Page 14 of Irish Rebel
And had assumed she whiled away her time having lunch in some trendy spot, or shopping. Having her hair done or her fingernails painted. Whatever it was rich daughters did with their days.
But here she was, circling the paddock with a bunch of kids, obviously instructing them. He supposed it was a kind of hobby, teaching the privileged children of country club parents how to ride in proper English style.
Hobby or not, she looked good doing it. She’d chosen an informal look of jeans and a cotton shirt the color of blueberries. She’d pulled her hair back in some sort of band so that it fell in a wildly curling ponytail. Her boots appeared old, scuffed and serviceable.
She seemed to be enjoying herself. He didn’t believe he’d seen her smile like that before. Not so quick and open and warm. Unable to resist, he walked closer as she stopped one of her students, stroked a hand over the horse’s neck as she and the little girl had what appeared to be an earnest conversation.
By the time he’d reached the fence, Keeley had lined up all but the girl. Teaching them to control their mounts, he decided, to keep them quiet while something was going on around them.
The single rider posted prettily around the paddock, while Keeley turned a circle to keep her in sight. And circling, she saw Brian leaning on the fence.
The smile vanished, and he thought that was a true shame. But there was something almost as appealing about that cool, suspicious look she often aimed in his direction. He answered it with a grin, and settled in to watch the rest of the lesson.
Keeley didn’t mind an audience. Often her parents or one of her siblings or one of the hands stopped by to watch. She’d certainly carried on her lessons with a parent or two of a student looking on. But since she didn’t care for this particular observer, she ignored him.
One by one she selected a student to go through the day’s routine solo. She corrected form, encouraged, pushed a little when it was needed for more effort or concentration. When she called for dismount, every one of them groaned.
“Five more minutes, Miss Keeley. Can’t we ride for five more minutes?”
“I already let you ride five more minutes.” She patted Shelly’s knee. “Next week we’re going to try a canter.”
“I’m getting a horse for Christmas,” Lynn announced. “And next spring, my mother says we’ll enter shows.”
“Then you’ll have to work very hard. Cool off your mounts.”
“That’s a fine-looking group you have there, Miss Keeley.”
Ingrained manners had her acknowledging Brian, walking over to the fence as she kept her eye on her students. “I like to think so.”
“That boy there?” He nodded toward the dark-eyed, thin-faced Willy. “He’s in love with that horse. Dreams of him at night, of racing over fields and hills and adventuring.”
It made her smile again. “Teddy loves him, too. Teddy Bear,” she explained. “A big, gentle sweetheart.”
“This lot’s lucky to have the wherewithal for lessons with a good instructor, and smart mounts. You stable them here? I haven’t seen any of these down in my area.”
“They’re mine. I stable them here.” Her horses, her school, her responsibility. “Excuse me. The lesson’s not over until the horses are groomed.”
Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry? Brian thought. Well, he had a few things to see to. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t wander back this way in a bit.
He bothered her. There was no real explanation for it, Keeley thought. It just was. She didn’t like the way he looked at her. And why was she the only one who seemed to notice that edge in his eyes when they landed on her.
She didn’t like the way he talked to her. And again, she seemed to be the only one aware of that sly little lilt in his voice when he said her name.
Everyone else thought Brian Donnelly was just dandy, she mused as she ran her hands up a gelding’s legs to check for heat. Her parents considered him the perfect man to replace Uncle Paddy—and Uncle Paddy had nothing but praise for him.
Sarah thought he was hot. Patrick thought he was cool. And Brendon thought he was smart.
“Outnumbered,” she muttered, and lifted the horse’s foreleg to check the hoof.
Maybe it was some chemical reaction. Something that caused her hackles to rise when he was in the vicinity. After all, he appeared to be perfectly competent in his work. More than, she admitted, from what she’d heard. And as they were both busy, they would rarely bump up against each other. So it shouldn’t matter.
But she didn’t like the fact that she was avoiding the stables and shedrow. That she was deliberately foregoing the pleasure of wandering down that way and watching the workouts, or lending a hand in grooming. She didn’t like knowing that about herself.
She certainly didn’t care for the fact that she suspectedheknew it. Which gave him entirely too much importance.
Which, she admitted, she was doing even now just by thinking of him.
The horse wickered. Keeley’s shoulders stiffened.
