That cowboy at Pete’s Pub got it right, as did the helicopter pilot…
…get within three feet of her and you'll get burned if you don't get kicked in the nuts first…
Well, he’d gotten the nuts treatment, and hiking back to the ranch on a rough, dusty trail that zigzagged down the side of a mesa on a day pushing ninety-five degrees pretty much added up to being burned. But now, Annie Kincaid was about to get her comeuppance. And as soon as he got rid of the protestors he’d work on the rest of his plan… the getting-a-kiss-from-Annie followed by the getting-Annie-into-his-bed plan. It bothered him that he was figuratively placing bets with the cowboys in town, but it was a challenge he couldn’t seem to set aside.
About fifteen minutes after he saw Annie leave in her truck, presumably to deliver her meal of guacamole and macaroni and cheese to the protestors, Ryan hoisted a heavy plastic, double-lined garbage bag filled with cow entrails onto the passenger floor of the dump truck—the truck bed of which was piled high with manure—climbed behind the wheel, and headed out.
He couldn’t help smiling as he drove toward the gate to the ranch. What he was about to do wouldn't get him any closer to kissing Annie, much less getting her in bed, but there was plenty of time to work on that.
As he drew near, he saw that Annie had the tail gate on her pick-up down and the protestors were gathered around while she dished up their food. She didn't pay any attention as he approached, probably because she assumed it was one of the men delivering manure to Pine Grove. But when he pulled the truck to a halt, then backed it around and began maneuvering it alongside the fence to where he could spread his load—directly across the fence from where Annie’s truck was parked—she looked at him in alarm.
Realizing what was about to happen, she set the pot of macaroni on the tailgate of her truck and rushed through the ranch gate while yelling up at him, "What do you think you’re doing?!"
"Unloading manure," Ryan replied. "I couldn’t work with all the flies around the stables. It’s far enough away here so it won’t matter." He shoved on a lever, raising the bed of the truck.
"Wait! Stop!" Annie yelled. "You can’t do that!"
"Sorry, I can’t hear you," Ryan yelled back. With the bed raised, he released the tail gate and started moving slowly forward while spreading a thick blanket of manure alongside the fence. After lowering the bed he climbed out of the truck, grabbed the bags of entrails from the floor in front of the passenger seat, and donning rubber gloves, began throwing entrails on top of the manure. That done, he stripped off his gloves, tossed them into one of the empty garbage bags and put the bags in the truck.
Annie, who was glaring at him, face red with fury, eyes bright with ire, said in a firm, metered voice, "You’re going to be so sorry for this. You have no idea how sorry you’ll be."
Ryan smiled. "Actually, probably not as sorry as you and your friends will be. But with this heat it should all be dried out in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, the buzzards and yellow jackets will help clean up the innards." He glanced at the spread of manure and piles of entrails where yellow jackets were already beginning to buzz around.
Annie drew in a deep breath through flared nostrils, and said, "I know my father didn’t put you up to this because he’s a rational man. Does he even know you took the dump truck?"
"Of course," Ryan replied. "He gave me the keys. You underestimate him. He wants the protestors gone, the mustangs off the ranch, your mother home, and the guest ranch back in operation, and he’s all for me doing whatever it takes to accomplish that. Meanwhile, I’ve got a topographic map with riding trails to study so I’ll leave you to feeding your friends—" he glanced beyond Annie "—although some seem to be packing up."
Annie looked over her shoulder, and spotting a woman putting camping gear into her Lexus, said, "That woman planned to leave today anyway, but the others won’t be chased off by a few yellow jackets and a little manure."
"I guess we’ll just have to wait and see." Ryan looked toward the encampment, where yellow jackets were buzzing around the pot of macaroni and the protestors were backing away. The aging hippy with the pony tail seemed to be having a problem with a particularly aggressive yellow jacket. While swatting at it, he let out a loud, "Shit!" then gripped his thigh. In an instant he unzipped and lowered his pants and looked to where he’d been stung.
"Here!" A female hippy in a tank top and long skirt, who was obviously the guy’s significant other, came rushing out of the old VW camper holding a potted plant that Ryan recognized as aloe vera, then broke off a leaf and mashed it against the man’s leg.
Annie planted her hands on her hips, and said, "You seem to think a man being stung is funny. What if he's allergic to hornet stings? He could go into shock and Rabbit can’t drive."
It wasn’t until then that Ryan realized he was smiling. He was also baffled. "Rabbit?"
"Shadow’s wife… well, she lives with him. They’re a couple."
"Shadow?"
"Look, they’re here because they care about the wild horses being rounded up and run down by helicopters, and foals being trampled in the rush, and bands of horses being broken up, and burros getting flipped by human jackasses like the helicopter pilots at Pete’s, and you don’t give a damn because you’re of a mindset that animals don’t matter." Turning abruptly, she went to join the protestors, who stood some distance from where Ryan had spread the manure, all of them glowering at him.
Ryan eyed the angry faces for a few moments then climbed into the dump truck, backed it around and headed for the ranch. Although he was all but certain the protest was about to come to an end, it was a hollow victory because he knew that angel face was lost to him forever.
CROSS PURPOSES to be continued…
If you want to read on, here's the link to Amazon
BOOKS BY PATRICIA WATTERS
DANCING MOON RANCH SERIES
Prequel: Justified Deception
LIVING WITH LIES TRILOGY
Book 1: Righteous Lies
Book 2: Pandora's Box
Book 3: False Pretenses
THE LIES UNCOVERED TRILOGY
Book 4: Uncertain Loyalties
Book 5: Becoming Jesse's Father
Book 6: Bittersweet Return
CUTTING THE TIES TRILOGY
Book 7: Cross Purposes
Book 8: Dancing With Danger
Book 9: Bucking the Odds
BOUND BY LOVE TRILOGY
Book 10: Forbidden Spirits
Book 11: Imperfect Magic (late 2014)
Book 12: Sheer Combustion (early 2015)
Sequel: Finding Justice (mid 2015)
HISTORICAL ROMANCES
Colby's Child
Perilous Pleasures
Miss Phipps and the Cattle Baron
Her Master's Touch
Come Be My Love
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCES
In Hot Pursuit
Broken Promises
Adversaries and Lovers
Never Too Late
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Patricia Watters gave up city life and now writes from a log cabin nestled in the evergreen forests of Oregon. An author with Harlequin and Avon-Harper Collins in the past, Patricia specializes in romance, and she invites you to visit her website and drop her a line. She responds to all notes. http://www.patriciawatters.com/
Bittersweet Return (Dancing Moon Ranch Book 6) Page 26
