by AE Rought
Slade’s guts clenched and he rolled his eyes before wincing. Sure enough, Rosie puckered up and whistled the chorus of “Deck the Halls” and winked at him. His cheeks turned crimson, making his dark hair look even darker, and then he focused intently on the pancakes.
Yup, Rosie. I figured as much.
Kally giggled. When Slade gave her an exasperated expression she tipped her head to the side and smiled.
You’re lucky you’re cute, Kally.
The ranchers adjusted the seating arrangement, leaving the seats directly opposite of Slade and Kally open to accommodate their company. Chatter about where to cut this year’s Christmas tree floated around the table. Breakfast was served, the coffee was poured and there were two empty chairs. Kally gave Slade a sidelong glance and then shrugged her shoulders. He searched the hall and through the arch into the great room. Their guests weren’t to be seen. “Would you like me to get them?”
“Nah, I’ll go.” She shoved a strip of bacon in her mouth and pushed away from the table.
Kally had hardly disappeared beyond the mouth of the stairwell before his godmother turned on him. Pinned by Rosie’s gaze like a bug to sponge board, Slade squirmed, took too big of a bite of bacon and nearly choked. He sputtered and chased the meat with a glug of coffee. Her dark eyes never left him, and his silence was not accepted. She cleared her throat. “Well? What happened last night, Slade?”
He couldn’t shrink far enough into his collar. There was nowhere safe to rest his gaze. Slade’s swig of coffee only forestalled her second throat clearing and his confession. “Well…Kally got a little drunk and asked me to stay in her room.” Rosie’s eyebrows rose appreciatively. Slade cut off any possible thoughts of impropriety. “We didn’t do anything inappropriate.”
No matter what craving his body had had, Kally’s bourbon had shut him down. He wouldn’t dream of taking advantage of an inebriated woman. He’d seen too many abuse and date rape victims.
Rosie’s grin grew, covering her face like the Grinch in Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. “So,” she leaned across the table, inches from him, “you at least kissed her, didn’t you?”
The answer was written in the moony expression on his face.
If it was possible, her smile grew. “I knew it!”
“Well, it doesn’t mean anything’s going to come of it.” He pressed the butter knife straight through a slice of toast.
She leaned back in her chair, arms crossed in a pose of comfort. “It definitely means something.” She placed her napkin on her lap, and her gaze drifted over his shoulder to the living room. “You don’t do anything half-assed. And I don’t believe you’re kissing her was half-hearted either.”
He couldn’t deny it. His gaze fell and then returned to Rosie’s face.
She gave him a knowing wink. Then, the other men at the table stood when Kally returned to the dining room. Slade stood, too, and pulled out her chair. She wound her lithe body between people and chairs, and his heart picked up its tempo. His affections for Kally weren’t half-hearted.
I had the distinct impression I had been the main topic of conversation until the moment someone spotted me in the living room door. I would’ve grilled Slade about it if Ilene and Steve hadn’t appeared beside the table.
“Good morning, all!” Ilene took Steve by the hand, leading him to the seats across from Slade and me.
Rosie smiled and lifted her coffee mug in salute. “Good morning!”
“Happy Saturday.”
The noise level rose with the addition of our new guests, platters circulated at a happy speed and the Tabasco bottle flashed back and forth. My friends fit in with the long time guests, nearly mistakable for timeshares at the Fourth Moon. Vampires from a Southern romance author were all the rage at the girls’ end of the table, while firearms and wild game were discussed at the other end where Steve and the majority of the Fourth Moon’s male contingency sat. After clearing our dirty dishes, we returned to the table with fresh coffee to discuss finding the tree.
The Billings twins, however, swilled their coffee and retreated to the backdoor, saying their good byes and promising to return for the decorating party after their evening hunt. After the group arrived at the consensus of taking a tree from the back eighty, Emma and Grace both decided to stay where the house was warm, and offered to clean up the kitchen. Rosie and George planned to go. Rosie said they’d “never missed a tree cutting and weren’t about to.”
Bundling up in the foyer, I reached for my fur-lined mukluks. Slade stopped my hand and shook his head. “You’ll need your riding boots, Kally.”
“We’re riding?” I didn’t intend panic to come through, but the timbre of my voice rose quickly.
“Yup. And you’ll ride Sunny, my mother’s mare. She’s Jack’s older sister. We’ll need both of the quarter horses to pull the tree.”
Oh God. Didn’t I just admit to being scared of horses this morning?
Ilene was well aware of my fear of horses, and she stood with a shocked expression on her face. She looked from me to Slade, who stood firm, his normally expressive face stoic.
My voice was hardly audible. “I’ll get my boots.”
My fears were trapped in my chest. My throat would not cooperate, and I couldn’t scream at him. I pulled off the mukluks and dropped them to the floor. Hurrying through the great room I heard Slade excuse himself. He chased after me, a few steps behind when I blundered up the stairs. I made it to the bedroom first, where I leaned against the windowsill, shaking. Slade banged through the door a second later. “Kally, don’t you trust me?”
My head fell. “Yes.” He knew me better in the weeks I’d known him than anyone in my life, with the exception of Ilene.
“Then, if I tell you everything will be all right, will you believe me?”
“Yes.” A mouse could’ve spoken louder.
“Sunny is Mom’s horse. She’s gentler than Jack and will follow without you having to do a thing other than stay in the saddle.”
Still I quivered, the sick fear turning my breakfast to acid. “But…” I turned to him, my arms crossed and bottom lip tucked between my teeth.
Wyoming sunlight washed his form when it peeked through the window, and it highlighted the slumping of his shoulders. He turned from me to pull on his boots still sitting by my wall. “If you’re scared, Kally, you can ride with me.” He wove his belt through the loops of his jeans. “I’ll call George. I’m sure he’ll ride Sunny.”
Why not just call me chicken? Calling in reinforcements would be a serious affront. Willful pride rose in me, straightening my shoulders and my spine. “No, I’ll do it.” I’ll probably puke on my boots, but I’ll do it. “It’s time to face my fears head on instead of running from them.”
Slade’s expression was softer than his hand on my arm. “Only if you’re sure.”
I nodded. “I’ll be okay.”
Slade and Kally: Letting Go of the Reins, Book 1
Chapter Thirteen
Blue peeked through the snow clouds, sending sun through the crystal flakes falling down. The hills and hidden hollows of the Fourth Moon beckoned. With the fresh snowfall, the softened landscape suggested hours of winter fun. The snow squeaked beneath our boots, a sure sign of frigid temperatures. Most of the animals were in their stalls in the barn or their coops, except for the orange tabby cat trailing behind the four of us. Slade looked back over his shoulder at the tomcat. “Holy cow.”
Ilene spun around, her fashionably long scarf swinging. “What?”
“The orange cat never comes out unless Kally’s around. I swear she’s gonna tame the obstinate beast.”
“Never mind him calling you names.” I stopped and petted the cat. “Obstinate is a whole lot like stubborn, so we have something in common. You can just be my tomcat.” The ginger kitty circled my ankles and then disappeared into the shadows of the barn.
The particular aroma of hay and poop suffused the air in the barn. My sneezing started after t
he first stall was opened and drove me back out in front of the cattle pen. I stood with Ilene, who tried to comfort me while the men saddled up the horses. Saying, “If you’re scared, you don’t need to” fifteen times, fifteen different ways did a good job of banging me over the head with my insecurities, but didn’t do a tinker’s damn to calm my fears. Ilene’s arm ended up around my shoulder, even though I did my best to convince her I wouldn’t ball up and cry like a baby. Somewhere in my soul the decision had been made to stay at the Fourth Moon, and I would do whatever it took to make a strong and happy life here, even if it included choking down my fear of horses.
My heart jumped into a familiar patter when Slade led Jack and Sunny out of the barn. The West never looked so good. The mountains and barn, his Stetson and blue eyes. He was my cowboy, and I would brave any obstacle to be with him.
Bonnie’s horse Sunny was a beautiful chestnut mare with blonde mane and tail, white socks and a white blaze on her forehead. The horse’s quiet nature was obvious when Slade brought her reins to me. Then, he cupped my chin in his gloved hand. “I’m proud of you.” His words meant so much. The tender kiss he gave me next, in front of my friends, meant everything. “Sunny, this is Kally. Kally, this is Sunny.”
Sunny’s eyes were large, the color of coffee with too much cream, and her nose was velvet soft when I removed my mitten to pet her. I stroked her coat, my hands gliding along her neck and shoulders, mimicking the moves of the curry brush while I tried to connect to the horse. The steam from her breath bathed my face when she inclined her head and nudged me in the chest. The motion was simple but broke a little laughter free. Then, with Slade’s assistance, I clambered onto the saddle.
“Good girl.” I patted her neck, disguising the feeling my stomach had fallen into my boots.
Sunny fell in step with Jack when Slade urged the horses forward along the drive to the timeshare ranches. I managed to keep my nervous tendencies under control if I didn’t look down at the road beneath the horse’s hooves. Scanning the tree line, I caught sight of a hawk. The bird spread its wings, flying over and I followed its arc across the sky. A large patch of blue opened overhead, and the sunlight bathed the range of mini ranches. The light bouncing from the snow made the back of my eyeballs ache. I squinted and wiped away water in the far corners until Ilene mercifully handed me a pair of sunglasses she had stashed in her jacket. “Thanks, Ilene.”
“Well, if you weren’t locked up like a hermit inside the house for the last year then the sun wouldn’t bother—” She stopped mid-sentence and slapped a hand to her mouth. She pointed at Slade and raised her eyebrows.
“It’s okay, Slade knows. I told him everything, Ilene.” And I realized then how relieved I was, knowing I could trust Slade enough with the hurt and fear I had suffered under Matt’s abuse.
At the end of the drive, in the front yard of the house with the large dream catcher we met up with Rosie and her husband. His horse was sturdy and brown, while Rosie’s horse resembled her sleek, black hair. She cantered up to Sunny and me, her face all smiles above her sheepskin jacket. “Well look at you, Kally! Up on a horse and riding by yourself.”
“Shhh.” I clutched the pommel of my saddle with one hand and shook a finger at her with my other. “I do much better when I don’t think about it.”
A soft grin highlighted her dark eyes. “I understand, dear.”
Slade and I rode at the front of the group while Steve and George took the end of the line. Rosie and Ilene, however, chatted in conspiratorial tones behind me. I cast a look back when we crested a rise, and Ilene made a big show of shushing Rosie and pretending they weren’t plotting about me. I just shook my head. Yeah, right.
Leaning forward in the saddle and copying Slade’s chirping sound, I ushered Sunny forward. Jack whinnied and Sunny snorted in reply. Drawing even with Slade, I leaned back a bit in the saddle, and Sunny slowed to keep pace with the larger, lighter-colored horse. We rode in silence, him looking ahead and me openly admiring my riding companion. Tall, dark Stetson and denim, black leather boots—all I wanted was to be wrapped in his arms. An increasing desire for his embrace chased away the chilly, late-November air.
His questioning glance brought a silly smile from me. His grin was infectious. “Hey there, girl. Looks like you’re getting comfortable in the saddle.”
I patted Sunny’s neck. “Actually, I am. I like Sunny.” I had not intended to talk about horses however. “So.” I paused, scanning his face, hoping he’d be open to discussing the subject I wanted to broach. “What’s up with Adelle anyway?”
He reined in Jack and guided him a little closer. “Remember a horse bucked me off a few years ago?”
“Yes. What does Adelle have to do with it?”
“Everything and nothing.” He rocked back in the saddle. “Her horse bucked me off, some high-spirited stubborn beast she wanted me to break for her when we were dating. He threw me. I ended up in the hospital with a broken arm. I wheeled into recovery and there’s Adelle, making out with the male nurse.
“And, somehow, it was my fault. Like if I hadn’t been tossed and broken my arm, she wouldn’t have been thrown into the arms of the first asshole with a paycheck.”
I blinked my eyes and sucked in a shocked breath. It was the strongest word he’d used around me. It unsettled me and I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I sure the hell am not. I’m as loyal as a dog. If I hadn’t caught her red-handed, I’d still be with her, miserable and sitting in a police car or bar somewhere.” He held out his hand, and I leaned over a little to hold it. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Kally.”
I took off the sunglasses and plunged into the cool depths of his icy blue eyes. “I know what you mean.”
He released my hand, guiding Jack up an incline. The terrain looked very familiar when we rounded a bend and then beyond the next hill. Memories swirled up like snow around the horses’ hooves. We were on the edge of what looked to be a little dell. A long, low roof stretched along one side, which I knew now was a remote cattle pen with a roof to help protect the animals from the elements. The flat expanse of pristine snow, I had learned from experience, was a pond. A small herd of Black Angus milled in the pen beneath the suspended roofline, their low moos echoing off the inclines ringing the dell on three sides.
“Whoa.” Slade reined in Jack, and Sunny stopped beside them. Ilene, Rosie and the men rode up behind until we were close enough to talk. Slade rose in his stirrups to address the group. “This is where I found Kally. Rosie and I thought it would be fitting to find our tree here this year.”
He’s so sentimental. His thoughtfulness could bring smiles and tears. I was thankful for the sunglasses disguising my eyes.
We skirted the edge of the pond, fanning out to search the pines. Beside a trail on the southernmost edge, I found the perfect tree. It was at least twelve feet tall, a perfect shape, with good space between the branches. What sealed the deal for me was the strip of my sweatshirt waving from one of the lower branches by the chilly breeze. I nudged Sunny with my thigh and leaned toward Slade, and she followed my cues, pulling close to Jack.
“There’s our tree.”
Slade followed the line of my arm to the tree and then nodded in agreement. With a lift and swing of his left leg, he dismounted, tying Jack’s reins to a nearby aspen before rummaging through the saddlebags. Soon a tarp, rope and a small hand ax lay in the snow. The rest of our group dismounted, tethering their horses to nearby branches.
The tree came down onto the tarp with minimal spitting and cursing from the men. I needed Slade’s help to get back onto Sunny’s saddle, then Rosie and George led the way back out of the dell, with Ilene and Steve following. The tree took up the last position in line, dragging behind Sunny and Jack on the tarp.
Emma and Grace met us on the porch with mugs of hot cocoa. I thought for a minute Grace was going to pinch our pink cheeks, my grandmother would’ve. Instead, she smiled and patted m
y shoulder. The foyer contained the commotion of six adults stripping off their winter wear, and then we gathered in the great room before the fireplace. Wood heat had never felt so good. It has a way of soothing and penetrating that gas or electric does not.
I stood by the hearth, hands out, soaking up the warmth until Slade took my favorite armchair. Sitting between his feet, I propped my feet on the hearth. His hand settled on my shoulder, fingers twining in my hair. It was a surreal scene compared to the hell I had left in Michigan, and I wished the moment could last a lifetime—my best friend with me, a cowboy who cared for me and a new sense of peace in my heart. Ilene and Steve got up to leave all too soon.
Pouting threatened to sour my mood and I couldn’t wipe the expression from my face when I stood. “Oh, Ilene, I hate to have you go.”
“I know, hun.” Ilene wrapped me in a fierce hug. “But I’m not far away, and we’ll be back for Christmas.”
“Really?” Hope soared in me. Slade smiled and gave me a nod. Steve’s motions were nearly identical. “Woo hoo!”
Slade laughed and then tapped my thigh. “Is that Michiganite for ‘yee-haw’?” I wrinkled my nose at him. He returned the expression, then stood and shook Steve’s hand. “It was pleasure meeting you. I’m glad you accepted my invitation to return.”
Steve ran a hand through his blond hair. “How could I not? Those two fillies would hang me from the top of the Christmas tree if I didn’t.”
“Damn straight.” Ilene winked at me. Then she and Steve climbed the stairs to pack their bags. Slade rounded up the mugs and brought them into the kitchen while the two women, who were fast beginning to feel like aunts to me, disappeared with promises of returning with food and decorations. Rosie and George, however, remained at the ranch house. Rosie stepped into the kitchen and George assisted Slade in dragging the tree into the great room and getting it to stand upright.
Broom in hand, I swept snow and needles through the foyer and off of the porch. Ilene and Steve met me on the outside steps for one last hug, and then they piled their bags and butts into Steve’s Jeep Laredo and headed out for Gillette. Ilene poked out of the window at the tree line and waved before the afternoon shadows beneath the Fourth Moon’s trees swallowed the vehicle.
