Black Hills

lead.
    Laughing, eyes bright, she leaned forward to give the mare a congratulatory pat on the neck. “Where do you ride in New York?”
    “I don’t.”
    She straightened in the saddle. “You’re saying you haven’t sat a horse in two years?”
    He shrugged. “It’s like riding a bike.”
    “No, it’s like riding a horse. How do you . . .” She trailed off, shook her head, and began to walk the horse into the pines.
    “How do I what?”
    “Well, how do you stand not doing something you love?”
    “I do other stuff.”
    “Such as?”
    “Ride a motorcycle, hang out, listen to music.”
    “Chase girls.”
    He gave her a grin. “They don’t run very fast.”
    She let out a hoot. “I bet they don’t. How does CeeCee feel about you being out here all summer.”
    He shrugged again as they crossed a flat bordered by trees and boulders. “We’re not serious. She’s got her thing, I’ve got mine.”
    “I thought you two were tight.”
    “Not especially. I heard you were hooking up with Jesse Nodock.”
    “God, no!” Tossing back her head, she laughed. “He’s nice enough, but kind of dopey. Plus all he really wants to do is wrestle.”
    “Wrestle? Why . . .” Something dark crept into his eyes. “You mean with you? You’ve been doing it with Nodock?”
    “I have not. I went out with him a couple times. I don’t much like the way he kisses. A little on the sloppy side of things, to my taste. He needs to practice his technique.”
    “You know a lot about technique?”
    She slanted him a look, a slow smile. “I’m doing an informal study. Look.” As they were riding abreast, she reached out to touch his arm, then pointed. In the far edges of the trees, a herd of deer stopped to stare back at them. Lil dug out her recorder.
    “Six white-tail, four doe, two fawns. Aren’t they sweet? A buck’s been through here, too, not long ago.”
    “How do you know that, Tonto?”
    “Look at the bark. Scrape marks from a buck rubbing his antlers. Some of that’s fresh, Mr. New York.”
    This, too, was familiar, he thought. Riding with her, listening to her point out the tracks, the wildlife, the signs. He’d missed that.
    “What else do you see?”
    “Marmot tracks, and mule deer. There’s a red squirrel up in that tree. You’ve got eyes.”
    “Not like yours.”
    “Cat’s been through here, but not recently.”
    He watched her, only her. He couldn’t seem to do otherwise, not when the sunlight dappled on her face, and those dark eyes were so alive, so intent. “Okay, how do you know?”
    “Those scrape marks? That’s cougar, but they’re old, probably from a male marking his territory last mating season. He’s moved on, at least for now. They don’t stay with the female or the family. Screw and hit the road. That’s a guy for you.”
    “About this informal poll.”
    She laughed, and clucked to the mare.

4
    It was easy to fall into a routine, into the comfortable zone of it. Hot days, hard work, and sudden storms. Lil spent nearly every free moment with Coop, on horseback or hiking, batting balls, or on fast rides on his bike. She lay in the grass with him and counted stars, sat on the banks of a stream and shared picnics.
    And he never made a move.
    She didn’t understand it. She’d barely looked cross-eyed at Jesse and he’d been all over her. Dirk Pleasant, too, when all she’d done was take a couple of spins on the Ferris wheel with him at the carnival last summer.
    She knew the look a boy got in his eye now when he thought about a girl that way. She’d swear she’d seen that look in Coop’s aimed in her direction.
    So why wasn’t he all over her?
    Obviously it was time to take the bull by the horns.
    She drove the bike, carefully, nearly to the end of the farm road. Concentrated, muttering instructions to herself on the turn, then drove it back to where Coop stood, watching her.
    She kept the speed dignified, only because the couple of times she’d burned it, he’d gotten really mad.
    “Okay, I’ve driven back and forth six times today.” Though her hand twitched, she resisted gunning the engine. “You’ve got to let me take it out on the road, Coop. Get on, let’s take a ride.”
    “You almost ditched it on the turn.”
    “Almost doesn’t count.”
    “It does on my bike. I’m still paying for it. You want a ride, I’ll drive.”
    “Come on.” She got off, took off her helmet. Deliberately shook back her hair before taking the Coke bottle from him to