Free Once Tasted: A Silver Creek Novel by Laura Moore Page B

course,” she replied tightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t arrive earlier. Do I have enough time to make sure the wines for my presentation are ready?”
    “Oh, don’t worry about that. Everything’s set up. Reid gave George Reich the list. The bottles have been opened to allow the wines to breathe. Why don’t you head down to the corral? Reid, Ward, and our foreman, Pete, are giving our guests roping lessons. The women have been having such a good time, they’re still practicing—”
    “That’s okay, I can wait up here—”
    “Go on down,” she urged. “You can meet the guests and join the fun, Mia. And it’ll give the men the perfect excuse to let you take center stage.”
    Center stage, where she least liked to be
.

“W OO-HOO !”
    Mia cringed. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and march back up the drive to the main lodge’s parking lot, where she’d left her pickup truck. But she had too much pride to pull a disappearing act now that Adele had seen her.
    Another round of whoops pierced the air, this one followed by laughter and applause. A crowd of women—many more than she’d expected—had congregated in the corral nearest the horse barn. In the center of them, three men—Reid, Ward, and Pete Williams, the ranch’s foreman—worked their lassos. The ropes danced, twirled, and jumped like live things.
    At a signal from Reid, the three ropes came together, each twirling, one directly below the other. Mia had no idea how the men kept them from becoming entangled. The “oohs” from the guests showed she was not alone in being impressed. Pete reeled in his rope first, Ward followed next, while Reid kept his in the air. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he caught the loop. Applause erupted. The three doffed their Stetsons.
    Settling his dark-beige hat on his head, Ward addressed the audience. “Thank you, ladies. Now, we’vegone over the basics of roping, and tomorrow we’ll practice some more both on the ground and in the saddle, but we thought we’d end our session with one last demo by Reid here. You ready, Reid?”
    With a nod, Reid sent the rope into the air again. It circled above him like a spinning wheel.
    “So this next trick is in honor of my fiancée, Tess, and her friend Anna, who’s come here from New York City. Say hi, Anna,” Ward instructed with a grin.
    A woman stepped forward and waved. “Hi, everybody,” she called cheerfully.
    Cheerful “hi”s echoed back.
    Ward resumed speaking. “Now, there’s a story behind how my lovely Tess came to Silver Creek Ranch. It involves a blindfold Anna tied over her eyes before Tess placed her finger on a map of California. Anna made Tess promise that wherever her finger landed would be her destination.” He grinned at the “aww”s that resounded. “So you all can imagine how pleased I was when Anna presented me with the very scarf she’d used on Tess.” From his back pocket, Ward pulled a black-and-white-patterned silk scarf.
    “So how about we put this blindfold over my little brother’s eyes and see how well his roping skills hold up. Do you mind, Reid?”
    “I’d say I stand a better chance than you of roping something, Ward,” Reid replied, adding with the supreme cockiness Mia knew so well, “blindfolded and with both hands tied behind my back.”
    Ward flashed a smile, and Mia bet most of the women wished this tall, dark, and handsome cowboy wasn’t engaged to be married. Of course, with Reid standing next to Ward and looking like a sun-kissed god, their disappointment was probably short-lived.
    “Strong words, bro. Let’s see whether you can backthem up.” Ward quickly folded the scarf over itself until it was a wide band. “Ready?”
    Reid looked at Ward and flashed a grin. “Always.”
    Placing the scarf over Reid’s eyes, Ward made a show of knotting it behind his head. “Can you see anything?” he asked.
    “Not a damned thing.”
    The words were a catalyst. Despite how hostile Mia felt toward