Page 63 of Wild Horses

“Is that where he got his?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He said he rounded up as many as he could and fenced them in, then spent long months taming them. If it hadn’t been for those horses, my grandpa said they would have probably starved. Taming and selling those horses is the only thing that kept the ranch running in the beginning.”

Jesse leaned down over the pommel of his saddle, crossing his arms and watched those horses until the sun lowered enough the sky turned an inky blue-black. He sat up and let out an exhausted breath. It had been a long day. “You shouldn’t have ridden this far ahead alone.”

She made a sound deep in her throat and looked his way. “As you can see, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, thankfully.” He braced his hands on the pommel. “And what if you had been met by someone way out here?”

“Like who?” She laughed and swung an arm in a wide arc. “There’s no one for miles in any direction.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes.”

He nodded off to the right, then pointed. “See that gray bit there that looks like a cloud?”

“Yes.”

“I’d bet every dime your pa is paying me that its smoke from an Indian camp.”

She laughed. “You’ve been reading too many dime novels. There aren’t Indians around every rock, you know.”

“Are you willing to risk your life on that kind of thinking?’

She looked toward the horizon again. “Well, even if it is Indians, they’re way over there and I know for a fact no one can see a person from this distance.”

“No, but what makes you think those wild horses don’t belong to them? And someone isn’t down there watching over them? Or you, for that matter? They could be planning your abduction as we speak.”

The color leached out of her face before she sat up straight. She was silent for a long minute, then laughed. “You’re just trying to scare me.”

Maybe he was, but it could be true. He didn’t let her see a hint of the humor he felt and pulled the reins to get the horse turned. “Let’s go, Alex. Isaac will have camp set up and supper cooking. I want something to eat and three days of sleep and I can’t do that if I have to watch your every move.”

“I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself.”

He nodded back toward the cattle with his head. She rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath but turned and headed back toward camp. He gave one last look at the wild horses then followed her back to the others.

Twenty

Jesse followedher all the way back to camp and never said a word. Alex was grateful for that small favor.

She’d spent the majority of the day trying to decide how to handle the rest of the trip. There was no denying she’d enjoyed the previous night’s activities under that old chuck wagon but letting that sort of thing continue would only cause her problems down the road, just like this marriage would. It was a mistake. None of this was real and pretending it was would make it harder to go about their lives once they made it back to Willow Creek. She was sure a judge would dissolve the marriage when he learned the circumstances that led to it. Plus, if it never gets consummated, then it’s not really a marriage anyway.

She slid to the ground when she reached the area the extra horse’s were hobbled and paid Jesse little attention while removing the horses saddle and giving him a good brushing. She spent more time than was needed, truth be told, in hopes Jesse would head toward the campfire without her. As usual, he never did as she wanted him to.

Tossing the horse brush, she wiped her hands on her pant legs and headed to camp. Jesse fell into step with her but stayed silent.

Isaac told them to wash up when they reached the wagon, then handed them plates. Jesse beat her to the pot hanging over the fire, dishing up a plate full of cowboy stew before handing the plate off to her and reaching for the one she held.

Alex found a spot by the wagon wheel to eat. Jesse stayed by the fire with the others and she was glad for it. She needed to keep her distance from him. It was the only way she knew how to keep their situation from getting out of hand.

She still wasn’t sure she believed Isaac’s story about Jesse being in love with her and she wasn’t ready to test his theory. Her life was complicated enough as it was. She had to find a way to convince her pa to let her live as she wished, and be a rancher instead of a teacher, and she had to deal with Hugh and the proposal he thought was real. Adding Jesse into the mix made things more confusing. As long as their fake marriage stayed fake, ending it would be easier and there would be no hard feelings.

The food was good, as usual, and by the time she’d finished the day was wearing long. She was hot, sweaty and so tired she could sleep leaning against the wheel at her back.

“What’s on your mind?”

Alex looked up when Isaac spoke and reached down for her empty plate. “I’m just tired.”

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