deny he was a very good-looking man. One of the most attractive I had ever seen, if not the most attractive.
He was very different than the guys back home in California. Not just in the way he looked but his personality and the easy way he seemed to interact with the world around him. He laughed openly and joked freely with my father and uncle. He didn’t feel the need to explain or justify anything he was doing but would answer any questions without judgment.
He carried the air that he didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. That intrigued me.
Rubin suddenly got up and strode over to the horses with determination. He walked up to the one he rode the day before and reached to pet her. The horse didn’t seem as eager to rekindle their friendship as Rubin was, and there were a few moments when I worried the week might end with my cousin being head-butted into oblivion by a half-ton creature.
Fortunately, an encouraging sound from Colt and Rubin going the route of offering a carrot rather than just himself defused the situation. Grinning at this accomplishment, Rubin picked up a brush and started brushing the horse. When he was finished, he went for the rack where Colt and Sawyer put the tack the night before.
“What are you doing, Rubin?” Sawyer asked when Rubin grabbed up a stack of blankets and headed back for the horse.
“I’m getting my horse geared up,” he said.
“You remember how to do it?” Colt asked.
“Of course,” Rubin said. “I think I’m taking to all this pretty well. It’s just coming out of me. Must be in my blood, huh, Dad?”
I looked over at Uncle Lucien. He didn’t go so far as to roll his eyes, but there was definitely a bit of resigned acceptance in his expression. “Sure, son. I think you’re doing great.”
Rubin tossed the blankets up over onto the horse’s back and adjusted them into place. He headed back for the saddle and I noticed Colt eyeing the horse carefully. When Rubin came back with the saddle and bridle, he stepped up closer.
“You know,” Colt said, “we still have a little bit before we’re going to ride out. Usually the horses do better if we all tack them up at the same time. So maybe we should hang on for a minute before getting your horse geared up.”
“Oh,” Rubin said. He looked bewildered for a second, then nodded. “Sure. That makes sense. I’m just excited to get back out on the trail.”
“I’m sure you are,” Sawyer said.
Rubin put the saddle back into place on the rack and draped the bridle near it. He came over to the fire circle with a slightly smug expression on his face. I was trying to navigate making breakfast when he walked up to my side with his coffee and looked over my shoulder at what I was doing.
“You know, if you’re having a hard time when we get the horses ready, I can help you out.”
I looked up at him and he flashed me a grin.
“You can?” I asked.
“Sure. I know it’s only been one night, but I really feel a connection to this place. I’m even better at the cowboy stuff than I thought I would be.”
One of the horses whinnied and shook its mane, making Rubin take a slight step back even though they were several yards away.
“Oh, yeah,” I said dryly. “You’re a real natural.” I moved a heavy cast-iron pan onto the grate in the fire and flashed Rubin another look. “Are you wearing your argyle socks under those boots, cousin?”
Everyone laughed, but it was Sawyer’s reaction that really struck me. He threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh that came from somewhere deep inside him. He laughed so hard it made me blush and I had to turn all my focus onto getting my eggs cooking.
It was a new feeling, having a man laugh like that about something I said. Men didn’t usually find me funny. There were a lot of ways that men back home described me, but humorous in any way wasn’t one of them. Then again, if I was around the men in Orange County, I never would have made a joke like that. It was a totally different thing interacting with those men.
When I was home and around men, whether it was people I’d known my whole life, galas and charity events I organized, events I attended, or even business networking for my