“I think you might be a witch.”

Alemany ~ Alex Amantes She caught him in a particularly pensive mood and kissed him out of his musings. “What’s got you thinking so hard, lover?”

“Oh.” He sat up and brushed the seat of his trousers clean. “Just wondering how the boys are getting on at home.” He looked up at the sky, as if to gauge the time of year and then turned his attention to Hilola. He kissed her again and smiled. “I think you might be a witch.”

She smiled. “How’s that?”

“Because you have cast a spell on me and I don’t want to do anything but be with you.”

She grinned and was happier than she’d been in her life. “I’m glad you said that.”

She fairly knocked him to the ground and kissed him. “So, do you think they’ll like me alright at the ranch?” He could see the fear in her eyes. She was still not convinced she’d be anything more than an embarrassment to him.

“Oh, trust me. These men are men—the best of men—and they love women. We treat our women well on the ranch. And you, my Hilola, are going to break their hearts.”

She was becoming distracted and whispered into his ear, “It’s not the men I worry about.”

“Oh, the women will like you just fine. They are pretty down there, and you will maybe give them a reason to spend some extra time in their beds satisfying their men, but other than that, you’ll be fine.”

“And the most important one of them, your mother?”

Ramon lied, “Oh, she’ll love you all right.” His mother would actually despise his woman. He shrugged, “And anyway, there is no man worth his salt who will let his mother influence him regarding which woman he takes for a wife.” Allingham; Desperate Ride