Cowgirl Up! by Carolyn Anderson Jones Page B

arms around her. It took several minutes before Sam stopped shivering and her blue lips turned back to pink. She could finally feel her body relax.
     
    “Let’s get you back home so you can get out of those wet clothes and take a hot shower,” Cheyenne said softly. “Then I’m going to find out who saddled these horses this morning.”
     
    They returned to the ranch in record time and made it before the storm broke. Cheyenne stopped the truck by the barn and jumped out. He yelled to Jose, who came running up immediately.
     
    “Help me unload the horses and tell me who saddled them this morning,” he demanded.
     
    Jose looked confused as he opened the door to the trailer and started unloading the horses.
     
    “
Senor
Mitch saddled them this morning, and I loaded them.”
     
    Cheyenne came around and helped Sam out of his truck. Suddenly the storm broke and the rain came down in torrents. They both ran for Sam’s Chevy and were drenched by the time they reached it. Cheyenne quickly opened the door and Sam and Dundee slid in. Dundee headed for his shotgun spot on the passenger side.
     
    “I’ll give you a call later on,” Cheyenne told Sam as he shut the door.
     
    Sam rolled down her window. “Thanks for the ride and picnic. It was great, really. And I loved Dakota. Give him a good rub down for me.”
     
    “I’ll do that,” Cheyenne said and ran his thumb softly across her cheek. “Now get on home and out of those wet clothes.” He leaned through the window and gave her a kiss on her nose.
     
    Sam looked at him closely before rolling up her window, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He had those deep brown eyes that were impossible to read. As she headed down the driveway she saw Suzanne standing inside the barn watching them. The dark look on her face gave Sam more shivers than the cold rain. This place was creeping her out and she decided it was time to get out of Dodge.
     

Chapter Eighteen
     
    When Sam got home, she pulled her wet clothes off and headed for the shower. She let the hot water pound on her body and soaped up with her favorite Bath & Body shower gel. As she toweled off she saw bruises forming on her body.
     
    Sam put on her favorite pajamas from Victoria’s Secret. Not one of the sexy, see-through camisole jobs, but a pair of soft, long flannel pants with a tank top that read ‘I’m too sexy for my shirt’. Then she padded into her kitchen, fed Dundee and put her teakettle on to boil. This was a good evening to stay in, have some hot Celestial Seasonings tea, and finish ‘Sex and Sizzle’, she decided when she heard the rain beat against the kitchen window.
     
    Sam settled on her couch, took an extra strength Tylenol with a sip of Green Tea and started to catch up with the adventures of Sienna and Seth when her doorbell rang.
     
    Probably Mom or Mason, She thought. Or both.
     
    Sam flung the door open ready to give her brother a big hug when she froze. There on the doorstep stood Cheyenne with a hot pizza, a six pack of Coors and rain drizzling off the rim of his black cowboy hat.
     
    “I felt like a pizza tonight and thought you might want some. I also wanted to make sure you were okay. Can I come in?”
     
    Sam opened the door wider and Cheyenne stepped through and headed for the kitchen.
     
    “That smells wonderful. Did you get it at Johnny’s?” Sam asked.
     
    “Yep, one of Johnny’s ‘sweep the kitchen’ pizzas. Doesn’t get any better than this.”
     
    Sam pulled two plates from her cupboard and handed one to Cheyenne. In a matter of minutes they had their plates piled high with pizza and two bottles of beer on the coffee table while they sat side by side on the sofa.
     
    “I talked to Mitch after you left and he swore he never did anything to that saddle. He said he didn’t notice anything wrong with either of the cinch straps. He was upset when I told him what happened. He got real agitated and wanted to come by and see if you were okay. I