Page 10 of Rein in the Night

Jade slapped a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. “Even kids have to learn how to dress when they grow up.”

Keena gasped. The bitch was bold.

“So have you seen Ryan or what?” Jade demanded.

“No,” Mirabelle said.

Jade sucked her teeth and swung around to head back out the door. Mirabelle slapped a hand over her mouth, her face turning beet red all over again, at Jade’s bare butt as she pranced out the door. Keena thought Mirabelle might pass out from embarrassment, and she tried to think of something to take the older woman’s mind off the skimpy fashions of loose women these days, but when she pulled herself together enough to speak, Mirabelle quipped, “I wonder how she walks with all that floss crammed between her cheeks.”

Keena’s laughter burst out, and it took her a good five minutes to stop. When she wiped tears from her eyes, she found Mirabelle handing her a cup of her special brew with a serious face and a tissue. Keena took the offerings amazed at how this woman could be on top of everything around the ranch, seem disconnected when she was in her kitchen, yet still know enough about the outside world to know that many people called a thong “floss” these days. She suspected Mirabelle would keep her on her toes the entire time she was here.

With the hot drink held between her palms, Keena slid her feet from her flip-flops and curled her legs beneath her on the chair. She took a small sip of the chocolaty liquid and closed her eyes in pleasure. “I think I need to steal you, Mirabelle, and take you back to New York with me.”

“Oh no, sweetie. None of that big-city stuff for me. I stay out here, and sometimes ride down to Vail with one of the boys, but no, I’m happy where I am. I guess I’m a cowgirl through and through myself. Although I did visit Denver a few years ago.” She shrugged.

Keena waited for her to make more of a comment on what Denver was like, but she said nothing, and Keena let it go. She stared down into her cup, swirling the contents with her spoon. Was she a city girl through and through, then, and that’s why she couldn’t get used to the quiet at night? Could she not change or grow in what she liked and disliked? For some reason her recent experiences had her thinking about her choices in life—those that didn’t have to do with men.

“About Ryan,” Mirabelle began.

Keena glanced up, surprised, thinking they had left that subject long ago. Mirabelle settled herself into the chair opposite Keena with her own cup of something hot. Keena waited in silence, despite everything she resolved, hoping to learn more about the mysterious man and wondering if Mirabelle knew about his special ability with animals.

“I’m only sharing this with you because I like you, Keena. I can tell just looking at you that you’re a sweet person. There’s a certain amount of innocence about you even at your age.”

Keena frowned. Damn, she wasn’t that old yet to be described with “at your age.”

Mirabelle went on. “Guard your heart, sweetie. Ryan will never fall for you. He’ll never fall for any woman.”

“But how did you . . . I mean . . .”

“Shoot, this ranch is family, I tell you. Child, you know how family likes to gab. More than any friends ever could.” She wagged a finger in Keena’s direction. “There are those who’ve seen the interest Ryan has shown you, mostly because he doesn’t. He never chases after the women, single or otherwise. For him to focus on you like he seems to have made everyone take notice. But”—she shook her head—“he’ll never love. Never again. His wife took care of that a long time ago.”

Keena’s eyes widened. “His wife! I didn’t know he was married.” She pinched her lips together and took her cup in a grip that was liable to break off the handle. Another lying, cheating son of a jackass.

“Not anymore. She left him after two years of marriage and divorced him.” Mirabelle stared Keena in the eyes, her expression serious, as if to get her meaning through. “I’m not telling you anything everyone else who has worked on this farm doesn’t know as far as Ryan being divorced. But the details of what happened are his business. Suffice it to say, that woman crushed him leaving him when he needed her most.”

Mirabelle’s eyes glazed over, which made Keena think that she did know the details of why the marriage went sour, but she was right. No one needed to know the details. Keena imagined that was why Ryan was so distant, so cold most of the time. However, on the occasions she had spent time alone with him, he’d seemed to warm up a little. She wouldn’t put too much stock in that. Like Mirabelle said, just because two adults were attracted to one another, it didn’t make it love. She was no more eager for that kind of connection than he was. Maybe that’s why he had unbent enough to seek her out. Involvement between the two of them would be no strings attached.

A tingle rolled over Keena’s skin. An affair? He hadn’t offered anything, but there was definitely interest there in something physical. She’d never been involved in something like that, preferring things to progress at a slower pace, to see if the relationship between her and the man she dated would evolve enough to meet her ultimate goal—marriage. Now, all that had changed.

Did she dare? She still had physical needs, and this might be a way to adjust to a life of the occasional casual sexual relationship once she got back home to New York. Knowing that she wouldn’t lose her heart to Ryan and that he wouldn’t lose his to her, that she would be leaving in a couple weeks, it might be worth exploring.

After scooping up the last of her pie on her fork and draining the last of her drink, she stood up to take her dishes to the sink. Mirabelle brushed her asi

de when she would have washed them. “I’ll get those. You go on and get some rest.”

On impulse, Keena gave Mirabelle a quick hug, thinking the woman reminded her of Aunt Delores, without the benefit of knowing Keena’s shame. “Thanks for everything, Mirabelle. And don’t worry. I have no intention of losing my heart to Ryan, or anyone else, right now.”

The older woman nodded, offering a sad smile. “Yeah, I can see the sadness in your eyes. Some foolish man let you get away. I say his loss.”

Startled at first, Keena agreed. “You’re right. His loss. Night.”

“Night, Keena.”

Chapter Six

Keena let herself out through the kitchen door and shut it behind her. Her flip-flops slapped against the wood porch outside the main lodge, and she descended the stairs to the gravel walkway. At some point while she was chatting with Mirabelle, clouds had rolled in to cover the moon. Now, she found picking her way over the gravel in these shoes not the best course.

She paused in fear when an owl hooted overhead and a shadow swooped nearby. Tamping down panic, she groused. “I know I’m short, but I’m not small enough to be mistaken for a mouse, you idiot. Get out of here!”

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