The Touch of Sage (16 page)

She sighed
,
delighted in the knowledge she would see Reb again.
The night before had been the stuff of dreams
,
and although she knew he would never see her as anything more than a friend, she also knew he cared about her.
Hadn
’
t he worried for hours over hurting her feelings?
Hadn
’
t he waited for her, apologized to her?
Her heart swelled at the memory of his tender kiss on her fingers.

“
We
’
ve got
’
em now, gals!
”
Mary exclaimed as Drifter pulled ahead of the herd.

“
Good!
”
Livie sighed with relief.
“
Now can we slow down, Mary?
”

“
Show some gumption, Livie,
”
Mary chuckled.
“
We gotta get breakfast on
’
fore they get there, ya ninny.
”



Reb sat on the front porch of the ranch house watching the sun rise higher in the sky.
Yellow and pink had given way to bright blue as morning arrived
,
and Reb had enjoyed watching the change.
Bullet sat next to him, begging for another strip of jerky by tipping his head from one side to the other as he looked at his owner.

“
Yer nothin
’
but a begg
a
r,
”
Reb chuckled, placing a piece of jerky on the dog
’
s nose.
“
Stay…stay…
”
he said.
Bul
let remained still (except for his tail)
waiting for his master
’
s permission to chomp down his treat.
“
There ya go, boy,
”
Reb said.
Bullet tossed the piece of dried meat in the air
,
catching
it
in his mouth and chewing it only thrice before swallowing.

Reb chuckled.
“
Yer a spoiled begg
a
r…that
’
s what ya are,
”
he told the dog.
Sighing he looked back toward the sky.
He had hardly slept a wink si
nce returning from the boarding house late the night before—
his mind awhirl with confusing thoughts and emotions.

He
had been disgusted with himself for
slighting Sage the way he had done in town.
Of course, he had finally confessed his behavior to his Aunt Eugenia, but even that hadn
’
t made him feel any better.
So, he had waited.
He had waited for hours and hou
rs—waited through suppertime—through sunset—
until Sage had finally come home.
Then he had waited even longer.
Waited until she was half undressed before he had finally revealed his presence and begun to apologize to her.
And he had made his peace with her…hadn
’
t he?

Reb shook his head, uncertain what to make of the moments spent with Sage in the parlor.
Truth be told, he had almost taken her in his arms and had his fill of kissing her!
That dangerous little rain-cr
i
er was proving to be more of a distraction than he had thought, and it concerned him.

He thought of Ivy.
Reb always thought of Ivy when he found himself in danger of thinking too much, feeling too much.
Usually, thinking of Ivy Dalton put
such
a bad taste in his mouth that he steered clear of anything in a petticoat under the age of fifty.
But he was fast learning Ivy
’
s memory wasn
’
t keeping him away
from Sage as well as it should—
and this concerned him.

Running his fingers through his hair
,
he looked at Bullet.
“
Yer a fine one to be smilin
’
up at me,
”
he said.
“
If ya woulda had an Ivy Dalton of yer own…I wouldn
’
t be havin
’
to mess with a litter of pups.
”
Bullet beg
an waging his tail and panting—
happy to have Reb
’
s attention.
Reb chuckled and scratched the dog
’
s ears.

Suddenly, Bullet quit panting.
His tail stopped wagging
,
and his ears perked up as best the floppy things could.
Reb frowned and followed the dog
’s line of vision—
chuckling when he saw a black bugg
y come racing up over the hill—
the petticoats of its five female occupants flying every which direction.

Amused by the delighted expression of Mary
’
s face and the rather terrified expression on Livie
’
s, Reb stood up
,
careless of the fact he wore only his
blue jeans
.

“
Well, good mornin
’
to ya, ladies!
”
he called as Mary
abruptly halted
the buggy
,
sending its passengers lurching forward.

“
For cryin
’
out loud, Reb!
Help me out of this confounded contraption!
”
Livie begged, panting as if she had run all the way to the ranch on her own two legs.
Reb chuckled and walked to the buggy, offering Livie his hand.

“
Not too fond of Miss Mary
’
s drivin
’
, are ya
,
Miss Livie?
”
he said, helping her down from the buggy.

“
She
’
s tryin
’
to kill us all,
”
Livie grumbled, putting her hand to her bosom dramatically.
“
Down, you fool dog!
”
Livie ordered as Bullet jumped up
,
putting his paws in the middle of her back.
Reb laughed and offered his hand to his aunt.

“
Mornin
’,
Reb,
”
Eugenia said, taking his hand and stepping down out of the buggy.
Eugenia reached down
,
patting the excited dog
’
s head affectionately.
“We
saw your herd comin
’
through town and thought we
’
d come out and watch the fun.
”

“
I thought I saw dust out yonder,
”
Reb said.

“
They
’
re still
’
bout two miles back,
”
Mary said, stepping d
own from
the buggy all by herself.

Reb smiled
,
and
Rose
gestured he should help her down, but instead of taking the hand he offered, she put her hands on his shoulders and waited for his to encircle her waist.
Reb chuckled, easily lifting the flirtatious old gal down out of the buggy.

“
Thank you, Reb,
”
she said with a wink.

“
Yer a shameless hussy, Rose Applewhite,
”
Mary grumbled.
Reb chuckled and offered his hand to the on
ly other occupant in the buggy—
Sage.

He noted how soft s
he looked in the morning light—
how bright her eyes were and how pretty her hair was braided and windblown instead of
pulled
into a tight knot.
Sage accepted Reb
’
s hand, smiling at him as she stepped down from the buggy.

“
Mornin
’
, Sage,
”
Reb said.

“
Good mornin
’
,
”
she replied.
“
Mary insisted we come out and have breakfast ready for your friends when they arrive.
”
She glanced away from him
,
and he noted the pink, which rose to her cheeks suddenly.
“
Hey there, Bullet,
”
Sage said as the dog sat panting at her feet.
Reaching out she scratched behind his ears.

“
That
’
s mighty nice of you, ladies,
”
he said, turning to find four sets of feminine eyes looking him up and down.

“
You
’
ve been working out in the sun without your shirt, I daresay, Reb,
”
Livie said to him.
It was only then he realized he didn
’
t have a shirt on.
They probably thoug
ht he was a perfect heathen—
standing there before them in nothing but his
blue jeans
.
He smiled, suddenly realizing the cause of Sage
’
s blush.

“
Yes, ma
’
am, Miss Livie,
”
Reb chuckled.
“
Fergive me, though.
I wasn
’
t expectin
’
company.
”

“
Nothin
’
to forgive, Reb,
”
Rose
said with a wink.
“
Nothin
’
at all.
”

“
Oh, for Pete
’
s sake,
Rose
,
”
Mary grumbled.
“
He ain
’
t a new puppy a
-
wantin
’
his belly scratched.
Reb…help us get this bacon and such in the house.
We
’
ll get breakfast a
-
goin
’
while ya ride on out to meet up with yer herd.
”

“
Sounds like a fine idea, Miss Mary,
”
Reb said.
Turning to Sage
,
he asked,
“
Did ya finally dry out last night?
”
He liked the way her blush deepened as he looked at her.

“
Yes, thank you,
”
she answered.
His goatee tickled
,
and he rubbed at it with one hand.
It seemed to him his facial hair always tickled him when Sage Willows was about.

“
You
’
ve got that fence up fine, Reb,
”
Eugenia said.
“
You been workin
’
hard.
I can tell.
”

Winking at Sage he turned to his aunt.
“
Yep.
It
’
s been a heap a work.
But I think all the weak fence is mended now.
Still need to put somethin
’
up around that little gravestone out in Sage
’
s pastures
’
fore I open that gate, though,
”
he told her.

“
Quit flappin
’
yer gums, Eugenia,
”
Mary ordered.
“
There
’
s vittles to cook up.
”

Reb chuckled as his aunt rolled her eyes
in
irritation.
“
She
’
s about as much fun as
a
toothache,
”
Eugenia mumbled.

“
I heard that, Eugenia Smarthin
’
,
”
Mary growled, stomping up the porch and into the house.