Page 48 of Bull Rush

“Moody like his owner, is he?” Cooper laughs.

“Something like that.” I shrug. “But Teddy and Lady Luck over here are both very patient with everyone.”

“Ooh, Lady Luck. I like the sound of that.” Bea pets Wolfsbane one last time.

“We’re gonna head into town. I need to run an errand, and I figure I’ll show Coop around town and grab some food.” Ramsey looks at me.

“Meet back here for dinner?” I ask, and he nods.

“Perfect.” Coop leans over and kisses his fiancée. “Have fun. Be careful, Trix.”

“I will. See you later.”

I hurry toward Lady Luck, hoping it looks like I’m too focused on getting Bea set up to remember to exchange the same pleasantries with my own husband. I have no idea what he’s told them, or how I should behave around them—so for now, I’ll just assume it’s the same story we’ve given everyone else.

TWENTY-TWO

Hazel

After Kell getsthe horses saddled for us and Bea puts on a pair of jeans, we head out on the trail. We chat for a bit about her lessons as a kid, how we both fell in love with horses, and we each share our favorite stories about trainers before we go quiet, just enjoying the view. When the trail along the river opens up to a better view of the falls, we slow down, and I direct us to a spot where we can stop and have lunch.

We get the horses set up first and then find a small spot nearby to set up our picnic. It feels good to stretch out, and there’s a nice breeze blowing through that takes the heat of the day off my skin. The lunch Kit packed us is amazing, and she even managed to put a small bottle of wine and collapsable wine glasses in here.

“Your chef is amazing. I feel like I don’t deserve this kind of lunch out on a trail.” Bea beams as she pulls out her sandwich.

“Sheisamazing. Always coming up with fun new things.She’s been trying to convince me to do trail ride picnics for a while. I’m guessing this is her latest lobbying.” I smile at how pretty the basket is packed, with matching napkins and containers. Each part of the meal neatly tucked into its own spot.

“I mean, this would be so romantic. With the weather like this and the view? Could you camp out here?” Bea asks as she takes in the expanse of it all.

“It’s all still part of the ranch, so we could. If we offered it to guests, it’d be a little more complicated. We’d have to set up some facilities, make it more of a glamping situation.”

“I wish Cooper and I could stay longer. He’d love this, and we could probably hike it.”

“We have ATVs too for people who aren’t big horse fans,” I mention, although I doubt the ATVs would be on his allowed list of activities near his season starter either.

“Oh, that’s perfect. Do you and Ramsey come out here much?” Bea tries to sneak a glance at me before she picks some grapes from the basket.

“Not recently. When we were younger, we used to ride out here sometimes.”

“Please tell me he did something horribly romantic like proposed out here?”

I laugh. “It depends on how you define romantic. He’s not much for the traditional sort.”

“I get it. He can be so hard on the outside, but when I found out he was married, I was so curious about you.”

A zip of apprehension climbs up my spine at that.

“Why?”

“I just imagine that with the right person, he is a complete sap. Or at least I want to imagine him that way. The hard ones falling hard. My brother was that way. But with Ramsey… I had to spend a lot of time with him, doing PR during the trial. We had to have him walk us through anything that could harm his image further.”

“I’m sure I was on that list.” I press my lips together as I pull one of the small turkey sandwiches Kit made out of its container.

“No. I mean… he thought you were his ex-wife at the time, but I asked if you’d be trouble. If you’d speak to the media or anything. I wanted to reach out proactively and offer any help we could on the media front, but he was adamant that we not ‘drag her into anything’ and said you wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, even if they offered you money for it.”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“The loyalty that the two of you have to each other… that’ssomething. I know people who are together who don’t have that kind of bond.”

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