Crazy For You (12 page)

“Ella’s turned out to be a hell of a beautiful woman.” Cody shifted and hooked his thumbs in his Wranglers’ pockets. “Now you’ve got a thing for Bucky’s little sister.”

Clint looked away at the old muscle car before looking back to Cody. “Tell me about Ella and Johnny.”

“I don’t know that there’s much to tell.” Cody rested his back against the beam. “Whenever I happen to be at an event, she’s cheering him on. I have no idea if they have a thing going on past that.”

Maybe that was why Ella had run from him yesterday. Clint ground his teeth. He should never have touched her. She likely had a relationship with Johnny and he should have waited until she ended it with the young cowboy before going after her like he had. As far as Clint knew, if Ella was seeing Johnny, she could be feeling guilt over what she and Clint had done. Damn, but he didn’t want her going through that kind of emotional rollercoaster.

Cody eyed him. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Clint looked at the GTO as he heard the rumble of a big truck. “Sounds like the tow truck is here. Might as well get this thing loaded.”

Cody gestured to another tarp-covered area. “Bunch of your old parts and tools are under there. I’ll help you load them into your truck.”

Clint directed the driver of tow truck to the back of the barn. While the driver loaded the old car onto the big vehicle, Clint and Cody took care of the parts and tools. When they were finished, the truck driver followed Clint to the Fisher ranch.

Guilt caused an ache in Clint’s belly. He shouldn’t have pushed Ella like he had. He needed to talk to her and apologize. He dragged his hand down his face. Seemed like he was doing a hell of a lot of apologizing lately.

He didn’t see Ella but he sensed her presence as he directed the tow truck driver to unload the GTO. Clint had the car parked in Carl’s workshop that the older man didn’t have much use for now that he had so many problems with his arthritis.

Once the car was in the shop, Clint paid the driver and when the tow truck was gone he finished unloading his own truck. After he was finished, he stood for a moment and studied the GTO. The car needed a lot of work, but then who was he to judge? He obviously needed some work, too.

Memories surfaced of him working with his father while talking about his rodeo dreams. He’d never dreamed that life would have gone in the direction that it had… His father passing away so soon, Bucky dying, and then Clint leaving rodeo to spend so many years wandering so far away from home… No, not in a million years would he have believed any of it.

After he’d covered up the car, he finished up his work around the ranch then headed to the cabin. He wondered if he’d see Ella there, but doubted he would. Somehow he’d have to corner her to get a chance to talk with her.

The cabin was locked when he reached it and he used the key Carl had given him to open the door. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him and heard nothing but silence. He didn’t feel Ella’s presence but he went to the studio door inside the cabin and knocked.

No answer. He knew he probably shouldn’t, but he turned the knob, opened the door, and walked into the studio.

It felt like Ella in here. He could almost smell her perfume along with the smell of clay and cedar. He looked around the room and saw Ella everywhere. Not only did he see art supplies, but a pencil drawing was pinned to the wall above a workbench that had something on it covered by a small tarp. On other walls were framed pencil drawings while matching sculptures sat on tables and benches below each drawing.

He walked around the room, studying the drawings and sculptures, amazed by her talent. What Carl had shown him in the house had been only a taste of her abilities. Six bronze sculptures and one clay sculpture were in the studio.

Clint stopped in front of a bronze of a rodeo cowboy lassoing a calf. The horse, rider, and calf were frozen in place yet had the feel of being in motion. Everything about it felt so real that he could clearly see the scene in his mind as if it were happening now.

Another bronze was of a cowgirl barrel racing, the horse leaning in close to the barrel yet not touching it as they rounded it on one side. Again, it was as if the sculpture could come to life at any moment.

A third bronze was of a cowboy hogtying a calf. The horse was in perfect position to keep the rope taut while the cowboy tied the calf.

The next was one of a bull rider on the back of a bull, trying to hold on for the full eight second count. The cowboy held one hand up high while gripping a bull rope in his gloved hand. A flank strap that was used to make the bull buck and twist was around the bull’s flanks.

Clint moved to the tarp-covered object. He guessed that it was probably her current project. He raised the tarp and studied the partially sculpted cowboy riding a bronc bareback. One of the rider’s hands was lying on the table beside the sculpture and he wondered what had happened to it.

He lowered the tarp and studied the drawing above the worktable. The detail was amazing, and the cowboy looked familiar. He raised a brow. The drawing looked like him.

A grin curved the corner of Clint’s mouth. Was Ella creating a sculpture of him?

“What are you doing in here?” came an angry female voice from the front entrance to the studio.

He slowly looked away from the drawing to face Ella. She had flushed a pretty pink and had her hands fisted at her sides. He had been leaning close to the drawing and he straightened as he moved away from it.

“Your work is amazing.” He gestured around the studio. “These should be in an art gallery.”

“It’s none of your business and you don’t belong in here.” Ella moved away from the door. “Please leave.”

He shook his head. “We need to talk first.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, a stubborn expression on her face. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Well, I have something to say to you.” He moved closer to her but she took a step back. He stopped and studied her. “I’m sorry.”

She kept her arms tight across her chest and said nothing, but he thought he saw surprise in her eyes.

“I shouldn’t have touched you the way I did.” He had to hold himself back from touching her now. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

After a long moment, she finally spoke. “It takes two.”

“If you have something going on with Johnny Parker,” Clint said, “I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. He’d hoped she’d deny there was a relationship between her and Johnny, but she said nothing.

“Ah, hell, Ella.” Clint shoved his hands in his pockets. “Why don’t we start over? Call a truce?”

Several seconds went by and then Ella nodded. “Okay, a truce.”

He held out his hand and she slowly took it. Her eyes widened and he was certain she felt the same currents through her that he experienced whenever they touched.

Damn, he wanted to kiss her so badly he ached with it. He hadn’t given up on her, but she’d have to come around to him when she was ready. He hoped she’d realize that he was the one for her, not some young cowboy still wet behind the ears.

She jerked her hand away from him as if she could hear his thoughts. He wondered if her thoughts matched his but she wouldn’t acknowledge them. He was certain of her attraction to him. But if she was torn between him and Johnny, he had to give her some space.

He just didn’t know how long he could wait. He’d never been a patient man when it came to something that he really wanted.

“I just came up to get something out of my studio.” She held her hand to her belly. “I didn’t know you were in the cabin.”

“I’ll get out of your way.” His gaze held hers before she turned away, breaking eye contact with him.

He shook his head as he stepped out of the studio door, not wanting to leave. He turned to face her again but she shut the door between them.

Dust motes caught in slats of sunlight swirled around Ella and Clint as they groomed the horses in the barn. The air smelled of horse, hay, and manure.

“You haven’t told me where you’ve been all these years.” Ella looked away from combing Rosie’s mane to Clint who was grooming Charger. “You’ve been pretty close-mouthed about it.”

Over the past week, they’d worked side-by-side under their truce. She didn’t know whether she was relieved or irritated that he hadn’t tried to kiss or touch her again. But right now she was irritated by his casual shrug.

“Not much to tell,” he said as he focused on the big black Quarter horse.

Ella stopped combing Rosie’s mane. “Seven years and there’s not much to tell?” She gripped the comb as she put her hands on her hips. “You’ve been out of here and seen this big beautiful world and you can’t share even a little bit about where you’ve been?”

He turned his gaze on her and she felt a pinging sensation in her belly when their eyes met. Moments like this had happened day after day, but he’d always turn away and get back to doing whatever it was he’d been taking care of.

It was maddening, really. She kept thinking of the orgasms he’d given her and her whole body would tingle.

He was quiet for a long moment and she could hear the sound of Ben suckling on Rosie’s teat. “What do you want to know?” Clint finally said.

She raised her hands. “Everything.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Trust me. You don’t want to know everything.”

Heat prickled her skin. It was clear he was talking about a woman. Probably many women. If he’d wanted to embarrass her to throw her off, he was doing a good job of it.

“Start from the beginning.” She did her best to act casual. “I want to know everything from the time you decided to leave town.”

He blew out his breath. “That’s a tall order.”

It was her turn to shrug. “Then I guess you’d better get started.”

While they groomed the horses, she listened as he told her how he’d gone to Phoenix and stayed there until he got his passport before heading off to Scotland. He took his time, describing ordinary things in detail.

“It’s going to take you a long time to get in all those years at this rate,” she said and he gave her a quick grin. “You can skip to the good stuff.”

“I did a lot of things, Ella.” He stroked Charger’s neck, the horse’s coat nearly gleaming from the grooming. “Do you want me to tell you about backpacking across Europe, Spain, and South America? Do you want to know about my visit to Asia? Should I go into detail about all of the jobs I worked over the years as I moved from one place to another?”

She felt taken aback for a moment. “You went through all of those places?”

“It would take a long time to tell you everywhere I’ve been,” he said. “I spent four years traveling from place to place.”

She tilted her head to the side. “What did you do the last three years?”

He walked Charger toward his stall. “Raised horses in Argentina.”

“Argentina?” She set down the comb she’d been using on Rosie. “You mentioned that you had a horse ranch. I had no idea you’d been in a foreign country at the time.”

He closed Charger’s stall door behind the stallion. “Up until several weeks ago, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.”

“Tell me more,” she asked, wanting to know everything she could about him and his years away.

“I usually worked farm jobs as I moved through one country after another,” he said. “Most included a place to sleep, even if it was in a barn. I didn’t stay in one place very long, but I always managed to find some kind of work.”

She stroked Rosie’s combed mane. “From everything I’ve read and from what we studied in school, it’s a whole different world over there.”

He pushed up the brim of his western hat “Antiques in our country are practically like new compared to the age of places and things that I’ve been to or seen. It still blows my mind when I think about some of them. I never did get to Egypt, but I would have loved to.” He had a faraway look in his eyes. “But after four years I was tired of wandering and no home to call my own. I never expected it to go as long as it did.”

Ella walked Rosie to her stall with Ben at her side. “If you don’t mind me asking, you traveled around the world doing odd jobs, so how did you afford a horse ranch?”

“While I traveled, I used a small amount of what I earned for food and saved the rest.” He started cleaning up the tools they’d been using to groom the horses. “By the time I ended up in South America, I had enough to buy a small plot of land and two mares. I made a deal with another horse rancher for stud service and my little ranch was up and running.”

“You must have saved up a lot,” she said.

“I didn’t have anything to spend my money on,” he said. “During those first four years, I spent just enough to keep clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, and food in my mouth. I didn’t have bills to pay, and in most places the cost of living was so much less than here.”

“That’s incredible.” She had a hard time imagining what it must have been like to do all the things he had done. “Were you ever in any dangerous situations?”

“Plenty.” He shook his head. “Sometimes I’m amazed I made it through alive and intact.” He braced one hand against the side of the barn and stared ahead like he was seeing something she wasn’t. “Early on I was mugged, but I learned from that mistake and it never happened again.”

She went toward the fifty-five gallon drum containing a bag of sweet oats and took off the old wooden lid that had been made for the drum. “That must have been scary. Putting it mildly.”

“I learned a type of martial arts that involves street fighting,” he said. “I practiced every down moment I had.”

She scooped out a can of the sweet oats. “I imagine you’ve been to Paris and Rome.”

“Among other touristy spots.” He hung Charger’s bridle on a metal hook on one wall of the tack room next to other bridles. “But I preferred back roads, small towns, and villages.”

Ella poured the oats into a feed trough for Rosie, then retrieved more oats for Charger while Clint grabbed a couple flakes of alfalfa.

After the horses were fed, Ella put the wooden lid back on the drum of sweet oats. She didn’t look at Clint as she asked, “Why did you bring that old car here when you’re planning on moving on?”