frustrated, as Nate stood, gave Lili a small bow, then dropped his
trash into the bin and walked toward the back of the barn. Lili gazed after him
with a wistful smile.
“Men,” Rosa
muttered, casting an angry glance at Luis.
The young man
gave a puzzled shrug. “What’d I do?”
“You were born,
to start with.” Getting to her feet, she marched back to the food table to
begin cleaning up. “It’s all downhill from there.”
A FTER LUNCH , THE HANDS gathered near their parked trucks
to smoke before saddling up. “Nate takes a thirty-minute nap every afternoon,”
Daniel told Willa. “If that’s what keeps him so fit at almost seventy, I’m
going to start scheduling one into my day.”
She stretched
her arms out wide, full of good food and, for once, completely relaxed. “I can
understand the appeal. I wouldn’t mind lying down for a few minutes myself
right now.”
When she turned
her head to smile at Daniel, she didn’t find him smiling in response. The
intensity, the hunger, in his face made her suddenly aware of how her
T-shirt stretched thinly across her breasts, how the V-neck showed a little
cleavage. She sat on a hay bale with her feet planted on the floor and her
knees wide apart, which now seemed like an invitation…an invitation, Willa
realized suddenly, she desperately wanted to give.
In the next
moment, Daniel was on his feet, moving to dump his paper plate and drink can in
the trash. “It’s time to get started,” he said over his shoulder. “You’re
welcome to stay and watch…or help, if you want. I’m sure we could use extra
hands.”
After that, he
was all business as he reviewed with the cowboys which pasture they would be
driving the first herd to. Willa knew the land better than anyone there, even
Nate—knew the gullies and ridges they would cross, the places where a cow might
wander or stumble or spook. Listening to Daniel, she realized that he had
studied the landscape and taken all those obstacles into account. Since he
couldn’t rely on the kind of familiarity her years working this land had
created, he’d assessed the terrain with his own military expertise and had
arrived at pretty much the same conclusions. Willa could only be impressed.
Mounted on her
horse and moving toward the herd with the rest of the crew, Willa found herself
riding beside Daniel. “You and Calypso seem to be getting along. Is he working
all right for you?”
Daniel glanced
in her direction but didn’t meet her eyes. “He’s a great horse. I’d have eaten
dirt quite a few times by now if he weren’t so careful. You did a terrific job
training him.”
“Thanks.”
Perversely, because he didn’t want to look at her, she wanted to make him do
just that. “That’s a nice saddle you put on him. Where’d you get it?”
In the shadow of
his hat brim, his cheeks reddened. “I…uh…won it. At a rodeo, when I was
sixteen.”
“You were riding
rodeos when you were a teenager?”
He nodded. “When
I was a little kid, about six years old, we visited my uncle—my mother’s
brother—on his ranch in Wyoming. He was this cool guy with a big booming laugh
who smoked and drank and enjoyed every minute of his life on the range. We went
a couple more times, as a family, and then I went out during the summers, when
my mom would let me fly by myself. Once, on a dare from the other hands, I
signed up for the saddle bronc event at the local rodeo. And I won, thanks to
beginner’s luck.” He laughed. “I tried several more times and got thrown almost
before we’d cleared the gate.”
She wanted to
ask more, but they’d come up beside the chute, where the cowboys were getting
ready to release the cattle. The time for talking had passed.
With a warning
shout, one of the men released the catch on the gate and let it swing wide. Moments
later, a cow or two recognized the chance for escape and meandered into the
wider field, followed by their herd mates. Soon enough, a long line of
trash into the bin and walked toward the back of the barn. Lili gazed after him
with a wistful smile.
“Men,” Rosa
muttered, casting an angry glance at Luis.
The young man
gave a puzzled shrug. “What’d I do?”
“You were born,
to start with.” Getting to her feet, she marched back to the food table to
begin cleaning up. “It’s all downhill from there.”
A FTER LUNCH , THE HANDS gathered near their parked trucks
to smoke before saddling up. “Nate takes a thirty-minute nap every afternoon,”
Daniel told Willa. “If that’s what keeps him so fit at almost seventy, I’m
going to start scheduling one into my day.”
She stretched
her arms out wide, full of good food and, for once, completely relaxed. “I can
understand the appeal. I wouldn’t mind lying down for a few minutes myself
right now.”
When she turned
her head to smile at Daniel, she didn’t find him smiling in response. The
intensity, the hunger, in his face made her suddenly aware of how her
T-shirt stretched thinly across her breasts, how the V-neck showed a little
cleavage. She sat on a hay bale with her feet planted on the floor and her
knees wide apart, which now seemed like an invitation…an invitation, Willa
realized suddenly, she desperately wanted to give.
In the next
moment, Daniel was on his feet, moving to dump his paper plate and drink can in
the trash. “It’s time to get started,” he said over his shoulder. “You’re
welcome to stay and watch…or help, if you want. I’m sure we could use extra
hands.”
After that, he
was all business as he reviewed with the cowboys which pasture they would be
driving the first herd to. Willa knew the land better than anyone there, even
Nate—knew the gullies and ridges they would cross, the places where a cow might
wander or stumble or spook. Listening to Daniel, she realized that he had
studied the landscape and taken all those obstacles into account. Since he
couldn’t rely on the kind of familiarity her years working this land had
created, he’d assessed the terrain with his own military expertise and had
arrived at pretty much the same conclusions. Willa could only be impressed.
Mounted on her
horse and moving toward the herd with the rest of the crew, Willa found herself
riding beside Daniel. “You and Calypso seem to be getting along. Is he working
all right for you?”
Daniel glanced
in her direction but didn’t meet her eyes. “He’s a great horse. I’d have eaten
dirt quite a few times by now if he weren’t so careful. You did a terrific job
training him.”
“Thanks.”
Perversely, because he didn’t want to look at her, she wanted to make him do
just that. “That’s a nice saddle you put on him. Where’d you get it?”
In the shadow of
his hat brim, his cheeks reddened. “I…uh…won it. At a rodeo, when I was
sixteen.”
“You were riding
rodeos when you were a teenager?”
He nodded. “When
I was a little kid, about six years old, we visited my uncle—my mother’s
brother—on his ranch in Wyoming. He was this cool guy with a big booming laugh
who smoked and drank and enjoyed every minute of his life on the range. We went
a couple more times, as a family, and then I went out during the summers, when
my mom would let me fly by myself. Once, on a dare from the other hands, I
signed up for the saddle bronc event at the local rodeo. And I won, thanks to
beginner’s luck.” He laughed. “I tried several more times and got thrown almost
before we’d cleared the gate.”
She wanted to
ask more, but they’d come up beside the chute, where the cowboys were getting
ready to release the cattle. The time for talking had passed.
With a warning
shout, one of the men released the catch on the gate and let it swing wide. Moments
later, a cow or two recognized the chance for escape and meandered into the
wider field, followed by their herd mates. Soon enough, a long line of
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