Page 19 of The Cowboy and the Stray

"Whoa there, Tess," I said as I made my way over to the crime scene. "You getting paid by the load or something?"

She stared at me, wide-eyed, like she was more surprised than I was by the mess. Dust kicked up by the gravel road mixed with the manure and clung to the fabric of my pants. She dropped her eyes, muttering apologies, shoulders already squared like she was ready for me to yell or worse, to tell her to get gone. I’d done neither yet, but I wasn’t sure I’d keep it up.

Reid’s laughter reached new heights as he took in the sight of me. It doubled him over, turned into a wheeze, then a cough. My lips twitched, but I fought them back into a line. Someone had to be the adult, and apparently it was still me. "We’ll see how funny it is when I make you wash it out," I warned him, but there was no heat to it. The laughter was as good a sound as I’d ever heard from him, all things considered.

"It’s never coming out," he gasped, leaning on the hitching post for support. "No suit on earth is meant to take that kind of stain."

I turned my attention back to Tess, who was still apologizing despite my conversation with Reid, words spilling out as fast as the wheelbarrow had dumped its contents. "I’m so sorry," she said, color rising high in her cheeks. "I didn’t see the— It just— I didn’t mean to⁠—"

"It’s fine," I cut in, sharper than I’d intended. But it wasn’t fine. It was horse manure. And I was wearing it. Like cologne from hell. As funny as it was, I had to go change now.

She pushed the hair back from her forehead, leaving a smudge of something brown in its place. The muscles in her neck were pulled tight, making a faint scar stark against her skin.

"Seriously," I said, a little more gently this time. "It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve had to deal with shit on the ranch."

A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips, but her eyes were still wide and stricken. I knew what fear and loss could do to a person, the panic it could breed, the way it kept you waiting for the other shoe to drop. Tess was running scared, and I was making it worse, giving her one more thing to be jumpy about. I didn’t mean to be another shoe.

My boots squelched as I shifted my weight. Maybe it wasn’t just the suit I was ruining. Maybe it was my damn self, one awkward moment at a time.

"I should go change," I said, stepping back toward the house. "Before you⁠—"

Too late. She was trying to move the wheelbarrow off the road and hit a patch of soft dirt. Her foot slipped and she went down hard, landing squarely in the splatter zone.

The last thing I saw before Reid and I both lost it was her open mouth, the beginning of a wail or a laugh or a scream, all those things at once and none of them at all.

I leaned over, my hand outstretched. "Here, let me help you up."

She looked up at me, eyes wide, the sound dying on her lips. She took my hand, her grip surprisingly strong despite the sprawl, and with a grunt, hauled herself up. The momentum carried her forward, and she stumbled, landing squarely against my chest.

Time just stopped. My arms went around her on instinct, steadying her. My wolf called to her, growling under my skin as my gaze dropped to hers, and in that moment of absolute stillness, every detail was magnified. The smear of manure on her cheek, the perfect curve of her eyelashes, the incredible, intricate striations of green deep within the irises of her eyes. I felt her breath hitch, the warmth of her body pressed against mine. Even the reek of horse manure seemed distant, utterly irrelevant.

Reid's laugh shattered the spell cutting through the sudden silence. The sound jolted me. The world rushed back in, the smell suddenly pungent, the chill of the morning air hitting my face.

"Right," I muttered, pushing away from Tess, the abruptness surprising even myself. "I have to go... I need to change." I didn't wait for her reply, practically rushing towards the house, my strides long and fast, needing to put distance between us, and between that moment, as quickly as possible.

The walls of the house barely contained the sound of Reid's laughter as I kicked off my boots in the mud room then made my way upstairs.

I rushed into the bathroom, the tiles cold under my feet, tugged my pants off and threw them in the sink, turned on the water, and scrubbed at it like the devil himself was after me. The stain spread out like a bloodstain, rusty and defiant. Reid was right. It would never come out.

Maybe it was Tess I’d never get out. The surprise of her, the heat and heart of her, landing like a sucker punch I didn’t see coming. Her name stuck in my chest, catching on everything. Damn girl had a way of getting under the skin like a thorn. And I kept pressing it in deeper.

If I was smart, I’d have told her to go as soon as she'd woken up that first day her ass hit the dirt. But she was still here, as stubborn as I was stupid. One more day, I’d said, trying to convince myself I could handle it.

I glanced in the mirror and found a man with no defenses. A man still laughing, despite himself, despite the mess she’d made of him.

One more day, I thought again. One more day, and I’d be cleaning something worse than horse shit off my boots. Like heartbreak. Or worse, hope.

10. TESS

There was something soothing about the rhythmic thunk of the knife, something quiet and certain in Midge's hands stirring the pot on the stove. The broth bubbled, steam curling the wisps of hair at her temples, and felt a little more rooted than I had in, well, than I could remember.

"You're good at that." Midge nodded at my neat cubes of tomato. "Guess you ain't just a pretty face after all."

I ducked my head to hide a pleased smile.

Midge snorted. "Hand me that salt, would you?"

I passed it over, my eye catching on a small wicker basket next to the stove, a tangle of thread and fabric spilling out. "What's that for?"