Rocky Mountain Cowboy (11 page)

“It’s a minor annoyance,
” Jenny responded, grabbing her hat and gloves at the back door of the kitchen.

“Doc said it looked pretty clean. He doesn’t think any infection will set it as long as you take care of it.”

“He also said it won’t leave a scar most likely.”

Hawk nodded. “Thought you might like a tour of the new barn before we head out today.”

“Dad sent me pictures of it after it was built,” she told him as they walked toward the big red structure at the far end of the yard. “He was very proud of it. He said you built most of it.”

The new barn had a pitched red metal roof that provided for a hay loft at the top. At one side, it had a long low overhan
g, supported by six big pine posts. It opened to a white fenced paddock for the horses that were kept in the stalls inside. The entire barn was trimmed neatly in white, with a big open window in the loft and two smaller ones on either side of the huge sliding red door. The Bar F/Bar L brand logo was portrayed above the central door in large white painted wooden letters. Though it was six years old, it looked brand new and freshly painted. It was obviously a prized addition to the ranch.

Beneath the low brim of a dark brown felt cowboy hat, Hawk flashed her a quick grin. “We worked on it together.”

He drew open the sliding door and stepped aside to let her enter before him. Inside, the barn was quiet, cool, and peaceful. The high ceiling was heavily beamed with stripped pine. A hayloft nestled under half of the pitched roof and was partially full of hay bales. Soft morning sunlight filtered through the shuttered windows marching along each wall. The light cast wavering patterns on the pine planked floor, and dust particles from the hay hung in the still air, although the interior was really very clean for a barn. Apparently the stalls had already been mucked out because there wasn’t a strong odor of manure. The long wide aisle down the center of the barn was swept clean, as well, and everything was neatly placed where it should have been.

Stalls for horses
, pens for other animals, and two calving stalls ran along both walls, under the high windows, though only four horses occupied the dozen and a half stalls at the moment—two in front and two in back. The barn was deep and wide with workrooms at the far end. It was more than obvious that there was a great deal of pride and appreciation in the structure.

Hawk
carried carrots for all of the horses, and stopped to feed the first two their treat.

Jenny watched him affectionately greet and stroke the
first two like they were old friends. When he was finished, he put a hand at her back and guided her toward the back of the barn, where there was a tack room, a small office, and a veterinary room. The rooms were well-stocked, clean, and efficiently organized. Wood and leather mixed with the scent of horses and hay.

After a quick tour of that area, they backtracked to the last two animal stalls. Two hor
ses stood opposite one another on either side of the aisle. One was a big dark red gelding, and the other a smaller chocolate brown mare. Hawk stepped up to the biggest quarter horse.

“This is Red Phantom.” Pulling a carrot out of his back pocket, he fed it to the
horse who greeted him eagerly.

Jenny could tell this was Hawk’s horse
. .“You must spoil him. He was expecting that carrot.” She stepped up onto the slats of the stall, let the horse sniff her, then stroked his velvety nose, giving him a gentle rub between his wide set eyes as she murmured a greeting to him.

“Red and I have been together a long time. We used to rodeo together. He’s one hell of a fine cutting horse,” Hawk said, watching her and his horse bond. “Now, we’re just a couple of stiff
-jointed old bums, aren’t we, boy?”

“Oh, I don’t believe that,” she argued with a dimpled smile. “Neither one of you
look old to me.” Rubbing the horse’s long velvety neck, she murmured, “You’re such a handsome guy.” Over her shoulder, she glanced back down at Hawk. “I have a horse at home. His name is Dark Shadow.” Turning her attention back to the horse, she addressed him again. “He’s a beautiful gelding just like you. Only he’s black, and I’ll bet he’d love it here.” Swiveling at the waist, she turned to Hawk again. “I board him and ride him in the San Gabriel Mountains, above Los Angeles. He’s mountain trail trained, so I imagine he would do well here.”

Hawk put his hands around her belted waist and lifted her down
when she started to descend. Startled, one boot slipped off the bottom rail, and she fell backwards, right into his arms. He turned her to face him as her feet touched the floor, but he didn’t release her. His incredibly blue, blue eyes darkened as he stared down at her, mesmerizing her with their penetrating intensity, their sudden unmistakable desire. In his loose embrace, her heart was racing and her breathing felt suspended in her lungs. Heat radiated between them like a furnace.

He leaned closer to her, his breath mingling warmly with hers. Automatically, her lips parted. His were so well-shaped, so very inviting. She anticipated what he’d taste like; how his lips would cover hers; how his tongue would slip between hers to tangle with her own. A sweet rush of desire coursed through her. It was so vividly intense, she closed her eyes. Her stomach fluttered. Her legs went suddenly weak and boneless.

Her arms rose, and her hands twined together around his neck. She arched her back into him. Their hips met in a breathless moment of contact, then their lips— just barely.

“Hey, boss, you got a phone call at the house.”

Jenny gasped at the sound of Eli’s voice behind her, while Hawk lifted his head to look over her head at the old cowboy framed in the open doorway of the barn. Slowly, Hawk’s arms fell from her waist, while hers uncoiled from around his neck. In unison, they stepped back from one another.

“Who is it?” Hawk called out, his voice betraying his impatience. “Can’t it wait?”

“Could, as far as I’m concerned.” Eli gave him an assessing, disgruntled look. “It’s Cindy Caldwell. You don’t want to talk to her, you tell Miss High and Mighty, yourself.”

“Saddle Red Phantom and Aspen for us, will you, Eli?” Hawk cast Jenny a quick apologetic look. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Eli grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and came deeper into the bar.

“I’ll help you,” Jenny offered, wondering what Cindy Caldwell wanted, but determined not to ask.

“This is Aspen. She’s a friendly little mare,” the old cowboy told her after Hawk left. He opened the stall gate and led the mare out. “She’s a sweetheart, aren’t you Aspen?” he crooned. “Very gentle and smooth. She’ll take good care of you, honey.”

Jenny walked into the tack room and chose a saddle for herself, then grabbed the rest of the tack for the animal.
“And I suppose she’s slow and safe, too,” she laughed as she lifted the saddle onto the mare. “Will she put me to sleep riding her?”

“Naw,”
Eli reassured her, slipping the bridle over Aspen’s head. “She just minds her manners better than some of the horses around here. Trust me, you two will get along fine.”

“Better than me and that old relic of a truck Hawk made me drive, I’ll bet.”

Eli’s laughter was deep and raspy. “Yeah, that thing’s a bear.”

“Thanks for warning me ahead of time.”

Once Aspen was completely saddled, Jenny stood petting and stroking her, while Eli took Hawk’s bigger horse out and began saddling him. As she watched, she tried valiantly to regain her composure. There was no doubt that had Eli not interrupted them, she and John Red Hawk Larson would be ensnared in each other’s arms right now. The fact that she had truly wanted that kiss was undeniable evidence that she was growing more and more attracted to him. Damn, how smart was that?

They met Hawk outside in the yard twenty minutes later. The house, the new barn, and the old one, which now housed all the large and heavy equipment used on the ranch, stood against the magnificent backdrop of
two of the three collegiate peaks that formed the mountain range on their side of the valley. Large corrals for the horses connected the two barns, and at the very end of the dirt yard, stood the bunkhouse, where Eli, Hank, and Steve lived. A large, pole-supported carport stood near the house, providing a protective covering for the three family vehicles parked there, which included Jenny’s fancy red ‘Vette, while another smaller open pole shed protected the horse trailers. The immense pole shed for the baled and harvested hay sat near the bunkhouse, at the back of the yard.

It was a big yard, and the only grass was
a wide swath planted immediately around the house. A hip-high white picket fence kept the animals off of it. It was a picturesque setting, but there had been several changes made over the years, making it all look much more prosperous than it had when she had lived here as a girl. All the changes were definite improvements, and her dad had obviously benefitted from his partnership with Hawk. It also appeared they had had a few good years of raising cattle.

If she stayed permanently, she might have to insist on a gar
age for her precious sports car, though. In the winter, when the snow blew in off the mountains and settled deep on the ground, there wouldn’t be a great deal of protection for her expensive vehicle.

As she stared at the truck and two cars parked under the pitched metal roof of the carport, she wondered what she was going to do with her dad’s ten
-year-old SUV. It didn’t need to be sold, but ownership should be transferred and it needed to be driven once in the while.

Jenny stood beside her horse and scanned
her old home appreciatively. It was a picturesque setting. With the mountains and heavily treed foothills as a backdrop, it was really beyond picturesque. It held a precious place in her heart and in her soul. In all the years she’d been gone, nothing had ever replaced it for her.

She had missed it
so. Even with her father gone, she was beginning to understand it still held a special place in her heart. She loved her work, but she’d never felt at peace in Southern California, or anywhere else, for that matter. She owned a home, but it wasn’t home to her. Were the dreams she’d held in her heart for so long still possible to reclaim? Could she build new dreams? Could she change her life to return here after all?

Shaded beneath the low brim of her new hat, her eyes landed on the tall lean cowboy coming toward her. He was wearing work chaps today, and they accentuated his long legs and lean hips. His broad shoulders were encased in a pale blue cambric shirt, and he had his dark cowboy hat pulled low onto his forehead, making it impossible to see his startling blue eyes. But his mouth was visible. Even though it was set in a straight line, clenched like his square jaw, it was still inviting, eliciting tempting memories of his near kiss. The man was just entirely too good looking
, and yet it was comforting to be with him. Other emotions were emerging, though, but they were so new and fragile, she wasn’t ready to analyze them yet. All she really knew at the moment was that leaving was the last thing on her mind these days.

“Ready to head out?”
Hawk questioned needlessly since she was obviously ready.

She gave him
a thumb up. When she put her foot in the stirrup, Hawk was there to put his hands on her waist and lift her effortlessly into the saddle. Ever solicitous, he checked the straps and cinches on her saddle before he took his own horse from Eli.

He swung up onto Red Phantom’s back with absolute ease. His legs were so long, he did it in one smooth, effortless motion before he settled comfortably into his own saddle. Eli asked them to wait a moment, hurried into the house on his short, arthritic legs, then returned with a large zip
-lock baggie full of cookies.

He winked at Jenny and slipped the package inside her saddle bag. “Chocolate chip cookies— homemade this morning, just for you, darlin’, though I reckon you can share ‘em with this ornery guy, but only if he sees you don’t get hurt today.” The old cowhand sent the younger man a sharp scowl. “Make sure you bring her back without injuries.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” she quickly defended Hawk. “I should have paid more attention to what I was doing. Ranching is dangerous work, you know.” With a smile, she blew her old friend a kiss. “You’re going to spoil me, Eli— or make me fat with all these goodies”

“You could use a little fat and a little spoilin’, sweetie.”

∞∞∞

They were riding to the line cabin today to have a look around and hunt for strays. The ride up the mountain was gorgeous. It was another brilliant Colorado pre-fall day. The sky was its typical sparkling blue, the air crystal clear and crisp, and the aspen trees fluttering like pieces of gold in the soft breeze.

With her hair unbound, it blew around her face
and neck in feathery wisps that tickled and made her laugh.

It was a good day to be alive, she decided. Hawk had been right.
Time and work and a surprisingly sensitive man to help her through it were a comfort she hadn’t expected.

They had to ride single file along the narrow, winding, tree-lined trail that climbed higher
and deeper into the foothills. When the trail widened and they were able to pull abreast, Jenny gave Hawk a delighted, happy smile, maybe the first real one he’d seen, and it shot through him like a bolt of lightning.