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"Would you consider going to a rodeo?"
Genie eyed Josh with curiosity. "What made you bring that up?"
"The Pine Grove Rodeo's coming up in three weeks. Jeremy's entered in bull riding and I'm one
of the bullfighters. I'm also entered in the freestyle bullfighting competition and I'd like you to be
there. You've formed an opinion about rodeos but you've never been to one. They might not be as bad
as you make them out to be."
"I've been to a rodeo," Genie replied."
"When?"
"Last week."
Josh looked askance at her. "Why?"
"I, umm& went with friends. They talked me into it," Genie replied.
"Which rodeo?"
Genie looked at Josh with a start. She hadn't intended to bring it up. It just slipped out. "The&
umm& one near where you live."
"St Paul?" Josh asked.
Genie nodded vaguely.
"How did you think I did?" Josh asked.
Genie looked at him, baffled. "Your name wasn't on the program and I didn't see you anywhere."
"That's because I wasn't there," Josh said.
"Then why did you ask what I thought of you?"
"To see what you'd say." Josh eyed her with amusement. "The only reason you went was to see
me."
"That's just not so," Genie replied. "I told you I went with friends."
Josh grinned. "If Abby wasn't around I'd kiss you, and we'll pick this up later."
"No, we won't," Genie said, but Josh had already stepped up his pace and was catching up with
Abby, who he scooped up from behind and lifted onto his shoulders.
Giggling, Abby grabbed his head and turned and gave Genie the widest grin yet, and Genie knew
there was big trouble ahead when it would come time to leave, and maybe the trouble wouldn't just be
with Abby.
It was a sobering thought, not wanting to leave a man whose profession tempted fate, while her
profession picked up the pieces when fate turned on such men, men like Cal, who'd promised her the
world and ended that world by flipping head over cycle in front of her eyes, a scene that replayed in
her mind for months. It wasn't until she was caring for Josh in the hospital that she was finally able to
put Cal aside. But then, another scene began to emerge, one of a bull goring a man who was slowly
making his way into her heart, and she didn't know what to do about it.
CHAPTER 6
Josh sat on his horse with Abby in the saddle in front of him. From his vantage point lay a wide
canyon with steep-sided buttes, and a view that stretched as far as the eye could see. Looking at
Genie, who sat on her horse beside him, he said, "So, what do you think?"
"It's breathtaking," Genie replied. "I had no idea it was so beautiful here."
"It took me a couple of months to get used to this country," Josh said, gazing across the vast
openness. "Back home we have mountains covered with evergreens so you have to get to the top to
see the view, but here, every turn in the trail brings a new vista. I guess I have the wanderlust in me
because I have the itch to see what's around every bend and over every butte. There's a lot of open
land out there to explore."
"Would you want to keep moving and exploring if you could?" Genie asked.
"If I didn't have to make a living, yeah, I'd probably want to do that," Josh replied. "I guess we
males would just keep wandering aimlessly around if you females didn't plant our boots in the soil
and force us to put down roots."
"Then you have no desire to settle down?" Genie asked, looking askance at him.
Josh met her gaze. "I don't think any man does, except maybe my brother, Adam. His boots are
planted firmly in Dancing Moon soil and it would take a bulldozer to pry them loose."
"And Ryan? Do you think he still has the wanderlust?"
Josh laughed. "Not any more. Annie clipped his wings but good."
"And you just want to trail along after rodeos, no wish for a home or family?" Genie asked.
Josh eyed her curiously. That question coming from most females meant they were nest building
and the guy the question was aimed at better set things straight or find himself trapped. He'd been
there twice, and each time, the woman he thought was right for him because she didn't have issues
with bullfighters or following the rodeo circuit, dumped him for bull riders. But Genie made it clear
that rodeo cowboys need not apply. "Maybe after I've run out of bends and buttes and rodeos I'll be
ready to settle down," he said.
"Then it's good you're single so you can follow your dream." Genie returned her attention to the
panorama, and as Josh looked at her firm profile, he could imagine having her in his life on a daily
basis, something he hadn't expected. The thought was a little disconcerting.
Feeling a small hand on his chin, he looked down at Abby and saw her peering up at him with big
trusting brown eyes that told him he was important to her, and he felt a strong sense of protection, the
way Adam said it was when he'd first learned that Jesse was his son.
As they rode along the high range, Josh found himself thinking about his brothers and their wives
and what they'd gone through to become a family. Adam wanted Emily above all else and would have
given everything he owned to have her. He'd even staked his life on getting her and was prepared to
fight to the death a man who was trained to kill, a man far superior in strength to Adam because he'd
trained himself to be that way. And Marc, who'd been following digs into the jungles of Mexico and
had his heart set on uncovering mounds in Central America, quit it all for a woman, and seemed
content living in a house with Kit and an imp of a little girl who Marc would lay down his life for in a
heartbeat. And for Annie, Ryan quit his dream of making it to the National Finals. Yet each time his
brothers gave up their dreams for women, Josh lost a little respect for them. Now, he could
understand it some. Not completely with his brothers and their women it seemed an all-or-nothing
choice but having done that, his brothers seemed happier and more fulfilled than ever&
Something crawling on his chin had him swatting at it, only to hear Abby giggling. He looked
down to find her palm up and her fingers wiggling, like an upside-down crawly bug had just tickled
him. He grabbed her hand, kissed the tip of each little finger, and said, "I kissed the big bug's feet this
time but next time I'll gobble then down."
Abby laughed and rested back, and when Josh felt her small body against him and saw her little
hands wrapped around the saddle horn, he realized how completely helpless she was. Impulsively he
curved his hand over hers and kept it there. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]