had a lot of hair back then.”
It had fallen to the middle of her shoulder blades. She’d kept it curly and a little wild. Now she kept her dark hair tamer. Every morning, she ruthlessly transformed the out-of-control curls to gentle waves that rested on the tops of her shoulders.
Before she knew it, she was fingering the end of a wayward curl. She had loved her long hair. But it was best she didn’t look like that anymore. No one would have taken a woman like that seriously.
“You had quite a head of hair, too,” she countered.
He ran a hand along his neck. “I like mine short now.” He cracked a smile. “But we thought we were all that and a bag of chips back in those days. Remember?”
She did. Oh, she remembered a whole lot of things. The way they used to hang out together when they’d be off at some of the local rodeos. No matter how much she’d promised her mother she’d behave, before long, she and Austin would egg each other on. Next thing she knew, she was dodging her brothers’ watchful eyes and sneaking around to where the trailers were parked. There, they’d sit in the dark, smoke a little, drink a whole lot more. One time they finally had given in to their attraction and shared that one amazing kiss.
Damn! That was the second time she’d thought of that in two hours!
With effort, she pushed aside all those feelings of desire…and remembered also how she’d finally decided it was time to grow up and become respectable. And Austin?
He hadn’t made that choice yet. Maybe he wouldn’t ever want to stop his partying and his women and his idiocy. Which meant they had nothing in common now.
Which kind of made her sad, and that was more than a little distressing!
Turning away, she patted one of the saddles. “This is beautiful.”
“You’ve got an eye, and that’s a fact. Just got that one in.”
“Who from?”
He looked evasive. “A woman out near Miles City.”
Tenderly, she ran her finger along the initials etched in the leather. “Any special reason why she sold it?”
“Nah. Her family fell on hard times. Had to sell the horse…” He shrugged. “The saddle came next.”
She bit her lip. Bringing back memories of barrel racing, feeling the wind against her hair. Feeling sweat running down her back as she tried to beat the clock.
And how she’d given up riding but hadn’t ever asked her family to sell that saddle.
That shamed her. Who knows? The money might have come in real handy lately. Her brother Ace could’ve probably used the money to pay for some of Midnight’s feed. Or the ranch’s electric bill. But she’d been too intent on keeping her saddle to think about that. No, she’d been selfishly holding on to it, as if she couldn’t bear to completely forget all of her past.
“Want to go riding one day, Dinah?”
“No.”
“Sure? We could go to my dad’s.” His voice was bright now. Less suggestive, almost friendly. Almost cheerful. “I haven’t been out to see him lately, but I do know Dad’s still keeping a couple of horses. Some of ’em are top-notch. Riding for a few hours, forgetting our troubles? It would be fun.”
Mention of his dad made her think of the other little reason she’d come visiting.
“So, I heard you created quite a mess at the Open Range.”
His voice turned flat. “Bad news travels fast.”
“Always.”
He tilted his head to one side. “Is puking my brains out against the law these days?”
“No. But driving under the influence is,” she said quickly. Thinking of a reason for bringing it up.
“Your mole should’ve told you that I didn’t drive.”
Oops. She hadn’t even asked. “Who did?”
He shook a finger at her as though she was a naughty child. “Uh-uh, Dinah. No way am I going to tell you all my secrets. That ain’t no business of yours.”
“Look, Ted doesn’t care to be cleaning up those messes of yours.”
“I realize that.” His blue eyes narrowed. “And I hope when you spoke to old Ted that he also told you that I stopped by this morning and offered to pay for the cleaning.”
“He didn’t tell me that.” Irritation surged through her. If Ted had taken the time to whine to her, why the heck hadn’t he felt like telling her the whole story? “But you were drinking shots of tequila, weren’t you?”
“I do believe I was. Sheriff.”
Now she felt worse than a prude. Her job was to uphold the law, not become the moral majority. “I just wanted to make sure, you know, that you weren’t going to make overdoing it…a habit.”
“No, ma’am.”
A lot of men called women “ma’am,” but rarely in that tone of voice.
She backed up a step. His eyes were cool and hard now. Reminding her that she’d just crossed the line and hadn’t really played fair, either. Using friendship to get information wasn’t anything she was proud of.
Just as she was turning around, she glanced at the saddles again.
And happened to see a lightly tanned one, with roses hand tooled along the skirt.
She knew that saddle. And last time she heard, the owner had reported it missing.
She headed to the door before he noticed her staring at it. She needed to get more information before she asked him about its origins. One of the first things she’d learned at the police academy was to try not to ask questions you didn’t already know the answers to. “Look, thanks for the information about the Silver Royals. I’ll be seeing you, Austin,” she called out over her shoulder.
“Feel free to stop by anytime and give me grief.”
His words hit a nerve. She hoped he didn’t notice her stumble. Pushing open the glass door, she strode out and into her cruiser.
And as she drove down the main street through town, she grimaced with sad satisfaction. Suddenly, everything was starting to make sense. Austin Wright was a small-business owner and no doubt was struggling to keep a solid inventory. He was probably having money trouble—most everyone in the county was. Then, of course, there was the Wright name. It had practically become synonymous with sketchy practices. Why, everyone knew his daddy had spent time in jail.
Had Austin decided to start making money the easy way? If he had, and if he was now bound and determined to start following in his father’s footsteps…well, there was probably little he wouldn’t do.
She hated to think that way about him. But they weren’t really friends anymore. And she was far different
