Expecting A Lone Star Heir. Sara Orwig

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СКАЧАТЬ walked back to the house with her emotions churning. Mike Moretti was the kind of man she had expected from Thane’s glowing description. What she hadn’t expected was the flash of awareness whenever they made physical contact. They didn’t know each other, so it wasn’t because she liked him. And she missed Thane every hour of every day. She missed him, she hurt and she didn’t want to go out with another man. Asking Mike to take her to dinner had been purely to get Clint to stop bothering her.

      She really knew very little about Mike except what Thane had told her. She knew that her new foreman was one of Thane’s best buddies. She knew he was single, dependable, trustworthy, honest, strong, intelligent and understood ranching. Thane had mentioned all of those qualities, but as for actual facts about his life, Thane had said almost nothing and she hadn’t asked. She had always thought Thane would come home to her and she was still shocked over his death. She hated to ask Mike to take her out, especially on his first day here, but she wanted to be up front about it. She was becoming desperate to get Clint Woodson out of her life. He annoyed her like a fly steadily buzzing around her.

      Any of her close friends would know when she went out with Mike that it didn’t really mean a thing to her. Clint, however, wouldn’t know that. She looked forward to the day when he was no longer bothering her and trying to get her to sell the ranch.

      Her thoughts jumped back to Mike and her reaction to shaking his hand this morning. That stirring of awareness, that skitter up her spine, had shocked her and she couldn’t get it out of mind. She didn’t want to feel anything toward any other man. She loved her husband even if he wasn’t coming home to her. Was she making a mistake by going out with Mike?

      She told herself she wasn’t. After all, she wasn’t interested in anything romantic and he didn’t act as if he was, either. She shrugged away her worries about going out with him, telling herself it would only be a polite evening with talk about the ranch and maybe good memories from Mike about Thane.

      She entered her house and went to her room to change her clothes so she could paint. She didn’t expect to see Mike Moretti again until he moved in and worked for the Tumbling T.

      * * *

      Tuesday morning, Slade was showing Mike around the ranch. Everything was in good shape, even the garages where they stopped in for a tour of the vehicles.

      Mike turned when Slade held out a set of keys to him.

      “Thane wanted you to have his horse and his saddle and his truck.” Slade pointed out the newer vehicle to their right. “She’s all yours.”

      “I think that’ll do nicely,” Mike said, shaking his head and silently thanking his friend. Leave it to Thane to have thought of everything.

      After he looked over the truck, he turned to the foreman. “Looks like the Tumbling T is top notch. Is there anything this ranch needs that it doesn’t have?”

      Slade laughed. “Just an owner. Vivian really doesn’t have her heart in this. She likes it out here, but she has no love for ranching, the horses, the land, not even that monster house he had built for her.”

      Mike smiled. “It is a monster house. At least some people are living in it and enjoying it.”

      “Yeah, they are. I think they like it more than she does.”

      The two men walked over to the barn for a tour.

      “Wait here and I’ll go get Thane’s horse,” Slade told him. “I can tell you that you’re going to like him. He’s a winner.”

      Slade disappeared inside and came back out leading a black horse. Mike’s gaze ran over the horse and he smiled. “That is one fine horse.”

      “He’s the best cutting horse on the place. He’s fast, fast enough to race. He’s the best and Thane loved him. Thane’s saddle has his initials on it and it’s the fanciest saddle in there. He has more than one, but you’ll see the one I’m talking about and you’ll like it.”

      Mike led the horse into a corral and turned him loose, running his hands along his neck, feeling the muscles and the smooth hide, his coarse black mane.

      “I think he’s waiting for something.”

      “He likes apples,” Slade said.

      “I’ll remember that next time I see him.”

      He left, closing the gate and joining Slade on the remainder of the tour.

      By the time Mike made it back to the guesthouse that night, he was ready to have a hot shower and to sit and think about all he had learned and seen of the ranch and the people he had met that day. It was dark when he finished his shower. He pulled on jeans and boots and a T-shirt, going outside to sit in a rocker and drink a beer. The guesthouse had a fenced yard and faced the back of the main house where a few lights burned on different floors. He wondered where Vivian’s room was and what she was doing.

      His eyes had adjusted to the dark and there was a lamp post with a light in the yard, one beyond it near the drive and one farther down along the ranch road. Houses were scattered around him and they all had yard lights. There was a big mulberry tree in the guesthouse yard with lights and there was a white picket fence around the yard. He saw something moving along the outside of the fence and realized it was a shaggy brown dog. Curious, he watched as the dog went to the gate, stood on its hind legs and opened the latch with its nose. It nudged the gate open, came inside and up to the porch, walking up to Mike with a wagging tail.

      Mike had to laugh as he scratched the dog’s ears. “Smart fella. That deserves a treat, but I don’t have one tonight. I’ll get one, though, because I suspect you’ll be back. Were you Thane’s dog or are you the ranch dog and get scratches from everyone?”

      As he petted the dog, it raised its head and wagged its tail faster. Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw someone approaching. “We’re going to have company.”

      The dog left him, trotting to the gate and wagging its tail expectantly.

      “Mike?”

      He stood as Vivian came through the gate. “Hey, if you wanted to see me, you could have called and I would have come by the house. Next time, send a text.”

      “No. I was out walking and saw your light, so I thought I’d see if the guesthouse was okay.”

      He smiled. “It’s more than okay. It’s a fully furnished house with two bedrooms, two and a half baths and a game room. And a dog must come with it because he knows how to open the gate. Come sit. Want a beer or pop or water or anything?”

      “No, thanks. The dog is Sandy. He was Thane’s dog, but he’s friendly and likes everyone and everyone likes him, so he makes the rounds. Since Thane left, Sandy really prefers staying with Slade. Unless you object, when Slade leaves, I think you’ll have a dog.”

      “That’s fine with me. This is a smart dog. Sandy opened the gate with ease.”

      “Oh, yes. Sandy can open most of the gates, most of the doors. That dog really loved Thane. I think he likes you,” she said, looking at the dog standing beside Mike while he scratched Sandy’s back.

      She sat beside him and he caught a whiff of perfume that smelled like wildflowers and he remembered her soft hand in his when he met her.

СКАЧАТЬ