Charlie enjoyed her ride with Johnny. They took the long way around the west pasture, the dogs following along behind them.

When Johnny turned his horse to head for the house, Charlie stopped her chattering about how muddy the pups were getting, and said,

instead, "Aw, do we have to go back already?"

"We've been ridin' for over an hour," Johnny reminded her.

"I know, but I'm having fun," Charlie said. "It's the most fun all weekend. Besides-"

"I reckon we've been gone long enough that Katherine's taken her leave by now," Johnny said, and Charlie leaned a bit to look

at his profile.

"How'd you know what I was thinking?" she asked him.

"You're not that difficult to read, little one," Johnny said.

"I'm not?"

"No. And, I'm gettin' pretty good at it."

Charlie hugged his waist, tightening her arms around his middle. She rubbed her cheek against his shirt affectionately.

"You're good at lots of things about me," she told him.

"You think so, huh?" he asked, sounding pleased.

"Yes. I do."

"Well, thank you. I appreciate that," he said.

"Will you push me on the swing when we get back?" Charlie asked, in an about-turn of the conversation.

"I've been playin' hooky from work already, takin' you out for a ride and all," Johnny said. "I need to get back to it."

"Just for a bit? Please? You make me go so high, it feels like I'm flying," Charlie pleaded.

"Maybe after supper, I can."

"Awe, Johnny," Charlie continued to cajole.

Johnny twisted a bit in the saddle, to look back at Charlie. "Hey, now," he warned. "Take my offer of after supper, or I won't swing you

at all."

Charlie took his warning to heart and subsided. "Yes, Johnny."

There was a few moments of comfortable silence. And Charlie spoke again.

"Why do you think she wants to come like she did today?" The she she spoke of needed no identification.

"That's hard to say," Johnny answered.

"I know, but what do you think?" Charlie persisted.

Johnny hesitated. "You ought to ask Scott what he thinks."

"He told me. He thinks she wanted to just see me. Maybe. Possibly."

Johnny heard the doubt in her voice, and said, "I reckon that Scott could be right about that."

Charlie tipped her head, trying to see if she could hear differing thoughts in his tone. She liked to think that she was good about reading Johnny, just

as he was her.

"But, you don't think that," Charlie said, making it a statement and not a question. "I know you don't," she added, saucily. "I can tell!"

Johnny pulled his horse to a stop, and rested his hands on the saddle horn. He turned again, to see Charlie better.

"You're tellin' me what I think, now?" he asked her, eyebrow raised.

Charlie felt her face get hot. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant-" she hesitated. "I think I can read you, too, like you do me. At least

a little. I wasn't tryin' to be disrespectful, Johnny."

Her eyes were large in her face, and she looked worried. Johnny studied her a couple of moments longer with an intentness in his blue eyes, making

certain that she got his meaning. Then, he took pity and let her off the hook.

"Alright," he said, and urged Barranca forward again.

After a few moments, Charlie returned to the conversation, though no longer insisting that she knew Johnny's outlook or thoughts.

"I just don't understand it," she mussed. "She's glad to be rid of me, I know that she is. Why would she want to come here, to the ranch? She

hates the outdoors. And dirt. And animal smells. And it's not to see me. I really don't think that's it." As a sudden thought occurred to her, she

squeezed Johnny's middle a bit. "Maybe she likes Murdoch! I mean-he is sort of handsome, and even though he's older than her, she might

like him." The awfulness of that idea swept over Charlie, and she said, in panic, "Oh, I hope that's not it! That would be just awful! She'd be coming here all the time, then! And, Murdoch's too nice-he's too good a person to be tied in with Katherine!"

"Settle down, pequeno," Johnny advised, his tone calm.

"But, Johnny! What if that is it? She's been here-three times, I think, and why? There's got to be a reason for it!" Her voice rose in horror.

"I don't think it's three," Johnny said, still calmly, trying to hide his amusement at the thought of Katherine and his father forming a romance. "Two

times she's been here, isn't it?"

"I don't know!" Charlie said, distressed, as they rounded the corner to the barns.

Johnny held out an arm, and Charlie grasped it, sliding from the horse to the ground. He dismounted then, too, and caught Charlie looking

around anxiously. "The buggy's gone! I'll bet that it's Murdoch that took Katherine back to town!" she said.

"Charlie."

At Johnny's quiet address, Charlie stopped her panicked actions, and looked up at him.

"Settle down," he said, again. Quietly, but with authority. Charlie held his gaze for a long few moments, and then sighed.

She watched Johnny as he unsaddled Barranca, and quietly tagged after him, as he put away the tack,rubbed down the horse and then opened the

pasture gate to release him. As he closed the gate, Johnny took in her demeanor, and found it too difficult, to see her dejected that way.

He crooked an arm around Charlie's neck. "Hey. Let's not put the cart ahead of the horse, alright?"

"What does that mean?" Charlie asked.

"It means-don't fret about your aunt and the old man. I'd place a bet that there's nothin' at all between 'em." Johnny said.

He sounded so sure, that Charlie felt her panic dropping off and hope rising.

"Really, Johnny? You would?" she asked, desparate to believe him.

Johnny dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I would."

L