Mail Order Bride - Westward Secrets: A Clean Cowboy Romance Novel (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 13) (16 page)

“Oh, who am I kidding?” she said aloud in response to that idea.               

              The next few days were busy for the lawmen of Dawson.  There were public disturbances, domestic violence problems, and drunk and disorderly violators with which to deal.  They’d also had to break up a fight at Bradbury’s between two men who argued over a woman in whom they were both interested.

On one of the days when he was working the later shift, Rick decided to ride out to see Gina again.  He found Joe giving her a riding lesson in the riding ring.

              “Gina, you have to learn how to make a horse back up.  It comes in handy sometimes.  You can’t just always go forward,” Joe said.

              “Why?” Gina asked.  For some reason, going backwards scared her.

              “Ok, say your horse is tied between a bunch of other horses.  You can’t go forward and you can’t go to either side.  You have to back up, at least a little bit.  You’ve got to tell the horse you want him to back up,” Joe explained.  “It’s not hard and the horse you’re on is trained to do it.  Just pull back on his reins a little.  Don’t do it real hard, more like a steady pressure.”

              Gina said, “Why can’t I do this?  Why does it scare me to death?”

              “I’ll help her,” Rick said from behind Joe.

              Joe startled.  He hadn’t heard the deputy’s approach.  “Will you stop doing that?” he groused.

              Rick chuckled and slipped through the wooden railings.  “Hi, Lovely.  We’re going to make you an expert at backing up.”  He took off his duster and hung it on one of the posts.  “Take your left foot out of the stirrup, Gina.”

              “Ok,” she said and moved her foot.

              Rick wasn’t adept at vaulting on a horse the way Reckless and most Lakota were, so he used the empty stirrup to mount the horse and sit behind Gina.  He had her put her foot back in the stirrup and then brought his arms around her to put his hands over top of hers.

              “There.  Nice and cozy now,” Rick said.

              His breath tickled her ear and Gina shivered at the sensation.  Her body reacted instantly and she almost moaned in pleasure.  She tried to ignore the effect his chest pressed against her back had on her, but it was very difficult. 

              Rick felt her shudder, but ignored it even though it pleased him.  It was good to know that she wasn’t immune to his nearness.  “It’s very simple.  Just think of it like pulling thread with a needle.  You know how it is if you’re working on something delicate like, oh say, a satin nightgown with a low cut bodice?”

              “That’s an interesting choice of clothing,” she said with a smile.

              “I have a very active imagination, especially when it comes to what I imagine you wearing,” Rick said.

              Gina was glad that his voice was low enough that Joe couldn’t hear him.  “Shame on you,” she said, but laughed at his inappropriate statement.

              “Yes, I know.  How shameful of me.”  He chuckled.  “Now, just as you wouldn’t pull quickly or hard on the thread when you’re sewing this satin nightgown, you’re not going to do that when you pull on the reins to back him up.”

              He tightened his grip on her hands and began pulling them towards their bodies in slow increments.  “See how you keep a steady, even pressure on the reins?”

              “Yes.  But won’t he sit down?” she asked as she felt the horse take a step back.  She stiffened against Rick.

              “Easy.  Don’t tense up,” he said.  “He won’t sit down.  I promise.  He’s not like a donkey that will sometimes do that.  Keep the pressure steady.”

              Though she had misgivings, Gina did as he directed.

              The horse backed up and Gina was relieved when the horse didn’t sit down and dump her off. 

              “Ok.  Good.  Now, ride forward and we’re going to do it again,” Rick said.

              Joe smiled as he watched them together.  “Hey, Rick, you want a job as an instructor?”

              “Nope.  I already have two jobs.  I don’t need a third,” Rick answered as Gina backed the horse up again.

              The mayor chuckled.  “Can’t blame a guy for tryin’.”

              Once Gina’s riding lesson was complete, she led her horse to the barn.

              “Rick, I wanna talk to you,” Joe said.

              “Oh?  What about?” Rick asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew.

              Joe said, “I knew there were things about yourself that you were hidin’.  I have a sort of sixth sense about that kind of thing.  I just didn’t know it was something like you bein’ Geoff’s son.  You kept that hidden a long time.  What else are you hiding?”

              Rick’s gaze turned cool.  “Nothing that you need to know.  It’s nothing bad in the sense that I’m dangerous to be around.  I’m not a bank robber on the run or anything.  There are things that are very personal that I’m not going to divulge to everyone.  One tidbit I will tell you is that I’m Canadian and I used to be a mountie.”

              Joe felt that undercurrent of danger coming from Rick and wondered just what it was about Rick that unsettled people so much.

              “Yeah, Mitch mentioned that you were a mountie at one time.  That’s really something.  How come you didn’t mention that when you first came here?  It would look good on your resume,” Joe said with a smile.

              “Well, I didn’t think it would do well to tell Mitch that I’d gotten fired for insubordination.  It’s not really a quality you want in an employee,” Rick replied.

              Joe nodded.  “True.  Rick, you better treat Gina right.  These other things that you don’t want people to know; will they hurt her or the kids?”

              Rick bristled at Joe’s words and the dangerous undercurrent got stronger.  The deputy was usually slow to anger, but he was near that point.  “What is your problem with me developing a relationship with Gina?  Do you have designs on her or something?”

              Anger sparked in Joe’s eyes and they turned green instead of hazel.  “Don’t you ever accuse me of cheating on my wife.”

              “Well, it just seems funny that you keep trying to interfere.  Why is that?” Rick asked. 

              “I’ve come to like Gina very much, sort of like a sister.  She’s my friend.  I don’t want to see her or the kids hurt and there’s just something about you that seems… I’m not even sure what the word is.  Unsettling, I guess you’d say.”

              “Gina doesn’t feel that way, so that’s all that’s important.  I’m not involved with you, so I really don’t care what you think.  Stay out of it, Joe.  I told you if you made a problem, that you and I would have one, and it’s getting awfully close to that point.  Now, I’m going to talk to Gina.  Good talking to you, Joe,” Rick said with a sardonic smile.

              Joe fumed as he watched Rick walk to the barn.

Gina gave her horse to Darryl who smiled at her and then led the horse away.  She walked around the barn petting and talking to the horses.  There had been a foal born the day before and she looked at the cute little colt that stood beside his protective dam. 

“Nice looking colt,” Rick said as he joined her at the mare box.

“He is, isn’t he?  Joe’s very happy with him.  He insisted on overseeing the birth himself.  The kids watched, but I made sure they didn’t interfere.  Once it was over, Ryan said, ‘Way to go!’.”  Gina laughed softly as she remembered the excited look on Ryan’s face. 

Rick grinned, “Yeah, that sounds like something he would say.  He’s a great kid.  They both are.”

“Thanks.  I’m rather fond of them.”

Rick nodded.  “I’m tied up tonight, but I was wondering if you would like to go out tomorrow night?”

Yes!
  “What did you have in mind?”  Gina tried to keep her enthusiasm under wraps.

“Nothing out of the ordinary.  Dinner in Wolfe Point?” Rick asked.

“If someone will watch the children, I’d love to,” Gina said.

“Good.  I’ll pick you up around six-thirty.”

“I’ll be ready.”  Gina watched his profile as he looked at the mother and baby horse. 

He is such a handsome man.  Any woman would be attracted to him.  He’s strong, and kind, and so much fun.  It would be so easy to give in to becoming completely involved with him.  So easy to let myself fall in love with him, but I can’t.  Please be patient with me, Rick.

Rick caught her gazing at him and locked eyes with her.  A soft light shone in her eyes along with a hint of fear.  He smiled at her reassuringly.  “I have to go to work, and I’m sure you have things to do, but I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“All right.  I’ll see you then.”

He nodded and turned to go. 

“Wait.”

Rick stopped and looked at her.

“Come with me.”

Rick followed Gina into a store room.  She shut the door and leaned against it.  She was unsure if she could do what it was she’d wanted to when she’d brought him in there.  She put her hands over her face and then let them fall again.  She saw that Rick watched her with a mix of confusion and amusement on his face.

“Why is this so hard?” she asked.

“Why is what so hard?”

“This!” she said as she made a gesture that included the both of them.  “Us!”

Rick cocked his head a little.  “Does it have to be?”

“No!  But it is!  If it was just me, it wouldn’t be.  It would be so easy, so uncomplicated.  But the fact is that I have children and I don’t want them to become attached to you and then get hurt.  Do you understand?” Gina asked with tears in her eyes. 

“I understand completely, Gina.  I’m not fighting you here.  You’re fighting yourself.  The woman in you and the mother in you are going to have to find some common ground,” Rick said.  “I can’t do that for you.  What I can do is promise to do everything I can to act in the best interests of you and your children.  What that means is up to you to decide.  I’ll abide by your wishes.”

“I don’t know what I wish!  No, that’s not true.  I wish you would kiss me right now.  I wish you would make love to me right now!  But that’s the woman talking and not the mother.  She is so afraid because her children have been hurt already by their father’s death and getting attached to another man only to have him drop out of their lives would be devastating for them,” Gina said.

Rick smiled a little, “While I really like what the first ego is saying, I completely respect what the other ego is saying.  While I would really like to kiss you right now, and make love to you at some point, I don’t want to do anything to hurt your children.  I also don’t want to do anything that’s against your morals—”

“You’re Canadian.  Aren’t you supposed to help me with that?” Gina asked.

“What?”

“I thought Canadians were polite and very… reserved about these things.”  Gina knew her statement was irrational, but couldn’t seem to come up with something more intelligent.  He was so handsome that she couldn’t think straight.

Rick couldn’t control the shout of laughter that burst from him.  “I’m not sure what my being Canadian has to do with me helping you decide what your morals are, but as far as being polite and reserved goes, I guess I don’t fall into line with your perception of what that is.  It’s one of the reasons I was kicked off the force.  I think all of my traveling showed me that there are so many different ways of doing things, that only the individual person can decide what is right for him or her.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Gina said.

“Ok.  Since we’re on the subject of lovemaking, I’ll use that as an example.  Some cultures don’t have a problem with it happening outside the bounds of matrimony.  Others, such as American, British, and Canadian cultures, just to name a few, frown upon it.  Lakota culture is a mixture.  Maidens are not to do so before they are married, but it’s perfectly acceptable for men to share a widow’s sleeping robes with her.  In fact, the widows often teach the younger men the intricacies of the act,” Rick said. 

“Those are just a couple examples.  I could spend all day telling you about how different cultures think on the subject, but I digress.  What I’m saying is that I am not going to try to influence any decision you make.  It’s completely up to you.  I will neither refuse any serious advances you make nor coerce you into doing anything.  I will respect you if you do not want to become intimate before marriage.  And lastly, I will not become angry if you change your mind in midstride, so to speak.  Have I clarified my position for you?”

Gina said, “Yes, but that still doesn’t help me.  I don’t know what to think.  I don’t know what to do.  I know you have to go.  What about Reckless?  Did the widows teach him?”

Her question was so incongruous with the rest of her statements that Rick laughed.  “Why don’t you ask him the next time you see him?”

“No!  And don’t you dare tell him I asked that!” she said.  “I am so embarrassed and… ”

“Feeling amorous?” Rick supplied.

“Yes!”

“Hmm.  I think I’m starting to see your Italian temper and I like it,” Rick said.  “Are you sure you don’t want to ask Reckless?” Rick teased her as he stepped towards the door.  “He’s sure to be around at some point to see Joe.”