Page 6 of Since Day One

And we stood there, just looking at each other and soaking in a small confession made in a moment of weakness toward someone I’d just barely met.

A cough sounded behind him, and Gunnar took a deep breath before turning to the waiting sales guy. “They’ve got your stuff ready,” he said, and Gunnar nodded thanks before the guy scurried off once more. He offered me a wink, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and disappeared out the front of the store.

Sending one last longing look at the coat, I headed back into the chilly air. At some point, I thought, I need to dig through my suitcase and pull out a warmer coat if I plan on staying outside longer than a few minutes.

Fresh, biting air nipped the tip of my nose, and my breath hung in front of me like a cloud as I walked through the sliding glass doors toward Gunnar’s truck. Behind the tailgate, large bags of grain waited on pallets with Gunnar and a few workers tossing them up and into the bed of the vehicle. Not wanting to be in the way, I headed over to a stack myself and gripped the top bag.

“The hell you doing?” Gunnar grunted, looking at my hands on the feed bag.

“Helping,” I answered, ignoring the bandaged finger and heaving the bag over the side with relative ease. He raised his brows, his eyes flickering between my hands and the second bag of grain I hoisted. Watching me inquisitively with those hazel eyes for another half a second, he finally shrugged his shoulders and returned to his pile.

Sweat soaked my back, despite the cold, by the time everything had been tossed in the bed of the truck, but it hadn’t taken us very long. Once everything was loaded, I climbed quickly into the truck. The door clicked shut beside me, and I leaned back, feeling my finger throbbing, waiting for the driver to enter. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d just paid good money I couldn’t afford to come do the same thing I’d left in Texas. I also wondered why, after all these years, my family was finally giving this world a shot.

The truck dipped, and Gunnar hoisted himself in. “Thank you,” he gruffly said, before turning the key.

“I told you I’d help,” I replied with annoyance, rolling my eyes.

“Well, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, if I’m being honest. You’re not exactly like your family.” He pulled us back out onto the main road and began driving along the darkened street. Clouds interrupted what I could imagine was a normally clear and starry night sky.

“How so?” My eyes stayed trained on the small stores passing by.

“Well, today they were supposed to go learn how to ration out the grain for some of the horses and then feed them. One girl, Maribeth or Macy or something like that, kept acting like she knew what she was doing and that her boyfriend or whoever had taught her. But shit, that was a wreck. Others were worried about getting the smell on them or if it would mess up their nails. Although the guys weren’t terrible, they were just not in it.” He lifted the hat from his head. Setting it down on its crown on the front dash, a thick veiny hand smoothed his hair. Waves sprung into life, rippling through the coppery brown shade.

“Marissa,” I muttered, starting to make sense of it all. The same girl who’d lied and thrown me under the bus all those years ago. The very cousin that somehow had everyone wrapped around her finger and could do no wrong. Even my parents told me over and over growing up that they wished I was more like her. I could assume that if this new boyfriend was somehow involved in this lifestyle, then that was their reason for all of this.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Gunnar replied and shifted his gaze toward me. “Don’t get along?”

Raising my shoulders to my ears, I didn’t answer. He didn’t need to know. That wasn’t anyone’s place to know except for those involved. Nor was I going to stoop that low and drag someone else down to a place they’d tried to put me in. No one deserved that no matter what had happened.

“Not going to say?” he pushed again, and I chuckled.

“Nosy, aren’t you?”

“Just trying to understand.”

I glanced his way, saw his tawny eyes full of mischief, and asked, “Understand what?”

“You. How you fit in with them.”

“Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any of them, so I dare say I don’t.”

A half grin just shy of dimpling his cheeks caressed his lips, and he flipped the turn signal on despite the fact there wasn’t a single other vehicle or building around us. We passed between thick aspens and pines and then underneath a towering wooden sign that read “Johnson and Son’s Ranch”. The moment we broke through the tree line, sparkling house lights rose to the sunset-orange sky at the end of the open lane in front of us. Behind the home stretched a beautiful pasture with animals that I knew were there by the streams of breath floating toward the sky, even if I couldn’t see them.

Cattle bellowed off to the right, munching on the last blades of dying grass, and some horses to the left nickered, bunching together to avoid the freezing temperatures. To the right of the lodge were a couple of smaller bunkhouse cabins and behind them were at least seven barns. Raising my brows, being impressed wasn’t the only thing tingling at my toes. Excitement was invading all of my senses.

“I’m assuming some of those barns are arenas?” I asked, pointing at the gray buildings barely lit in the darkened sky.

“There are two indoor arenas. One for me, one for Ruger. There are also two outdoor, covered arenas down to the left that the lodge is blocking right now. One of the barns has stalls, another is for tack, and another is for hay and grain. Plus some for tractors, side-by-sides, four-wheelers, and even a small cattle barn.”

I nodded in appreciation at the beauty around me. There was a familiarity to it all despite the rolling mountains that rose behind the pastures and barns. I wasn’t used to that or the thick trees that faint dirt roads disappeared up to and under.

“You don’t seem too impressed,” Gunnar said, and I glanced his way as he scowled.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you expecting all these ooh’s and aah’s from me?” I teased and then pointed out the window. “Oh, my gosh! Look how beautiful!” I placed a hand over my mouth in exaggerated wonder and then pointed at another random place. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

“Okay, stop. Now you’re just being annoying,” he groaned, and laughter slipped past my lips.

“You said I wasn’t impressed.”

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