Ah, he thought, Ann Sullivan, sowing his youthful reputation ahead of him. “I used to be. I gave it up.” Christ, the kid was a picture, he thought. A heart melter. “Your name’s Kayla, and you have your mother’s eyes.”

“Uh-huh, and that’s Ali. She’s ten. I’m seven and a half, and I lost a tooth.” She grinned widely to show him the accomplishment.

“Cool. Have you looked for it?”

She giggled. “No, the Tooth Fairy has it. She took it up into the sky to make a star out of it. Do you have all your teeth?”

“Last time I checked.”

“You’re Mr. Fury. Mama says we have to call you that. I like your name, it’s like a storybook person.”

“A villain?”

“Maybe.” She twinkled at him. “Can we see your horses, Mr. Fury? We won’t steal them or hurt them or anything.”

“I think they’d like to see you.” He offered a hand, which Kayla took without hesitation. “Come on, Ali,” he said casually. “I won’t yell at you unless you deserve it.”

Biting her lip, Ali followed them into the stables. “Oh!” She jolted back, then giggled at herself when Max stuck his huge head over the stall door. “He’s so big. He’s so pretty.” She started to reach out, then stuck her hand behind her back.

“You can pet him,” Michael told her. The older girl was a little shy, he decided, and pretty as a picture in a book. “He doesn’t bite. Unless you deserve it.” To demonstrate, he hauled Kayla up on his hip. “Go ahead, meet Max. He’s a Southern gentleman.”

“Our uncle is a Southern gentleman,” Kayla announced. “But he doesn’t look like Max.” Delighted, she stroked the soft cheek. “Smooth,” she murmured. “Hello, Max. Hello.”

Not one to be outmatched by her kid sister, Ali stepped forward again and touched Max’s other cheek. “Does he let you ride him and everything?”

“Yep. Max and I have fought wild Indians together, been wild Indians together, robbed stagecoaches, jumped ravines.” Looking down into two pairs of wide eyes, he grinned. “Max is a Hollywood star.”

“Really?” Enchanted, Kayla touched one velvet ear, giggling when it flicked under her fingers.

“Really. I’ll show you his press clippings later. Come meet Darling. She’s going to have a baby soon.”

“Aunt Margo just had one.” Kayla chattered gaily as they made the new acquaintance. “His name is John Thomas, but we call him J. T. Do horses have babies the same way people have them?”

“Pretty much,” Michael murmured and skirted the issue by distracting the girls with the mare.

They met Jack, the dignified gelding, and Lulu, a frisky mare. Then Zip, the fastest horse—so Michael claimed—in the West.