by Tia Souders
The sun boiled as it bared down on her while she worked. She wished she’d thought to bring a hair tie so she could pull her long locks off her neck. Instead, her hair stuck to her skin and her t-shirt to her chest.
“I can’t believe it,” a familiar voice called out.
Danny staggered on tired legs as she stacked an armful of freshly chopped wood inside the large shed and turned.
Tess stood, hands on her hips, her mouth turned down in a frown. Tucked under one arm was a large brown paper sack.
“He’s having you chop wood? This is the job he gave you?”
Danny exhaled and placed a hand on her hip, catching her breath.
Why was she out of breath?
She made a mental note to start working out more.
“First,” she held a finger out, “he had me clean stalls, but, yeah . . .”
Secretly grateful for the interruption, Danny took the opportunity to clasp her hands behind her back and stretch. Despite her failproof and less strenuous method of wood chopping, the muscles in her back ached and her biceps felt oddly like Jell-O. The combination of carrying armfuls of firewood, logs, and shoveling stalls were beginning to take their toll. If this job had taught her anything, it was how woefully out of shape she was. She had a feeling by this time tomorrow, her upper body would feel like someone pounded it with a mallet.
Tess frowned. “There were a bunch of things he could’ve had you do. He didn’t have to stick you with—”
“It’s fine.” Danny waved her away. “If your brother thinks he can scare me away with physical labor, let him. He’s wrong, and the sooner he sees that, the better. Because I’m not going anywhere.”
It was true. The more Rhett pushed her, the more determined she was to see this job through and stick around.
Tess assessed Danny, appraising her with a rueful grin. “I like you, Danielle Roberts. And I think you’re just what Montana Wilds needs.”
“We’ll see about that,” Danny said, but why did she feel like there was more to that statement? Like what Tess really meant to say was, I think you’re just what Rhett Montgomery needs, not Montana Wilds.
Danny stepped closer and wiped her brow with her forearm. When it came away damp with sweat, she grimaced. By the time this day was through, she’d desperately need a long, hot shower.
“So what brings you by?” Danny asked, squinting up at Tess, trying to shield the sun from her eyes.
Tess shook the brown bag in front of her. “Lunch. I needed a break and figured you could use one, too.”
“I don’t know . . .” Danny glanced around them as if expecting Rhett to peek around the corner any second, waiting to pounce the moment Danny took a break.
“Don’t be silly. It’s hot as Hades right now and you’re out here chopping wood. You need food to keep your energy up. And besides,” she said, reaching into the bag, “I brought ice-cold water.”
Tess held the bottle out and shook it until the condensation on the sides dripped. And Danny wasn’t going to lie, she nearly swooned as her tongue turned to sandpaper and she suddenly realized how thirsty she was.
Without another thought, she took the offered bottle, unscrewed the cap, and chugged half of it without taking a breath, then moaned. “Oh, thank you. I needed this.”
“My brother should be browbeaten for sending you out here without something to drink.”
Well, he did tell her to grab a water from the lodge first. So, naturally, Danny did the opposite just to spite him. But she wasn’t about to tell Tess that.
Tess turned and headed for a large Ponderosa Pine and settled on one of several large boulders beneath it, then waved Danny toward her. “Come on. We get an hour lunchbreak. Well, everyone except me,” she said with a roll of her eyes, pulling contents from the bag as she spoke. “Mine inevitably gets cut in half because I have to head for the creamery to check in, or one of the chefs has a question, or hospitality needs a break or a million other things. Around here, I’m kind of like Rhett’s right hand.”
Danny only hesitated a moment before she joined Tess. There was no denying she needed a break, and she’d earned that much at least.
Settling in across from her, Danny found herself hugely grateful for the company.
Tess pushed what appeared to be a huge sandwich wrapped in wax paper and a clamshell of fruit salad toward Danny. “Anyway, as I said, you get an hour, and you take it when you see fit. Most ranch hands and people such as yourself tend to go around noon, but you can do whatever suits you. Unless Rhett needs you to fill in at the front desk, you’re free to get your work done as you please, take your lunch, then punch out, so to speak, at the end of the day. Despite how he might seem, he doesn’t micromanage. He’s got enough work of his own to be following everyone around.”
“Good to know,” Danny said, then lifted her sandwich. “Thank you for this. I’m starving.”
“Sure thing.”
When Tess tossed her a moist towelette to clean her hands, Danny thought she just might be in love.
She ripped the little packet open and cleaned her hands, resisting the urge to also wipe the sweat and grime from her face, then set it aside and unwrapped her sandwich as her stomach growled.
The slices of bread were thick like the homemade stuff her mom used to make when she was a kid and sandwiched between them was a generous amount of turkey, bacon, and cheddar with lettuce and tomato. Delicious.
Danny dug in, eating as they sat in silence, enjoying the simplicity of each other’s company and the fresh air. With every bite of food, a little life returned to her. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was, whether from the day’s work or just life in general, she wasn’t sure, but the weariness inside her was bone-deep and as silly as it was, the simple sandwich and company helped.
“So you’re a chef at the resort restaurant?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Tess nodded and spoke around a bite of fruit. “Head chef, to be exact.” Then she grimaced. “I also help run the creamery and come up with recipes for different ice cream flavors. It’s fun and I love it, but sometimes Rhett’s a lot, even for me.”
“He definitely seems intense.”
Tess snorted. “That’s a word for him. But what about you? What brings you to Montana Wild?”
The bite of Danny’s sandwich turned to dust in her mouth and she swallowed. She had known this question was coming, yet she still hadn’t prepared for it.
“A divorce,” she said, the word settling between them like a stone.
No matter how much time passed, Danny wasn’t sure she’d ever grow used to the word. Never in a million years had she imagined she’d be a divorcee—a statistic.
Tess paused, a bite food halfway to her mouth as she zeroed in on Danny, her gaze scrutinizing her as if waiting for an explanation. When Danny didn’t give it, she asked, “Infidelity?”
Danny nodded. “My best friend.”
Tess sucked in a breath. “Ooh, that’s . . .”
“Brutal?” Danny glanced at her, offering her a small smile. “Yeah, it is. It was.”
Her stomach roiled, and she set the rest of her sandwich down, no longer hungry. Dusting her hands on her pants, she stared off into the distance as she thought about Neil. “I also worked in the same office as my ex. It didn’t take me long after I found out to realize I couldn’t stand to see his face every day. So I left, quit my job. In the matter of a week, I had no husband, no apartment, no friends, and I was gainfully unemployed. I think I might’ve spiraled off the deep end had I not seen a flyer for Montana Wild and thought, why not? I needed to get away.”
“A fresh start,” Tess said, and their eyes met.
Danny braced herself for the typical pity that followed, that sad look in Tess’s eyes that told her she felt sorry for her.
But what she found in Tess’s gaze was fire—no pity, compassion, or even sympathy—just raw anger on Danny’s behalf, and something else . . . acceptance.
“Yeah . . .” Tess
said, repeating Danny’s words, “why not?”
A beat of silence passed as both women picked at their fruit before Tess said, “We should hang out sometime. Maybe this weekend?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.” Danny grinned. How long had it been since she’d spent time with a girl friend? It felt like ages, and just the idea of it lifted her spirits.
For the next thirty minutes, Danny and Tess laughed and chatted, swapping stories about their childhood and what it was like growing up in two entirely different environments. It was nice having someone to talk to again, someone to share with. Danny couldn’t remember a time she had enjoyed someone’s company so much, and it wasn’t lost on her that in the matter of a day’s time, she felt more at home here at the ranch than she had back in Pittsburgh.
Just as Tess stood and started to bid her goodbye and Danny bent to pick up the rest of her trash, two dusty work boots appeared in the soft grass by her feet.
“Having fun, ladies?” a voice drawled.
Danny didn’t need to see the man in front of her to know who it was. She may have just met him, but she’d know those boots and that voice anywhere.
Still, she slowly straightened and got to her feet before glancing up at him.
Tess, on the other hand, wasted no time.
She stepped toward him, eyes ablaze. “I have a bone to pick with you,” she said, stabbing him with her finger.
“What else is new?” Rhett said, sounding bored.
“You have tons of more pressing things Danny could be doing, yet you have her out here chopping wood?”
“And cleaning stalls,” Rhett said as if it was a good defense. “Are these not things that need to be done?”
Tess growled, and Rhett raised a hand. “Look, I thought I’d come out and check on her, that’s all. I’m not looking for a fight,” he said, then glanced back to the woodshed and the pile of remaining logs to be chopped. Glowering, he turned back around. “Listen, this is the type of work I need help with. If she can’t do it, no big deal. I’ll find someone else.”
Danny glanced between them, hands on hips, more than annoyed he was talking about her like she wasn’t there.
“You could easily give her a different job,” Tess snapped. “Mountainview Cabin needs painting. If anything, that should be done before the wood needs to be chopped. We won’t even need this until fall. You’re just giving her miserable jobs on purpose because you think it’ll drive her to quit, which begs the question . . .” Tess sauntered forward, one brow arched as she asked, “Why?”
Rhett stiffened, then turned on Danny, his jaw tight. “Why don’t you just go on back to your cabin and call it a day, huh?”
“What?” Danny blinked at him like he couldn’t possibly be for real.
Rhett nodded like it made perfect sense. “It’s too much work, especially for a city slicker like yourself. Noah has a friend looking for a job. If he checks out, I can bring him on, and he’ll have no problem with the physical labor this job requires.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m just as capable—”
“Are you?” Rhett smirked. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like this one task is going to take you the rest of the day.”
“I’ll get it done,” Danny growled, then lifted her chin, despite her plummeting spirits. Maybe she wasn’t as fast as a man, or as efficient, but she could still do this.
Rhett’s eyes turned to stone. “Why do this to yourself? Go on back to your cabin and enjoy your vacation. There’s no need to get your pretty manicure ruined. No one will think less of you for it.”
Of all the sexist, chauvinist things to say . . .
Tess opened her mouth to speak, but Danny put a hand up, blocking her and stepping in front of Rhet. This was her battle. “I’m not quitting,” she said between clenched teeth. “I cleaned the stalls, and I’m close to half done with the firewood. I’ll finish this job, and I’ll handle whatever else you throw at me next, too.”
She inched even closer until she was so close she could smell the earthy scent of his skin. “Bring it on, Boss.”
Beside her, Tess glanced back and forth between them, a spark of interest in her eye.
The muscle twitched in Rhett’s jaw. His nostrils flared as his hazel eyes bore into hers like laser beams.
Good, at least she wasn’t the only one angry.
“Fine. Then get back to work,” he said, then shot them both one last scathing glare before he left.
Danny watched him leave, feeling the ache in her muscles warring against her determination to prove him wrong.
She barely even glanced back as Tess said goodbye, telling her not to let him get to her before she left.
Alone again, Danny spun around to face the pile of logs yet to be chopped. A small pile of firewood she had finished but had yet to stack, sat beside them, so she dealt with that first.
Gathering the wedges of wood in her arms, she carried them inside the woodshed and quickly stacked them with the rest. Then she stomped her way back over to the remaining logs, heading straight to the largest one.
What exactly was Rhett’s problem anyway? It had to be more than the fact she was a visitor or a woman or from the city. She must’ve done something wrong, somehow offended him.
But Danny could think of nothing.
Bending at the knees, she lifted the log, being careful to use her legs and not her back, juggling it to get a better grip with her arms when she noticed a faint buzzing sound.
Frowning, she tried to peer around the log in her arms before she felt the first sting.
“Ouch!” She dropped the log by her feet, and the buzzing increased tenfold.
Her eyes widened as she homed in on the source of the sound. A swarm of angry yellow jackets whorled like a tornado from a hole in the mud below the log. And before she could react, they surrounded her.
She danced around, waving her arms as stings and bites rained down on her like gunfire. Her arms blazed as their bites needled her limbs. A tickling sensation followed by the snap of their sharp bite covered her ankles and calves next as they infiltrated the bottom of her pant leg.
She ran, half-blind and wild, flailing her arms, desperate to rid herself of them while her heart hammered in her chest, but the ones in her jeans continued to eat her alive.
She whipped her pants off as fast as she could and watched as half a dozen yellowjackets emerged and flew off.
Panting, she braced her arms on her legs, trying to catch her breath. Her limbs burned until it felt like her entire body had been ravaged by fires. Her skin tightened and her chest constricted, making it hard to breathe.
Fear pulsed through the pounding in her head as alarm bells went off.
She was deathly allergic, which meant it was only a matter of time before her system shut down entirely.
She stumbled further away from the woodshed, toward the stables, her vision blurring with every step as her right eye swelled shut.
She tried to call out for help. But nothing.
Her mouth opened, but her voice was too weak. Swallowing was impossible. The muscles in her legs scorched with every step until they seized entirely.
Praying for help, Danny cried out when Noah emerged from the stables with a bucket of water in hand. And when he glanced up at the sound, his youthful expression transformed into one of horror.
His mouth rounded in an O, and he dropped the bucket as Danny reached out with one arm, now the size of a tree limb.
Her vision blurred and her knees buckled, sending her sprawling into the dirt just as Noah took off in a run.
CHAPTER 5
“What are you doin’ here?” Rhett frowned as his brother, Houston, approached.
“Just lookin’ for you. It’s half past six and you’re still workin’?” Houston removed his tan cowboy hat and ruffled a hand through his hair. “I’m not surprised.”
“There’s always a lot of work to do. Never enough time.”
“Mmhm,” Houston murmured, eyeing R
hett speculatively.
“Spit it out, Hou.” Nothing irritated Rhett more than when his siblings looked at him like a science experiment, and he could tell Houston didn’t just drop by to say howdy-do. He wanted something.
Houston laughed. “What of this woman you’ve hired? Word is you’re hot on some new vacationer, so much so that you’ve hired her to work for you during her stay.”
Rhett rolled his eyes. “Who told you that? Let me guess, our baby sister?”
“I plead the fifth.” Houston grinned. “So, is it true?”
“Of course it’s not true,” Rhett snapped. “I hired her because this woman just so happened to be there when Tess informed me of Brian’s condition. I swear, she’s as pushy as she is opinionated.”
“Who? Tess or the new chick?”
“Tess,” Rhett ground out. “She would never have left me alone had I not accepted the woman’s proposal to work for me. You know how she is.”
“Like a dog on a bone.”
“Exactly. Tess’s eyes lit up the second she saw me talking to her.”
Houston laughed and patted Rhett on the shoulder. “Better you than me, bro.”
“You!” Tess’s voice barreled toward them with all the subtlety of a freight train.
Rhett groaned. “Speak of the devil.”
Tess’s feet moved over the lush green grass, quick as helicopter blades. Her eyes were sharp as lightning as she neared, her face a deep shade of red.
“You,” she growled again, pointing a finger at his chest.
“I’m just gonna . . .” Houston pointed in the other direction, his eyes wide. No one liked to face Tess’s wrath. Growing up in a household with five brothers, Tess had learned to be headstrong as a bull and tough as nails. It was either thrive or be crushed.
“I have a sudden cravin’ for some sweet cherry ice cream,” Houston mumbled, then scampered off.