Savannah's eyes narrowed when she recognized the tall, lean cowboy holding the lunge line. She shook her head in irritation when she realized that her mouth was watering, just a little.
GG said brightly, "Is that the new farrier? I heard he was going to be giving lessons here."
Mamie nodded. "Yes, Ben Conner. He's great with the horses, and he already has several students. Everybody who comes in to meet him just loves him. That's Becca Anderson. I think they're about finished."
Sure enough, Becca was dismounting and leading her horse toward them. Ben watched closely as she switched the bridle for a halter and fastened the bay into a second set of crossties. He nodded approvingly as she removed the saddle and blanket and began to brush down her horse. At Mamie's wave, he walked their way.
"Ben, I'd like you to meet GG and Savannah Beauchamp."
GG said, "We've actually met already."
"Yes, ma'am, it's nice to see you again."
Ben tipped his hat at GG and then turned his gaze on Savannah. She felt that heat creep through her groin again as his eyes met hers.
"It's nice to see you again, too, ma'am."
Savannah gritted her teeth and said bitingly, "My name is Savannah, not ma'am!"
His eyes travelled over her, moving appreciatively up and down her body. "Well, it's nice to see you again, Savannah. Really nice. Are you interested in some lessons?"
Savannah's knees went weak.
Before she could answer, GG spoke up. "Savannah, that's a great idea. You always wanted to learn to ride when you were younger."
Savannah shot a look at her grandmother and snapped, "No, I'm not interested in lessons."
Ben stood hipshot and looked at her with a glint in his eyes. "I understand. A lot of people are scared to ride."
Savannah's mouth fell open. "I am not scared to ride! I just don't want to."
Ben nodded soothingly. "It's just not for everybody. I can't quite picture you on a horse anyway."
"What the hell do you mean by that?"
He gestured toward her. "Well, you're a little fancy to be getting into jeans and boots and climbing up on a horse."
"I could ride a horse just as well as anyone around here," Savannah hissed at him.
"Yeah?" Ben looked skeptical.
"Yes! And I look great in jeans and boots."
"Well." Ben moved closer to her. "I'll guess we'll never know, will we?"
Without thinking, Savannah blurted out, "You tell me when; I'll show you."
Ben drawled, "All right. Saturday afternoon, three o'clock."
"You're on." Savannah turned on her heel and strode away, leaving Ben looking after her with a satisfied smile.
Mamie chuckled softly and said, "I guess we'd better go look at that pottery, GG."
"I'll put your horse up, Ms. Harper," Ben said.
"Thanks, Ben."
GG and Mamie strolled after Savannah, who was still fuming. They looked at the piece of pottery, and Mamie gave them the name and email address of the artist. Savannah had calmed a little by the time they left.
After pulling out of the driveway, GG said, "That Ben Conner is such a nice young man, isn't he?"
Savannah looked darkly at her grandmother. "He's insufferable."
GG looked surprised. "Really? I understand he's a wonderful teacher, so patient. By the way, dear, do you have jeans and boots?"
"No, I do not have jeans and boots. And now, I'm going to have to go shopping."
GG patted her hand. "Well, take tomorrow off and go do your shopping. You deserve it, you've been helping me so much."
Savannah looked suspiciously at her grandmother. "Did you plan this?"
"What do you mean, dear?"
"That whole thing with Ben. Taking me to the Harpers' when he just happened to be there. Making sure I went to the barn."
GG laughed. "Of course not, darling. That's only the second time I've ever seen Ben Conner. And it sounds like he's at the Harpers' pretty much every day."
"Well, if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make him eat his words."
"I'm sure you will. And I bet you're going to love riding horses."
"Right."
Joey drove an irritable Savannah to Indianapolis to shop the next day. She spent several hours in several stores before she was satisfied. By that time, she had gotten into the spirit of shopping and was in a considerably better mood. They loaded the limo with bags and boxes and stopped for a late lunch. Savannah was feeling smug, imagining Ben's reaction when she showed up for her lesson. She had modeled everything for Joey as she had tried it on and she was confident that she was ready to look good on a horse.
Joey was impressed with the fact that Savannah was going to learn to ride. "I can't believe you're going to get up on one of those horses."
"He's giving lessons. Do you want to try it? My treat," Savannah offered.
Joey shook his head vehemently. "No way! I'm not up for that."
Savannah laughed. "You never know; you might like it."
"Nope. I'll stick with gas-powered transportation. I can control that."
"Well, if you change your mind, the offer stands. By the way, I think we'll be making our first trip for Gran soon. That piece of pottery we looked at yesterday is from St. Louis and Gran is really interested in it."
Joey said, "That would be a good trip. I like St. Louis."
"Do you know it well?"
"Well enough to get us around. I know some good restaurants there too."
"Good. It'll be fun." Savannah dug into her salad.
They listened to music on the way back and Joey helped her carry in her purchases and haul them up to her room. GG laughed at all the bags and boxes and at Savannah's good mood.
"Are you going to model all that for me?" she asked.
"Sure, why not? You can help me decide what to wear on Saturday."
Savannah spent the next hour changing clothes and showing them to her grandmother. She had bought several outfits, two pairs of butter-soft western boots suitable for riding, and a perfectly fitting Stetson hat. She had a tooled leather belt, riding gloves and a dozen pairs of corresponding earrings. All the items had been chosen with her usual unerring taste and all of them looked great on her. She had such a good time displaying her new purchases to her grandmother that she forgot to be mad about the reason that she needed them.
GG said, "You're going to look fabulous on a horse. Ben won't know what hit him."
Savannah smiled with satisfaction. "That was the idea. This might be fun after all."
"I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. How about a pizza?"
Savannah agreed. "Sounds good. I had a salad for lunch, so pizza works for me."
The two of them shared pizza and wine, watched a little TV, and went off to bed. Savannah hung her purchases up and surveyed her new wardrobe with pleasure. She planned to stun Ben Conner and then take great pleasure in turning up her nose at him. He thought he could play games with her; he was going to find that she was much better at it than he was. Savannah was smiling as she drifted off to sleep.