Damn, she was crying. “Mandy, he’s fine. He’s doing what he always does, making a bid for sympathy.”

  “I know.” She swiped the tears away. “I’m not worried that he’s on his last legs. Mom told me he was healthy.” She gulped. “I’ve missed him, that’s all.”

  “Oh.” He pulled a bandanna out of his back pocket and handed it to her.

  “Thanks.” She stopped and blew her nose.

  He waited while she got herself together. When it came to women, he struggled with the crying part, which could signal so many different things. A flood of tears could mean they were happy, sad, frustrated, scared or furious. Take your pick. He doubted Mandy was frustrated, scared or furious, so that left sad and happy. “I didn’t mean to make you sad. Maybe I should have saddled a different horse.”

  “Absolutely not!” She tucked the bandanna in her jacket pocket before she hurried over to Eeyore and began loving on him.

  The touching sight of Mandy hugging her horse didn’t help Zane focus on the problem at hand. It should, because Eeyore was Aunt Jo’s horse now and she was nuts about that silly animal. Riding Eeyore was another thing she’d sacrifice by moving to New York.

  But instead of concentrating on that, he was captured by the reunion of a woman with the horse she’d adored as a girl. Eeyore behaved as if he remembered her. Despite his perpetually sad eyes, he looked sort of happy. He bumped his nose against Mandy’s chest like he used to when she was riding him all the time.

  Zane got a little emotional when he saw that. Eeyore never did it with him, his mom or Aunt Jo. Now he sympathized with the old gray horse, too. Eeyore clearly preferred Mandy to the rest of the humans who cared for him, but he was out of luck. Mandy didn’t live here and wasn’t likely to.

  Eventually the love fest between Mandy and Eeyore let up enough that she noticed Jake. “Now there’s a handsome fellow. I don’t remember him.” Then she hugged Eeyore’s neck. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’ll always be my favorite.”

  “This is Jake.” Zane smoothed a hand down the white blaze on the gelding’s nose. “We got him about a year after you left. He’s a fantastic horse.”

  “Looks like he would be with those long legs.” She untied Eeyore and swung into the saddle. “I’m so out of practice. Thank goodness we’re only going to the lookout and back.”

  “Yes, ma’am, quick trip.” He untied Jake and mounted up. “Want to lead or follow?”

  She gazed up at him. “As if you have to ask. I already feel like I’m Poncho to your Cisco so I for sure don’t want to bring up the rear.”

  “You remember the way?”

  “Maybe not, but I guarantee Eeyore does.” She started out of the yard toward a well-defined trail.

  Zane followed, curious to see what would happen. Eeyore was used to taking the main path through a clearing and into the trees. If Mandy gave him his head, he’d likely go that route and miss the turnoff where a narrow trail wound up a rocky slope to the lookout.

  He waited for Mandy to ride past the turnoff, but at the last minute she neck-reined Eeyore to the left and started up the lookout trail. She hadn’t made that turn for years, but she remembered. She looked at home in the saddle, too.

  He got a charge out of watching her. Despite spending all those years in the big city, she hadn’t forgotten her country roots. If she had, they wouldn’t have much chance of reaching a mutual understanding about her mom. He was counting on her country roots because transplanting Aunt Jo would be painful for everyone, including Mandy. If she succeeded in getting her mother to leave and it didn’t work out, that could cause bad feelings for years to come.

  For now, though, he was rocketed back in time as he followed Mandy up the steep incline. Dislodged pebbles tumbled down the slope and Eeyore groaned in protest as he always did on this part of the trip. Mandy laughed and told him not to be a baby. Her laughter said she was having fun, and that gratified him.

  Until yesterday her happiness hadn’t been on his conscious radar. When she’d rejected his friendship ten years ago, he’d done his best to stop caring about her happiness He might have failed in that effort.

  Judging from the way his chest tightened when she whooped and hollered going up the last, very steep part of the trail, he cared about Mandy’s happiness. He wanted to see her grow and thrive in an environment that suited her. Maybe she’d found that in New York City. His mom had mentioned the innovative design company that meshed so well with Mandy’s creative flair.

  But if she had a fulfilling job and friends she enjoyed, would she be so excited about having her mother move back there? Not likely. She’d be content to visit her mom in Montana every so often and allow Aunt Jo to create her own ideal environment.

  Mandy reached the top, dismounted and spread her arms wide. “Thank you, Zane! This is something I’ve missed desperately without even knowing it.”

  That was a promising comment. “Then I’m glad we’re here.” He swung down from the saddle and ground-tied Jake. The horse was so well trained that he’d stand right where Zane had left him for a good hour or two.

  “It’s not like New York doesn’t have vistas because it certainly does. I can get a great view of the city from a rooftop bar, but what’s laid out here is so much wilder and unpredictable. The cityscape doesn’t change a whole lot except for the weather.”

  He was encouraged by everything she was saying. Maybe they’d come to a meeting of the minds, after all. “So how do you feel after that ride?”

  “Fine.”

  “Good to hear.” He pulled his binoculars out of the saddlebag and handed them to her.

  “This looks like the same pair you had before.” She looped the strap over her neck.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He’d saved up until he’d finally had enough to order them from a catalog when he was twelve. “Still work great.”

  “I don’t know what happened to mine. Probably out in the storeroom in one of the boxes Mom and I plan to go through this afternoon.”

  “If you find them, don’t give them away.” He unstrapped an old army blanket from behind his saddle. “Those were top-of-the-line and if you don’t want them anymore, I’ll take them. Wouldn’t hurt to have an extra pair around.” He’d secured the blanket into a tight roll with two sections of twine. Normally he didn’t bother bringing it but he wanted Mandy to be comfortable.

  “I might as well give them to you.” A breeze kept blowing strands of hair in her face. Taking off her hat, she leaned over, gathered her hair with one hand and crammed the hat on again as she stood up. “That’s better. Should’ve done that in the first place.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Had she wanted her hair to look pretty for him?

  “Like I said, out of practice for riding. Anyway, if I locate the binoculars I’ll set them aside for you. I can’t think of a reason for me to keep them.”

  He couldn’t imagine living in a place where you didn’t need binoculars. If he had a second pair he’d carry one in his saddlebag all the time so he’d never be caught without a way to survey the landscape or the critters inhabiting it. “Did you bring gloves?”

  “I did.” She pulled them out of her pocket. “I remember how the last part goes.”

  “I keep thinking I should dig the rocks out a little, create more handholds so it’s not such a challenge.” He put on his gloves. “But I haven’t done it yet. Ready?”

  “You bet.” She tucked the binoculars inside her jacket so they wouldn’t bang around while she made the steep climb to the rock ledge.

  Because she’d managed the trek so often in the past, he wasn’t too worried about her, but by following he’d be in position to help if necessary. The ledge wasn’t easy to access but it had several things going for it. Besides providing a view of the surrounding forest and the snow-capped Absarokas, it got sun nearly all day, which warmed the rock and melted snow quickly. In summer the rock got toasty by nine, so he usually came out early in the morning. Midday was perfect this time of year.

  They were almost to the top when Mandy’s foot slid on loose shale. Grabbing an outcropping for balance, she let loose with a curse.

  He gazed up at her. “Need help?”

  “Not sure, yet. Let me assess.” She had one foot planted but the other one kept slipping wherever she tried to get purchase. “How did we used to do this in cowboy boots?”

  “Lots of practice.”

  “Yeah, and I’m out of practice. I don’t want to come crashing down on you.”

  “Hang on.” He gave the blanket a mighty heave that sent it sailing over the lip and onto the ledge. “I’ll come up and give you support so you can reposition your feet.” He’d been here so often lately that he knew which rocks were stable and which ones weren’t. He climbed until he could wrap an arm around her waist. “Gotcha, Buttercup.”

  “Thanks.” She sounded a little breathless. “What now?”

  “I’ll hoist you up to the next handhold and reposition your feet.” He’d better do it soon, too, because holding her warm body against his with her bottom pressed tight against his package was having a predictable effect. “From there you should be able to grab the ledge and pull yourself over.”

  “Got it.”

  “You’ll want to get a hold on the sparkly white rock on your right and the tan one on your left. When I say now, let go.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now.”

  She let go.

  He lifted her until she could reach the next handhold. “Got a good grip?”

  “Yep. Just fix my feet and I’ll be fine.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” When he grasped her calves to position her boots on solid rock, he felt firm muscle under the denim. “Can you see where I put your feet?”

  “Yes.”

  “There’s another good spot about fifteen inches above that. It’s a small ledge. See it?”

  “I do.”

  “I’ll stay right here while you get the rest of the way up. If you need a boost, let me know.”

  “I can make it.”

  He braced himself so he’d be ready in case she slipped while hauling herself up and over. He pretty much had to observe the process, but he shouldn’t be enjoying the view of her ass quite so much. Once they were both up there he ought to rid his mind of that arousing sight. Yeah, sure.

  By the time he joined her she’d taken off her gloves and was working on the twine that he’d used to tie up the blanket.

  He stuffed his gloves in his pocket and helped her, which meant being close enough to catch the scent of her perfume. She was breathing fast from the difficult climb. He was breathing fast for a different reason, but she didn’t have to know that. They folded the blanket in half and laid it in the exact spot where they used to sit as kids.

  Then she held up the twine. “Is this the stuff the eagles scavenge that causes so much trouble?”

  “That’s it.” He took in a lungful of pure mountain air. There. He was gradually calming down. “I either recycle it or reuse it but I never leave it lying around.”

  “Then I’ll put it in my pocket until we tie up the blanket again.” She pulled out the binoculars and put the lens protectors in her pocket, too. “Which nest has the eggs in it?”

  “That one.” He pointed to a tall pine.

  She raised the binoculars and focused on the tree. “Yep, there’s the nest. Wow, is it the same one that was there before?”

  “Same one. They come back every year.”

  “But it’s huge!”

  “They keep adding to it. Can you see the eggs, yet?”

  “No. The female’s sitting in it so I can’t…oh, wait, she just stood up. I see the eggs! Two of them!” Still looking through the binoculars, she took a step forward.

  “Hey.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Remember the rule.”

  “It’s okay. I know where the edge is.”

  “Mandy, please sit on the blanket. You can see fine from there.”

  She lowered the binoculars. “All right. But I wasn’t the one who almost fell off that time.” She walked to the blanket and sat on it cross-legged before looking through the binoculars again.

  “I might be dead if you hadn’t yanked me back by my belt.”

  “Then you definitely need to sit on the blanket when you’re using these. There’s no way I could yank you back now that you’ve bulked up.”

  “What do you mean, bulked up? I haven’t changed that much.”

  She laughed. “Have you looked in a mirror lately? I was going to ask you if you’ve been lifting weights to get that muscle definition.”

  “Just lifting hay bales.” He thought she might be paying him a compliment about the muscles, though, and that was nice.

  “Then you must lift a lot of them.”

  “I’m mostly the one available to do it.”

  “Now she’s sitting on the eggs again.” Mandy pulled the strap over her head and handed him the binoculars. “Want to look?”

  “Sure. Thanks.” He focused on the huge nest that had been in the tree for years. “I pulled twine out of there three weeks ago. It didn’t come from our ranch, but seeing it told me I have more community education to do.”

  “Run that by me again.”

  “I haven’t spread the word enough. I should probably print up some fliers about the danger of twine and post them around town. That would –”

  “No, the part about you taking it out of the nest. How’d you get up there, fly?”

  “I bought some spiked boots like the lumberjacks use and got somebody to teach me how they work.”

  “You climbed up? That nest has to be forty feet in the air!”

  He lowered the binoculars and found her staring at him, her eyes wide. “I was careful. I used that strap thing the lumberjacks cinch around themselves as they go up.”

  “There’s nothing careful about climbing forty feet in the air. Talk about getting yourself killed! Does your mom know you did that?”

  “Yes, and she wasn’t happy about it, but somebody had to get that damned twine. I couldn’t bring a crane and a bucket in there. The trees are too close together.”

  “I suppose, but…why didn’t you hire a lumberjack?”

  She had him, there. His mom had asked the same thing. “Because I wanted to do it. I wanted to see what it was like to have an eagle’s eye view.”

  “The truth comes out. You’re insane.”

  He grinned. “Mandy, it was awesome. Those spiked boots work great, and being at the top of the tree, cleaning out the nest and knowing I was the only person who’d been that close to it, was a blast. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

  She shook her head in obvious disapproval. “Boys.” But she was smiling when she said it, like maybe she was kind of impressed with his daredevil trick of climbing that tree.

  All things considered, he might not have a better moment to bring up the subject at hand. “I know we need to get back fairly soon, but –”

  “Yes, we do.” She lifted her face to the warmth of the sun. “This has been nice, though. Thanks for bringing me up here and giving me the final boost.” She laughed. “Not one of my more graceful moments.”

  “You did fine. I doubt you do much rock-climbing in the city.”

  “There’s a climbing wall in the gym where I work out, but no loose shale.”

  “Loose shale’s a pain.” He hesitated. “Listen, before we head down, there’s something I wanted to ask you about.”

  “What’s that?”

  He gazed into her eyes as he debated the best way to start. Damn, he didn’t want to start at all and risk losing the nice mood they had going, but he and Ryker had pledged themselves to give Aunt Jo backup. She needed their help to save her way of life. “I’ve been thinking about your mom going to New York.”

  “Me, too. A lot.”

  Maybe there was hope. “So you’re reconsidering?”

  “Not at all. But she has a fair amount of reluctance towards making the move. Change is hard. I get that.”

  He forced himself to ask the tough question and prayed she’d take it well. “Is there any possibility that she’s resisting because the move isn’t right for her?”

  The friendly light left her gaze as the color changed from mostly green to a determined gold. “I don’t think that’s for you to say.”

  She hadn’t taken it well. Now he was in for it.

  Chapter Six

  Anger pushed Mandy to her feet. She’d been basking in the warm sensual glow of reconnecting with an old friend who was more tempting than she’d counted on. But the outing wasn’t much fun anymore and she was ready to bail. “We should probably get going.”

  “You’re upset.” He stood, too.

  “Disappointed, mainly. It sounds like you might have brought me up here just so you could talk to me about that.”

  “No, I swear I didn’t. When you mentioned wanting to see the raptors that reminded me of the eggs. I thought you might like to see them.”

  “I did want to see them. That part was great, but the way you approached the subject of my mother felt planned.” She did her best to keep from overreacting. But what had looked like a chance to renew their friendship and maybe indulge in some unrealistic romantic fantasies now appeared to have a hidden agenda.

  “Only from the standpoint of not knowing if I’d have another chance to talk to you about it while you’re here.”

  “When did you conclude that you had to talk to me about this?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it ever since you first said something. Last night I figured out the trail ride might give us the perfect chance to discuss it.”

  Then he’d anticipated the conversation, perhaps rehearsed what he’d say. “I feel ambushed.”

  “That wasn’t my intention.”

  “Maybe not, but it turned out to be the result.”

  “Listen, I get that you think this is none of my business.”

  “Correct.” Feeling the need for protection, she folded her arms.

  “But your mom’s important to me, almost as important as my own mother.”

  Okay, so that was where he was coming from. She got it. “So you don’t want her to leave, and that makes perfect sense. She’s been a part of your life for a long time and you’ll miss her.”