Page 25 of Luna

He glanced back as he lifted a foot to the stirrup of the bronc saddle and saw the women hurrying up the porch steps into the house.

Dally hadn’t mentioned having company this morning, but with a whole gaggle of females, they had to have planned it.

Perhaps his sister hadn’t discussed the women’s impending arrival because anytime Luna’s name entered the conversation, Hunter scowled at Dally. He could practically see the gears turning in her head, plotting matchmaking schemes, but his sister was aware of his caution when it came to trusting his heart to another woman’s keeping after Katherine had so thoroughly trounced all over it.

Additionally, Dally knew about Luna’s past which included her trauma and broken heart. He’d told both her and Nik, seeing no reason to hide the dear girl’s troubles from his family.

Besides, he couldn’t come up with a single thing for Luna to be embarrassed about, although that was how she acted. Mortified by what she saw as a weakness. However, he viewed it as a point of strength. She had survived being shot, held her dying fiancé in her arms, and come out on the other side of the horrid moment that had to have been a crucial point in her life. Luna had endured more in her young life than many people twice or three times her age had experienced. He couldn’t begin to imagine what it had been like for her, losing her parents so young, traveling with strangers to an unknown country, and then starting over with a family that loved her but had never met her.

He thought Luna was resilient and strong, even if she appeared delicate and lovely.

A vision of her drenched in sunlight filled his head, and he dropped his focus on the horse bucking wildly beneath him. In the blink of an eye, he lost his hold and went sailing into the air, landing in the dirt of the corral with a thump that knocked the wind right out of him.

“Maybe you should take a break, Hunt, before you end up with something broken,” Rowdy suggested when Hunter pushed himself up and could finally draw in a breath.

Hunter wanted to argue, but he knew Rowdy was correct. His attention was elsewhere, and until he got his head back on straight, he was putting himself, the horse, and everyone around them in danger.

His first inclination was to march into the house and find out why the women were there and what they were doing.

His second was to climb back on the horse and force them both to pay attention.

The third was to saddle Wind, ride out to his newly acquired acres, and check on the progress of the men he’d hired to start cleaning up the place and plant the poplar trees that had arrived earlier in the week.

Next week, he had an appointment scheduled with Walker Williams to see if the architect’s opinion would be to restore and remodel the house or if he concluded it best to tear it down and begin anew.

Hunter thought the house had good bones and a solid foundation, at least from what he could see, but he wanted someone with Walker’s level of expertise to share his thoughts before any decisions were made.

Hunter knew the men he’d hired for his place were doing a good job, especially since the one he’d put in charge was a nephew to Rowdy and someone trustworthy. Dally would likely tease him mercilessly if he made a flimsy excuse to wander into the house, so that left him with the horse that didn’t want to be ridden.

Slowly, Hunter stood and brushed the dust from his clothes. He accepted from one of the ranch hands his hat that had flown off and landed in the corral dirt and then nodded at Rowdy. “I’ll be fine.”

Rowdy gave him a quick glance, then motioned for two of the hands to hold the bronc steady as Hunter climbed back on. Before he swung into the saddle, he closed his eyes a moment and cleared his thoughts, then he spent the next hour and a half riding the horse until they both were exhausted.

By the time he swung off the bronc’s back, Hunter’s stomach felt as empty as the preacher’s collection plate on a Friday afternoon.

Normally, he would have gone to the bunkhouse for lunch, but he was curious to know why the women were not only there but had lingered all morning. If they hadn’t left an hour ago, he assumed it meant they were staying a good part of the day. And if they were staying, there was likely an abundance of good food to be had for lunch.

Rowdy eyed him as he brushed at the dust covering him from head to toe. “You think those ladies really want you intruding into their time together?”

“Nope,” Hunter smirked, “which is why I’m going to the house.”

Rowdy chuckled and thumped him on the back. “Best of luck to you then. Want me to save you a plate at the bunkhouse?”

“Nah. I’ll be fine. Even if they refuse to let me eat with them, I can still rustle up some grub.” Inwardly, Hunter cringed at his Western manner of speech, hearing the echoes of his grandmother’s lectures about not butchering the English language ringing in his ears.

“All right then. See you in about an hour. I figured you’d want to ride that big bay gelding next.”

“That’s what I had in mind. He’s mostly trained. Just needs a refresher course.” Hunter swatted his dirty hat against the leg of his even dirtier chaps, causing puffs of dust to rise in the air.

“Yep,” Rowdy agreed as he backed up a few paces and grinned. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, son.”

“Noted.”

Hunter made his way to the back door, where he removed his gloves and chaps, toed off his boots, and swatted his hat against his leg again to dislodge some of the dust. Quietly, he stepped inside the house, hung his hat by the door, and stood unmoving, listening. The women were in the dining room, at least it sounded that way to him.

Doing his best not to make a sound, he hurried up the back stairs, avoiding the steps that creaked, and went to the bathroom, where he stripped out of his filthy shirt, washed up, and combed his damp hair.

He was still getting used to the shorter length. The past year, he’d worn it long just because he could. His grandmother had hated it, his mother had informed him he looked like a pirate, and his dad had shaken his head in disgust anytime haircuts were mentioned.

---