Never Let You Go

“Yeah, last night’s dinner was terrific,” Beth added.

“How would you know?” Melissa returned. “You scarcely ate anything.” Before Beth could come up with excuses, Melissa said, “Ring the bell for the guys.”

Beth stepped to the back porch and banged on the triangle that hung from one rafter. Before the ringing had even stopped, three men emerged from the bunkhouse.

She didn’t have any difficulty picking out Jed Davis. His broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped figure topped the other two men by three or four inches. Drawing a deep breath, she waited for them to reach her.

As she’d expected, Jed let the other two go first. Before he could move past her with a nod, she touched his arm. He came to an abrupt halt, his gaze settling on her hand.

She jerked it back.

“Yeah?” he asked warily.

Her prepared speech flew out of her head. “Is it all right if we start about ten?”

“Ten? Is that your idea of an early start?”

The scorn in his voice flailed her—and made her so mad she wouldn’t have explained if he’d begged her. Taking on a drawl she’d heard other women affect, she replied, “That’s right, sugar. I need to get my nails done before I can get on a horse.”

Then she sashayed in front of him into the house.

She figured he’d be packed and gone before noon. And good riddance to him. When she didn’t hear footsteps behind her right away, she wondered if he’d even come in for breakfast.

“Where’s—” Abby began, but the sound of the back door opening again stopped her question. “There you are, Jed. I thought maybe you’d gotten lost.”

“No, ma’am.”

Melissa set a platter of scrambled eggs on the table where sausage and bacon already awaited eager hands. Then she pulled two pans of biscuits out of the oven.

Beth picked up the coffeepot and began filling cups, while Abby poured glasses of orange juice. As she carried the glasses to the table, Abby addressed Jed.

“I’m sure Beth explained about the late start this morning. I’m hoping we’ll find more men right away, but Beth is still willing to help out before she starts training.”

“Help out with what?” he asked, ignoring the plate of eggs Barney was offering him.

Everyone in the kitchen, except Beth, seemed surprised by his question. Abby, after shooting a look at Beth, said, “Whatever needs to be done. We work with Dirk and Barney, like anyone on a ranch.”

“All three of you?”

Melissa’s cheeks flushed. “Not me. I used to help some days, but I prefer the cooking and housework.”

Beth added, “We always felt meals like Melissa turns out are fair trade.”

Both hands, seated at the table, stuffing their faces, made grunts of approval.

“I can see why. Your cooking is the best, Miss Melissa.” Jed sent Melissa a smile that had Beth’s insides quivering with jealousy.

He turned to Abby. “I understand that there’s work that has to be done. How can I help?”

“Oh, no!” Abby protested. “Your time’s too valuable for—I mean, Beth didn’t hire you to do ranch work. We’ll manage.”

“I’ll help,” he said decisively, as if it was his decision. “Then maybe I’ll get an extra hour with my pupil, if she can work it in.”

There was a little sarcasm in those last words, Beth realized. Maybe she deserved it, since she’d given him a smart answer earlier. But he’d made her mad.

His blue gaze settled on her face, as if he expected her to comment.

She took a bite of eggs and chewed as though her life depended on it.

Abby, after looking at her, too, said, “I’m sure we can work that out.”

Okay, so he’d jumped to an erroneous conclusion. That didn’t mean the lady had to gull him with her response about a manicure. Jed studied her hands from under his lashes as he ate the fine breakfast Melissa Kennedy had prepared.

Beth’s nails were short, clean and unpolished. Working hands, as he’d earlier noted. And sexier than any of the red claws he’d seen on women who thought they were all dolled up. But that smart mouth of hers was going to cause trouble.

When he got up from the breakfast table, he carried his dishes to the sink. The other two men stared at him, then hurriedly did the same thing. Melissa rewarded them all with a grateful smile.

“Where do you want me, Miss Abby?” he asked, awaiting instructions from the lady boss.

“Are you any good at fence repairs?” she asked.

With a lopsided grin, he said, “I’ve ridden more fence lines than you can imagine.”

“Great. Why don’t you and Beth ride—”

“No!” Beth shrieked.

“No!” Jed said, quieter but just as determined. When Abby stared at him, he added, “I don’t need any help.”

“It will go faster with the two of you, and it will give you a chance to get to know each other. You can finish the fence on the south pasture by mid-morning, before Barney and Dirk get the herd over there.”

“You can’t start baling hay by yourself,” Beth protested. “What if something happens?”

“I’ll take the new cell phone. But I’ve done it before. It’s a boring job, but safe.” Abby stood and stared at the rest of the room. “It’s settled. I’ll see all of you at lunch.” She turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Barney and Dirk shuffled out the back door. Jed stared at Beth. When she still sat at the table, her lips pressed tightly together, he prodded, “Are you waiting for your manicure? Or are you going to lead the way to the south pasture?”

“Manicure?” Melissa questioned.

“He’s teasing me, Missy. Don’t worry about it.” Beth stood and glared at him. “You got gloves?”

“Yeah. They’re at the bunkhouse.”

“Go get them and I’ll meet you at the barn.”

Beth breathed a sigh of relief when Jed left the house.

“Are you sure the two of you are going to get along?” Melissa asked.

“No.” Beth tried to paste a smile on her face, knowing her single answer reeked of despair. “I can’t seem to help putting up his back, Missy. I don’t intend to, but he made me so mad—”

“When?”

“Out on the porch, before breakfast. I was going to explain, truly, but I blurted out that we’d start at ten and he assumed I was going to go back to bed or something. So I told him we couldn’t start earlier because I had to get a manicure.”

Melissa laughed. “You’ve never had a manicure. I tried to paint your nails once, and you screamed as if I were torturing you.”

“Do you think you have to remind me? It was a silly answer, but it was the most decadent thing I could think of.”

“Well,” Melissa began, putting an arm around Beth’s shoulders, “I think you might need to do some fence-mending of your own, in addition to the real fences, while you’re out there with him this morning.”

“Yeah,” Beth agreed glumly, and went to fetch her hat and gloves.

Outside the barn, she selected two horses, one a sturdy, rawboned roan that could easily carry Jed’s big body. For herself, she chose a part Appaloosa mare she’d named Snowdrop. After putting bridles on them, she tied them to the corral fence and went into the barn to fetch the rest of the gear.

Much to her surprise, she almost ran into Jed in the shadowy interior. He was saddling one of his horses.

“You don’t need to ride him. I’ve got a horse in the corral for you.”

“I always ride my own horses.” His no-nonsense response irritated her again.

Taking a deep breath, she said calmly, “It’s your choice. Me, I wouldn’t work my horse after traveling with him, unless I had to.”

Without waiting for a response, she moved on to the tack room. Lifting down her saddle and the blan ket that went with it, she turned around to discover Jed standing in the doorway.

“You’ve got a point,” he said, though she heard the reluctance in his voice. “Okay if I use my own gear?”

“Of course.” She wasn’t about to let him see that she enjoyed his capitulation. He followed her back into the autumn sunshine and she indicated the roan.

“That’s Buster. He’s no racehorse, but he has a steady gait and he’s dependable.”

“Thanks.”

After throwing the blanket on Snowdrop, she put the saddle in place, then began buckling and cinching.

“You do that like you were born to it,” Jed offered after watching her.

“I was nine when we came here to live. Aunt Beulah didn’t waste any time teaching us about ranch life. And she didn’t suffer fools gladly.”

“Glad to hear it,” Jed returned, saddling Buster.

Beth almost burst into laughter. If he’d tried, he couldn’t have come closer to the dry retorts that had punctuated Beulah’s long silences.

It had taken the girls several years to realize what a softy Beulah was beneath that stern exterior. But she wasn’t one to wear her feelings on her sleeve. And she didn’t believe in spoiling children. They received practical gifts on their birthdays. And warm hugs.

That same behavior was repeated at Christmas.

Though she wasn’t effusive, Beulah made them feel welcome. She fed them, clothed them, and made sure they attended school. And most important of all, she made it possible for them to stay together.

So Beth gave no response to Jed’s comment, other than to give him a sunny smile that seemed to surprise him. And that surprise alone was enough to keep her cheerful for a while.

They’d been riding for an hour. Not in companionable silence, but at least they hadn’t had an argument. Finally Jed decided he should make use of their time together.

“Tell me why you want to barrel race.”

She seemed startled by his question.

He waited, giving her a few minutes to pull herself together.

“It’s the main event open to women.”

“Others are opening up. There’s a small circuit only for cowgirls here in Texas.”

She nodded. “When I first thought of it, I wanted to ride because of the money. It seemed we never had enough. Melissa was dreaming of a dishwasher. Abby talked about wanting to increase our irrigation system. Aunt Beulah didn’t ever indulge herself. I wanted—I wanted a lot of things.” With a sigh, she sent him another smile. “I saw myself in the role of triumphant savior.”

“And now?”

“Now, Aunt Beulah is dead, and, much to our surprise, the three of us have a lot of money. Aunt Beulah had put away oil money from earlier years that we didn’t know about. But I want to prove myself, to be the best at something. Melissa, well, you’ve eaten her cooking. She’s a natural-born nester, willing to mother the world. And Abby, she’s an expert on ranching. After working hard all day, she spends her evening reading the ranching magazines, even textbooks on grazing, breeding.”

He didn’t want to hear this. He’d be a lot better off if he could keep believing she was weak, lazy, selfish, vain. All those things he’d assumed before he’d met her.

All those things she’d disproved every minute he spent with her. She was beautiful, but seemed unaware of it. A hard worker, but took it for granted. Concerned for her sisters, but seemed not to worry about herself.

“So you decided to take up barrel racing?”

She sent him an impish grin that had his heart beating faster. Didn’t she know how much he was affected by her lips? Or her tight body, moving with the rhythm of her horse?

“Well, I happen to like riding fast.”

“And winning?”

“That, too,” she added, her smile widening.

“And satin shirts?”

“If I admit to that, are you going to condemn me?” she asked, her expression now wary.

He looked away as he shook his head no.

“You see, Beulah didn’t think clothes were very important. And I was the youngest, so I never got anything new. Abby and Melissa wore them first.” Then she shook her head. “That’s not true. Occasionally, they were too hard on the clothes and they’d be worn out by the time Melissa had finished with them. I’ll never forget the one time I got a new pair of jeans.” This time she beamed at him, and he groaned under his breath. He had to stop hearing these confidences before he swept her into his arms and promised her anything her heart desired.

A peal of laughter surprised him. He looked at her again.

“I was so proud of my new jeans, I insisted on wearing them while we were riding fence line. And I ripped one leg into shreds on a barbed wire fence.”

“Why was that so funny?”

She chuckled again. “Oh, it’s hard to explain. I was afraid to face Aunt Beulah, but she just told me to take them off, and she spent the rest of the evening sewing them up again.”

“She sounds like a fine lady,” he said, still not understanding her laughter.

“Sometimes you remind me of her.”

Her quiet words startled him more than her laughter. “What do you mean? I can’t sew a lick.”

She laughed again. “I didn’t figure you could.”

He glared at her, his only defense, and kicked Buster in the sides to speed up. They’d only found one break so far. No sense in wasting time talking.

They finished the south fence line in a little over three hours. Jed was nothing if not efficient. He’d started out trying to keep Beth from helping.

She ignored his tactics and pitched in.

By the third break, he still barked orders, but he included her in the work. When she’d said he reminded her of Aunt Beulah, she’d meant his gruff exterior, but she already suspected underneath was a man with a heart of gold.

When they reached the corral, he took care of his own horse, leaving her to deal with Snowdrop. Just the way she wanted it.

“What horse are you planning to train?” he asked, his back to her.

“I don’t know.”

He turned to frown at her. “You don’t know?”

“I thought it would be best to wait until I found a trainer and got his opinion about a horse. I love Snowdrop, but she doesn’t have the speed I’ll need.”

He just stared at her.

“Any suggestions? Do you know of a good horse? Price isn’t a problem.”

“Damn, woman, you’re giving me carte blanche to rip you off. Don’t do that.” He turned his back to her again.

She grinned. Did he think she was no judge of men? She might not know how to handle a man romantically, but she’d learned from Aunt Beulah how to judge a man’s character. And even if he didn’t like her, Jed Davis was a man to be trusted.

“So you want me to pick a horse on my own?”

He’d just reached up to lift the saddle off Buster, but instead, he rested his hands on the saddle and bowed his head until his Stetson was almost resting on the leather. Then he gave a gusty sigh, as if she was too much to bear.

“There’s this pretty little sorrel on the next ranch. We’d look good together, but I don’t think she has the cutting ability we’d need. Or Bill Garland has several horses he’s been trying to sell me,” she continued, wondering how long he’d maintain his silence. “Of course, Aunt Beulah wouldn’t ever buy a horse from him. She called him a shyster.”

“I know a horse.” His terse words stopped her.

“You do?”

“About an hour’s drive from here, just into the Oklahoma panhandle. It’ll cost you a pretty penny.”

“Okay.”

He dragged his saddle and blanket off Buster and stalked into the stable. She took her saddle and followed him.

“So, when can we go see him?”

“I’ll go pick him up. I can get a better price without you there.” He never looked at her.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No. I won’t agree to the purchase unless I get to see the animal first.”

“The minute Joe knows the horse is for you, the price will be over the moon. You’ll just have to trust me on this. I’m going alone.”

“No.”

Jed dumped his saddle on the stable wall where one of his horses was penned. Then he turned around to stare at her, his hands riding his hips and a fierce look on his face. “Lady, when I train someone, I’m in charge. I make the decisions.”

“Mister, when I’m buying a horse, I get to take a look before I put down my money.” She put her hands on her hips and glared back.

“I knew this wasn’t going to work,” he muttered. “I’ll pack up and be out of here in an hour.”

He turned his back again and Beth felt her heartbeat racing. She didn’t want him to go. Because he would be a good teacher, she assured herself. That was the reason.

“Boy, you sure give up easy. It’s a wonder you were successful at all on the rodeo circuit.”

When he spun around and began advancing on her, Beth didn’t hesitate to beat a retreat. Until her back hit the stable door across the aisle and she had nowhere to go.

That didn’t stop Jed Davis from coming after her.

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