ANOTHER SUNNY DAY (10 page)

Tyler, she reminded herself, had made it clear that he was attracted to her—or rather, to Sunny. Even though he seemed to be unimpressed by her star status, Sarah had often seen show business relationships that were based, not on love or mutual respect but on an obsession with being associated with someone rich and famous. And even if Tyler were attracted to Sarah herself, he would be hurt and furious when he discovered that she had deceived him and didn't trust him enough to share the truth with him. But because
Sunny's reputation was at stake, Sarah couldn't allow herself the liberty of confessing the truth to him. Besides, it had taken him so long to accept her that if she suddenly revealed that all of his conclusions about her were wrong, she was afraid he would think she had betrayed him like his ex-fiancée and wouldn't give her another chance.

It all boiled down to the old saying that she was damned if she did, and damned if she didn't. She couldn't tell him now, and she was certain that one she did, he would hate her for her dishonesty. Either way, she would never
see him again after Saturday.

But she couldn't deny the strong physical attraction he had for her. No man had ever ignited her senses and filled her with a longing so intense that it made her body ache with desire. He didn't even have to touch her to send her pulse racing erratically. He controlled her with his smile or the warm twinkle in his soft gray eyes. There could be no promises for the future, but that didn't lessen her infatuation. She didn't want to go through the rest of her life knowing she had wasted any of th
e time they had left together.

Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. If she hadn't agreed to
Sunny's outrageous proposition in the first place, she wouldn't have this problem. Of course, if she hadn't pretended to be Sunny, she would never have met Tyler. Would that have been any worse than what she was feeling now? Maybe someday in the future she would be able to think of him, remembering only the joys and forgetting the pain.

She didn't hear Reveille that morning, but Tyler's pounding on the trailer door brought her slowly awake. When she finally pulled on her robe and opened the door, he handed her a cup of coffee and a plate filled with hot eggs, sausages, and biscuits, which she put on the table. Then,
after glancing furtively behind him to reassure himself that no one was watching them, he leaned into the trailer and kissed her soundly.

His kiss opened her eyes much more effectively than the cup of coffee. She allowed herself the liberty of watching his muscular form as he strode away, whistling cheerfully. She stood just inside the doorway, one hand holding his kiss to her lips while her heart pounded wildly against her other hand, which clutch
ed her robe together modestly.

It was the beginning of a wonderful day. Later in her life when she would think back on all her best days, she would remember this one especially. The weather wasn't so terrific, and she could have used a few more hours sleep, but nothing mattered as lon
g as Tyler stayed by her side.

His horse's hoof had been filed and reshod, and Tyler led him and
Zena up to Sarah's trailer just as the other riders were leaving camp. They lagged behind the others, not anxious to share each other with anyone else. The flat, sparsely populated countryside was obscured by a low, thick fog. The light mist swirled around Tyler and Sarah, enveloping, them in a phantasmal cocoon. It was all very surrealistic, and perfectly suited their mood.

The stillness seemed to discourage conversation, and they rode in companionable silence until the sun stru
ggled up to burn away the fog.

"It sure was a short night last night. Did you sleep well?" Tyler asked, curious to know if she had found it a
s difficult to rest as he had.

"Not really," She admitted with a shy smile "I tried reading a boo
k, but that didn't help much."

"I believe I did leave a couple of Larry
McMurtry books in the bedroom. I read them last summer when I spent a week on Padre Island."

"You've slep
t in that trailer?" she asked.

"Of course I have." He laughed, his even teeth flashing whitely against his t
anned skin. "It's my trailer."

"Oh, I never realized that it was yours," she replied, feeling somehow more intimate with him now that she knew she had used his shower and slept in his bed, even though he hadn't been there at the time, of course. "That makes me feel bad, though, knowing that you're sleeping outside while I'm enjoying your camper. It's really much nicer than I would have guessed. I just assumed that the Rodeo Associ
ation had provided it for me."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I always sleep outside with the others on these trail rides. That's part of the fun, I guess. I wouldn't have brought the trailer at
all if you hadn't needed it."

"If you're sure," she rep
lied, only slightly mollified.

"I'm sure," he stated firmly, then abruptly changed the subject. "You never have leveled with me about where you really learned to handle a horse. You ride much
better than I had been led to believe. Or do you fall off horses at rodeos just for the publicity?"

"Everyone has bad days," she said, defending Sunny. "Actually I grew up around horses. My father is a horse trainer who still works for one of the most successful thoroughbred racing stables in Kentucky. He really loves it and is very good. They've won hundreds of major races and even the Triple Crown once. I used to dream of being a jockey until grew u
p a little too much."

"So your father let you rid
e the horses he was training?"

"He didn't just let me ride. I worked with him. I would get up before dawn and exercise four or five horses before school every day and spend all day Saturday at the race
tracks during the season."

"An odd sort of life for a girl who would one day
be a country and western singer," he commented wryly.

"That life was certainly no worse than living in hotels and spending half my time in smoky clubs and concert halls. Back, then I lived, breathed, and slept horses. But then 'Daddy's Baby' hit it
big, followed by my first Grammy Award and three more Top 40 singles in a row. Since then I've been on the road more than I've been home, and that doesn't give me a chance to ride much. Certainly not as much as I would like."

"Have you enjo
yed your life as a celebrity?"

"Oh, sure. It has its advantages. I think everyone has fantasized about being in the limelight in one way or another. For some people fame is their destiny. It's as if they couldn't escape it even if they wanted to, which in most cases they don't. They know they must take the bad with the goo
d, but it's worth it to them."

"Is it worth it to you? Would you live your life any differently if you had the chance?" He watched her face intensely, fascinated by the med
ley of emotions written there.

"My case is not typical. My sister and I were brought up in a loving, religious atmosphere, and it has given us a strong, solid background. We haven't had to deal with the panic of being all alone against.
the world because we've got each other and our parents are ready to catch us if we fall. This built-in security system has helped us avoid many of the pitfalls associated with show business."

"You'd never know that by what is reported by the press," Tyler commented. "From what I've heard about Sunny Day, you've given a new meaning to the
expression 'one-night stand.'"

"Publicity is what makes showbiz go round. With it we're infamous, without it we're nobodies." Sarah shrugged. "It's a no-win situation. If we ignore bad press, people assume it's true, but if we deny it, they th
ink we doth protest too much."

"
Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth," he quoted sagely.

"That's very true," she agreed. "Do you want t
o hear my favorite quote?"

"Sure," he answered, viewing the mischievous twinkle in h
er eyes somewhat suspiciously.

"Never play leapfrog with a unicorn," she stated solemnl
y.

"I
f you eat a live toad the first thing in the morning, nothing worse could possibly happen to you the rest of the day," he responded, then burst into laughter at her horrified expression.

"How about never eat at a place called Mom's, never play
cards with a man named Ace, and never invest in anything that eats or needs painting," she challenged.

"
When you're in it up to your nose, you should keep your mouth shut?"

"You can lead a horse to water, but if you can get him to float on his back, you've really ach
ieved something." She giggled.

An exchange of frivolous quotations followed, sending them both into gales of hysterical laughter. They were obviously having such a good time that others were attracted, and soon Tyler and Sarah were surrounded by a small group shouting questions and answers back and forth. The subject shifted to movies, television shows, and famous theme songs.

Even when they were no longer alone. Sarah and Tyler hung onto their invisible bond. When their eyes met, he would slip her a very personal wink and she would reward him with a secret smile. The time passed much too quickly.

After they finished lunch, Tyler commented, "You had better bring along your coat this afternoon. You may have the chance to experience one of our famous blu
e northerns before nightfall."

Sarah looked doubtfully at the clear blue skies overhead. As she glanced toward the north, however, she saw a dark bluish gray cloud bank splashed low along the horizon, as if an artist had brushed the paint on too dark and forgotten to blend it in. "It looks like it's still a long way from us. W
hen do you think it will hit?"

"I heard on the weather report that
this will an arctic cold front that was moving pretty fast. We should be feeling the winds and the rain within a few hours. By sundown the temperature should drop into the forties with a freeze predicted for tonight," he explained while unhobbling the horses.

"When it decides to get cold, it doe
sn't waste any time, does it?"

"It's been said that Houston has only two seasons: summer and February." He chuckled. "I can't remember a Salt Grass Trail Ride that hasn't been rained on or frozen. We've been
lucky for the past few days."

"Yes, we have," she whispered, too low for him to hear, but she wa
sn't referring to the weather.

The front blew in even quicker and meaner than expected. They were still about a mile from their campsite in Katy Park when the winds switched from a mild southwest breez
e to a roaring northern blast.

Sarah had commented earlier on the wide range in the ages of the trail riders, and Tyler had told her that the youngest this year was not yet two years old and the oldest was Willie at seventy-eight. All ages in between were represented both male and female. But this change in the weather seemed to separate the men from the
boys, in a manner of speaking.

Mothers bundled their children into the backs of the covered wagons, and soon the fainthearted of all ages joined them. A much depleted group, consisting of only the truly dedicated and the very f
oolish, was left on the trail.

Sarah wasn't certain which group she fell into, but she was determined to make it all the way to Katy Park. Tyler tried to talk her into joining the crowds in the backs of the wagons, but she refused to listen. If he could make it, so could she. She pulled the heavy yellow slicker on over her coat and persistently stayed at his side, as they stepped up the pace in an attempt to make i
t to camp before the rain hit.

Although everyone was prepared for the rain, wearing the yellow slickers that had been tied behind their saddles, they were surprised at the velocity and fury of the storm as it enveloped them wetly. The riders were forced to slow down as they neared the, camp, following the leader blindly, their coats the only bright spots
in the dismal gray landscape.

The wind drove the cold pelting rain against their left sides and backs. Even with their shoulders hunched forward and their hats pulled down low, the rain managed to run down their necks. Nothing could stop the cold that se
emed to penetrate their bones.

Sarah was beginning to doubt the sanity of her decision when, at last, the welcome sight of the assembled vehicles came into view. A large tarpaulin had been erected to form meager protection from the elements for Jed's
chuckwagon. Eagerly the riders crowded under the shelter, helping themselves to the steaming hot coffee that was waiting for them.

Sarah literally slid off
Zena's slick saddle and into Tyler's waiting arms. Even though she was cold and wet, the reassuring touch of his large hands around her waist was enough to send a warming flash through her body. His hand moved up to stroke her numbed cheek before lifting her chin so that she met his admiring gray gaze.

"You look like a drowned rat, your makeup is running, and I've never seen anything more beautiful in m
y life," he whispered huskily.