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  He found lot 236 and gave his approval. There were six beautiful Arabs being offered. Just the kind of horse to catch his dad’s eye. One stallion and five fillies. The stallion was antsy, dancing a little on his fine hooves, his neck arched as he looked over the crowd. Yes, perfect for Big Jim Garrett.

  Colt moved down the line to locate the other horses Big Jim had deemed worthy. At the very end of the line, he found lot 211. This was a mixed lot with a big Appaloosa stallion, a roan gelding, a couple of Appaloosa fillies, and two sorrel fillies. Not a bad lot at all.

  A young boy was leaning against the fence, stroking the stallion’s neck. Silent tears were running unchecked down his face.

  Cute kid. He had dark hair in need of a trim and a few freckles scattered across his nose. His clothes were worn, and his boots were scuffed.

  “Hey, son,” Colt said. “This looks like a good horse. What can you tell me about him?” He reached to give the horse’s nose a stroke.

  The boy sniffed. “He is a great horse. His name is Sam. I raised him from the time he was a foal.”

  “Good job. And now you’re selling him?”

  “No,” the boy moaned. “My big brother is. He says we need the money and we can’t afford the feed anymore.”

  Colt felt a tightness invade his chest. “That’s too bad. What’s your name, boy?”

  “Mark,” he answered. “Mark Dalton. I’m only twelve. If I was older I could get a job and pay for his feed.”

  At the name Dalton, Colt sucked in a breath. Mark had the same coloring as Misty. Maybe a younger sibling? “My name is Colton Garrett. You can call me Colt. Maybe we could work something out.” He chatted with the boy for a bit and then returned to the auction barn.

  From the entrance, he glanced back and saw Misty approaching the boy. She handed him a canned soft drink and gave him a hug.

  Colt could see the pain on her face as well. He recalled the boy’s words that they couldn’t afford to buy feed for their stock. Sad state for a family.

  * * *

  “Well, hell,” Big Jim exploded. “When I suggested you might want to buy some stock, I didn’t mean for you to buy the lot I was interested in.”

  Colt grinned at him. “My mistake, Dad. I thought you would be satisfied with those fine Arabs and leave the other lot for me.”

  “Mistake, my ass!” Big Jim was grumbling, but he finally admitted he was glad Colton had invested in some horses on his own. Why this particular lot, Colt couldn’t explain.

  “Dunno, Dad. That big Appaloosa looked like he could sire a few good foals, and the Appaloosa fillies are fine too.”

  “I’m glad you broke loose with some of that money you’ve been sitting on forever.” Big Jim shook his silvered head, piercing his son with the intensity of his blue eyes. “I’ve paid you for working on the ranch since you were in grade school. I’ve never seen a kid hoard cash the way you do. I’m just glad you finally found something to invest in.”

  “I have other horses,” Colt said, a defensive note in his voice.

  “Gifts. Every one of your horses has been a gift.”

  Colt grinned. “You can give me those Arabs anytime you want.”

  Big Jim snorted. “Not a chance. I’m going to the cattle auction now, unless you want to buy the lot I’m planning to bid on.”

  Colt slapped Big Jim on the shoulder. “No, you go ahead. Maybe Beau will bid on them.” He watched as Big Jim shook his head and made his way to the cattle area.

  “Colt?”

  He turned to find Mark Dalton gazing up at him. “Hey, son.”

  “Did you mean what you said?” the boy asked.

  Colt regarded him seriously. “Sure did. Are you agreeable?”

  A grin split Mark’s face. “Are you kidding? Yes.” He stuck out his hand.

  Colt shook it, somberly. “So, we’re partners, right?”

  The boy nodded.

  “And you’ll ride the bus out to the Garrett ranch after school to give Sam some exercise and do other jobs for me?”

  Another gleeful nod.

  “I’ll drive you home after your work is done. I’m going to pay you, and you can buy Sam back from me anytime you see fit.”

  “Yes!” Mark shook hands enthusiastically.

  “Deal,” Colt said. “See you Monday afternoon.” He turned to watch Mark race out of the show barn, a grin plastered across his face.

  “I don’t know what you’re planning, but you better not break my brother’s heart.”

  Colton whirled around to find Misty Dalton gazing up at him. Not an ounce of trust in those dark eyes. “I assure you I had no such intentions.”

  “He’s had enough pain and disappointment to last a lifetime. I won’t let you hurt him again.” Her lower lip trembled, and Colt had to stop himself from reaching out to stroke her cheek. Her skin was alabaster white, setting off the large, dark eyes to perfection.

  He reached for her hand instead. “I understand how you feel about your little brother. I have two of them, and I feel the same way.” Her hand felt small tucked inside his large one.

  She lifted her chin slightly, still skewering him with her dark gaze. “But you’re big enough to stop anyone who tried to hurt them.” She wrested her hand from his grasp.

  He nodded. “I am, but I respect your feelings, and I would never do anything to cause Mark any pain. I grew up on a ranch, and my dad paid me for my chores. I’ll do the same for Mark. It will be good for him and good for me too.”

  “But why are you doing this?” she persisted.

  He heaved a sigh. “Why not? Can’t I just take an interest in Mark? He was so heartbroken at losing the horse. I wanted to help him.”

  Her expression softened. “Okay,” she said reluctantly.

  He was curious as to why this family was in financial trouble. Not being able to afford to feed one’s stock was indeed a problem. “I’m sorry you had to sell your horses, but be secure in the knowledge that they will be well cared for at the Garrett ranch.”

  She nodded, pressed her lips together, and suppressed a shiver. “Good to know… My father is ill, and it pained him to agree to sell, but my brother Joe convinced him it was for the best.”

  Colton considered the young woman in front of him. He had to admire her courage as well as her beauty. “I’m sorry your father is ill,” he said. “I wish him a speedy recovery.”

  Her lips twitched. “He’s on hospice.”

  The full weight of her pronouncement settled heavily on him. “Tough break. Will you and your brothers be okay?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She turned away, grimacing.

  “Well, I hope to see you again sometime.” Colton raised a hand, but she walked away from him so, he thought, he wouldn’t see her tears.

  Chapter 2

  Colton and Beau walked into the Eagles Hall together and paid the entrance fee. They were early. The band was just setting up, but the parking lot was filling with trucks, and people were streaming inside the hall, some couples and some stag.

  The brothers gazed around the huge room lined with tables and a dance floor close to the raised stage. They headed for the bar, and Colton paid for the first round. He took a slow draw on his longneck and leaned back against the bar to survey the gathering crowd.

  He recognized many of the local residents. Whether they were fellow ranchers, people he knew from school or church, or some of the tradespeople from around town, he could count a lot of familiar faces. But there were also people from the surrounding area. Due to the fact that a popular band from Amarillo was gathering on stage and it was known to draw quite a crowd, he figured some of the crowd had even driven from the city.

  When he glanced in the mirror over the bar, he was in for a surprise. At the opposite end, Misty Dalton stood gazing somberly down at the longneck in front of her.
Raising it to her lips, she tilted her head back, took a long swallow, and then set it back on the bar. She resumed her quiet contemplation of the bottle.

  Colton picked up his beer and joined her. “Are you old enough to be drinking?”

  She glanced at him, a flash of dark fire in her eyes, but her voice was soft when she spoke. “Of course I am. My twenty-second birthday was this past Wednesday.”

  “You’ve got a baby face.” He raised his bottle in a silent toast. “Happy birthday, Misty. I hope you had a good one.”

  Her shoulders sagged. “Not so much.” She took another swig of the beer.

  Colton leaned both forearms on the polished wood of the bar. “Well, we should celebrate. It’s not every day one turns twenty-two.” He mentally calculated the difference in their ages. Six years wasn’t so bad. “How about tomorrow night? I’ll take you to dinner at the steak house.”

  She glanced up again. “Aw, you don’t have to do that.”

  “I’d like to take you to dinner. I can pick you up at six.”

  Her dark eyes seemed to be assessing him. “I don’t know what my dad would say.”

  “It’s just dinner,” he said. “You know, to celebrate your birthday.”

  She nodded. “That would be nice. I’ll see how Dad is feeling tomorrow.” She met his gaze shyly. “I can call you if he’s feeling well enough to be left alone with my brothers.”

  Colt swallowed. There was an air of sadness that seemed to hang over her like a shroud tonight. Not the same spunky young woman who had challenged him earlier. “That will be fine. I hope you can work it out.” He asked for her phone and punched his number in. He handed it back, hoping he would hear from her.

  The band was tuning up their instruments, and one of the Eagle members stepped to the microphone to make announcements. He rattled off the name of the band and a list of upcoming events. By the time he finished, the band began to play their first number, a fast polka.

  A few couples took to the floor and whirled around at a rapid clip. Colton watched Misty watching the dancers. He wanted to hold her in his arms, and the easiest way to accomplish that was on the dance floor.

  When the song ended, the band started up a two-step, and he decided to make his move. “Would you like to dance?”

  She shrugged. “I guess so.” She set her bottle on the bar and strode out onto the dance floor, once again reminding him of a queen among her subjects. When she reached the center of the floor, she turned to him, and he gathered her in his arms.

  Nice. He held her for a moment, realizing she felt perfectly matched to him. Tall and slender, she placed her hand in his and the other on his shoulder. He experienced a squeezing in his chest but set off dancing when he would rather be kissing her.

  As Colt moved to the music, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Misty’s face. Due to his size, people generally got out of his way on the dance floor, but he felt especially protective of his partner, making sure no one bumped into them. He wondered how, in the course of a few hours, he had become so interested in her.

  It wasn’t only her beauty but also her attitude that captured his interest. This girl had an inner strength she must have earned the hard way.

  He wanted to know everything about her but was reluctant to pummel her with questions. He wanted to be in her life but knew he had no right to expect her to open up to him when she had so much going on with her family. He wanted to be the only man in her life, but right now, he was just her dance partner and perhaps her dinner companion the following night, if things played out in his favor.

  As he danced, he dreaded the end of the song when he would have to let her go, but the next dance was a waltz.

  She looked up at him, a sweet smile on her lips. “Oh, a waltz. Can we do this one too? I love to waltz.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, surprised that his stomach was doing flip-flops like the first time he had ever asked a girl to dance. He swirled her around the dance floor, delighted when she grinned and leaned into the turns. Her long hair flowed out behind her in the wake of their turns, and she looked, for the first time, as though she had left her pain behind.

  All too soon, the waltz came to an end, and Colton was left to escort Misty back to the bar. He placed his hand at her waist, enjoying the sensation of her warm skin just beneath the cotton shirt and the firm muscles as she walked. “Thanks for the dances,” he murmured when they reached the bar.

  She flashed him a smile. “I enjoyed it.”

  He took a few steps down the bar to where Beau stood, nursing his beer. “Man, you got it bad.”

  Colt expelled a breath. “I know. I can’t figure out what happened to me.”

  Beau snorted with laughter. “I can. My big bro has finally fallen for a girl who isn’t all goofy about him.”

  Colt snuck another glance at Misty. “You could be right.”

  “She’s the first one who isn’t worshiping at your shrine. How does that make your ego feel? I mean, now that you’re like the rest of us mere mortals?”

  Colton lifted his bottle to salute Beau. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  “You bet. It looked like you were about to gobble her up out there on the dance floor. Just glad you made it back without embarrassing yourself.”

  “Keep it up, Little Bro.” Colton felt a stab of jealousy as another man came to ask Misty to dance. Her new dance partner must have been someone she knew because they immediately began to talk.

  Beau inclined his head toward the twosome. “Got a little competition there, Bubba.”

  “Don’t call me that.” Colton watched as Misty danced in another man’s arms. “I’m going to marry that girl.”

  * * *

  Misty kept glancing at Colton while she danced with one of her former classmates. She loved to dance, but something about being held in Colton Garrett’s strong arms had thrilled her to her toes. No, she didn’t want to lose her head. It couldn’t mean anything to the all-powerful Colt Garrett to be dancing with her, but for a moment there, it had felt so right. She could have stayed in his embrace all night.

  She returned to the bar when the song was over and picked up the bottle of beer she had been sipping. She needed to make it last, because she shouldn’t be spending any more money. Add that to the fact that she had never indulged in more than one serving of beer at a time, and those were on the sly from Joe’s stash.

  She was supposed to wait here for Joe and Mark, who had collected the check from the auction and were to pick her up for the ride home. She hoped her dad would be relieved and not worry so much about their finances. His illness was enough for him to handle without being concerned for the ones he would leave behind.

  Casting a quick glance down the length of the bar, she saw Colton staring at her. She swallowed hard, as a blush crept up her neck and painted her cheeks. He can’t possibly like me. Not really. Not like a girlfriend. We’re too different. Too far apart. She tilted the bottle to her lips, drained it, and then set it back on the bar.

  “Can I buy you another?” It was Colton, his voice deep and rich, wrapping around her like a warm blanket.

  “Um, no, thanks. I’m a total lightweight. I just wanted to buy a beer to prove I could.” She smiled up at him, hoping she didn’t sound like a complete idiot.

  A smile touched his lips. “You do have that baby-faced thing going for you.”

  Misty shrugged. “My curse.”

  “There will come a time when you’ll be glad for your young face.” He gave her a wink and tilted his beer up to drain it. He nodded at the bartender and gestured with the bottle. “How about a soda then?” He was regarding her kindly.

  The bluest eyes she had ever seen set fire to something in her chest. He thinks I’m just a kid. The same way he’s nice to Mark. That’s it. He’s just being nice to another kid. She nodded. “Thanks.”

  He sig
naled to the bartender, who served her a soda in a can along with a mug of crushed ice and set another longneck in front of Colt.

  “We could get a table, if you like,” he offered.

  “Um, I’m waiting for my brothers. They had to collect the check and drop off the trailer we borrowed to haul the horses.” Her lips twitched before she pressed them together and released a sigh. “Now we just need to sell off the cattle before the ax falls.”

  “Ax?” Colt gazed at her, trying to keep his expression neutral.

  Misty shrugged. “Before the bank forecloses on our land and gobbles up our cattle and equipment too.”

  The silence that followed settled heavily on her shoulders. She glanced up at Colt and found his gaze fastened on his beer.

  A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Why don’t we sit over there?” He pointed to a table close to the dance floor where she could keep an eye on the door. “That looks like a good vantage point. I’ll wait with you for your brothers.” He picked up her soda and his longneck. “Come along, Little Brother. Let’s keep the beautiful lady company.”

  Beau gave him a funny look but followed along behind them.

  The Garrett brothers seated themselves on either side of her at the table. She didn’t figure anyone else would dare ask her to dance with such a formidable lineup surrounding her. Big, hunky maleness all around.

  She grinned and took a sip of her soda.

  Beau stood up and directed a formal bow at her. “Miss Dalton, may I have this dance?”

  She giggled. He looked so serious. “Yes, you may,” she said and put her hand in the one he offered.

  Beau led her onto the dance floor and through a nice two-step. He was tall and broad-shouldered like Colton but less so. He didn’t hold her the same way as Colton. He just wasn’t Colton.

  “Are you seeing anybody?” he asked.

  “No. I’ve been too busy taking care of my dad.”

  He smiled at her. “Sorry to hear that about your dad. But Colt will be glad to hear you’re not involved.”