Ty: Contemporary Western Romance (New Horizon Ranch Mule Hollow Book 4) Read online

  She felt almost surreal and for a brief moment, she wondered if she’d really dreamed last night’s dream…

  “Hey,” he called and started her way.

  He looked as good as he had in her dream moving toward her. Ty climbed the fence and she knew this had been in her dream because it was a familiar move she’d watched him make all during the time she’d known him. The man was quick, lean and agile and to him fences were only meant to walk through if he just happened to be standing beside one when he needed to exit or enter an arena.

  He dropped to the ground and strode toward her. The chaps were long and the fringe short and didn’t wave as much as in her dream, but the intensity of his gaze and stride was similar. Her breath caught in her throat and she almost believed he might take her into his arms–but he didn’t.

  Nope, he stopped a few feet from her and tapped the coiled rope in his hand against his right thigh, looking every inch the cowboy that he was.

  “You got here just in time,” he said, warmth flickering in his gaze. “How’s your knee?” He glanced down at her knee and the brace she wore over her jeans.

  “It’s fine.”

  “I wanted to ask you more about it yesterday but you ran off. Does it hurt bad?”

  She didn’t want to talk about her injury but at least it directed her thoughts from where they’d been. “If I’m careful it’s fine. It’s just a partial tear to my MCL. A bad twerk is all. If I move too suddenly it hurts like the dickens though. The doctor says it just needs some time.”

  He placed his hands on his hips and studied her. “But it’s going to be okay, right? It’ll recover and then you’re back to competition? I know this is something you’ve wanted ever since your parents died.”

  Mia’s mouth went dry. She had over the years begun to wonder about that part of her dream. Her parents had died in an accident on the way to a rodeo. She’d been young and that was when her uncle had come to live on the ranch with her. She’d been in fifth grade and for the longest time, she’d not wanted anything to do with riding. She’d even blanked out her ability to ride. But then, later when she’d entered high school a deep desire to connect with her father had overwhelmed her and that was when she’d asked the handsome, quiet cowboy in school to help her relearn what she’d forgotten.

  “Yes. It should,” she said, a knot of angst twisted in her stomach. She didn’t want to think about this right now. Didn’t want to discuss the deeper ramifications of her injury and her dreams…dreams being a two edge sword at the moment. She focused on the medical prognosis. “The prognosis is good on a MCL even a tear to the ACL can be overcome with surgery.”

  “It’ll recover. You’ll be good as new.”

  Ty was the hardest working most goal oriented man she’d ever met. He believed if you worked hard enough anything was possible. He should know. He’d told her that when he was in seventh grade he’d started working on a ranch mucking out stalls near his families run-down home. He’d worked hard and soon he was moving up and taking on more and more responsibilities. In the meantime, he spent as much time as possible watching the horse trainer work with the colts. This wasn’t something she’d known until he’d told her after they’d become friends.

  He’d worked hard, was dedicated to being the best–and now had a growing reputation. The fact that CC had named him in his will said volumes about Ty and his partners.

  Yes, Ty was a believer in hard work, dedication and never giving up on a dream.

  Was she giving up on a dream or…she let the thought die off because she wasn’t ready to go where her thoughts had been going the last few months.

  “Sure, it’ll be good as new soon,” she said. “It’s good to be home for a little while. And Uncle Huey really does need me.” It was becoming more and more apparent to her that he did.

  “I wish I’d realized something was wrong. To be honest, your uncle doesn’t come to Mule Hollow much. He must do all his business in Ranger or one of the smaller towns past him.”

  “You know how he is. He’s so private it hurts.” She loved her uncle but she’d often felt isolated by his almost hermit ways.

  Ty chuckled. “He is that. Well I guess if we want to meet this deadline and still have time for me to take care of the ranch horses too I’d better get busy. You’re welcome to watch.”

  They headed back to the arena and she watched through the fence encircling the round pen arena. She watched Ty begin to work with the horse.

  As good as he was, Ty had his hands full. But the man was patient.

  Ever so patient. And after a couple of hours, despite the brisk wind that was picking up and the chill that was starting to intensify in the air it had nothing on the intensity of Ty’s attention on the horse.

  He had the halter and long lead rope on Sinbad. She watched as he let the skittish horse follow him around the pen. Stepping backwards to get the horse to learn when it was making wrong moves then stepping out again and leading the horse. She watched them work for a while then Ty would reward Sinbad by letting him rest. It was a process that took time and consistency. To someone who had no idea what Ty was doing it would just look like he was doing nothing but moving around and letting the horse follow him or watch him. She knew differently. She’d watched Ty do this many times over the years and others who broke horses naturally. It was a gentle way of building trust with the horse. And it would eventually pay off.

  “Sinbad obviously calmed down since yesterday,” she said, even after this short of a time seeing a difference in the horse.

  Ty spoke softly to Sinbad, halted him then reached out to touch the horse’s neck. Sinbad let him. “I’m pleasantly surprised by him. He was a bit overwrought. I’m not sure how he was prior to riding to the auction barn but obviously he wasn’t happy about being there yesterday.”

  “I guess,” she said, not sure what to say to that. She’d never been around the horse prior to yesterday so she wasn’t sure what its behavior normally was. One thing she did know, she never tired of watching Ty work a horse this way.

  Watching Ty in action was mesmerizing to Mia. He had a gift and anyone who watched this knew it.

  Her heart was skipping beats on a regular basis by mid-morning when he called the session done.

  “That went well. I’m starved. You want to head to Sam’s for an early lunch?” He smiled a sexy smile that curled her toes and took her breath.

  “Sure,” she managed and told herself all the way to his truck to get her head on straight…

  But her thoughts were where they did not need to be…thinking about what it would feel like to kiss Ty Calder.

  They’d be amazing–Stop! She tore her gaze from him and stormed–hobbled more accurately described her graceless race–toward the truck.

  She should tell him she couldn’t go and instead, she should hop in her truck and get the heck out of there. But no. Nope. She was a twenty-six year old woman who suddenly felt like she was a teenager with her first crush.

  But she knew this wasn’t a crush. She’d known it for a long time.

  He beat her to the white four door truck with the New Horizon Ranch logo inscribed on the side. He opened the passenger door and waited for her to get there.

  Tall, lean and oh so perfect–what had she been thinking? She was in one heck of a mess. And as if to show her exactly how much trouble she was in, he popped his hat back off his forehead, cocked his head and shot her another toe-curling grin.

  “You sure are slow.” His teasing tone warmed her in the cold air.

  Whoa girl, just whoa.

  “Don’t rush me, buster,” she said with a shaky laugh, cringing at the wobble in her voice. She was in so much in trouble it hurt. Ty had never looked at her as more than a friend.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She looked sharply at him at the question. Oh yeah, big time wrong. “Nope, nothing,” she shot back. You are a liar and a chicken Mia Shaw.

  Looking at him she knew it was true. But what was a woman
to do?

  She had absolutely no idea where to go from here.

  Chapter Four

  Mia had always loved the town of Mule Hollow. It was an explosion of color with all the clapboard buildings having been painted different colors when Lacy Brown had driven to town in her 1958 pink convertible Caddy with a vision for marrying off all the cowboys in the dying town. Lacy had joined up with the three older ladies in town who’d started a national ad campaign looking for women to come to Mule Hollow and marry the town cowboys. So far there had been a good many successful marriages in town. Enough to earn the three older ladies the title of the Matchmakin’ Posse of Mule Hollow.

  Sam’s hadn’t changed since she’d left. It was still as…atmospheric as always. The walls were made of rough wood paneling that might date back to the time cowboy’s rode to town on horseback and guns were strapped to their hips. The tables were made of old scarred wood that had seen many a person gather round it for good food and conversation.

  Sam came hustling out of the kitchen, like a man thirty years younger than a man in his early seventies. Not much more than four feet five inches he was a dynamo who loved his job.

  She’d just barely gotten through the door when he spotted her.

  “Mia! How ya doin’ youngin’? It’s been forever since I saw you.” He pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug.

  Though her uncle wasn’t much on socializing, Sam was one of his friends. “It’s so good to see you. I’m doing okay, Sam.”

  “What about that thar brace?”

  “I bummed my knee up a little but it’s going to be fine and I got a trip back home for Christmas in the bargain.”

  The door of the diner swung open and Applegate Thornton and his buddy Stanley Orr hustled inside. The two older men were like night and day with App, as they called Applegate, being tall, thin and lanky while Stanley was pleasantly plump, and of medium height and jolly.

  “Well, look what the cat drug in,” App boomed. He and Stanley both were hard of hearing and had been for as long as she could remember. They too were friends with her uncle. But again, unlike his homebody tendency’s, these two loved playing checkers at the window table at Sam’s where they gave everyone a hard time while keeping tabs on everything going on in Mule Hollow.

  After hugs and hellos they all took seats. She and Ty slid into a booth across the aisle from the voracious checker players.

  “Hey,” App boomed as soon as everyone had gotten settled. “Maybe you can settle this debate for me. I want to be Santa Clause in the Christmas pageant on Friday night.” Mia almost spit the water out that she’d just taken into her mouth. App–Santa? Impossible.

  Wasn’t it?

  App, bless his heart, was a softie inside who looked like a very crabby sourpuss on the outside. She knew first-hand that he was more bark than bite, he’d helped her uncle out of several financial difficulties over the years. Thinking about that had her questioning again the possibility that her uncle might be in financial trouble now.

  She was so glad she’d come home. Family came first and somehow she’d forgotten that. Where he hadn’t. He’d always told her to go after her dreams and that he was fine. She’d believed him–now she wondered.

  “See thar, finally someone with some sense,” App boomed, pulling her attention back to the current situation.

  Everyone was staring at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What would it hurt to let him be Santa?” She frowned. They didn’t know that App had been her real life Santa when he’d helped her uncle out of a tough time one Christmas. How many other people had he helped out? He might look a little like Scrooge but he wasn’t. He had a heart of gold–it was just gruff.

  “He’ll scare the kids,” Stanley chuckled. “They’ll run for the hills and be damaged fer life.”

  “That’s right,” Sam hooted. “They’ll probably need therapy.” Sam grinned, teasing his buddy.

  Ty’s gaze locked onto hers and he smiled. “I agree. Give him a couple of pillows and put him in a suit. He could wear a beard.”

  “A very thick bushy beard,” Stanley grunted and everyone chuckled again.

  App had been scowling the whole time and now he shot a couple of sunflower seeds into the big brass spittoon that sat on the floor between him and Stanley. “Y’all are just worthless,” he grunted. “Worthless.”

  Sam laughed. “If Mia says let him be Santa then let him be Santa. It’s fine with me if it’s fine with you, Stanley. You’re the one givin’ up the post.”

  “Heck, I don’t mind steppin’ down if the kids can take it.” He hiked a bushy brow at his friend. “You know when the women hear about this we are not gonna have a moments peace.”

  App harrumphed. “Norma Sue can just get happy in the same overalls she gets mad in.”

  “It ain’t Norma Sue I’m worried about. Esther Mae is gonna worry us sick. You know how she is about the Christmas pageant.”

  “How are the ladies? Mia asked.

  Norma Sue, Esther Mae and Adela were the infamous “Posse” and pretty much had their thumbs on everything that went on in town.

  “They’re as ornery as ever,” Sam offered. “They’re all in a tither getting this program ready. It’s their favorite each year. They’ll be here for lunch any minute now.”

  “When they find out you are back home they’ll rope you into helping decorate.” Ty grinned causing the unsettling and enticing feeling of butterflies to lift inside of Mia again. She needed something to take her mind off of Ty and working on the parade with friends might be the perfect solution.

  Spending more time than necessary around Ty would be very unwise until she figured out what she was supposed to do about these feelings that were growing increasingly unavoidable.

  Ty had been distracted by Mia all morning. He’d had to force himself to concentrate on Sinbad earlier while Mia watched him work with the horse from the fence. And now he was enjoying the way she lit up the room with her smile. Everyone enjoyed seeing her again and she seemed to be having a great time as well.

  “Hey,” App said mid-way through the meal. “You were that woman at the auction yesterday wrestling that crazy horse.”

  Stanley gaped. “Yeah, that was you.”

  Ty had been wondering if they were going to figure that out.

  Mia sighed. “Yes, that was me. Sinbad was behaving badly.”

  “Ha. We thought you were a gonner fer shor,” App admonished her, his frown deepening. “Were you trying to get yourself killed?”

  Ty choked on his burger and drew a sharp look from Mia. He held his hands up. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “I loaded the horse so I could have gotten control at the auction too. Super cowboy had to swoop in and jump into my business.”

  “He did it just in the nick of time too,” Stanley added, not looking any happier than App. “Your uncle know you were doing that?”

  “He did. He knew I could handle it.”

  “Ha,” App grunted. “Huey ain’t known for his good judgement where cattle and horses are concerned.”

  “True,” Stanley agreed, scowling.

  Ty almost felt sorry for her except his fear for her yesterday kept him from going there. She was good with horses but that horse, despite his better behavior today, was unpredictable and dangerous–especially to a woman sporting a knee brace that hindered her quick movement.

  “I’m a little insulted here—”

  The door of the diner swung open and Mia’s words trailed off as a redhead in a violet warm-up suit came hustling inside–Esther Mae Wilcox was always a bright beam of color wherever she went. Behind her the stout ranch woman Norma Sue Jenkins came striding in wearing her ranch coat over her jeans. She wore a pale tan velvet Stetson with a small green sprig of holly with red berries attached to her green hatband.

  App and Stanley groaned and Ty had to laugh.

  As if the two ladies could sense there was someone new in the diner they zeroed in on Mia like a heat seeking missile. Of cour
se he knew what it was. These were two of the three that made up the posse and the ladies were obsessed. They could sense single females.

  “Mia Shaw,” Esther Mae exclaimed hustling to their table and launching herself at Mia. She engulfed her into a bear hug that trapped Mia’s arms and looked as if it could break Mia’s neck from the tight headlock. “It is so good to see you.”

  “Esther Mae,” Norma Sue barked. “You are about to give her whiplash or worse. Let the girl go.” The moment Esther Mae released her Norma Sue enveloped her in a suffocating hug.

  Mia lived through the hugging and was laughing when the women backed up and grinned at her. “Now you ladies know how to make a girl feel welcomed home.” She laughed and shot disgruntled eyes at App and Stanley.

  “We try,” Esther Mae replied.

  Norma Sue nodded agreement about the time Adela entered the diner. “Come see who is eating lunch with Ty,” she called to Sam’s small, elegant wife.

  “Mia, what a wonderful surprise. Sam and I have been hoping you would come home to have Christmas with Huey. He’s been so lonesome.”

  Mia looked a little startled. “I had suspected it when I talked with him on the phone and he’s been really quiet ever since I arrived home.”

  Ty realized she was worried. Huey always did have his peculiarities–but then Ty knew he was fairly quiet himself. He figured Mia’s uncle would talk when the mood hit him…it obviously just hadn’t hit him. Still, Ty would ask Mia if there was anything he could do to help even if he seriously doubted there was. And so lunch went until finally Mia checked her watch and said she needed to get home. By that time Mia had been roped into helping with the last bit of decorating and so had Ty.

  He wasn’t so blind that he couldn’t imagine what they were up to. He knew exactly why the ladies couldn’t stop smiling as they chattered from the booth behind his and Mia’s. They’d asked Mia about her injury and how long she was going to be home. Mia told them exactly what she’d told him–she’d be here over the Christmas holiday. After that it depended on her leg.