“It went like any other time,” he huffed. “All right, get on out there then. I’ll tell Cade to continue with what he was doing. Let me call Fox back.” He strode away. Stopped a moment. Turned. “Thanks. Be careful out there.”
“You too.” Today, she certainly hadn’t felt like his favorite and with good reason. She finished with the horse, mounted her, and left the barn in a trot. The rest of the crew were at least thirty minutes ahead, so she went into a gallop, patting the horse as they rode. Karis rolled her eyes at herself, but being out of practice, ahem, after last night, it hurt to spread her thighs today. “Good girl. I’ll give you a juicy apple when we get to the Chuck Truck.”
Here she was, in such a hurry that she hadn’t grabbed her phone or wallet. On top of that, she had let Tanyon and Fox down. That’ll teach her to drink too much the night before checking on land and cattle on a portion of the ranch. Why had she, and especially at Tanyon’s parents’ home? The best part of today had been waking up beside him in the wee hour.
It might be a while before waking with him happened again. Karis reflected on what she’d known of Mr. Tanyon Outlaw. His ranch business came before anything else. Yes, she’d let him down, but would he allow this to put them back where they were when she’d arrived? They couldn’t keep starting over.
Chapter Ten
While having lunch and another cup of coffee, Karis called Tanyon. “See, I made it. All is well. You can kill your attitude now.”
“You know how important this place is to me. I thought I could depend on you. You’re different this year.”
She stomped away from the lunch site where no one could hear a conversation that might get heated. “Yes, I’m different this year, but it doesn’t mean I care any less.”
“Yeah, you proved it today. Do I have to put you on probation?”
She fumed. “I hope you’re kidding. If you aren’t, it’s not funny.”
“Then don’t get drunk on a work night.”
“Asshole! You have a lot of room to talk.” Ooohhhh, damn you! She’d throw the phone if it wasn’t Levi’s. “Good for you, Boss. If I see you later, fine. If I don’t, then that’s fine too! Bye.” She called him right back. “Oh, by the way, I still have a hangover because I got too drunk last night. Maybe I got drunk on the sex we almost had in the driveway, or the sex we did have in your bed. That’s your fault, and yeah, if I stood in front of you right now, I’d be poking you in the chest.”
“I might do my own poking,” he said, grumbling. “You’ll like where I poke.” Tanyon laughed. “I’m over it, darlin’. I have no complaints over you getting tipsy last night, or what happened today.”
“Good!” Karis growled and hung up only to find Levi snickering. “You didn’t hear whatever you think you did, Levi Outlaw.”
“Right. Can I have my phone back before it ends up in a tree?”
She handed it to him. He pretended it was like a hot potato and kept tossing it back and forth between his right and left hand. “Damn, that thing’s hot.”
She laughed. “You’re bad, Levi.”
“Thanks. I’m proud of it. Come on and finish lunch.” He put his arm around her shoulder on the stroll back to the Chuck Truck. “Is my brother giving you a hard time again?”
“What else is new? I haven’t done anything right since I’ve been back.”
“Sounds like you had sex in the driveway right.” Levi snorted.
She shook her head. “We did not. Don’t you start. I don’t know what I’ll do with the bunch of you.”
“You only need to deal with one of us, darlin’. The most stubborn one of all, if you ask me.”
Karis grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl. Levi had been right. She only had one stubborn brother to deal with, and yes, the most stubborn of the males. She checked Ginger’s cinch and the others. Before the Chuck Truck escaped, she grabbed another bottle of water and two aspirins from the cook. “Thank you, Sage. Take care now.”
“Have a good ride back, Karis.” He nodded toward one of the women on the ride—a redhead with a silk scarf around her neck instead of the cotton kerchief they recommended on the website. However, silk was what the old-timers of yesteryear used.
“I wouldn’t mind her telephone number if you can get it.”
Karis eyed the woman in question. “Hmm, you ready for a city-slicker, Sage?”
He scrunched up his nose. “On second thought… Maybe. Aren’t you a city slicker?” He grinned from ear to ear and closed the door over the side of the truck. At his driver door, he glanced toward the woman mounting the horse. “Might be fun.”
“Please don’t involve me in matchmaking. Come out to the circle tonight and sit beside her. Maybe she’s thinking the same thing.” She winked. Sage wasn’t a bad looking guy except for looking a little, uh, trail-beaten and sun-worn. Who knows? He might’ve had his own line of women waiting.
He tapped the horn and rolled his window down. “I see why the boss is crazy over you.”
She widened her eyes. “Why?”
Sage snickered. “Because you got a bit of spunk like him.” He dropped it into gear and drove off before she gave a rebuttal like spunk plus spunk equaled butting heads.
“Come on, Karis,” Levi called. “Let’s ride.”
She mounted Ginger and took her spot to the left while the other leaders positioned themselves strategically to keep eyes on all the riders. As they rode, she observed the landscape around them. Tree lines demarcated boundaries. Hunting birds floated below low-hanging clouds. Woodland predators stayed hidden, but they’d had range rifles to scare them off if necessary. Spiderwebs appeared in rays of sunlight between trees.
Grit drifted into their faces. She blinked then rubbed to clear her eye of a bug. Wind whistled through the pines, their needles littering the ground around them. Puddles remained on the trail from the early morning storm. Everything smelled fresh and clean except the manure carried on the breeze.
She should’ve been the leader today, but since she’d been late, she let the sub take them into a gallop, riding a bit farther north before heading back home. In the afternoon sun, sweat trickled down her neck and over her face. This year, the serenity of trail rides had brought a calm over her. Had Tanyon been right in choosing to put her here instead of cowpunching? The peace in her soul answered the question. She silently thanked him.
∞∞∞
Four weeks later before the dinner ride, Karis took a shower and made herself presentable for the next bunch. A premenstrual throb lingered above her eyes. She checked the supply room for a personal item, but they didn’t have what she wanted. Max must’ve done the shopping without his daughter to remind him. Her fricking keys had never showed up. Her personal stash of feminine products remained in her trunk. Karis chuckled inwardly, but she needed to go to town.
This should be the week she’d need tampons, and she didn’t want to be without protection at the most inopportune time—like on the back of a horse in the wooded area of the Two-Five Ranch property. She slid her feet into sandals and singled out the key on the ring that belonged to his green truck, which had become her truck as of late. He said his beater would make it, but he was also the guy who hadn’t fixed a wheel-bearing until the last minute. Her phone rang before she got into the truck. “Hi, sweetheart.”
Tanyon called from the range. “I need you to do something. Ride out to the south pasture to escort Annette back to the ranch. She isn’t feeling well. I’d rather she didn’t ride back alone. Do you mind?”
“I’ll go. Oh, no, I hope she’s all right. I have to go into town when she and I get back, and I might be—”
“Perfect. Skip the trail ride. I was going to send you a text, anyway. Levi and Dusty will handle the small group. They’ll have Rudy to drill him again on what he knows about Jody’s accident.”
“Are you sure? Tomorrow you won’t blame me for skipping, will you?”
“No, my love.” He hung up.
Not that she minded going out to ride bac
k with Annette. Karis grabbed two bottles of water and hit the trail. It’d been days since they had communicated, and they had a lot to catch up on, especially if Annette felt good enough to interrogate her for spending so much time with Tanyon, and to quell whatever rumors may have popped up. However, most were no longer rumors, either on the ranch or in Wills Bend.
∞∞∞
By the time Karis got to where Cade had lagged back from moving on to a different fence line, Annette’s skin was flushed. Her forehead was warm to the touch. After leaving the herd, she glanced back. She missed this part of the work here, the demanding concentration on keeping the cattle in line so none strayed off and got lost, and fixing fences. but she enjoyed being with the horses and those out to have a good time on the trails.
Reminiscing over her first year here when she was so green, brought a smile. It had been the distraction from work and her patients that she’d needed. She’d loved it so much. Karis had planned on spending her summers on the Two-Five for as long as they’d have her.
At home, her steady go on the job—starting and then running her clinic year after year with no breaks had caught up to her. Her fellow therapists had convinced her she’d needed a break. A friend had bragged about her two weeks on the Two-Five ranch, telling Karis she outta give it a go since she already knew how to ride. She signed up, and it was the year she’d spotted Tanyon for the first time.
He wasn’t home often that year, but when he was, he’d join in at the campfire with his guitar to entertain them. Home had been his own distraction from his hectic life on the road riding bulls. It had been him who had taken over her training on the days he did stop at home. He had a gentle yet persistent way of teaching, causing her to want to learn. Taking the break each summer, proved to be refreshing, making her a better therapist in the end—she thought, anyway.
“Karis, stop.” Annette leaned over and vomited.
She hopped off her horse to help Annette to the ground where she’d continued to vomit. Karis removed the neckerchief from around Annette’s neck, poured water over it, and laid it against her skin. “Let’s sit a minute. You don’t look well, sweetie.”
“Good. It matches my insides,” Annette said. “I only need a minute.” She sprawled out on the ground on her back and pulled her hat over her eyes.
It wasn’t long before they mounted and rode back beneath a cloud-filled sky. Monsoons popped up unexpectedly this time of year, making trail rides tough to plan, but they’d made it back to the ranch with no more puking.
Karis padded to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and found a can of chicken noodle soup. That one lonely can must’ve escaped Max’s sharp eye when he cleaned out the cupboards at the beginning of this season and donated what he’d never use. She heated the soup, put it on a tray, and carried it up. In the room, she explained she’d needed to go to town and why, leaving out the part where Tanyon lost her keys…after she did, of course. Annette said she needed some personal items herself.
“Be careful, Karis. It looks like a storm is brewing.”
“I will. Have you seen my keys? They’re on a round, gold ring with red and blue coded keys, and my key fob?”
Annette leaned against the pillows Karis had propped and sipped her tea. “No. How are you getting to town?”
“I’m taking Tanyon’s truck again.”
Annette rolled her eyes then held her head. She set her cup down and took away one of the pillows. “I’m nauseated. I’ll see if I can sleep off whatever this is.”
“I’ll check on you when I get back.” She strode to the barn to untack the horses, but one of the new ranch hands had volunteered to do it. If she hadn’t been in a hurry to get to town, she would’ve done it herself, so she let him. The barn was where new employees started, including her part of the time all those years ago, long before she knew a man called Tanyon Outlaw existed.
Other than pictures of him in frames around the barn, and a couple series wins with his buckles and a proud grin, she had known nothing of the oldest sibling the first week or two. Other than how handsome a man he was.
She got in his truck and drove toward Wills Bend. Then on her way home, torrential rains poured down. She examined the floor in front of the driver’s seat. “What?” A big hole in the rusty floor allowed water in puddles to gush up onto her feet and bare legs, soaking her with mud and water. The next bigger puddle of water splashed up and over the front of her all the way above her waist. Muddy water dripped from her elbows. “What the fricking hell?”
She laughed. Wipers swiped as fast as they could to clear the window. Thunder cracked. Lightning flashed in streaks. Her sandals had become loose from the wetness. Karis drove unto another dirt road, unsure of where she might be with worn wipers to clear the window.
This could’ve been the same road Tanyon had taken to head back to the ranch, the long way, the day he’d missed the exit off the highway. The motor sputtered. She checked the gauges on the old dashboard. A little gas remained, but it should’ve been enough to get her back. It sputtered again. This time it stalled. She pressed on the accelerator and turned the key. Nothing but the smell of gasoline.
Sighing, she slapped the steering wheel. She glanced out her side window. The haunted house? She laughed again. Of course! Tanyon had tried to get a rise out of her by telling her the house was haunted. Afterward, and for more than one night, he purposefully had the regulars at camp tell the spooky story. She checked around the back seat for a slicker. What a joke to think he would’ve been prepared for a monsoon. Karis peered at the long walkway to the door of the Victorian. By the time she got there, she’d be more soaked than she already was. First, she had better call the ranch.
Max answered. “Hiya, Karis. Are you on the trail? Best find some cover, girl.”
“No, I’m… His truck broke down—”
“Got gas?” Max asked.
“The gauge says almost a quarter tank.”
Tanyon came on the phone. “Shit. I forgot to tell you the gauge didn’t work. Where are you?”
She shook her head. “You need a new truck. Can Max come pick me up? Will you put him back on the phone, please?”
Shockingly, he did, and Max came on the line. She did her best to explain where she was without saying haunted house. A shadow moved by the front window. Karis shivered, convincing herself it was because she was wet and getting cold. Max covered the speaker so she couldn’t hear. “Max?” Don’t leave me now, buddy.
“Yep. Sit tight. I know exactly where you are. Lock your doors. See you soon.” The call dropped.
Karis locked the doors if they even worked while glancing toward the house. She wouldn’t be tricked into a campfire story where a man killed his victims when the train went by. Her head could’ve twisted off her neck, when in fact, a whistle blew as the train from the Grand Canyon returned to Williams. “Oh! Why now?” She turned the key again. “Come on, baby. Start. Start!”
The front door opened. “Eek!” She nearly swallowed her own tongue. An elderly woman stood there with a yellow crocheted shawl over her head, motioning for her. “Yeah, right!” She rolled her window down only to have rain blown into her face. A streak of lightning flashed in the space between them.
“Are you in trouble?” the lady called.
“Broke down. I have a ride coming.” She rolled the window back up, but the lady stood there waving her in. She wound the window down again. “I’m okay. Go back inside before you get drenched.”
The woman disappeared behind the door, but Karis kept her eyes peeled not only on the door, but she cranked her neck back and forth to see all corners of the truck. A long thirty minutes later, lights appeared in front of her then slowed and stopped front end to front end. A tall body stepped down and grabbed a gas can from the bed. “Tanyon?”
She got out and ran to the side of the truck. “I should kick your ass for telling me your haunting story. You know how spooky it is out here alone in a storm? The woman stood at the door beckoning me in, for cry
ing out loud!”
Tanyon gave a rolling laugh as he lifted the can to pour in gasoline. “Sorry. Get in the truck. I’ll only be a minute.”
“Damn you.” Drenched, she got back in. Why hadn’t Max been the one to come? Laugh, will he? Well, she had a thing or two to say to him. Before long, he knocked on the window startling her. She unlocked the door. He scooted in, still grinning.
“I mean it. You need a truck that works and stop telling me crazy stuff.”
“I have one that works. This one works when there’s gas in it.” His gaze roamed over her, and he shoved back a wet lock of her hair. “You’re drenched. Start the truck.”
“NO shit,” she spat out while turning the key. “You have a leak in the floor! It’s storming. Find. My. Keys.”
Tanyon slapped his thigh and laughed again.
“You think it’s funny. I should punch you, mister!”
“Nah, bad idea. Let’s get out of here. Follow me back.”
He took long strides to his so-called other working truck. She could expect to be wetter than she was now by taking this bumpy road to the highway.
Tanyon pivoted and came back to open her door. “What are you doing on this road, anyway?”
“Don’t ask.”
He chuckled and took her arm. “Drive the other truck.”
Sure, she’d certainly take him up on it. “Thank you.”
“Follow me back.”
“Yes, sir.” She ran up to get into the dry truck, waited for him to go around, and followed. Everything appeared to be different near dusk in a black-clouded monsoon. Karis drove around him before the highway, now leading the way. She shivered again then sped up. Let him get water splashed up to his chest.
Back at the ranch, she pulled up out front while he drove to the garage. She paced, waiting for him to come in. The door opened. She folded her arms and held in a laugh at how drenched he was, including mud splattered all over the front of his shirt, like hers. “Find my keys, Tanyon. I mean it. This isn’t the time to play a damn game.” She left abruptly and headed upstairs but stopped halfway up. “What of those on the trail ride? Are they okay?”
Imprisoned In A Cowboy's Heart (Two-Five Ranch Outlaws Book 1) Page 15
