Page 33 of Trails of Temptation

They knew. Archie knew. And he wasn’t wrong about Keely being able to ride. I’d seen it myself, and if I had the chance to get her alone and clear the air between us, I planned on letting her do just that to me again.

She was a prize. A real catch. And I was going to do what I had to do to fix everything between us, Pete be damned.

But Saturday rolled around and I found myself knee-deep in the pasture trying to wrangle a group of calves hellbent of causing chaos. It took me all damn day to reunite them with their frantic, overly aggressive mothers and went to bed that night covered in scrapes and bruises. I’d fallen asleep on the couch of all places, too tired and beat up to even make it up the stairs and into my bed.

But I woke up Sunday morning dead-set on mending the rift between Keely and me and set out before dawn to do just that.

I went to the big house thinking she’d be making breakfast but was met by Grant, who said everyone was still asleep. So, I had coffee on the porch with him until the sunrise sent sprays of color across the pasture. Grant had a task for me that prevented me from waiting for Keely to make an appearance, and it was midday before I finally found any freedom on my one day off each week.

But Keely wasn’t at the house. No one was.

I was on the edge of giving up completely as I went to get Daisy from her pen in the stables and suited her up for a ride.

I needed to clear my head before dinner. Grant was barbequing tonight, like almost every Sunday. Everyone who worked or lived on the ranch would be there, which meant Keely would be there, too. I needed to do this before my quick two-day trip to visit family in Helena. The barbeque was my only option now that the entire day had been wasted and I hadn’t run into Keely even once.

But my ride with Daisy was hot, too damn hot. Daisy was an old girl and had been slowing down for a while now. She didn’t do well in the heat, and being as stubborn as they come, resisted my commands to turn around and head to the stables and instead turned us toward the creek that ran through the lower pasture, the same creek Moira had rerouted a few years ago.

I gave up and let Daisy do whatever the hell she wanted, too distracted to even fight her about it. We walked down the short hill leading to the creek, the swaying grasses giving way to the lower grazing land that was currently unused by the herd of cattle. We had to move them around often, and the creek had become a play area to Day, especially in the dead of summer when the water was the only way to cool off.

Daisy stopped to graze and I sighed with frustration. “Make up your mind, girl,” I chided.

But her head perked up as we neared the creek and Day’s voice drifted through the soft breeze. In the distance, I could see Moira lying on her side, her head resting on her arm while Keely lay on her back next to her on a huge picnic blanket. Day was splashing in the creek with Jennie, and Moira’s Jeep was parked nearby, since there was no way Moira could have gotten this far into the pasture without a ride at this point.

I smiled to myself as Keely’s laugh cut through the air. I missed hearing it. It’d been so long since I’d heard it and I hated myself for being the reason for that.

But then Day screamed my name, and Keely sat up, looking right at me.

I couldn’t do anything but raise my hand in hello as Daisy continued to mosey on down to the creek for a drink of water.

“What’re you doing out here, George?” Moira chided, but I could see her smile from yards away. Keely, however, was stoned-faced. I couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, so I couldn’t read her expression, I just knew that look she was giving me was laced with hurt.

“Came down to check on you all,” I lied, dropping from the saddle. Keely perked up even more as I walked over, her shoulders going rigid as I crouched at the end of the blanket. “Does Grant know you came all the way here, Moira?”

“Keely drove me. Stop pestering me, George. I get enough of that from Grant,” she teased.

“If you go into labor out here, I’ll have to call the vet,” I quipped, which elicited a snort of mirth from Moira as she shooed me away.

I looked over at Keely, thankful to see a soft smile touching her full, beautiful lips, even if I couldn’t see the expression behind her eyes. I reached up to touch the rim of hat, gently bowing my head to her before I met her gaze once more. “Keely,” I said, my voice little more than a rasp as I said it. I prayed it held as much longing as hope as I’d meant it to.

Her mouth twitched like she wanted to say something, but I straightened to my full height and turned to take my leave.

“You’re coming tonight, right?” Keely asked.

I halted, turning to look at her over my shoulder. My chest tightened as I nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

I didn’t have to look down at Moira to know she was smirking over at Keely, her famous smug-ass grin plastered on her face.

“Ladies,” I said in farewell, then walked back over to Daisy and saddled up. I had to tear myself away from Keely, honestly. I wanted nothing more than to ride by and scoop her up and find a private place to tell her everything I needed to say to her. I couldn’t leave Moira alone, though. Pete was already going to kill me. I didn’t need to add Grant to the list.

I rode back to the upper pasture and left Daisy to graze while I made my way back to my house to shower and get ready for the night ahead.

Over the past week I’d been thinking of a job change, honestly. I’d been thinking of moving just to distance myself from the woman I was in love with. I couldn’t leave Grant high and dry like that though. I’d known it was never even an option.

But he’d been right when he told me I’d regret not pursuing what my heart desired.

Keely was mine, and I meant to keep it that way.

And later that night when I saw her being pestered by Archie, I finally had my chance to prove to her that I was serious. And she if she still wanted me, too, I’d be making her mine forever.

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