Follow a Wild Heart: A Christian Contemporary Western Romance Series

by Natalie Bright

  “Sometimes it’s not always about you, Carli. People are dealing with things we can’t even imagine. I have every confidence you’ll sort this out. Oh, and the reason I came over is to make sure you’re riding with us to church on Sunday.”

  “Yes, thanks. I’ll see you guys then.”

  Her cellphone’s ringtone sounded with a horse’s whinny. Juvenile? Maybe, but it made her smile every time she heard it.

  “Hello?”

  “Carli?” Lexi’s mother’s voice sounded a little shaky and upset.

  “Emily, is everything okay? What’s going on?”

  “It’s Lexi. We had a huge fight. She didn’t want to help me with chores. And I said something about her torn jeans and the losers she’s been hanging around with. I told her no chores, then no party and no leaving this house. She ran out. I wondered if she might be heading your way. I’m not sure. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”

  “I’m glad you called. But ranch headquarters is a good thirty miles from Dixon. How would she get here?”

  “Hitchhike maybe? I’m not sure. Or ride with one of her friends?”

  “We’ll keep an eye out for her, Emily. Don’t worry. And if she does show up, I’ll give you a call, okay?”

  “Thanks, Carli. She really looks up to you.”

  Carli ended the call and looked at Lola. “Remember Lexi, the girl who came to ride? She’s missing. Her mother thinks she might head this way.”

  “I’ll put Buck on alert,” Lola said.

  Carli imagined all the possible places Lexi might go, but she wasn’t that familiar with the area yet and didn’t know much about teenage hangouts. Lexi's mother must have noticed how much the girl loved horses to think she might show up at the Wild Cow. Carli took a deep breath and went hunting for her boots. Might as well join the search party. With everything else on her mind, how much more trouble could a teenage girl be?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Instead of remaining in her house worrying about where Lexi might be, Carli decided to go for a ride. It would keep her busy and she could watch for Lexi too. She thought about the phone call from Lexi’s mother; their conversation ran over and over in her mind. She couldn’t think of any reason why a teenaged girl would run away to the Wild Cow Ranch, but maybe Emily knew her daughter better than Carli did. She saddled Beau and led him through the corral gate.

  As Beau trotted a good stretch away from the ranch’s entrance, Carli thought of how mixed-up things had gotten lately—Nathan and Lank’s fight, then their sudden exit from her life. Were they afraid to come around? She could make no sense of what was going on in their minds. She missed Nathan, as a friend and confidant. And now she’d been dragged into the middle of Lexi and her family. Who knew what kind of drama was going on in her young life? But Carli wanted to help. Maybe she could prevent more heartache for Lexi, or just lend a compassionate ear, one that could relate to her struggles without judgment.

  Up ahead a plume of road dust drifted skyward, evidence of a vehicle coming her way. And it was moving fast. She slowed Beau to a walk, urged him out of the road and across the bar ditch, gently pulling to steady his reins. “It’s okay, Beau. Easy, fella.”

  As it approached, she saw it was older model bright blue Camaro. It slid to a stop, gravel and dust rolling out from behind the vehicle. Beau took a few antsy steps at the rumbling muffler, but Carli kept him calm. The passenger window was open, and Lexi leaned her arm out.

  “Hey, Carli.”

  “Lexi? Your mom’s looking for you. What are you doing here?”

  Lexi rolled her black-lined eyes and rested her chin on her arm. “Thought I’d come and brush a horse." She pointed her thumb to the driver. "I want to show him where I come for riding lessons.”

  “Who’s your friend?” Carli asked as she bent down to see a spiky-haired young man.

  “This is Raven.”

  “Hello, Raven. Now that’s an unusual name.”

  The young guy didn’t really look at her but instead grunted a low sound.

  “It’s his battle tag. He’s a gamer,” said Lexi.

  Carli looked into Lexi’s eyes. “You are welcome here anytime, but you need to call your mother first and tell her where you are. Drive slow on this road and don’t scare Beau. I don’t want him to spook and dump me.”

  “Sure, Carli. We’ll see you at headquarters.”

  Raven lurched the car a little and it kicked up some road pebbles, which caused Beau to jump.

  “I said slow!” Carli yelled after them. As they drove away, she could hear Raven laughing and saying something that sounded like, “Oops, my bad.”

  Carli watched them drive on ahead and kept Beau walking slow and steady until the car had a head start. She didn’t want to get anywhere near that bucket of bolts or the juvenile delinquent driver. After a few minutes she nudged Beau into a safe trot.

  Shaking her head, Carli wondered what the appeal was for some girls, and women, to go for the “bad boy”. Was she going for the bad boy with Lank? And was he really that “bad”? She mulled it over—Lank was a hard worker. Definitely loyal to the Wild Cow, following Buck’s and her orders to the letter, grateful and kind to Lola and others. He was close to his sister, and his mom too, who had recently passed away. He nearly gave up his life to fight the barn fire and was heartbroken to lose his horse Blackie. He had searched for Carli and didn’t give up until he found her lost in the snowstorm where she could have died.

  In fact, Carli couldn’t think of any “bad” thing he'd ever done, except he made her act like a stark raving lunatic. Maybe it was just his smart-alecky jokes at times or the way he bucked her authority. Or maybe it was that she wanted to be in control of everything. He did know more about cattle and ranching than she did, and she really hated to have to fire him again. That was getting to be so annoying. Could she ever have an equal, more easygoing relationship with Lank and why did she spend so much time thinking about him? She pushed that irritatingly handsome face out of her mind.

  Right now, she had to deal with the two teenagers who stood next to her barn. She hoped she could be a proper role model for Lexi and, if need be, chase Raven off her property if he displayed any troublemaking behavior.

  She dismounted near Raven’s car and held Beau’s reins. Lexi wore her usual black ensemble, but this time her hair was neon pink, and she wore thigh high boots with a short skirt. She had added new piercings at the top of one ear and one side of her nose.

  “So, what’s going on with you, Lexi? Have you called your mother, yet?”

  With eyes rolling upward, Lexi sighed. “She’s driving me crazy. Won’t let me do anything. Always wants me doing chores.”

  “Yeah, a real drag,” Raven grunted as he flicked a cigarette butt on the ground. Carli glared at him, so he stomped on the butt three times, then ran his fingers through straight, long black hair. Black nail polish and silver rings on every finger and all black clothing to match, with a chain hanging down one side of his pants. Jet black hair hung below his shoulders, and the top stood straight up in spikes. He had the most unusual green eyes that were lined with black smudges and dark gray eyeshadow on the lids. Carli was surprised to see intelligence in those eyes when he raised his head to meet her gaze, but nothing friendly was there. He winked.

  Carli eyed Raven warily and looked at Lexi. “Are you here to see Sally?”

  Lexi nodded her head, a very slim spark of interest showing in her eyes.

  “Get a lead rope then.” Carli spun on her heels and walked into the next pen where Sally slurped water from the trough. The morning sun cast light into the water making the goldfish glint bright orange and gold. They did a good job eating the algae and kept the tank clean.

  Lexi appeared at her side, rope in hand, and gently draped it over Sally’s neck. Carli couldn’t help but notice the shy grin on her face. Yeah, horses will do that to you.

  Lexi led Sally over to the saddle house, tied her to a rail, and disappeared inside.

 
Raven watched, leaning against the fence. He pulled another cigarette from his pants pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

  “Sorry. No smoking around the horses," Carli said to Raven. "We battled one barn fire, and that’s one too many." As Lexi walked closer to Sally with a brush in hand, Carli stood in front of both of them, hands on hips, and then directed her comment to Lexi. "I’m calling your mother if you’re not.”

  This time it was Raven doing the eye rolling. He looked at Lexi. “What a crock. I didn’t drive you all the way out here to watch you brush some stupid animal. You said we were gonna race some horses.”

  “Don’t even think about lighting that cigarette.” Carli's eyes narrowed.

  He held the cigarette in his fingers and got menacingly close to Carli. “Look, lady, no one tells me what to do and I don’t need your b.s. rules.”

  “Raven, I think you need to get off my ranch.” Carli didn’t back down and didn’t let any fear show in her eyes. She stared directly at the kid. She needed to get Lexi away from him. Then she turned and kindly said, “How about you, Lexi? Do you want to stay and brush Sally? I could drive you home.”

  Raven gritted his teeth. “If you don't come with me now, you can forget about Friday night.”

  Lexi looked from one to the other, then settled on Carli. Quietly she said, “Could I stay?”

  Carli thought she might have heard Raven grumble the b-word but she couldn’t be sure.

  “Of course. I’ll call your mother right now.” Carli punched in the number before Lexi changed her mind. She told Emily about her daughter and ended the call.

  In a flash, Raven was in his loud muffler Camaro and blasting down the gravel road, kicking up a cloud of dust bigger than the one he had arrived in. Hip hop music thumping from his car stereo. Carli let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Inside, a shiver of panic ran through her. That could have turned out worse, but he was gone now.

  Carli could visibly see the tension leave Lexi’s body as she focused on the horse. She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m glad you stayed. You're always welcome here.”

  Sally turned her head to watch the young girl, nudging Lexi’s shoulder with her nose.

  “Why are you hanging out with him? Do you like him?”

  Lexi shrugged her shoulders. “He’s okay.”

  “Maybe he’s the easiest way to irritate your mother.”

  Another shrug of the shoulders. Silence.

  “You are so lucky, Lexi. I didn’t have a mother who cared about where I was. Your mother bugs you because she loves you.” Carli couldn’t tell if her words meant anything or not. Talking to a rebellious teenager was like talking to a fence post, actually a fence post was much easier. She was heartened that Lexi had showed up out of the blue to spend time with the horses. That was a good sign. Maybe she could win the girl's trust after all.

  Suddenly they heard more gravel crunching on the driveway. “Hope he’s not coming back,” Carli mumbled as she turned to see who it was.

  But it wasn’t the goth kid returning for his little girlfriend.

  Feeling relief and irritation all at the same time, Carli whispered to no one in particular, “Lank.”

  Okay, Lord, just help me be nice.

  Chapter Thirty

  Carli stood like a statue. Arms folded across her chest, she watched Lank park his pickup, get out, and amble towards her. She wasn’t sure she could do this. Still angry at him, she couldn’t help but notice the dark stubble that shaded his jaw. Darn it. Why did he look so good to her? Sheepish look in his eyes, no smile. Her stomach fluttered.

  Buck had returned to the corral and offered to assist Lexi on brushing Sally, the bay horse she was bonding with lately. Carli turned her full attention to her ex-ranch hand. She walked closer and met him at the corral gate.

  “What’re you doing here, Lank? Did you forget something?”

  He was slow to start and fiddled with his hat turning it round and round.

  “Carli.” Those blue-gray eyes looked up at her while his head tilted downwards. “I kinda lost my temper.”

  That might count as an apology. Carli may have lost hers too, but she wasn’t going to admit it. Losing her cool around this irritating cowboy was something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

  Lank waited a minute for her to respond. She didn’t so he kept talking. “If I said I'd like to come back, will you have me?”

  Have him? Truthfully, she wanted him to stay. She didn’t want to fight anymore. But how would this work? How could they ensure it wouldn’t happen again?

  “We’ll have to talk, Lank. I mean really communicate. Honesty, no games, no temper, no teasing. Can you do that?”

  “Naw. I don’t want to do that. On the drive over here, I was thinking about asking you to hire me back. That’s what I had planned, but I’ve since changed my mind.”

  “You have?” Carli felt her stomach fall to her knees. She looked at the ground so he couldn’t see the disappointment in her eyes. Lank leaving for good? She’d really done it this time.

  “I got an offer from a buddy in New Mexico. Think I’ll take the job.”

  “You will?”

  “Yeah, it’s obvious you don’t want me around. I just cause you a lot of trouble and I don’t understand why. I think it’s best for me to leave.”

  He stepped closer and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. She swallowed the lump in her throat. His burning eyes bore a hole right into her soul.

  “New Mexico?” was all she could manage to murmur.

  “I’ll miss you,” he muttered back, and then he broke into a wide grin. “Not really! Buck called me last night. You’re still my boss and I’m still the thorn in your behind.” He laughed. A deep throaty, belly laugh.

  She felt irritation from his mocking tone, but then she saw the humor in those eyes, and she couldn’t help but feel relieved. “Is this your idea of better communication? Lank Torres, you’re an idiot.” She slapped his shoulder.

  “What are you kids laughing about?” asked Buck as he joined them.

  “I told her you hired me back for the second time.” Lank raised his eyebrows and displayed that stupid smirk of his.

  “Oh, right.” Buck turned a sheepish grin to Carli. “Sorry, Little Jean. I know you fired him again, but we really need him around here. He knows this ranch like the back of his hand. I should have checked with you first, and I’m sorry.”

  Carli looked from one to the other. They both apologized. That’s two apologies in one day from two Texas cowboys. She was on a roll. “You’re both idiots.” She couldn’t be mad, not with the look Lank was giving her now. They all laughed.

  “What’s on the agenda today, boss?” Lank looked at Buck. Then he quickly swung his face around to Carli. “I mean, boss?” His head swiveled from one to the other and back again.

  “Are we going for a ride today, Carli?” Lexi nudged her horse over to where the rest of them stood.

  “Yes, ma’am. Let me get saddled up.” Carli hurried to the saddle house.

  When Carli was ready, she jogged Beau next to Lexi's horse and together they edged out of headquarters, taking a path through the horse pasture towards the creek. Leading the way Carli said, “I want to stay close to the road. I can’t take a long ride today, Lexi, but at least we can enjoy the time we have. And the weather’s so nice. Not much wind.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think Sally likes you. She goes really smooth for you.”

  The girl smiled just a little and patted the horse.

  “Lexi, what do you know about the guy that drove you out here? Have you known him very long?”

  “Not too long.”

  “Does he go to your school?”

  Lexi hesitated, then said, “Not anymore.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “He’s not in school anymore. He works on cars.”

  “How old is he? Did he graduate?”

  “Seventeen. He had one more year to g
o but had to drop out to get a job.”

  “Does he live at home?”

  “Not anymore. His dad gave him some trouble.”

  “Where does he live?”

  “With some other guys.”

  “Your mom loves you, Lexi. And I worry about you too. That’s why it seems we might ask a lot of questions. It’s not to pry into your business, it’s because we care. People in the world can be mean and are not what they seem to be at times.”

  The girl remained silent as she steered Sally down a cow trail into the dry creek bed. They were walking the horses now. It made it easier to talk.

  “Have you thought about what you want to do after high school?”

  More silence, but finally, she said, “Maybe work with horses? I love animals.”

  Carli smiled at her. “Sounds great. You’d be good at it. Maybe I could give you a job here. We’ve got lots of animals.”

  “Really? What kind of job?”

  Carli was encouraged that Lexi showed a spark of interest.

  “Well, I’m not sure yet. I’d have to talk with Buck. Maybe brushing the horses. Maybe giving them a bath. Or feeding. There’s always work to do around a ranch. How about helping me with the riding school if and when I ever get more students?”

  “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  “I told your mom I’d drive you home later. But I’ve got to say, that wasn’t right for you to run off and not tell her where you were going. Sorry if you think I'm butting my nose in your business. She’s your mom and she deserves some respect. I know you want your freedom. I remember what it was like. But she only wants the best for you.”

  With her head hanging down, Lexi said, “I know. But she doesn’t let me have any fun.”

  “You are so lucky to have a mom who cares about you. You’ll understand that one day. You can learn a lot from others around you or you can close your ears and make your own mistakes.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Carli led the way as they crossed a flat stretch of grass to just off the side of the road. Where they stopped under a couple of trees afforded a bit of shade, the only oasis for miles around. They didn’t dismount, just got comfy in their saddles. Carli hated to lecture the young girl because she felt like they were building trust. She didn’t want to run her off before they could even become friends.