Page 77 of Texas Destiny
Austin jumped to his feet. “You can’t do that.”
“I need to see how badly Houston is hurt.”
“What makes you think he’s hurt?”
She tilted her head and studied him, wondering when it was that people lost the innocent way they viewed life. “I’ve seen Dallas ride. He didn’t fall off his horse.”
“Then what happened?”
Reaching up, she brushed the dark hair from his youthful brow. He ducked his head in embarrassment at her attentions. “I think he and Houston got into a fight.”
“Houston? Ah, no, ma’am. Houston wouldn’t have hit him. Houston never fights. Maybe Dallas ran into some cattle rustlers and just wanted to spare you the worry.”
“Then why did he tell you not to take me to see Houston?”
“I don’t know. He’s not a man I question.”
“I know that you’re probably right, and I’m probably wrong, but I need to see Houston.”
He sighed heavily. “What if I just went to check on him?”
“No, I need to see him.”
“All right. I’ll get our horses.”
She heard him muttering oaths as he strode away. If she was right, she expected to be muttering a few of her own before the day was over.
“See? He’s just fine,” Austin said as they brought their horses to a halt at the edge of Houston’s property. “He wouldn’t be inside the corral working with the palomino if he wasn’t.”
“I want to see him more closely.”
She started to urge the horse forward, but Austin snaked out his hand and grabbed her arm.
“We can’t go ridin’ in there while he’s alone in the corral. We spook that horse, and she’ll pound Houston into the ground.”
“All right, I’ll walk.”
She dismounted, only to find Austin barring her way.
“You know, you are more stubborn than Dallas ever thought about being. Let me tie these horses up over at that bush and I’ll walk with you. If we don’t do this right, we’ll get him killed.”
“I know how to approach a wild mustang. I was with Houston when he rode into the herd.”
Using his thumb, he tipped his hat off his brow, his blue eyes wide. “He took you with him? Into the herd?”
She smiled at the memory.
“God damn it! He never took me. He always made me wait by the corral he’d built for them so I could close the gate. How come he took you?”
“I guess he couldn’t leave me alone.”
“What’d it feel like?” he asked in awe. “What’d it feel like to be in the middle of all them horses?”
“Wonderful.” She put her hand on his arm. “Let me see if Houston is all right, and then I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Wait here,” he ordered before taking the horses back to the bush.
Amelia turned her attention back to the corral. Without a shirt or hat, Houston stood in the center of the corral, leading the palomino on a rope. The horse trotted in a circle.
