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Is that why his mom killed herself? The rumors are sure there, but I wonder what the real story is.
Why didn’t his father get the ranch? There must be a good reason for that, too.
I read a little more, mostly about him being a ‘play boy’ who runs illegal business around town, but I don’t see why you would start up a retreat if you were running the risk of being shut down over illegal business, but then, in saying that, I know nothing about how anything works so I’m not going to even try to understand.
I close off my phone and nestle into the pillows, wondering about Rhett and his family, wondering how this month is going to go and feeling relaxed for the first time in a good long while.
I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face.
Ready for tomorrow.
Ready for all of it.
3
I’m not ready.
I lied.
I lied so hard that the lie knew I was lying before I even told it.
I grunt as I shovel up the biggest mound of horse shit I have ever seen in my life. They weren’t kidding when they said we would be put to work. I know it’s good for us, and our mental health, and blah blah blah, but that doesn’t mean I like it. I’m the most uncoordinated, clumsy person you would ever meet and they’re going to trust me to be able to figure shit out on my own?
Doubtful.
I glare at Diablo, who is in his stall still, stomping his hoof every single time I try to get the shovel into the shit. I give him an expression that I hope scares the demon horse, but he just snorts at me and slams his chest into the stable door.
“Oh, settle down,” I mutter to him. “You’re all talk, I can see it. You want to fight me? While I’ve got the shovel, scooping up your shit? You think you’ve got rage, buddy, you don’t even know the meaning of the word.”
He snorts again.
I snort right back.
His eyes widen and his nostrils flare, but he doesn’t snort at me again.
“You might be bigger than me, but I can promise you I’m far more determined than you. So give it up.”
“Still talkin’ to my horse?”
I spin around to see Rhett walking into the barn, a hay bail in his arms, making his muscles bulge in a way that has my eyes widening. Holy shit, is it possible for him to look better? I didn’t think so until right now.
He dumps the hay over the fence into Diablo’s stall, and then turns to me. “Nobody ever showed you how to shovel shit before, did they?”
“Why,” I breathe out, “in the ever-loving hell would someone show me that?”
His mouth twitches. “Most people don’t get taught these life skills.”
“Life skills?” I scoff. “You call this life skills? I don’t think everyone just has a horse rolling around in their yard that they have to clean up after. What the hell do you feed him, it sure as hell isn’t just grass!”
Rhett grunts, but his eyes are playful. “Diablo gets fed like a king, because he works like a king. Speaking of working, I’m saddling him up to go and move my cows into their new paddock. You want an experience, I can give you one.”
I blink. “An experience? I don’t trust a single part of that sentence. What does this new ‘experience’ entail?”
“Riding with me across rollin’ green paddocks.”
I narrow my eyes. “Doubtful.”
“I promise, you’re here to enjoy the ranch, the other girls are comin’. What do you say?”
I exhale. “You better give me a nice horse, one that is so slow, I could run faster, and let me tell you something ... I don’t run.”
He smirks. “Noted. Come on, I’ll show you how to saddle a horse.”
Great.
It has to be better than shoveling shit.
How come I’m the only one doing it? Where is Kara? Emily? Grace? Maria? They’re all managing to get out of this job.
Just as I say that, a group of them comes walking into the barn. Kara is sweating, following Enzo, wiping at her brow looking red and flustered. I take it back, they obviously weren’t out there having a grand old time. “If this is a retreat, I’m done,” Kara mutters.
Enzo grins. “It’s life, sweetheart. You want to see how a ranch is run ...”
“I would have happily seen that from the sidelines.”
“I quite enjoyed it, actually,” Emily says, nodding with enthusiasm. “It was really great to see just how much work has to be put into running this place, and we’re only in the morning.”
“Glad to see someone appreciates us.” Lake winks at her.
Emily goes red.
Oh boy.
I turn and follow Rhett into the stalls, where he comes out with a short, fat, white horse. It looks like no single saddle in this world would go around its round belly. I narrow my eyes and give Rhett a glare. “What is that?”
