Page 75 of Cowboy Daddies

It wasn’t bondage.

Ma beamed at everyone as she headed back to the front. “Great! Now that we’re all ready, let me explain how this works. You are tied to your life partner with one rope. Your tied hands are out of commission. What we want you to do, is use your free hands to tie the other rope into a plain old shoelace bow.”

“Without talking,” Pa added.

“Right, you’ll be working together without talking. So, you’ll have to figure out how to communicate with each other in other ways. Marriage is built on communication and it’s not always verbal. You have to be able to understand what your partner needs from you, even when they can’t tell you.” Ma pulled a stopwatch out of her shirt pocket and held it up. “You’ve got five minutes, and the first couple to succeed gets to move into a private cabin a day early.”

That got Ally’s attention. There was only one night left in the bunkhouse anyway, but it still seemed like a pretty big prize. But they weren’t the first couple, or even the second. They squeaked in as the fifth just before time was up. She’d assumed that Carter’s skill with knots and rope in general would give them an advantage, but it didn’t. Or not much of one anyway.

Communicating without words was a serious struggle, which honestly, she should have known would be an issue. Hadn’t their dynamic fallen apart because of a misunderstanding? Hadn’t she struggled to explain what she needed, while he assumed she wanted something totally different? The ropes, presented as a fun couple-building activity, had nevertheless pinpointed a real problem.

She was starting to think that Ma and Pa knew what they were doing.

She was wrapped in her own thoughts as they trudged inside for lunch. It wasn’t the first activity to make her think. While there was a lot of work to do, and a lot of new things to learn about the ranch, occasionally their hosts would slip in these really insightful games. She wasn’t sure how the other couples were receiving them, but for her they’d all been pretty eye-opening.

“You’re a million miles away,” Carter said as he reached for her hand. “Everything okay?”

She poked her fork into her salad with her other hand, moving the lettuce around more than actually eating it. “Yeah.” She tried to shake off her thoughts, turning to him with a slight smile. “When we first got here, I thought it was going to be therapy sessions all day. And then I thought it was just going to be free labor for their ranch. Now…”

“Now?”

“Now, I think I’m glad you signed us up for this. The activities have been helpful at least. The work, well, my hands are never going to be the same after this. I’m going to need an emergency manicure for sure, but I guess I don’t mind the ranch stuff either. And the evening bitch sessions in the bunk with the other girls have been really cathartic too.”

Carter’s eyebrows went up. “Bitch … sessions?”

“Don’t you guys talk over there?”

He shook his head. “Not that much.”

She just blinked. “Huh. Well, we talk about problems we’ve had and what frustrates us. It helps to get the words out to someone who isn’t invested in the relationship. And I think it might help me be able to talk to you better when we get home. If nothing else, venting is great though.”

There was a slight frown tilting his mouth, as if he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about being discussed, but then he shrugged it off. “I’ve been finding this all helpful too. I…” He trailed off and went quiet.

When he didn’t seem inclined to continue, she nudged him. “You what?”

He hesitated and then said, “I forgot how much I loved this life. The open spaces, the animals, the hard work. Coming back here is changing my perspective on a few things.”

“Maybe, um, we can visit again?”

He nodded as he let go of her hand and picked up his fork. “Maybe.”

The conversation left her feeling unsettled, though she wasn’t sure why. It was natural for him to realize he’d missed this life, right? She told herself it didn’t mean anything.

Saddling up her horse helped to distract her. The fiddly bits needed her concentration. And while they didn’t really have designated mounts, Miss Priss was her favorite so far. They’d started everybody on the calmest animals, like Sammie, horses that were more interested in a slow walk and graze, than a trot.

But she’d quickly worked her way up to a more spirited mount, and realized how much fun riding could be. Miss Priss had just enough fire to make things interesting, without scaring her. Ally slipped her some apple slices she’d saved from lunch, while Carter checked the straps.

“You’re such a pretty girl. Yes, you are,” she crooned, as the horse lipped at her palm.

Carter patted Priss’s flank, nodding as he turned to Allegra. “All set. Good job, sweetheart. I think you’ve got the hang of it.”

It had taken her a while to figure out all the complicated straps, but she’d finally sorted it out now, and hadn’t needed any help with the tack this time. Carter still made sure everything was in place. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was a cowboy, or because he was her Daddy. Either way, it was nice to know he was checking.

They led their mounts outside to join the rest of the guests who were milling around. It seemed like everyone had finally gained enough experience to leave the safe training ring, and the whole crowd would be out for this ride. Some were already on horseback, some just held the reins as they listened to the real cowboys who would lead them on the trail.

The instructions weren’t complicated, nothing they hadn’t been told every time they went out. Carter had been spending so much time with the ranch folks that she half expected him to ride up front and join them, but he didn’t. He stuck back with her, and they chatted as they rode.

“All those books I read growing up, the ones with girls who were absolutely crazy about horses, and I never got it,” she said at one point. “Now I do.” She patted Miss Priss’s neck and grinned.