Page 19 of River Wild

HH had also given her Honey, her very own horse, so she’d tried hard not to give him any trouble, eating the ranch beef even though she didn’t like it all that much. Oh, and now he wanted to adopt her, make her a legal part of the McKenna Ranch family.

“I’m not calling you Dad,” she’d said when he’d told her.

“You can still call me HH, if you like.” But he’d sounded disappointed. She’d never had a dad, not one she remembered. Her mother had told her that he’d died before she was born. But calling Holden Dad seemed weird.

She tried not to think about it. Instead, she concentrated on her amazing new life. Holly Jo wasn’t even sure how it had happened. Her bully and worst enemy, Tana Westlake, and her posse used to pick fights with her. But after the kidnapping, Tana had been nice, and now Holly Jo sat with her and her friends at lunch. Overnight, she’d become one of them, talking clothes and boys, movies and boys, music and boys.

When the boys had started coming around their table at lunch, joking and giving them a hard time, Tana had suggested Holly Jo help Buck with his math homework before he had to go to class. “She is a whiz at math,” Tana boasted. Buck had sat down next to her and pulled out his math assignment, which he’d made an awkward attempt at completing. She’d had to try to write like he did, scratching out some numbers, adding others until it was finished.

Buck had smiled at her as he’d scooped up his homework, making her tingle. Most of the boys didn’t pay any attention to her because she was so much taller than the other girls and even some of the boys. Teachers always said she seemed older than her age. Buck said she should go out for basketball. Wasn’t the first time she’d heard that.

Holly Jo had never felt so happy—or so guilty. Along with keeping secrets from HH, she felt guilty about Gus Montgomery. They’d been friends before the kidnapping. She’d thought a lot about him while she’d been in captivity. But once Tana had taken her into her group, Gus kept his distance.

Holly Jo knew that she should say something to him. He’d been all she had at school last year, her only friend. But what was there to say? She liked hanging out with Tana and her posse more than she’d thought she would. She used to think they were stuck-up and silly. Maybe it was turning thirteen, but she felt more a part of them now, especially since she’d been spending more time with Buck.

As she moved toward her locker, she started at the sight of Gus standing next to it. She slowed. Clearly he was waiting for her. She didn’t know what she was going to say. Or worse, what he would say. He didn’t look happy, but then again, Gus seldom did.

“Hey,” she said as she went straight for her locker and began to put in her combination—avoiding looking at him.

“I haven’t hardly seen you since the beginning of school,” he said. It sounded like an accusation, making her bristle.

“I’ve been busy.”

“I’ve noticed. I was thinking maybe you and I could talk while we wait for the bus later.”

“I’m not riding the bus today.” She slipped off her backpack and quickly put away the books she didn’t need. “Buck just got his license. He’s going to give me a ride home.” She slammed her locker.

“Oh. Buck, huh?”

Something in his tone made her turn toward him. She saw his downturned mouth, but it was the expression in his eyes that tore at her heart. He’d been all she had before this school year. “Gus, I’m sorry.” He nodded. “Maybe we can—” But he didn’t wait around to see what she came up with, because the bell rang.

She hadn’t even known what she was going to say. While she hated hurting him, she was happier than she’d been since coming to the Powder River Basin. As she watched Gus scuff down the hall toward his class, Buck came up and put his arm around her. “I’m going to need your help for this math test,” he whispered in her ear, making her giggle.

Smiling, she said, “You should have studied.”

“Like that would help.” He grinned at her and removed his arm. “You’re the best, Holly Jo.”

She felt as if she were glowing as they headed for class, even as she felt a tightness in her chest at the thought of Gus. She already felt anxious about HH finding out that she wasn’t going to be riding the bus anymore.

But for now, it was her little special secret. She felt giddy with anticipation. She couldn’t wait for school to let out.

“Maybe he’ll kiss you,” Tana had teased when she’d told her that Buck was giving her a ride home. “It’s not like it’s your first kiss, right?”

“Of course not,” she’d said with a laugh.

But it would be her first kiss. Her stomach filled with butterflies at the thought even as she couldn’t help grinning. Anything could happen on the way home in his pickup. He might even ask her to the dance.

PICKETTPARKEDATthe edge of the road, the afternoon sun pouring in his open pickup window. He loved this time of year, the scent of fall in the air as the breeze rattled the drying leaves of the thick stand of cottonwoods along the river. His callused hands tapped out a beat. Sometimes he felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

He hadn’t been born to this ranch life, far from it. He’d adopted it at a young age, just as Holden McKenna had pretty much adopted him. Pickett knew he would always be grateful to the man for giving him the chance. He loved being a ranch hand on this huge, magnificent place along the Powder River.

At the sound of the school bus coming up the road in a cloud of dust, he started to open his pickup door. He was already smiling, anxious to see Holly Jo and hear about her day. He knew there was a lot she didn’t tell him, but he was okay with that. She still seemed to like hanging out with him.

The school bus slowed, then came to a noisy halt, the red stop sign coming out. Pickett was watching for Holly Jo to stand up and head for the door when the driver’s window slid down.

“She didn’t get on the bus,” Edna Jacob, or Jake, as the kids called her, hollered through the open window.

He hurried over to the bus. Not all that long ago, this was the spot where Holly Jo had been kidnapped. “Does anyone know why she didn’t get on the bus?” he asked.

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