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“How was your day with Carl?” I wrap my grip around my saddle and heft it from Chance’s back. Her long fingers steal the saddle pad. Once more, I see her equine experience. Sweaty as I got my horse, that pad shouldn’t be put away beneath the saddle. It needs to dry on top, so it doesn’t grow fungus. Which is exactly where she places it once my saddle is on the rack. In her next movement, she grabs the sweat scraper and grooming tools. Wanting to see her skills, I step out of her way.
“It was…I don’t know.” Her sentence doesn’t finish at first. Instead, she slips into what looks like second nature instinct while she works with Chance. Scraping the sweat off that she can, she sets in with the curry comb, and then the hard brush. “He’s complicated.”
I can’t help but pull a face. “Understatement.”
It earns me a soft smile. “You are nothing alike, and yet, so similar.”
That surprises me. “We are not.”
“You’re both fiercely protective of your parents, eager to please them and do right by the family name.” Her fingers spread wide, massaging Chance’s shoulder. “He told me his history.”
I resist the urge to groan. “Yeah? All about the foster kid who stole his birthright?”
She moves along Chance’s spine, working slowly, though I’m not sure what she’s doing. A quick glance at Chance’s face tells me he’s not in pain, in fact, he seems half-asleep. When Sunny moves to a new area, he seems to lean toward her.
“There’s tension there,” Sunny says, but I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or Chance. “If I hadn’t met you first, it might have colored my perception of you.” Her eyes catch mine over Chance’s hindquarters. “But I did, and I know you couldn’t be malicious if your life depended on it.”
I laugh a bit before I cross my boots at the ankle and lean against the hitching rail. “Is that so? How do you know that?”
“Because anyone else would have tossed me to the wind the second Stolls and Whitlock showed up. They certainly wouldn’t have led them away or come back to rescue me on horseback.”
I shrug like it was nothing. “They won’t be bothering you anymore.”
For a second, I have her full attention. “Why would you think that?”
“Cookie called in some favors. A blonde down south is causing a stir with a SubBugmarine.” I wink and get a rush when her cheeks flush at that nod to our inside joke. “There’s a trail to follow and it’s nowhere near here.”
I swear tears glisten in her eyes before she blinks them away and turns her attention back to Chance, working the side closest to me. “Thank you,” she whispers. “Even if it only lasts a few weeks, it’ll be a welcome break not to have to look over my shoulder.”
The stillness of the evening seeps in between us. The ocean rumbles in the distance, the most constant sound in my life. A glance at the corral tells me I was the last to come in. We’re alone. If I were a bit more of a Casanova, I’d make my move, let her know about the attraction burning in my gut, but I’m content to watch her work. Her long fingers rub and massage Chance’s muscles until he’s nearly asleep. I doubt he’s ever been pampered like this, none of us ever had the skills. Dad used to have a friend he would call in twice a year to do this kind of bodywork, but I wager Dr. Hutchings is gone by now, another one of those obits Dad reads at night after dinner.
“I took your advice.” Sunny breaks the silence first. She casts a darting glance over her shoulder. “Auburn. I’ve never had any kind of red in my hair. It seemed like a good disguise, at least, that’s what I figured you were telling me earlier today.”
If I had more guts, I’d tell her I can’t wait to see it on her, or I’d admit how jealous I was that Carl got to spend the day with her. But I’m not one to share my thoughts easily.
“That should do the trick.”
She pulls Chance’s lead rope from the rail, pausing once to look at me. “Carl seemed to think it would look good.”
The jealousy from earlier flashes through me. “That may be the first time we’ve ever agreed on something.”
Sunny rolls her eyes but smiles like she knows the words I’m not saying. “You missed dinner.”
I trail after her as she moves my horse to the corral. Again, I don’t know if she’s talking to him or me. I take a risk and ask, “What about you?” I rest against the gate, watching her release the buckle on Chance’s halter before turning him loose. Sunny turns back to face me. Despite my heart pounding in my chest, I push it further. “Have you eaten yet?”
The sun hasn’t set yet, not fully. If we hurry, we could probably catch the tail end of dinner in the bunkhouse but sharing her with a roomful of rowdy cowboys isn’t what I’m looking for.
“Not yet. I got back just in time to bring everyone in, and then I was waiting on you.” She pushes her fingers into her hair. “Actually, I was thinking about blowing off dinner and taking a shower for the first time in…. oh, I don’t want to admit how long.”
“Tell you what. You go do what you need to do, I’ll get us some dinner.” I can’t help the smile that slides into place, she brings it out in me. “Deal?”
“Deal.”
Sunny
I sneak up the staircase while at least half the guys are still at the table. I should probably wait to color my hair, but I don’t know the next time the stars will align, and I’ll get a shot at the shower without a line behind me.
I grab what I need from my bags I stashed behind the privacy curtain in my corner. When I step back out, only Silas is on the beds. We exchange quick smiles, but he almost blushes at the idea of me showering and rolls away with his book to face the wall.
