“Ready to go!” she finally said with more excitement than he’d expected.
She’d psyched herself up for this. In the space of only a few seconds, she’d somehow managed to get herself pumped to get on that trailer and take a ride around his property while seated on a hay bale. Again, he was resisting the urge to smile.
Once she was determined, it was officially no big deal. She grabbed onto the sides on the trailer with her right hand and easily hoisted herself up onto the bed. Somehow, she managed to make the whole maneuver look graceful, but the photographer-aide dude wasn’t snapping photos, he noticed, just in case.
Once on the trailer, she suddenly had much more courage than he’d expected. She spun around and looked out over the top of the tractor. Her attention seemed focused on something in the distance.
“Why can’t he drive?” She pointed off into the distance.
Colton turned, but he already knew what she’d spotted. Hank, their one and only ranch hand, was coming toward them, no doubt exhausted from a morning of hard work. As if Hank didn’t have enough to do, now she wanted him to drive them around?
“Hold on,” the photographer-aide said, rushing off toward Hank before Colton could even respond.
That was the helper dude’s job, Colton assumed. Mina pointed and he made things happen. But this wasn’t helper-dude’s ranch. This was Colton’s family’s ranch, and they called the shots here.
Unfortunately, he needed Mina’s support, which meant not alienating them. He’d just learned they were going to send out a press release mentioning Cedar Tree Ranch’s commitment to safety, so how could he get pushy about who drove the hayride around for a few minutes?
“It’s taken care of,” Helper Dude said as he and Hank walked toward them. “I’ll get a picture of the two of you before we start.”
Aside from making Mina feel a little safer on that trailer, Colton wasn’t sure how it benefited anything to have him up there with her. When they’d called to ask about giving Mina a preview of the Cedar Tree Pumpkinfest, he’d pictured driving her around in his truck. Only when the later call came and an aide told him she wanted to get some photos did he realize he’d have to roll out the straw carpet for her.
Colton started to protest, but he couldn’t think of a way to do so without coming across like he didn’t want to help. This was all about making Pumpkinfest a success, he reminded himself. Otherwise, he’d be back to working at a law firm fifty-five hours a week — if he could even get a job at another one. Canyon Falls wasn’t exactly loaded down with legal jobs.
And that was why he found himself seated next to Mina on the first hay bale, facing the camera and waving, as Hank fired the tractor up and started driving. Colton frowned as Mina’s helper started walking quickly, then running, to keep up with the moving vehicle.
“Should we stop to pick him up?” Colton asked as they watched him give up taking pictures to launch into a full-out run.
“How far are we going?” she asked.
He was seated next to her, just far enough away to keep a professional distance. She had her legs crossed—probably necessary when being photographed wearing a skirt while seated—but sitting on a hay bale, it looked a little out of place.
“I’m not sure,” Colton said. “I’m not the one driving, remember?”
She looked over at him, eyes wide. “Does your driver know the route?”
“He’s our ranch hand. And no, he has no idea. He’s helped out with Pumpkinfest, but not this part of it. Mostly just getting the petting zoo ready and setting up the hay maze.”
Corn mazes took time to grow. Since they hadn’t come up with this idea until a couple of weeks ago, that meant no corn for the maze. They were improvising with stacks of hay bales this year.
“Maybe we should stop and let Robby on board.”
He assumed Robby was the photographer who was impressively keeping up with the tractor. Colton pulled out his phone and called Hank.
“There’s a handsfree law in Canyon Falls,” she whispered as Colton waited for Hank to answer. “He shouldn’t be talking and driving.”
Really? Really? They were on a ranch, without a single other vehicle or person in sight. She really thought the handsfree law applied here? Before he could come up with a clever response, Hank picked up.
“Gradually slow to a stop,” Colton instructed. “We’re going to let Robby on board.”
“Got it!” Hank said way too loudly into the phone.
Hank’s definition of ‘gradually slow’ was apparently not the same as Colton’s. Or maybe it was that he wasn’t used to the brakes on the tractor. Whatever the case, the sudden stop of the tractor threw Mina off balance, pushing her directly into Colton, which then disrupted his balance. Seeing she was about to slide off her makeshift seat, he reached out and grabbed her. She flattened her hand against his chest to brace herself and looked up at him. Their eyes met and…
Sparks.
And that was the exact moment Robby stepped up onto the trailer and snapped a photo of them.
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The Cowboy's Promise Page 17
