to do that, she had to leave the corral. To prove her ability, she released her death grip on the horn and sat back, her body rocking gently with the horse’s slow gait. This wasn’t so bad. As long as walking was all they did, she could manage.

“I believe I’m game.” How was it possible to be so nervous and so excited all at the same time?

Adam grinned and pushed away from the railing. He looped the reins over the head of his sleek, gray horse and mounted as easy as could be. Having only one hand didn’t seem to faze him when it came to getting on a horse. He rode up to the gate, flipped the rope loop off the top, and opened it. “Let’s go then. I’m ready to see something besides the house.”

He waited until she walked past him then closed the gate and rode up beside her. Mariah’s heart pounded now that she was free of the corral. What if something scared her horse and it took off running? Could she stop it?

“Quit frettin’. You’re doing fine.”

Mariah tried to calm herself by studying the landscape, a wild combination of stones, grasslands, and big mounds of rock with few trees. Some places looked as if the hillside had been cut in half, revealing flat layers of brown, black, and even orange. An artist’s palette of wildflowers brightened the barrenness. A warm breeze feathered her cheeks, reminding her of outings along the shores of Lake Michigan, except the wind here was dryer.

“How big is the Rocking M?” She remembered the size of his ranch from his letter, but she couldn’t very well tell him that. A shaft of guilt stabbed at her.

“Over four thousand acres.”

“Your sister said your family originated in Texas. How did you end up here?” She followed him down a short grade, pressing her feet into the stirrups and holding on to the saddle horn. She was certain that any second she’d go flying over the horse’s head, but they leveled out, and she settled back in the saddle again.

“Lean back some when you go down a hill. It’s easier.”

Mariah tried to envision that but failed to see how it would make things less difficult. She held the reins loosely, wondering if Adam was going to answer her question. She learned that he talked more freely if she could get him conversing about the ranch.

“We had several years of drought back in Texas, and our herd was shrinking because much of the grass had dried up, so Pa decided to go north. He’d seen advertisements about good land up in North Dakota, so he went for a visit. He had received an inheritance from a wealthy uncle in Ireland and ended up buying out some ranchers who’d just about gone under; then he moved us all up here.”

“Must have been exciting to move so far away.”

Adam grunted but made no comment.

She watched a bird circling high above, making a tinkling sound. Suddenly, it dove at a frantic speed straight for the ground as if it had been shot. Mariah held her breath, but at the last second, it angled off and glided upward again. “What was that?”

“A male lark. Kind of fun to watch, isn’t it?”

She nodded, amazed at the different creatures there were out here. Her heart soared at the rugged beauty of the place. They rode through prairie grass that swished in the breeze and sometimes touched her shoes and smacked against the horses’ bellies.

“We’ll have to canter a bit if we’re gonna see much of the ranch.”

Run?

Mariah swallowed. She had just begun to think that riding astride could be fun. As much as she hated to admit it, astride was far more comfortable than a sidesaddle and easier to stay on. Although she suspected she’d be just as sore afterward.

Adam didn’t wait for a response but nudged his horse into a gallop. Hers followed suit but fell behind in a bone-jarring, teeth-rattling trot. Mariah gripped the horn, certain any moment she would fall. “Whoa. Stop.”

Instead of obeying, the black mare broke into a run. Eyes watering, Mariah clung on with her hands, her knees, and feet, but she gradually realized that a gallop was easier to handle than a trot. Slowly, she began to relax with the smooth, rocking gait.

Adam looked over his shoulder and grinned. Evidently, the faster speed hadn’t hurt his wounded arm. He rode as one with his horse, his broad shoulders barely rising and falling as he raced forward. She hadn’t expected to admire the man, but how could she not?

He saved her virtue and probably her life. Except for being cranky from his injury, he’d been kind and patient with her endless questions. His blue eyes reminded her of her grandma’s Delft pottery that had come from Holland and was scattered throughout every room of her house. She had come here partly to forget Silas, but she’d never planned to be attracted to another man. She’d do well to guard her heart. Soon she’d be headed back to Chicago, back to her grandmother, and she couldn’t leave part of her heart behind.

Adam bit back a smile but kept a close eye on Mariah. She’d surprised him when she’d come to breakfast this morning wearing one of Anna’s split skirts. He didn’t know what had changed her mind, but he was glad that she didn’t let her apprehension keep her from learning to ride.

He knew he was pushing her but wanted to see what her limits were. He hadn’t expected her to make it past a trot, but other than looking a bit nervous and bouncing up and down like a baby on her father’s knee, she’d done fine—and earned his admiration.