Carpathian 15 - Dark Secret

me.
    Joe, get out of my way, will you?" she added as a tall dark-haired man swept her up in a bear hug.
    "Ah, Colby, when are you going to marry me?" he complained, kissing her soundly as he held her dangling with her feet several inches from the floor.
    She slugged him good-naturedly. "One of these times I'm going to drag a preacher in here and you'll head for the hills." As he put her down, she wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. "And stop kissing me in public."

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    "You want to go somewhere more private?" he offered, waggling his eyebrows.
    Everyone in the bar laughed at Joe's antics and greeted her as she pushed past the cowhand to weave her way through the mass of people. "Sorry I'm so late." Colby flung herself into a chair.
    "I was afraid you weren't coming after Louise admitted how rude she'd been," Joclyn ventured, looking more uncomfortable than ever.
    "Colby!" Another man swept off his hat as he dropped into the chair beside her. "You're a hard woman to track down."
    "Hi, Lance. This is Joclyn Everett, Sean's wife. Joclyn, Lance Ryker. Lance, we're in the middle of a business discussion, or," Colby corrected with a rueful grin, "at the beginning."
    "I bought Diablo—I finally swung the deal. You promised me you'd help me train him." His words tumbled out. "I made the deal based on that promise."
    "When will he be here?" Colby inquired with a small, apologetic smile at Joclyn.
    "A month or so. I'll want you to take him to your ranch."
    "Sure, give me a call. Paul makes the appointments so if I'm not around leave a message with him or with Ginny."
    "Thanks, Colby." Lance leaned over to kiss her cheek before nodding at Joclyn as he left.
    "You know everyone," Joclyn commented.
    "It's a small town and this particular group is all ranch. I grew up with most of them," Colby explained, smiling her thanks at the waitress who was putting a tall glass in front of her.
    Joclyn laughed softly. "I ordered a beer because I was certain you'd drink beer but I can see I made another mistake."
    "Seven-Up. Sometimes I get really brave and have them put orange juice in it." Colby laughed. "They all give me a bad time about it."
    Joclyn's dark eyes were suddenly serious. "I know you felt it was an insult for Rafael to ask you to teach my daughter to ride. And then I found out it wasn't Rafael who asked, it was Louise in her usual endearing manner. Please don't apologize—I understand. You work very hard, and you take a great deal of pride in what you do. Rafael didn't want us to ask you. He said you would be far too busy."
    "More likely he made a few cracks about me trying to fill a man's boots," Colby said. "He's a male chauvinist."
    Joclyn didn't bother to deny it. There was something very cold about the De La Cruz brothers that bothered her, but she wasn't about to discuss her husband's business associates. "I had to ask you anyway. Since my husband and I moved here, all I've heard is 'Colby's the best tracker, the best trainer, guide, anything to do with horses.' They say you have a gift."
    Colby's grin was positively devilish. "I hope all this has been said in the presence of the De La Cruz Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    brothers, especially Rafael."
    "Invariably," Joclyn laughed.
    Colby wanted to be strictly fair and give the devil his due. "I did hear that Rafael and his brother, Nicolas, were excellent with horses."
    Joclyn nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "That's true, I've seen them. They keep odd hours for ranchers, though. They're night owls. I think they live pretty well inBrazil. But I watched Rafael walk right up to a severely injured horse and calm it with a touch of his hands. It was amazing." She shook her head as if to clear the memory. "But they aren't very good with people. At least not with children. I don't think either one of them has even looked at my daughter. Maybe her physical disability puts them off. Some people are like that. Tanya was struck by a car two years ago and must use braces to walk. The children at the school she was attending were very cruel and she's become withdrawn from us and quiet."
    Joclyn fiddled with her glass, avoiding Colby's disconcerting steady gaze. "I know it would take a great deal of time, time you'd be using to train horses. We're willing to pay you whatever you would normally get for training a horse; that way you wouldn't lose