Dusty Britches (37 page)

The day was overflowing with amusement and lightheartedness.
All
the
day
long
there were games for
the children, quilting, eating, and endless
visiting. The men
competed in
ax thro
wing, roping, riding, and team pulling.
Ryder won several of the individual contests.
A
fter being awarded a blue ribbon in splitting wood
,
he
sauntered toward her, and Dusty’s stomach fluttered. A
familiar grin
of mischief
spread across his handsome face as he approached
.

“
There you are,
”
he chuckled. Holding out two
of the many
ribbons
he’d won,
he said,
“
I was wonderin
’
if you could look after these for me.
”
His eyes quickly surveyed Dusty from head to toe
. She
squirm
ed
uncomfortably
under his gaze
. Lowering his voice, he teased,
“Beg yer pardon—
I
plum forgot. Y
ou
’
re fillin
’
your dresses out in a mighty fine ma
nner all on your own these days.”

Dusty
’
s mouth dropped open in astonishment.
Chuckling to himself, Ryder
winked, stuffed the ribbons in his pocket
s,
and walked away. Dusty quickly
glanced
around
. Had
anyone had heard him
?
Oddly, when she found no one was close enough to have
been eavesdropping
, she felt somewhat disappointed. Still, she
s
ilently
gloated
when Maudie Phillips
arrived
a few
moments later to engage
in trivial conversation.

While the men went about
outdoing one another at being
strongest and best at various even
ts, the women visited endlessly. They
quilted, wiped the runny noses and tears of playing children, and made certain the food table was always clean and heaped with good things to eat. Miss Raynetta flittered a
bout like a little purple butterfly—here and there and back again—
visiting and laughing and making sure everyone was having a good time.

Dusty found herself
studying
the eccentric little woman
. She
thought that though Miss Raynetta wore a perpetual smile, laughed
,
and seemed to be
enjoying herself
, there was something missing in her countenance. Dusty couldn
’
t quite put her finger on what it was at
first, but it bothered her—
saddened her
somehow
.

Later in the day, as Dusty sat
watching Miss Raynetta—trying to figure what it was about the
sweet woman that seemed unsettled—the answer struck like a thunderbolt
.
Miss Raynetta was always alone! Even when she
talked to the other women or to the children, it wasn
’
t very long before someone else interrupted
,
and Miss Raynetta would flitter off to some other activity. As Dusty continued to
observe
her, it
was obvious
Miss Raynetta was in
tentionally trying to stay busy—
every second
busy
. Several times throughout the day, Ryder approached and talked with her
,
and Dusty wondered if he too felt Miss Raynetta
’
s
masked
discomfort.

Just after
one of the
team pulling contest
s
, Dusty noticed Miss Raynetta locked in conversation with her father. Dusty smiled, noting her daddy
’
s complete attention
to
the small woman as they talked. He chuckled several times, clearly a
mused by something she had said. O
nce
during their conversation,
Miss Raynetta reached up, straightening the collar of
Hank’s
shirt
as she babbled on. They talked for a long
time. T
hough several people approached Hank briefly, Dusty was proud of his lending his attentions to Miss Raynetta for
such an extended period of time
.

“
You gonna stand back and just watch your whole life?
”
Ryder
asked
as he sauntered over
. He sighed and sat down next to
Dusty on the old tree stump.
“
Scoot your fanny over,
”
he mumbled, bumping and pushing her as he spoke.

“
Are y
a
havin
’
fun?
”
Dusty asked, delight
ed he was sitting with her—
especially when she saw Maudie Phillips looking at them from across the way.

“
Yeah,
”
he a
nswered. “How ’bout y
ou? You havin
’
fun just sittin
’
here watchin
’
?
”

“
Yep,
”
she told him.

“
What
’
s so fun about it today?
”

“
I
’
m learnin
’
a lot.
”
Dusty smiled
. Ryder
arched an eyebrow in doubt
.
“
I am!
For instance,
I
’
ve learned that ol
’
man Leroy
has
a flask of whiskey hidden down the front of his pants.
”
Ryder chuckled and nodded.
“
I
’
ve learned that Miss Raynetta isn
’
t as happy
as she always pretends to be…a
nd I
’
ve learned that Ryder Maddox is still the most
eligible bachelor in the county.”

Ryder chuckled.
“
All right. What do y
ou
want?
”

“
What do y
a
mean?
”
Dusty was truly perplexed.

“
What do you want? You ain
’
t much into compliments…so I figure
ya
must want somethin
’
.
”

“
I don
’
t want a
nythin’ from you,” Dusty said. She sighed and tried to appear unaffected.

“
Really?
”
he teased.

“
Really.
”
She
was secretly delighted by
their friendly banter.
“
What could you possibly have that I would ever want?
”

“
Well,
”
he began
,
and she knew there was mischief in his mind,
“
y
a
did tell me awhile ago that I have a sweet hind end.
”
Dusty gasped.
“
I figure maybe you want me to sit right down on
my fine hind end and
sit you
right down on my lap…then
s
pend some time sparkin’ with ya.”

“
I can
’
t believe you!
”
Dusty scolded
,
delighted at his flirting.

“
And now that y
a
mention my sweet hind end…
”
he began.

“I did not mention it,”
she argued.

“
It puts me to wonderin
’
…when did y
a
first think my hind end was sweet? Was it recent? Or was it after you and Alice sat up in that tree a
-
spyin
’
on me back when
—”

Dusty shoved him hard, causing him to tu
mble off the stump. He chuckled, reached up, and to
ok
hold of her arm, pulling
her off after him. She landed in a heap next to him and immediately looked about to see if anyone had noticed.
The
only people nearby were several young
children playing in the grass, and she was thankful e
veryone else
’
s attention was otherwise occupied.

“
We
closed our eyes, and you know it,”
she argued as she tried to stand up.

“
Oh, bull,
”
he chuckled
,
pulling her back down to sit next to him in the grass. He la
y
back in the grass
, tucked
his hands under his head,
and
sighed
with contentment
.
“
Now come down here
,
and let
’
s get to kissin
’
!
”

Again, Dusty
’
s mouth
fell agape
. She shook her head in disbelief.
“
Let
me get a whiff of your breath.
I think you
’ve been out with ol’ man Leroy,”
she scolded.

He chuckled again.
“
All right. Come
on
down here and get a whiff of it then.
”

Dusty was completely f
lustered. She knew it was time—
time to stop the teasing. She
’
d let her guard down too much
,
and her heart was beginning to ache. He was so
handsome—
so deliciously attractive lying t
here in the grass next to her—s
o friendly and witty and fun! And she knew she couldn
’
t have him. Still, she wondered what he would do if she actually took him up on his teasing offer. Would he take her in his
arms and kiss her so perfectly—
the way he had under the waterfall? Or would he just laugh, having only been teasing all the
while
?

There was
no more time to consider on it—
for in the next moment a giggling, straw-headed little angel came bounding over from h
er play with the other children. With a quick leap, she landed
herself squarely on Ryder
’s “lap.” In truth, he had no lap—having been stretched out straight on the ground
.

“
O
of!” he choked in obvious pain.
Makenna giggled and stretched over Ryder
’
s stomach, reaching up to squeeze his cheeks lovingly. Dusty bit her lip, but
she
couldn
’
t stop the giggle
rising
in her thro
at when he winced and choked
,
“
Well, hello there…you little devil, you.
”

“
We frowed up our ball
,
and it
’
s stucked in the tree now, Ryder Magics. Please will you get it for us?
”
Makenna begged.

Ryder chuckled. Gently
,
he
lifted
the little girl off his body and struggled to sit up. Dusty smiled
, biting her lip as Ryder sat silent for a moment. A
n expression of
enduring discomfort and pain
linger
ed
on his face.