LITMIR.BIZ

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resist his stepfather’s request. With a sigh he replied, “Okay, fine, I’ll try to talk to Elizabeth, but I don’t think it will do any good.”

      As if afraid Toby might change his mind suddenly, the older generation fled the kitchen, leaving Toby with his cousins.

      “Sucker,” Toby’s brother said. “You know you can’t talk a woman out of love. Into love, maybe, but not out of love.”

      “What could I do? You saw their faces. I couldn’t say no.”

      “Well, I think—” Russ began when the kitchen door opened.

      Elizabeth walked into the kitchen, her eyes fastened on Toby. “Dad said you wanted to talk to me, Toby. What about?”

      Damn it, they hadn’t even left the timing up to him. “Uh, yeah, but I need to finish the cleaning up.” At least he could stall until he’d gathered his thoughts.

      “Don’t worry about that, Tobe,” Rich sang out, a grin on his face. “We’ll take care of it. Don’t keep Elizabeth waiting.”

      Toby turned away from Elizabeth, so she couldn’t see his expression. “Thanks, Rich, I’ll be sure to pay you back.” His expressions conveyed his meaning to his cousin.

      Rich stepped closer to his brother. “No need,” he said.

      “Oh, yeah, Rich. You know I don’t like to owe anyone.” Toby gave him a fierce smile that wiped the smile off his cousin’s face.

      “Elizabeth, why don’t we walk to the barn. I need to see if Cocoa is doing okay after all our hard work today.”

      She crossed the kitchen to the back door and Toby followed, frantically trying to think how to approach such a delicate subject.

      The night air was cooling these days, ready for the move into fall. Toby took a deep breath. “You warm enough?” he asked.

      “Yes, I’m fine. What’s going on? It seemed to me that the others know what the discussion is about. What do we need to talk about? Are you trying to get out of the bachelor auction?”

      “No, of course not. I gave my word.”

      “Well, then, what?”

      Toby stopped by the corral and propped one of his feet on the lowest rail, hanging his arms over the top one and called to Cocoa. “Do you remember when you named him?”

      Distracted, Elizabeth reached out to pet the horse when he came near. “Of course. I was thrilled. Is he still your favorite?”

      “Yeah. He’s the best ever.” Toby stroked the horse also, until his fingers accidently touched Elizabeth’s. He jerked his hands back. But he figured he’d distracted her from their topic of conversation.

      “So what did Dad ask you to talk about? Cleve?”

      So much for distraction. It didn’t seem to be his specialty. “How did you know?”

      “Because Dad has let me know how disappointed he is about my choice,” Elizabeth stated calmly.

      “And that doesn’t bother you?”

      “Of course it does! But I also don’t think he’s given Cleve a fair shake. And that’s not like Daddy.”

      “Maybe Uncle Chad knows more about Cleve than you do. Can’t you trust your father’s instincts?”

      “Do you trust your father’s instincts?” she asked, turning the tables on him.

      “Of course I do!”

      “Then why did you hit the rodeo trail? You knew he didn’t want you to, didn’t you? We certainly all realized it. He and B.J. were depressed for months after you left.”

      “That’s not fair, Elizabeth. Dad and Mom may not’ve wanted me to go, but there was nothing dangerous about it.”

      Elizabeth laughed, but the sound didn’t have any joy in it. “You think rodeoing isn’t dangerous? I beg to differ. What about that man who died early this year because he landed on his head and had a concussion? Do you think his family would say there was nothing dangerous about rodeoing?”

      “He was a beginner. Didn’t know what he was doing.”

      “You were a beginner, too.”

      Toby sighed. He’d known this would be a disaster. “I was experienced. We’d done a lot of rodeoing ever since I was a kid. And we’re not here to discuss the rodeo as a career choice. We’re here to discuss your choice for a husband. Wasn’t there anyone better?”

      “Oh, I see, your theory is I just reached out and blindly selected the first man in sight, and it happened to be an intelligent, handsome man. Poor me.”

      “Your description is inaccurate. I’d say you grabbed a man who is arrogant, insensitive and stupid.”

      “Cleve made straight As and Bs,” she protested hotly!

      “I made straight As, period.” He glared at her.

      “Well, everyone can’t be perfect like Toby Randall!”

      Toby turned his back to her. The temptation to grab her and kiss any thoughts of Cleve out of her head was too tempting. “I told your dad this wouldn’t work.”

      “What wouldn’t work?”

      “He thought since you used to follow me around, you’d listen to my opinion on your choice.”

      “I followed you around when I was a child. And if I remember correctly, I stopped following you around because you made it plain you wanted me to go away so you could neck with your girlfriend!”

      Toby couldn’t hold back a rueful chuckle. “Well, you and Caro did kind of hamper my love life for a while.”

      Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed the night air in disgust. “I can assure you I won’t do so again. But I have the right to ask the same promise from you.”

      “Honey, we’re all only thinking of you. If there’s one change in you I’ve definitely noticed, it’s your stubbornness. But life with Cleve may take all your independence away. Because he’s definitely that kind of man.”

      “And you’re not?” she asked. “What do you call what you’re doing now?”

      “I’m asking you to think about what you’re doing. To think about what you’ll do when the man wants to move away. And you know he will. He’s not going to be happy here. He won’t be able to work with Bill Johnson. Then what are you going to do?”

      She huffed and turned to head for the house. He grabbed her arm without thinking, then quickly released it. Touching her wasn’t safe.

      “Elizabeth?”

      She spun around to stare at him. “Did it ever occur to you that I might figure out my own problems? That I’m not that little girl anymore? If I were, how would I have managed since you disappeared from my life? I’ve only seen you about half a day at Christmas each year since I was sixteen.”

      “I know I haven’t been—I had my reasons for not hanging around the ranch. I couldn’t make the money I’ve made if I rodeoed only half the time. I had to dedicate myself to rodeo to do well.”

      “Right. And the perfect Toby Randall couldn’t do anything only halfway. But don’t expect me to hang around waiting to follow in your footsteps again. I make my own decisions now, and you can tell my father the same thing. I don’t need a man telling me what to do.”

      Again she headed for the house, and this time he didn’t try to stop her. It had been a disaster, just as he’d foreseen.

      ELIZABETH STOMPED back to the house, pausing only once on the way to her bedroom. She stuck her head into the den where the parents were watching a movie. “Mom?” she called softly.

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