murmured.
"You're as tense as a bucking horse waiting for the chute to open." He shook his head as his experienced fingers touched the tight muscles in her neck. "Turn around here."
Patty did as she was ordered, turning her back to her grandfather while he began gently manipulating and kneading the taut cords, forcing them to relax.
"We certainly can't stay here, grandpa," she said after a few minutes, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the soothing massage.
"I don't think we should go back to the ranch."
"There isn't any place else we can go. Besides, it doesn't matter."
"I still don't think it's a good thing to go stirring up the ashes of a dead fire."
The grim determination in his voice was vigorously apparent. A dead fire—the words lingered in Patty's mind, Perhaps that was it. Perhaps she had finally got over her heartbreak. She could even visualize Lije's face without any knife blades twisting inside.
"What's the alternative, grandpa?" she asked.
His hands left her neck and shoulders for a moment. She started to turn around and they were replaced. Their touch was more firm than before, a hard strength that demanded her muscles to surrender under its pressure. A sudden tingle raced down her spine and her lashes flew open with a start.
"I've already offered the alternative."
She hadn't really needed Morgan Kincaid's voice to realize why the hands had felt so different. She jerked away and pivoted at the same time. She readily picked up the mocking challenge that was in his gaze.
"What alternative?" she demanded.
"Morgan's ranch is less than two hundred miles from here." Her grandfather answered for him. "He's offered to let us keep the horses there as long as we take care of them, until they're ready to go back on tour."
"That's your parents' ranch, isn't it?" Her head was tilted back in defiance, not liking the feeling that she was being maneuvered again. "They might not be so willing to extend their hospitality so openly."
"It's a family holding," Morgan corrected with a slow drawl, amusement flickering in his blue eyes. "Plus, I've already discussed it with dad to be certain he had enough stable room available. The invitation has been seconded, so your objections on that score are meaningless."
"Neither grandpa nor I need your charity!"
"It isn't charity. It's only a neighborly Oklahoma offer." The broad shoulders moved in an expressive shrug as if he had plainly expected her to take this stand. "I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't offer your granddad a helping hand when he needed it. I already warned him that I thought you would refuse."
"You're right. I do!" Patty declared.
"Well, for my part, I accept," Everett King stated firmly.
"Grandpa!" Gasping his name, she turned on him with a look of surprised outrage.
"It's logical and practical and I've made up my mind." He held up his hand to halt the torrential outpouring of anger that was about to spring from his granddaughter's lips. "You can argue, shout and throw all the tantrums you want, but you aren't going to change my decision. We can't afford to stay here. It would be foolish and risky to go all that far back to New Mexico. So I'm taking the horses to Morgan's ranch and you can come or stay as you please."
"Grandpa!" Patty breathed, unable to believe that he had taken such an adamant stand against her. In the past, all major decisions had been the result of joint agreement. Even when she was a teenager he had treated her as an equal partner in a business venture. "You can't mean it?"
"The way I see it, Patty, we have no choice." There was a look of apology in his eyes, but the determination in the rest of his expression didn't waver. "Morgan's leaving in a couple of hours with the rodeo stock. The decision has to be made now so he can let them know at the ranch."
With a hopeless sense of frustration, Patty darted a glance at Morgan, silently accusing him of waiting until the last moment to extend his invitation.
"I would have
"You're as tense as a bucking horse waiting for the chute to open." He shook his head as his experienced fingers touched the tight muscles in her neck. "Turn around here."
Patty did as she was ordered, turning her back to her grandfather while he began gently manipulating and kneading the taut cords, forcing them to relax.
"We certainly can't stay here, grandpa," she said after a few minutes, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the soothing massage.
"I don't think we should go back to the ranch."
"There isn't any place else we can go. Besides, it doesn't matter."
"I still don't think it's a good thing to go stirring up the ashes of a dead fire."
The grim determination in his voice was vigorously apparent. A dead fire—the words lingered in Patty's mind, Perhaps that was it. Perhaps she had finally got over her heartbreak. She could even visualize Lije's face without any knife blades twisting inside.
"What's the alternative, grandpa?" she asked.
His hands left her neck and shoulders for a moment. She started to turn around and they were replaced. Their touch was more firm than before, a hard strength that demanded her muscles to surrender under its pressure. A sudden tingle raced down her spine and her lashes flew open with a start.
"I've already offered the alternative."
She hadn't really needed Morgan Kincaid's voice to realize why the hands had felt so different. She jerked away and pivoted at the same time. She readily picked up the mocking challenge that was in his gaze.
"What alternative?" she demanded.
"Morgan's ranch is less than two hundred miles from here." Her grandfather answered for him. "He's offered to let us keep the horses there as long as we take care of them, until they're ready to go back on tour."
"That's your parents' ranch, isn't it?" Her head was tilted back in defiance, not liking the feeling that she was being maneuvered again. "They might not be so willing to extend their hospitality so openly."
"It's a family holding," Morgan corrected with a slow drawl, amusement flickering in his blue eyes. "Plus, I've already discussed it with dad to be certain he had enough stable room available. The invitation has been seconded, so your objections on that score are meaningless."
"Neither grandpa nor I need your charity!"
"It isn't charity. It's only a neighborly Oklahoma offer." The broad shoulders moved in an expressive shrug as if he had plainly expected her to take this stand. "I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't offer your granddad a helping hand when he needed it. I already warned him that I thought you would refuse."
"You're right. I do!" Patty declared.
"Well, for my part, I accept," Everett King stated firmly.
"Grandpa!" Gasping his name, she turned on him with a look of surprised outrage.
"It's logical and practical and I've made up my mind." He held up his hand to halt the torrential outpouring of anger that was about to spring from his granddaughter's lips. "You can argue, shout and throw all the tantrums you want, but you aren't going to change my decision. We can't afford to stay here. It would be foolish and risky to go all that far back to New Mexico. So I'm taking the horses to Morgan's ranch and you can come or stay as you please."
"Grandpa!" Patty breathed, unable to believe that he had taken such an adamant stand against her. In the past, all major decisions had been the result of joint agreement. Even when she was a teenager he had treated her as an equal partner in a business venture. "You can't mean it?"
"The way I see it, Patty, we have no choice." There was a look of apology in his eyes, but the determination in the rest of his expression didn't waver. "Morgan's leaving in a couple of hours with the rodeo stock. The decision has to be made now so he can let them know at the ranch."
With a hopeless sense of frustration, Patty darted a glance at Morgan, silently accusing him of waiting until the last moment to extend his invitation.
"I would have
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