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“I like seeing you have a good time, Delaney. They’re all an extension of you.”
He could say the most perfect things. Like when he declared he liked my style and my tits. That was my kind of romance.
We navigated to the valley, and he finally gave Bolt enough slack to walk next to Target. “So, if it’s not the company, then what? You’ve been quiet for over half the ride.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Nothing has changed your mind.” Being with me wasn’t enough to do it.
He swayed with Bolt’s movements. A relaxed, experienced rider. The skills had come back like he hadn’t shunned this part of him for over a decade. “I don’t know what the answer is. I won’t lie and say I’m not worried. Everything I worked for is in Dallas. I owe Mr. Truitt everything.”
The blinders around his boss were still firmly in place. “If Norville really was the father figure you want him to be, wouldn’t he want you to be happy?”
“It’s not that easy.”
I swiped at a fly with more force than needed. “Then what is it?”
“I know you think he’s a sleaze.” Archer gave me a flat look.
What would it take for him to see that Norville only cared about Archer because Archer earned enough money that Norville and Wilson could jack around? It wasn’t Archer flying to Cabo. It wasn’t Archer buying a third home in Florida. And it certainly wasn’t Archer getting transported by helicopter or private jet when he had to travel for work.
“He’s pragmatic.” Archer continued his defense of his boss. “In his mind, we’ve been apart longer than we’ve been together, and he’s protective of me.”
“So protective he’s been giving you more work?”
“I left for a month with little to no notice.”
I sighed and closed my eyes, letting the gentle side to side of Target’s gait lull the simmering anger to a dull ache. “We aren’t going to come to an agreement about this.”
“You don’t have to like Mr. Truitt,” he said with a touch of resignation. “I’m just asking you to understand that he was there for me in ways my dad never was.”
We didn’t talk for a few moments, the only sounds the snuffles of the horses and the bugs buzzing in the dirt and the brush.
What if Derek’s mom had taken me into her thin arms and treated me like the daughter she never had? When Ma had been in her prime, telling me I’d better think about my future becausethere ain’t nothing in Coal Haven for you, would I have started to think Willow hung the moon and stars when all she’d been after was a free ranch hand?
Willow might be the wrong comparison. What if I had been naive enough to get in with Naomi? How differently would I have turned out?
I hoped I’d be savvier than that. But eighteen-year-old me had been severely short of support, and both Willow and Naomi had attained lives I had thought were unattainable. “I can understand.”
He gave a nod. “That’s enough for now.”
* * *
Archer
We rode into camp. The trees were scattered around clearings and large enough to provide decent shade. I hadn’t expected trees this large with the dry, rocky soil, but the campground was near the Little Missouri River. This place wasn’t for RVs. There were some tents and a few camper/trailer combos. The site was loosely split into areas where groups could camp together, and each section included a small corral for the horses. A water shed was on one end, providing rudimentary showers and water spigots for the horses. Sitting around a campfire for the evening would’ve been nice, but we’d have to do without hot food unless we went to town.
I rose from the saddle a few inches, pressing down on the stirrups and leaning forward, easing protesting muscles. I hadn’t ridden for more than an hour in years. Sometimes I hopped on with my clients, especially if I had the sense a seller needed me to understand I wasn’t selling a product, I was selling a large chunk of their life.
Bolt wanted to take the lead until the very end, but I made him patiently wait as Delaney swung off Target and looped her lead rope around a corral gate. We took off the saddles and brushed the horses down. While she put them into the pens and stored our gear, I hauled fresh water.
I was wiping my hands off, enjoying the musky smell of horse sweat, when I caught Delaney eyeing the little camp we’d set up. When we had arrived, she’d settled the horses, and I had put up the green-and-black dome tent that fit our duffel bags and bedding.
I couldn’t wait for tonight. The hard ground would be worth having her sleep close to me again. But she stared at the thing like it was a fighting octagon and I was the number one–ranked competitor.
I was looking forward to quality time. She was dreading it. I couldn’t have that. “I can, uh, sleep in the cab of the pickup.”
She jolted like she’d forgotten I was there. “No, it’s fine. It’ll be fine.”
I lifted a brow. She sounded like she was convincing herself. “I don’t know. After a five-hour ride, I might want the padded seats.”
