Free Colton's Folly (Native American contemporary romance) by Renee Simons

to see how she would react, and whether she would fold. “If there were, who would you get to drive it?”
    “One of the older boys, maybe, if one of them has a license.”
    “No.”
    “No?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, and golden lights flashed angrily from their depths. A slight flush dusted her cheeks, and her lips parted in a puzzled but tremulous smile that made him wonder unaccountably how they would feel beneath his.
    “No?” she repeated, and brown eyes met green and held in a silent clash of wills that sent the blood racing through his veins and found him struggling to suppress a laugh of pure joy.
    “No,” he responded finally. “There’s no way I’m letting you and some wet-behind-the-ears teenager go out on the prairie with two truckloads of kids.” She waited in silence for him to continue, but Cat knew how angry she was. “I’ll find a second truck, but I’m driving.”
    “Don’t you have something better to do?” she asked resentfully. “Like going to work?”
    “This place is my work.”
    “Really? Don’t tell me you actually get paid for making my life difficult. Or do you do that for fun?”
    So, he thought with a grin, the lady still has some fight left in her. “The council pays me,” he explained patiently, “to see that what needs to be done gets done, and to make sure that whatever’s done is for the good of our people.” His eyes went hard and stony, and his voice picked up an edge that wasn’t lost on Abby. “And I’d do that for nothing. So I guess riding herd on you falls into the category of fun.”
    She started to protest, thought better of it, and finally nodded her assent.
    The children were surprised when Abby proposed the outing, but gratefully piled into the waiting trucks. “Where we goin’?” someone asked as she and Cat pushed the tailgates shut and secured the latches.
    Abby folded her arms and asked, “Where would you like to go? Within reason, of course.”
    First choice seemed to be the Matthews ranch; Abby was informed that the children had an open invitation to go riding any time they liked.
    She looked over at Cat and asked, “Is that true?” He nodded, and she considered the idea. “I’ll tell you what, let’s pick somewhere else to go today. I’ll talk to Mr. Matthews over the weekend. If it’s okay with him, and we get all our work done by Thursday afternoon, we’ll take next Friday off and go out there. How’s that?”
    Benjamin Caitlin spoke up. “Where we going now?” Abby examined the seventeen-year-old’s face, looking for his usual belligerence. She’d heard none in his tone and saw none now in his expression, only a natural curiosity. She
    shrugged and turned to the others. “What do you say, kids? What shall we tell Benjamin?”
    This time the Buttes won out. Abby looked at Cat again, and with a sweetness only he knew was barbed, asked, “Is that okay with you?”
    He nodded impatiently and they climbed into the cabs of their respective vehicles to the delighted cheers of the students, who were eager to be under way.
    During the ride out to the Buttes Abby could only concentrate on the road and try to keep Cat’s truck in sight. Cat, who knew the way by heart, found his mind wandering back to the scene in his mother’s kitchen, unable to erase from his mind how Abby had looked, how her voice had registered on his ear and stirred his senses, how she’d managed to accomplish what she’d set out to do and had gotten him involved, too. Except that getting involved had been his idea, and he still hadn’t figured out why.
    They parked at the base of the twin formations and piled out, searching for the easiest path up to the plateau. Cat, Benjamin and Richie Lightfoot, a serious but receptive eleventh grader, each hoisted one of the little ones on their shoulders and carried them up the steep slope. Abby and the others followed behind.
    Once they reached the top Abby stood, hands on hips, and looked around her. Huge boulders