Page 20 of Knot Her Cowboys
Dakota pointed out all the types of trees we passed, giving easy instructions on how we could identify them, and what sorts of things they’d been used for over the years. His voice carried, the smooth timbre of it like velvet on my ears. No wonder he did so well as an equine therapist, with a voice like that.
The clip-clop of hooves filled up my soul to overflowing as we crossed the bridge over a rushing river and waterfall. I hadn’t quite realized how much I missed this. Cooper and I had absconded with horses off the Harris ranch a thousand times growing up, carving our own trails and finding pristine lookouts.
Maybe Germany had similar experiences where we were moving. Bruce and Bryan probably wouldn’t be up for it, but maybe I could ask Oskar and Karl to take me as part of the courting process.
The trail gently sloped as we completed the first third of our trip, and I let Starlight’s sure steps navigate the path.
Sunlight burst over us as we eventually left the trees, settling into the vast grasslands. Wild flowers poked through in bright splashes of color: sunshine yellow of arrowleaf balsamroot and arnica, blue and purple of lupines, bright red Indian paintbrush, pink fairy slippers, and the concentric red and yellow circles of blanket flowers. Cooper had learned to make flower crowns back in the day, weaving bunches of Montana’s blossoms into a birthday crown for me every year. They’d been some of my most cherished possessions back in the day, even when they’d become dried out and sun-bleached. They were still a symbol that someone loved me. I’d always been shit at them myself, but maybe Cash could help me construct one for old time’s sake. Was I a terrible person for wishing Cooper was here thisweekend, that he might think of me fondly enough to make me another?
The flowers around us were so beautiful, like drops of paint scattered across the landscape. The background on my computer was most often a field just like this one, a small reminder of where I had come from. I had tattoos of almost every bloom along the trail down my ribs on each side.
I thought about picking a few, pressing and drying them, but I was pretty sure customs wouldn’t be happy about me trying to bring plants to Germany. The few I had done that with before moving to New York had gone missing when I moved in with Bruce and Bryan. Bruce had blamed the cleaners, switching to a new company after several of my things had disappeared.
“Is this almost over?” Bruce groused. “I’m tired of looking at a horse’s ass.”
“You’re supposed to be enjoying nature,” I pointed out.
“I don’tlikenature. That’s why I live in a high-rise. I’m only tolerating this because I likeyou.”
If only he could tolerate a little quieter.
Maybe I could ask Cash to take me out on our own trail ride later so I didn’t have to listen to my alphas complain the whole time.
Dakota paused us as we came to the river crossing. We were nice and late in the season so it was pretty chill as far as rivers went, looking maybe about knee-deep where we were about to cross. We stood quietly while everyone caught up, but Bruce was already getting pissy.
“This is fucking bullshit. I can see the lodge from here. I’m going on ahead.”
I spun around to tell him that wasn’t how a trail ride worked just as he gave his horse a vicious kick, scaring the absolute shit out of her and making her bolt straight into Starlight. She reared up in a panic, kicking backward when she landed, bucking meright over her head where I tumbled down the riverbank and crashed into the icy water.
The cold stole my breath, my muscles seizing. I pawed at the slippery rocks, the water sweeping me away before I could get a grip.
Fucking fuck.
I screamed before the current sucked me under when the river slid around the bend.
Goddamnit. Was I actually going to drown because Bruce couldn’t wait five fucking minutes for everyone to catch up?
I grabbed for anything I could to steady myself, but the rocks were so fucking slippery. Panic clogged my throat, the air at the surface eluding me as the freezing water tossed me around.
No, no, no.
I couldn’t die like this.
Not after just finding Cash again. Not before I could tell Cooper how sorry I was for never coming back.
I couldn’t go yet.
As my lungs burned and panic dulled my senses, luring me to accept my fate, it wasn’t Bruce’s and Bryan’s faces I saw. It was Cooper’s wild red curls and freckled face. It was Cash’s cheeky smile and bright laugh that rang in my ears.
Please don’t let me die.
A warm body slammed against me, an arm wrapping around my waist and launching me against the riverbank.
My fingers latched on to some prairie grass. It sliced against my skin before I got a good grip, and I dug my fingers into the soft ground, holding on for dear life.
“I’ve got you.”
Levi.
