I broke the stare-down and turned to Aaron. “I absolutely am.”
“You must be a good friend. Not many people are willing to muck stalls out of the kindness of their hearts.”
“I kind of owe it to him. I’m sort of the reason he’s all…” I gestured vaguely at Ty’s chest. He stared down at me like he didn’t appreciate the reminder.
Aaron glanced between the two of us. “You made Bullet kick him?”
“Not intentionally. I turned up unannounced, and I don’t think Bullet liked it too much. He got a little panicked.”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Ty muttered.
“You must have really shocked both of them, then,” Aaron said. “Ty’s the most focused man I’ve ever met. Dude can’t be moved when he wants something.”
Ty cleared his throat, and Aaron caught the subtle signal to carry on.
“Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m here for a few hours most days, so I’ll probably see you later.” He waved and left the barn.
My gaze skated over Ty’s rough features, ignoring his ever-present scowl. What was he like when he really wanted something?Dude can’t be moved.Sounded about right to me. So whatdidhe want?
“What?” Ty growled when I stared at him too long.
I scowled back. “Absolutely nothing.”
I went to work, mucking, cleaning, and spreading fresh bedding. My time improved with each stall, but it still took the rest of the afternoon to get through them. By the time I finished, sticky sweat covered me from head to toe, my hands ached from blisters across my palms, the stench of manure clung to my clothes, I had a wet spot on my jeans from accidentally kneeling in a stall, and questionable dark patches marked my exposed skin.
But I’d mucked all the stalls.
I rinsed off the rubber boots with a hose before tugging them off. I hadn’t spent a day doing real, manual labor in years, not since my summers working on the family farm during college. An exhausted sort of triumph thrilled through me as I stood before Ty, filthy but proud of my work.
He shook his head at me. “You can stop grinning like that.”
“Like what? Like someone who proved you wrong? Why would I stop doing that?”
His eyebrows tugged closer. “You didn’t prove me wrong. Our agreement was two weeks.”
“You said I couldn’t handle it. I think I proved I can.”
His mouth twisted, fighting back a smile. “I’ll give you that.”
I grinned even wider. “I’ll take it. You need me to do anything else tonight?”
Please God, no.All my muscles ached, and if I had to lift anything else right now, I might cry. On top of that, I was supposed to meet Eden in less than an hour to make wedding decorations. Despite everything I’d said to Ty, given the choice between shoveling horse crap and making paper flowers, I would choose the paper flowers every time.
“I’m good. Aaron fed and watered the horses out in the pastures before he left. Didn’t think you’d have strength left to do it tonight.”
An argument rose up inside me at the casual slight, but no sense voicing it. Ididn’thave the strength left tonight. “Should someone bring the horses in to, you know, mess up all my hard work?”
“They’ll be okay turned out for the night. Horseflies haven’t been bad this season.”
“Okay, then.” I pulled off the leather gloves, wincing as I exposed all the wounds my work had left on my hands. Angry, open blisters stretched across the tops of my palms just below my fingers, with another covering the pad beneath the first knuckle of my right hand. The smarting had numbed with each scoop of the shovel, but taking off the gloves seemed to have switched the pain back on.
Ty loomed next to me, my hands suddenly held in both of his as he inspected them. “Dammit, June, why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t think it was this bad.” It had hurt, but I’d thought that just came with shoveling stalls all day. Working on my laptop didn’t really compare to working with my hands on a ranch.
He gave me a scorching look, then took me by one forearm. I could have slipped out of his light grip if I’d wanted to, but I let him lead me to the wall with the rubber boots. He rifled through a small plastic bin for antiseptic tubes and Band-Aids. Minor injuries must be a common thing out here. Judging by all the gauze and athletic tape, blisters were probably the best-case scenario.
“I should have known better.” He held my hands beneath the water jug’s spigot and twisted the knob. Fresh water washed away the worst of the dirt that had collected in the blisters’ raised edges, stinging over the open wounds. He found a clean rag and gently patted my palms dry, scolding us both the whole time. “I never should have agreed to your little scheme. I knew you were too delicate for this, but I didn’t think you were so stubborn you wouldn’t say anything when your hands were bleeding in your gloves. I’m not trying to work you to the bone, June.”
