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“Odds on he did. Like teenagers on a first date, remember? Running out of gas is a classic.”
With an exclamation of fury, she caught up with Ty, relieving him of some of the grocery bags. “You’re not killing him,” she announced in no uncertain terms.
“I’m not?”
“No. Because I’m gonna do it first.”
“You know why he’s pulling all these stunts, don’t you?”
Cassidy blew out a sigh. “I know. But that doesn’t mean he can keep setting us up like this. The bedroom incident was bad enough.”
“Actually, Iliked the power outage best.” To his delight, ablush licked across her cheekbones. “That one came closest to working, don’t you think? Of course, if we’d gone much further, one of us would have ended up with glass in our—”
“Talking to him hasn’t helped,” she hastened to cut in. “Perhaps if we simply ignored him? Once he sees it’s not working, maybe he’ll stop.”
“And is it?”
“Is it what?”
“Is it not working?”
Cassidy quickened her pace. “No, it’s not working,” she said emphatically. “Most days.”
“Okay.Is it working now?”
Cassidy sagged to the floor of the saddle house, anger warring with her sense of the absurd. It had been close to a week since the incident with the car and they’d both hoped Hutch had given up on his little attempts to throw them together. Apparently, they were wrong. “I’m not so easily won over. You should know that.”
“You’d think I’d have bought a clue by now,” he muttered. He tried the knob to the small wooden building for the fiftieth time. It remained as solidly locked as the last time he’d attacked it. “Just what the hell did that kid think we were going to do in here anyway?”
“Talk?” she suggested. “Settle our differences?”Kiss?She played with the leather reins of a bridle dangling from a peg on the wall. The metal bit clunked overhead and she hastened to letgo of the reins so the whole damn thing didn’t fall on top of her. “Who can say with him? Ihaven’t been able to follow his thought processes since he was four. I’m not likely to figure it out now that he’s ten.”
“What about Lonnie?” He skirted a pile of saddle blankets and ropes and joined her on the floor, dropping his Stetson onto his bent knee. “How did he handle Hutch?”
Her mouth thinned. “He handled his son the same way he handled everything.”
“He ran.”
“As fast and as far as his wallet would allow. Which was rarely too far since we were always broke.”
“Did Hutch’s brilliance intimidate him?”
“You might say that.” She looked up at him. “Does it intimidate you?”
Ty tipped his head back against the wall, exposing the long, tanned line of his throat. “Hutch asked me that a number of times. Asked if it bothered me that he’s so smart.”
“And does it?”
“Not a lick. The only thing that bothers me is that he won’t stop this nonsense. Ithought you said ignoring it would help.”
“I guess it’s going to take a bit more ignoring.”
“Or a few more chores to keep the boy too busy for mischief.”
She gave a ladylike snort. “How long does it take to send me out here on a fool’s errand and lock the door as soon as I step inside?”
“Wily little brat.”
“He’s certainly determined. Which makes me think...” She pulled her legs tight against her chest and rested her chin on her knees. Ty wouldn’t like this next part. Heck, she didn’t much like it herself. But she had to do something to put an end to this nonsense. “This is getting out of hand. It’s time I made a serious effort to find a job and a new place to live.”
