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Hunter chuckled. “I take ityoulike horses.”
Isa grinned, sipping her cider.
“Are you any good with them?”
“I’ve been giving Bennett riding lessons.”
She was? How did Hazel feel about that? Hunter brushed away the nagging concern. He had enough of his own trouble to sort through. And right now, Isa offered a nice respite from it. “Maybe I should have you come here as a wrangler then.”
“Little soon to start expanding, don’t you think?” Janie’s sharp disapproval drew Hunter away from those sweet brown eyes smiling up at him.
Repocketing his hand, Hunter shrugged. “It’s good to think ahead. Plan ahead.”
“Since when did you do that?”
“Since always.” Hunter scowled.
“Seems a little risky, to make expansion plans when you haven’t even started with the basics.”
Hunter shifted his stance, as if he had to physically brace himself against Janie’s attack. “I’d rather make plans and move forward than to stay stuck and afraid.”
Janie glared at him. “Is that a rebuke?”
“No.” He drained the rest of his cider. “Just a fact.”
Grady cleared his throat. “I’ve got an adventure coming up myself.”
He did? Did anyone there care?
Janie plastered on her fake-sweet grin and looked up at her date. “What’s that?”
“A monthlong trek at some of the southern national parks in Utah. Arches. Bryce Canyon. Zion. A group of my college friends and I are going to backpack them until Thanksgiving.”
Janie stared at him. “You haven’t said anything . . .”
Grady rubbed the back of his neck. “I was going to talk to you about it the next time we went out.”
“Oh.” She turned toward the fire, and several long moments drew out in tense silence.
So. They weren’t serious, else Grady would have mentioned this trek before this moment. And Janie wouldn’t be standing there looking more put out than truly hurt by his failure to disclose his plans.
As the moment scraped by, and contrary to his frustration with the woman, Hunter felt bad for Janie’s flustered silence. “Don’t park rangers have to stay at their assigned posts?”
Grady shrugged. “A week of this adventure is actually a paid assignment. One of the rangers in Bryce is taking time off, and I’m going to fill in for him. The rest, I’ve saved up PTO, and the fall season is a little slower. Once I start my study on the spotted skunks, I’ll have to stay put. It all just came together, and there are four of us who have always wanted to take this sort of trip, so we’re going for it.”
Janie recovered, straightening her posture. “It sounds amazing. Like an adventure of a lifetime.”
“Yeah?” Grady’s tone lightened with something hopeful.
“For sure.”
“I was . . . well, I wanted to talk to you about it later, but . . .”
Hunter’s heart froze. He knew exactly where this was going, and he suddenly wanted to be sick. And to smash something. “Come on, Janie. An adventure of a lifetime?”
Grady stopped his stammering, and both he and Janie looked at him.
“Yes.” Janie crossed her arms. “That’s exactly what it sounds like.”
