To Love an Outlaw (Into the West #1) (A Wattpad Reading List Choice)

Chapter 7

 

The next morning Callie and Noah stood in the drive with their saddled mounts, waiting for Sonny McQuade to bring out Second Chance from his stall. The day promised to be another hot one, though the sun was just starting to peep over the hills surrounding Round Rock and its outlying areas. There was no whisper of a breeze; the lone hawk gliding above flapped its wings occasionally to keep itself afloat while it sought its breakfast.

 Back on the ground, Callie shifted her feet, body thrumming with the suppressed excitement of at last taking Second Chance out of the corral and onto the open range. The open range!They were taking one step closer to her dream, the reality of a horse training business with herself as proprietor.

Callie could hardly wait to become an active trainer of Second Chance, instead of McQuade’s pupil. She wanted to train horses so badly, but the gunfighter had not let go the reins, so to speak. Callie resigned herself to biding her time. Patience was a virtue, she’d always been told, but it was hard to remain patient when you could practically taste success in your future venture!

Glancing at the youth beside her, Callie smiled slightly, for Noah seemed as excited as she. Neither of them knew exactly what the gunfighter had up his sleeve, but if it meant getting away from the ranch for a while, they were all for the adventure!

The jingle of spurs and bridle heralded the gunfighter’s approach from the shadowy barn. Eyes trained on the entrance, Callie couldn’t help it; her heart skipped a beat as she silently waited for McQuade to appear. What was wrong with her? She felt almost giddy at his nearness! She was a woman embarking on a business venture, not some virginal debutante! Be that as it may, Callie found herself holding her breath until the man stepped out of the shadows, horse in tow.

The gunslinger moved as if he had all the time in the world, but his panther-like gait still managed to propel him into their midst as quickly as a dash. In seconds he hovered over the widow and her teen-aged escort, tipping back his hat with the thumb of his right hand while he held the stallion’s reins loosely with his left.

“Mornin’, Ma’am. Boy.”

Still lassoing in her utterly feminine reaction to McQuade’s proximity, Callie let out the breath she’d been holding and glanced sideways at the gunfighter under her hat. A sizzle that had nothing to do with the rising sun sparked when green eyes touched blue, continuing to smolder after the glances skittered away.

Oblivious to the attraction flickering between the two adults, Noah asked eagerly of the man, “Am I gonna ride Chance today, Mr. McQuade?”

Dropping Callie’s gaze after a long beat, Sonny glanced at the youth and replied with a ghost of a smile, “No, son. You’re gonna be the retriever.”

Noah frowned back at the gunfighter, brows lowering as he made sense of McQuade’s comment. The gunslinger took pity on the boy, explaining, “If Chance takes it into his mind to bolt, we’re gonna need someone ready to head him off. That’ll be you.”

While Noah processed this unfortunate news, since he’d much rather be riding the purebred, Callie narrowed her eyes on the gunman in puzzlement, asking slowly, “Why would he want to bolt? Are we shooting around him after all?”

Once more Sonny bit back an oath as he locked gazes with the comely widow. Couldn’t she get shooting off her brain for more than one day? Was she trigger happy? Should he take her out for target practice with some cans, just to get the activity out of her system?

Drawing on all the patience he’d honed as a gunslinger, Sonny sucked in a deep breath before replying evenly, “Ma’am, as I told you before, we are still a long way from gun training. Second Chance is not used to wide open spaces. With all the new smells and sounds, he may take it into his head to hightail it right away from us. I’d rather err on the side of caution.”