Page 47 of Hit the Ground
But Caleb wouldn’t even entertain the idea of me leaving. Nor did he think I should be on my own yet. That was how I ended up shadowing him while he worked the ranch.
The sun was peeking over the hills when we headed out to the barn. I was wearing Jesse’s boots and sweats, and one of Caleb’s flannels. I looked absolutely ridiculous. When Caleb saw me in my outfit, he’d patted my head like a child.
“Stay close.” The muscles in his back flexed as he pushed open the barn doors. “Don’t need you getting trampled.”
I laughed, careful not to jostle my sore ribs too much. “No. Getting trampled is the last thing I need.”
He shot me a smirk, then guided me to sit on an overturned bucket before he got to work alongside a few other men. Despite their curious looks my way, he hadn’t introduced me to them.And that was fine. I wasn’t much in the mood to talk to strangers anyway.
I watched him check feed bins, heft bales of hay like they weighed nothing, and swing saddles over horses’ backs in one smooth motion. He brushed down a palomino mare, his hands firm and sure on her sleek flank, and I wondered if he’d let me ride her. Not today, obviously, but one day.
At one point, he turned and caught me staring. “Are you bored yet?”
“Not at all. Actually…it’s kind of fascinating.”
His brow furrowed, like he didn’t believe me. “It’s just work, Alice. Nothing special.”
I grinned. “Well, to me it is. I’ve only read about ranchers. This is my first time experiencing one in real life.”
He put his dirty hands on his hips and stared for a long beat before nodding. “Then we’ll have to give you the full experience.”
He took me out in a UTV, driving at a snail’s pace over bumps and bends. When he continuously slid his gaze over to me, I suspected his low speed was for my sake, but I didn’t complain. Not when I was still so achy all over and there was a low throb in my temples. The fresh air was doing me good, though, and I couldn’t take in my surroundings quickly enough.
The Kelly ranch was something out of the old Westerns I used to read. This land was rugged and raw. Yellowed grass stretched for miles, brittle under the summer sun, dotted with clumps of sagebrush and the occasional wiry bush clinging to life. Rocks jutted up from the earth, their edges worn smooth by wind and time.
We drove past herds of cattle spread out across the plains, their dark bodies stark against the pale grass. Some picked their way carefully around the rocks, others stood huddled under the scant shade offered by a lone tree, its leaves fluttering in the late spring breeze.
Dust billowed behind us as Caleb steered around a rut, the UTV bouncing over the uneven terrain. It was harsh country. Unforgiving, sunbaked, and vast. It was beautiful, too, in a way that made my chest ache. This land made me feel small, in the best way possible.
I glanced at Caleb as he navigated the rough terrain, one hand loose on the wheel, the other resting on his thigh. He made sense here, like he’d been born from this rugged land. As he slowed to check a broken fence post, I couldn’t stop the bloom of heat that unfurled in my chest.
“I’m going to put you to work,” he stated.
“Oh yeah?” I held up my cast. “Are you sure I can handle it?”
“Think you can hold a nail?”
I grinned. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure I can manage that.”
He motioned me over to him. “Then get over here. The day’s wasting.”
With surprising eagerness in my belly, I climbed out of the UTV and went to where he was standing by a sagging section of fence. He gave me a bundle of nails to hold, the calloused pads of his fingers brushing my palm. Every time I passed him one, his fingers slid along mine, making my breath stutter.
I decided not to think about my feelings today. My brain was supposed to be resting, after all. Instead, I let the steady motion of pass, hammer, pass, hammer soothe me. I didn’t think I was cut out to be a rancher full time, but there was something to be said for spending the day outdoors, working with your hands, and seeing the results of your labor immediately.
Caleb paused often, checking on me with quiet glances, handing me his water bottle before I could ask. The air was still cool, but the sun was high. Sweat beaded at his temples and ran down the column of his neck, disappearing under the collar of his shirt.
I tried not to stare, but…wow. Caleb, in his natural environment, was the most compelling thing I had ever seen. The breeze whipped his brown hair into streamers. His massive boots were planted in the soil like he’d grown out of this ground—likehewas one of the sandstone outcroppings.
I turned away, swallowing hard.Enough of that.
After checking the rest of the fence line, we headed back toward the barn. When he stopped the vehicle, he turned to me, one hand draped over the wheel. “You hungry, Allie?”
No one had ever called me Allie. I guessed this was going to be Caleb’s thing. And I…didn’t mind it. Not even a little bit.
“I’m getting there.”
“Come on.” He jerked his chin in the direction of his house in the distance. “We’ll grab something then I need to check the north pasture.”
