Free Palomino by Danielle Steel

they had been worn by time and the elements as he rode for some fifty years on the different ranches where he worked. Josh’s face was no different asSam watched him, and she could easily see that some of the others would look very much like them in a short time.
    “Lotta new faces, huh, Sam?” She nodded, and he left her for a second for more coffee. She noticed on the big clock over the fireplace that it was five forty-five. In fifteen minutes they would all head for the barn to claim their horses and officially their workday would begin. She wondered who was going to assign her a horse for the day. Caroline hadn’t mentioned it the previous evening, and she was suddenly anxious as she looked around for Josh. But he had disappeared somewhere with one of his cronies, and Sam found herself looking around her like a lost child. Despite the few curious glances cast her way, on the whole there was no visible interest and she suspected that what was happening was that they didn’t want to pay attention to her, so most of them pretended to look away. It made her want to shout or stand on a table, just to catch their attention once and for all, tell them that she was sorry she was invading their world and that if they wanted her to she’d go home now, but the precise way in which they were ignoring her was beginning to drive her nuts. It was as though they were determined that she shouldn’t be there, so they pretended to themselves and each other that she was not.
    “Miss Taylor?” She spun around at the sound of her name and found herself staring into a broad chest wearing a thick wool plaid shirt in blue and red.
    “Yes?” Her eyes traveled upward until she found herself looking into a pair of eyes of a color she had seldom seen. They were almost emerald with gold flecks.The hair was black and the temples were touched with gray. The face was leathered, the features sharp, and he was taller than any other man on the ranch, including Bill King.
    “I’m the assistant foreman here.” He offered only his title, no name. And there was something cold and forbidding in his voice as he said it. Had she met him in a dark alley, a chill would have rippled up her spine.
    “How do you do?” She wasn’t quite sure what to say to him, and he was looking down at her with a tight frown.
    “Are you ready to come out to the barn?” She nodded in answer, awed by his commanding style, as well as his great height. She noticed, too, now that the others were watching, wondering what he was saying to her and obviously noticing that there was no trace of warmth in the way he spoke, no welcoming words, and no smile.
    Actually she had wanted another cup of coffee but she wasn’t about to tell him that as he led the way to the door. She grabbed her jacket off the peg where she had finally left it, struggled into it, pulled up the hood, and closed the door behind her, feeling somehow like a child who has done something wrong. The idea of Samantha riding with them clearly irked him as he walked rapidly into the barn. Samantha shook the rain off her hood as she slipped it off her hair and watched him; He picked up a clipboard with a list of men’s names and those of horses, and then with a pensive frown he walked to a nearby stall. The name outside the stall was LADY , and for some reason she wasn’t sure she could have explained she found herself instantly irritated by his choice. Just because she was a woman she had to ride Lady? Sheinstinctively felt that she was going to be stuck with that horse during the entire duration of her stay and found herself fervently hoping that Lady would at least prove to be a decent mount.
    “You ride fairly well?” Again she only nodded, afraid to toot her own horn, afraid to offend him, when the truth would have been that she probably rode better than most of the men on the ranch, but he would have to see that for himself, if he even bothered to look. Samantha watched him again as he went back to his