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bull?” she stopped in the road, hands at her hips. Forgetting all about the tourists, she let him have it. “I go all the way to Dallas to wheel and deal for money and you’re back here spending what little we do have? Where did you get it? How much was it? Will they take it back? Good grief, Buck, do you have any idea what that will do to our insurance rates? That’s the thanks I get for successfully pulling off the loan.”
    He rolled his shoulders and stretched as he stood up. “Maybe we’d better take this conversation inside.” He nodded toward the tourists and saw Wes in the background, grinning as if he could just spit yellow bird feathers.
    “You bet we’ll take it inside.” She pushed past him and into the building.
    “We’re partners and we’re supposed to make these decisions together. Did you forget that?”
    Wes went back to the barn. Those two were a pair. He was beginning to love his new job. And he could get real used to the lady boss even if she wasn’t his type. What was his type? he wondered as he walked. Oh, well, there weren’t going to be many dull moments. Checking his watch, he made note that he would have to leave in a few minutes.

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    Joey Light
    Nick went back to his trailer. As he walked, he brooded and tried to untangle his thoughts. Everything was changing here. This Wes Cooper was becoming a real live hero to many. The women like him, the men like him. He does everything well. He cast one more bitter look over his shoulder.
    Vic likes him. Buck likes him. He didn’t. He reached his trailer and headed immediately for the refrigerator. Antacid, straight from the bottle.
    The tourists ignored the slightly hushed, but heated argument going on inside the jailhouse. But they did make way for her when, a few moments later, Victoria banged the door open and stomped across the sidewalk and stepped onto the road.
    She was just in time to see Wes Cooper come out of the barn, check his watch, and head for his truck that was still parked on the back lot. Without thinking much about it, she swung back onto the sidewalk and yelled at Buck.
    “Just what is it that makes your Wes Cooper look at his watch all the time and then go driving off somewhere? I thought he worked here.”
    Buck came out and stood next to her. “He does. But I pretty much gave him his own time schedule. And I figure he’s off to see his Katie. He sure loves that little gal.”
    Why did she feel as if she’d been hit with a rock? She knew a man like him would have a lady friend. And why should she care? She didn’t. Dammit, she didn’t. Just because she was beginning to really admire the man and his abilities didn’t mean she liked him. Turning on her heel, she swept back down the street.
    So Buck hadn’t seemed elated with the news that she got the nice fat loan she went after. Too bad. Somebody had to take the initiative here. The town had come to a standstill. Even Buck realized that or he wouldn’t have agreed with her idea and consequently hired J. Weston Cooper. She wasn’t happy either. She 54
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    High-Riding Heroes
    wasn’t happy with his childish display of ownership. They would all just have to learn to deal with it. Things would just have to eventually smooth out.
    She didn’t like the way she was acting. Being forced to act. Once again, as she did so often back in Virginia, she was reacting to outside influences.
    Back on the East Coast, she had strived to be all her mother wished her to be, all her husband thought she was, and all that society dictated was acceptable.
    Phooey. Enough of that. She had had no idea that Buck would resent her falling heir to this place, until she had arrived. Hadn’t even been slightly prepared for it. The result was that she had to put on a layer of steel. It was fast becoming a heavy thing to deal with. She walked down the street nodding and smiling to the tourists and the townspeople. She was good at covering