Dusty Britches (35 page)

They fell into step behind the
ranch
hands all shined up in their best
blue jeans
and cleanest shirts. Dusty
gasped quietly when she
realized she was intently watching R
yder’s saunter in front of her.
Alice
’
s words about his pants fitting nicely echo
ed
through her mind
, and she knew her cheeks were rosy
. She heard Becca giggle and looked to see her sister bite her lip
with understanding. She
raise
d
her eyebrows in delighted approval. Dusty
shook her head to cool her blush, smiling as her attention was drawn to
the eccentric woman
walking toward them—her
own familiar little wiggle
and
brilliant purple dress further endearing Miss Raynetta to anyone already admiring her
.

“
You look like somethin
’
that just walked out of a fairy tale, Miss Raynetta,
”
Ryder gre
eted.

Miss Raynetta stopped, placing her hands on her hips. She
tipped her head to one side, smiled
,
and
offered
him a flirtatious wink in return.
“
You
’
ll go places with talk like that, Ryder,
”
she said. Reaching out
,
she took hold of his shirt collar
and
pulled him toward her
, placing
her cheek to his for a moment in thanks for the compliment.
In the next moment, h
er attention turned to Dusty.
“
I love it! I love it, I love it! I told y
a
it would become y
a, didn’t I now?” she chimed, taking
Dusty
’
s hands in her own and stu
dying the dress she’d made—and
the girl in it.
“
And you
’
re wearin
’
your hair down these days,
”
she commented. Leaning toward Dusty
,
she whispered in her ear,
“
Men like it when they can get to your hair and run their fingers through it.
”

“
Miss Raynetta,
”
Dusty scolded.

T
urning her attention to Becca
, Raynetta
exclaimed,
“And look at you!
I never saw cream butter as soft as that yella!
”
S
he sighed, dramatically placing a hand to her bosom.
“
Only other woman that could wear that soft yella was your mama, child!
”
She looked to Hank
,
and Dusty was sure her voice broke with restrained emotion as she
said
,
“
Beautiful girls, Hank! Just beautiful!
”

“Yes, ma’am,”
Hank agreed, releasing his girls and offering his arm to
Miss Raynetta
.

Dusty was pleased with the woman
’
s reaction to her father
’
s offer of escort. Miss Raynetta
blushed. She p
ut her hand to her own cheek
with obvious delight
a moment before placing one small hand in the crook of
Hank’s
arm.

“
I
’
m hopin
’
for that rhubarb pie of yours, Miss Raynetta,
”
Hank chuckled.

“
I o
nly brung three this year, Hank…so ya better be quick about it,”
Miss Raynetta
giggled
.

“
Becca! Dusty!
”

Maudie Phillips
was quickly approaching, and Dusty sighed.
“
Oh, help us all,
”
she
mumbled.

Jabbing an elbow at
her rib cage
, Becca whispered, “Hush, Dusty! She’ll be gone soon enough.
She just has to act like she
’
s glad to see us so she can move on.
”

“
You look like two angels a
-
standin
’
there,
”
Maudie
chirped
as she approached. Dusty recognized the all too familiar syrupy tone in her voice
—a tone
that
really meant,
I can
’
t abide it when someone might look good enough to take any man
’
s attention away from me!

“
And blue has always been your best color,
”
Dusty
said, forcing a smile
. It was an honest compliment.
Blue
had always looked good on
Maudie—
dang it all!

“
Well, with that Ryder Maddox back workin
’
for your daddy,
”
Maudie
began
, dropping her voice,
“
I
’
m determined to catch his eye today!
”

“Well, that blue should do it,”
Becca said
. Smiling, s
he took hold of Dust
y’s hand, pulling
her in the direction of the tables.

“
Have fun, gi
rls,” Maudie called after them. Dusty frowned as she watched Maudie toss her
golden locks
as she turned
.

“
She makes me wanta smash her face in a cowpie!
”
Becca growled.

It was then
Dusty remembered that, for the past several years, Maudie
had been sweet on Feller Lance. Maudie
followed him around mercilessly at every town social there was. Dusty figured Becca
’
s irritation with Maudie was more
in regard to Feller
than
to the fact she’d revealed she’d
set her sights on Ryder.

As they approached the crowd gathered outside the barn and around the tables, ol
d
Leroy
swaggered
toward them.

“
My, my, my
,” he mumbled through his gums—
he only had six teeth left in his head.
“
If you Hunter girls ain
’
t just about ripe for the pickin
’
s!
”

“Mr. Leroy,” Dusty greeted. She was determined to
overlook the
rather inappropriate
comment
. It could be construed as lewd—
if it hadn
’
t been for the fact Mr. Leroy had been known
as a man without tact for
over
fifty years.
“
Thank
you for having us out.”

“My pleasure, girls!” He winked at Becca and then hollered, “
Hank!
”
Old Leroy offered
his
hand to Hank
in greeting.
“
I was just tellin
’
your girls here…
”

Becca and Dusty took the opportunity to escape the sweet old man
’
s ramblings.
With old Leroy involved in conversation with their father, they were quickly off in search of other entertainment.

“
Lookie there, Dusty!
”
Becca exclaimed.
She nodded toward a large oak tree nearby. A group of women were gathered beneath it.
“
They
’
re quiltin
’
under the big tree. Who
’
s it for? Have you heard?
”

Dusty shook her head. She hadn
’
t heard of anyone in town announcing a marriage. Usually a
bee under the big oaks
at the Fourth picnic was held to quilt for a young bride-to-be.

“
Oh my heck!
”
Becca exclaimed
, nodding in another direction
.
“
Look a
t that! Maudie’s all over Ryder…just
like butter on bread! How can you stand there and let her go on, Dusty?
”

“
What can I do?
”
Dusty asked. What right did she have to be jealous? What could she do to
acquire
Ryd
er’s attention—
without looking as silly as Maudie did
hovering
over him like a fly to maple syrup?

“
You can go over there and join in the conversation for one!
”
Becca told her, irritated at her sister
’
s lack of fighting spirit.
“
He
’
ll turn to you in a second!
And p
robably be forever in your debt for savin
’
him from a fate worse than death…that being Miss Maudie Phillips!
”

Dusty was silent. All she could do was watch Maudie flirting with Ryder
—feel helpless,
frightened
,
and angry enough to claw the girl
’
s eyes out.

It was Cash
who
interrupted her thoughts.

“
Excuse me…Dusty?
”
he
asked
.

Dusty
turned to find
Cash
standing just behind her
. He owned the same demeanor as
a whipped dog. She sighed, recognizing his expression at once.
It was the,
I
’
m so humble in asking your forgiveness
look in his eyes.

“
Cash…go soak your head,
”
Becca told him.

“
Becca,
”
Dusty scolded.

“I, um…I…uh…
wanted to apologize for the other day…in town when those men were
—”
Cash began.

“
Yeah, you
’
d better apologize, you skunk,
”
Becca told him.
“
Be glad Ryder didn
’
t mop up the whole town with your yeller hide!
”

“
Becca!
”
Dusty scolded again. Her sister
owned no propriety
where
speaking to
Cash
Richardson
was concerned. Becca had nev
er been able to tolerate Cash, and s
he wasn
’
t about to give him any way to hurt her big sister again.
“
Run on and talk to Maudie,
”
Dusty told her with a smile.
“
Not a worry in the world right here.
”
Becca looked to Dusty and sighed
. She glared at Cash a moment
before leaving
them alone
.

“
You were sayin
’
, Cash?
”
Dusty
coaxed
. O
ddly
,
she
found she was resisting the urge to burst into giggles. He looked ridiculous—all dressed up in his best black
suit, his perfectly trimmed mustache combed neater than a dead man
’
s. How had she ever gotten so lost as to find herself involved with Cash Richardson? It was
ridiculous
. Truly!

“
The other d
ay in town,” he began again, “I…
I
’
m sorry I wasn
’
t more forceful in the beginning.
I should
’
ve stood more firmly for my cause and
—”

Dusty shook her head and interrupted him.
“
Cash, we both know you
’
re not the type to get your hands dirty. And you
’
re certainly not t
he type to get a new suit dirty.”