Christmas with the Mustang Man

“I hope you can eat pizza,” he said. “We don’t always eat fast food, but today has been…hectic.”

“Don’t worry about me. I eat anything and everything,” she replied. She noticed only two plates on the table, and asked, “Won’t Hayley be joining us?”

“She mostly eats in her room. And I see three slices of the pizza are missing.”

So he and his young daughter didn’t usually gather around the table for an evening meal together, Dallas pondered. Was that what happened when there was no mother around to hold things together? Except for Boone, Hayley appeared to be alone. The idea bothered Dallas. During her childhood, she’d been swaddled in love and support from family. And over the years that hadn’t changed.

“Is your daughter the only child you have?” The question popped out of Dallas’s mouth before she could stop it.

“Yes. Her mother and I divorced when Hayley was only two.”

His statement brought Dallas up short. That meant he’d been alone for ten years or so! How had that happened? Even though the population in this area appeared to be scarce, surely there were young women around just waiting for a man to propose matrimony, especially a man that looked like Boone Barnett. But maybe one failed marriage had soured him, she decided. Just like Allen’s subterfuge had left her wary of men and doubting she’d ever find one who could really love her.

Trying to turn off her curiosity about this rancher, she watched him carry the pizza over to the table. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she offered.

“No, thanks. I can manage.” He pulled out a chair and gestured for her to take a seat. “Just relax. I’ll bring the rest over. Is soda okay for you? Or water?”

“Water, please.”

While he went to fetch the last of their meal, Dallas eased down in the wooden dining chair. While she’d been in her room, he’d used the short time to make a salad. Two bottles of dressing and a shaker of Parmesan cheese sat alongside the food. As Dallas looked at the simple meal, she couldn’t help thinking how different it was for her family.

The Diamond D had always employed a cook and maids. If anyone came in from a late night of work, he or she didn’t have to scrounge up a meal. A substantial plate of dinner would always be left in the warming drawer or the refrigerator. And after it was eaten, there was no need to bother cleaning up the mess. Someone would come by later and take care of the chore.

But Boone wasn’t so privileged to have such extensive hired help. He didn’t even have a wife to help him with household tasks, much less share the responsibilities of caring for Hayley. The fact that he had any time left to train horses amazed Dallas.

Returning to the table with their drinks, he took a seat directly across from Dallas and she firmly told herself not to think of the quiet supper as anything more than an intake of food.

Carefully avoiding his gaze, she said, “After we eat, I’ll call the hotel and let them know I won’t be showing up tonight. I had reservations at the old hotel in town—the one with the saloon downstairs below the rooms. I understand it’s a favorite with tourists and the locals.”

He handed the salad bowl to her. “That’s what I hear.”

When he didn’t elaborate, she could only assume that the establishment wasn’t a social spot he frequented. But then she’d already gotten the impression that Boone wasn’t the socializing sort.

Ladling a small amount of salad onto her plate, she said, “You were saying earlier that a cell phone won’t work out here. Do you mean just for the time being, or do cells never work here on the ranch?”

“I meant never,” he answered. “You might get a usable signal in town, depending on the service you use. But even that is iffy. You might be able to send a text message from here. I don’t know—I’m not up on that technical sort of stuff.”

She offered the bowl of salad to him. “I see. Well, it’s mostly like that on our ranch, too,” she told him. “We live between mountain ranges and the signal is blocked.” Smiling, she shrugged. “When city folks show up on the Diamond D they think they’ve stepped in the twilight zone. Some people just can’t manage life without their technical gadgets. I use them, but on the other hand I can happily exist without them. And sometimes simpler is better. Take my truck, for instance. If the engine wasn’t controlled by a computer system, I could probably adjust the carburetor with a screwdriver and be on my way.”

As soon as her words died away, she realized she’d been rattling and her cheeks blushed with embarrassment. She opened her mouth to apologize for all the chatter, but immediately pressed her lips back together. She wasn’t going to apologize for being herself. Besides, it didn’t matter if she was getting on Boone’s nerves. He’d already ripped hers to shreds.

For the next few moments they both busied themselves with filling their plates. As they began to eat, Dallas remained quiet and so did Boone.

Eventually, after she’d downed a whole slice of meaty pizza, he decided to speak. “Progress means changes and I don’t like changes. I suppose that’s why I like living here. It keeps me away from most of it.”

There was nothing wrong with being a bit old-fashioned; she was behind the times on some things herself. And if Boone chose to live that way, that was his business. After all, he was a grown man. But it was a different situation with Hayley. As a child, she probably had no say in the matter, and Dallas couldn’t help but wonder how the young girl felt about living in such a secluded way. Surely Hayley missed doing the typical things that tweens and teens enjoyed, like calling and texting friends or spending the evening at the mall or the cinema.

Even though Dallas had grown up in the country and understood what it was like to live without the lights and excitement of town, she’d not been nearly as isolated as Hayley. Getting from the Diamond D to civilization was easy compared to the trip between Pioche and White River Ranch. Plus, she’d had siblings and neighboring friends no more than three miles away. Clearly, the distance between Hayley and her friends had to be much greater.

“Carburetors haven’t been around for years,” he said after a moment. “You’re too young to know about such things.”

His remarks interrupted her thoughts about Hayley and she was glad. Questions about this man and his daughter were beginning to consume her and that couldn’t be good. Once she left Nevada their paths would most likely never cross again.

Smiling vaguely, she said, “I’m thirty-two—that’s not so young. And the mechanics—well, I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy and the man who repairs the old trucks and tractors on our ranch is like a granddad to me. When I was around Hayley’s age, I’d trail along with him just to hear him tell stories—not about machinery, but about horses. I guess I digested more about motors than I realized.”

He cast a thoughtful glance at her. “Is running the stables your only job?”

Was he actually curious about her, Dallas wondered, or simply trying to maintain a conversation? Either way, she was surprised he was bothering to ask questions.

She said, “My younger sister is a doctor and my older sister a nurse. I’ve been asked a jillion times why I didn’t follow them into a medical field. But that’s not me. Nothing outside the ranch is me, I guess. I have a degree in livestock-and land-management. But the one thing I’m truly good at is horses. Pitiful, isn’t it?”

For the first time since she’d met him, the corners of his mouth turned upward enough to constitute a genuine smile. The sight of it was like a ray of sunshine melting right through her. Oh, dear, the man was doing something to her and he wasn’t even trying, she thought desperately.

“I wouldn’t call you…pitiful.”

Her mouth like cotton, she reached for her water glass. The crystal clear liquid had a faint metallic taste, as though it had come from deep within the ground. And she supposed it had. During the twenty-mile trip out here, she’d not spotted any creeks or rivers. Only windmills. It was a harsh land toiled by an even tougher man, she decided.

“Well,” she said, “blame my lack of outside interest on my father. By the time I was old enough to walk he had me down at the barns and exercise track. For years, I didn’t know life beyond the four-legged creatures existed. And by the time I was old enough to realize there were other things in the world, I wasn’t interested in pursuing any of them.”

His head bent over his plate, but not before she saw the corners of his mouth turn downward. “You told Hayley that you didn’t have a husband or kids. Is that true?”

Two years, or even a year ago, his question would have filled her with pain and an utter sense of loss. Now she was stronger. Now she could think of Allen and thank God that she’d not made the horrible mistake of marrying him.

“It’s hard for a tall girl to get a date,” she joked, then when he didn’t appear to be amused, she added in a more sober tone, “Seriously, the right man just hasn’t come along. I came close to marrying once but he… Well, that didn’t work out. And since then most of the men I’ve dated always ended up trying to pull me away from the ranch and what I do. And I end up pulling back. A tug-of-war tears people and marriages apart. I’m smart enough to know that.”

Lifting his gaze to hers, he said softly, “Yes. I believe you are just that—smart.”

Even though his face was impossible to read, she could tell from his voice that he’d meant the comment as a compliment. Though she didn’t know why, the idea was ridiculously pleasing to her.

As Boone watched Dallas fork a morsel of food to her mouth, he couldn’t help thinking how the day had turned out to be a strange one. First thing this morning, he’d found a mama-to-be cat in the barn. Since he had no cats and his nearest neighbor was at least ten miles away, he didn’t know where she’d come from or how she’d gotten to the ranch. In any case, she’d made herself at home and trotted along behind him as though she was certain he was going to be more than happy to be her master. And then his old ranch horse, the gelding he’d had for more than fifteen years—the one who was so ill-natured he kicked or bit any four-legged creature that happened to come near his end of the feed trough—had eaten his breakfast snuggled up to a mustang mare, as though he’d found himself a little angel. Now here Boone was sitting at the supper table with a woman.

What were the chances of a new truck going on the blink? he asked himself. Damn little to none, that’s how many. And if someone had told him a woman with pretty red hair and a soft smile would be warming up his kitchen tonight, he’d have declared the person crazy. Yeah, the day had been unusual, he decided. And the night was just starting.

“How long have you lived on this ranch?” she asked.

For a moment his gaze was caught on her lips and the way the plush curves moved as they formed words. The gentle tilt at the corners of her mouth implied she was constantly smiling and he tried to imagine what it might be like to live with a woman like her, a woman who wasn’t staring at him with vacant eyes and an expression of utter detachment.

She’s not Joan. But she could still cause you a ton of trouble. Especially if you don’t get your eyes off her lips and your mind back to business.

Boone shifted in his seat. “Ever since I was born—thirty-nine years ago.”

“That’s a long time,” she replied, then laughed contritely. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you’re old. I just meant that thirty-nine years is a long time for anyone to be in one spot.”

“You’ve stayed in the same spot all your life. Or so you said,” he pointed out, while thinking it had been ages and ages since he’d had a conversation like this with a woman.

There were occasional times, when his father was sober enough to have Hayley visit, or when she stayed overnight with friends, that Boone would go into town for a beer and a willing woman. But those instances were not just rare, they were different. This woman was different.

“That’s true. I have lived my whole life on the Diamond D,” she admitted. “And I don’t plan to leave it, either.”