The Cowboy and the Calendar Girl by Nancy Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

called to Carly.
    To Hank, Becky whispered, “Nobody could fall off Laverne even if they tried. But Buttercup—well, you’d better be a little careful with her. She has a stubborn streak.”
    Hank groaned. With trepidation, he urged Buttercup after Laverne as Carly headed out of the ranch gate. He ignored his sister’s big grin and concentrated on balancing in the saddle. Silently, Hank prayed he could get through the day without breaking any bones.
    Passing through the gate, Buttercup gave an almost frisky swish of her tail as if she were happy to be setting off on an adventure. Hank clutched the saddle horn to keep his balance and cursed under his breath.
    Heading away from the ranch, Carly inhaled a deep gulp of South Dakota air. The morning had turned deliciously warm, and the air was so clear it almost hurt to breathe it. From astride her horse, Laverne, Carly could see for miles, and the country was exquisitely beautiful.
    “I could get used to this.”
    “Beg pardon?”
    Carly stammered, not realizing she’d spoken aloud and that Hank was just a few paces behind her. “I...I was just thinking, well, as long as a person has to live someplace, it might as well be as pretty as this.”
    Hank urged his horse forward and angled the animal so that his knee made contact with Carty’s in a friendly bump. “I had you pegged for a confirmed city girl.”
    “Oh, I am. But this is magnificent!”
    She spread one arm to indicate the panorama around them. The Black Hills rose ponderously over a seemingly endless green- and wheat-flecked prairie. Stands of aspen trees shivered in the slight breeze, their colors shifting like a shimmering waterfall. The cloudless sky was infinite and a shade of blue Carly had never seen before.
    “It’s gorgeous,” she added with a sigh. “Makes me glad to be alive.”
    To be honest, Hank’s proximity contributed most to Carly’s high spirits. It was amazing how much an attractive man on a horse could lift a girl’s mood. Glad to have the mouthwatering cowboy all to herself, she sent him a grin. “What should we do fust?”
    “First?” he asked, raising one bemused brow.
    “Well, I’d like to work up an appetite before we have our picnic,” she said smoothly. “How exactly do we look for strays?”
    He shrugged. “Think like a cow, I guess.”
    “You mean, try to figure out where they’d be hiding?”
    “Yeah, that’s it.”
    “I see. Well, if I were a cow, I’d want to be under those trees over there.” She pointed toward a stand of woods at the base of the mountain. “Wouldn’t you?”
    “It’s as good a place to start as any.”
    “Great I’ll race you!”
    Carly booted Laverne just like she’d seen in Western movies and was rewarded by a yelping shout from Hank and a lumbering gallop from her horse. Clinging to the saddle and a handful of mane, Carly whooped with delight. The wind whipped through her hair. The thunder of pounding hooves filled her ears. She could hear Hank’s horse breathing down her neck as they tore across a wide field, heading for the trees.
    She laughed with delight. It was like riding a carousel horse—a smooth rhythm as she sat in the rocking-chairlike saddle.
    At last, however, Laverne slowed down and jumped over a trickle of a stream. The landing jolted Carly almost out of her saddle, and she was glad her horse trotted to a halt within a few yards. Breathlessly she clumsily turned Laverne around to find out what had happened to Hank.
    Startled, she saw that he’d gotten off his horse and was hunkered down, studying some marks in the soft earth near the stream.
    Carly trotted Laverne over to him to see what he was doing.
    “What have you found?”
    Hank got up quickly—or was it stiffly?—and used his hat to brush dust from his jeans. “Oh, I was just looking at some tracks, that’s all.”
    Carly hadn’t noticed before that his jeans were so filthy. “You didn’t fall off your horse just now, did you?”
    “Of course