AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I take long and slow deep breaths, counting, and force my eyes to remain closed. Somehow the images that play across my mind as I’m feeling the pull into sleep are all of Luca. I drift off, wondering why I find myself so curious about this strange cowboy.
Chapter Six
Jack
Iwake up with a stickin my back and a crick in my neck. It’s not even daylight out, for goodness sake. But there is no way I’m going back to sleep on this hard ground. My mind races with all the things that we’ve got planned today or, at least, what I think we have planned. We’re supposed to drive the cattle until lunch today and then stop for team building. Some calf tying, some horseshoes, and some other activities that are about the last things in the world I am looking forward to. The touchy-feely things aren’t my cuppa tea. I’d much rather focus on getting the job done than feeling good about the team.
I slide into my boots and jeans and pull a T-shirt over my head.
Just as I’m about to stand, a cowbell rings.
Emma’s voice follows. “Breakfast.”
I duck through the tent flap and unfold myself to stand upright in the cool morning. As my fingers comb through my hair, I wish there was a hot shower nearby. Everybody else seems to gather around for breakfast. Wyatt passes out bowls and Emma stirs something in a steaming black pot.
Eddie grabs two bowls and brings one over to meet me halfway to the breakfast table. “How did you sleep?”
I grumble. It’s hard to be enthusiastic this early in the morning, but somehow Eddie has the market on it. Don’t get me wrong, I love him to death, but I just can’t understand how chipper he is all the time. It’s time for me to be that upbeat. After all, I have to assume the title of Fun Coordinator this afternoon. At least I’ll have this morning’s ride to give myself all the pep talks I’ll need to bring my A-game. “Better than I expected,” I answer with a forced smile. “Guess the riding yesterday did me in.”
The sound of galloping grabs our attention, and we both turn in time to see Luca riding his mare up the hill. My cheeks go hot, and I inadvertently lift one hand to touch my face.
Before Luca can bring his mare to a stop, a hand waves back and forth in front of my eyes. I blink and look over at Eddie, who just chuckles.
“Let’s get you some more oatmeal. It’s going to be another long day.”
“Yeah, absolutely. After breakfast, I need to find service and call Jane to check on the status of the project.”
Eddie shoots me his best accusatory look. “You’re kidding, right? You said you were going to get all of that wrapped up before you left, so you would not worry about the project while you were out here.”
The sad thing is, he’s not wrong.
After I eat a bowl of pasty oatmeal, I run up the hill and take my phone out to get a signal. If I’m quick about it, I can check in and be back before anybody’s ready to get on the trail for the day.
Luca
Emma reaches out with astack of clean dishes to hold while she is packing things away. But as soon as I reach for them, there’s a blood-curdling scream from over the hill. The dishes go clattering to the ground.
I sprint up the hill to find Jack, who is frozen with her hands in the air, phone in one hand, and both hands trembling. There’s a four-foot-high boulder in front of her, and she’s face to face with a snake sunning itself on top of the enormous rock. My hand drifts toward the gun holster, and I study the snake, also perking my ears to make sure it’s not a rattler. It’s quiet, and the alternating brown-and-cream colored bands give it away as a harmless kingsnake. The gun shouldn’t be necessary. Although, even though their bite is harmless, they do bite, and that would put Jack over every edge that exists and ensure she would never come into the wilderness again.
“Jack, you’re fine,” I say, as I approach her slowly from behind, and brush my hand softly down her shoulder.
Jack sinks into me with the touch of my hand. I put my mouth next to her ear and whisper, “You’re okay. It’s not a poisonous snake. Just back away slowly.”
In my mind, I can picture the snake lunging at Jack out of fear. No one can forget a snake bite, even if it isn’t poisonous. Jack keeps her hands extended in the air and moves to the side. The kingsnake tracks our movement and brings its body around—the beginning of coiling for a strike. I take my hand and put it in the curve between Jack’s ribs and hipbone and move her behind me until it’s me face to face with the snake.
We both back away, taking slow strides. Snakes aren’t typically the aggressors in situations with larger animals, but this big guy feels threatened. And, regardless, I still make it a habit to never look away from a snake. When we get a good ten yards away, the snake lowers its head to the rock, its eyes and forked tongue no longer scenting or searching for us.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” Jack says, slinging her arms around me. “I almost died. That was so close.”
I want to tell her that the snake was harmless and more scared than she was, but instead, my reflexes kick in and I wrap my arms around her lower back, giving her a squeeze. And it feels a heck of a lot better than I’d like to admit. I haven’t held a woman close to me since—no, I’m not bringing those memories into the daylight. That’s ancient history and not a situation I care to relive.
“Why didn’t you kill the snake?” Jack says as she pulls away from me, but she doesn’t extract herself from my hold and her hands linger on my shoulders.
The flippant question brings me back to reality, and I release my arms from around her waist. “Why would I kill a snake that is completely harmless? Kingsnakes keep the mouse and prairie dog populations down, so they’re really good to have around.”
Jack’s mouth opens as if she has words about to fall from her lips but then she shuts it again. We stare at each other, both with our hands on our hips. She tucks her lips between her teeth so I can barely see them, and I remember who I’m dealing with. Despite her senseless corporate ambition, Jack’s a girly girl. Not to mention a city slicker. I wonder if she watched that movie before she came out to commune with nature. She doesn’t appreciate the wide open or the fact that staying calm during this situation is the only thing that got her out of it safely—and kept the snake alive too—both of which make up the optimal outcome, in my book.
I suppose I was wrong when I thought she was coming around yesterday.
