Chapter Ten

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth," she quipped with a shrug. Tossing the hot pan holder on the counter, she untied the apron. As she brushed by him on her way to her room to dress, she asked over her shoulder. "What's on?"

"Who cares?"

She stopped and turned to face him. What kind of an evening did he have planned? He was picking up the paper and lowering his frame into a chair when he noticed she had stopped. He grinned as he realized her interpretation of his answer.

"I only meant it would be good to get out of the house, no matter what we went to see."

She shrugged and went to her room. Why the sudden desire to get out of the house? Up until now he had given her the impression he was a complete hermit. Other than his solitary rides on Diablo, and his ventures into the woods, she only knew of one time when he had left the place, and that was when he took her home - and he wasn't too happy about that. He said he had talked to his mother. Had they decided they didn't want her bored and inquisitive?

Slipping into a pale yellow sun dress, she surveyed herself in the mirror. It looked cool and casual, but not provocative. Unbraiding her hair she brushed it. The hair on her head was thick. The braids not only held it out of her eyes, but thinned the bottom part down enough that it would lay loose across her shoulders and down her back without frizzing. Testing her ankle in a pair of low heels, she nodded silent approval and hurried down the hall.