The Cowboy And The Debutante

“I’m sure he has his reasons,” Anna said, though she couldn’t help wondering if some woman had left him emotionally bruised and beaten. She sincerely doubted it. Miguel Chavez seemed too tough to have ever suffered a broken heart.

“Yes, I’m sure he’s had his reasons,” her mother said with a sigh. “But it seems such a shame. No one should be that alone.”

Her mother spoke with the same sort of fretfulness she might have used if she were talking about Adam, but that didn’t surprise Anna. Chloe wanted everyone she knew to be as happy as her. And in her mother’s eyes, love and happiness were synonymous.

“Maybe Miguel Chavez simply prefers his own company,” Anna said, then, looping her arm around her mother’s, she urged the other woman toward the house. “Let’s go in. The breeze is getting downright cold.”

“Wait a minute, darling, the coffeepot.” She walked over to a small table and picked up the insulated container, then rejoined her daughter. “Now back to Miguel—he doesn’t know what he prefers. He’s lived alone for so long, he’s forgotten what female companionship is all about.”

Chloe’s candor brought a pink flush to Anna’s cheeks. “Mother, I imagine Miguel Chavez has already forgotten more about women than the average man would know in a lifetime.”

Suddenly Chloe began to laugh, and Anna glanced at her sharply as the two of them entered the back door of the kitchen.

“You find that funny?”

Chloe’s laughter quickly sobered but a wide smile remained on her face. “No, dear. I’m just happy you noticed.”

Chapter Two

Early the next morning, Anna sat up in bed and pushed her long tousled hair away from her face. Birds were singing, and through the open blinds of a nearby window, she could see the gray light of dawn casting soft shadows across the courtyard beyond her bedroom. Her mother would already be at the stables. From the time Chloe had been old enough to follow Tomas Murdock on two sturdy legs, she had learned the rule of feeding the horses before herself.

The thought put a wry smile on Anna’s lips. Chloe’s reputation as a horse breeder and trainer didn’t stop at Lincoln County or even the state of New Mexico. People from as far as Louisiana, Arkansas and Kentucky had come to buy her yearlings.

Anna was very proud of her mother. She was equally as proud of her father, who was well-known in the gas and oil business. And now her brother, Adam, was making a name for himself as an oilman, too. Then there was her little sister, Ivy, who was studying hard to become a doctor. Each member of the family had a successful field they enjoyed working in. Anna would be the only quitter in the bunch if she turned her back on her musical career.

But she didn’t want to spoil the morning by dwelling on such deep thoughts. And anyway, she wasn’t going to be practicing piano today or listening to her road manager map out the next week’s agenda, she was going to help her mother in the stables and that was enough to lift her spirits.

By seven-thirty breakfast was over, and Anna accompanied her mother to the stables. Much to her chagrin, the first thing she saw when she entered the huge building was Miguel Chavez. He was dressed much the same as yesterday only a pair of batwing chaps had replaced the shorter chinks and rather than the straw, a brown felt hat was riding low on his forehead.

In spite of Anna’s vow to ignore the male gender, she couldn’t help but be struck by the man’s looks. He had something more than just pleasant features. There was a sensuousness about him, a blatant masculinity that made her very aware of his dark hair and skin, his broad shoulders, lean hips and long strong legs. And as she and her mother drew closer, Anna’s heart raced with foolish anticipation. Of what, she didn’t know. She only knew this man struck some sort of chord in her that she hadn’t even known she possessed.

“Good morning, Miguel,” Chloe greeted him warmly.

He turned from the horse he was saddling and nodded in greeting. “Good morning, Chloe, Anna.”

“I see you’re taking Rimrock out today,” Chloe remarked. “How’s his ankle?”

“The swelling is down and he’s had a rest for the past couple of days, so I thought I would use him today and see what happens.”

“Are you starting roundup this morning or later this week?” Chloe asked him. “I know you wanted to have everything else caught up before you began.”

Miguel inclined his head. “This morning is the beginning,” he answered. “I expect the job will take at least a week.”

Chloe glanced suggestively at Anna. “Darling, why don’t you saddle Ginger and ride along with Miguel? I’m sure he’d be glad for the extra help, and I know how much you always enjoyed roundup.”

Anna’s mouth popped open. Ride along with Miguel?

“Mother! Miguel doesn’t want to be bothered. The man has work to do.”

Chloe grimaced at her, then turned back to her foreman. “Miguel, I assure you Anna is a first-rate cowgirl. Since she started her music career, she hasn’t done much of it, but she can probably outrope and outride half the cowboys you’ll be using today.”

Miguel’s brows arched ever so slightly as his hazel eyes skittered up and down Anna’s slender figure. She was wearing black jeans and matching jacket. Beneath its opening he could see a pale pink knit shirt that clung to her breasts like an eager hand. She looked anything but a cowgirl. “Is that true, Anna?”

The way he said her name with just the faintest bit of accent made a tiny shiver race down her spine. Her gaze drifting to a pearl snap in the middle of his chest, she said, “I’m sure you know mothers are biased.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and tapped the toe of her boot. “Miguel knows I don’t exaggerate. But if you’d rather not go, you can stay here and help me groom a few of the yearlings.”

Groom the yearlings? Anna could already picture herself being pawed and bitten and rope-burned. Yearlings didn’t take to being spruced up, especially when it came to using clippers around their ears and nose and feet.

She was already wearing a heavy, lined jean jacket to protect her against the early-morning coolness, and she could find a pair of chaps in the tack room. Anything else she might need would be on the chuck wagon.

“No. I think I’ll saddle Ginger and head out to the roundup.” She glanced at Miguel who was still studying her with faint skepticism. “But you don’t have to wait for me, Miguel. Just tell me the area where you’ll be and I’ll catch up.”

“There’s no hurry. I have a few things to take care of here at the ranch yard before I leave. I’ll find you when I’m ready.”

To keep insisting he go on without her would be rude, Anna decided. And it was obvious he was going out of his way to please her mother. Oh, Lord, what was she letting herself in for? she wondered.

“Fine. It won’t take me long to saddle Ginger,” she told him.

Chloe chuckled softly as the two women headed on down the alleyway between the two endless rows of horse stalls. “I figured once I said ‘groom the yearlings’ you’d decide pretty quick you wanted to head out on the roundup.”

“Mother!” Anna hissed under her breath, even though they were clearly out of Miguel’s earshot. “Why did you do that to me?”

Chloe shot her daughter an innocent look. “Do what, honey?”

Anna groaned. “You know what! You practically threw me at that man! Mother, he isn’t Lester!”

“No. He certainly isn’t. He’s far younger and a lot better looking, don’t you think?”

Sighing, Anna shook her head with disbelief. “If you’re trying to do a bit of matchmaking here, Mother, you need to open your eyes and see Miguel Chavez is at least ten years older than me. Probably more.”

Chloe’s green eyes twinkled mischievously. “So what does age have to do with anything? Besides, I’m not doing any sort of matchmaking. Why would I be, when you keep insisting you’re off men forever?”

The two of them had reached Ginger’s stall. Anna reached for the nylon lead rope hanging on the outside of the door.

“Mother, you’re being deliberately obtuse and you know it.”

“Oh, Lord, Anna, you’re being overly sensitive, aren’t you? I merely thought you’d enjoy going on roundup today. It’s your first week back home. I want you to loosen up and quit all this fretting about trivial things.”

Trivial! Her reaction to Miguel Chavez was anything but trivial, Anna thought as she watched her mother’s swinging stride carry her on to the tack room. But she would deal with it, she told herself fiercely. She wasn’t about to let the man ruin her much-needed vacation.

Twenty minutes later Anna was ready and waiting with her paint mare outside the horse barn. She’d found a pair of fringed chaps she used to wear during her teenaged days when she’d helped her mother gallop the racehorses. Anna had added on a bit of weight since that time, but she managed to zip the tan leather around her legs. Hopefully once she had them on for a while, the leather would stretch. In any case, she wouldn’t ride in the brush without chaps. She knew from experience what a patch of prickly pear or choya cactus could do to a person’s unprotected legs.

She was doing a few squats, trying to gain her legs a bit of breathing space when a male voice suddenly sounded behind her.

“Are you doing your morning aerobics or trying to teach Ginger a new trick?”

Gasping with surprise, Anna whirled around to see Miguel standing a few feet away, a sorrel quietly waiting beside his shoulder