Dedicated to

He did enjoy the fact that she was willing to play along with his scheme. He took her hand and put his foot in the stir up.

He didn‟t get on Bossy the first time but he succeeded in his second attempt.

He struggled to find adequate balance and finally settled into a comfortable position.

“Now you two don‟t have to hurry back on our account,”

Tristan called out as Claire urged the horse forward.

Startled by the sudden movement, Austin quickly wrapped his arms around Sue‟s waist and held onto her tightly.

“I can hardly breathe,” she told him.

“I can‟t loosen my grip yet,” he whispered.

He had to overcome his initial shock of being on the horse. It wasn‟t easy to

adjust to the way the animal moved under him. He missed the buggies and trains which were predictable.

“Alright. Just move with the animal. Don‟t fight her.”

“Listen to Claire ,” hosea called out. “She knows what she‟s talking about.”

He was too worried about not falling off the horse to concern himself with her brothers‟ comments. He hated riding horses.

Claire nudged the horse and it picked up the pace. She led Bossy out along the open field until they reached the side of the dirt road. She rode along the grass so Bossy wouldn‟t kick dirt up into the air.

“Can‟t you slow down?” he asked.

“Not unless you want to get back to the farm after lunch.

You want to surprise them at lunch, right?”

“Yes. I do want them to be hungry.”

“You‟re doing great, Austin. It‟s not easy to ride Bossy.

You‟re giving my brothers some stiff competition. I think they like the challenge you present them with.”

Her compliment took his mind off of his fears. “Thank you for not saying anything back there about my discomfort over

riding Bossy.”“I want to see you win. They need someone to show them a thing or two.”

He grinned. “And you think I can do that.”

“I saw the way you ate those Rocky Mount oysters.

You‟re not one to back down. I was impressed.”

He was pleased to know that. It was fun to have someone rooting for him. Halfway to town, he was able to relax enough so

that he wasn‟t holding her so tightly that she had a hard time breathing.

“We‟ll get there soon,” she said. “You have to tell me where williams lives.”

He gave her the directions.

She turned her horse so that it went north.

“If we cut through these trees over here, we can cut our time by half.”

“So you grew up riding horses?”

“Yes. They‟re almost like my second pair of legs. Once you get used to riding them, they‟re not so intimidating.

Bossy may seem mean but she‟s actually got a soft heart. She might have bucked you off a couple of times but she‟d never step on you.

You‟re safer with her than with Trouble or Double Trouble.

Those horses will run you down if you get in their path by mistake. Bossy always makes sure to check if someone is near her.”

“I‟ll be sure to never let your brothers talk me into riding one of their horses.”

“No, I think they had enough fun with you when it came to the horses. Next, they will want to either get you into the pig pen or lasso up some cattle. You should ride Lou for that.

She‟s great with going slower and giving the rider time to swing the rope.”

He cringed. None of those activities sounded very fun to him but he knew he would do it to go along with her brothers.

“What did I get myself into when I married you?”She laughed. “They may have their plans to mess with you but they‟re loyal to the death. If you ever get into trouble, they‟ll move heaven and earth to bail you out.”

“I‟m not likely to get in trouble, but it‟s nice to be surrounded by people that care.”

By the time they got to Williams‟s house, it was mid-morning. Williams was surprised to see him but agreed to take him to town.

Claire‟s warning had proven true. His suit was crumpled up so he had to go to the backdoor of his house and change.

Horses were dirty animals. He shuddered as he contemplated riding Emma Lou and trying to rope cattle. He went to the restaurant and got caviar, crackers and a bucket of ice to keep the caviar fresh. When he returned to Williams‟s house, Claire was having a good conversation with Williams‟s wife and children. He marveled that the same woman who could barge into a bank and disrupt business or run through a church right before a wedding and threaten the poor seamstress to remove the lace from her dress could get along so well with so many people. What‟s her secret?

Does she have a twin I don‟t know about?

When they reached the farm, he was relieved and disappointed. Being so close to her on a horse was better than dancing with her, but he didn‟t know how much longer he could

hold off his sudden desire to kiss her. He was very much aware that she was a woman and he was a man. It was ridiculous that he would want to be with her in such a way. He had no intention of being married to her longer than he needed to. It‟s a simple business

arrangement. Don‟t let her get to your head.

When they got off the horse, she said, “You handle yourself better on a horse than you let on. If you keep it up, you could master riding her.”

Hoesa burst out laughing.

She peered around the horse‟s nose. “I didn‟t see you

there.”“Apparently not.” He walked over to them. “So, city boy, you got the caviar?”

“I sure do.” austin widely smiled. “Do you think you‟rebrave enough to eat some?”

“If you can eat Rocky Mount oysters, I can eat your fancy food.”

“We‟ll see about that.”

“That sounds like a challenge.”

“It is. Are you up to it?”

He scoffed. “I‟m always up for a good challenge.”

“Then let‟s go.”

As soon as austin got hosea, Tristan and jamie at the dinner table, he handed them the crackers and took out the caviar.

“You smear it on the cracker with a spoon or knife. Then you eat it.” He ate his and looked at them. “Now, it‟s your turn.”

Claire and marie sat at the table, interested to see what the three brothers would do. Her parents were taking care of some chores while Teresa played with her dolls in another room.

Tristan picked at the caviar with a spoon. “What is this stuff?”

“Caviar,” austin replied. “It‟s expensive. Only the best for Claire ‟s brothers.”

“Hmm...” Jamie said, staring the caviar on his cracker.

“You try it first hosea. You‟re the oldest.”

“Alright. Move aside and give me some of that creepy looking stuff.”

Hosea spooned a very small amount and lightly rubbed it on his cracker.

Austin shook his head. “I must say that I‟m disappointed.

Here, I thought I had met my match but you are all talk.”

Hosea grunted and put more caviar on his cracker. He put the cracker in his mouth and winced.

“Rich people eat this all the time,” claire said.

“You‟re always saying that they are too soft to manage life on the farm.

Surely, you can eat caviar.”austin looked at hosea. “So people that have lots of

money are soft? I suppose that‟s why they like to eat fish eggs.”

“Caviar is fish eggs?” Tristan‟s eyes grew wide.

Hosea motioned for marie to bring him some water.

She remained sitting.

He forced himself to swallow it. “What‟s wrong with you, marie?

I need something to wash this awful stuff down.”

“You made him eat Rocky Mount oysters.

I‟m not helping you,” she retorted. “You‟re on your own.”

“Who‟s soft now?”Claire grinned.

“Well, I‟m not,” Tristan decided. He quickly shoved the caviar in his mouth and swallowed it. “There. I did it.”

“But can you do ten? Austin ate ten of those oysters.”

“I sure can. Just watch. It‟s no different from the play I wrote where this boy is dared to eat a bunch of worms. He just had to open his mouth and eat as fast as he could. Food doesn‟t taste so bad if you rush through eating it.”

“Except for claire‟s cooking,” hosea said under his breath.

Her family quietly chuckled.

She rolled her eyes. “At least I became a librarian instead of a cook.”

“She doesn‟t need to cook. I hire someone to do that,” Austin added.

“That‟s nice of you to stick up for sis like that, austin,”

Hosea noted as Tristan quickly wolfed down the remaining nine caviar filled crackers on his plate. He turned to her. “Want to keep him now?”

She blushed. “Hush!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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