A Lady of the West Read online

  For a second the mare stood stock still, as if she couldn’t believe there was actually someone on her back. Then she exploded into motion, first up on the back legs, then twisting and coming down with her head low. She bucked and jumped and corkscrewed, and tried to brush him off against the fence. The men were yelling, and clouds of dust enveloped them.

  The mare twisted again and came down hard, her hindquarters lifting. Jake came off over her head and landed with a thump. The men laughed and shouted suggestions. He heard Victoria laugh, and the sound rippled through him on a wave of pleasure even though he was spitting dirt out of his mouth. Jake eased into a sitting position. The mare had settled down as soon as his weight had left the saddle, and ambled over to nudge him.

  “You goddamn scrub,” he said softly as he climbed to his feet. “You’ve got to learn how to behave, so the lady can ride you. You won’t get me off this time; I’m gonna ride you until you’re so tired you can’t jump, and then I’m going to teach you some manners.”

  He took up the reins again and was back in the saddle before the mare knew what he was doing.

  She had tired a little from her first effort at unseating him, but she wasn’t ready to admit defeat. With fire in her eyes, the mare sunfished and corkscrewed; she tried everything, but the man on her back didn’t fly off. She ran straight for the fence and swerved only at the last second, and one of the men jerked Victoria backward off the fence, out of harm’s way.

  “Sorry, ma’am,” he said, never taking his eyes off the man and horse.

  “That’s quite all right. Thank you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The mare tried several more times to brush him off, then just began running around and around the corral. Her speed didn’t slow. “I’m taking her over!” Jake yelled, and pulled her head around until she was headed directly for the fence. Her powerful hindquarters bunched, she lifted, and was clear with plenty of room to spare. Jake’s hat flew off, but he stayed in the saddle. He bent down low over the horse’s neck. When she got that temper worked off, her training could start. Letting her run was the best thing he could do. At this point it was the only thing.

  “Guess we’ll have to build the fence higher,” one man commented.

  Victoria watched man and horse receding in the distance. “When will they be back?” she wondered aloud.

  “When that hoss tires out, I reckon.”

  She looked at the man who had spoken. He was the same one who had jerked her off the fence when the mare had veered in her direction. She felt embarrassed that she didn’t know his name and felt that she should thank him again for his action. She held out her hand. “I’m indebted to you, Mister—?”

  “Quinzy,” the man said. He looked at her hand, then wiped his own on his pants before taking hers. “Jake Quinzy, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Quinzy, for acting so swiftly. I was taken off guard and couldn’t have moved out of the way on my own.”

  He pulled his hat down lower over his eyes. “It was my pleasure, ma’am.”

  Like so many of the other men, Jake Quinzy wore his holster tied low on his thigh. His face was weathered to the texture of old leather, with myriad lines radiating around his eyes, and there was a touch of gray in his sideburns, but he was as lean and muscled as any of the young men. His eyes, a curious grayish-brown, were emotionless as he studied her from under the brim of his hat.

  How was she supposed to act with men like this? She had no idea what type of life he had led, what kind of man he was. Yet he was still standing there and the countless hours of having good manners drilled into her compelled her to make conversation.

  “I admit, I feel rather jealous of Mr. Roper,” she said with a smile. “I had hoped to be the first to ride the mare.”

  “It’s best someone else works the kinks out of her,” Quinzy replied. “You might get hurt if she threw you.”

  “My goodness, I’ve been thrown before!” She laughed, remembering some of the spills she’d taken and the bruises suffered. “Everyone who rides has parted company with his saddle, I imagine.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I reckon that’s so.”

  Quinzy had chores to do, but he remained standing beside Mrs. McLain, letting her lead him in small talk. He seldom had a chance to talk to a woman like her. She fascinated him; she was as tidy as a Sunday-school teacher and a sweet smell lingered in the air around her. Her skin was pale and smooth, and she had been soft under his hands when he’d put them on her waist to pull her down from the fence. She was so different from him that he felt like a great, rough, clumsy bear in comparison. Garnet called her a high-nosed, hoity-toity bitch, but Quincy thought she was calm and dignified. He decided Mrs. McLain was one thing he didn’t need to be taking Garnet’s advice about.

  The mare ran like the wind. Her powerful muscles bunched and expanded as her hooves pounded the earth. Jake settled into the rhythm, his legs holding her, his hand trying to coax her to respond, but she ignored him and he finally decided to let her run until she couldn’t.

  Her stamina was amazing. He was a big man, but she acted as if she didn’t feel his weight at all. Long after most horses would have been exhausted, her long legs still worked effortlessly. He sensed that she was no longer running from temper, but from the sheer joy of running, and admiration for her filled him. God, what a horse! She was a fit mate for Rubio, as outstanding a mare as he was a stallion. The foals they would get from her would leave all other horses in their dust.

  On the other hand, the Major might have been right, as much as he hated to admit it. She might be too much horse for Victoria to handle. She was as strong as most stallions, though Rubio had her beat when it came to sheer power.

  Gradually she began slowing, first to a canter, then a walk. He patted her neck, his admiration plain in his voice as he praised her. She wasn’t even blown; she was tired, but her gait was still steady, and she tossed her head in a show of spirit.

  “That’s a good girl. God, you can run! Are you ready to head back home now?” She stopped and he let her rest for a minute, but he didn’t dismount. She was just contrary enough to take off without him. When her breathing had slowed, he squeezed her with his legs and lifted the reins. She snorted, shook her head, and ignored him.

  Jake swore softly and nudged her with his heels. She tried to bite him. It looked like he had a long day ahead of him.

  It was two hours later when they returned to the ranch. By then she was responding to some of his signals, but ignoring others. He kept his temper under control and his hands light on the reins. Despite all the problems she’d given him, she was a magnificent animal. She still had enough energy left to prance as they approached the corral, to demonstrate that he was on her back only because she allowed it.

  Victoria was nowhere in sight, but she’d evidently left orders that she be called as soon as he returned because she walked up while he was still unsaddling the mare. She’d changed out of her riding habit into a dark blue skirt with a high-necked shirtwaist blouse that had a hint of lace at the throat and sleeves. She looked as cool as the winter snows, while he was hot and dusty and had a headache from being out in the sun so long without his hat.

  “How did she do?” she asked, stroking the mare’s nose.

  “It was a draw,” he muttered. “I won on some things, she won on others.”

  He was as sweaty as the horse and his face was streaked with dirt. He was exactly the rough type of man that she’d always avoided, but she didn’t return to the house as she knew she should. Instead she watched him take care of the horse, and the sight of his strong, tanned hands and forearms, bared by his rolled-up sleeves, fascinated her.

  “I’ve thought of a name for her,” she said, because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “I’ve thought of a few myself,” Jake grunted.

  “Sophie.”

  He grunted again, a sound that didn’t express either approval or disapproval. “Sophie it is, then.”

&nbs