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“Does that mean you won’t jump all over him after I leave?” Tara slanted him a teasing look.
“He deserves it.”
“Maybe he does, but it will just create more hard feelings. It will be enough if you keep your eye on him.”
“If that’s the way you want it,” Ty conceded.
“It is.” Tara smiled, satisfied that Ty would keep his word.
Chapter Fifteen
Tara’s visit was the first of several during the next two weeks. Her excuses were as varied as the time of day she called, running the gamut from the auction to dropping off a wading pool for the twins.
Regardless of the reasons she used, her frequent presence didn’t set well with the ranch hands, especially the older ones, who had weathered many a stormy time. Neither did Ty’s failure to show any objection to her visits. It had them looking sideways at him whenever Tara was around. And sometimes when she wasn’t.
As usual, Jessy was aware of it although nothing was ever overtly said to her. The ranch hands conveyed their feelings through seemingly innocuous remarks uttered in a voice dry with disapproval. In their eyes Tara was a traitor and they didn’t want her in the midst. It ground at them that Ty was allowing it. Yet if pressed, they admitted that Tara’s stated purposes for each of her visits allowed little room for objections.
Like this morning, when Tara had arrived at the Triple C headquarters around nine-thirty, with Buck Haskell behind the wheel and a horse trailer in tow. The purpose of her visit was simple: she was in the market for a pair of riding horses. And as Tara had been quick to point out, it was common knowledge that the Triple C had the best-trained mounts around.
Tara had spent the last two hours inspecting each of the dozen geldings available for sale, discussing the merits of each of them with Ty and occasionally seeking Buck Haskell’s opinion. Out of the twelve, she picked four that she asked to ride before making her final selection.
Standing outside the corral fence, Jessy had one arm wrapped firmly around Trey’s middle while he sat on the top rail, clapping his hands at the sight of the dappled-gray gelding cantering around the pen. For him, the big lure was horses, not the woman riding one. Every time he set foot outside The Homestead, Trey had only one destination in mind—the corra
ls.
The same couldn’t be said for the towheaded Laura as she straddled Jessy’s left hip, a fistful of wildflowers in her hand. She liked horses well enough, but her true fascination was with Tara. It was something Jessy couldn’t begin to understand or explain; she could only hope that Laura would outgrow it.
At almost eighteen months old, Laura was becoming the watcher of the two, and Trey was the doer. Trey was content to sit on the rail only as long as something was happening in the pen. The minute the action stopped, so would his interest.
Taking advantage of his momentary absorption, Jessy let her attention stray to the horse and rider. She made an assessing study of the big gray they called Iron Mike and found little to fault about him.
Jobe Garvey stood a few yards away, close enough that Jessy overheard when he muttered to Kyle Sullivan, “Bet you anything she picks the gray.”
“It’s a good horse,” Kyle replied.
“They’re all good usin’ horses, but she’s wantin’ somethin’ with flash. The gray and the stockinged chestnut are the only ones in this bunch that’s got any.”
He made a sound of disgust in his throat, turned his head to the side, and spat. “I don’t know why she’s makin’ such a big project out of this. It ain’t like she’s gonna work cattle with ’em. She wants ’em strictly for pleasure ridin’. Did ya’ hear what she said to Ty when she first got here?”
“No.”
“She said, ‘Oh Ty, darlin’,’ ” Jobe drawled in mimicry, giving his voice a high, girlish pitch. “That big open country just cries for me to get on a horse and ride across it.” His voice resumed its gravelly register, and Jessy averted her face to hide the smile she couldn’t suppress.
“It was enough to make ya’ sick,” Jobe declared. “Why, I remember when nothin’ around here was good enough for her.”
“Maybe she’s changed,” Kyle suggested.
“In a pig’s eye she has.” Jobe straightened away from the fence, alert to the fact Tara had just reined in next to Ty. She swung a leg out of the saddle.
Trey immediately began to fidget. Jessy lifted him off the fence and set him on the ground, quickly catching hold of his hand before he could take off.
“Hey, Jobe,” she called to the man. “As soon as Tara picks the horses she wants, would you throw a saddle on one of the others so I can give these two a ride?”
“Not a problem,” he replied.
Just as Jobe predicted, Tara chose the gray and the chestnut. While Buck supervised the loading of the two horses, Ty and Tara headed for The Homestead to take care of the necessary paperwork.
Laura was not at all happy about being left behind. Before she could lapse into a full-blown protest, the dun gelding that Jobe had saddled for Jessy nuzzled the flowers in Laura’s hand. She giggled at the velvety soft brush of its nose, temporarily forgetting about Tara.
