Leftover Love by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey [Dailey, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781451639834
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2011-02-01T08:00:00+00:00

Hoyt stood at the half-door of the barn and gazed at the gray clouds scudding across the sky. His face wore a disgruntled look as he turned away from the door and approached the stall where Layne was saddling the roan gelding.

“Would you just look at the sky?” he grumbled. “And I thought sure spring was on its way. I could smell it in the air.”

Stoney came tromping in from the barnyard, a collection of mud and manure globbed on his boots. “Yeah and it walks like spring out there too.” But he lacked Hoyt’s enthusiasm as he stomped his feet in an effort to rid himself of the excess weight on his boots. “I can’t stand this infernal mud,” he grumbled.

“Well, it won’t be around long. We got another cold spell on the way. Instead of complaining about the mud, you can grumble about the ice,” Hoyt declared, wrangling with the older cowboy in their usual fashion. “Nothing ever satisfies you. It’s either too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry.”

With the pad properly adjusted beneath the saddle, Layne bent down to grab the cinch strap and string it through the metal ring. “Did either of you catch the forecast this morning?”

“Yeah, and they called for snow, but the kid here didn’t think they knew what they were talking about,” Stoney returned the good-natured insult to his young friend. “Why do you think Creed’s sending us out to bunch the cattle closer to home?”

He slapped the rump of the saddled horse in the adjoining stall to urge it to one side, then walked in to unfasten the lead rope from the headstall under its bridle. The roan snorted and lifted its head to gaze after the horse backing out of the stall.

“Git your horse and come on, Hoyt,” Stoney chided the young cowboy for his slowness as he led his horse down the concrete walkway to the door at the end of the passageway.

“I’ll be along shortly,” Layne assured when she saw Hoyt look at her and hesitate.

“We’ll wait for you outside,” he promised, and untied his horse to lead it out.

After winding the strap through the cinch ring in a loose figure eight, Layne made the first pull to tighten the cinch. The ringing of ironclad hoofs on concrete ended as Hoyt led his horse out the far door, and a set of footsteps took the place of that sound. She recognized that long, swinging step and felt an edginess take hold of her nerves.

When they stopped at her horse’s stall, she didn’t glance around. Instead, she gave another tug of the cinch strap and gained another inch. She was conscious of his gaze studying her. It was an almost physical sensation. Three days had passed since she’d sought him out at his home, three days that not even the premature spring thaw had been able to melt. It was the last time she’d been alone with him until now.

He stepped into the stall and laid a gloved hand on her shoulder to nudge her out of the way.

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