Her Heart for the Asking (Book 1 - TEXAS HEARTS) (7 page)

"That's too bad.  I was hoping to see
her."

Alice's face brightened.  "I have her
address in California.  I'm sure she'd love it if you dropped
her a letter now and then.  Even though she doesn't say it, I
think she's homesick for Texas."

"I'd like that.  Sometimes you don't
know just how homesick you are until you come home."

"Ain't that the truth?"

Mandy placed the picture down carefully on
the mantel.

"It's so good to have to you back home,"
Alice said, picking up her bucket and brushes again. 

She left Mandy alone to look at the
pictures.  She heard the high pitched whinny of a pony out in
the paddock filter in from the open window.  There was a
slight breeze today, but she knew it would do little to salve being
in the hot sun. 

As she made her way down the row of
pictures, her hand stilled on an old photograph.  It was taken
the same day Mandy had met Sara on the reservation.  Her uncle
looked so handsome when he was a young man.  She'd forgotten
just how much.  She remembered sitting on his lap as Aunt
Corrine snapped the shot of them with Hank's mother. 

Mandy had only met Regina Promise the one
time.  She remembered her as being very old, but very kind,
like Hank.  Looking at the picture now, she didn't seem that
old at all.  Worn perhaps, from a hard life, but she was
beautiful with her thick dark hair and eyes.  Mandy stared at
the picture for a long time until she heard the sound of whistling
in the barnyard.

Beau
. 

Sighing, she dropped the picture back in
place, and took the next one, immediately wishing she hadn't. 
Why on earth would Aunt Corrine keep this picture?

Deep longing swept through her as she stared
down at a young Beau Gentry sitting on the porch steps.  His
arm was lazily draped around Mandy's shoulders.  She stared up
at him like the star-crossed, lovesick teenager she was.  Her
hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, making her look even
younger.  She was wearing a pair of faded shorts that were too
tight, but she liked the way Beau's eyes lit up when he saw her in
them. 

Uncle Hank on the other hand, did nothing
but scowl when she wore them.  She couldn't help but laugh at
the memory.  At every opportunity, he'd tell her there was
enough testosterone running wild on the ranch.  She didn't
have to give the hands any more reason to make fools of
themselves.

But not Beau.  Oh, he'd made a fool of
himself, all right.  But she never cared.  He'd tell her
repeatedly that she was the prettiest thing his eyes had ever
seen. 

And like a fool she was, she believed
him.

* * *

"Now ain't she the prettiest thing you ever
did see?" Beau said, leaning the full weight of his body against
the fence.

"Nothing more beautiful," Hank
agreed. 

And she was, Beau thought with awe. 
Though he could certainly think of at least one other filly who'd
spun his head by her sheer beauty.

"Be careful.  This little girl's a
spitfire," Hank warned.  "Gotta handle her with kid
gloves.  Even then I think she'd just as soon stomp you in the
ground just for looking at her."

"That's the way I love 'em," Beau said,
securing his hat firmly on his head as he opened the gate to the
paddock.  "The feistier the better.  Makes it all worth
it in the end."

"You going to test her out?" Mitch
asked.

"If she'll have me."

Hank nodded knowingly.  "Lady like this
needs to be taken real slow," he said.  "You can't tie her
down or try to make her think you're the one in control.  She
won't give it up before she's ready."

The screen door slammed hard and Beau turned
to see Mandy standing on the porch peering out to where the men
stood.  She settled on the top step, her hands slipped deep
into the pockets of her crisp denim blue jeans. 

"I've been down this road before," Beau
assured his old friend.  "I think I can handle myself."

Chuckling, Hank cast a quick glance at the
porch, then back at Beau.  "We are talking about the horse
now, aren't we, son?" 

Beau propped his hat low on his head and
chuckled.  "Course." 

He watched Mandy out of the corner of his
eye as she strode through the yard toward the paddock.  He
shouldn't be nervous.  He'd done this a thousand times over,
but suddenly it was if he'd been transformed back to the first time
he'd climbed into a shoot to mount a bronc before the
ride. 

When he finished rosining up his rigging, he
pulled on his leather gloves and into the shoot where he could see
the young filly was already itching to charge out bucking.  He
could already tell she wanted no part of him.

 
The wild horses
Mitch had just purchased at auction were both mares and still
testing their new boundaries.  It would take a while for Mitch
to do his magic and gentle them enough to be good riding
horsing.  Still, Beau couldn't help but take a chance at
trying to mount one of them while their spirit was still raw and
free, feel that adrenaline rush when in her wild way she tried to
buck him off.  It had been over a month since his last rodeo
and every nerve ending in him was itching to get back to riding
again.

He fought the urge to steal another quick
glance at Mandy, to see if she was hanging the fence, chewing on
her lip with anticipation like she used to do, or if she was hiding
her eyes for fear of what was to come.  The very first rodeo
he'd ever entered, she was there standing at the gate just the way
she was now.  Except then, he'd been so distracted by that
kiss for luck she'd given him, he'd been thrown from his mount just
as soon as he left the shoot.  He'd crawled out of the arena
like a beat dog with his tail tucked between his legs.

Mandy had a way of making him feel he could
do anything back then.  He'd been so green but not to
Mandy.  She'd just looked at him, her breaths kind of shallow
like she'd had the air sucked from her lungs instead of him when he
hit the dusty ground.  She'd said, "Come on, Beau, there's
another rodeo this afternoon."

That was all.  Not a word said about
being bucked off, not a mention of what had happened, as if it
didn't matter.  A little shove from behind to move him in the
right direction and Mandy had him feeling as if he could move a
mountain.  He'd forgotten that about her.  But he
remembered now.  To Mandy, it really didn't matter. 

He could see she applied the same principle
to her own life.  Instead of accepting that she'd never be
exactly what her old man wanted of her, she tried anyway.  And
had gotten far because of the trying.  Mandy had told him
years ago that Damien Morgan didn't give free rides.  Daughter
or no daughter, if she didn't pull her weight at his advertising
firm, she wouldn't be there.  He had the feeling she pulled
her weight and a whole lot more to get where she was.

Turning his attention back to the mare, he
realized the horse wanted no part of him as he approached the
shoot.  And why would she?  Not too long ago she'd had no
barriers keeping her from running free.  Now it didn't matter
how much room she had, she was caged like a bird that’d once soared
the skies.

When she'd settled some, Beau talked
soothingly to her.  He got close enough to let her get the
scent of him, let her take her time and get her fill while he
readied himself to mount her.  All the while he talked to her
until he had his seat on her back.

"You sure you want to do this?" Mitch asked,
ready at the gate.

Beau stared at a spot on the mares neck,
felt anticipation surge through his veins and nodded once.  It
always happens in a heartbeat after that.  The young mare sees
her shot at freedom again when the gate flies opens, and then
explodes out of the shoot and realizes she still has
company. 

Beau held on, dug his boot heels into her
side and rode for all it was worth.  He'd missed it. 
Four long weeks of not riding.  He lasted a few seconds he
thought the mare had enough and he jumped off and raced out of her
way.

Still feeling the adrenaline high from his
ride, he glanced at the spot where Mandy stood next to Hank. 
She was standing on the rail of the fence, hanging on with a tight
grip as if her life depended on it.  And she was smiling with
a face filled with pride.  Mercy, it was as if he'd ridden
just for her instead of himself.  And maybe he had.  He
pulled off his hat and smacked it on his chaps, creating a small
dust cloud, as he walked toward the fence, shaking his head as he
went.  He was such an idiot.  Had he really been trying
to impress Mandy, show her that like she had, he'd risen above and
achieved what he'd set out to do?

Hank was looking more worn for the wear when
Beau reached them.  Being in the hot sun had to take a lot out
of him.  He'd slowed down considerably since his diagnosis,
trying to reserve his energy, but Hank wasn't a man who could be
contained for too long.  No doubt he'd been up and at it with
the rest of the hands this morning and was now feeling the ill
effects of overdoing it.

"I'd forgotten what it was like to see you
ride," Mandy said.  Her smile was gone.  She shook her
head slightly, her delicate lips twisting into a frown.

"The horse wasn't all that uptight about me
being there."

"Bunch of fool cowboys, every single
bowlegged one of you."

"You didn't always think that way, doll,"
Hank said, chuckling as he turned and slowly headed back to the
house. 

Watching Hank go, Mandy said, "I was young
and foolish myself back then."

Beau dropped his hat low on his head to
shield the sun so he could stare at her.  Lord, but this woman
was beautiful out here in the sunshine.  "Got to have
something to believe in."

She eyed him squarely.  "I've never
been a good judge of character."

Beau couldn't help but laugh.  "Admit
it.  You like seeing me ride."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I saw you hanging on the fence.  Saw
you smiling, too.  You still like watching me."

"It's hot as Hates out here.  I came
out to make sure Hank wasn't over doing it."

"If that were true you'd have followed him
back in the house when he left.  Since you're still here, I
can only guess you came out to see me."

Rolling her eyes, she sputtered, "In your
dreams."

"All my dreams are about you, Mandy."

And that was definitely the wrong thing to
say. 

# # #

Chapter Six

She needed to laugh more, Beau decided.

Mandy may not have realized it yet. 
She may have even forgotten what it was like to be happy.  But
Beau was going to make it his mission to remind her.  He was
going to do all he could to make her laugh again.

Except for that brief time in the truck when
she'd giggled at his whistling, Mandy had been stingy with her
laughter.  Somewhere buried behind all the deadlines and late
nights of work, was the same girl that had thrown his heart for a
loop eight years ago. 

It was only right that she'd be on edge
about Hank.  They all were.  But Beau had a feeling that
Mandy had lost the ability to just laugh at life.  It couldn't
be that she was still angry with him.  It was more than
that.  She wasn't happy anymore.  Not like she used to be
anyway.  Before he left the Double T, he was going to make
sure she was happy again.

He found Mandy nestled on the porch glider,
staring off into the horizon as if she were deep in thought. 
It was late morning and the sun was already brutally beating down
on them.  As he approached the porch, he saw a half glass of
lemonade in her hand.  One leg was tucked under the other,
showing off inches of creamy skin her denim shorts didn't hide.

As his boots hit the bottom porch step, she
snapped her gaze at him and heaved a slow sigh.

Knowing he disturbed her, but not letting it
sway him, he forged on.  "Where's Hank?"

"It's too hot.  He and Aunt Corrine are
taking a nap in the air conditioning?"

"This early, huh?  It's scarcely
mid-morning."

"Yeah," was all she said in a low voice as
she shifted her gaze back to the horizon. 

Hank frequently took naps in the afternoon,
something he'd never done when Beau had known him years ago. 
The thick heat made it hard for him to catch his breath. 
Better for him to stay inside.  It surprised him to find Mandy
outside as well, if she didn't have to be.  She wasn't yet
used to the Texas sun.

"You look like you could use some cooling
off," he said.

Mandy glared at him.

Smiling sheepishly, he amended his
remark.  "I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

"If you say so."

"The wind's not moving at all today, not
that it ever does.  You might be more comfortable yourself if
you stayed out of the heat.  That’s all I was saying."

She hesitated a minute.  "I like
looking at the ranch.  It's been a long time since I've just
let myself sit and enjoy the scenery."

Sitting next to her on the glider was
something he’d like, but knew Mandy probably wouldn't welcome him
there.  He remained in place at the edge of the porch and
pulled off his hat, looking out over the ranch in the same
direction Mandy was looking. 

It was truly beautiful.  The beauty of
this ranch was something he'd committed to memory years ago. 
He’d longed for the comfort of it on many occasions when the road
ahead was too long with too many towns in between.  There was
something about coming home.  And even though the Double T had
never been his true home, Beau had longed for the calming feelings
it evoked when the yearning for home set in.

"Things aren't as fast down here as they
must be up in Philadelphia.  I imagine advertising must be a
fairly wild ride."