Sweet and Wild (25 page)

“You’re damned lucky to be alive.”

Quinn took a hold of his arm, steered
him to the couch and shoved him down without any care at all. She had no
sympathy for him and she hoped the movements made his head spin. But not enough
to make him sick. God, if he got sick here…

She tugged his sneakers off his feet.
She didn’t want his shoes on her couch.

“You going to snuggle?”

“Not for anything. I’m going to leave
you here. You know where the bathroom is if you need it.”

It may not have been the best thing to
do, leaving Robby alone in her house, but she didn’t want to be within the same
walls as him. He was a big boy. He could take care of himself. She felt
confident he wouldn’t be digging around her stuff. By the look on his face, he
probably wasn’t going to be awake for more than a few minutes.

Where should she go? The Shady H came to
mind first, but she couldn’t just show up with no reason. Didn’t want to make
Marisol suspicious. Long Knife Creek was a possibility. Jacob might still be awake,
but how in the world would she be able to vent to him? Robby was an employee
and that would make things too awkward.

So she sat in her car and stared at the
dark ranch yard for five minutes.

“Shit.”

Quinn grabbed her purse and went back
inside.

Craig couldn’t have asked for a better
day for this ride.

“There’s Quinn and Robby. Dad, can I go
over and say hi?” Marisol had already mounted up and tugged on Sunny’s reins
before Craig could answer. Bonnie followed closely on her dun gelding, Coyote,
leaving Craig to his own devices. He couldn’t very well trot on over like the
girls did. He’d bide his time, but he missed her, damn it. It had been nearly
two days since he’d talked to her and for some reason it seemed more like two
weeks. He’d have to wait even longer, while watching her with his brother.

Not that she looked too happy with his
company. She had a stiff smile pasted on her face as she talked to him. Craig
took some satisfaction in that at least. As Marisol approached her, Quinn’s
face lit up. That was better. Her genuine smile brightened the already sunny
day. When her eyes shifted across the ranch yard, he hoped she sought him out.

“Nice of you to join us.”

Jacob sat tall on a big Paint, grinning at
Craig.

“Glad to be here.”

“You think you’re up for a two day ride?
It’s been a long time.”

Craig mounted up so he was eye level
with Jacob. “Think I can manage it,” he assured his friend, sure that Jacob was
only kidding with him.

“Good to see you haven’t forgotten your
roots in all these years.”

“You got quite a crowd here.”

“The more the merrier. I always seem to
have more than just the ranch guests join in,” Jacob replied with a grin.

In twenty minutes they headed out,
fourteen riders in all. Craig stayed back with Jacob helping where needed, but
keeping an eye on Marisol and Bonnie. They were his first priority but he
didn’t want to ride with them. They, no doubt, wouldn’t appreciate his
presence. For a good part of the ride, they stuck close to Quinn, and when
Robby joined them on occasion, both girls giggled behind their hands.

Well, this is fun, he thought, watching
the woman he loved from a distance while his brother flirted shamelessly with
her. To her credit, Quinn didn’t seem to enjoy his attentions and sent him on
his way on several occasions.

By lunchtime, he’d had enough and rode
up to her and the girls.

“Thought you’d never join us.” Quinn
dismounted and grinned up at him. “How’s it going back there?”

Craig glanced back. He’d been involved
in a conversation about the comparisons between deep-sea fishing and cattle
driving with a forty-year-old man from Portland, Maine for the past hour.
Interesting, but he gladly escaped. “Going fine. Thanks for taking care of the
girls.”

“I don’t think they’re paying too much
attention to me.” With a laugh, Quinn nodded toward another guest, a boy he
figured to be about thirteen.

“Great,” he muttered. “Thought I had a
few years before I had to worry about that.”

“Oh, Craig, you have so much to learn. I
think the girls are going to have lunch on their own. Would you like to join
me?”

Everyone ate their lunch; simple fare of
sandwiches, fruit, chips and water, picnic style on blankets spread out over
the grass. Marisol and Bonnie sat further away from Craig, heads together as
they continued to giggle and sneak looks at the boy who sat with his parents.
Just
ignore it.
There were enough eyes here, nothing could possibly happen. He
couldn’t possibly disapprove of a bit of mooning. In fact, he’d spent the
better part of the morning doing much the same.

He turned his attention to Quinn. She
sat cross-legged facing him. They kept enough space between them so he couldn’t
easily reach out and touch her without anyone noticing, so he kept his hands to
himself and instead enjoyed looking at her.

The trail had left a light coating of
dust on her face and wisps of hair floated in a cool breeze, yet she looked
fresh and happy.
She’s in her element.

She was a rare woman, he decided. He
knew a lot of women who grew up on ranches around here, but out of all of them,
Quinn stood out. No one threw themselves as joyously into the work like she
did, and that included a lot of men he knew. No, most of the girls he grew up
with were content to running the home while their men took care of the land and
animals, or looked forward to leaving the prairie behind for something more
exciting.

Like Elise. She had planned her escape
for years, with or without him. The realization wasn’t shocking, but he did
feel a little guilty. It wasn’t nice to think of her decisions in such cold terms,
but when he got right down to it, it was true. It didn’t make him love her any
less, because that’s just the woman, the girl, he’d fallen in love with, and he
didn’t regret that he’d been able to help her into the life she wanted.

What would Elise think of Quinn? Of his
feelings for her? Back in the old days, he knew Elise barely tolerated Quinn,
and now he realized why. One girl to another, Elise was probably well aware of
Quinn’s crush. Had she felt threatened by Quinn? No, that was crazy. Quinn had only
been a little kid. How could she have been jealous?

“You look concerned about something.
Everything okay?”

Quinn’s voice brought him out of these
weird thoughts. He refocused on her face and smiled.

“Fine. Just thinking. How far are we
riding today?”

“We’ll stop around four. Chuck wagon and
tents are set up east on James Hightower’s property, right next to Sweet Grass
Creek.”

“You’re going to have a bunch of sore
riders,” he indicated a small group already rubbing their lower backs and legs.

“Hey, now there’s an idea. Alexis should
have her own little wagon with a massage table from the spa. Whoa, I’m going to
suggest that for next year.” Quinn reached out and patted Craig on his knee.
“Awesome job. That would bound to be a moneymaker.”

“Got room for two more?”

Craig glanced up. Robby and the female
wrangler he’d been chatting up earlier, stood at the edge of their blanket.
Quinn nodded and scooted over so she sat closer to Craig. He didn’t miss the
way Robby’s eyes narrowed or his mouth tightened, but his face cleared quickly
and he took a seat next to her, leaving the girl to fill the spot between him
and Craig.

“How you holding out, old man?” Robby
asked.

“Doing fine, thanks.”

“Good. Thought maybe the break from
riding was taking its toll.”

Craig noted the small smile at the
corner of Robby’s mouth. What was he up to? Trying to make him look bad?

“Like riding a bike.”

Robby nodded and then glanced away, his
attention drawn to Quinn. “Glad you came along.”

Craig watched the way his brother’s
demeanor changed, the way Robby leaned toward her and the way his smile grew.
To her credit, Quinn kept her eyes on her lunch. Robby probably expected her to
gaze at him through adoring eyes. The only thing Quinn seemed interested in was
her sandwich. “I try not to miss these rides,” she replied.

“Still, with Emerald to take care of,
seems like you’ve got your hands full.”

“Scott and Tom are handling everything
while I’m gone. They’re completely competent.”

Robby nodded. “Good kid. Hey, sorry I
left in kind of a hurry yesterday morning. I didn’t even get a chance to thank
you for breakfast.”

If looks could kill, Robby would’ve been
deader than a squashed bug under the heel of Quinn’s dusty boot. Her head
jerked up and she shot him a hot glare.

What the hell was he talking about?
Breakfast? He looked from her to Robby. A lazy smile slid over his brother’s
face that told him he was playing troublemaker, and whatever happened between
them probably wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic or alluring as Robby wanted
everyone to think.

“I was cooking anyway. Try driving drunk
anywhere around here again and I’ll call the cops instead of letting you sleep
on the sofa.”

Craig chuckled. His brother made himself
quite the target of Quinn’s ire. As if he would’ve gotten any other kind of reaction.
She rose, grabbed the saddlebags on the grass next to her and stalked off.

“Good going,” Craig said, looking
straight at his brother. “You ever going to give up on her?”

Robby grimaced and took a bite out of
his sandwich but didn’t reply.

Craig shook his head. What would happen
when little brother found out about his relationship with Quinn?

***

She’d done this ride with Jacob’s group
nearly every year since Long Knife Creek Ranch took shape as a dude ranch.
She’d even take time out of her school schedule if need be. The only time she’d
missed was the previous year because she’d been touring Europe.

She never thought she’d actually regret
coming along.

Just what in the world was Robby trying
to do? Did he know there was something going on between her and Craig? Or maybe
it was a subtle way of marking his territory, so to speak. Trying to insinuate
he’d spent the night, that something actually happened between the two of them.
In her mind she came up with several colorful expletives, but she behaved and
kept them to herself. No one needed her swearing like a drunken sailor.

She stayed clear of Robby, and even
Craig for the rest of the day, helping with the guests when needed, not saying
much of anything. She felt Craig’s eyes on her throughout most of the
afternoon, but there was an unspoken agreement not to ride together. What a
damned way to spend the day.

When this ride ended, she and Craig
would have to let people know they were dating. Not that they would announce
they were sleeping together or even that they were in love. Just that they were
dating. Everything else they could work up to slowly, especially where Marisol
was concerned.

In another half hour, they reached the
camp next to a bend in the creek. The chuck wagon, which resembled an old-fashioned
covered wagon but was actually a high tech kitchen, well, as high tech as a
traveling kitchen could be, waited for them. Thea prepared dinner for the
hungry riders. Seven sleeping tents had been set up surrounding the makings for
a big bonfire. On the outskirts of the ring stood two portable bathrooms, which
came complete with a men’s and women’s shower.

When they rode into camp, Quinn watched
her brother break away from the group and dismount. He was quick to get to
work, making sure everything was in order and all the guest’s needs were met.

Instead of seeking out Craig’s company,
she went to check on Marisol and Bonnie. After Marisol briefly gushed over the
ride and complained about her sore rear, the two girls plunged into girl talk,
which centered on the boy who stayed close to his parents. Quinn felt like a
fifth wheel with the two ten-year-olds, so she said goodbye and moved on.

Finally, she ended up seeking out Thea
to see if she could lend a hand.

“Okay, Quinn, what’s eating you?” Thea
didn’t pause as she set up the folding tables for dinner.

“Nothing’s eating me.”

Thea chuckled. “Yeah, right. You look
darker than a storm cloud. I know you well enough to know it’s not you. So
which brother is it? Craig or Robby?”

“I’d like to throttle Robby. Why are men
so stupid?”

The cook laughed. “Not all men are
stupid, hon. Now, in the case of Robby, well you could always look at it as him
having good taste. Right?”

Quinn pulled a face. She didn’t look at
it that way at all. “Trying to talk sense into him is like beating my head up
against a wall. I’ve told him every way possible that it’s over between us. He
won’t let it go and I’m damned, sorry, I’m tired of it,” Quinn muttered, and
grabbed a pile of forks and started to lay them out.