Cowboy After Dark. Vicki Thompson Lewis
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strict. Do they pitch a fit?”
“You know, I thought for sure they would, but so far, no. We tested it on the first group in January, and after the shock of withdrawal, they seemed a lot less stressed. They’re relieved of the responsibility of constantly updating their status.”
“Bingo. Who came up with the solution?”
“Rosie, of course. She was willing to gamble that the kids would actually enjoy a break from their phones. New students are warned of the policy in advance, and nobody’s canceled because of it.”
“Some parents might enroll their kids just for that.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.” He paused in front of adjoining stalls. “If you’ll take Navarre out first, I’ll follow with Isabeau.”
“Got it.” He spoke gently to the gelding as he went inside, clipped the lead rope on his halter and walked him out of the stall.
“These two have benefitted from having the students here,” Cade said as he followed with Isabeau. “Rosie and Herb weren’t riding them much, and now they get plenty of attention and exercise on a daily basis.”
“Looks like everybody’s benefitting from the academy.” He tied Navarre to the hitching post and picked up a brush to give the horse a quick grooming. “Rosie and Herb seem ten years younger. They need teenagers around.”
“And as a bonus, these kids are mostly well-adjusted.”
“Unlike us?” He worked through the familiar routine of saddling Navarre in the glow of the dusk-to-dawn light hanging over the barn door. Because he’d been trained years ago, he didn’t have to think about it much.
Cade laughed. “Sometimes I wonder how Rosie and Herb survived those years. The crap we pulled.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“You were no choir boy, either, bro.” Cade tightened the cinch on Isabeau’s saddle, and the mare snorted in protest. “Let’s not forget the fireworks you set off that damn near started a forest fire.”
“But they didn’t. And it was the only prank I ever tried. I wasn’t constantly putting rubber snakes in guys’ bunks like present company.”
“Harmless fun.”
“Says you. When my bare toes came in contact with that snake, I jumped out of bed so fast I whacked my head on the top bunk. Much harder and I would have been in the emergency room.”
“You did have a pretty nifty goose egg. Good thing Rosie had her traditional bag of frozen peas handy.”
“We went through a lot of frozen peas. We either ate them in Rosie’s tuna casserole or used them for an ice pack.” Resting his forearms on the saddle, he looked over at Cade and grinned. “Those were the days.”
“Yeah, they were. Do you miss ’em?”
“Maybe a little, but I wouldn’t want to be that age again. We were so clueless about everything.”
“No kidding. Especially women.” Cade grimaced. “Apparently I’m still pretty clueless in that department.”
“Ah, you’ll get there.”
“Yeah, but I’d rather not be ninety when it happens.”
“You won’t be.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Eighty-five, tops.”
“That’s such a comfort.”
Liam walked around Navarre’s hindquarters and clapped Cade on the shoulder. “If you get Grady to help you buy some art, and if you burn a few batches of lasagna, you might walk down the aisle sooner than that.”
“Appreciate the advice, bro. Now let’s get you situated for an excellent first date.” He headed back into the barn. “I suggest taking a blanket along.”
“I’ll go with that suggestion.” Lying with Hope and gazing up at a million stars sure sounded like an excellent first date to him.
Cade located a blanket in the tack room and handed it over. “You packing condoms?”
That startled a laugh out of him. “No. For crying out loud, Gallagher. I’m just getting to know the lady.” He didn’t admit that he’d thought of it and discarded the idea as being too crass this early.
“Apparently you haven’t noticed the way she looks at you.”
“And you have?”
“Sure. After you told me that you’d had your eye on her for weeks, I decided to spend the dinner hour watching her watching you.”
“And how does she watch me?”
“Like she’s buying whatever you’re selling, bro.”
His body tightened at the thought. “Nice to hear. Thanks for the info.”
“Sure you don’t want to take a couple of raincoats?”
“I’m sure. Then it’ll look as if I assumed we might have sex, and that sends the wrong message.”
“Your call, but don’t blame me if you end up with an itch you can’t scratch.”
“I CAN’T SEE very well.” As Hope bobbed along on Isabeau, she peered into the woods on either side of the narrow US Forest Service road. The extremely dark and scary woods. Any one of those shadows could be a bear, maybe even a grizzly. They’d have cubs this time of year, right? That made them more dangerous.
After several glasses of wine this afternoon, she’d convinced herself that an evening horseback ride with a handsome cowboy was a great plan. Now she longed for the cozy and very safe ranch house. Uh-oh. Something rustled in the bushes.
Liam kept moving forward, but he turned in his saddle to glance back at her. “Can you see the light on my saddle?”
“Shh. I hear something.” She went very still and tried to separate the various sounds—the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves, the creak of the saddles, the wind sighing through the top branches of the pines. The rustling had stopped.
No, there it was again. Just a little rustle, though. No branches breaking or stones knocked aside. Probably something fairly small like a skunk or a raccoon. In the distance, an owl hooted.
She focused on the indistinct shape of Liam up ahead on his horse, Navarre. “Sorry. What were you saying?”
“I was just going to say that if you can see my light, that’s all you need. Really more than you need. Isabeau will follow Navarre, and they both have this route down cold. We could loop the reins around the saddle horns and let them take us out and back.”
“What would they do if they saw or smelled a bear?”
“They’d let us know, but I—”
“How?” She pictured Isabeau turning her head and saying, Bear at three o’clock. Check it out.
“They’d get fairly agitated. Horses are prey animals, so they won’t like it if a bear shows up.”
“Or a cougar?”
“That, too.”
“So they’re like an early warning signal.”
“They are, but I don’t expect to see any predators tonight. If someone had spotted a bear or a cougar around here in the past few weeks, pictures would be on the internet. Nobody said a word at dinner, and they would have since they knew we were going out riding.”
Some of the tension eased from her body. “Good to know.”
“Sorry