Jeannie Watt - Winning the Cowboy's Heart

The girl was close to tears. She didn’t move.

“Joseph threw it at Sadie. So Joseph should pick it up.” Kylie said hotly. Sadie was Kylie’s best friend and Kylie was bent on protecting her.

“I distinctly saw it in Miss Grant’s hand just before it hit me in the face.”

“I was just getting it off me.” The girl’s voice was shaky. Her entire body was trembling, but Pete didn’t seem aware of that. He’d just been hit in the face with a squid. The world was about to end.

“I’ll pick it up,” Kylie snapped. She started to reach for it, but Pete stopped her.

That was when Regan stepped into the center of the circle, calmly stooped down and grabbed the slimy creature. “I was wondering where this had gotten to,” she said evenly, looking Pete in the eye. “I’m glad you found it.” She turned and the crowd parted as she walked back to her room.

There was a silence and then— “Anyone who is not in class when that bell rings will have three days’ detention.”

The crowd broke up, leaving Kylie and Sadie standing silently in the center of the hall, uncertain whether they were supposed to go or stay. The bell rang and Regan paused at her door to see what was going to happen.

Domingo shook his head. “Three days, ladies.”

His voice was clearly audible in Regan’s classroom. She let out a breath and, knowing the kids were watching her reaction, carefully kept her face expressionless as she walked to the front of the class and started taking attendance. Inwardly she was seething.

Tanya was right. A baboon would be better.

CHAPTER TWO

“DAD, do you think you’ll ever get married again?”

Will managed to flip the hotcake he was cooking without muffing it. “Not anytime soon.”

“Good.”

“Why?”

“Mark’s dad and stepmom are breaking up. He says it sucks.”

It did suck. No argument there . “Marriage is serious business, Kylie. Not something to be entered into lightly.”

“How about you and my mother?”

My mother . The shadow figure. Kylie rarely spoke of her, although she did keep a photo of her in her hope chest. The last Will had heard, Des had hooked up with a rodeo stock contractor and was living in Florida. He hoped she’d finally matured enough to try to stick it out in a relationship.

“We were young.”

Kylie speared a hotcake off the plate her father had set in the middle of the table. “That matters?”

“A lot of times it does. You can’t have a grown-up relationship if you’re not grown up.”

“Marriage must be a lot of work.”

“A good one is,” Will said as he poured more batter into the pan.

“Then how do parents have time for kids?”

Will didn’t know, since he’d never had a wife and a child at the same time. He winged it. “They work together to raise the kids.”

“How do they have time for each other?” Kylie slathered butter on the hotcake and started to eat, not bothering with syrup.

“They make time.”

“Mark’s parents didn’t.”

“How so?”

Kylie gestured with her fork. “He said his stepmom was always complaining that his dad paid more attention to Mark than to her.”

“So Mark’s feeling guilty?”

“He doesn’t like his stepmom, but he feels bad about his dad being so unhappy.”

“Well, I don’t think you have to worry. There aren’t any women knocking down my door.”

The phone rang. Kylie answered it and then wrinkled her nose as she held out the receiver. “It’s Madison… I think she’d like to knock down your door.”

Will took the phone with a mock scowl.

“Will? Madison here.” Madison always spoke as if she were slightly out of breath. “Did you get the contract for the clinic?”

“It came this morning.”

“Thanks for stepping in.”

It had been the third time in a year and a half he’d “stepped in.” He was beginning to suspect she wasn’t getting cancellations, “Are you sure you’re really booking a second trainer for these clinics?”

Madison laughed. “Honest, I am. Del cancelled the first time and Mike the second. I’m just lucky you’re close.”

“And agreeable.”

“That, too.” She still had a smile in her voice. “Think of all the good you’re doing for those horses whose owners don’t have a clue.”

“Hey, you already have me. You don’t need to sell me.”

“Actually, I’d like to get you to present on a regular basis. Two, three times a year—it wouldn’t be that bad.”

“I’ll get this contract signed and back to you tomorrow.”

Madison was enough of a trainer herself to know when to stop pushing. “Just think about it, Will.”

“Goodbye, Madison.”

Will turned down the burner under the pan and poured the last of the batter. He hated crowds and he hated talking, but Madison had a point about the horses. Most people who came to a training clinic were genuinely concerned about their animals, although there were always a few who thought bigger bits and spurs would solve most of their problems. Which was why Will often had more work than he could handle rehabilitating damaged horses.

REGAN HAD SUSPECTED her sister’s four days of phone silence were a sign of impending disaster and she’d been correct. Claire called early Saturday morning with a classic case of stress overload. She’d had an argument with one of her professors, followed by a fight with her boyfriend, then her roommate had spilled wine on her new cashmere sweater. But , Claire assured Regan, the biggest problem was their mother, who was having a hard time butting out of Claire’s life. Arlene had already lost one daughter to public service, and now the other one was damn well going to live up to her potential.

Regan listened patiently for almost fifteen minutes, letting Claire talk herself out. Finally, her sister wound down and asked Regan how she was doing.

Regan responded with a simple, “Fine.” It seemed easiest. “Do you want me to call Mom and see what I can do?”

“Would you?”

Regan always did, but she had been hoping when she put some miles between herself and her family that Claire and Arlene would somehow learn to deal with each other without getting a mediator involved.

Regan called her mother a few minutes later, negotiated a truce and then parried a few thrusts aimed in her direction.

Yes, she did like the smaller community she’d moved to. No, there wasn’t much opportunity for advancement in this school district. No, she wasn’t going to keep in touch with the Education Development Authority (EDA), a private curriculum-development company that she’d hoped to work for only months before. There was no way she would work for them now that Daniel had taken a job there. Besides, she had a job she liked.

Unfortunately, Arlene was not convinced. By the time Regan hung up, she was exhausted. And she was thinking about Daniel again. She made herself stop. It was bad for her blood pressure.

THE MUSTANG MARE circled the round pen at a floating trot, her nose high in the air, her attention outside the rails, on anything but Will, who stood near the center. Her objective was fundamental. Escape.

Will kept her moving, using his body language to propel her forward, to control her direction. Finally, she shifted an eye toward him as she trotted by, flicked an ear back. Will’s gaze immediately dropped from her head to her hindquarters and he took a backward step. She slowed, uncertain, then decided she would rather ignore him and escape. Will upped his energy, moving the mare forward again.

A few circles later, another glance, another ear flick. Will stepped back. The mare slowed, both eyes on him now. He took another step back, rewarding her attention by reducing the pressure on her. She slowed still more, eventually coming to a stop, her eyes on Will. They stood and studied one another. Will took a single slow step forward and the mare made her decision—no one was going to control her. Will set her moving again.