A Cowboy in Manhattan

one side.

“Cute.” Mandy patted Caleb’s cheek, seeming completely unaffected by his staunch declaration.

“Well, I should get back,” said Katrina.

“Oh, no.” Mandy walked forward toward Katrina before coming up against the tether of Caleb’s hand in hers. “Stay.”

Katrina turned to her sister. “Why would I stay?”

Stay and ride your bicycle, Reed found himself fuming. The least she could do was give it a try.

“You might as well be here as down there,” said Mandy. “We haven’t had a chance to talk.” She tugged playfully at Caleb’s hand, while he held her fast. “And I don’t think this one’s going to let me leave.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Reed saw Katrina glance his way.

“Reed’s not going to care,” said Mandy.

“I don’t want to get in the way.”

Reed turned to face her full-on. “This isn’t a country club.”

Her head jerked back, eyes going wide, as if he’d wounded her, and he immediately felt like a heel.

“Reed!” Caleb admonished. “What the hell?”

“It’s okay,” said Katrina, setting down the half-eaten plum. “Obviously, I should-”

“No, you shouldn’t.” Mandy shot Reed an annoyed glare. “He’s in a bad mood, that’s all. Terrell men get that way.”

“Excuse me?” Caleb was obviously affronted at being lumped in unfavorably with his brother.

Katrina seemed to be at a loss. She suddenly struck Reed as a fragile, frightened bird. And he had to struggle against an overpowering urge to reach out and reassure her. He wanted to draw her into his arms and apologize for anything he’d ever done, thought of doing or might do in the future to hurt her.

But the rational side of him knew that would be ridiculous. She’d trounced all over his best intentions this morning, and now she was using those big, gorgeous blue eyes to bring the world onto her side.

Well, he wasn’t falling for it.

“You’re more than welcome to stay,” Caleb told her staunchly.

Katrina looked to Reed, and he felt his defenses melting like spring snow. He fought against it, but stubborn as he was, she won the battle without lifting a finger.

“You’re welcome to stay,” he echoed his brother’s invitation.

Then he determinedly turned his attention back to breakfast. The sausages were overdone, as were the eggs. He’d forgotten to push down the toast, and he couldn’t seem to remember what the hell he’d done with the strawberry jam.

Katrina felt as though she was ten years old again, trailing along behind Mandy through the Terrell barn, feeling out of place, her nose wrinkling at the smell, making sure she steered clear of anything with hooves and teeth.

“There’s a gorgeous meadow up by Flash Lake,” Mandy was saying. She stopped beside a stall to scratch the nose of a chestnut mare. “It’s really not that far to ride. The fireweed’s up, and the lilies and columbine. You should see something more than the ranch yard while you’re here.”

“You don’t remember, do you?” Katrina asked.

“Remember what?”

“That I don’t know how to ride.”

Mandy turned. “That’s ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Of course you know how to ride.”

Katrina shook her head, then tucked her loose hair behind her ears. “You guys used to put me up on a horse a lot. But I could barely hold on. I sure couldn’t control it.” If her horses hadn’t willingly followed her sisters’ and brothers’ animals back home, she’d have been permanently lost in the wilderness.

“I can teach you,” Mandy broke in.

Katrina laughed at that, deciding it was time to come clean. It had to be better than riding. “I’m afraid of horses, Mandy.”

Her sister’s forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”

“They scare me half to death.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re big. They’re strong. They’re unpredictable, and one of them bit me once.”

Mandy shook her head. “You can’t put up with that. You have to show them who’s boss.”

“Does that sound like me?”

Mandy crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against a stall fence and lifting one heel to brace it on the bottom rail, while the mare nudged at her ear. “I guess not,” Mandy allowed, firmly pushing the horse’s head away.

Katrina gave a self-deprecating grimace. “I can’t even boss around five-foot-two male ballet dancers.”

Mandy laughed at that. “I really could teach you.”

“To boss my ballet partners around?”

“To ride horses.”

Katrina took an involuntary step backward. “I don’t think so.”

“It’s easy.”

“Maybe so, but I don’t want to learn how.”

“But-”

“I’m only going to be here for a week, and there aren’t a lot of horses in New York City.”

Mandy’s eyes narrowed. “But you’ll come back, though, especially once Dad’s home.”

Katrina felt a familiar knot form in her stomach. Maybe it was because she’d left home so young and she didn’t really know her father. Or maybe it was because she’d always sensed his disappointment in her. But the thought of being in the same room, of coming under his scrutiny, of dealing with the walking-on-eggshells feeling she got whenever he looked her way, made her want to turn and run.

“Katrina?” Mandy prompted.

“My schedule’s pretty busy.”

“But you do get time off.”

“I do. But there are rehearsals. I’m doing a little teaching now.” Katrina turned and started walking, not wanting to face her sister while she stretched the truth.

Mandy followed her lead. “You really do hate it here, don’t you?”

“It’s…” Katrina struggled for the right words. “Intimidating.”

“I don’t see why.” Mandy urged Katrina down a side aisle.

“Of course you don’t. You’re like Ms. Super-Rancher.”

Mandy laughed while she pushed open a door, and the sunlight flooded through. “You make a bigger deal about everything than it has to be. You always have.”

“I do not.” Katrina stopped short, unease shooting through her.

They’d walked outside into a large, green field, fences in the far distance. It was dotted with horses, in ones and twos, heads down, grazing.

“I won’t let them get you,” Mandy assured her.

“I’m not in the mood for an intervention.” At her mother’s insistence, Katrina was here to touch base with her family. But she wasn’t here to conquer her fears and become a better human being.

“We’re just walking. It’s nicer out here than it is in the barn.”

“In the barn, they’re all behind fences.”

“If they attack, I’ll throw myself in front of you.”

“Funny.” Mandy might be taller and heavier than Katrina, but it was still a hundred-odd pounds against two- thousand. If a horse went rogue, Mandy wouldn’t be able to save her.

Mandy turned so they were headed along the fence line, and Katrina felt a little better. At least there was a handy escape route if they needed one.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Reed?”