Before lunch, she approached Stick with a request.
"All right if I borrow one of the horses to ride? I know what I'm doing," she added quickly when she saw the look of skepticism on his face. "I can ride as well as my men, I promise you." And she desperately needed something mindless to clear out her brain. Something to relieve the tension gripping her body that was as much Mason as the job.
He shrugged. "All right with me, if the boss signs off on it."
She tried to catch Mason alone, but as soon as they finished eating, he retreated to his den and closed the door. A sure sign he didn't want company. Restless, she wandered out into the yard, seeking an alternative to being shut up in the bunkhouse with her team.
The hands were hard at it, moving the calves they'd separated from their m
