A Woman's Touch

him. A small bay mare on a leading rope loped alongside. The mare was saddled and bridled.
    Rebecca watched the man and his horses ride in out of the dawn, and something within her stirred. Kyle was born for this landscape, she thought. This was where he was at home.
    „Morning, Becky,“ Kyle said easily as he rode the black stallion right up to the front of the porch. Saddle leather creaked and the big black shook his head, blowing softly. Kyle leaned forward and rested his forearm on the horn. His green eyes gleamed at her from the shadow of the Stetson. „When you didn’t answer the phone in your motel room, I thought I might find you here. I came to take you to breakfast.“
    Rebecca folded her arms and leaned against the door post. „We’re going to ride into town?“
    Kyle shook his head. „No. Up into the mountains above this valley.“ He patted a bulging saddlebag. „I’ve got biscuits and coffee right here.“
    „What makes you think I can ride?“
    „Instinct.“ He smiled fleetingly. „But if you can’t there’s nothing to worry about. Anyone could stay up on Athena here.“ He nodded at the bay mare who was nuzzling the ragged bushes in front of the porch. „She’s as gentle as a lamb.“
    „What about your horse?“ she asked curiously.
    Kyle patted the black’s arching neck. The horse stamped a foot. „You want to tackle old Tulip?“ he asked, brows rising.
    „Tulip!“ Rebecca smiled in spite of herself. „He doesn’t look much like a Tulip.“
    „He wasn’t named for his looks. He was named for his personality.“
    „I see. He’s sweet natured and delicate, I take it.“
    „Fact is, he’s a real bastard most of the time,“ Kyle confided equably. „Especially when he hasn’t been ridden in a while.“

    „The two of you seem to get along well.“
    „We understand each other.“
    „Two of a kind?“ Rebecca murmured.
    Kyle straightened in the saddle. „Let’s go,“ he said evenly.
    He hadn’t liked that. Rebecca said nothing for a moment, considering her options. One was to stay here and go hungry. The other was to go horseback riding in the early-morning light and share biscuits and coffee with Kyle.
    No contest.
    Rebecca pocketed the keys to Alice Cork’s house, walked down the steps without a word and slipped a foot into Athena’s stirrup. She picked up the reins as Kyle detached the lead.
    „You can ride, can’t you?“ Kyle asked quizzically.
    „I can manage.“
    „I thought so,“ he muttered under his breath. „You always do. You are one managing female.“ He nudged Tulip, and the big black moved forward eagerly.
    Athena followed and within minutes they were moving across the meadow behind Alice Cork’s house, heading for the nearby hills. Rebecca took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and settled into the mare’s comfortable stride.
    The sunlight lancing into Harmony Valley was incredibly beautiful. It danced off distant peaks and glinted on the water in the wide creek. Wild flowers opened their petals to the warmth with the eagerness of young lovers.
    Kyle rode in silence, glancing over his shoulder once in a while to make certain Rebecca was keeping up with him.
    There was distant approval in his eyes as he saw how easily she rode.
    When he finally called a halt they were high on a ridge overlooking the valley. Kyle swung off Tulip and dropped the reins casually onto the ground. Tulip stood as if anchored to stone. Rebecca followed suit. She winced as she slid out of the saddle.
    „I’m going to feel this tomorrow,“ she complained. „I haven’t ridden in several years.“
    Kyle grinned. „I’ve got something to take your mind off your troubles.“ He removed a thermos from the saddlebags. „Coffee.“
    „I could use a cup.“ Rebecca walked over to a large boulder and scrambled up on top of it to see the view.
    Harmony Valley was stretched out before her in all its early-morning glory.
    „Quite a sight up here at his time of day, isn’t it?“ Kyle climbed up to stand beside Rebecca. He handed her a cup of coffee and a biscuit. He sipped from his own mug.
    „Very beautiful.“
    „I used to ride over here sometimes when I was a kid. I’d stand up here on this rock and tell myself that everything down there in the valley was someday going to be mine. I decided I was the Stockbridge who was finally going to get this valley once and for all.“
    „You were pretty arrogant for a kid, weren’t you?“
    Kyle shrugged. „I knew