Dashing Druid (Texas Druids) (5 page)

Later, after the noon meal, he removed his soggy shirt in the afternoon heat, and Lil was mesmerized by the play of muscles across his broad shoulders and tapering back. She wondered how it would feel to run her hands over that hard, sweat-slicked expanse. When he turned around, she found it hard to breathe. The curly black hair plastered to his damp chest fascinated her. Narrowing across a lean, contoured belly, the dark trail disappeared beneath his belt buckle. How far down did it go? Shocked by her brazen thought, she hastily turned away – and met Thea Knudson’s knowing gaze.

“He’s an eyeful, isn’t he,” her friend said slyly.

“I . . . I don’t know who you mean.”

“Don’t you? I guess I must have imagined all the times I caught you staring at the man, hmm?” Thea giggled and leaned close to whisper in Lil’s ear. “Don’t worry, I won’t let on to anyone, ʼspecially your ma.” With a teasing little grin, she hurried off to corral her children.

Afire with embarrassment, Lil vowed not to look at Tye Devlin again. He was a sweet-talking Irish scoundrel. Ma had ordered her to stay clear of him, and she was right.

By early evening the barn was up. Morg Bayliss and his wife Kate offered their sincere thanks, and everyone felt pleased with a job well done.

As Lil packed away leftovers, she looked up to see Tye Devlin strolling toward her. Her breath caught. She hadn’t expected him to approach her again, not after her mother’s rude behavior. She glanced around quickly. Her parents were talking to the Baylisses. What would happen if Ma spotted her with Devlin again?

Too late to worry about that; he already stood before her, hands on his hips. He flashed his charmer’s smile, and she caught a scent of sweat and man that curled through her insides.

“Well, lovely colleen, I regret we had no chance to get better acquainted. Perhaps next time.”

Lil stiffened. He was mocking her again, calling her lovely. “What makes you think there’ll be a next time, or that I want to get better acquainted with you?”

He smiled crookedly. “Since I’ll be staying on at the River T, I’m fairly certain we’ll meet again. As for the other, a man can hope, aye?” He shook his head. “Though I’ve no right to, if truth be told.” With another tired looking smile, he touched his hat and strode away.

Baffled by his last remark, Lil watched him walk over to his horse. She jumped at the sound of her mother’s angry voice behind her.

“I said stay away from that Yankee Irishman. You shame your brother by taking up with one of those who killed him. And do you not care that his sister belongs to the bluecoat who deserted you?”

Lil sighed wearily. “Oh, Ma, David didn’t desert me. And I’m not taking up with anyone. Devlin was only saying so long.” Maybe that was stretching the truth some but she didn’t care. She’d been brought up to respect her elders, and she did her best to be a dutiful daughter, yet there were moments like this one when she felt suffocated.

“Humph. It did not look that way to me.”

Swallowing a sharp retort, Lil turned away. “There’s some sweet potato pie left. Do you want to leave it for the Baylisses?” she asked.

She hoped she’d heard the last about Tye Devlin, but on the way home her mother brought him up again. In a lengthy outburst for her, she went on about Jessie Taylor and her Yankee-loving husband bringing in more of
her kind,
meaning Irish Yankees. Then she lit into Lil again for talking to Devlin.

This time Lil’s irritation burst forth. “Ma, stop treating me like a green-broke filly. And I only spoke to him for a minute.”

“Don’t take that tone with your mother, gal,” her father barked. “And do like she says. Stay away from that Devlin fella. Your uncle and me might end up doing business with the Taylors, but I don’t want you mixing with them or their relations.”

“Tarnation, Del, I don’t see any harm in her just talking to the boy,” Jeb put in.

“Is that so? Well, I’ll thank you to keep out of this.”

“Land sakes, will y’all stop making such a fuss!” Lil cried. “Tye Devlin’s nothing to me. How many times do I have to say it? Besides, what would he want with an old maid like me when he can have any gal he wants?”

Pa and Jeb denied she was an old maid, but after that they shut up. Finally.

* * *

The next morning, Tye stood in the middle of a small corral, fighting to control the angry mule on the other end of his taut rope.

“Hang on to him, boy! Show him who’s boss,” Sul called from outside the corral, where he stood with arms folded on the top rail of the fence.

Tye shot him an irritated glance, wound the lead rope around his hand, and dug his heels into the ground. The recalcitrant beast brayed furiously and kicked, trying to dislodge the heavy bag of sand tied to his back.

“Take it easy,” Tye muttered. “Ye might as well get used to it. You’ll be carrying heavier loads for the army.”

As if understanding him, the mule soon gave up the fight and began to trot obediently around the corral. Tye wasn’t surprised. This was his second battle with the animal, and he’d broken enough mules by now to know they usually settled down by the second or third session. They were surprisingly smart and far easier to gentle than the wild mustangs with which they’d been captured.

Tye longed to try his hand at breaking one of the unruly broncs. He imagined himself riding a bucking horse to a standstill as he’d watched some of the cowboys do. But Sul, still acting as his keeper, refused to hear of it, and Tye knew better than to plead his case with David. That would undermine what little respect he’d earned from the other hands.

Satisfied that he’d worked the fight out of this particular mule, Tye decided to put his request to Sul one more time. By now the veteran cowboy had drifted over to the main corral, where the horses were being broken under the direction of Luis Medina. Sturdily built but not very tall, the vaquero was as agile as a cat, and his skill with horses was close to miraculous.

Luis was married to Maria, the ranch cook, and the couple had four children. Their oldest boy, Vittorio, acted as shepherd for his brothers and sister, and often for little Nora as well. Right now he was giving her a piggyback ride around the ranch yard. Tye grinned at her delighted squeals as he strode over to Sul and Luis.

The Mexican’s mustached, nut-brown face cracked into a smile at something Sul had just said. Then both men glanced at Tye as he walked up to join them.

“How’s that mule comin’ along, boy? You ready to tackle another one?” Sul asked.

Tye crossed his arms. “No, but I am ready to have a go at one of the horses.”

Scowling at him, Sul spat a stream of tobacco juice into the dust. “Shoot, you gonna pester me about that agin? How many times do I gotta say no? Just cuz Luis taught yuh to set a horse proper don’t mean you’re ready to climb aboard one of them hurricane decks.”

“And how will I ever be ready if ye never let me try? Isn’t the best way to learn simply to do it?”

“No. Uh-uh, no sir.”

“
Amigo
, why not let him try one time?” Luis said in his soft-spoken, melodious accent. He met Tye’s surprised gaze from the shade of his
sombrero,
his black mustache crooking upward.

Sul glowered at him. “And maybe have him break his fool neck? Now, how would I face Miz Jessie if I let that happen?”

“The blame will be mine, not yours,” Luis replied calmly.

Indecision showed on Sul’s face, giving Tye a surge of hope. Finally, the old-timer rubbed his bristly chin and grumbled, “All right, have it your way, Luis. But if he gets hisself hurt, you’re darn tootin’ gonna do the explainin’.”

Moments later, Tye settled himself on a snorting, quivering bay mare while Luis and a hand named Pete Simms held her in check.

“Remember, try to keep her head up,” Luis instructed.

Tye nodded and took a firm grip on the reins with one hand. He would use his free arm for balance as he’d seen the other men do. His mouth was cotton-dry, and it felt like he had a hundred butterflies in his belly, but he was determined to make a good showing, especially in front of Luis.

Even so, he questioned his sanity when the infuriated mustang jumped straight up in the air under him and landed with a spine-wrenching jolt. On her second leap, he forgot all about keeping the mare’s head up. Instinctively, he grabbed the saddle horn, fighting to keep his seat. Now the ornery beast tucked her head and bounded forward in a twisting motion that turned her in a half circle.

The maneuver worked. Tye lost his grip and went flying. He slammed into the ground on his back, knocking the wind half out of him. Purely by reflex, he rolled out of the way to avoid being stomped. He ended up on his stomach near the corral fence with dirt in his mouth and laughter in his ears. Turning his head, he saw two cowhands grin down at him from the other side of the fence.

“Yuh look real natural down there, greenhorn,” one drawled while the other heehawed loudly.

By the saints, he’d show them!

Spitting dirt, he pushed to his feet and brushed himself off. Luis and Pete had already cornered the mare. Snatching up his dusty hat, Tye clapped it back on and marched over to where the two men fought to control the balky horse. Luis gave him a look that asked if he really wanted to do this.

Tye clenched his jaw and stepped into the saddle. He set himself and jerked a nod for them to turn her loose. Again, the mare heaved upward, doing her best to buck him off. This time it took her a few seconds longer to succeed.

He hit the ground on his right side, and pain shot through his arm. Clutching it, he gritted his teeth and wondered if he’d broken it again. The pain receded, however, and the arm worked all right when he tried it. He got to his feet more slowly than before, noting that his audience had grown. Several cowhands now lined the corral fence, enjoying the show. He heard some guffaws and a couple of good-natured, razzing comments.

As he was about to climb back on the mare, Luis laid a hand on his shoulder. “
Hombre
, you are hurt, no? You do not need to go on with this.”

“Aye, I do,” Tye replied, ignoring the ache in his arm. He remounted and dug his boots firmly into the stirrups. “Let her go.”

He was starting to get the hang of it now. The mustang took considerably longer to unseat him. When he landed, he forced himself to stay loose and roll, as the other men did when thrown. That made the impact a bit easier to take. To his satisfaction, he heard no laughter this time. One cowboy even called encouragement to him as he trudged back over to the stubborn bay mare.

Again the bronc was off and bucking the second Luis and Pete released her. She tucked her head between her front legs, arched her back, and took three jarring leaps forward. Then she tried to swap ends in midair like before, but Tye foiled the attempt, jerking her head up. The animal screamed furiously.

An enthusiastic uproar sounded from Tye’s audience. “That’s it, Irish, give her the business! Don’t let her swallow her head!” one hand yelled.

“Hug your tree, cowboy! Give that cayuse a taste of your spurs!” another shouted.

Taking the man’s advice, Tye dug his spurs into the mare’s flanks. She neighed shrilly again and took off around the corral, running more than bucking now.

A woman’s gasp caught Tye’s ear, and he glanced aside long enough to see Jessie waddle up to the fence. She stared in horror as his mount crow-hopped past her. Then she tore into Sul.

“Are ye mad, letting him ride that devil? He could be killed!”

“Uh, I didn’t rightly . . . I mean . . .” Sul stammered.

Tye missed the rest of his reply, but as he circled back toward Jessie, Luis spoke up.

“It is my doing,
Señora
. If you are angry, be so at me. But perhaps you should look first, no?” He pointed over her shoulder as Tye cantered up on the winded mare.

Jessie swung around, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

Limping up beside her, Reece chuckled. “Well, I’ll be. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a new bronc twister.”

For a brief moment, Tye savored his victory and wished Lil Crawford were here to witness it, but then he was filled with disgust at himself. How could he think of impressing the woman when he wasn’t worth the dirt under her boots?

* * *

The crew was about to head to the cook shack for supper when David showed up at the bunkhouse. He motioned Tye to wait. Certain his brother-in-law meant to reprimand him for riding that mustang and upsetting Jessie, Tye frowned at the curious glances he got from the other men as they filed out.