Page 24 of High Heels & Heifers
“I know you don’t like me,” Jack says out of nowhere, her eyes lowering, and she kicks a rock on the ground. A small cloud of dust poofs up from the ground and then she turns on her heels and starts walking back to camp.
I follow, skipping to catch up with her. “Jack,” I say. “This has nothing to do with liking you or not. I don’t kill animals for the sake of killing them. I assessed the risk and got you out of the situation.”
“Fine,” she puffs, never looking at me. “You saved me. Thank you.”
“Fine,” I repeat, furrowing my brows, because for the first time in my life outside of Corporate America, I don’t want someone else to get the last word in.
When we reach camp, all eyes look at us, and Jack hurries over to pack up her tent and other belongings for the ride out. I stroll over to Wyatt, who looks at me for answers. I just shrug. I don’t understand women and probably never will.
Jack
The morning ride is fairlyroutine, if yesterday’s ride was any indication. After packing up, we all humped our packs back to where we hobbled the horses and mounted up for the day. Luca and Wyatt opened the pen and the cows emerged without much prodding. We broke into our assigned groups and commenced the ride.
The group I was with took the left side of the herd with Frankie at our side. It seemed Butch was Wyatt’s companion at the rear of the herd and Cassidy took his place with Emma on the right flank. The sun came up to our right but a little behind us, and I was grateful we were heading northwest to avoid having the morning glare directly in our eyes.
The morning passed with only a few words uttered to the backdrop of clomping, moos, and a bark punctuating the ride when one of the cows got out of line. My stomach rumbles a little by the time we approach a small grove of trees, and I’m sweating from the day’s rising heat.
Luca points. “We’ll rest there until this evening and then ride another hour or so to camp.”
Breathe slowly,I tell myself.It’s only a few games. You’ll do fine.Even though I’m not keen on the team building that’s about to ensue, it’ll be good to be in the shade for lunch and the activities.
I stop Jasper next to Luca’s horse and dismount, retrieving the small bag I brought with supplies for the games I have planned. The other two groups join us, and they slide down from their horses too.
“Do we need to hobble them again?” I ask Wyatt.
“Nah, they know the routine and we’ll be right here near them,” he answers.
Emma rides up last and leaps off her horse before he’s even stopped. “Hey hon, help me with lunch?”
Wyatt tips his head to us and heads over to join his wife.
I walk into the copse of trees, searching the ground and every large rock. My hands shake a little as I remember the snake encounter. I’m not about to be that unobservant again, so I take several deep breaths to try to expend the adrenaline running through my veins. When I’m satisfied the area is clear, my heartbeat starts to settle. But then I pull a thin rope out of the bag, shiver, and immediately drop it because it reminds me of how the snake was coiled on that boulder.
Eddie, who’s turning out to always be the trusty friend, jogs over and bends down to pick it up. Handing the rope back to me, he asks, “What was up with that scream this morning? And what’s up with you... and Luca?” One of his brows quirk up suggestively.
“I was trying to find a signal to call LivFit and touch base with Jane about the project. I’m worried about quality assurance. So, I went up to the ridge and this ginormous snake came out of nowhere. I swear that thing was ten feet long. Are anacondas native to New Mexico?” I shudder again, remembering how it hissed as I reached out to lean on the boulder.
Eddie chuckles. “I don’t think so. But rattlesnakes are.”
I glower at him. “Not helpful in the slightest. Besides, Luca said it wasn’t poisonous.”
For some reason Eddie can’t turn off his bright grin. “Wow. But everybody’s okay, yeah? What did Luca do to take care of it?”
“Nothing,” I answer bitterly, reach for the rope, and uncoil it. “The snake lost interest when Luca moved me away from the boulder.”
“Moved you, huh?”
“Mm-hmm.” I blink several times and shake my head. It was only my fear speaking when I asked him to kill the snake. It niggles under my skin that he was right, but I’m sure as heck glad he was. And then there was that hug. During the drive, I’d all but forgotten about the snake, but I couldn’t banish the thought of Luca’s arms around me. Jumping into him was a relief reaction on my part, but I can’t regret it. The man’s arms are so strong, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the way he squeezed me around the waist. I glance over to where he’s helping Emma and Wyatt.
“What’s that smile?” Eddie asks.
Caught daydreaming about something I shouldn’t, I sigh and refocus on my coworker. “Let’s just get on with the games. Here.” I hand one end of the rope to Eddie. “Tie this around that tree and I’ll tie the other end around that one. About waist height.”
He gives me a strange look but does what I ask. In my peripheral vision, the two cowboys have stopped unloading the picnic lunch supplies and stand like mirror images—booted feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed over their chests, and their hats pointed toward each other as they chat about something. Every few seconds, they glance over at our group, and a chill runs down my spine when Luca’s dark eyes lock with mine. I look down quickly—caught staring—and finish knotting off the rope around the tree.
When the line is tied, I pluck it to make sure it’s taut and wave everybody over. “This activity is called an electric fence. The object is...”
I take one look at Bruce, my peer who had hip surgery not too long ago, and I worry about his participation in this activity. I hold up my index finger. “Everybody, hold that thought. Bruce, can I talk to you over here?”
