After the three men took baths, they joined everyone else for dinner.“I heard you taught your brothers a lesson in the pig pen

today,” her father chuckled. “You were always good on a horse, whether riding one with a saddle or not.”

“They had it coming,” she said. “I couldn‟t let them get by with naming a pig after me.”

That wasn‟t why she really did it, but she didn‟t want to embarrass Austin by reminding him of his earlier dirty condition.

He had looked mortified to be covered in

filth.

“I don‟t know,” hoesa said. “You and that pig are a lot alike. You like to run poor unsuspecting people over.”

“That‟s true. I‟ll give you that. We don‟t tolerate anyone misbehaving.”

“We hope you can keep her in check,Austin .”

Tristan grinned. “You‟re our last hope.”

“I kind of like her the way she is,” Austin began as he smiled at her, “full of passion and intensity.”

She felt her cheeks go red.

Hoesa gave her a knowing look.

She glared at him. Stop it! How long were her brothers going to keep up this ridiculous plan to keep him?

“You know, I was wrong about Claire earlier today,”

Hoesa began.

Claire frowned. Her brother was up to something and she didn‟t like it.

“I mean, anyone can tell she‟s pretty, even when she‟s wearing pants. Of course,maire is better.” He winked at his wife.

"hoesa, that‟s enough,” maire admonished.

“If you say one more thing, I‟ll take away your food and feed it to the pigs.”

“It‟s not right to mess with a man‟s stomach.”

“The way to a man‟s heart is through his stomach, except in Claire‟s case.” Tristan chuckled

“I have to hand it to you, sis.

You can hold your own against us.”

She was pleased by the unexpected compliment.“So, what are we doing tomorrow?” Jamie asked.

“We‟re going to lasso some cattle up,” hosea replied.

“I‟ve been practicing and I bet I can get more cattle lassoed than Claire.

Are you up for the challenge?”

She shrugged. “What‟s in it for me?”

She noticed Austin‟s grin. His mind is always on business negotiations.

“You can have my slice of pie tomorrow night,” he offered.

She shrugged again. “You have to offer something I want.” She crossed her arms.

“We already know you‟re going to

lose so I might as well get a good deal.”

“What do you want?”

“If I win, you have to eat the remaining caviar,” she said.

“Still interested?”

“How can that benefit you?”

“I like to watch you squirm. It‟ll be amusing.”

“Just be glad she‟s not making you eat her cooking. That‟s ten times worse,” Tristan said.

He thought it over.

“Oh come on, if you‟re so good at it, go for it,” Austin told him.

“You can‟t lead someone into a business deal and not follow through.”

“Alright,” hosea decided. “But if I win, you have to clean out the stalls.”

“Done. Save your appetite for tomorrow because you‟re going to lose.”

Austin shook his head. “hosea, if I were you, I‟d learn to do a better job of not showing your fear in front of your opponent. Half the battle is in the mind.”

“He‟s right, hosea,” Tristan admitted. “You got sweat running down your face.”

“You all need to hush! I‟m doing just fine,” hoesa snapped.

“Ooh. We hit a nerve with that one.”

“Who‟s side are you on?”

“Austin‟s of course. Anyone who likes my work as much as he does is the one I root for.”

Austin smiled in amusement. “It looks like I‟m stealing your support.”

“I don‟t need support. I can do just fine by myself,” hosea sulked.

“Oh, you know we‟re just playing with you,” Tristan said.

“Really. Don‟t get your underwear in a bunch.”

Sue chuckled. She liked the fact that Austin could easily hold his own against her brothers. He was a good businessman indeed.

***

Later that evening, hosea found Claire alone in her temporary bedroom getting her things ready for the next day.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He stepped into the room and crossed his arms as he leaned against the dresser. “I want to apologize for those comments I made earlier today about you being just like a man. I didn‟t realize it sounded bad until Marie told me so.”

She smiled. “I know you didn‟t mean any harm in it. I got even with you when I forced you into the pig pen, so let‟s say we‟re even. Agreed?”

“That‟s the great thing about you, Claire . You don‟t let anyone get away with misbehaving and you have the grace to be

forgiving.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That‟s unusually nice of you to say.”

He shrugged. “I have my moments.”

“It‟s nice when you do. But I enjoy our good-natured quarrels as much as you do. It makes coming home fun.

”He grinned. “So tomorrow, we‟ll meet in the barn and may the best person win.”

She nodded. After he left, she got ready for bed. She opened the window and slipped under the covers and layers of blankets. I might as well do it myself before Austin does it for me. She closed her eyes.

It had been a tiring day with riding Bossy intotown and performing in Tristan‟s play.

She heard Austin enter the room and opened her eyes.

“I hope my brothers didn‟t scare you off.”

He smoothed his pajamas and slipped into bed. “No way.

It takes more than rolling in the mud to avoid a hungry pig on a rampage to disturb me.”

“I have to admit that you impress me, Austin . I can see why you‟re so good at your job.”

He seemed pleased by her comment. “Never let them see you sweat.” He leaned up on his elbow. “Are you going to tell me what all this OKA talk is about? I finally figured out it stands for „Operation Keep Austin ‟ but can‟t understand what it means.”

She sighed. She wasn‟t sure if it was a good idea to tell him or not. He had a great sense of humor, so he might be alright with it. “Very well. After you ate the oysters,

my brothers cornered me in the hallway and told me they want to keep you in the family. I told them that it wasn‟t going to happen

because we made a business deal.”

“So that‟s why we‟re sharing a room together.” He chuckled. “I wondered about that.”

“Sometimes, they don‟t know when to stop.”

“I should probably be appalled but I‟m flattered they think so well of me to want me to stick around. I guess you can‟t blame

them for trying.”

“They‟ll have a hard time when May comes, but they‟ll survive it.”

He shook his head and laid down. “I‟ll be rooting for you tomorrow.” He paused.

“I heard you actually lassoed Hosea and Tristan and hung them upside down in the barn when they put itching powder in your saddle.”

She laughed at the memory. “That was funny. Poor Bossy wouldn‟t let me ride her for a month after that.”

“There‟s more to you than meets the eye,” he seriously said.

She blinked at his change in tone.

“You can charge into a bank scaring George Leroy, nearly run your brothers over with a horse and lasso them upside down,

yet you manage to look like a woman the entire time you‟re doing it.”

“Really?” She didn‟t know why hearing him say it was so important to her. Perhaps it‟s because he‟s not related to me.

“Hasn‟t anyone ever told you that you‟re beautiful?”

She shook her head.

“Well, maybe it‟s time that changed.” He turned off the light. “Good night, Claire .”

She tried to respond but she choked on her tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much love

V.A 💙