Page 49 of We Redeemed the Rain

“Whatever she got. Uh, no lemonade though, just water.”

He tapped a few buttons then robbed me.

A few minutes later, we settled at an outdoor picnic table with an umbrella. She sat across from me, quietly looking down at her plate ofnachos with jalapeños. She popped a pepper into her mouth, chewed it with a softmmm.

After a few more bites, she looked up at me. Her soft voice jerked my gaze up from my own plate.

“The nachos are hitting the spot. Thanks for dinner.”

Thanks.

Thanks?

I huffed in disbelief. She stopped mid-chew and our gazes connected for the first time since that morning. I, least of all, deserved appreciation.

She picked up another chip, scooping a big glob of hot cheese up. “So, what have you been up to today? You must’ve been busy.”

Reading folks’ tone and body language wasn’t a skill I was confident in. Only took one or two wrong conclusions to make me doubt I had the ability. I mentally braced myself for whatever was coming. “I took care of the animals. Mutton bustin’ was in the smaller arena over there.” I nodded to the left, dunking a chip to keep up appearances.

“Mutton bustin’?” She copied my accent.

“Kids rodeo. That’s what the sheep are for.”

“Oh. Sheep buck?”

“Nah. Just run around in jerky circles. Perfect for the little kids.”

“That’s fun.”

I nodded, suddenly wishing I had invited her to watch. She probably would’ve liked it better than the boring team events happening in the big arena all day.

“What’s on the schedule for tomorrow?”

“Saddle and bareback broncs. I’ll have horses in and out of the chutes all day.”

“Yay. That’ll be exciting to watch.”

I took a bite. If it was possible to be so distracted my tastebuds didn’t work…I was there. Cheese might as well have been glue. I forced the dinner down my throat only because I knew I’d need the calories come morning.

“What do you do while your horses are busy?”

“I stand at the chute, tighten the flank straps, talk to the cowboys. Make sure my horsesdon’t get hurt.”

“Flank strap.” She pursed her lips in thought. “Is that the thing that pinches their balls and makes them go crazy?”

A piece of chip lodged in my esophagus. I cleared my throat then took a long swig of water. My voice was scratchy when I found it again. “Where’d you hear that?”

The end of her tongue darted to the corner of her mouth, catching a bit of cheese. “The guys behind me in the bleachers today. One of them hypothesized that the animals jump and kick due to the pain.”

Uneducated idiots. I quelled a smile.

She read me, arching a single eyebrow. “They were wrong?”

“My best horse is a female.”

A laugh pushed out of her, and she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “No balls to squeeze then, huh?”

“Yep.”

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