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To make sure she hadn’t lost the skill, she arranged the cans on fence posts on either side of the heart she’d painted on the bark, took out her pistol, moved back several yards, and loaded rounds into the cylinder.
After widening her stance, she lined up her first shot, released a breath, and pulled the trigger.
The sound of the bullet pinging the target rang out as the can flew backward off the post. Rena shot the remaining cans, then smiled with satisfaction as she climbed over the fence to retrieve them. She set them back up on the posts, and rested for a minute on the top pole of the fence, face turned to the sunshine as she soaked up the warmth. Then she hopped down and riddled the cans full of more holes before she stowed her gun in the gun belt and draped it over a fence post. Reverently, she lifted the pistol with the delicate pink handle from where she’d set it on a stump.
“Promise of true love,” she whispered, rubbing her thumb over the handle before she loaded five shots in the revolver and took aim at the target she’d painted. “True love. What an absurd notion. Laura really should mind her own business and cease meddling in mine. If she thinks this gun will lead me to romance, she needs to have her thinker checked for defects. Instead of dreaming of true love, setting love on a target seems like a much better idea.”
She blasted five holes in the middle of the white circle she’d painted inside the heart on the slab of bark, taking a great deal of satisfaction in blasting holes into something that represented romance and love, at least in her mind.
“Now that’s some fine shooting, Miss Burke.”
Rena yelped in surprise and spun around, the pistol still in her hand, as she pointed it at the intruder who dared to interrupt her target practice.
Joshhadtoldhimselfa dozen times he wouldn’t stop by Theo’s place. He’d managed to ride past it on his way to drop off a new harness to a customer a mile further up the road. He didn’t usually make deliveries, but it was such a beautiful, warm day, he’d jumped at the excuse to be outside.
He refused to admit fresh air wasn’t his only reason for closing his shop for a few hours. Not when the other reason he wanted to get away was Rena Burke. She’d been in town less than a week, but in that time, she’d infiltrated his thoughts with an unsettling frequency.
If he had even the tiniest lick of sense, he’d think of her as just a friend and get back to his regular life. Only nothing had seemed the same after meeting Rena. There was something about her that intrigued him and left him feeling disconcerted.
She was different than any female he’d ever encountered, and it wasn’t just because she wore trousers. It was something … well, he wasn’t exactly certain what it was, but she had definitely piqued his interest.
She’d also enchanted his daughter. Granted, Gabi didn’t know a stranger and happily talked to anyone, but she seemed especially taken with Rena. It struck him as odd since Gabi and Rena were so very different.
Gabi’s favorite color was pink, she dreamed of being a princess and balked like a fractious donkey anytime he suggested she wear the pair of britches he’d bought for her to put on when he took her riding. In the past, she’d gravitated toward women who exuded femininity, like Anne Milton, the blacksmith’s British-born wife, and Henley Holt, who was married to the doctor.
Josh had no idea what Rena’s favorite color might be, but she didn’t strike him as a woman full of feminine wiles or given to preening in front of a mirror. He couldn’t picture her spending an idle afternoon sipping tea or completing a needlepoint project. A vision of her riding wild and free, hair blowing like a banner behind her, painted a vivid picture in his mind. For a moment, he longed for the vision to be real, just for the opportunity to watch her ride.
However, with her plodding old mule, she’d have to borrow a horse if she planned to race anywhere. Josh would almost guarantee ol’ Scout had one speed and it was slow. A picture of Rena trying to gallop anywhere on the aging mule struck him as funny.
He chuckled as he guided Hawkins, his faithful mount, off the road and along the path to Theo’s cabin. The sound of gunfire sent panic racing through him. Was Rena in danger? Had someone attacked her while she was outside the cabin?
Josh jumped off Hawkins and followed the sound of a gun being fired to an old corral behind the barn. When he rounded the corner of the barn, he stopped short and watched Rena rapid-fire old tin cans off the fence posts. She looked like she belonged in a Wild West performance, not a cabin in Eastern Oregon.
Rather than disturb her, he decided to watch the show she unwittingly provided. Rena was good with a gun. An excellent shot, in fact. Josh wondered if Theo was aware of Rena’s shooting abilities.
Josh leaned back against the barn and watched as Rena took a pink-handled revolver from a stump and loaded it.
He bit his lip to keep from laughing when he heard her grousing about true love and people meddling in her life when they ought to mind their own business. It seemed she’d made love a target, painting a heart on a piece of bark and adding a circle in the center for a bullseye.
Admiration for her skill filled him as she shot through the middle of the circle five times in a row.
Unable to stop himself, he pushed away from the barn and strode toward her. “Now that’s some fine shooting, Miss Burke.”
Rena’s yelp of surprise caught him off guard. She spun toward him, pistol raised, but he wasn’t overly concerned, considering she’d emptied all the rounds into her love target.
When recognition set in, she scowled at him. “You about scared the stuffin’ out of me, Josh Gatlin! What are you doing sneaking around anyway?”
He frowned. “I wasn’t sneaking around. I’ve been standing over there watching you blast cans off the fence and shoot that bullseye. Love seems to be a prime target for you.” At her dark glower, he motioned to the gun she still held. “Who taught you to shoot like that?”
Rena set the pink-handled pistol on a post, climbed over the fence, and retrieved the tin cans she’d shot full of holes. It wasn’t until she held one up to the light that Josh realized she’d shot a star pattern into each one of them.
“You’re good, Miss Burke.”
“Call me Rena, and thank you. My father taught me how to shoot, but I used to have contests with Theo when we were kids. I guess competing against him encouraged me to practice and get better.”
“You ever hear of Annie Oakley?” Josh asked as he took the shot-up cans from her. She climbed back over the fence, picked up her gun belt and the pistol from the fence post, and then started toward the barn.
“Annie Oakley is someone I greatly admire. She’s not only an incredible shot but a wonderful person.” Rena gave him a look, as though she dared him to argue with her. When he remained silent, her stiff posture relaxed. “I wish I could be more like her. Did you know she’s been teaching women how to shoot, not just as a form of exercise but to defend themselves?”
