Free Wild Mustang Man by Carol Grace Page A

you, I got to thinking about Josh and everything. Tally and I decided we’d failed him. We’d let him bury himself on his ranch. So I decided to take the bull by the horns, or whatever, and get the old gang together again. What’s left of us, that is. You’ll still be here, won’t you?” she asked anxiously.
    “Probably.” Bridget said. “But I’m not part of the gang.”
    “You will be. Everyone’s dying to meet you.”
    Bridget smiled. “That’s nice. What can I bring?”
    “Just yourself. We’ll have a barbecue outside, because my house is really small, but my yard is big. Big enough for a volleyball net. I live in town. You can walk there from here.”
    Bridget wanted to ask if Josh was coming, but she was afraid to act too interested.
    “The amazing thing is that I talked Josh into coming,” Suzy said. “I must be more persuasive than I thought.”
    A flutter of butterflies stirred in Bridget’s stomach. What had Suzy said to convince Josh to come? One thing she knew for sure. She hadn’t told him she intended to invite Bridget, or the answer would have been a resounding no.
    “You didn’t mention the cologne commercial, did you?” Bridget asked.
    “No, I don’t think I did. But he knows I know. I mean, what’s the big secret? I did mention meeting you. And I told him I’d ask you to the party, too. Just as an added incentive.”
    Incentive? If she only knew. “And he didn’t back out?” she asked.
    “Of course not. Why should he?”
    He might be afraid she’d attack him again. “No reason. Well, it was good to see you again,” Bridget said. Then she went to her room and loaded her minicam in the car. She had to go to the ranch, but she was afraid to. How was she going to avoid Josh if she was taking pictures of his ranch?
    Settings, she reminded herself. Just settings. She didn’t need him in the settings. And if she saw him she’d be cool and self-contained. She’d look at him with calm detachment and not let herself be swept off her feet. But first she’d call and tell him she was coming. Then he could be as prepared as she was.
    Max answered the phone. He said his dad was outside someplace. He said Bridget should come out right away, because he had things to show her.
    She smiled to herself. If it weren’t for Josh, she’d feel positively welcome in this town. Everyone else seemed to find her an agreeable addition. Except for him. He was no doubt counting the days until she left.
    Max met her at the gate to the ranch on his bicycle.
    “Are you...are you alone?” she asked him after she’d parked her car in the driveway.
    “My dad’s out that way.” He waved his hand in a westerly direction. “He’s got his phone with him so I can call if there’s a ‘mergency. I told him you were coming. Said he’ll be home for lunch.”
    She decided she’d be gone by then.
    “First come and see my pet rat,” Max said.
    She gave a little shudder. “A rat?”
    “He’s white. Grandma doesn’t like him, but he’s real friendly.”
    “Is he in a cage?” Bridget asked anxiously as she followed Max down the hall to his bedroom.
    “Yeah, but I can take him out and let you hold him.”
    “Really? I don’t know if I’m ready for that, Max.”
    Max wove his way through his collection of miniature cars and trucks spread out on the floor of his room, motioning Bridget to follow him to the bookcase where the rat resided in a large wood and mesh cage lined with fresh wood shavings. There was an automatic water spout in one corner and some lettuce in a dish. Someone cared for this rat, that much was obvious.
    “Wake up, Barney,” Max said. Obediently the rat came out of his empty soup can, blinked in the bright daylight, then stood on his back legs and looked out at them, his whiskers twitching.
    Max unlatched the cover and picked up the rat. “Wanna hold him?” he asked Bridget.
    Bridget swallowed hard. She looked at the rat. It was cute. Kind of. But still a rat. She reached out