Page 17 of Blazing Hot Nights
“I had to give Rapunzel a break. She was tired after herding all day. I apologize for the noise,” I answered when I got close enough that I didn’t have to yell. “Where are Tex and Dawn?”
“Probably hiding from me,” she hissed.
She certainly was as surly as a bison cow ready to deliver.
It had been a week since I’d last sat around the fire eating s’mores with her and screwed up again by mentioning my dead wife. I wondered if there would ever be a time when Callie’s name could be said without instant guilt filling the space between us. I didn’t think so, at least not on Heaven’s part.
After last Thursday night, I had to take a step back. That was the smartest move I could make. If we did business together amicably, everyone would get more out of a deal. The problem was, I didn’t think Heaven could see past the situation she was mired in right now to believe she had a future here at Heavenly Lane. At least that was the report I’d gotten from Tex the other day. He might be young, but he was incredibly intuitive. He could see this ranch circling the drain, and he was doing everything he could to be the plug; however, he couldn’t shoulder that burden much longer.
“I doubt Tex and Dawn are hiding from you. They love you the way a red dog loves his cow.”
Heaven laughed then, and the sound was relaxed instead of tight and stiff the way she held her body. “I doubt that’s true after this week, but whatever the case, I think they went into town to let off a little steam.”
“You didn’t want to go with them?”
She poked at the fire and rested the stick between her legs. “You know that’s not my jam. I prefer the outdoors and a good fire.”
“I can’t blame you there. I’m the same way. Beau went into town and tried to drag me along. After the week I had, I wasn’t interested. He claims I’m getting old, but I’m just not the barfly type.”
Heaven swiveled toward me, her entire body turning, which told me her shoulder and neck were still bothering her. That was the reason I had sat on the left side of her. I wanted to see if she was improving. She wasn’t.
“Did you have a bad week?”
“Not bad, no,” I answered, setting the package down by my feet. “Just insanely busy. We had four red dogs born this week.”
“Wait, the bison are still calving? I thought that was over in May. It’s the middle of June.”
I took my hat off, hooking it on my knee. “Imagine my surprise. The three cows were part of a new group I purchased recently. I don’t think the seller knew they were pregnant. Bonus for me, but the last one was tricky. Got dealt a pair.”
“Twins?”
“Yup, only my third set in all of these years.” I accepted a beer and raised the long neck to her for a moment before taking a drink. “All I could do was watch her closely, as you know. She came through it okay, which is great. Both red dogs survived, and thankfully, a cow that had a stillborn calf earlier this month adopted the second red dog. I think they’ll both thrive now. I have four more mouths to feed though.”
She did her giggle snort that always made Mr. Monster stand at attention. Hells bells, this woman had me coming and going all the time, and she was none the wiser. It had to stay that way too. I had one mission with Heaven, and it wasn’t to get her pants off and properly introduce her to Mr. Monster. It was to buy her land and expand my herd. I had to remember that.
“As if you’re worried. I’m the one who should be worried. The bigger your herd gets, the more it’s bound to encroach on my ranch.”
I waved my hand until I finished the swallow of beer. “The new cows are just replacing the older breeding stock. I sent a good number to auction too. You know I have to keep my herd at a certain size. The land can’t support more. Speaking of herds, I don’t see yours.”
“I’m not talking business tonight, Blaze,” she hissed, her body going rigid, and her words spitting mad at the mention of cattle.
“I’m not here to fight with you, Heaven. I was just making conversation. If you don’t want to talk business, we won’t talk business.”
She didn’t say a word, just tipped her bottle back to her lips, then stared into the fire. I wasn’t going to push her into telling me the ranch was failing. I could see that with my own two eyes. I used to think she couldn’t see it. Now I could see she did and just didn’t know what to do about it. If she wasn’t so damn stubborn all the time, I could fix her problem. She didn’t want to hear it though. Duane believed determination and hard work could keep Heavenly Lane afloat. He died trying. Unfortunately, he had convinced his daughter to carry on the tradition of trying and failing before he passed.Sometimes, you have to buckle to the wind or die trying to stand up straight.Great, now I sounded like Beau.
“Are you going to the rodeo next weekend?” I asked, keeping the conversation clear of anything to do with the ranches. “It’s guaranteed to be a good time.”
“Maybe. I’m not a huge rodeo fan,” she answered with a shrug of her right shoulder. Her indifference about the rodeo—while almost convincing—hadn’t covered the shiver that went through her at the question.
“You used to be.”
“I was a kid. That was a long time and a lot of history ago.” Her words were believable, but the way her hand automatically went to her left shoulder and neck undermined her sentence.
I steadied my beer bottle on the gravel and stood, moving my chair closer to hers. This woman was in agony. It was written all over her face in every movement she made. I couldn’t stand to watch it any longer. I couldn’t sit here and do nothing to help her. I did that once, and it about killed me. My brain told me that my hands should be anywhere but on Heaven Lane. Too bad they weren’t listening. My emotions were ruling these hands now.
I took her hand down off her shoulder and started a gentle massage while I spoke softly to keep her calm. “What don’t you like about the rodeo? The clowns?” I asked while my hands savored the feeling of her silky soft skin under them. Her muscles were in knots again, but dammit, her skin was a glorious alabaster in the firelight. I wanted to lay my lips on it and inhale the scent of her. She always smelled of fresh air, sunshine, and a barely-there flower I suspected was lilacs, likely from her sunscreen. You don’t work on a ranch and wear perfume. You also don’t work on a ranch and not wear sunscreen. My gut told me this woman used something that made her feel like a lady, even if she was doing man’s work.
Her soft moan filled the night as I worked at a tight muscle. “I’m not afraid of clowns. I live next to one and hold my own just fine.”
