Page 20 of Tangled Passion

“Hello.”

“Hey, it’s Daisy. I have a problem and wondered if you could help.”

She sat on the edge of the bed. “I can try.”

“There’s a group going camping for a night, and I was supposed to go, but my mom is sick, and I want to stay and help her.”

“Oh. There’s no one else? I don’t have a lot of camping experience.”

“That’s okay,” Daisy said. “Johnathon is in charge. All he’ll do is help with certain things like cooking.”

Madelyn cleared her throat. “Where will the guys be?”

“I heard they were going to a sale and wouldn’t be back until later. Too late to go and help.”

“Oh. Okay. When will you need me?”

“Can you pack a quick overnighter? They want to leave within the hour. I’m sorry it’s so last-minute, but I didn’t know about my mom until an hour ago.”

“That’s fine. I have no plans,” she said.

“Oh, thank you so much. I’ll owe you,” Daisy said.

“No. I’m glad I could help.”

“I’ll talk to you later. I’m not sure how long it will take with my mom.”

“That’s fine. Just take care of her, and you stay safe.”

Daisy chuckled. “Yes, Mama Bear.”

Madelyn laughed and hung up. She quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt and wrapped a sweatshirt around her waist for when she got cold. She gathered her backpack and stuffed an outfit for the next day, along with her sleep shorts and tank. She liked to sleep in it because it was muggy and in the eighties, and she didn’t want to sweat because then she wouldn’t sleep well.

She made it outside to see a row of saddled horses and a mule with packs on his back.

“Madelyn, over here.”

She looked to find a man she had seen several times and walked over to him. He was large but not as big as the guys.

“Hi.”

“Hi. Thank you for helping. We are so glad you’re here. You saved me from having to cancel the trip.”

“I’m glad I could help out,” she said. “Which horse do you want me to ride?”

He walked her over to a large horse and patted its neck. “I gave you Sam. He’s very nice and has an attitude sometimes, but Daisy said you could handle him.”

“I think so. I don’t have a ton of experience, but I love riding.”

“Good. I’ll put you in the back of the line.” He handed her a whistle. “Blow this if you need to get my attention.”

“I can do that.” She put the necklace with the whistle around her neck.

“Everyone is ready, so let me boost you up.”

“Thank you. I was wondering how I was going to get up on the beast.” She laughed.

“Maybe if you weren’t a midget…”

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