True Colors

And stop thinking about Dallas.

As soon as they parked in front of the farmhouse and got out of the truck, she went to him, reaching out. “I want to want you, Luke. Right now.” She’d meant to say simply I want you, but it was too late now to take it back.

She pressed her body against him, rubbing wantonly, and pulled her shirt off, tossed it aside. “Come on, Luke . . .” she pleaded. “Make me crazy . . .”

He kissed her deeply and then drew back, looking down at her. “This isn’t how our first time should be. Let’s go back to my place.”

Vivi Ann felt a wash of disappointment. All that kissing, and nothing. It was as she’d thought: this good, handsome, loving man would never start a fire inside of her. She made herself smile. “You’re right. Our first time should be special. Rose petals and candlelight.” She bent down for her shirt and put it back on. “And not on a night when I’ve had one too many glasses of wine.”

He put an arm around her and led her toward the house. “I guess I’ll have to keep a closer eye on you, remind you that two’s your limit.”

I bet he treats you like some kind of pretty little treasure.

She couldn’t answer, but when they were on the porch, standing in front of the door, and Luke kissed her goodnight, it was all she could do not to cry.

“What’s wrong, Vivi?” he asked, pulling back. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“I’m just tired, that’s all. Everything will be better tomorrow.”

He accepted that and kissed her goodnight again. With a sigh, she watched him walk back to his truck and drive away. Then she went into the house and climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

There, she stared out across the darkened ranch, saw moonlight on the barn roof. She was just about to turn away when a flash of bone-white color caught her eyes. A cowboy hat.

Dallas was out there right now, standing by Renegade’s paddock, watching her. He’d seen her take off her shirt . . .

She turned away from the window and went to bed, but it was a long time before she fell asleep.

On a sunny afternoon in mid-June, Winona got the call she’d been waiting for: “Winona?” he said. “I need to talk to you about Vivi Ann. Can you meet me at Water’s Edge tonight? I’ll be in the barn after seven.”

She managed somehow to get through the remainder of her workday, writing deposition questions, reading through real estate contracts, seeing clients, but her mind kept going off-road, thinking about that phone call.

He’s going to end it. Finally.

Then he’d turn to her for comfort.

When her last client left and Lisa closed up the office, Winona went upstairs to her shambles of a living space. Up here, away from the public eye, her floors needed refinishing, her wallpaper had peeled away, revealing water-stained Sheetrock, and rust coated too many of the fixtures. Ignoring all that, she chose her clothes carefully and dressed in a long velour tunic and jeans. Curling her hair, she sprayed it away from her face and let it tumble down her back. When she looked as good as possible, she left the house and drove out to the ranch, surprised to find the parking lot full of truck-and-trailer combinations.

Finding a parking spot up near her granddad’s cabin—beside Dallas’s beat-up old Ford truck—she walked down the long grassy driveway to the barn.

Inside, she found a hive of activity: men on bulkily muscled quarter-horses, galloping along the rail, throwing well-aimed ropes at running steers; boys, practicing their throws on fake steers; women in the bleachers, clustered together, talking and smoking and drinking beer. And at the center of it all, clearly running the show, was Dallas Raintree. He was helping a man right now, telling him to keep his elbow up to flatten his loop, showing him how.

She found Luke sitting in the stands. “What’s all this?”

He took a sip of his beer. “Dallas is giving a roping clinic. It’s been going on for hours. Thirty-five bucks apiece.”

Winona studied the arena, counted the men on horseback and the boys practicing with the roping dummy, and did the math. “Wow.”

“Everyone here has already signed up for the jackpot tomorrow,” he added. “And the women want a barrel race next Saturday.”

She sat down by Luke, scooted as close as she dared. It wasn’t much, just sitting by him, but it was all she had these days. “I was surprised when you called. You’ve been too busy with Vivi Ann lately to get in touch with me.” She hoped she didn’t sound bitter.

“I’m sorry about that. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Vivi Ann. I hope that’s okay. I’ll understand if you say no. There’s that sisters’ code.”

“It’s okay. Vivi Ann knows we were friends before you two fell in love.” She stumbled only briefly over the difficult sentence. “So tell me what’s wrong.”

“Vivi Ann is acting strange lately.”

Of course she is. She doesn’t love you.