“Aw, nothing. Just wanted to get reacquainted with my horse. Is he in the barn or out in a pasture?” His false good humor didn’t fool her.
She touched his arm. “Is everything all right at home?”
His smile slipped. “If you call having to find someplace to live because there’s no room at the ranch for me ‘all right,’ then yes, everything’s fine.”
“No place to live in your family’s home?” She couldn’t keep the indignation from her voice. “Why on earth?”
There was that smile again. “Aw, it’s all right. Doc says the Colonel is likely to recover, so I don’t need to stay close in case he—” He cleared his throat. “My brothers and their wives need to be close by to help our folks, so it takes up all the bedrooms. Besides, I need to live in town so I can set up my law practice.”
He didn’t fool her. His hurt feelings were obvious. But she wouldn’t contradict him. “So, your sister’s hotel or Mrs. Foster’s boardinghouse?” She punctuated her words with raised eyebrows and a silly grin, something she never would’ve offered any Denver acquaintance, either gentleman or lady.
He responded with a genuine laugh. “You know our town.” And offered a charming shrug. “I’ll try Mrs. Foster’s first. More homey. Better cooking.”
Laurie returned a gentle laugh. “So true. Although you may want to try Chef Henrique’s French cuisine at the hotel.”
“No, just give me a juicy steak or chicken and dumplings any day.” He closed his eyes. “Mmm-mmm.”
A hint? The aroma of cooking chicken wafted through the open window. “You can stay for dinner.”
“Naw, I’d better head into town and find out where I’ll be staying tonight. But thanks.”
“Well, then, let’s find Thor.”
The stallion grazed in a near pasture, and she sent a cowhand to fetch him. The horse pranced majestically on his lead rope, but when he spied Tolley, he whinnied and broke away, cantering toward them. Lowering his head and rubbing against Tolley’s chest, the magnificent beast acknowledged his master and friend. Eyes closed, Tolley pressed his head against Thor’s.
The meeting between horse and man moved Laurie to tears. Maybe Tolley’s family had no room for him, but his faithful horse gave him a welcome any cowboy would envy.
He needed a friend, so she’d be that person. Only she mustn’t revive her foolish childhood affections for him. She’d noticed romances couldn’t be successful if built on sympathy. Besides, she’d found her place in Denver and would return there in the fall, so she must keep her heart reined in.
That bothersome, undefined reservation about Denver crept into her mind, but as always, she dismissed it. It was her dream, after all.
Tolley led Thor and Gypsy to the barn to curry both horses and move his saddle from the mare to his stallion. Laurie tagged along just as she used to as a pesky little tomboy wearing braids and trousers. Only this time, instead of finding her presence annoying, he found it comforting. And helpful. She brought him a currying brush and pointed to stalls where he could work on the horses, but her being there helped most of all.
Thor needed a good brushing, and he leaned into the stiff-bristled brush, whickering his appreciation. While working on the magnificent beast, Tolley felt his heart lighten in an unexpected way. This is where he longed to be, working with horses and raising prime beef. Not sitting behind a desk in a dull law office pushing papers around and making sure his clients filed the right land forms or got their fair share in business deals. He certainly wasn’t interested in defending outlaws.
“You missed a spot.” Laurie, who’d climbed up to sit on the stall’s top rail, pointed to Thor’s left side. Her impudent grin sent a warm feeling through his chest.
He walked around Thor and saw the thick patch of hair. “Why don’t you grab a brush and help me out?” He nodded toward the wall where brushes and tack hung on pegs.
To his surprise, she sighed. “Ma made me promise not to work with the horses.” She held up her hands. “She’s afraid I’ll ruin these for playing the piano.”
“Huh. That’s odd.” He shrugged. “I never figured any of the Eberly girls would turn out to be—” Dainty came to mind, not a word usually associated with these cowgirls.
“Useless?”
“Not at all.” He swiped the brush over Thor’s side. “Do you miss it?”
“Not so much the work, but I do miss feeling useful.”
I know how you feel. But he wouldn’t say that. Instead, he gave her a sympathetic smile as he brushed out the last of Thor’s coat and cleaned the clump of hair from the currying brush. “There you go, boy.” He patted the stallion’s rump and moved over to the next stall.
Was it his imagination, or did Gypsy eye him nervously? He wouldn’t blame her if she did. She’d been fairly docile when he saddled and rode her here, no longer a lively horse. Was that his fault?
“Here you go, beauty. Let’s make you comfortable.” He threw the left stirrup over the saddle, loosened the cinch and let the girth fall, then lifted the saddle and blanket off her back.
“You need a fresh blanket?” Laurie waved toward the tack room where multitiered racks held blankets and saddles.
“Yeah, I guess that’s a good idea. This one’s damp and needs airing.” Another homey feeling swept through him. Their families always helped each other, knowing they’d get their own things back in due time.
He grabbed a fresh brush and worked on Gypsy’s coat. His fingers swept over a dark, shallow dip on her back where the saddle had sat, and a chill plunged clear down to his belly. This was where he’d wounded her two years ago by slipping a large burr between blanket and horse to keep Garrick from winning the Independence Day horse race. He’d expected Gypsy to throw Garrick. Instead, the mare raced her heart out, every stride digging the burr deeper into her flesh. She and Garrick finished only a half-length behind Tolley and Thor.
Later, during the dance, Tolley picked a fight with Garrick, earning himself the Colonel’s sentence of banishment to Boston. And all because the Colonel had shown favor to the Englishman such as he’d never shown Tolley. Even now, shame vied with jealous anger. While he’d made friends with Garrick when he and Rosamond came through Boston on their honeymoon and had been forgiven by the man, now his brother-in-law, he’d never understand why his own father seemed to despise him. Or worse, never gave him a second thought, as though he didn’t even exist unless he got into trouble. And now maybe the Colonel would never know all Tolley had done to try to earn his favor.
“Tolley?” Laurie’s bright blue eyes shone with kindness.
Could she see his inner turmoil? He dipped his head to hide his face.
“Yeah?” He moved away from Gypsy and fetched a fresh blanket from the tack room, then smoothed it over Thor’s back.
“You
