LITMIR.BIZ

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a premade dinner out of the fridge. Kate wished she did have a home phone number for Trueblood. She wouldn’t be shy about giving him a piece of her mind. He had no right to meddle in her life—to expect a kid Danny’s age to accept or decline an invitation. But maybe that’s how people operated here. Clover seemed awfully independent for her age. Come to think of it, was Ben even her legal guardian? It sounded as if he’d claimed her like a pound puppy. He’d sure flared up at the mention of a failed marriage. As if someone like him never failed at anything. Still, he had to be commended—single parenting wasn’t a picnic.

      Kate found herself wondering why Trueblood wasn’t married. But, that was counterproductive. Besides, it had nothing to do with her.

      Throughout dinner of meat loaf, mashed potatoes and sliced tomatoes, Danny spoke little, but watched his mother warily.

      “I’m not going to bite you if you talk,” Kate finally said before serving the custard dessert. “I’m so relieved to have made it through the first week of school. But, Danny, you hear the kids’ perspective. How would they rate my first week? Be honest. I know kids talk about teachers on the playground.”

      “Aw, Mom. It’s not fair to ask me to be your snitch just ’cause we’re related.”

      The spoon Kate was using to dip custard wavered and a blob fell on the table. She made two nervous attempts to clear the mess, but it slid off and hit the floor. Goldie trotted over, licked the spot clean and wagged her tail as if asking for more. Kate sent the dog back to her corner.

      “I thought things went well,” she said, pressing Danny. “Can you give me complaints without naming names? Otherwise, how will I fix the problem?”

      Danny took the bowl and scooped out his own custard. “In a word, Mom, basketball.”

      “What about basketball? I’ve devoted every break and most lunch hours to helping Terry, Ron, Mike and Adam sharpen their game.”

      “That’s the trouble. Ain’t none of those guys lookin’ to be the next Kobe Bryant.”

      “Ain’t is not a word recognized in this house, young man.” Kate sat back in her chair. “I’m being pushy, you mean?”

      “Don’t get mad, but…yeah.”

      “I thought they wanted to make the high-school varsity team.”

      Danny turned red to the tips of his ears. “If you let on I said this, I’m gonna be so busted. They just wanna look cool. For the girls, see?”

      “Girls?” Kate felt like a parrot, but she must’ve missed something.

      “Shelly, Meg, Mary and a couple of their friends hang around acting dorky when the guys make baskets. It’s…like, so gross.” He made a face as he finished his custard and shoved back from the table. “I’m going to go shower. I know I’m not s’posed to ask, but…you are still thinking about taking me to the Rising Sun Ranch?”

      The pleading in his eyes, mixed with an emotion that said he wasn’t holding out much hope, made the decision for Kate. She gently pushed back the lock of blond hair that drooped over his right eye. “It’ll be lonely here all day without you, sport. But, I need to prove I can get along on my own. I guess tomorrow will be a good test.”

      “Really? Yippee!” He hugged the stuffing outof her, then danced around until his shouting and Goldie’s barking had Kate calling a halt.

      KATE SET HER ALARM for four o’clock. Even so, Danny was up before her. She heard him outside hooking Flame’s trailer to the pickup. As she stifled a yawn, an image of Ben Trueblood’s handsome face came to mind. She didn’t want to feel this squiggly anticipation in her stomach at the prospect of seeing him today, but it was there.

      Because she cared about the impression she made in the community, she took pains to use a curling iron on her broomstick-straight hair. She added a touch of color to her lips so she wouldn’t looked washed out in the red blouse she teamed with jeans. Not that she planned to get out of the pickup.

      “Mom!” Danny slammed the front door and thundered down the hall. “Aren’t you up yet? I need something for breakfast.”

      “And a lunch,” Kate said, meeting him and Goldie in the hall. She hoped Danny wouldn’t notice or comment on her makeup. As a rule she didn’t wear any.

      “Clover said Bobbalou cooks biscuits, corn and meat or beans at lunch. All the buckaroos eat in shifts around a fire pit. It sounds like they do that all the time, not just at roundup like at Pawpaw’s.”

      “I doubt they eat outside all the time, Danny. Mrs. Goetz said winters can be severe on this high plateau. Which reminds me, we need to find the box with our jackets and gloves.”

      “Uh-huh, they live with the herd all the time,” Danny insisted.

      Kate didn’t argue further. Frankly, it was too early. “How does toast, juice and instant oatmeal grab you?”

      “Fine, can we just hurry? I already loaded Flame.”

      They ate quickly and on the drive over Danny talked nonstop about all of the things Clover had told him about the Rising Sun Ranch.

      As Danny had said, the road ended at an iron arch with a replica of their brand. A half-sun with twisted wrought-iron rays. The house was tucked deep in a grove of pines, a long, low structure made of logs. As houses went, it was fairly plain. Kate imagined how it would look with baskets of hanging geraniums above the split-rail porch, or beds of blooms along the winding walkway.

      She followed the road to where it dipped over a knoll, and took in the seeming chaos beyond the house. Three stock trucks were being loaded with bawling steers. Men on horseback swung ropes to cut certain calves out for branding at a smoking, portable forge.

      Danny bounced excitedly on the seat. “Drive down there, Mom. I wanna watch those guys rope calves. Wow, they never miss.” He hauled his rope from under the seat. Goldie positioned her front paws on Danny’s knees and yapped, clearly as eager as Danny to join in the fray.

      “Honey, it looks like a madhouse. Leave Goldie with me while you go find Clover and her dad to ask if it’s okay for Goldie to stay.”

      “There’s Clover.” Danny spotted the girl riding the same palomino as yesterday, only without a saddle. He climbed out of the pickup and ran to meet Clover. The little mare was fast and the girl was glued to her back. The scene put Kate in mind of the erratic years she’d spent following Colton from rodeo to rodeo. Her stomach knotted. The memories were not happy ones.

      AT THE FLAMING FORGE, one of Ben’s crew called his attention to a pickup and horse trailer idling on the slope above them. “Who’s the pretty woman, boss?”

      Ben turned in his saddle to see who Justin Padilla meant. “What the hell? That’s Clover’s teacher.”

      Padilla whistled through his teeth and cocked his flat-crowned hat to block the sun coming up behind the woman’s rig. “I might’ve stayed in school past tenth grade if my teacher had looked like that,” said the lanky buckaroo. “Bobbalou mentioned you had a conference yesterday. You must’ve made quite an impression.”

      Scowling, Ben nudged his gelding with the blunt flower rowel of his left spur. They were a signature buckaroo piece, but a spur that didn’t hurt a horse.

      He could have done without Justin, Zach Robles, his stock manager, and Enrique Quijada falling in to accompany him. Women were so scarce out on the range that a buckaroo crew could all spot a pretty one a mile away. Ben’s entire crew was single and loved the freewheeling life, even though they knew it was disappearing. To a man, they spoke of finding wives one day and settling down. Even Ben, at times, grew weary of the constant battle to save the land.

      Just now he considered ordering his men back to their jobs, but that would’ve caused more ribbing and speculation.

      Kate had her window rolled down, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun on her face as she surveyed

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