Make her dinner?
Mrs. Pellet was correct, Alice realized. He did not even think her capable of fixing a meal.
“What time will you be in?” she asked.
He glanced at the mantel clock, which read three in the afternoon.
“Around six, I think.”
“Would you like the boys’ help or would they be underfoot?”
Both Colin and Cody went totally still, and she could see them fairly vibrating with excitement and anticipation at the possibility of seeing the horses. They all knew Dillen’s reputation in town for being a fine horseman and were mad with desire to learn to ride.
Dillen hesitated and then glanced to Roberts, who nodded.
“They can come with me,” said Dillen. “Give you time to rest after the ride out here.”
Did he really think she would be going to her room for a nap? If he did, then he’d be wildly disappointed. Alice had used her time with Mrs. Pellet to good effect, recording some simpler recipes. But she still wasn’t sure how to prove she had desires like any other woman.
Alice threw back the shawl that had covered her head.
Dillen frowned as he studied her. “You look different.”
She smiled, wondering if it was the simpler chignon that he noticed, or her lack of jewelry. “Do I? I feel different. Perhaps it is the mountain air. It seems to agree with me.”
Dillen’s brow remained wrinkled as he nodded, and then shepherded the boys toward the front door.
“You rest now,” Dillen said.
She smiled as they headed out in the direction of the barn. The moment the latch clicked shut, she broke into a frenzy of motion, unpacking the boxes and setting up her kitchen before launching into meal preparation. Something quick, delicious and memorable. Something that would make Dillen Roach reconsider his opinion of Miss Alice Pinter Truett.
Dillen took the boys to the barn, wondering with each step if he’d just made the worst mistake of his life. He’d asked Mr. Harvey if his nephews could stay until after he got these horses trained and delivered. Even mentioned Alice and her willingness to help out until the holiday. He’d never expected his boss to say, Sure! Move the woman and kids into my personal residence. But Harvey had said yes and now Dillen was just stuck.
He had horses to train, a ranch to run, two boys underfoot and the temptation of Alice so close that he swore he could smell her perfume clear out here in the open. Dillen leaned forward and sniffed Colin’s collar, finding Alice’s scent. Had the boy spent some of the ride nestled up against Alice’s body? Dillen scowled.
“What?” asked Colin.
“Nothin’,” said Dillen.
At least he had one other option. Mr. Gulliver had delivered more than the boys, Alice and her gear today. He’d also delivered a reply to his wire.
Great-aunt Ethel had agreed to take his boys. But with Alice staying until Christmas, he could put off that decision until the holiday. He shoved the folded paper deep into his coat pocket. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? What was best for the boys. They why did he feel so blue?
“Uncle Dillen?” said Cody.
Dillen forced a smile and rubbed his gloved hands together in anticipation.
“You two know anything about horses?”
His question met with silence.
“Riding?”
Cody’s eyes shifted and he looked uncomfortable. “I want to learn to ride.”
“That so?” Dillen scratched his head. He’d have to get in a training session with the twin ponies and then saddle up Dasher. If he didn’t have to cook dinner, too, he might manage. Steak and eggs, he decided. Fast and filling. “Follow me, boys.”
Once inside the barn, his nephews were surprisingly quiet and stayed out of the way as he led the two ponies from their stalls.
Dillen talked as he worked, showing the boys how to brush them and saddle them, pointing out the parts of the horse, describing the care of the horses’ hooves as he cleaned and inspected each leg.
The boys sat on the fence rail as he worked the two ponies round and round in the ring on lunge lines. Though the ring was snow covered, Dillen had added sand to the outer perimeter, and the ponies trotted, walked and turned on command. They did so well that he tried them with no line for the first time, using only the long whip to tap them when needed. As it happened, he didn’t need it as the pair already knew the verbal signals and could walk, stop, trot and turn on command.
When they returned to the barn, Dillen only had to remind the boys once to stay clear of the ponies’ hindquarters. He didn’t let them curry or brush the ponies. Just didn’t trust the green horses around his nephews. But when he brought out Dasher, he let the boys pet him and showed them how to feed a horse a sugar cube without losing a digit. Both Colin and Cody were brave, taking to Dasher like trout to a brook. Cody even managed to lift Dasher’s saddle, though Dillen couldn’t believe his eyes. The two boys seemed eager to please. It twisted Dillen’s heart.
There was so much of his sister in them. They had manners, smarts, and Colin seemed to have a sense of humor judging from his attempts to comb his hair with the currycomb and making his brother burst out laughing.
He took them each before him in turn as he walked and trotted with Dasher around the ring. At first they clung to the saddle horn, but soon they were moving with the saddle and holding on with their strong, short legs. He dismounted and set Cody behind Colin, then led Dasher around the circle.
“Did you know that this horse was in the circus?” He didn’t say that he had been, as he wasn’t especially proud of that nine months of his life. The promised fame and fortune had not materialized—or the fortune part had not, but that job had gotten him this position when Harvey had seen what he and Dasher could do.
“Really?” piped Colin. “Does he do tricks? Can he walk on his hind legs?”
“Sure. Want to see?”
Cody looked concerned, and Dillen realized he thought his uncle meant with the two of them mounted up. Cody did not object. But he did wrap his arms about his little brother and grip the saddle horn with both hands.
“Yes!” shouted Colin.
Dasher’s ears twitched and he turned one to listen to the new, tiny riders. Still, his mount was calm and acted the perfect gentleman.
Dillen pulled the boys down and set them on the fence rail. Then he began some of his act. Dasher should have been out of practice, but he picked up the routine in midperformance as if they had never stopped entertaining. Dasher stole Dillen’s hat and tossed it on the ground, stealing it again as Dillen reached to retrieve it. Then he placed it roughly on his master’s head. The boys roared with laughter. His foreman, Bill Roberts, limped over and leaned against the rails, talking to the boys as Dasher trotted away with Dillen seeming to be chasing his errant horse. When the horse made an abrupt rehearsed stop, Dillen ran into Dasher’s hindquarters. Then he put a foot in the stirrup the wrong way and mounted up backward on his horse’s withers just before the saddle. Dillen turned toward the front and Dasher took him around at a trot, then stopped and lowered his head so Dillen slid down his neck to the ground. From there they changed from opponents to a well-oiled machine, with Dasher keeping up a steady trot as Dillen mounted and dismounted using the frozen ground to vault back up from each side of the saddle. The light was fading when he dismounted and had the horse walk a few steps on his hind legs. Finally, he motioned for Dasher to drop down on one foreleg to take a bow. The boys clapped and Roberts whistled.
Cody’s