Free Joe's Wife by Cheryl St.john Page B

turned away. Without a word, he climbed into his saddle, and her red followed his lead. Not knowing what to think, Meg studied his broad back. She lifted the flower to her nose, inhaled its delicate fragrance, then carefully placed it in her skirt pocket.
    They came across a small herd grazing in the afternoon sun. Tye looked them over, pointing out a familiar brand. "Double Oarlock. Mitch Heden's brand."
    "That one's Bar Sixteen," she said. "Belongs to the Wheaton outfit."
    "Worked for him one summer," Tye replied.
    The next herd they located was larger, with at least thirty calves. Aldo spotted them and rode over.
    Meg handed him the bag of sandwiches. "Have you eaten?"
    "Nah, we was just fixin' to move these cows into the valley," he said. "Hunt is chasin' a fractious calf."
    "We'll lend you a hand," Tye said. They separated and started the herd eastward.
    Meg rode the outskirts of the herd, watching carefully for separated calves. On the opposite side, a cow broke loose from the others and charged toward Tye.
    He took off his hat and swung it at the bellowing mother with a whoop of his own. Her calf loped behind her, lowing pathetically.
    Tye's horse stood its ground, and Meg's heart felt as though it dropped into her stomach. Finally Tye's wild machinations turned the animal back to the herd.
    They reached the valley without mishap. Meg rode up an embankment and joined Tye and the Eaton brothers on the bluff that overlooked the cattle.
    At her approach, Tye ground the lit end of a cigarette stub between his thumb and forefinger and slid it into his shirt pocket.
    The boys ate their sandwiches. "That cow might be a mother, but she sure ain't no lady," Hunt said with a laugh, hitting his hat against his thigh.
    "No love-light in that cow's eyes," Tye agreed, a grin edging one side of his mouth up. He blew smoke from the same corner and met Meg's eyes.
    "Let's bring that small herd we saw earlier down here, too," she suggested.
    They turned back the way they'd come, the Eatons accompanying them. The afternoon grew late by the time they had joined the smaller herd with the one in the lush valley.
    "Hunt's stayin' with the herd tonight," Aldo said. "I'm gonna sleep in my own bed."
    Meg waved a goodbye and she and Tye headed back.
    Cooking smells drifted from the kitchen when they reached the yard. Knowing his nature, she fully expected Tye to dismount ahead of her and help her from the saddle. She didn't need the assistance, or prefer it, but she expected him to make the effort. Instead, he rode a little behind her, slowing.
    Meg rode up to a stump Joe had left outside the corral for that very purpose and dismounted. Tye remained seated but reached to take the reins from her. "I'll take care of the horses," he said.
    She stretched her legs and headed for the house.
    It hit her then, the reason he'd stayed in his saddle.
    She stopped before she reached the porch and turned back.
    He sat in the dust inside the barn doors, a cigarette dangling from his thinly drawn lips, his leg extended. Smoke curled past the starburst of lines at the corner of his squinted eye.
    "Why didn't you say something?" she said, hurrying toward him.
    He started to put out the cigarette, but she interrupted. "Don't waste it on my account."
    He took a drag instead, held the smoke in his lungs and released it through gritted teeth. She crouched beside him, her skirt hem trailing the dirt floor, and started to reach for his leg.
    His hand lashed out, grabbing her wrist.
    "Can I do something?" she asked.
    "No."
    "I'll unsaddle the horses, then."
    "Suit yourself."
    At his uncharacteristically surly reply, she wrenched her wrist free and stood, taking the mare's reins and leading her to a beam, where she tied her.
    She unbuckled the saddle and, knowing she couldn't raise it as high as a stall, left it against the wall, where one of the men could put it away later. She found a gunnysack and wiped the horse down, then turned him into the pasture.
    Returning, she