Page 114 of Knot Her Cowboys
“That’s cool. Pumpkin has been staring at me, begging for a walk, anyway. Talk to you later, Riley. Bye, Cash!”
“Bye, Morg! Talk to you soon.” Riley ended the call and turned to me with a smile.
“Hey there, cowgirl. Can I steal you this afternoon?”
“Always. What for?”
“Your stress is gonna give me an ulcer,” I said, patting my chest where the tumultuous ball of Riley was nestled in the bond. “If it’s this bad for me, I can only imagine the torment in your poor tummy. Plus, I figure it’s about time you had a trail ride where you don’t almost die.”
“Big fan of not plunging to my potential death in a river.”
“What do you still have to prep? I’ll help.”
“Everything is done except wrapping the corn in foil.”
It was going to be another beautiful evening so dinner would be around the campfires, the corn and potatoes baked on the coals, the burgers grilled in the flames.
“Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” I washed up and slipped on an apron before portioning out sheets of aluminum foil for the corn cobs. “I’d ask if you’re feeling better about everything, but I know you’re not.”
“Hard to be with so many people being stupid at once.”
“Too true. In better news, the new security gates and cameras are installed. Levi is handing out fobs to the staff so they can put them in their vehicles, and we’re distributing custom codes to the guests.”
“You’re sure it won’t be too annoying?”
I shook my head. “Safety first. They also put in a new fence that blocks guests from driving the same routes as staff vehicles, so even if Darlene or the Deckers did get in here, short of wrecking their vehicles driving through metal fences, they won’t go far. Rigged up an alarm for that too just in case. Anyone who goes plowing through them will set off a siren to let the whole place know.”
Guilt and gratitude swirled down the bond from her. “You’re doing so much to make this place safer.”
“In fairness, we probably should’ve been doing these things from the start for everyone’s safety. Your arrival just put it into pretty sharp clarity how lacking we’ve been on that.”
Riley was silent for a minute, tucking pats of butter beneath the corn leaves before wrapping them in the foil. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You’re not,” I promised. “We wouldn’t want all those assholes on our land even if you weren’t here. It’s good for us to boost safety for the sake of everyone that lives and stays here. You might’ve prompted us on it, but it should’ve been done anyway.”
She seemed satisfied with that. I loaded the wrapped corn into bins and set them in the cooler next to the foiled potatoes and numerous salads.
“Ready to rock?”
“You’re sure they can handle dinner?”
“Pretty confident, yeah.”
“And what arewehaving for dinner? Or are we coming back in time to eat here?”
“Dakota already has a cooler packed, and Cooper is saddling the horses.”
“Thorough,” she said with a laugh. “Okay. Let’s take me out into the wilderness.”
“Do you want to ride your own horse, or do you want to ride with me? Big Jack hasn’t been out for a while and he’s perfect for two people.”
“How big is Big Jack?” Riley asked, eyebrows raised.
“He’s a Clydesdale, so he’s pretty fucking big. We rescued him a few years ago, got him back to full health, and now he loves life here.”
“Do you ever take Grizzy out?”
“No one rides her, but we bring her with us sometimes. Do you want her to come along today?”
