She slipped into her cape and buttoned it all the way up to her neck, then added the scarf. “I think I’m ready.” She pulled the gloves from the pockets of the cape and tugged them on. “Let me tell Mrs. Gallagher I’m leaving.”
Sheridan pushed through the kitchen door to find Mrs. Gallagher sitting at the table, cup of tea in front of her. She jotted another item on the list on the table, then looked up and gestured to the notepad. “I’m making the list for Mr. Langston’s next visit. Do you need him to do anything for you?”
She shook her head. “Whatever you have him do will be fine, I’m sure. You run this house better than anyone, getting repairs done before they become too extensive.”
“Well, thank you for the compliment.” She smiled. “Is Wyatt here to pick you up?”
A little taken aback that Mrs. Gallagher knew about her plans, though she shouldn’t have been—there were very few secrets here—she nodded. “I’m not sure what time I’ll be back.”
“That’s fine, lass. Have a nice time.”
“Thank you.”
She pushed through the door to see Wyatt fingering the keys of the piano, making a soft plinking sound. “Do you play?”
He looked startled, then laughed. “No, I don’t. My mother tried teaching me, but I just don’t have the patience to learn.” He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. “I could never get them to do what I wanted. The keys always seem so small.” He moved away from the piano to stand in front of her. “Preston, my brother, plays very well. Almost as good as my mother.”
She looked up at him, saw the humor dancing in his unusual tiger’s eyes and all at once, she wanted to kiss him—right now—not on the cheek as she’d done before, but his lips, though she’dnever kissed anyone. She wasn’t even sure she knew how, nor how to ask for what she wanted, like Barrie said. Shaking off her thoughts, she returned to the subject at hand. “I could teach you, if you’d like.”
“That would be nice, but I’m afraid I’m all thumbs.” His smile widened. “Besides, I’d much rather hear you play.” He held out his hand. “Are you ready?”
With butterflies flitting about her belly, she gave a quick nod and slipped her hand into his. “I am.”
He opened the door like a gentleman. “Just a word of warning. My mother and Royce are at the house, so be prepared for questions.”
That made her stop short halfway down the steps to his buggy. “Questions? What kind of questions?”
“Oh, you know, the kind of questions that could possibly embarrass you. Don’t worry too much. My mother will probably regale you with stories of my indiscriminate youth. Believe me, there are a lot of stories. My brothers and I had a tendency to find trouble, and if we couldn’t find it, we made it.” He laughed and the sound went all the way to her heart. “All in good fun, mind you. Nothing harmful or hurtful to anyone. Mama wouldn’t have tolerated that.”
He helped her into the buggy, then climbed in himself, shook the reins and started the vehicle moving out of town.
Sheridan sat back against the cushions and watched the way he skillfully handled the horses and an idea formed in her head. “Someday, would you teach me how to drive a rig?”
He glanced at her, his smile wide. “Of course. We could start right now if you’d like.”
“Could we?”
He didn’t answer, simply brought the buggy to a stop in the middle of the dirt road.
“Take the reins and hold them like this.” He moved a little closer to her, his body pressing against hers, and put his arm around her, then demonstrated exactly how she should hold the reins between her fingers. “If you want to go left, you tug lightly on this side. If you want to go right, tug on this side. Goliath and Black Star will know what to do.”
He spoke so close to her ear, his voice smooth and silky like honey, that goosebumps rose on her skin and excitement tickled her belly.
“Are you ready?”
“I think so,” she said, but truthfully, she could hardly think with him so close, the smell of soap and cloves surrounding her.
“Start off slow. Give a small shake, like this.” He demonstrated with his hands holding hers to guide her.
Sheridan did as she was told and the horses started moving, slowly gaining speed.
“You don’t want to go too fast for your first time. A nice steady speed is what you want.”
Again, he showed her what to do. She felt the strength of his muscles as he guided the horses to the right when they came to a fork in the road, and it wasn’t long before they turned into the driveway of his ranch.
“I loved that!” She laughed, so pleased with herself as she pulled the rig to a halt in front of his house.
“You did well for your first time.” He let go of her hands then scooched along the seat to exit. “Just wrap the reins around that hook there.” He pointed to a large metal hook in front of the seat then stepped out of the buggy and came around to her side. He held out his hand to help her.
