Christmas with the Mustang Man. Stella Bagwell

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 СКАЧАТЬ