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marriage was a sham.
    * * *
    T WO DAYS AFTER the near disaster of a dinner, Olympia visited Muffin, the rescue that Jessie had recently asked her to take on. The horse, true to form, backed away from her, teeth bared. The paint gelding had bad habits and a quick temper—probably abused in his past. He was wary of humans, and the feeling was mutual. He’d bitten Olympia three times and stomped her foot. Her ranch was home to him and three other horses, not enough to cover the bills since only two were paying customers.
    “Seven months, Muffin. I can do this for seven months. Otherwise no feed for you.” In a little over half a year, she’d have the baby, and...she’d be free of Spence and ready to hit the rodeo circuit. No way would she feel sad about leaving her fake cowboy. Plus, Rickie would have the cash she needed for school. She smiled thinking about her sister, with her red hair and long legs—nothing like Olympia. Made sense for her and Rickie, since they only shared James DNA. Olympia vaguely remembered Rickie’s slow-talking dad, an Oklahoma cowboy who hadn’t stuck around for his daughter’s birth.
    While she and Spence lived together, money should be a little less tight. Olympia might be able to figure out a way to trade for or get the funds to buy a barrel racer. Then she’d be ready to hit the circuit running—so to speak.
Right, cowgirl, and exactly how are you going to practice with a big old belly?
    Muffin shook his head, his mane going in six directions. Olympia smiled at the gelding’s goofiness and not just the fact that the less-than-pleasant animal had been given such a girlie handle. Jessie said that he’d been named for his unnatural love of muffins—butter-rum ones, in particular. She wasn’t ready to break down and bribe him with those treats...yet. She reached over the stall to put the bucket of feed in place. Muffin showed his teeth. “Silly horse,” Olympia said. “Biting the hand that feeds you is a bad idea.” She checked his water, then moved on to the boarders.
    Now what? All the chores were done, and she might actually be hungry. She’d have to face the house sometime.
    “Dinner, Olympia,” Spence said from the barn door.
    She whipped around but could see only his silhouette against the setting sun, his hat cocked at an angle that gave her a shiver of recognition. He looked just like a cowboy who’d be the sort of stand-up guy she could rely on and fall in love with. But that had been the dream of a teenager. She didn’t want to feel that for Spence or the instant flash of heat. So she’d lie and tell him she wasn’t hungry. Then what? She couldn’t sleep in the barn. She’d agreed to marry him and live with him. Time to act like a civilized human being. “What are we having?”
    “Chicken fingers and fries.”
    She stared at him, trying to decide if he was making a joke.
    He stared back. “It’s Calvin’s favorite. I’m missing him.”
    She waited for him to say more, but when he didn’t, she replied, “As long as I don’t have to cook it, I’m good.”
    “My cooking skills are limited, but I can make a meal. Are you ready?”
    “I’m done, and I might even be hungry.”
    “Are these your horses for racing?”
    “No. I’m boarding those two.” She waved to the closest animals. “Pasquale there is a rescue that...well, he just never left. The one at the far end is another rescue Jessie talked me into taking. If I was a little more centrally located, it’d be simpler to board more animals. It’s just too far for most people.”
    “It is way out. Family ranch?”
    “You could say that.” She didn’t want to talk about the father who’d given her the property in apology for a lifetime of neglect.
    “So your family is from Arizona?”
    He was making polite conversation. She could return the favor. She might have grown up like trailer trash, but she’d learned a lot since then. “My sisters and I grew up over near Bisbee.”
    “Sisters. You