Single In The Saddle by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Author:Vicki Lewis Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

9

STONY HAD NEVER heard such nonsense in his life, but his men were acting as if they loved the idea of rearranging their furniture.

Daphne edged over to him. “I was going to suggest painting the outside, but that might take a lot of time and money, huh?”

“Yep.” He watched in amazement as the circle of bunks took shape. Big Clyde produced a tape measure and proceeded to make sure each bunk was the same distance from the table and the other bunks.

“So how about if I just suggest painting the door?” Daphne said. “Would that be too wild?”

“Just the door? I guess not. Somebody could do that in one evening, without taking daylight for it.”

“Good. And while I’m in town tomorrow, I’ll look for some inexpensive material for curtains.”

“Curtains?”

“Something jaunty.”

“What’s next?” Andy said, coming up with a huge smile on his face. “Are you gonna get up on the table and show us how you can stand on one foot, like they did in The Karate Kid?”

“She’s not getting up on the table,” Stony said. “Not now, and not in the future.”

“Aw, come on, Stony,” Andy said. “I’ve never seen a real expert.”

“According to the expert,” Stony said, “you boys are about to get some curtains.”

“Curtains?” Andy’s smile faded.

“Yeah, curtains!” Ramon said, coming up to clap Andy on the back. “You know, those things that civilized folks hang in their windows. Daphne is trying to give you a little class, sefior Andy.”

“Curtains just get dirty,” Ty said. “And they never hang straight, and they usually don’t match nothin’. I tried havin’ curtains once, and they just hung there and got dirty.”

“So you wash ’em,” said Big Clyde.

“Exactly,” Jasper said, glaring at Ty. “We’d love to have us some curtains, wouldn’t we, boys?”

Each of the cowboys, with the exception of Ty, tried to outdo the other in his enthusiasm for curtains. Stony had never seen the like. His men had gone loco.

Big Clyde whipped out his tape measure again. “I’ll measure them windows for you, ma’am.”

Daphne smiled happily. “Thank you. That way I’ll know how much material to buy. I also thought I’d pick up a small can of paint in town, so we can paint the front door. You can’t expect good fortune to find your door if it doesn’t stand out a little bit. What do you think of red?”

“Red?” Stony almost choked on the word. “You’re gonna paint the bunkhouse door red? It’ll look like a cathouse!”

Daphne gave him a withering look. “It will not. It will invite the chi inside.”

“That ain’t all it’ll invite,” Stony mumbled.

“Just watch. A red door will enhance everyone’s career.”

“You reckon Stony’s gonna give us a raise?” Andy asked.

“Don’t count on it, son,” Stony said. “After buying curtain materials and red paint, I may be broke.”

“Nonsense,” Daphne said. “The ranch will start doing better economically as a result of the changes, so it all evens out.”

“In order to do better, we need some rain,” Big Clyde said. “There’s not enough grass, and them cows ain’t gettin’ as fat as they should.

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