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on that invitation any time.” Trey could see that his foreman was captivated by their new neighbor. He couldn’t blame him, Trey thought dryly. He was pretty damned captivated himself. Besides being beautiful, she was charming—open and friendly. Not the least bit stuck-up. Like his ex-wife had been, for example. Lisette had treated Bandy, Consuelo, and everyone else who worked on his ranch like underlings, with a haughtiness that had rankled them and him. He couldn’t imagine Lisette ever climbing up in a barn loft, either.
    He turned his attention to the conversation between Bandy and Marielle about bringing her uncle’s sheep back to their own grazing land.
    You’ll have to do some work on your fences,” Bandy said. “Me and the boys can help you, right, boss?”
    “Uh, yeah … .sure,” Trey replied.
    Marielle turned to Trey. “I’ll be glad to pay for the work. But I don’t want to take your men away from things they need to be doing on your place.”
    “Bandy knows their schedule better than I do,” Trey replied. “And as for paying—we all help each other out up here from time to time. There’s no charge for being neighborly.” He looked at the older man. “Bandy, send whoever you can spare to ride those fences and we’ll see what she needs to put them right. Tell them to get the wire and post from our supply shed.”
    “Trey, I can’t let you just give me stuff. I insist on paying for the materials at least,” Marielle told him emphatically.
    “We’ll settle up later. You can pay me whatever I paid for them. The main thing right now—if you’re determined to tend those sheep—is to get your fences fixed to keep them in,” Trey told her.
    “Oh, I meant to ask … Did Uncle Dan have a horse?” she addressed the two men. “He gave me riding lessons when I was a little girl and I’m sure I’ll need a refresher course, but I want to ride.”
    “Yeah, Dan kept two good horses,” Bandy answered her. “They’ll be fine for you. We’ve been stabling them with ours since he went in the hospital, taking care of them. I’ll send them over to you as soon as I can, along with some feed.” Bandy grinned at Marielle. “You won’t have any trouble finding somebody to give you a few riding lessons, ma’am. The boys will be fighting over who gets that job!” He chuckled.
    “I’ll do it,” Trey heard himself saying. From the look on Marielle’s face, he didn’t know who was more surprised by his statement—himself or her.

    A few days later—taking a break from cleaning and setting her little house in order, which she had decided needed to be done before anything else on the ranch—Marielle watched as Trey unloaded the horses from a covered trailer, backing each one out slowly. They were beautiful, she thought. A bay and a palomino. The late afternoon sun burnished their sleek, shining coats and played across the rippling muscles of the two animals Trey led toward her. Beautiful, she thought again with a flicker of disquiet as they came closer, but big. Really big!
    She didn’t recall the horse she’d ridden as a child being quite so large. She glanced at Trey. He gave her a speculative look.
    “What do you think?” he asked, tying the lead rope of each horse to the picket fence.
    “They’re magnificent,” Marielle said brightly determined to hide her uneasiness. “What are their names?”
    Trey shrugged. “You can call them whatever you want to.” He flashed a smile at Marielle and she felt her pulse accelerate. Lord, he was good-looking! She’d bet that he could be a charmer when he wanted to. “I’ve brought some feed over,” he continued. “Let’s get a stall ready for them and then I’ll show you how much to feed them every day.” Leaving the horses hitched to the fence, he set out toward the barn. Marielle followed, hurrying to keep up.
    She realized that the way he moved was deceptive. Although he seemed to walk with an easy, languid grade, he covered the