Shaking her head, Shiloh saw that they were going to ride between two huge pastures. “No. Why?”
Roan, who had just shaved and nicked himself earlier, carefully rubbed his jaw. “We’ll be going to drive them into another pasture. It’s June and the mother’s are calving. The bulls aren’t with them, but the mothers can be very protective of their young calf.”
“Okay. What does that mean to a city slicker like me?” she asked, and flashed him a grin. Roan’s mouth barely lifted. The lush greenness of the pastures infused Shiloh. Overhead, she saw a red-tailed hawk flying in higher and higher circles in the sky. There were bluebirds everywhere, many of them sitting on fence posts. When they took off, that flash of brilliant blue always made her gasp with delight; it was almost an unearthly gorgeous color.
“Don’t get Charley between a calf and its mother,” Roan warned her. “Buffalo are a twitchy lot by temperament anyway. And cows are very protective of their young in a situation they consider threatening.”
Worried, Shiloh said, “Maybe I shouldn’t even be in there. I’m not that great a rider.”
“Just stay behind me or on the outside of me and you should be all right,” he assured her. “A couple of other wranglers are going to be meeting us and the three of us will do the herding. I thought you might enjoy seeing buffalo, being that you’re a city slicker and all,” he said, and one corner of his mouth hooked slightly as he gazed over at Shiloh.
Shiloh chewed on her lower lip, not so sure. She saw the gleam of confidence in Roan’s eyes. He believed she could do it. “I’m a poor rider.”
“Charley is old and wise. Just let him take care of you. Hold on to the saddle horn if it makes you feel better.”
She had been trying not to do that because she wanted to appear able to ride without clinging like a greenhorn. “He would know what to do?”
Roan nodded. “Yes. Before Maud put him in the dude ranch as a child’s horse, he was a damn good wrangling gelding the first twelve years of his life. He knows buffalo and cattle. You’ll be safe on board him.”
“Okay,” she murmured, not sounding very sure of herself even to her own ears.
“You can stay outside the gate if you want.” Roan saw the anxiety coming to Shiloh’s eyes as they approached the pasture. He pulled Diamond to a halt at the gate and dismounted.
Shiloh was looking at all the brown humped buffalo cows and their frolicking calves. It looked bucolic. But the animals were huge! She saw about half a mile away, on the opposite side of the pasture, two wranglers opening up a large gate to allow the mothers and calves access to the area. Roan picked up his radio and talked to the other wranglers. Seesawing between staying outside the gate and following Roan in, she saw him finish off his chat with the wranglers.
Stuffing the radio into his saddlebags, Roan looked up at Shiloh. “Well?”
“I’m waffling.”
He grinned. “Yes, you are.”
Making a face, Shiloh admitted, “I don’t want you to think I’m a weenie.”
Chuckling, Roan lifted his hat and moved his gloved fingers through his hair. “I would never think that, Shiloh.” He came over and rested his hand against the rear of her saddle, looking up into her indecisive features. “I’ll respect you no matter what you decide. Okay?”
Grimacing, she muttered, “I’m going in with you.” Looking around, anger tinging her voice, she added, “I’m tired of being scared all the time. If I was back in New York City, I’d be sitting imprisoned in my apartment, feeling like a convict behind bars because somewhere out there, a man wants to hurt me and I don’t know who it is.”
His heart wrenched. Roan eased his hand down her arm and caught her gloved fingers. “You don’t have to prove anything to me. All right?”
She tucked her lower lip between her teeth, squeezing his hand in return. “I’m just tired of being scared, Roan.”
“I know, Darlin’. But if you decide to come in, do it for yourself. Okay?”
Roan was right, she realized. “Yes,” she muttered, releasing his hand even though she didn’t want to. Just the intimacy Roan had automatically established with her calmed her, helped her gain perspective. “They’re big, is all.”
Roan patted her knee and nodded. “Yes, they are. But we’re taller than they are when we’re on horseback. Look at it that way,” he said, and he ambled over to Diamond who was eagerly eating the lush grass.
Brows rising, Shiloh considered his words. He was right. She enjoyed watching him mount Diamond, his male grace. Wanting him. All of him. Why was life so damned complicated?
As Roan rode through and turned Diamond to catch the gate to close it, he saw Charley trotting in, a stubborn look on Shiloh’s face. He grinned and said nothing. Keeping one ear keyed to the herd of twenty cows and their calves nearby, Roan got the gate closed and turned his horse toward where Charley was standing.