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No. I won’t go back to that hustle and bustle.
And, if I’m being real with myself, I’m way too old for her. She’s probably not more than twenty-five. She’s one of those people who find success through sheer determination and putting on the right persona at the right time. Okay, maybe she’s twenty-six or -seven. Still, that’s about twelve years younger than me.
I can’t continue thinking of Jack with every waking—or half-waking—moment. Her place is climbing that ladder, at least for now. While we haven’t discussed it at all, she’s gotta be at least ten years younger than me. Perhaps she still has the energy to deal with that rat race. Heck, I have the energy now that I’ve gotten back in shape, but the desire to live that life? Nah, not really.
The howling sounds again, and I squeeze the pillow again along with my eyes. One more hour of sleep would be heaven at the moment before I have to get up and prep breakfast for this group.
A gunshot rings out in the next moment, and I dash up from my mat, grab my rifle, and am out of the tent in seconds. I squint and throw my arm up against the morning sun. It’s later than I imagined; I never sleep past sunup. No one out here has guns out here except Wyatt and me, but he left yesterday with Emma.
My eyes flutter as I step out of my tent, blinking against the stinging, until the scene around me comes into focus. The entire group from LivFit is huddled together, eyes wide, near the stack of cooking supplies.
“Where’d the shot come from?” I ask. I was too disoriented to judge a direction while lying in my tent.
In unison, Eddie and Jack both point off in the direction of the herd and horses. Oh no. That’s not good at all.
I drag a hand through my hair and duck back into my tent to put on my boots. There shouldn’t be anybody out there, so I have to go check it out. I put my hat on and leave my tent flap wide open as I march outside. “You guys keep rolling with breakfast and I’ll be back shortly.” I skip into a jog as I pass them and make my way toward the horses we keep near camp.
“Luca!” Jack’s voice calls after me.
I wave her off. “Everything will be fine. Take care of breakfast and I’ll be right back.”
I pass Lucy. She’s a good horse, but Jasper is faster. I release his hobble, tie the rifle to his saddle, and hop up. When I dig my heels onto his sides, he takes off like lightning toward the herd. The cows aren’t far, and it doesn’t look like anything is amiss from this distance, but I still think it’s strange that they haven’t stirred with the gunshot.
I narrow my eyes toward the horses are on the far side of the cows and see Wyatt’s paint stallion, Pirate, on the far side. Two black and white dogs are running about, keeping the herd steady.
Butch and Cassidy.
The knot in my stomach loosens, and I pull on Jasper’s reins to slow him to a trot. A little pressure on my left knee signals him to circle the herd and aim for the mostly white horse with a dark-chocolate patch covering one eye; the reason Pirate got his name. As Jasper slows his gallop toward Pirate, I see a figure off in the distance. His cowboy hat is tipped down, but it is unmistakably Wyatt with his pigeon-toed swagger. We never went unnoticed in college because his walk always screamed cowboy. Although, I’ve been developing that walk too with all the horseback riding. I wonder if I’d get the looks he used to get if I went back to the city.
There I go again, thinking about that life. It’s not happening. Can’t. Focus, Luca.
When Jasper halts, I stand in the stirrup and dismount. The horse is barely even breathing heavily, not that it was a long run. I stroke Jasper’s neck for a second and coo, “Good boy. You wait here.” Then, I turn toward Wyatt and start walking.
After about a dozen steps, Wyatt looks up. “Mornin’.” He waves with his rifle hand.
“What’s going on? I didn’t expect you to be back so early.” I pause and turn as he meets me, and we walk casually, together, back toward the horses.
“Coyotes were circling. Got one before the rest went running for the hills. Plus, I really didn’t want to leave you with the crew alone.”
“Is Emma on her way back too?”
“She’s waiting to meet the transport, and then she’ll head back to meet us with the wagon. I doubt she’ll make it before supper time.”
I slide my hat from my head and scratch behind my ear. “So, we’re waiting another day before we head out? Won’t that put the LivFit team off their flight schedules?”
“Nah. We’ll leave today. We should be able to get most of the supplies onto the horses and make it to the next stop. I called Sid to let him know we were running a little behind. We need to try to make up time so the team can catch their flights out of Albuquerque.”
“Good idea.” I slide my hat back on and look off into the foothills away from Wyatt. Why is it that something inside makes me not want this week to end? “But do you really think that’s wise? I mean, we’ve already had one person hurt. What about that guy with a bad hip? What was his name?”
Wyatt stops, his footsteps no longer kicking up sand beside me, so I turn to find him staring at me with narrowed eyes.
“What?” I ask.
“Something’s wrong? You’re different. What happened while I was gone?”
I am not about to tell him that Jack is drawing me in like a fish on a line. And that kiss was sure as heck none of his business. “Nothing. I’m just worried that it’ll draw another insurance claim if we have anybody else hurt,” I lie.
“Hmm,” he mumbles. “Sure does feel like you’re dancing around something else. Doesn’t have to do with—”
