Page 8 of The Soldier and the Cowboy

“Yes, ma’am.”

“No, sir.”

“Yes, m…we could go on like this a while. Why don’t you tell me why a young lady such as yourself will not grow bored here in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.”

“I grew up in Africa, sir. This feels like home, minus the lions.”

“We have mountain lions,” he said.

“Well, there you go,” she said.

They sat in silence a while longer, staring out at the dark, still night. Occasionally her rocking chair squeaked on the floorboard. An owl hooted. Fireflies danced. It was the sort ofnight Cal loved, and he sensed Bailey did, too. It was hot and humid, oppressively so, but Cal sipped his tea and didn’t mind.

“I might change my mind about tea,” Bailey said after a while.

“The sugar seems to help with the heat, don’t know why,” he said and then surprised them both by handing her his glass.

She took a gulp and handed it back. “Thank you, sir.”

“Bailey.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stop calling me sir. You’re making me feel old.”

“Old is a state of mind, sir,” she replied.

“You’re going to do what you want, regardless of what I say, huh?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” she said. “I always do.”

“Well, all right then,” he said and drained his tea with one final gulp.

Chapter 5

The next morning, Bailey beat him out the door. And because he left at five, that was no easy feat. When he saw her at the barn, he realized he hadn’t asked her if she could ride and could have kicked himself for the omission. How had he overlooked that most important detail? Because she had him stymied, that’s how. She wasn’t like anyone he’d ever encountered, and he’d encountered a lot of people. Last night they had experienced an unexpected level of comfort with each other, but even so he never felt like she was flirting with him. He couldn’t wrap his mind around her dichotomous nature, and it niggled in his brain, almost but not quite frustrating him. He’d dated a lot of women before Isabel, had been friends with all the girls in town, was still friends with the wives and sisters of his ranch hands. And none of them was anything like this one marine.

He stood far back, watching her with her horse. She bridled it on her own and easily swung up into the saddle, subduing her mount when she grew jittery. If she could do all that, it was likely she could ride, and his mind was at ease. She was on Jinx’s watch today anyway; he had far too much to do to play babysitter.

Bailey swung up onto the horse and felt even more like shewas coming home. She and her sisters hadn’t owned horses when they were children, but a neighbor had. Bailey and the neighbor’s daughter had been the same age, and they had ridden together almost daily. She had desperately longed for a horse of her own, but had always moved too much, both as a child and as an adult. Maybe once she got settled, wherever that may be, she would buy a horse of her own. And a dog. She had a cat, and she liked it, but it wasn’t the same as a dog or a horse.

“Ready, Miss Bailey?” Jinx asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Lead on.”

“Sure you got enough guns?” he joked. She was armed with the gun she kept in her shoulder holster as well as one on her ankle and a rifle strapped to her back.

She grinned at him. “Always be prepared, that’s my motto.”

“You ain’t like any boy scout I ever saw,” he said, kicking his horse into gear.

“Bet you would have joined up, if I were,” she said.

Now it was his turn to smile. “Yes’m.”

They took off, heading onto the vast openness of the ranch. Bailey wasn’t naturally good with directions, but she had taught herself to be so by paying attention and focusing. Today they headed west, away from the sunrise, much to Bailey’s disappointment. This was her first glimpse of Texas, and she’d heard the sunrises were legendary. They rode due west for about an hour before heading north. They still hadn’t reached the edge of the ranch’s property, according to Jinx, but he wanted to show her where the rustlers were stealing cows in the northwest quadrant.

“This here’s the place, ma’am,” he said.

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