True Colors

For the next five hours she worked tirelessly: teaching lessons, training the Jurikas’ mare, and making up flyers. At eleven-thirty, she returned to the house and made lunch, half of which she wrapped up and put in a picnic basket; the other half she left on the table, wrapped up for Dallas. Then she went over to the yellow Princess phone in the kitchen and called Luke, who answered almost immediately.

“Hey, there. I want to kidnap you today,” she said. “I’ve got an abused horse to rescue in Sequim. We could have a picnic on the beach.”

“Damn. I wish you’d called earlier. I just committed to go out to the Winslow place. Their filly is limping.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sorry. We’re still on for dinner, right?”

“Of course.”

“See you at seven.”

She hung up the phone and walked outside. Standing on the porch, she saw Dallas turn the tractor toward her. When he saw her, a smile spread across his face, and she knew he’d expected her to come looking for him.

“I don’t have any choice,” she said aloud, to herself. “It’s just work.”

She crossed the parking area and stopped beside the tractor.

“It turns out I do need your help picking up that horse,” she said. Without waiting for him to answer, she headed over to the truck and climbed in. Ten minutes later, when she’d hitched up the six-horse trailer, she honked the horn impatiently.

As soon as he climbed into the passenger seat, she shoved the gearshift into drive; the truck lurched forward and they were off.

“You know how to load a skittish horse?” she asked after a long while.

“Yep.”

Miles passed in silence.

They were coming into Sequim when he spoke again. “Your first jackpot was a joke. You know that, right?”

Vivi Ann didn’t know what she’d expected from him: maybe some half-baked sexual innuendo or a silky smooth come-on. Maybe even a comment about Luke. But this . . . She frowned. “So I’ve heard. Repeatedly. Not that anyone has actually tried to help me.”

“I’ll help: Your prizes were too expensive, you had too many go-rounds, and your entry fees were too low. Most of all, you aren’t building up a mailing list. You need more regulars. I could teach roping. You wouldn’t have to charge much. The point is to get the guys used to coming here. Word will spread fast.”

She could see instantly how all that would work; she should have figured it out herself. “How do you know that?”

“We did it on the Poe Ranch. We’d have six hundred teams or more for a jackpot.”

“And you could do that? Teach roping?”

“I’d need a horse.”

“That’s not a problem.”

Vivi Ann glanced out at the field along the highway, watching the breeze cartwheel through the tall grass, and thought about how quickly things could change shape. A little wind, a little information . . .

“Thanks,” she said after a while. There was probably more to say, but she didn’t know what it was and he didn’t seem to care anyway.

“I’m surprised someone didn’t tell you all this before now.”

She came to Deer Valley Road and slowed, waiting for her chance to turn left. “People don’t take me seriously. They think I’m a Barbie doll. All blond hair and a plastic, empty head.”

“That explains Khaki Ken.”

She couldn’t help smiling at that, but her smile only lasted until he said, “I don’t think you’re empty-headed.”

She glanced at him in surprise and then forced her gaze away. “Thanks,” she said, turning onto the hill and shifting gears. The old truck and trailer shuddered and groaned before gathering speed again.