by CP Smith
“He wasn’t in the pasture,” Cali called out as she walked through the door.
I turned and looked at them both. “Is his truck still here?”
Cali turned back around and walked outside, then shouted, “Truck’s still here.”
I shrugged. “Maybe he went with Bo and Devin.”
Five minutes later, we had sandwiches ready. “Grab that bag of chips,” I mumbled to Cali as I grabbed three plates and headed outside.
As we rounded the corner of the barn, I could hear a vehicle heading up the hill from the main road. We paused to see who it was. As the dust settled, I swallowed hard. Natasha was in the passenger seat of Bernice Armstrong’s Jeep, and she was staring at the burnt-out shell of her home.
“Oh, God,” Cali whispered, “she’s never gonna forgive me for burnin’ down her house.”
“It was an accident,” Poppy stated. “She knows that.”
“Accident or not, it’s still my fault, and I plan to make it right,” Cali vowed, then set the food down on Poppy’s car, squared her shoulders, and headed for Natasha.
Poppy and I hung back to give Cali privacy for what came next. And what came next made my throat hurt. Natasha turned her head when Cali tapped on the window, then opened the door and got out, pulling Cali into a deep bear hug. I could see Cali’s shoulders shake as she cried on Natasha’s shoulder, all while Natasha ran her hand down Cali’s back in motherly comfort, further emphasizing what a decent human being Natasha was.
When Cali pulled back, Poppy and I moved forward and offered hugs of our own.
“How is Boris?” I whispered.
“He’s good. Out of surgery. He’s groggy and will probably sleep most of the day, but the doctors seem to think he’ll make a full recovery.”
“That’s good news,” I said, smiling.
“He’s too bullheaded to leave me just yet,” she replied, then looked back at the house. “But just in case, let’s keep the fire to ourselves until he’s stronger.”
“We’ve been searching for anything that made it through the fire,” I explained. “I found a box of photographs that was shielded from the heat in a cabinet.”
“There’s nothin’ in there worth worryin’ about,” Natasha said. “I uploaded my photos to the cloud a few years back, and the furniture is easily replaced. As long as you girls are safe, that’s all that matters.”
“We’re fine,” Poppy stated. “Bo got us out in the nick of time.”
Natasha turned and looked at me. “He’s a fine piece of manhood. I take it he belongs to you?”
“He did the pursuin’,” Bernice commented, smiling. “Just like I thought he would.”
“Just as it should be,” Eunice Armstrong muttered from behind her sister. “My Odis Lee could teach all these young men a thing or two about goin’ after what they want.”
Bernice scoffed. “The man should count his ‘Lucky Star’ you’re even speakin’ to him.”
Odis Lee was in the dog house with Bernice. He’d spied on their family for Cali’s grandfather, feeding the man information for years, and in the process, fell in love with Eunice.
“I don’t have to ‘Justify My Love’ to you.”
“Here they go,” Cali muttered. “They love Madonna,” she continued. “They use her song titles in most arguments.”
“That’s so cool,” Poppy said, then threw out, much to my dismay, “Sienna was ‘Like A Virgin’ ‘til last night, but Bo was all ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’’, so now she’s ‘Burning Up’ for him.”
All three older women blinked, then looked at me.
I blurted out, “‘Papa Don’t Preach!’” when their mouths opened in retort.
Nate took that moment to step out of the house. He scanned our group and shook his head, mumbling, “They owe me big time for this,” then turned and walked back inside.
Natasha was the first to speak. “Who was that, and can I keep him?”
“THAT is Nate. Devin’s best friend,” Cali answered.
“Who is Devin?” Natasha asked.
“Devin is my man,” she replied, proudly.
“Is he here, too?”
“Yep. He and Bo are up the mountain bringin’ down the cattle with Troy and Brantley.”
“They’ll be lookin’ for a while. I saw the herd on old man Craig’s land as we came up.”
“How’d they get there?” Poppy asked.
Natasha shrugged. “I imagine the fence came down again and they moseyed on over. It’s happened before.”
“Would Troy and Brantley know this?” Cali asked.
Natasha cocked her head and thought for a moment. “Doubtful. Last time they got out was before they hired on. I’ll radio them and tell them where to look.”
I shook my head. “Radios were in the house. Do the cell phones work that high up?”
“It’s a crapshoot. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.”
I pulled out my phone and tried Bo. It rang, but no answer. “It’s not goin’ through,” I sighed.
“How about that Clint Black I hired?”
“He must have gone with them. We haven’t seen him in a few hours.”
Her shoulders sunk on a deep sigh. I could see the exhaustion written in the lines of her face. Boris and the fire were taking a toll on the woman.
“We’ll go find them,” I said.
“What about the promise we made not to leave Nate’s sight?” Cali whispered.
“Sometimes promises have to be broken for the greater good,” I whispered back, jerking my head toward Natasha. “Nate won’t leave to go find them because he can’t keep an eye on us if he does, so that leaves us. We’ll have to sneak off.”
“How do we get past him?” Poppy asked.
“Easy. I’ll sic Eunice and Bernice on him,” Cali chuckled.
“Four-wheeler or horse?” Poppy asked.
We looked toward the corral. “ATV,” I answered, remembering my previous attempt on Tiny Dancer. “It will take less time to get situated, and we can make a quick getaway when Nate’s not lookin’.”
“Or we could wait for Bo and Devin to return,” Cali threw out.
I thought about that for a moment, then remembered a storm was coming in that night. It was one of the reasons they wanted the herd in the lower pasture. “Storm’s comin’. They need to move the herd before nightfall.”
Cali nodded, then looked over her shoulder toward Nate. “He’s watchin’ us with one eye while he works.”
“I’ll keep him occupied,” Poppy blurted out. “It doesn’t take all three of us to hunt them down.”
I looked at Cali and smiled. Poppy definitely had a thing for Nate.
“Okay. Let’s grab the food and take it into the kitchen, then Cali and I’ll make an excuse we need to grab bottled water.”
“Why are you whisperin’?” Bernice whispered.
I popped my head up and raised my finger to my mouth in a ‘shhh’ sign, then pointed to Nate. “We need a distraction. Bo and Devin left Nate in charge, and he’s watchin us like a hawk. If there wasn’t a storm comin’ in tonight, we’d let it go, but Bo and Devin need to know where the cattle are so they can get them down quickly. Can you help us?”
“Why not send Nate?” she questioned.
“He would never leave us. He promised to keep us safe.”
“Why do they think you’re not safe?” she asked.
“Because they’re Neanderthals,” I answered. “They don’t think women can take care of themselves.”
Bernice’s feminist side curled a lip. “Is that so?”
Bernice being Bernice winked at me, then started for the house. “Nathaniel!” she hollered, as Eunice and Natasha followed. “Natasha had the cutest little pig statue on the first floor. Did you find it?”
“That’s my cue,” Poppy whispered, then turned and headed up the steps.
Cali and I took the food inside and cleared a spot on what was left of the countertop. Then Cali said loudly, “We need more water.”
/> Nate looked over his shoulder at the food, studied us for a second, then turned back to Bernice and shook his head at whatever she’d said.
“We’ll be right back,” I shouted as we headed for an opening in the wall. “We left the water in the large cabin.”
We looked back at Nate as we hit the courtyard and found him engrossed in something Poppy was saying, so we took off running.
The ATVs were parked outside the horse stall, so we put them in neutral and pushed them out of the barn and through the open gate that led into the pasture.
“He’ll come for us the minute we start them up, so we need to hit the ground spinnin’,” I said, closing the gate as a barrier between us and Nate.
Cali nodded and climbed on, then turned the key to start.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Let’s do this,” I answered, climbing on the back of my ATV. “On the count of—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Nate thundered, running toward us. He looked ready to kill.
I looked at Cali and mouthed, “three,” then started my ATV and gunned it. She followed suit, and we were flying across the pasture as a litany of expletives echoed loudly in our ears.
We made it to the upper pasture thirty minutes later and found it empty. Scanning the horizon, Cali found the downed fence and pointed. We gunned the ATVs and headed to the opening and through it. Pausing on the other side, I switched off the engine so we could talk.
“If we found the downed fence, then they did, too. Do you think they already located the herd?” I asked Cali.
“Probably, but I think we should head down there and make sure.”
Nodding, I started my ATV, and we took off toward the road.
Twenty minutes later, we could see cows dotting the landscape. They were grazing on bright green grass, leisurely meandering around the flat land, but Bo and Devin were nowhere in sight.
As we approached the herd, I could tell from the size there were more than a few missing. Most were clustered in one area, but a few were scattered here and there, so out of curiosity, I turned left and headed toward three. Just like I thought they would, the cattle turned toward the safety of the herd and trotted after them. Cali hooted loudly and headed for another four that were near a tree. As she came up behind them, they, too, ran toward the herd.
Smiling, I waved Cali over.
“This isn’t too hard,” she laughed.
“Right? If there were a gate on this side, we could have them home in half an hour. I can see the top of the barn from that rise.”
“We could make an opening in the fence,” Cali suggested.
I looked at the fence line. It was an old split rail fence aged to a light gray by the sun, with barbed wire curling around it.
“Check your toolbox and see if you have a cutting tool,” I said, turning in my seat and opening mine. The inside was stuffed full of tools. I dug through and found what looked to be wire cutters.
“Think these will work?”
Cali pulled out a pair of gloves and tossed them to me. “Use these, so you don’t cut your hands.”
We climbed off the ATVs and made a wide arc around the herd until we reached the fence. I picked a section that was right in the middle of the grazing cattle and pulled on the gloves.
“Lift up the rail, and I’ll cut the wire.”
Cali tugged until I had enough room to get the wire cutters underneath. I clamped hold with both hands, grunting as I put pressure on the wire. They bit into the hard metal, but I wasn’t strong enough to sever it completely.
“Give me a hand,” I said.
Cali lowered the rail and grabbed hold of the end of the cutters. With a deep breath, we both squeezed hard. My muscles began to shake just as the wire gave under our force. With a ping, it snapped, burying itself into my left forearm.
I let out a scream and yanked out the sharp barb without thinking.
“Please tell me you’ve had a tetanus shot recently,” Cali said on a gasp.
“I have no clue,” I groaned. “Probably.”
The cut stung more than it bled, so I ignored it and began unwinding the wire from around the top rail. Five minutes later, we pulled the top rail out of the post and followed it with the bottom one.
Then we turned and looked at the herd.
“ATVs?” Cali asked.
“Yep.”
I glanced up the hill as we climbed on, looking for Bo. There was still no sign of him. “I think the guys must be hunting down the missing cows.”
“How do you know there are missin’ cows?”
“We were checkin’ on them when Boris had his heart attack. I’d say half the herd is missin’.”
“Then let’s get these steaks home so they don’t have to worry about them,” she said and gunned her ATV to life.
She pointed to the right side of the herd, and I nodded, pointing to the left as I started mine up.
We moved slowly toward the cattle, pausing as they moved closer together. When the front cows started to move to the left, I took off to discourage them. It took a good ten minutes, but finally, with the prompting of hooting and gunning the engines, the herd began flowing through the opening in the fence. Once the others saw an escape from our noise, they took it as well, and within ten minutes of the first crossing the property line, the whole herd had passed through quickly, fleeing our torment for the pasture.
Cali and I hooted with triumph when the final cow trotted across, high-fiving each other on a job well done, then drove the ATVs through the opening and climbed off. We were picking up the bottom rail to secure the fence when a shout came from up the hill. We both looked up and saw four men on horseback pushing cattle down the hill. Two broke from the herd and raced down the hill, came to a sliding stop in front of us as we covered our eyes with our hands.
I smiled brightly at Bo as he approached, but it faded when I took in the thunderous expression on his face.
“What the fuck are you doin’ out here?” he bellowed.
I looked at Cali and swallowed hard. “Natasha saw the herd when she came home, so we came out here to tell you. We couldn’t find you, so we took down the fence so they could go home.”
“And Nate let you?” Devin bit out, looking equally murderous.
“Um,” Cali stuttered. “We kinda—”
“Snuck off,” Devin finished for her, raising a brow.
I chanced a look at Bo and caught him staring at my arm.
“You’re injured,” he snapped.
“It’s nothin’.”
His eyes shot to mine. “It’d be nothin’ if you’d stayed where we left you. Christ, you could have been killed if a bull had been around.”
“Well, he wasn’t, and we’re fine,” I defended.
“Yeah, you’re fine this time, but that’s twice I’ve asked you not to take a risk, but you can’t seem to help yourself. You’re too impulsive and headstrong for your own good.”
I could almost hear the words just like my mother in his accusation, and I turned my back on him and picked up the fence rail, shoving it into the joint, securing the opening so he couldn’t follow me quickly.
“I’m heading back,” I told Cali without looking at Bo.
“I want you to wait for me,” Bo ordered.
I stopped, looked back at him, saying “I don’t think waitin’ is gonna solve this problem, do you?” then kept on walking to the ATV and climbed on.
I heard Bo cuss under his breath, but I ignored him and started the ATV. I was done. I should have trusted my instincts and kept my distance once I learned about his past and why he’d held me at arm’s length. I would always remind him of his mother. Better to end it now before I lost my heart so completely I’d never recover.
Cali called out to me as I gunned the engine, but I took off. I held on to my anger as I pushed the ATV to its limit. I could break down later when I was alone. I’d have Poppy drive me to the nearest bus station and get the hell out of Dodge, maybe head to Atlanta for
what was left of my vacation.
The tears began to fall as the burnt-out shell of Boris and Natasha’s home came into view. How could I leave them when they needed my help? But how could I stay and suffer through being around Bo?
Nate must have heard the ATV as I approached, because he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting as I arrived. He took one look at my face as I pulled up and his anger fled, followed by worry.
“What’s wrong? Where’s Calla?”
“She’s with Devin,” I choked out, then jumped off the ATV to look for Natasha. I figured I had at least thirty minutes before Bo made it back here with the rest of the herd. By then I could have begged Natasha’s forgiveness for bailing on her and be on the road to the bus station.
I’d made it halfway through the barn when the thundering sound of hoofbeats broke through my heartache. I turned to find Bo hot on my heels. He flew past Nate and came to a halt inches in front of me.
“We’re not done,” he rumbled low, then slid off the back of Goliath.
“Yes, we are,” I said, swallowing hard to control my tears. “I can’t change who I am, Bo. If I could, I would have done it years ago and saved myself years of heartache.”
His brows pinched together in confusion and he cocked his head to the side. “Why the fuck are we talkin’ about you changin’?”
“You don’t want me to act like your mother. You don’t want me to act like me. Newsflash, I’m not gonna change.”
“I never asked you to change,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose for patience.
The action tweaked my anger, and the heartache I’d been feeling fled. My father used to pinch the bridge of his nose when he was tired of dealing with me.
“Don’t,” I bit out. “Don’t stand there and lie to me. We had a great night and took a chance it might lead to something, but we both know this isn’t gonna work. I’m leavin’, so you don’t have to pretend any longer.”
His eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer, leaning in a hairsbreadth away. He scanned my face for a moment, searching for something. “I never saw you as a quitter,” he mumbled.
I sucked air into my lungs. I felt like I’d been slapped.
“I’m not a quitter!” I shouted, shoving him in the chest.
