No Place for a Lady (20 page)

With a slight pull at the reins, josh abruptly stopped the
horses in the middle of the road, and without any warning, he reached for Crystal, pulled her close, and kissed her soundly
on the lips.

His lips were soft and full, just the opposite of Luke's thin but
caressing ones. Now why was she comparing again? Crystal drew
back, her hands pushing firmly against his thick chest. "Josh.
Please. I barely know you:" She could still feel the warmth of his
lips and felt confused about her feelings.

"I'm sorry;" he said. "It's just that I've wanted to do that all
evening. I don't know what got into me" He picked up the reins
and flicked them over the horses' rumps.

Crystal could see the red flush creeping from his neck upward
to his face, but she chose to ignore it and merely adjusted the
wrap about her shoulders. With her respectable Southern decorum, she brushed over his embarrassment by quickly changing
the subject. As she adjusted her shawl, she noticed a lone rider,
his hat slung low, quietly observing her and josh through the
lodgepole and spruce.

Luke wasted no time after breakfast but hurried to the tack
room to get away from Crystal's cool regard and to finalize his list
of provisions that would be needed for the trail drive. He didn't
know why he was expecting a different reaction from Crystal at
the announcement of his engagement, but in the back of his mind
he halfheartedly hoped she'd object. Should've known better.

His eyes slammed shut when he thought of her in Josh's
arms. He'd been on his way home from the party when he saw
them kissing. He wondered if josh knew about Drew. Probably
not. No matter. April would make a good wife, and she was very knowledgeable about ranching since she had followed
every step her father took since she was big enough to walk.
He would have his spread on the Blue River. Besides, he was
pushing thirty and was ready to settle down. He would grow
to love April.

He jammed his list deep into his vest pocket, reached for his
saddle, and carried it out to the corral. Buck pawed the dirt with
his hoof at the sight of Luke. He lovingly stroked Buck's withers
and adjusted the rigging rings, then reached down to tighten
the cinch. He heard a noise and turned to see Crystal and Rusty
approaching.

"Where ya off to?" Rusty said.

Luke turned and waved a greeting. "Going to ride out and see
how Curly is doing with the herd. Maybe lend him a hand with
the strays:" He tipped his hat to Crystal and fished the list out of
his vest. "Rusty, here's a list I came up with. If you need to add
anything to it, go ahead:"

"I'll take that" Crystal reached for the paper. "Rusty and I have
things to discuss this morning, and I may have a few things for the
list myself." Crystal conducted herself in a businesslike manner,
not even looking at Luke. "I'd also like a list of the extra hands
you've hired for the trail drive and what you've promised them in
wages. I want to be certain that I'll be paying only for experienced
hands since we can't afford too many losses on this trail"

Luke didn't like this new take-charge Crystal. What did she
know about losses on a cattle drive? He was doing just fine on his
own. When she said she'd stay on for a while, Luke assumed she
had meant for him to take over running the spread for her. "I only
hired the best hands;' he answered, giving her an icy look.

"Fine. Rusty's been filling me in on the particulars of the
roundup and trail drive, and I still intend to ride with y'all."

"Then you'll be about as welcome as a spot on a white Sunday
shirt" He mounted Buck and glared down at her. "You'd better
talk some sense into her, Rusty"

Rusty took the toothpick he was chewing on out of his mouth
before calmly answering, "Well now, I tried that. Seems she's determined to learn firsthand."

"She'll only be in the way," Luke said through clenched teeth.

"Please do not talk as if I'm not even standing here" Crystal
stood with her hands on her hips. Turning to Rusty, she said, "I'm
ready for that shooting lesson now, Rusty."

Luke spurred Buck out of the yard, leaving the other two to
choke on a cloud of dust.

Crystal's quick ability to learn and her keen sense of aim with
the Colt in her hand made her feel more competent. She was
pleased and felt that with a little more practice, she would do
all right on the trail. By week's end, true to his word, Rusty had
saturated her brain with as much information as he could. He
showed her how to ride a cutting horse. He demonstrated the
cutting horse's skill by using knee pressure alone to guide it, with
little need for reins. The cowboys took a break to watch the lesson
and perched on the top rail of the corral fence.

Crystal tried to emulate Rusty's adeptness with his horse while
picking out a steer from the few he had placed in the corral. She
hadn't anticipated the horse's sharp sidestep and quickly lost her
seat. She fell on all fours into the dust and landed at the feet of a large steer, whose sides heaved and nostrils flared. It hadn't looked this
big from the horse's back! "Nice steer," she said, backing away.

Kurt, Curly, and Jube roared with laughter, slapped their thighs,
and poked one another at the sight of their proper boss covered
with dust. But just as quickly they clamored down to assist her.
She rubbed her backside but laughed right along with them and
was ready to try again.

Crystal pulled herself back into the saddle just as Luke reined
Buck in to watch the commotion. This time she was much better at it. When she had singled out the steer she wanted, Crystal
urged it gently to the edge of the herd, and her mount rushed
behind the steer, separating it out of the herd. When the steer
found itself outside the herd, it tried to go back, but instantly the
horse wheeled to the left and ran alongside it.

The steer tried to dodge the horse, but each time, the horse
stopped and wheeled around again, keeping it outside the herd,
until the steer gave up and ran out of the herd. All the while,
Crystal managed to keep her seat. Rusty and the punchers cheered
loudly for her, which was great for her pride, but she knew it was
the alert and well-trained horse that actually did the work. It was
the most fun she'd had in a long time, and through it all she knew
she had earned the drovers' respect.

Luke said nothing, just sat with his arms across the pommel of
the saddle, hat pulled low over his eyes. The past week, he'd been
avoiding her like a bad case of the measles. Crystal pretended that
it didn't matter, but in truth she couldn't understand why they
couldn't still be friends, even though he was engaged.

Later in the afternoon, when Rusty and Crystal were in the barn
putting away the lariats and bridles, Rusty blurted out, "Crystal,
I've seen the way Luke looks at you and how the sparks always
fly whenever you two are in the same place." He scratched his
beard thoughtfully, which Crystal knew meant he was in a pensive
mood. "Are you sure there's nothin' going on between you two?
I'm not blind, you know."

"There is nothing between us, Rusty, believe me;' Crystal answered a bit too quickly. "I don't usually flirt with engaged men,
so put your mind at ease" She shook her head. "Thanks for the
horse-handling instructions, Rusty. I need to go get cleaned up
and rustle up supper:" She hurried out of the barn to avoid any
further questions, but she knew she hadn't fooled Rusty one bit.

"Have something for you" Luke held a bundle out toward Crystal as she approached the porch.

"What is this?" She drew her breath in sharply. "Oh, you found
it" With shaking hands she unfolded the bundle. There, wrapped
with the crumpled cream material, lay her ivory hat. Luke thought
it looked more like a wrinkled mushroom than the beautiful hat.
She held it to her chest as tears began to well up, spilling over her
sunburned cheeks and onto the bundle she caressed.

"I rode down the ravine where ... well, anyhow, I came across
it and thought you might still like to have it. I didn't mean to
upset you and make you cry." He resisted the urge to wipe away
her tears and shifted his weight from one boot heel to the other,
spurs jingling.

Crystal sniffed and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "It's okay, Luke. The material and hat made me think about Aunt
Kate. I miss her so much sometimes that it hurts. God bless her
sweet soul" She moved past him, and a sob caught in her throat
as she opened the front door. "Thank you, Luke. I'll try to get the
stains out. Maybe someday I'll make it into a dress for a special
occasion:"

Feeling responsible for Crystal's tears, Luke floundered for
something to say. "Uh ... I didn't mean to yell at you the other
day. I am really sorry about Kate. I loved her like a mother. But I
don't think you should be going on the trail drive. This is definitely
a man's job. It's too dangerous, and you could get hurt. Stay here
and make your dress or something. . "

Crystal stiffened. "Indeed" She gazed at him coolly through
misty eyes. "We shall see. This is my ranch, and I will run it
firsthand. That is what I intend to do, with or without your blessing"

He watched her go, and the door slammed behind her. Luke
just shook his head. Foolish woman. He'd be glad when the beef
was shipped and done with. Maybe she would go back to Georgia
then, and he wouldn't have to see her every day. But he sure would
miss those green eyes.