Willow Smoke (6 page)

“There
you
go,
kid.
Not
listening
again.
I
said
it’s
your
share
of
the
winnings.
You
said
two
hundred
on
the
ten
to
win.
I
thought
that was a
little light. So I put four
hundred
on
him
to
win.
There
should
be
a
little
less
than
two
thousand
there.
Not
bad, I’d say.”

“I can’t take this,”
Daisy stammered,
shrinking
into
the
chair.
“I
meant
two
dollars,
not two hundred. Good grief! I’d never
bet
two
hundred
dollars
on
a
horse.”

She
shoved
the
money
toward
him.
He
closed
her
fingers
over
the
bills
and
pushed
her
hand
back
on
her
lap.
“It’s
yours,
fair
and
square.
You
said
yourself
that
if
the
horse
wins
we
split
the
winnings.”

“But
I
meant
a
two
dollar
bet,”
she
squeaked.

“So,
I
misunderstood.”
He
squinted
and
thinned
his
lips.
“Of
course,
you
wouldn’t
want to
make me feel too stupid and
utterly
terrible
about
this
whole
horseracing
thing.”

Daisy
shook
her
head.
“I
think
I’m
going
to
be
sick,”
she
mumbled.

She
didn’t
resist
when
Nick
grabbed
her
by
the
hand
and
helped
her
up
the
stairs
to
an
inner
lobby.
Leaning
against
a
cool
marble
wall,
she
slid
to
the
floor.
She
held
her
head
between
her
knees
while
he
rubbed
her
taut
neck
muscles.

Two
thousand
dollars.
She’d
never
held
that
much
money
in
her
hand.
At
least
her
stomach
was
settling
some.
It
must
have
been
a
bad
hotdog.
She
was
about
ready
to float. She tried to open her eyes, but
couldn’t.
It was his fingers. What were
they
doing
to
her
neck?
To
her
body?
Good
grief,
what
was
happening
to
her?

“Why
don’t
we
get
you
outside,”
he
said.
His
words
were
soothing,
like
a
cool
cloth
on
a
hot
forehead.
“Maybe
back
to
the
barn.
Do
you
think
you
can
stand?”

She nodded, not trusting
herself to form a
single
word.
He
held
her
firmly
as
they
made
their
way
back
toward
shedrow.
By
the
time they got halfway there, she
could
breathe
again.

“Sorry
about
that
back
there,”
she
said,
gruffly. “I’m not the swooning type.”

Nick
leaned
back
and
laughed.
“I
never
thought
you
were,
kid.
Anything
but.
You
probably
had
some
bad
food.”

She
looked
quickly
at
him
and
knew
he
was
teasing
her
again.
Without
forethought, she punched his bicep. Her fist met rock-hard muscle.

“So
how
do
you
make
all
of
this
money?”
she
asked,
not
attempting
to
hide
the
accusation.

Again,
Nick
laughed.
“It’s
all
legitimate,
kid;
you
haven’t
fallen
into
the
hands
of
the
crime syndicate.” He sobered. “Most of it
was
made
investing
in
the
stock
market—
my
money and other folks’ money. Lately, I’ve
gotten
out of that line of work.” He
glanced
at
Daisy.
“I
own
a
canoe
factory.”

“Really?”

“Yep,
handcrafted,
very
expensive
canoes.
You
ever
canoed?”

“Nope.
I’ve
hardly
been
out
of
the
Chicago
area.
I
don’t
imagine
there’s
a
big
demand
for
canoes
here.”

“Actually, there is. A
lot of our buyers
vacation
in
Northern
Minnesota,
or
maybe
Wisconsin
or
Michigan.
You
really
should
try
canoeing.”

“Why? I’m too clumsy for
that.”

“Nonsense.
You
carry
yourself
with
the
grace
of
a
tall
woman
who
is
comfortable
with
her
body.
You
must
drive
the
young
studs
up
the
wall.
I
suspect
anyone
who
can
be
so
at
ease
with
horses
can
manage
a
canoe.
And
I
think
you’d
love
the
serenity
of
it.
Hang
around
me
long
enough
and
you’ll
find
yourself
in
a
canoe.
You
can
count
on
that.”

Daisy
smiled
to
herself.
She
knew
about
as
much
about
young
studs
as
she
did
about
canoeing,
but
she
wasn’t
going
to
tell
Nicholas
Underwood
that.
Did
he
find
her
appealing?

- o -

They
walked without saying anything more until they
came
to
a
halt
in
front
of
RainbowBlaze’s
stall.
The
horse
stepped
forward,
obviously
expecting
a
treat. Nick was
pleased to see Daisy
didn’t
disappoint
her.

“So,”
she
said,
not
meeting
Nick’s
eyes,
“what’s
your
plan?
Are
you
going
to
keep
RainbowBlaze?”

A
slow
grin
crossed
Nick’s
lips.
“I’m
not
sure
I
got
a
whole
day’s
tour.”

The
blood
seeped
from
the
lanky
woman’s
face.
“Okay,”
he
said,
“I
won’t
leave
you
hanging.
Yeah,
you’ve
done
a
very
convincing
job.
Two
things
stood
out,
really.
First,
listening
to
you
talk
to
that
horse
earlier
today
before
you
knew
I
was
standing
here.
I’m
envious
of
that
kind
of relationship.
Second,
watching
that
number ten horse
strive to win was
something
I’ll
never forget. I appreciate that
desire.”

“So
you’ll
keep
Rainbow?”