The Horseman (8 page)

“I’ve…I’ve also discovered the detriment of
riding astride for three hours when one is not accustom to doing
so,” Briney explained as Bethanne and Mrs. Kelley continued to
stare at her, with mouths agape.

Briney watched as Bethanne and her mother
exchanged worried glances for a moment. But she was entirely
startled when, all at once, the two women burst into laughter.

“Oh, you poor dear thing!” Bethanne
commiserated through her giggles. “I’m so sorry…and I know exactly
how you feel.” She laughed a bit more and then added, “And I’m not
laughin’ because of your misery, Briney—just because, as I said,
I’ve done the same thing…more than once, in fact.”

“Oh, me too!” Mrs. Kelley added. “I don’t
know what gets into a body sometimes, that we lose track of what
circumstances might arise from gettin’ lost in the beauty of the
day.” She turned to Bethanne and asked, “Remember last summer, when
we had all that rain and the mosquitoes were so bad?”

“Mmm hmmm,” Bethanne affirmed, giggling as
she nodded.

Mrs. Kelley looked back to Briney and
explained, “Oh, it was a beautiful sunset one night, and I just
couldn’t resist sittin’ out on the back porch to watch it. But when
I woke up the next mornin’, I was covered in bites. I mean,
covered! I was so miserable—for days, I was miserable—and so
swollen with mosquito bites a body woulda thought I had one ghastly
disease or another.”

“Mama looked like she’d been covered in pink
polka dots, that’s for certain,” Bethanne said, smiling.

Mrs. Kelley stepped down from the front porch
of the boardinghouse. “So you don’t worry a bit, Briney,” she said.
“This isn’t anything that a warm bath and a bit of extra rest won’t
take care of. Isn’t that right, Gunner?”

“That’s right, Mrs. Kelley,” Gunner agreed.
Briney glanced up at Gunner, her stomach bursting with butterflies
as he smiled and winked at her. He was so handsome! So capable, so
strong, so the stuff of fantasy!

“You’ll be good as new soon enough, Miss
Thress,” he said. “And then you and me can see to Sassafras’s
official sale and change of ownership, all right?”

“All right,” Briney answered.

Gunner nodded and smiled at Briney. Then he
looked to Mrs. Kelley, saying, “I was hopin’ you might have some
peach pie just lyin’ around somewhere, Mrs. Kelley. I haven’t been
able to think of anythin’ else all mornin’ long.”

Sylvia Kelley’s eyes widened with the delight
of being flattered. “Of course I do, Gunner. You come on into the
kitchen with me and sit down for a piece.” She looked to her
daughter, adding, “Bethanne, why don’t you draw a tepid bath in the
bathhouse for Briney? Let her have a good long soak to ease those
weary muscles of hers, hmmm?”

“Of course, Mama,” Bethanne cheerfully
agreed. “It’ll give me and Briney a chance to catch up.” Bethanne
looked to Briney—who stood exactly where she’d been standing since
the moment Gunner lifted her down from the buggy. “Because it seems
you did, indeed, find a horse to your likin’, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I certainly did at that,” Briney said,
smiling with joy in knowing Gunner had promised Sassafras to her.
She could still imagine the way his hand had felt when he’d taken
hers in shaking it in assurance that he would sell Sassafras to her
and no one else. The memory caused goose pimples to race over her
arms.

Standing there looking up at him, Briney was
paralyzed in a state of awe. How could it be that the alluring
man’s voice that had so comforted her over the past week or more
belonged to the Horseman—the man who would fulfill her dreams of
owning her own horse? How could it be that this same man was so
uniquely handsome as well? How could it be that his simplest
touch—or even the thought of his touch—could send her heart racing
and turn her knees to syrup?

Oh, Briney well knew what Mrs. Fletcher
would’ve said.
A handsome face doesn’t signify a handsome heart,
Briney Thress. I sometimes think that men are the most lustful,
heartless, depraved of all God’s creatures. And even if they
aren’t, they’re not to be trusted.

It was why Mrs. Fletcher never allowed Briney
to dance more than once with the same partner at society
gatherings—never allowed anyone to come courting her. Well, those
were the reasons she professed as to why she kept young men at bay
where Briney was concerned. Of course, Briney had almost always
known it was because Mrs. Fletcher had hired her as a traveling
companion and indentured servant for herself and did not want to
risk Briney falling in love and wanting to leave her.

Still, Briney wondered if Gunner Cole might
melt even the stone-cold heart of Enola Fletcher, if the old lady
had lived on. For, from Briney’s experience, the Horseman was a man
of outstanding character, as well as uncanny good looks.

Gunner touched the brim of his hat as he
followed Mrs. Kelley into the boardinghouse by way of the
restaurant door to his right. “Miss Thress,” he said with a nod.
Then looking to Bethanne, he added, “Miss Kelley.”

Briney watched him go.

She heard Bethanne exhale a heavy sigh and
looked to her to see that Bethanne was watching Gunner leave as
well.

“My, my, my,” Bethanne breathed. “That man is
sure somethin’ to look at, isn’t he?”

Briney smiled, amused to find that she wasn’t
the only young woman in town to think Gunner Cole was
attractive.

“He’s a tall drink of water, that’s for
certain,” Bethanne added, smiling at Briney.

“A tall drink of water?” Briney asked, for
she didn’t quite understand the comparison.

Bethanne giggled. “Yeah…a tall drink of
water,” she began to explain. “It means that Gunner Cole is so good
lookin’ that lookin’ at him gives you a thrill…like drinkin’ a tall
glass of water on a hot summer’s day.”

“Oh, I see,” Briney giggled. “Well, he
certainly is one then…a tall drink of water, I mean.”

“Indeed,” Bethanne said, “though, if you want
to know a secret, Briney…I’m sweet on one of his stablemen. Mr.
Plummer.”

Instantly Briney’s smile broadened. “Charlie?
I met him just today! Oh, he is a kind and handsome man indeed…and
very polite.”

“Yep, that’s Charlie,” Bethanne affirmed.
“Oh, he just sets my heart to racin’ like a startled bird’s!”
Bethanne tossed her head then—as if she felt she’d revealed
something too personal. “But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s
get you out to the bathhouse so you can start soakin’. And Mama
grows a plant out by the back porch that will soothe your sunburn a
bit.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Briney
admitted. But when she started to take a step forward, the sore,
stiff muscles in her legs and derrière violently protested. She
gasped and stopped cold.

“Unfortunately, the best remedy is to kind of
walk around a bit, Briney,” Bethanne said, a sympathetic frown
furrowing her lovely brows. “A soak will help and then maybe some
rest too.”

“Very well,” Briney said as she started
forward again. As she limped up the stairs as Bethanne held one of
her arms to assist her, Briney whispered, “I guess I should be glad
that Mr. Cole isn’t still here to witness this, shouldn’t I?”

Bethanne giggled, “You should be very glad.
You look like a crooked old lady.”

Briney giggled as well, again grateful that
Gunner Cole had disappeared into the restaurant before he’d had
another glimpse of her in such a ridiculously weakened state.

“Poor little thing,” Gunner muttered under
his breath as he watched Bethanne Kelley help Briney into the
boardinghouse. “It’ll take her a week to recover.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sylvia Kelley encouraged
as she set a plate of peach pie slathered in cream on the table at
which he sat. Mrs. Kelley’s gaze followed Gunner’s out the
restaurant window as the two young women disappeared through the
front door of the adjoining boardinghouse. “Briney has surprised
me,” she said. “When she and Mrs. Fletcher arrived, I thought sure
the girl had no mind or will of her own. But it was soon clear that
she did; she’d just never been allowed to freely use them. But
since that old biddy died,” Sylvia nodded, “well, Miss Briney has
really begun to come into her own.” She looked at Gunner where he
sat at the small table. “Like goin’ all the way out to see you
today to buy a horse; that took a great deal of courage and
determination.”

“Indeed it did,” Gunner agreed. He smiled
and, lowering his voice, said, “You shoulda seen her when she first
come ridin’ back in after that three hours. I swear, I couldn’t
determine the difference between the horse’s mane and the
girl’s.”

He chuckled when Mrs. Kelley laughed.

“And that tender, fried skin on her face—it’s
gonna peel right off…oh, and be sore tomorrow mornin’!” Sylvia
whispered. “But it seems she enjoyed it.”

“Oh, she did. She did indeed. And so did
Sassafras,” Gunner offered.

Sylvia frowned, looking at him in
astonishment. “You sold your mama’s horse to Briney?”

“Mmm hmm,” Gunner confirmed as he chewed a
delicious piece of cream-slathered peach pie. “Sassy chose Briney
the very instant Briney chose her,” he explained. “I never thought
I’d see the day that Sassy would quit lookin’ for Mama to come
walkin’ into the stables. But today…well, when I walked in and saw
the way Sassy was cuddlin’ up to Briney, I knew that horse was
finally ready for a new rider.”

Sylvia shook her head in admiration. “You
never cease to amaze me, Gunner Cole,” she said. “You and
horses…it’s like you can read their minds or somethin’.”

Gunner shrugged. “Naw,” he said. “I just pay
attention is all.” He smiled at Sylvia, explaining, “You pay
attention to people, and I pay attention to horses.” His smile
broadened as he added, “Although I never met a horse that can bake
a pie the way you can, Mrs. Kelley.”

Sylvia blushed, and Gunner was glad that he’d
pleased her with his compliment.

“Oh, now don’t you be goin’ on like that,
Gunner Cole,” she said, still blushing. “I already promised I’d
give you another piece to take home with you…one for Charlie too.
No need to soften me up with flatterin’.” She patted him
affectionately on one shoulder and said, “Now you enjoy your pie.
I’m gonna help Bethanne draw a bath for Briney. I’ll be back in a
minute or two.”

“Sure thing,” Gunner said.

Once Mrs. Kelley was gone, Gunner exhaled a
heavy sigh of pleasure—for her peach pie and cream were simply the
stuff of heaven. In truth, one reason he liked Mrs. Kelley’s pies
so much—any of her cooking, in fact—was that it reminded him of his
Grandmother Cole’s—his grandmother whom he loved more than anyone
beyond his own mother and father—his grandmother who had once been
a madam in a brothel before she ran away to marry his grandfather.
Yep, Gunner’s Grandma Cole had been the kindest, most nurturing
grandma a boy could ever have had. It was one reason he didn’t
judge folks by their roots or their pasts. His grandma had changed
her life entirely—not the loving, nurturing ways she’d been born
with but rather her circumstances and life of sin. And though there
were a lot of folks that professed to be Christians—good,
God-fearing people that preached repentance and
forgiveness—Gunner’s Grandma Cole had found that most never forgave
others, only themselves.

Yet she’d been a happy, righteous woman for
all the days Gunner had known her. Gunner’s Grandma Cole had never
scolded him for anything—not even when he tossed a ball in her
kitchen, breaking her bone china teapot. She just enveloped him in
her warm, soft arms, dabbed his tears of sorrow away with her
apron, kissed him on the head, and explained that the teapot was
just a thing—an object—and that no teapot would ever be more
important to her than making sure her grandchildren knew she loved
and cherished them.

Nope, Gunner had never known anyone as
kindhearted and as willing to do for others as his grandma had
been, and he missed her. He’d missed her every day of the past ten
years since she’d passed on.

As he scraped the last bit of peach pie and
cream from his plate, he thought to himself that even he was a bit
surprised that he’d told Briney Thress the story of his grandma’s
past. In truth, it was the sort of story that would cause most
women to faint of shock, right there on the spot. But Briney
hadn’t. Her eyes had widened a bit, but that was all of it.

Maybe it was because, as an orphan, she’d
known unkindness in her own life. Or maybe Briney just wasn’t the
sort of person to judge. But whatever the reason, Gunner still
wondered why he’d told her about his grandmother at all. He thought
it was to put her at ease about her being an orphan. But in his
gut, he felt maybe it was more than that. Truth was, he’d been as
instantly drawn to Briney as Sassafras had been—more so, in fact.
Maybe the reason he’d mentioned his own family background was
simply to see exactly what Briney’s reaction would be—to see
whether she would find a man who was the grandson of a once-harlot
repulsive or not.

Gunner smiled and mumbled to himself, “Or
not.” Briney was as easy to read as any horse Gunner had ever
met—he found most people were—and she hadn’t been disgusted by him
or his grandmother.

He wondered whether she were feeling any
better, if Bethanne had managed to draw a warm bath for Briney, and
if she were already soaking the soreness of her muscles. He hoped
so, for he wanted her to heal quickly so that she could return to
the stables to spend time with Sassy.

Gunner chuckled as a vision of Briney riding
up on Sassy came to his mind—hair a wild mess of a mane, face as
red as a summer beet, and looking as if she’d never been happier.
There was a certain rare and wonderful beauty in a woman who could
enjoy a ride so much that she abandoned any care for her
appearance. In fact, in all his life, he’d only known two other
women with that quality—the ability to toss inhibition to the wind
and savor life no matter what others thought. One was his mother,
and the other was his Grandma Cole.