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Raya looked the man up and down. She had yet to see anything of him that looked more than just a cute, puppy-dog exterior. “No, I’m good,” she said. “Michaela might want some.”
Joel flapped his hand dismissively. “She doesn’t need anything; she won’t even be awake for it.”
Raya smiled, impressed that Joel had already learned the ins and outs of the sisters. “You’re right,” she said, “she won’t be.”
“Do you think she’ll mind if I hook up the horse and get us moving?” he pondered. He scratched at his unshaven chin, a little sprouting of hair lingering there. “I would like to get going as soon as possible. If we’re fast, we can get to Montana by the end of the day,” he said, more to himself than to Raya.
“I think we’ll be just fine,” Raya said. “She won’t notice.”
“Like she almost didn’t notice the snake last night?” Joel teased.
Raya blushed a dark red, which just barely showed up behind her heavy tan. “There wasn’t any way she didn’t notice it,” Raya said. “I did it because I knew she would notice.”
“Are you jealous of her?” Joel asked.
Raya stood up, and brushed off the dirt that had gathered on her pants. “I don’t think that matters,” she said. “I think that right now, we should get going. If we leave before she wakes up, we won’t have to deal with her complaining for a few hours yet.”
Joel didn’t seem happy with the answer he had been given, but he didn’t say anything about it. He stood, and gave the horses each a couple pats before hooking up the other horse to the coach. He hopped up on the seat, and Raya pulled herself into Archer.
For a long time, they rode in silence, admiring how nice it was without the complaining of a certain somebody. Raya found it peaceful, without an absurd amount of complaints that didn’t do anybody any good. She looked around, admiring the scenery that passed by. Occasionally, she nudged Archer into a little gallop—with Joel’s permission—and they rode ahead of the coach.
Raya didn’t know when Michaela woke up, but it suddenly made the journey to Montana seem so much longer than it needed to be. She complained about everything she could—the heat, not being closer to Joel, the smell of the horses, and whatever else she could think of.
At least they reached Montana before nightfall. The sun was just barely beginning to set, but still peeking out over the horizon. Raya was the first to see the estate, having loped ahead with Archer. A crew of servants were there to meet her at the gate, offering to guide Archer to the stables and show her to her room. She denied, and waited for Joel. She trotted around the place on Archer’s back, the stallion whinnying happily now that he had reached his home again.
Raya had never seen such a large house; it was almost as though it were the size of a hotel. She honestly wouldn’t doubt if it was the size of a hotel. Certainly, it was at least four of her and Michaela’s house where they had come from. She hadn’t even thought to ask Joel how big his house was, or the acreage that he owned.
A few moments later, and Joel and Michaela rolled up in the coach. Michaela was escorted inside by a young servant girl, and their suitcases were taken up the stairs and into the house. Joel disconnected the horse attached to the coach, and rode the gentle mare over to Raya and Archer.
“Would you like a tour of the property?” Joel asked.
Raya nodded. She hadn’t even needed to be asked, she would have gone on her own. First, Joel took her on a simple circle of the house, pointing out different rooms and different parts of the houses. He kept their horses at a slow walk, and close enough that their legs brushed as the horses moved.
Joel eventually reached out to Raya, and she couldn’t help but hesitate. A few moments later, and she gently reached out and took Joel’s hand in her own. He looked at her, turning a sweet smile to her. He couldn’t remember seeing the girl looking so peaceful since he had met her.
“Joel?” she began, breaking a long silence between the two of them. “How did you get all of this?”
They had pulled the horses into the stables, and were dismounting. Archer had the biggest corral of all the horses, and he pawed at the ground happily. His tail swished, keeping flies at bay. Raya glanced back at Joel, who was loading the new horse into her corral. He looked pensive, as though he had been waiting for the question, but hadn’t been ready to provide an answer.
“Joel?” she prompted, just in case he hadn’t heard her.
“I heard you,” Joel said. He ran a hand through his wild hair, sighing deeply. “Could we talk about something else?” he asked. He turned to Raya again, and put a hand on her shoulder.
She furrowed her eyebrows at him, and yanked her shoulder away from him. “No,” she said. “I want to know.” She looked Joel up and down, watching as he leaned back against one of the wooden beams in the stable. He looked so calm and collected, despite the harsh gleam in his eyes.
“Why should you have to know?” he asked. “Michaela is happy enough just knowing that she’ll be rich and taken care of for the rest of her life.” He paused. “Isn’t that good enough for you?”
“No,” Raya snapped. “I don’t want good enough.” She narrowed her eyes at Joel. What seemed moments earlier she had been impressed with his intuition, but now she found him lacking. “I will never settle for good enough, I only want the best and I always want the truth.”
Joel watched Raya, a cool glare on his face. He wasn’t angry, just annoyed that Raya was pressing him so much for information that she didn’t need to know. A second later, and his glare broke into a little smile. “I should have known that,” he said. “From a girl like you, I shouldn’t have expected anything else.”
Raya scoffed, ready to say something sharp in return. He should have known. He shouldn’t have taken in two girls before he knew anything about them. She was cut off, though, as Joel was suddenly in front of her, his hands on her cheeks. He was kissing her hard, not sparing her mind even a single moment to process what had just happened to her. She lurched back, eyes wide, but unable to break the hungry stare that Joel was giving her.
Raya was reminded of the way a wolf stares down a rabbit before it attacks. She felt all too like that rabbit, her heart panicking inside of her chest and threatening to burst and escape her. Joel’s features even looked more wolfish, his wide grin baring each of his pearly white teeth. Raya didn’t know what to say, so she continued to watch him with wide eyes.
Her head was buzzing from the kiss, rather like she had just downed a bottle of the strongest moonshine. Too fast for her liking, Joel had stepped forward, hands on her shoulders, and was kissing her with all the might that he could muster.
Chapter Six
