A Holiday Romance (5 page)

She stroked Loco’s nose. He butted her, scraping her chin with his bony head. Ouch. She pushed him away, her fingers tightening on the rope as the horse threw his head high.

“Steady, boy.” Denver lifted a saddle onto Loco’s back, then reached beneath the horse to snag the dangling cinch. The motion rippled impressive muscles beneath the clinging tank. In the still heavy heat of the stable, his skin glistened with perspiration.

Alice’s mouth felt like cotton. “Are you a real cowboy?”

He straightened. “Worried ’bout how I’ll handle your lesson, Allie?” He doffed his hat and raked a hand through his burnished blond hair, studying her.

“I, uh, I’ve never ridden before.”

“No need to fret. Most of our guests are greenhorns. Trail ridin’s no challenge at all. You’ll do as well as any of ’em once I teach yew the basics.”

Oh, boy.
She gulped, distracted from the fact that he hadn’t answered her question. Maybe she didn’t care whether he was genuine.

Denver hung his hat on the saddle horn and finished the tacking up, going off on a rambling, colorful story about riding broncs on the rodeo circuit and winning the silver buckle prominently centered on his tooled leather belt. Alice’s eyes dropped to the bulge below it, then darted away. Smirking, he picked up the reins and matter-of-factly took Alice’s hand in his, leading both her and the horse outdoors into the glaring midmorning heat.

The riding ring was empty. A couple of horses occupied a nearby corral, dozing in the shade of a stand of cottonwood trees. Denver told her that the rest of them had gone out on the early trail ride.

“Let’s get you mounted up.” His accent seemed to come and go. He retrieved his hat and set it on his head, tugging the brim low with a devilish, one-sided grin. “I’ll turn you into an easy rider in no time.”

Alice shuffled in the dirt. Loco seemed enormous to her again, the saddle perched high on his back. She looked uncertainly at the stirrup.

“Y’want a leg up?”

She didn’t know why she was hesitating. Riding a horse was nothing to be timid about. Rock climbing or skydiving, yes, but this was a small start. “I want to try it myself.”

Denver guided her hands to the saddle, then held the stirrup for her. “Go ’head. Stick a foot in here, take a bounce on the ball of your other foot and up you’ll go. Easy as pie.”

She was less than elegant, but she managed to haul herself into the saddle. “Yawp,” she croaked from atop her perch, hastily sticking her right foot into the stirrup. The ground was a long way down. “What do I do now?”

“Grab the reins. Leave some slack. You don’t want to be jabbing Loco’s mouth.”

The leather reins slithered in her damp hands. The horse’s ears flicked back and forth, but he didn’t move. “Now what?”

“Y’feelin’ okay in the saddle? Got a good grip with your thighs?” Denver’s eyes glinted from beneath the hat brim.

Sweat trickled along her hairline. “I think so.”

“Then go ahead and squeeze him with your heels.”

She prodded the horse. Loco twitched a shoulder and swished his tail, his head hung so low she wondered if he was taking a nap.

Denver chuckled. “Try again.”

She dug her heels in. The horse turned his head and rolled an eye at her before lazily picking up his hooves to walk toward the opposite side of the corral. At first, Alice felt a bit queasy at seeing the ground moving beneath her. When she looked up and realized that they were traveling at no more than an amble, she began to relax.

“Follow the rail.” Denver stood in the center of the ring with one hip cocked and his thumbs hooked in his pockets. “Get used to his rhythm.”

Trying not to apply a double entendre to the words, she concentrated on the creak of the saddle and the bobbing comfort of Loco’s head.

They completed one circuit of the ring without disaster. That small achievement seemed significant.

She was doing it. She was riding.

No need to get excited yet.
Even the rankest amateur could sit on a horse for a walk.

She wriggled in the saddle, getting more comfortable. Loco felt steady and reliable beneath her, despite his name. She was able to take a look around at the lush green grounds of the resort. Desert stretched way in the distance, sere, brown and strewn with cactus and rock formations. Tomorrow, she’d ride into it, as bold as you please.

When she closed her eyes, she could almost see herself, mounted on Loco, no longer timid or awkward. There was a man riding beside her, sitting tall on a flashy black stallion, silhouetted against the backdrop of the setting sun.

But who was he?

Denver, Alice decided. She inserted his green eyes and easy grin into the picture, but before long the glib cowboy’s face transformed into the serious features of Kyle Jarreau.

She shook her head. That wouldn’t do.

“Give him a kick with your heels,” Denver called. “Get him trottin’.”

She settled down to learning to ride. A quick hard squeeze earned Loco’s attention. His ears flattened, but he set off at a trot, bouncing Alice up and down in the saddle. She grabbed the saddle horn, not caring that the move branded her as a tenderfoot. She was a tenderfoot.

Loco jogged along the rail. Alice’s rein hand jerked in time with the rest of her. She felt as if she was sitting on a jackhammer. “I—I—I’m g-gonna fall!”

Denver only chuckled. “You’re too tense. Loosen up. Go with him.”

I’m going whether I want to or not,
she thought, but she tried to relax her rigid spine while still keeping her
legs clamped to the saddle. The trot became easier to handle. More of an eggbeater than a jackhammer.

“Now let go of the horn,” Denver instructed.

Let go? Was he crazy? But she eased her grip. Thank God Loco was well trained, continuing to jog in a wide circle regardless of his precarious rider.

“Heels down. Settle yourself low in the saddle.”

Alice swallowed. Sweat poured off her. She was developing a stitch in her side from the relentless jostling. But she also felt a flicker of triumph. Horseback riding wasn’t so difficult, after all. Maybe she could meet other challenges, too.

“There y’go!” Denver crowed. “Settin’ mighty pretty.”

She lifted her chin to toss a smile at him. The second her gaze came unglued from Loco, so did her seat.

She fell so fast, she didn’t have a chance to save herself. She found herself sitting in the dirt, not sure how she’d got there, except that her tailbone said it hadn’t been a gentle trip. Loco had come to a halt in the corner of the riding ring, his reins trailing in the dirt.

Denver knelt beside her. “You okay, Allie?”

“I’m okay.” Her jaw ached where her teeth had jarred together. “What happened?”

“Loc put a little giddyup in his stride and you came a-cropper.”

“Oh. I fell off?” Apparently her brains had also been jarred. She spit grit out of her mouth. “I fell off while
trotting?
This is so embarrassing.”

“Nothin’ to be ashamed of.” Denver gave her a hand up. “It happens to everyone.”

“Even you?”

“Why, sure.” He smiled. “More times’n I can count.”

Alice wiped her face with the back of a wrist. She
wished again she had a handkerchief. Why did no one carry handkerchiefs anymore? If Denver was truly the total package, he’d have been handy with a bandanna.

“Well,” she said, “at least I didn’t hurt anything but my pride.”

Denver chirruped to Loco. “You game to climb back aboard?”

“Do I have to?”

“It’s for the best. Y’can’t let fear set in.” He caught the reins and led Loco toward her. “Shoot, Allie. I was once thrown hard by a mean ol’ bronc name of Twister. Soon’s my collarbone healed, I was back on board spurrin’ the demon out of that stud. Won me a big old purse in the bargain.”

“I could use a new handbag,” she said, and Denver laughed, a deep guffaw that sounded more natural than anything that had come out of his mouth till then.

His eyes fixed on hers and she felt an odd familiarity in his steady gaze. “You’re somethin’ else, sweetheart.”

She smiled bashfully and took hold of the stirrup.

“Hold on.” He reached behind her and batted at her derriere, releasing a cloud of dust. Heat shot through her when his hand lingered, only for a moment, but long enough to turn her insides molten. “Can’t have you ridin’ dirty,” he said in a low voice. She shivered, despite the fever he’d created. “Not a sweet li’l thang like you.”

She bolted onto the horse, mounting with little grace but plenty of speed.

“Eager, ain’t cha?” Humor tilted Denver’s mouth. He swatted the horse’s back end. “Get on, then, Loc. Give our gal a nice smooth ride.”

The horse moved off. The cowboy walked in the other direction, talking to himself, though Alice heard every word. “I always did say it’s the quiet ones that surprise a man with their enthusiasm, once they get a taste for it.”

A
TASTE
.
D
ENVER’S
words had stayed with Alice throughout the day, from her wobbly dismount off Loco after a jittery lope around the ring to her first experiment with a boogie board at the wave pool. She’d lived by the ocean her entire life, but the water in Maine was too cold for swimming or surfing. She’d never gained a toehold in the marina crowd, either, with their fancy sailboats and yachts. Dinghies had been her speed.

I want more than a taste.
She dug her spoon into a sweet cloud of meringue.
I want a full-course meal.

“That looks good.” Chloe pulled out a chair and sat opposite Alice. “Hiya. I see you worked up an appetite.”

Alice waved her spoon hello. She hadn’t felt like getting dressed up, so she’d chosen to dine in the less formal Blue Sage Bistro. “Everything is so good here. I’ve decided I’m going to work my way through the entire menu, including desserts.”

“Why not?” Chloe held up a file folder. “With all the activities I have planned for you, you’ll burn off every one of the calories.”

“I may resist the mesquite-smoked rattlesnake until the last night, then,” Alice admitted.

Chloe laughed. “How did you like the wave pool?”

“It was a challenge. I didn’t expect the waves to be so strong. Like a real surf.” Alice squirmed, aware of the aches and pains she’d accumulated in just one day. The
wave machine had flipped her head over heels several times, until one of the lifeguards had shown her how to coast and paddle on the boogie board. “I’m not very athletic. I got knocked around some.”

“But it was fun, wasn’t it?” Chloe didn’t wait for an answer. “Are you ready for more?”

Alice licked raspberry purée from the corner of her mouth. “Bring it on.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Chloe consulted the folder. “What do you say to a hike up Camelback Mountain? There’s a group leaving tomorrow morning at six.”

“That early?”

“You know what they say. Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.” The sally seemed forced, as if Chloe had used it many times before. She wrinkled her nose. “Okay. The truth is, we have to make adjustments for the summer months. It’s our off-season and we’re at lower capacity. Most of the guests only want to hang out at the water park.” She smiled again. “You’re really livening up my day.”

Alice took a breath. “All right. I’m game. But I also wouldn’t say no if you scheduled me a few siestas.”

Chloe dashed off a note. “I’ll leave you plenty of downtime. Now, what about cycling? Do you know how to ride a bike?”

“Yes.” Alice was relieved that for once she could answer in the affirmative. Bicycles were popular on the island, which was small enough that cars were more of an encumbrance than a convenience. She pedaled the same Schwinn she’d had since she was fourteen, complete with a wicker basket for toting home groceries and buckets of clams.

“Then I’ll sign you up for mountain biking. I’ve gone myself, and it’s a super experience, just super. But remember to stick to the marked paths or you might find yourself skidding down a mountainside. The sandstone can be kind of slick.”

Alice hadn’t counted on biking being an adventure sport. “That sounds fine,” she said slowly, “but is there anything I can try that doesn’t risk broken bones?”

Chloe considered her lists. “There’s trail riding. The horses are very tame. How did your lesson with Denver go?”

“Denver,” Alice said. “Wow.”

“I know.” Chloe giggled like the girlfriend she was rapidly becoming. “Isn’t he a hoot?”

“He’s a hoot,” Alice agreed. “Except I was thinking more about his…um…”

“Good jeans?”

“Yeah.” Alice’s eyes went to the wide rattan paddles of the fan circulating above the table. The ceiling was painted a cool green-blue. “They were very nice jeans.”

“Tight,” Chloe said with admiration.

“Is he single?” The question was bold for Alice. She wasn’t usually open about being interested in a man.