Dare To Love A Cowboy (Canton County Cowboys 2)

by Charlene Bright

  He narrowed his eyes, a groan escaping his lips at the fact that she clearly was not a person who learned from her mistakes. He trotted toward the back of the herd, wondering if she was doing this on purpose, just to give him even more work.

  Whatever her motives, it soon became clear that she wasn’t going to fall off Penelope. In fact, even though she was quickly picking up speed, Paige kept her posture, her thin torso remaining exactly in the middle of the horse. The bull was getting farther and farther away, his strong legs stabbing into the grass, but even so, Everett could see that Paige wasn’t panicking. Instead of trying to run him down, she slowly increased her speed, just so that she was riding right next to it. He caught up with Ethan, who sat stationed on top of his horse, watching her in awe.

  “She’s great, isn’t she?” Ethan breathed.

  Everett absentmindedly nodded in agreement.

  Just then, the bull slowed to a stop.

  He released the breath he hadn’t even been aware that he was holding, just as Paige turned the bull toward the herd.

  He couldn’t help but realize that she had completely transformed. Where was the wide-eyed city slicker who had completely diminished the entire range? Where was that girl who had never tasted iced tea before, or lifted a manicured finger in her life? Things were so clear to him when he thought of her as that distant person. He could remove himself from his task. He could ignore the way that his stomach flipped for her. But now . . . now he wasn’t so sure of anything.

  ***

  Paige pulled out her desk chair and stood back from her computer screen. She squinted at her open Word document, wondering how the hell she was ever going to be able to start this feature. It wasn’t just that she didn’t know what to write, it was that she had experienced so much already that it was incredibly difficult to figure out where to start. The past two weeks had been the longest she had gone without writing anything in general, and she sincerely worried if she was ever going to be able to form a clear, concise paragraph ever again.

  She tilted her head to the right, then to the left again, flexing out her neck muscles. Even though the work was getting harder with each passing day, she was pleasantly starting to realize that her body was getting used to the constant physical torture. Of course, it did help that she wasn’t lifting sixty-pound bushels of hay every day. She had vowed never to do that again after the first time, which had really just been a stunt to prove Everett wrong.

  Once she had flexed out her neck, she bent over, wincing at the burn in the back of her legs as she reached down to touch her toes.

  She had only been bent over for a moment or two before she heard a knock at the door. She stood straight up. “Come in!” she yelled as she hurriedly sat back down in front of her computer.

  She had only written in the title to the Word document before the door squeaked open to reveal Aunt Jana.

  “Hello, Paige,” she greeted as she pushed into the room.

  Paige looked up, surprised at Aunt Jana’s uncharacteristically dressed-down attire. Her hair, which was always fashioned in some variation of a neat bun, hung loosely down to the right, her French braid leaking tufts of hair. Her makeup-free face was flushed, and Paige could have sworn she saw a light layer of sweat glistening on her forehead.

  “I brought something for you,” she said, extending her hands to draw attention to the fairly large box she was holding.

  Paige raised an eyebrow. She stared blankly at the box, forgetting that some expression of gratitude was now required. She swallowed, a failed attempt to get rid of the lump in her throat, and held her hands out for the box.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to wrap it,” Aunt Jana explained as she placed the box in her hand. “I just couldn’t get around to finding wrapping paper.”

  Paige nodded slowly. “Thank you,” she whispered as she set the heavy box on her legs. “You really didn’t have to do this.” She slipped her fingers under the edges of the box and slowly lifted the top. Her jaw dropped at the sight of two dark-brown cowboy boots. She could smell the leather seeping into her nose . . . the scent of money.

  When she looked back up, she realized, from the triumphant gleam on Aunt Jana’s face, that she had been completely transparent in terms of her reaction to it. “Oh, but I did.”

  Paige stared at her. As she sat on the receiving end of that dark gleam in Aunt Jana’s eye, of that cynical smirk created by her perfectly brightened lips, a strange sense of malaise settled in the pit of her stomach. Her skin crawled at the thought that this gift wasn’t exactly free. Nevertheless, now that it was sitting in her lap, there was nothing she could do about it. She reached into the box, wrapped her hand around the sleeve of one of the boots, and pulled it out, her eyes widening at how heavy it actually as. “Whoa,” she breathed.

  Aunt Jana’s smile grew impossibly wider. “Now you don’t have to wear those worn-down things anymore,” she added in a grating voice.

  Paige actually quite liked her boots. Even though they were old and run-down, they seemed a hundred times more authentic than the new slabs of leather she held in her hands, but one look at Aunt Jana told her it was probably best if she kept that little sentiment to herself. “Well, thank you,” she replied, holding the boot up to her chest and flashing her a thin smile—the kind meant to send the message that the conversation was over.

  Aunt Jana smiled back, took in a quick breath, and released a sigh. Much to Paige’s relief, she then stood up, the mattress sighing as if it too was happy to see her go. She walked slowly and daintily toward the door. Paige placed the boot back into its box and gently set it onto the ground. She then slipped her eyeglasses back on and returned her attention to the blank Word document in front of her. When she didn’t hear the expected click of a door closing, she looked up to find that Aunt Jana was not leaving; in fact her eyes were focused on her laptop, as if she meant to read over her shoulder.

  Paige narrowed her eyes at her before she had the time to impose any type of conscious control of her facial expressions. “I just wanted to have some time alone with my thoughts, if you don’t mind,” she asserted.

  Aunt Jana gave her a curt nod. “Oh, of course dear,” she replied. “The ranch is a huge investment to protect.” She added, her head cocked to the side, “I hope you understand that and think about it when you’re writing.”

  ***

  Aunt Jana closed the door to Paige’s room behind her and sighed. So much to keep up with. She crossed the hallway, climbed the stairs to the third floor, and approached Arlo’s room. She listened for a moment at the cracked door and, when satisfied that he was asleep, she quietly crept in.

  She first looked for any dishes that Ellie hadn’t picked up and dirty laundry on the floor, before she reached his bedside and took his ashtray, emptying it into the wastebasket below. Replacing the dish back onto the table, she turned to Arlo and sighed. So much to keep up with.

  Chapter Nine

  “All right. Here we are.” Connor put the truck in park and took the key out of the ignition. As he stepped out of the driver’s side and Ellie stepped out of the passenger side, Paige leaned forward from the backseat, peering out the windshield. She saw nothing but dirt and forest land in front of her for as far as the eye could see. To her right and beyond the second truck, was a short fence and more wooded area. The doors of the other truck swung open, and Ethan, Everett, and Ian emerged, their faces brandishing equal expressions of excitement and concentration. She immediately regretted having agreed to go hunting with them. Ellie had simply sprung it on her at the dinner table, and at the time she was feeling a bit adventurous and overzealous with her abilities. Besides, what would be a better addition to her feature than a digression about the benefits and cultural resonance of hunting in the countryside?

  Once she felt a little less nauseated in the face of the prospect of going outside, she decided it was time to climb out of the truck herself. She jumped down onto the moist dirt, a gift from the most recent rain, and
tilted her head toward the sky, taking in everything from the clean air to the sound of the birds tweeting from far-off places. A smile played at the edges of her lips; everything seemed so much clearer up there.

  “I’ll bet I’m the first one to shoot something,” Connor declared in a proud voice as he went to meet Everett and Ethan by their truck.

  Ian scoffed, “And I’m going find some dinosaur bones just lying by the creek.”

  Ethan let out a short chuckle. “You wouldn’t know a dinosaur carcass if it had a label and a plaque sitting next to it.”

  Everyone burst into laughter; even Paige cracked a smile, in spite of herself. She stood completely out of everyone’s way, watching them snatch their weapons of choice, bickering and laughing amongst themselves. Paige toyed with the idea of openly admitting how lost she actually was, and was even about to open her mouth to embarrass herself when Ellie approached her with two rifles in her hand.

  “Have you ever shot one of these before?” she asked once she was within earshot.

  Paige shook her head. “No, never.”

  “Okay, so why did you agree to this?”

  Paige opened her mouth to respond but was immediately distracted by a movement in the corner of her eye. She looked over Ellie’s shoulder to find Everett staring at her. When she met his eyes, he looked away, immediately laughing at something Ethan said.

  “Paige?” Ellie quizzed impatiently, leaning into her.

  “Oh, sorry,” she responded, shaking her head slowly, as if to increase her concentration.

  Ellie turned, her red ponytail swinging, to stare in the direction where Paige had been looking. When she turned back, a mischievous grin stretched across her face. “Oh, I know why.”

  Paige’s eyes widened as she immediately realized what Ellie meant. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but at that moment Everett started walking in their direction. “Ellie, I don’t think it’s really prudent to give her a shotgun, especially if she isn’t used to guns. You know the recoil from a shotgun will knock her down.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. Paige’s heart started racing as she racked her brains for possible insults and defenses she might need.

  Everett stood in front of the two of them, his rifle in hand and his hat stretched across his brow line.

  Ellie glowered at him, leaning into him with the obvious presumption that she was aware of something he wasn’t telling her. “Look, if you want to be her partner, you can,” she snapped in frustration.

  Everett opened his mouth to argue, but she was already running down the path to catch up with the others. “Ellie!” he called in an authoritative voice.

  She turned around so that she was running backwards. Her annoyed expression had completely dissolved, replaced by one of intense amusement. “No one’s tryin’ to steal her away from you, Everett!” She then stretched her hands out to either side of her in a grand gesture. “She’s all yours.” Then, she turned around and finally caught up with the others.

  By the end of the whole ordeal, Paige’s face was completely flushed. Everett turned to meet her gaze, and she was pleased to find that he was doing a terrible job of hiding his own embarrassment, which was at least as intense as hers, if not more. “Well,” he said after the pause got unbearably long. “Shall we?” he pressed, extending his arms in an ironic way.

  She scoffed, but followed him anyway. By the time they had climbed over the fence and were making their way up the incline of wooded forest, they’d already lost their party. Paige’s heart fluttered in her stomach and pounded in her ears with each moment of silence that passed. “Do you really think Ellie is trying to steal me away from you?” she asked.

  She held her breath while he sucked in air and slowly released it. “You are not mine to steal.”

  She gulped at the fact that he had found a way to artfully avoid answering the question. Instead of pressing him further and risk more embarrassment and awkwardness, she decide to pretend it didn’t happen. She did her best to follow him down the path, matching each move to prevent herself from giving him yet another reason to be unhappy with her.

  They continued for about five more minutes, and his hand flew up in front of her face, his fingers curled into a fist in a manner that indicated he wanted her to be silent. He then turned, nodding his head in the direction of a small clearing in the underbrush.

  She followed him as he tiptoed his way to the clearing and peered through it. She tentatively looked over his shoulder to find a small rabbit digging into the ground at what must have been at least three yards away. “How did you see that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes to keep a visual on the rabbit.

  He whipped his head around and shushed her.

  She immediately clamped her jaw shut.

  He got one good look at her surprised and slightly insulted face and his shoulders dropped. He beckoned for her to join him. She followed his directions, at a complete loss to what was about to happen.

  “Let me show you something,” he whispered as soon as she had squatted next to him.

  She gulped. “Okay?”

  He reached over to her, wrapped his fingers around the barrel of her gun, and slipped it out of her hand. “We only need one of these for this,” he explained.

  She nodded slowly.

  With her gun out of the way, he shifted his position so that he was behind her and extended the gun in front of her. Her jaw hung open slightly as she became acutely aware of the fact that he was so close to her. She could almost feel the warmth of his body heat through both of their clothes. She let out a small gasp when, with his free hand, he grabbed her arm and raised it to the gun, placing her fingers in the correct spots.

  “Now it’s really not that complicated,” he explained.

  Her eyes flickered shut at the sensation of his soft voice brushing against her skin.

  “But if you tense up, you’ll miss the shot,” he explained.

  She nodded slowly, her chest swelling with some emotion she didn’t really know how to place. “I’m completely relaxed.” She breathed this lie, trying her best to ignore the fluttering in her stomach.

  He chuckled quietly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you relaxed . . . including right now.”

  She frowned. “I don’t think that rabbit is going to be there forever.”

  He cleared his throat. “Right.” When he replied, his voice sounded notably more stern. “Keep an eye on him. When you pull the trigger, he will move. It’s all about aiming not to where he is, but where you think he’ll be.”

  She nodded.

  “Now, take a deep breath and pull the trigger.”

  She let her eyes flicker shut one last time and inhaled a generous breath full of the sharp pines and warm brush that surrounded her. When her eyes opened again, she saw the place the rabbit was going to be and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gun blasted through her eardrums like cannon fire and the resistance of the barrel drove the gun back into her shoulder. She grunted at the sharp ache that filled her arm and shoulder.

  Everett, who had still been squatting right behind her, sat back onto his heels. “Paige.” His voice was curt and annoyed.

  She looked at where she had shot and spied what appeared to be a violent-looking hole in a tree about three yards away, but the rabbit she thought she had just killed was nowhere to be seen. Her shoulders dropped and she tilted her head up to the sky, her face flushing in the light of grave embarrassment.

  “You just . . .,” he started.

  But she was not in the mood to deal with him roasting her alive for this. She stood up, snatched her gun from where it sat on the ground a few feet away from her, and handed him his. As soon as he took it, she muttered. “I know.” Then she continued down the trail, hoping she would be able to catch up with the others before she had to deal with yet another embarrassment. At that moment the only person she thought of was Hugh. Why had he felt the need to punish her by sending her here where she knew nothing about horses, or cattle, or guns, or hunti
ng, or the fact that apparently she was a city slicker?

  ***

  The next day, Paige was assigned to gather eggs from the henhouse. It was a job that didn’t require overseeing or help, so she basked in the few moments she had to herself outside the house. She was squatting down to feel for eggs at the bottom row of nests when a shadow covered her. She couldn’t immediately see who was standing in the doorway with the sun behind the silhouette. Thinking it to be Everett, she said “Now what? Am I not putting the eggs in my basket in the right order?”

  Ian’s voice answered, “Aww honey bee, you’ve always got the right order.”

  Startled, Paige stood suddenly, nearly dropping her basket.

  Ian reached out to steady the basket. “Careful. I’d hate to think what Everett would say if you broke all the eggs.”

  Paige pulled the basket back and laughed nervously. “Thanks. Sorry, I thought you were Everett.”

  Ian sneered. “Well, I ain’t, honey bee.”

  “Would you mind not calling me that?” Paige turned back to her work but remained standing, watching him out of the side of her eye. She didn’t have a good feeling about this. Not a good feeling at all.

  Ian stepped closer and reached his hand into the nest she was checking. “Need any help?” He was close enough that she could smell his breath. Wasn’t it a bit too early in the day to be drinking?

  “Thanks, but I think I can handle this one on my own.”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Need anything besides help with the eggs?” he asked, his eyes glistening.

  A voice interrupted him and he turned away. Paige breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Ian!” came the female voice. “Ian, honey, are you in there?” Mia stepped into the small house and paused, taking a slight step back. Paige had seen Mia a couple of times, mostly in a heated argument with Ian, and had only spoken to her briefly once. “Ellie said she thought she saw you coming in here. I didn’t realize you had company.” Her eyes grazed across Paige’s.