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“Right,” Vivi Ann said “That’s what I thought So let’s get started cleaning this place up”

Winona felt her breath release in a quiet sigh Maybe there was hope after all

And she thanked God for that Lately, she’d begun to wonder what terrible thing she ht do if Vivi Ann married Luke

A week and a half later, Winona sat in her father’s study, at the big, scarred wooden desk that looked out over the flat blue waters of the Canal On this crystalline day the trees on the opposite shore looked close enough to touch; it seemed impossible to believe that they were more than a mile away She had just reached for the nearest bill—from the lumber store—when she heard a car drive up A few y porch steps and someone knocked

She pushed the bills aside and went to answer it

Adown at her At least she thought he was staring down; it was hard to tell A dusty white cowboy hat shielded the upper half of his face He was tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in torn, dirty jeans and a Bruce Springsteen T-shirt that had seen better days “I’m here about the job”

She detected a hint of an accent—Texas or Oklahoma, maybe He took his hat off and i to his shoulders Skin the color of well-tanned leather ht in comparison His face was sharp and chiseled, not quite handsouely mean, a little wild He was lean, too; wiry as a strip of rawhide Black tattooed Native American symbols encircled his left bicep, but they weren’t froes were unfamiliar to her

“The job?” he said again, re to respond “Are you still looking for a hand?”

“You know your way around horses? We don’t want to train anyone”

“I worked at the Poe Ranch in Texas It’s the biggest operation in the Hill Country And I team-roped for about ten years”

“You good with a hammer?”

“I can fix what’s wrong around here, if that’s what you’re asking I’m half white, too If that helps you make up your mind”

“That hardly matters to me”

“You’re above most folks, are you?”

She got the sense he was laughing at her, but nothing about hied