Abruptly, as if she’d just remembered something important, she strode to the Perlino’s head, abandoning Ryder and the conversation.
Ryder lifted his eyebrows. What a strange female. Strange and lovely.
He tightened the girth on the dun’s saddle before securing the load on his sledge. While he hooked the tie-down into place, Jeri efficiently tightened the girth on Pearl’s saddle. Wyatt swung up onto his big gray, Blue Moon. Pearl’s reins in hand, Jeri shifted around to the side, as if preparing to mount. She paused to watch Ryder stand and give his load a final check.
“Watch it!” Wyatt warned.
Ryder looked up in time to see Pearl, who was something of a clown, curl her neck and throw her head, butting Jeri right between the shoulder blades. Ryder straightened as Jeri launched toward him, the reins falling to the ground. Pearl placidly faced forward again, the equine equivalent of feigned innocence. Ryder, meanwhile, found himself clutching an astonished female with curves not even a down coat could disguise. Mouth agape, eyes wide, she stared up at him from beneath the brim of her hat. He tightened his arms and smiled to let her know she was safe. She hadn’t, after all, hit the cold, hard ground this time. He realized that he was staring at her lips when her gaze dropped to his.
Ryder didn’t know what might have happened if Wyatt hadn’t burst out laughing. At the sound, Jeri jerked away, flouncing off to gather Pearl’s reins. She trod on Ryder’s foot in the process, the uninjured one, thankfully. He grimaced but kept his groan inside.
Jeri climbed onto Pearl. Shaking his head, Wyatt led off. Ryder gestured for Jeri to follow then limped around to mount. As he and Handy fell in behind her, Ryder knew exactly what his big brother was thinking. But dangerous didn’t scratch the surface of the peril that Jeri Bogman brought with her.
The woman was positively lethal.
In more ways that Ryder dared contemplate.
Guilt and regret washed over Jeri as Wyatt stalked back to shut the gate behind the truck, trailer and horses, muttering that they were returning to the house over two hours later than they should’ve been. Their tardiness was, of course, her fault. After her unexpected reaction when she’d found herself in Ryder’s arms, she’d purposefully made every “mistake” she could while “helping” the Smith brothers provide for their cattle. She’d been hoping for an angry outburst from Ryder to remind her why she was right to hate him—and why it was wrong to find his arms around her so very appealing.
It wouldn’t have been an easy morning even without her interference. That being the case, something should have set off Ryder’s temper. Obviously, he was on his best behavior in front of company. Still, she reasoned that she was at least nettling him, priming the pump, so to speak. Eventually, given enough provocation, he’d surely lose control. Wouldn’t he?
Unfortunately, the only one she’d managed to upset thus far was Wyatt, and she couldn’t be happy about adding to the weight on his shoulders. He was a man with a lot on his mind.
Wyatt had called his wife to be sure she was okay and let her know they would be late for lunch. Jeri noticed that Ryder had calmly, gently tried to reassure his brother. Though he addressed himself to Jeri now, his words were clearly aimed at Wyatt as the older brother climbed back into the truck.
“Takes a lot of strength to carry twins, but that’s Tina for you. No challenge too big for her. Why, you should’ve seen the state the house was in when she first came. And, of course, she’ll do anything for the sake of her husband and kids, even put up with his lazy brothers.”
“And which brothers would those be?” Wyatt asked, putting the transmission into gear and starting the rig forward again. “You and Jake have worked your fingers to the bone getting the place in shape.”
“That reminds me,” Ryder said. “Now that the B and B and the shop are fully operational, I’m going to help Jake do some work around his and Kathryn’s place after the weather warms up. They want to add an office and a third bedroom.”
“Sounds good.”
Wyatt pulled the truck up to the small door on the stable end of the barn. Ryder got out and went to untie the horses. Jeri went to help him. She didn’t intend to apologize, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“I’m sorry if I made us late.”
“Aw, no,” Ryder said, tossing her that shy, boyish smile so at odds with his muscular build, heavy beard shadow and deep voice. “We’d have taken even longer without your help.”
“I’m not sure Wyatt would agree.”
“Wyatt knows you didn’t intentionally slow us down.”
Except she had, and that knowledge shamed Jeri even as she rationalized it in her mind.
They got the horses to their stalls. Jeri volunteered to open the big, central barn doors while Ryder began unsaddling. She left Wyatt backing the truck and trailer into the barn and went to help Ryder brush down and feed the horses. After unhooking the trailer, Wyatt came to help bring in the other mounts and lend a hand with stowing the tack.
As they worked, the two men discussed the proposed renovations to their brother’s house. Jeri listened with fascination and no little envy as they mulled ways to get Jake to accept their assistance, monetary and otherwise. These brothers obviously cared for one another and supported each other wholeheartedly.
The temperature had risen several degrees while they were out, leading everyone to unbutton their coats and peel off their mufflers as they’d worked. Now, with all the horses again inside the draped stable area, the place soon felt toasty warm. Ryder removed his coat and hung it on a recessed hook. Jeri did the same, but Wyatt kept his on.
“Hurry it up,” he ordered as he went to pull the truck out of the barn and close the big doors. “Otherwise you’ll be eating dinner instead of lunch.”
“Be right behind you,” Ryder called. He shook his head, chuckling.
“Did I miss something?” Jeri asked. She hadn’t heard anything funny in Wyatt’s tone or words.
“I was just thinking that Wyatt can’t stand being away from Tina for any length of time. It was that way even before he started worrying about her and the babies.”
“What’s to worry about?” she asked. “Women have been having babies since the Garden of Eden. Is there cause for concern?”
Ryder shrugged and dropped the curry brushes into the work bucket. “She’s been having some cramps, I think. Doctor says to just keep an eye on it.”
Jeri couldn’t help wanting to put him at ease. “Way I hear it, that’s pretty common in the last months of pregnancy—it’s the body’s way of getting ready to deliver.”
Ryder looked at her, his brow creased with concern. “The babies aren’t due until April.”
In other words, the first week of January was much too soon to deliver a healthy baby, let alone twins. Jeri nodded, now sharing his concern.
