Page 29 of Blazing Hot Nights
Dawn leaned back and chewed her roll, then washed it down with coffee. “I wasn’t under the delusion you intended to go to the rodeo anyway.”
I pointed at her with my lips in a grim line. “I wasn’t. I planned to stay here and do the work so you guys could go. Still won’t matter. You’ll be done with your chores long before the rodeo starts, and Blaze and I should be back midmorning on Saturday anyway. It shouldn’t be a problem since we don’t have much of a herd right now, but I will need you to cover me until we’re back.”
“I’ll admit, I’m brutally curious about where you’re going, but more so, why. Why are you helping Blaze?” she asked, a grin on her face and her arms folded across her chest.
“I don’t want him to drive to South Dakota all night by himself. That’s not safe when he’s pulling his trailer too.” I was looking anywhere but at her when I answered. I was aware that my eyes would tell her the things I wasn’t saying with my lips.
“I don’t know that you can drive that rig, Heaven. You could set yourself back if you try.”
Again, I held up a palm to halt her scolding. “I know. I’ll take my portable steering wheel knob and only take over if Blaze needs a break. You know how easy it is to get through South Dakota. I can handle the straight and narrow with no problems. Mostly, I just want to be there to keep him awake at the wheel.”
She clucked her tongue while she bit back laughter. “Right. Keep Blaze awake at the wheel. That’s definitely an important job.”
“Dawn Lee,” I warned with as much bossiness as I could muster. “It’s nothing. I’m just helping out a friend.”
“Now he’s a friend? He used to be a frenemy that you didn’t trust.”
“That was before he kissed me a second time in the pasture Saturday night. That moved him closer into the friend category.”
Her hand came down on the table with a slap. “Shut up! You kissed him again?” she asked in a shriek. “Why don’t you tell me anything anymore!”
“Was that a question? Because it kind of ended on an exclamation point.”
She grunted at me with one brow lowered. “Heaven Lane. Speak. Now.”
I looked around the kitchen, afraid to meet her eyes and do something stupid like cry again. Worse yet, smile. That would egg her on more than crying. “I went for a ride on Grover after you left the barn on Saturday. Blaze was riding the ridge and spotted me. He was camping out in the pasture, so he offered me a shot ofJim Beam.”
Her huff of frustration told me I wasn’t giving her the answer she wanted.
“And one thing led to another, and you kissed again! Did anything else happen?”
“By anything else, you mean …?”
She motioned her hand around. “I don’t know, second base, third, fourth?”
“Did he lay me down in the pasture by the fire and have his way with me?” She nodded, her eyes wide as she waited for a titillating story she wasn’t going to get. “No.” Her face fell, and she flopped back against her seat. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know where we even stand with each other, much less consider going that far that fast.”
“I would say you’re at least standing close enough to each other to kiss. Finally. I swear I can hear the angels singing glory be in the highest right now.” She shook her head like every woman does when exasperated.
“Sarcasm. Nice,” I said equally as sarcastic. “You know what I mean. Blaze is older than me, far more experienced, and I killed his wife.”
Dawn stood and slapped the table at the same time. “You did not kill Callie! For God’s sake, Heaven.” Her hands went to her hair, and she tugged at it. “I’m getting on Black Beauty, and I’m riding over to Bison Ridge right now. I’m going to tell Blaze you said that! I’m going to tell him exactly what you think happened that day.”
I grabbed her before she could go anywhere. “Dawn, don’t!” I stared her down and my chest heaved as a tendril of fear spiraled through me. It started to coil the way it always does before the memories of those moments in the pasture roar through me. I shook my head, forcing them back and taking a deep breath.
She lowered her butt back to the chair and gave me the palms up. “He’s kissed you twice now, so I don’t think he blames you for Callie’s death,” she said adamantly, as though I was a toddler who needed constant reminding to stay on task.
“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I don’t blame myself,” I said, leaning forward. “Enough about Blaze and me. What’s happening with you and Beau?”
“Happening with Beau?” she repeated, and I nodded. “Um, he’s still trying to decide if he’s going back to Texas.”
“He’s not.”
“You don’t know that, Heaven,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “He’s pretty fed up with Blaze right now.”
“I understand that he’s frustrated, but Blaze has been his brother since he was eight. He’s not going to abandon him here. He has nothing waiting for him in Texas and everything waiting for him here.”
“What does he have waiting here? More work with no reward?”
