A Cowboy's Heart

“I’m afraid Sadie and I spent a lot of time on the backs of our horses discussing Ned, who never left her alone. Worse, he never wasted a chance to berate his cousins in front of us and any audience who happened to be around. It wasn’t just Jarod he hated. He had plenty to say about you.

“When you trained Firebrand, a feral no one else could handle, he was furious at your success. Worse, every girl on the Montana circuit would have given her eyeteeth to go out with you and he knew it.”

“Not every girl,” he said in a quiet voice.

“You mean Sadie, but we both know why.”

“I meant you, Liz.”

“Me—?”

Connor cocked his head. “Don’t you remember the time I asked you if you wanted to celebrate with me after you won at the Missoula Stampede?”

Liz blinked. “I figured you asked me for Wade’s sake in order to set us up.”

“He has a girlfriend now.”

“I’m glad. He’s kind of shy. Though I’ve always liked him, I was never interested in him that way.”

“Ouch. Now you’ve wounded him and me.”

“What do you mean you? You were married.”

“Nope. Divorced. If you’d agreed, I would have told you I was single again, but you didn’t give me the time of day. Before you shut me down cold, I figured we were far enough away from home that old man Corkin wouldn’t find out the off-limits neighbors were getting friendly.”

Her heart thudded. “Even if I had known the change in your marital status, I wouldn’t have said yes. Being in love with the woman you married doesn’t go away because of a piece of paper. Jarod and Sadie were still head over heels in love after eight years, even after she wrote him that awful goodbye letter he actually believed, and all because of Ned!”

“That’s a fact.” Connor reached to shut off the engine. “I think your explanation for rejecting me has helped a little.”

“Give it up, Connor,” she teased with a chuckle.

“I’ll keep everything you told me in mind and cogitate on it.”

“You do that.”

“What do you say we go back to the trailer and enjoy some of your mom’s chili while we see how long this storm is going to last.”

* * *

WHILE SHE WARMED up their food, Connor put on his hat and jacket before walking back to check on the horses. The wet snow was coming down fast. The horses were better off inside their stalls where it was warm. He didn’t want them catching a cold and made sure they had what they needed before he headed for the trailer.

He shook off the snow before entering. When he saw her seated at the kitchen table, a sense of guilt swept over him. Not for the things she’d deduced about his troubled psyche, which were right on, but because he hadn’t given her life the same amount of thoughtful attention she’d given his. Most of the time he’d been too immersed in his own problems to think of others. He was the opposite of his grandparents.

They knew all about Sadie’s and Liz’s dreams, but they’d never divulged the essence of their conversations with Connor. His grandparents were saints who worried about everyone and did the little things that endeared them to friends and family. Take that charm bracelet. Connor had seen the loving expression on her face for Ralph. It came from the heart.

After hanging up his hat and jacket, he moved to the table. She immediately got to her feet to wait on him and pour him a mug of hot coffee. The one time he’d traveled with Reva in his trailer, to an event within California, she’d sat there waiting for him to take care of her. Even then, she’d insisted on staying nights at a hotel with room service.

She’d told him she really didn’t like the trailer. It was too claustrophobic for her. Reva liked to eat out. So did he, once in a while. He excused her because he knew it simply wasn’t her lifestyle. But the time came when just about everything he did or suggested didn’t appeal to her.

They didn’t grow together in their marriage. Through no true fault on either part, their physical attraction couldn’t take care of everything else that was wrong. Starting a family had been out of the question. But enough dredging up the past he preferred to forget.

After eight hours of driving it was still so pleasant being with Liz, he kept wondering when the spell would wear off and she’d turn into someone else.

“Eat while the chili’s hot. Mom made some rolls, too.” Liz passed the plate to him. He took three.

“Thank you. I’ve been salivating for this all day.”

“Me, too. How are our children by the way? Do you think they’re getting along all right in such close quarters?”

Connor chuckled at the charming way she’d put it. “They were both quiet.”

“They’ve never been stalled together. Sunflower is probably missing Polly and vice versa.”

“This is a new experience for Firebrand, too. I don’t know if they’re being shy or bored.”

“Wouldn’t it be interesting if horses had romantic feelings....”

When he looked into her eyes, they were smiling. “Since when did White Lodge’s newest vet delve into horse psychiatry?”

“Since the time Sadie told me about Chief, Jarod’s stallion. He had a harem when he ran wild in the mountains. That got me thinking.”

A burst of full-bodied laughter broke from him. “Maybe by the time the rodeo’s over, we’ll find out Firebrand and Sunflower have become inseparable.”

She grinned. “You have to admit it would be amazing. I’d write it up in the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine. At our last stop, I noticed Firebrand sniffing around Sunflower’s dung. Did you know feral horses like yours are fascinated by the dung piles of other horses?”

He tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it. “I have to admit I didn’t.”

“It’s true. Dung and urine from other herds act as newspapers from one herd to another. Just what is communicated through urine and dung is unknown, but it may communicate how healthy the herd is, what mares are in season and even what types of food is available in the area.”

“Let’s be thankful her heat cycle ended after September. Otherwise, we’d know it by now.”

Liz laughed gently. “Never fear. When I compete at the wrong times, I give her a medication so there’s no problem. So...if these two get interested in each other, it won’t be because of hormones.”

Connor eyed her thoughtfully. “Just pure chemistry.”

“Wouldn’t that be something.” She sounded bemused.

“Indeed it would.” But his mind wasn’t on the horses. The woman seated across from him had drawn his attention. She wore her usual braid, but it lay forward over her shoulder, brushing against her flushed cheek while she drank her coffee. He could pick out the sun streaks in her light chestnut hair.

The collar of her tan Western blouse lay open at the throat. It came to him she had no idea how truly lovely she was. There was nothing artificial about her. If she wore makeup right now, he couldn’t tell. She didn’t need it.

“More chili?”

He handed her his bowl. “Please.”

“You don’t know how happy it will make Mom to hear you liked it.” She got up from the table, giving him a profile view. Liz had to be five foot seven, with a supple body filling out her blouse and jeans in all the right places. With those long legs, she made quite a sight astride her horse during a competition.

His thoughts flicked to Reva, who was five foot four and more voluptuous. But she didn’t move with the same grace as Liz, who was in fabulous shape from working and riding horses all her life.