Page 17 of Snowed In with the Rancher
Asher ignored her, clicked his tongue and Dare started to walk again. Hula-Hoop knew to follow, so she did.
“How often do you ride the fence looking for holes?” she asked, moving Hula-Hoop up so that she was riding beside Asher.
“Few times a week. There are trees around that can fall and knock down the fence. Wolves and foxes can get caught in the fence. And we’ve found Fumble out here tangled in the wire before, too.”
“What is with that goat?” she asked. “Does he have a death wish?”
“He’s just an idiot.”
“Whoever named him was spot-on.”
“That was me.”
She grinned at him. “Well, you chose well.”
They rode in silence for a while until Asher stopped Dare and lifted his chin in the direction of the fence.
Her eyes went buggy. “What the—” Someone had not only cut the fence wire, but there were vehicle tracks in the snow along the outside of the fence, then they turned into the field through the hole. Even she could see that whoever had done this had had the proper tools with them to cut the wire. The snow covered the tracks quite well, but they were still noticeable. “Who would do this?”
He slid off Dare and grabbed the coil of extra wire that he brought with him. “There are some locals who are fuck-nut hillbillies. They like to come and do donuts in the field. In the winter they bring their snowmobiles, the rest of the time its their ATVs or four-bys. Haven’t been by in a while. It’s why we ride the fence, if we send the horses or goats out into the field and there are holes like these, they could escape or be stolen.”
“But I don’t understand the point of the donuts.”
He glanced at her as he walked backward to re-wire the fence. “I don’t understand most people, but I don’t waste my energy trying to figure them out.”
He didn’t need to ask her for her to see that the job would be faster and easier with two people, so she slid off Hula-Hoop and helped him fix the fence.
“Thanks,” he said once they’d climbed back onto their horses.
“You’re welcome.”
He grunted. “We need to get back, can’t be out here when it gets dark. It’s not safe.”
They rode again in silence, only this time, Triss didn’t mind. The wind was wicked and her face was going numb, so she just kept her head down as they continued to ride along the fence line. She wasn’t even watching where they were going, she just trusted Hula-Hoop to follow Dare. So when they turned the corner and the wind was suddenly at their backs, it was like she’d just stepped out of a tunnel and into the light.
There were no other holes in the fence that needed to be repaired. They spotted wolf fur on some of the wire and some faint wolf tracks, but nothing more. Asher did plan to go double-check his chicken numbers after seeing the wolf prints, though. He said that the snow made animals get hungry, and hunger made them take risks.
When he said risks, he glanced at her. “Was that why you jumped into the corral with Mercy? You were hungry?” His snort of mirth caught her off guard and rather than scowl at him for bringing up something she thought they’d put to rest, she shook her head and smiled.
“That’s exactly why. I was starved and delirious. Couldn’t think straight.”
“That’s what I figured,” he murmured as they climbed off their horses and led them into the barn.
They took off the saddles, brushed down the horses, and like she promised, Triss made sure she gave Hula-Hoop a few extra carrots and some snuggles and ear scratches as a thank you for braving the snow with her. That attention, of course, was noticed by Macklin, who brayed and snorted until Triss went over and showed him some love, too.
“I have no time to wallow when I’m up to my eyeballs with making sure you’re getting the attention you need, huh, Macklin?” she said, pressing a kiss to the bridge of his nose. “Who needs dumb boyfriends when I can spend Christmas with you?”
Macklin lifted his nose and nudged her, which was his way of saying “More ear scratches.” She obliged, of course, because how could she not when the man asking for ear scratches was just that handsome?
Chapter Seven
No chickens were missing, thankfully. But as he re-entered the barn, after visiting the henhouse, Asher stopped just before he came into view of Triss and Macklin.
She was talking to the old horse, which wasn’t anything to give him pause. He spoke more to his horses than he did anybody else. And he preferred their conversation to anyone else’s, as well. It was what she was telling Macklin that made him duck behind the tack room and listen.
Hannah had mentioned that Triss had just been dumped by her boyfriend, but she hadn’t gone into any greater detail than that. He’d just assumed that it’d been a relationship that was maybe six months old and the guy ended things before he had to buy a Christmas or Valentine’s Day present.
A shitty move for any guy to do, but Asher knew guys who did it. They dated women between February and November, then got out of dodge just after Thanksgiving until February 15th, only to start the whole sick cycle again.
