Read Forbidden Spirits for Free Online Page A

him give his horses when he was happy with them—eyes that were soft with affection, a slight smile on his lips. But the next moment his eyes began moving slowly over her face and pausing, as if studying her features.
    Feeling unsettled with his close perusal, she glanced over at his horses, which were standing in a group looking their way, and said, "How have you managed to teach your mares all the things you have? My family has always had horses, but what you do with yours is amazing."
    " Not really," Tyler replied. "It's all about herd instinct. Horses are social animals that depend on a leader for survival, so if the leader turns and runs, the herd instinctively follows."
    "That explains why they follow you," Rose said, "but not how you got them to do things in unison, like loping around you in a circle."
    " That's just copycat behavior," Tyler replied. "Synchronized reactions are characteristic of herd animals. A foal cantering alongside its mother often matches her strides in perfect cadence, and in the same way, my mares mimic what I do since I'm their leader. Then I show them lots of affection to let them know I'm pleased, so they have a strong desire to do what I ask them to do."
    "How long does it take to get them to do things?" Rose asked, realizing it was a ridiculous question that had no exact answer, but her thoughts were scattered between her reaction to Tyler's presence, what he was able to do with his horses, and the realization that she'd never been awestruck before and she was having trouble processing the unfamiliar feeling.
    "It varies with the things ," Tyler replied.
    "A month? Two months? Six months to train them?" Rose asked, because she'd run out of questions, mainly because Tyler was a distraction that made her thoughts jump around.
    Tyler smiled , which made Rose edgy, not knowing if he was amused with her mindless cross-examination, or because he'd picked up on her female reactions to him, which had to be evident in the heavy beating of her heart, which was pulsating in her neck, and her quickened breathing, which she could do nothing about except fill her lungs with air and try to settle things down, which he no doubt picked up on because he seemed to be an unusually perceptive man.
    "I don't count the days or hours," Tyler replied. "Two of my mares have never performed with the team, but with luck they'll be ready by the time we leave for Wyoming."
    " That's a thousand miles away. Will you trailer them there by yourself?" Rose asked, while wondering about the whole process of moving and stabling that many horses that distance. His magnificent mares were definitely not your average rodeo horses. She could not begin to imagine what they were worth.
    "I've contracted with professional horse transporters ," Tyler replied. "I have a brother who lives in southeast Oregon who'll meet me there. Josh raises bucking bulls with my brother, Jeremy and his wife, Billy, who live… somewhere, and Josh will be bringing a couple of Billy's bulls, so he'll be helping me at the other end."
    Rose puzzled over Tyler's wording. "You said Jeremy and his wife live somewhere. Does that mean they live near your other brother or somewhere else?" she asked.
    "Somewhere else ," Tyler replied.
    "Where?" Rose asked, still baffled by the exchange.
    "I don't know," Tyler replied.
    "You don't know where your brother lives?" Rose asked.
    "It's a long story ," Tyler replied. "Josh is looking after Billy's bulls until she and Jeremy can return home from where they are right now, and that's all I can say."
    Rose thought about that. It made no sense, but it made no difference either because beyond her job at the museum, she was not directly involved with the Hansen family. Except that the youngest of the sons was dominating far too much of her mind.
    Deciding it was time to cut this encounter short , she said, "I'd better get on with exercising Tundra and finding materials for my baskets."
    To her surprise, Tyler lifted his hand to