Page 83 of Wrangled

I guess I’ve made a decision.

I’d talk to him the following day—and hope he wanted to head in the same direction.

Wednesday, June 15

Zeeb handed the coiled rope up to me. “You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” In my other hand I clutched Lightning’s reins. I bent over, patted his neck, and whispered, “We’re going to do this, okay?”

That whinny was either him sayingSureorYou’re gonna land on your ass, mister.

Walt got onto the quad bike, to the rear of which was attached a metal steer that was nothing more than a head to aim for, the rest of it just flat metal. Walt twisted to glance at me. “I won’t be taking it slow, okay?”

I nodded.

“Go for it,” Teague hollered from the other side of the fence. Butch, Paul, Declan, and Garrett were lined up to watch, which did not relieve the pressure I’d already put myself under. There were a couple of hands I didn’t recognize too.

Then I caught sight of Robert strolling toward the paddock, and my stomach clenched. I leaned over once more. “Hey, Lightning. The boss is here. Don’t make me look bad, okay?” I had visions of falling off while I tried to rope the damn thing.

Walt turned the key, and drove across the paddock away from me, tugging the metal steer behind him. I waited until he’d put some distance between us, then galloped after him, the rope twirling over my head. I launched it, looped over the metal steer’s head, and pulled it taut.

Zeeb was the first to applaud. “Yay.Man, you’re good with a rope.” The others followed suit.

I didn’t need to turn around to know the cough I heard came from Robert.

I rode Lightning over to the mounting block. As I got off him, I patted his back. “Good boy. I’ll be out with a treat for you later.”

Paul chuckled. “I’ll take him. And I’ll make sure he gets his treat.” He led Lightning toward the stable.

“Dude, you made it look easy,” Garrett complained. “I’m never going to be able to do this.”

“Hey, let’s concentrate on one skill at a time, okay?” Zeeb told him. “We get you comfortable on a horse, that’s the priority. We’ve got plenty of guys if we need to rope steers. At least that way, you’ll be able to come on the cattle drive.” He gave Garrett a warm smile. “You’ll love it.”

I took my hat off to Zeeb. The man was good with people.

“You sure?” Garrett’s brow furrowed.

“Course I’m sure. Tell you what—how about you and me go on a trail ride this morning? A nice easy trail, just to ease you into it. We can take as long as we like.”

Garrett’s expression of longing told me he wanted to believe Zeeb. Then he pointed toward me and Declan. “But what about them?”

“Dec’s coming with me to check on the herd,” Teague announced. He grinned. “Not like he hasn’t donethatbefore.”

Declan laughed. “Hey, I’m hoping if I ever quit the rat race, you’ll give me a job here.”

“And Toby doesn’t need any more lessons,” Zeeb added. His eyes glittered. “You get an A.”

“Thanks, Teach.” I gazed at the group of ranch hands. “So what will I be doing?”

Butch snorted. “Do youreallywant us to answer that?”

I thought I’d gotten off lightly so far that morning. No one had said a word about my ‘walk.’ I should’ve known they wouldn’t stay quiet for too long.

“I’m going to go up to the house for coffee. I’ve only had three cups this morning.” Robert’s eyes met mine. “You can come with me if you like.”

Walt beamed. “There you go—the boss will take care of you.”

Zeeb coughed and Robert aimed a glance at him. Zeeb shrugged. “I’m sayin’ nothing.”

---