Page 29 of High Intensity

Jackson looks up at me. “The old guard left. Home for a rest, I guess. Except for Dan, he was heading to the ranch with the other horse trailer and said he was gonna stop in at home to see how Sloane and the little one are doing. Then he’ll be back.”

“Sloane?” Jillian pipes up from where she is crouched down, greeting Hunter. “Is she okay? The baby?”

Jackson shrugs. “As far as I know.”

“I thought Aspen had recovered,” I direct at Jillian.

“Yeah, she has. I wasn’t…I just thought maybe Sloane came down with it too.”

She waves her hand dismissively before returning her attention to the dogs. She has Hunter out of the crate and coaxes Murphy in there.

“Your turn for a snooze, boy.” She bends down and kisses the top of his head. “You did good.” Then she closes the gate.

She goes to leash up the other dog, and we’re about to head back out when Dan pulls up. He’s got a few hay bales in the back of his truck.

“Your timing is perfect. I brought lunch,” he announces when he hops out of the cab.

“Hay?” I observe, hauling one of the bales from the truck bed.

I toss it to the front of the remaining horse trailer. All four horses are tied to the side and covered with blankets. The hay we brought this morning already decimated on the ground in front of them.

“And a tray of burritos and some coffee in the passenger seat,” he adds, grabbing the second bale of hay.

“Maybe we should grab a quick lunch first?” I carefully suggest to Jillian, who is waiting. “We’ve gotta fuel up too.”

Also, passing up on Ama’s burritos is almost sacrilegious, but I keep that to myself.

“Mmm. God, this is so good,” she moans on a mouthful with her eyes closed five minutes later.

The bite I just took gets stuck in my throat as a mental image of Jillian, naked in my bed, pops in my head. I cough to try and dislodge it.

“You okay there, my friend? The heat getting to you?” JD mocks me with a grin as he whacks me between the shoulder blades.

I cough again and mumble, “Asshole,” behind my hand.

The interaction escapes Jillian, who turns to Dan.

“How is Aspen, by the way? All better?”

“Yeah, she’s good.”

“And Sloane? She didn’t catch it?”

Dan’s face splits in a goofy grin. “Not strep, if that’s what you mean.”

I glance over at Jillian and catch her smiling as well.

“What was that all about?” I ask when we’re strapping on our snowshoes outside ten minutes later.

She can’t quite keep herself from grinning again.

“Afraid that’s not my news to share.”

Ahhh.

Gotcha.

Jillian

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