Page 22 of Barbed Wire Hearts

Levi turns and his face hardens. “Don’t ever go in that one’s pasture,” he warns. “He’s meaner than a snake and twice as petty.”

“He doesn’t look so bad,” I muse, tilting my head. “I mean, yes, he’s big but?—”

“I mean it, Kate. That bull will kill you,” he says, his eyes on the bull. “He won’t let anyone close. We have to get creative when he needs vaccines.”

“Clearly, he lets someone close,” I muse, gesturing to the goat.

His eyes tighten. “That’s just Ninny. She’s the only one that he doesn’t try to maim. Don’t know why.”

I glance over at Levi curiously. “So, you’ve never ridden him?”

Because I look over at him, I see the moment he shuts down. His expression goes dark, and he takes a step away from me. “Why would I ride him?” he asks, his voice low.

“I just thought. . . Dakota mentioned you used to bull ride and I. . .” The way his expression changes, you’d have thought I’d insulted his mother.

Without a word, he scowls and turns away, storming off before I can finish my sentence.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” I murmur, watching him leave, curious but knowing I have no right to ask. Whatever the history with it, it’s clearly not a fond memory. I’ll have to remember that for the future.

My eyes fall back on the giant bull and tiny goat, curiosity eating away at me.

ChapterNineteen

Kate

The blisters on my hands have since split and started screaming at me. Levi had given me a pair of gloves, but they’re too large for my hands so they make it difficult to work, which means I’d taken them off often so I could better grab things. At some point, I know my hands will harden up, but for now, they hurt so badly, I end up wrapping them a little after the day of work.

My muscles are killing me as much as my hands are. My back aches from all the heavy lifting and my arms and legs feel as if I did a particularly brutal workout the day before. I know in another day, I’ll feel even worse. The second day is always the most painful.

When I go to dinner that night and find a nice meal of hamburgers and fries, I make sure to take a few pain pills with it. Hopefully, it’ll help ease some of the muscle strain, so I’ll be able to sleep. If not, I imagine I’m going to have one long painful night.

“Whatcha doing there?” Wiley asks as I toss the pill back and take a large drink of water.

I glance over at him. “Just some painkillers. Nothing crazy.”

His eyes take me in, noticing the way I wince when I move and the general discomfort from sitting on the hard wooden chair. He doesn’t comment though so I think he lets it go, that is until dinner is finished, and I head back to my cabin.

Wiley follows after me, walking me back like we’re a couple of teenagers and he’s walking me to the door. “How badly do you hurt?” he asks.

“I’m fine,” I answer, not wanting to make a big deal of it and definitely not wanting Dakota to know that I’m so unfit that this is killing me.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” he chastises. “It’s normal to hurt. You’ve been doing things you’ve never done before. No one will blame you for that.”

I hesitate. “I don’t really wanna give Dakota an excuse to fire me.”

Wiley snorts. “He’s not going to fire you, silly goose. He may not say it, but he likes you. You’re learning and he knows that.”

I glance over at him as we near my door. “Well. . . I might hurt a little,” I admit.

His chuckle sends a thrill through me. Everything about Wiley is so carefree and adorable. He’s the kind of man who makes everything fun, no matter if you’re shoveling manure or playing hopscotch.

“I’ve got something for that, if you let me come in,” he offers with a wiggle of his brows.

“Oh?” I laugh, opening the door. They don’t lock them here and though at first I’d worried, I’d soon realized everyone here is trustworthy or else they wouldn’t work here. “Well, by all means, come on in. What magical secret are you keeping?”

“No secret,” he says, following me inside. “Just magic fingers. At one point, I took massage classes so I could transfer that knowledge to my horses.”

I blink. “What?”

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