“Ofcourse I don’t mind. You ladies have made my day. I would love to sit and chatwith you for a while about books.”

“IsTroy going to get his own story?” a brunette asked from the end of the table asshe clapped excitedly. “I absolutely loved him in Trouble in Cowboy Boots.”

“Idid too, and yes, he’s definitely getting his own story.”

“When?”

“Soon,I hope. I’m here trying to get some inspiration for a new series.”

“Wow!Really?”

Shenodded as she glanced at Joel from the corner of her eye. One eyebrow went upabove his left eye. Damn the man.

Excitedchatter enveloped her while the women shot her question after question abouther characters, stories, and inspiration. Where did she come up with herstories? Were there real men who inspired her cowboys? The more questions, themore she lost herself in the enthusiasm of her readers.

Thecrowd came and went from the dining room while they continued to talk. Severalmoments ago, Joel had walked by, brushing her shoulders with his fingers in agesture mistaken for innocence, but she knew different. He was ramping up herneed for him with the simple touch.

“Areyou seeing the cute one who just walked by?” the redhead asked as Joel walkedout the door, taking his scent with him.

“Seeing?No. He’s just been helping me with research about ranch life and cowboying while I’m here. We’ve only known each other acouple of days.”

“Heseems taken with you.”

“Me?”She laughed ruefully knowing there wouldn’t ever be anything more than a quicktumble between the sheets with Joel. “Yeah, no. His kind doesn’t get taken withwomen like me.”

“You’rea beautiful girl. I don’t know why you say such things. We love you.”

“Aw,thank you, ladies.” The kitchen workers eyed them. “I think we should clean upour dishes and maybe move into the main lodge to continue our discussions. Theywant to get things ready for lunch in a few hours.”

Thegroup picked up their dishes and deposited them in the washbasin before theyretreated to the main lodge area where the fireplace and large bookcases wherelocated. There were several couches all arranged in a semi-circle in front ofthe cold fireplace where everyone could chat without bothering anyone else.Mesa took a chair at the center of the group, fielding the rapid-fire questionsthe women threw at her. She loved chatting with readers and being the onlyauthor in the room, she could let their enthusiasm surround her, lift herspirits, and give her muse a quick kick in the butt.

Thewomen spent the next couple of hours pounding her with questions, laughing atsome of her responses, and just generally having a good time.

“Itotally appreciate you ladies making the trip out here just to see me. I’mthrilled you came. You’ve all made my day.”

“Thankyou for spending a few hours out of your busy schedule to chat with us, Mesa.It’s been fantastic and I’m sure we’ll all be buying your next book the momentit hits the shelves.”

“Ihope you get some great inspiration from your cowboy friend.”

“Yeah,me too. He’s been fabulous so far, but now I need to track him down and ask hima few questions so if you ladies will excuse me.”

“Ofcourse. Thank you again and we’ll see you at the next conference. You’ll be atthe one in Dallas, right?”

“Yes,ma’am. The one in a couple of months is my next stop.”

“Awesome.”The ladies waved goodbye as they made their way back toward the main lodgedoor, leaving her in silence.

Ninacame out of her office with a big smile on her face. “You made their day.”

“Thanksbut it was more like the other way around. They made mine. I really needed theboost to my morale.”

“Oh?”she asked, taking one of the empty seats.

“I’vejust been really down in the dumps lately, questioning my writing.”

“You’rea fabulous writer, Mesa. I don’t see why you’re questioning yourself. I got twoof your books yesterday after you were here and I haven’t been able to put themdown since I started reading them. My husband finally forced me to turn off thelights last night at four in the morning.”

Mesalaughed. “Thank you. That’s the best compliment a writer can get.”

“You’rewelcome.”

Shelooked at Nina with a frown. “Can I ask you a couple of questions about theranch? You know, from a woman’s perceptive?”

“Certainly.”

Forthe next hour, Mesa picked Nina’s brain for information on the ranch life,raising nine boys and life in general with a bunch of men.

“Ineed to ask you a couple more questions about the ranch.”

“Allright.”

“Firstof all, do you believe in ghosts?”

“Yes,I do. We have a few on the ranch.”

“Really?”

“Yes.The main lodge used to be a bordello. That’s the reason for its size. It’s beenadded onto over the years, but it used to be a bar and whore house. Theupstairs bedrooms were where the women took their men.” She laughed. “Of course,we’ve cleaned them up since then.”

“Wow.”

“Ithas a very interesting history.”

“Whatkinds of ghosts are here?”

“Acowboy. A couple who visit upstairs.A saloon girl and a few kids who run the ranch. Youcan hear them giggling outside sometimes.”

“Youhave so many!”

“It’sbeen a lively place for a long time.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why somany questions? Have you seen them?”

“Ithink so.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “A cowboy at least. Someonehas knocked on my door twice now in the middle of the night. I’ve also heardarguing in the next room.”

“Thecowboy you’ve seen is a regular around here. The best we can figure is he usedto work the ranch many years ago as a wrangler and never left. We haven’t beenable to pinpoint his identity exactly.”

“Andthe fighting couple?”

“Probablyone of the cowboys and his girl fighting in the room up there.”

“Itsounds like he slaps her.”

“Yep.That’s them. They get kind of noisy sometimes. If you bang on the wall and tellthem to knock it off, it goes away. Don’t worry about the knocking. If there werean emergency, we would shout through the door. We haven’t been able to figureit out yet, but it happens frequently.”

“Kindof creepy, don’t you think?”

“Ifit bothers you, I can move you to one of the outside cabins. They aren’thaunted.”

“I’mokay, but don’t be surprised if your ghosts end up in one of my books.”

Ninalaughed. “I would love it. They are characters for sure. Have you seen thesaloon girl?”

“No.Just the cowboy. Last night when I came back fromJoel’s, he…” Oh shit.

Ninapatted her hand and said, “Don’t worry about it, Mesa. I heard you come in lastnight and the roar of Joel’s truck out in the yard. I looked out the window ashe tore out of here. His truck has a distinctive sound.”

Mesafelt the heat of a blush rushing into her cheeks. Her heart pounded in her earsas she sought to apologize for breaking the rules. “I’m sorry, Nina. I know youhave a strict rule about the guys and guests, but…”

“It’sfine, honey. If you and Joel are attracted to each other, it’s okay. I justdon’t want the boy’s going through guests on a regular basis, like water downthe stream. You know how men are.”

“Yes,I do.”

“Didy’all have a fight last night? I thought I heard the truck door slam.”

“Alittle bit.”

“Wouldyou like to talk about it?”

Sheblew out a breath. Talking to his mother about problems with Joel didn’t seemlike a good idea, but she really needed someone to talk to. She wasn’t reallyclose to her siblings or her mother, but Nina seemed to understand these kindsof things. It didn’t take long at all for the entire story to spill from herlips. Nina murmured between her sentences in a soothing voice meant to calmher. “It’ll be all right, honey. He’s a man. Men tend to get pigheaded sometimesand trust me, I’ve seen it more than I care to with myboys. They take after their father that way.”