by Ivy Jordan
I shook my head. “No chance. We’re coming with. Harper has already told me how stubborn she is about things like this and I have to say I’m exactly the same. There’s no way you’re going out there alone. Let’s get our coats and head out. Do you have spare umbrellas for us to get to the truck?”
“Of course. Hang on, let me get them.”
As it turned out, we didn’t need the umbrellas at all. As soon as we walked out, the wind forced them inside out. We threw them to the side and just ran to the truck instead, getting soaked on the way. Thankfully the drive was short, and we all hurried out to check on the animals. Between the three of us, we were able to check on all the animals in record time. The storm had damaged some of the barn door, but I rushed over to the shed to get some pieces of spare wood and we managed to secure it against the door. The animals would at least be safe inside. They weren’t happy, though. The horses were giving nervous whickers at the sound of the wind outside. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Harper with her head against the door telling them that everything was going to be okay. She was soaked to the bone but didn’t seem to care. And strangely enough, despite the heavy sound of rain and the horrible crash of thunder, the horses seemed to respond to her voice and even calmed down.
“You’re the horse whisper,” I said to her as she rushed back to me.
Other than the barn door, the only real damage seemed to be at the pig pen. A strike of lightning had hit directly into one of the metal feeding troughs, but it was something that could be fixed, and it was lucky that the pigs were not there at the time. All the animals had been secured in the large barn, and even though they weren’t happy, at least they were safe. Storms had happened before, and the barn had been extended exactly for this reason. They’d lost animals before and vowed never to let it happen again.
Once the animals were secure, we all rushed into the guest house to let the other guests know that everything was going to be fine. They all seemed a little on edge but that was to be expected.
“Are we safe here?” Barry’s wife, Priscilla asked.
“You sure are. Don’t worry about it. All the animals have been secured in the stable too, and now we’ll just have to wait for the storm to pass. Obviously if you can all just remain in your rooms, we’d most appreciate it. It’s not safe for anyone out there but it’s definitely all safe for you here. There are candles in all the closets, and extra bedding if anyone gets cold. We’ll be back in the morning and hopefully everything will be back to normal then.”
Thankfully none of them seemed to notice that Jackson wasn’t there. They probably assumed he was in his room, enjoying every moment of the storm. They all seemed placated after seeing us, and headed back to the safety of their rooms.
“Okay, are you ready to head back? I think we should make a dash for it and get back to the house.”
“Let’s do it!” Allison said.
I wondered if Harper was going to suggest that she just stay behind. After all, that was where her room was with all her things. She seemed to consider it for a brief second as I saw her look down the corridor to where her room was. Then she looked at me and nodded. “Let’s go!” she said. I was so glad. I didn’t want her to go back to her room. I wanted to spend the rest of the night with her.
We rushed out the room and headed towards the truck. As we did so, a large gust of wind suddenly pulled up and sent an unsecured tool flying towards us. It was one of the tools we’d used to secure the wood to the stable door. I had no idea how I managed to do it all in time, but seeing that tool hurtle its way towards us made me want to protect Harper in a way that I had never felt before. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I jumped out and pushed her to the ground. The tool flew right past us, and we all sat there for a few seconds in the rain just watching it.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“Come on, let’s go,” I said and we hurried after Allison who had already made her way to the truck. As soon we got in, she looked at us.
“All okay? You took a while to get here.”
“Travis saved my life,” Harper said and told her the story.
Allison looked at me and grinned. “I’m impressed.” I wondered if she had noticed that Harper had come back with us rather than staying in her room, but if she did, she didn’t say anything and I was grateful for that.
By the time we got back to the house we were all soaked to the bone.
“Come with me, Harper. Let me get you some clean clothes. At least I know you’re my size.”
I made my way to my own bedroom, grateful that the lights were at least back on. I toweled myself dry and put on some fresh clothes. Then I headed out to the kitchen to see if I could make everyone some coffee. Harper and Allison were already there and Allison had beat me to it.
“I thought we could have some hot chocolate,” she said as she busied herself in the kitchen. “I don’t think any of us are going to sleep just yet. I know I won’t sleep until Mike gets back.”
“Hot chocolate sounds amazing. Thank you, Alison. I’m sure Mike is fine. In fact, he’s probably better off at the hospital than he is here. Can you imagine if Jackson was still out there? We are so lucky that we found him when we did. I shudder to think how different all this would’ve been if we knew that Jackson was out there. We’d have a lot more to worry about than just the animals.”
Allison whistled at the thought of it all. “It would’ve been bad. And how would we have explained that to everyone the next day? That’s not the sort of gossip I want flying around about our dude ranch. He could’ve ruined so much for us. The guy is crazy. Well, thank you both for helping me out there today. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. Harper you were great out there. It was a huge help having you with us. I think you should consider a job out here. You know you’ve got one if you ever need.”
Harper smiled at Allison and I could see that the two of them had already become friends in their short time together. They were very different but yet similar where it mattered most. It was nice to think of Harper coming out to work on the ranch but I knew it would never happen. She was a city girl who loved what she did. This had just been a good escape from real life for her, no matter how much she actually suited it.
“Thank you,” Harper said. “I was just thinking about the animals. Although,” she said wistfully as she looked down at her hands, “I also broke three nails in the process.”
We all burst out laughing, including Harper, and I was glad to see that she didn’t really care about her nails anymore.
“So, do you think this storm is going to pass?” Harper asked. Allison had finished making the hot chocolate and we were all sitting in the kitchen taking grateful sips of the hot liquid. There was something very soothing about the way hot chocolate made you feel. Almost like you were a child again getting soothed by your parents.
I nodded. “Probably. I mean, sometimes these things last a few days, but they’re usually just a one-night thing here. You’ll probably find that by the morning the air is completely still.”
“Oh good. I hope so. Tomorrow is the big overnight ride, isn’t it? The final experience that everything's been leading up to.”
I laughed. “I thought that was the part of the experience you were dreading the most? Isn’t that what you said the first night you arrived?”
She chuckled. “I was dreading it. Absolutely dreading it. But now the thought of having a true under the stars camping experience sounds amazing. I hope the weather holds out for it though. And I hope I’ll be okay out there.”
I smiled. “Oh, I think you’ll do just fine. If there’s anyone that can handle something like this, it’s you. You might lose another nail though.”
Harper grinned. “Oh, that’s a small price to pay for an experience I will never forget.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Travis
When we woke up the next morning, the storm had passed. The clouds were still dark in the sk
y but I was certain that we were over the worst. When I woke up, I was surprised that Harper wasn’t in bed next to me. For a brief moment I thought that perhaps I’d only just imagined that she’d slept over the night before. But the memory of the two of us making love was too vivid to be wrong. We’d had sex before going out to check on the animals and we’d done it again when we’d climbed into bed afterwards. We’d stayed up late with Allison and waited for Mike to come back, and by then it was so late that I was sure nothing more would happen between us. But we’d gotten into bed and immediately turned to each other. I think the two of us knew that it was all going to be over soon and we wanted to make the most with the time we had left together.
I got out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and waited for Harper to come back. When she didn’t, I made my way to the kitchen and saw Mike sitting there cradling a cup of coffee.
“Morning.”
“Hey, sleep okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I was exhausted. I’m glad the storm has passed.”
“Yeah me too. It always sounds so still the night after a storm.”
“And I don’t need to ask you if you slept okay,” he said and grinned at me.
I shook my head, a little embarrassed by his words. He thankfully hadn’t teased me when Harper was around the night before. “I slept great,” I said and grinned back. There was no point denying it. “Speaking of which, do you know where Harper went? I woke up and she was gone.”
“Yeah, she went back to the ranch with Allison. They wanted to check on everything and talk with the guests. I said I’d join them as soon as you were up.”
“Ah, sorry if I took so long to wake up. I slept better than I have in a long time.”
“I’m sure,” he said with a knowing grin. “No rush at all. Grab some coffee and we’ll head out there to see what’s happening. I hope there’s not too much damage.”
I poured some coffee into a flask and the two us made our way back to the ranch. I wasn’t sure how much I liked the look of the clouds. If the storm had completely passed, they probably shouldn’t look quite so dark, but it was hard to tell if it was going to clear or not. When he climbed out of the truck, we walked around to survey some of the damage. There was definitely a lot more than I thought there would be. It hadn’t seemed so bad the night before but it had been too dark to really tell what was going on. Seeing it in the light of the day proved just how bad the storm had really been. I thought of the tool that had come flying toward Harper and shuddered. The thought of something happening to her frightened me more than I cared to admit.
We found all the guests huddled in the main room. Allison had organized coffee and breakfast rolls for everyone and they were all eating happily. Allison obviously knew that the one way to placate the guests was to make sure that they were always properly fed. She was the best person to have in a bad situation, that was for sure.
“How’s everyone doing?” I asked the group. I noticed that Jackson was back, and I wondered just how much the group knew about what he had done. I made a mental note to ask Harper if she’d heard any of them talking. Harper was sitting in the far corner and she shot me a smile as soon as she saw me. I was glad to see that things weren’t awkward between us now that we had shared a night together.
“It was scary,” Barry admitted.
I walked around one by one, asking how everyone was, and I could see that they were all a little bit shaken up by the storm. None of them had expected it, and none of them seemed to have experienced something quite like it before. It was something I was used to. The area was prone to bad storms, and I had grown up knowing that they could hit at any moment. I sometimes forgot how scary it could be for people that weren’t used to it at all, especially people were out of their comfort zones already. I assured them that everything was under control and that they were all safe. Priscilla had her hand up. I tried not to giggle at the sight of it. It wasn’t like we were all at school. People were free to talk as they pleased without putting up their hand. The sight of it transported me back to my own classroom at the college and reminded me of the life I had waiting for me when I got back. It was a strange thought. Pretending to work at the ranch had felt so real that I’d forgotten it wasn’t true at all. It was going to be strange having to transition back to normal life.
“So, I know that we have our big overnight ride coming up this afternoon so by show of hands, I just want to find out who is still interested in going?” I asked and looked around the room. Everyone had been having such a good time that I expected them all to put their hands up. I was, however, very surprised when only two people put their hands up: Jackson and Harper.
“We’d rather stay inside,” someone said. “It’s so muddy outside and we don’t mind at all not going.”
I nodded. I could completely understand and I wasn’t going to force anyone to do something they didn’t want to do. I told them all not to worry and that I would discuss everything over with Mike and Allison before deciding what to do. I assured them that nobody would be forced to do anything. I walked over to Mike and Allison and shrugged.
“Now what? Jackson seems pretty adamant about wanting to go.”
Mike shook his head. “There’s no way I’m letting him near a horse. I know he wants to go but I already talked to him about it this morning. He’s just trying his luck with you. He’s lucky we are still letting him stay here. Last night I almost sent him packing, but I woke up this morning and thought I’d better give him another chance. He’s not a bad guy, but at the same time he needs to realize that he can’t just go around doing things like that. It’s a little bit crazy to put himself and all the animals in danger.”
“I completely agree,” I said. “Okay, so the ride is off then? It’s a pity, I was looking forward to it, but maybe it’s for the best.”
“Well, Harper still wants to go,” Allison said.
“Yeah, but that’s just one person. We can’t do the ride with just her. And anyway, it’s probably better if we all stay here with the rest of the group, and use our time to maybe fix some of the damage caused by the storm.”
Mike shook his head. “It’s fine. Allison and I can handle it. You must remember, Travis, we’ve done this plenty of times before without you. We’ve got this covered. We can stay here and assess the damage and spend time with the guests. I don’t think they want to be out there so we can maybe do some indoor things with them. We have plenty of provisions planned in case of things like this. But Harper wants to go and you should take her. She paid for the experience anyway.”
“Just her and I?” I asked with surprise. I tried to ignore the look that Mike and Allison passed one another.
“Yeah, come on, it will be fun. Anyway, it will be a great way for the two of you to get to know a bit more about each other.”
I shook my head and laughed. I was about to tell him what a ridiculous idea I thought it was when Harper suddenly came bounding up my side and looked at all of us.
“Don’t tell me the ride is off!” she said. “I was looking so forward to it. We can’t let a bit of bad weather stop us.”
“It’s not off,” Mike said before I had the chance to say anything. “I was just saying that Travis should still take you. Allison and I will stay behind to look after the rest of the guests. No point the two of you staying if you want to go. We would’ve all gone if the group wanted to anyway. But we’re happy to stay while you go as there is quite a lot to be done here, anyway. And, let’s face it, if there’s one person that can handle this, it’s you.” I tried not to groan at Mike’s words. He was clearly pushing for the two of us to go out and do this ride. I wondered why he cared so much.
Harper grinned. “Really? Oh that would be amazing. I definitely want to do it.”
“Harper, are you sure? We can both stay behind with everyone else too. I don’t mind. You don’t have to go for this ride just because you think you have to,” I said.
She laughed. “Oh yeah? Why’s that? Are you scared?”
“Well, then prove it!”
Mike and Allison chuckled. “Yeah, Travis, are you going to let a girl show you how it’s done?”
I shook my head at all of them. “You’re all crazy, you know that? Harper, I’m not scared, but have you seen the clouds? They’re a lot darker than they should be the day after a storm, and that’s usually an indication that it’s not over yet. There is no guarantee that there won’t be another storm and it probably won’t be the best out idea to get caught in it.”
Harper looked up and as she did so there was a parting in the clouds showing a large section of blue sky. She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “I think we’re going to be fine.”
“So does that mean you don’t mind camping anymore? I thought you didn’t even like glamping. Also, I remember you saying you hated dust when we you first arrived. Well, it’s not dust you’re going to have to contend with, but mud. I mean, I know you have the right shoes now, but are you sure it’s something you want to be exposed to?”
She chuckled. “You do realize that by saying that you’re making me want to go out there and prove myself even more, don’t you? Now I feel like I have to go! Have you seen my nails?” she said and held them up. To me they still looked perfect but in her world they were obviously a mess. “I’ve already broken all my nails since I got here. I have nothing to lose.”
I shook my head and chuckled. “Okay then. Let’s do it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I walked off with a self-satisfied smile. I still wasn’t too sure if we should be out there with an impending storm brewing overhead, but I knew I wasn’t going to fight it anymore. The truth was simple: the thought of being out there under the stars with the beautiful Harper by my side was worth taking a chance on the weather.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Harper
“You’re doing what?” Jillian exclaimed when she called me up that morning. I’d just detailed what had happened with the storm and how I was going out on the big outdoor experience anyway. “I thought you didn’t want to do that anyway. That was the thing you were dreading the most.”
