by Wood, Lauren
“Who else is going?”
There weren’t that many people that could go, that were capable enough and had enough experience to take on such a challenge. I know who I had in mind for it, but I wanted to give Dante the option to choose for himself. I wasn’t going to make him go with someone he didn’t like.
“It’s up to you. Whoever you think is willing and able. They will get a good bump in pay as well. I have to go out to Houston or I would go. I have to leave out in the morning and I wanted to make sure it was taken care of. I am counting on you.”
It was hard for me to say such a thing to him, but he smiled at me and told me that he would take care of everything. That was all I wanted to hear and I was finally ready to push it all out of my mind. Dante had an idea of what he wanted to do.
“Are we done talking now Cece, because if I am not going to see you for a week, I am going to need some good loving tonight.”
I groaned at the way he said it. He was being cheesy, but when he wrapped his arms around me and bent down to kiss me on the lips, there was nothing else I could do but go with it.
It was going to be the longest we had been apart. But I figured it would be good for us. I would be able to get my mind right and I could keep a promise that my father made to Mr. Murphy many years before. I wanted to keep it going because it felt like it was keeping the memory of my father alive as well. It was the little things like that making it bearable to move on from it all.
Dante was there to keep my mind off of everything and I followed him upstairs to my room. If this was going to be our last night together for a while, I agreed wholeheartedly on making it one to remember.
But come on, how could I ever forget about Dante?
Chapter 58
Dante
By the time I finally got to bed, it was well into the morning. It was almost light outside when we finally decided that we had had enough. My body was sore, something that didn’t happen very often, but what surprised me more was the fact that I was alone when I woke up and the sun was shining. It was too late for it to be seven and where was Cece?
I got up and started to get dressed when I saw a note on the nightstand. She was on her way to Houston and she told me to have a safe trip. It was just signed with her familiar cursive scrawl and I didn’t know how I felt. She didn’t even say good bye. Cece was really bad about taking off, though again I never knew what was on her mind.
Going downstairs, there were a couple of people kind of hanging around and it didn’t take long for me to realize that they were waiting for me. Cece had told them to wait around so that I could pick who I wanted. There were two new guys that I had no intentions on taking, Carl and then Barb.
“So Carl, you want to go for a little road trip for a week or so?”
He looked at me like I was crazy and I could tell that Cece had said nothing about it. I sighed to myself and tried not to let it get to me. She had left me without a goodbye and with some dirty work.
“What?”
“We need to do a cattle drive for Mr. Murphy to get his animals out to the grazing land. You haven’t done it before?”
He shook his head and I could tell that he didn’t want to go. It wasn’t hard to see as his face was all scrunched up. I think if he could have melted into the floor right then he would have.
“Well you know Marcy isn’t going to be too happy about me being gone that long.”
He was leaving it open, not outright refusing, but making it clear that he didn’t want to go. Which meant that I could force him, but it would be miserable for us both and I don’t think I was ready to give us such a death sentence. It was bad enough I was going to have to sleep in a tent the next week on the ground. I wasn’t looking forward to it either.
It also made me realize that there was only one viable option left. I turned to Barb and she smiled at me. She knew what I was going to ask and offered before I even got a chance to ask her about it.
“I will go with you Dante. I am sure that it will be better than staying around here.”
I groaned inwardly, but I wasn’t going to take two green guys. I would have to spend most of my time making sure they weren’t trampled. Cattle-driving wasn’t for the faint of heart, so I had no other choice. I had to wonder why Barb was an option given. Did Cece want me to pick her?
I pushed the thoughts from my head and told Barb that I was glad she was coming. “I appreciate the help, really I do. I know that this is important to the boss, so I am glad that you are willing to help.”
“Anything for you Dante.”
I looked away from the raw lust in her eyes and tried to pretend like I didn’t see it. Carl was happy that he didn’t have to go, but I could see the way he was looking from one to the other.
“Well thanks for not making me go. I would never hear the end of it from the old lady. The more pregnant she gets, the more she wants me around.”
“How far is she now?”
“Six months.”
“Well you should be home with her. She is going to need help and you trapesing around the countryside isn’t going to help her wellbeing.”
“I never thought I would be so excited about a family, but damned if I ain’t.”
I liked that someone at the ranch was finding true love. I never thought about kids either, but I was thinking about how I wanted things to change and how much I wanted Cece as my own. How would I feel if she turned out pregnant? Then she wouldn’t be able to just take off whenever she wanted and to me that sounded like a damn good thing.
I went back to upstairs and got a few things out of Cece’s room before I went to the hand house and packed a duffel bag. It was going to be a week and it wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but this was not the first time I had done this sort of thing. It used to be my job a long time ago when I first got into working on ranches. The worst part of it all was that I wasn’t going to be able to see Cece for all of that time.
“I am ready when you are boss.”
Barb was smiling again and I didn’t trust the expression on her face or the look in her eyes. I knew that she had something up her sleeve and I thought about picking the two greens instead. Maybe it would be easier than trying to keep a rope on Barb. She was nothing but trouble.
“Yeah I guess I am.”
Her smile faltered a little bit. “Oh, well you don’t sound too excited about it.”
“It is a week sleeping on the ground. There isn’t much to get excited about.”
“I hear there is a pay bump that would be handy.”
I nodded my head, but didn’t answer one way or another. I wasn’t too worried about pay. I made enough as it was. I was only doing this because Cece asked me to and I would do anything to make her happy. Even if it meant that I had to deal with Barb for the next week. At least there would be more of us on the drive then just me and her. The Murphy’s had two sons that were going as well. Steve I had worked with before, but Kevin was a stranger. At least there would be one person sane enough to talk to.
We piled up in the truck and I tried to ignore her altogether on the short trip over there. The horses were already in the trailer, so when we got there, it was just unloading them and loading them up with our packs. Barb was pouting from being ignored, but I figured that it was better than getting into a conversation with her. Ever since that night at the bar and her comments when I got home, I decided that it was best just to keep my distance. That girl was just drama. When Kevin, the older brother started to flirt with her, I took that as a good sign. At least now she would be off of my back.
“Should I warn your brother about her?”
Steve grinned and shook his head no. “Nah, he wouldn’t listen anyways. He loves blondes.”
I held my tongue about her true nature. Steve knew a bit about her and I know that he at least had the sense to stay away. If he wanted his brother to know, he could warn him. I was just going to be Switzerland for the week, staying as far out of it as I possibly could.
> The first night was pretty uneventful. We hadn’t been out on the range that long and we hadn’t all realized that we were going to be doing this night after night. At the moment it was new and even a little fun to cook a can of beans on an open fire and to just enjoy the cool breeze from the evening. I went to bed content with how everything was going, but my peace was quickly broken when I heard something in my tent.
My eyes were blurry, but she said something and I knew instantly that it was Barb.
“What the hell are you doing in here?!”
She shushed me as I sat up and looked at the woman crouching by the zippered door. Most were worried about snakes and scorpions, but Barb was the biggest danger out here as far as I was concerned.
“Keep it down. Do you want to wake everyone up?”
“No, just leave Barb. I don’t know what you are doing here, but I am not biting. Go see if Kevin is interested.”
I was being harsh again and I could see the change in her eyes. She really didn’t like to hear that from me, but I really didn’t care. I was tired and I felt like boundaries had to be set before it got out of hand.
“You don’t have to be rude Dante. I just wanted to come and say hi.”
“I am sleeping Barb and I am not in the mood to talk. Why don’t you just go get some sleep and leave me be?”
Her pout was back, but she wasn’t budging. Her eyes were on my chest and I had to cover up a bit so that I didn’t feel the penetration of her gaze.
“Come on Dante. We used to have fun. I don’t know why you are acting like this.”
“Just not interested Barb. I am going back to bed.”
I turned over and lay on my side. I refused to answer her when she called my name. I waited until she left to zip up the tent. I wasn’t going to sleep any better and I hoped that she would find something interesting about one of the brothers to leave me alone.
Kevin was her next target and I sat back and watched her work her charm. It was much the same way she used to be with me. Barb would look at me sometimes like I was going to be jealous, but I never felt a slight inkling about it. I could have cared less. I hoped that it would be enough that she would be able to focus on someone else, but that was it.
After several days, I still hadn’t talked to Cece because there was no service where we were or where we were going. All I wanted to do was go home to her and with Barb bothering me, I tried to make the best of it. Steve and I took a side trip one night to get some fish for something fresh and it tasted better than I would have imagined. There was something about the outdoors that made me feel more grounded.
On the fourth night after the fish cook out, Steve and Barb finally consummated what had been buzzing between them since they met. Her cries of pleasure only made me miss Cece more. When I got home this time, there was no way that I was ever going to let her go. I wasn’t going to be leaving again for a very long time. Carl had known what was best. Being without Cece wasn’t right at all. I missed her far more than I thought I would ever miss a woman.
The two played out their love fantasies till early in the morning and I think it contributed to some wild dreams that I had. Cece was always the main character and we replayed many of our moments together. It was hot and when I woke up, I was craving her even more.
I took out my phone and dialed her number, but quickly realized that there was no service here. I threw the damn phone and heard it break. I didn’t even care. I just wanted this week to end so I could get her back in my arms once more. This was like a slow torture and I didn’t want to be without her anymore. I wanted her back in my life and back with me.
Chapter 59
Cecelia
I got back from Houston after a couple of days. I wasn’t feeling the best because I had so much going on and I think I picked up some kind of bug. I was nauseous and even when I got home, I still didn’t feel very well. I was starting to think it was because I was missing Dante so much. It had only been a few days and I wanted him back.
Regretting sending him there to begin with, I had even more doubts when I saw Carl the next morning.
“Good to see you, boss. Are you doing okay?”
He looked at me with concern for me, as well as for himself. No one liked to get sick and Carl was looking at me like I was an incubator for some kind of plague. In his defense, I kind of felt that way at the moment.
“I am fine, just surprised to see you here. I thought you would have gone on the drive with Dante. You are always telling me that you need to make some extra money. I was doubling pay for the week.”
“No, not with the old lady pregnant. She wants me home, so I asked him to find someone else. I would have done it, but Barb was eager to go, so I let her. She has quite a bit of experience and all of that. Jacob and Meryl are too new to this all and would have been more trouble than they were worth.”
I felt like I had been hit in the gut. He had chosen Barb. “Oh, yeah I can see that. I don’t know if I would want to go around with the new guys.”
My stomach started to heave and I had to excuse myself. My body was having a violent reaction to the idea of them two together out on the range. I was sure that was what was making me feel this way. It had to be that.
I pushed past the nausea and went out to take care of all of my chores. By noon I was feeling a little better, but I was still thinking about Dante and Barb out there alone. I had realized a while back that I couldn’t trust him, so for them to be out there together didn’t sit well with me. If they did something together, it was going to be all of my fault. But at the same time, if they did do something together, wouldn’t it be better to know now that it was going to happen?
By nightfall I had made myself crazy and I got almost no sleep. I was tired of thinking about him and every time I tried to call it just went to voicemail. With no answer, my mind was left to its own devices and I can’t say that I was too happy about it. By the fifth day when his phone no longer rang, I was sure that something bad had happened.
Instead of waiting around in this agony that I found myself in, I decided that I was just going to have to be proactive and find out what was going on. After last time he disappeared just letting it play out, I felt like I had to know now instead of driving myself crazy again like before. The only way that I was going to know what was going on was for me to go there and find out.
After putting a few things in the saddle bags, I was ready to go. I knew whereabouts they were going to be and I wasn’t going to be able to get there with a vehicle. I was going to have to take the drive with them. I had a need for answers, but also to see him as well. My body craved him and after over three days, I was ready to come unglued. Dante was what kept me held together sometimes.
I rode for most of the night. I wasn’t able to sleep anyways and Thunder seemed to have a lot of energy to release. It was strange to think it, but it was almost like he could feel my agitation and was helping me get it out through his legs. The faster he went, the more I pushed.
Finally when the sun had been up for a while, we took a break and I reevaluated what the hell it was that I was doing. Was I really going to go up there and check on them? I had sent Dante because I was busy. I was too far to get there when I was supposed to be there, but I didn’t turn around. I should have, but I just couldn’t. I was already halfway to where I thought they would be on the fifth day, but I still wasn’t sure. When given the chance to go or stay, I kept going because I had to know one way or another.
I patted the horse’s neck and once he had enough to eat and drink, I got us back on the road, on the way to see Dante. I was going to find out what was going on.
We rode most of the day and it was starting to get dark when I saw signs of the cattle marked with Murphy’s brand. It had been a long day and they were further ahead than I thought they would be.
I could see the campfire when it was completely dark and I followed the shadows to find that everyone was already in their tents. It was still pretty early, but the work was h
ard. I could see going to bed around ten on the range after several days of all day riding.
There were only a few tents out, one short for everyone to have their own. I looked around for a minute and I know that I should have called out to someone, but I knew which tent was Dante’s and I wanted to see him.
It was strange walking up to a sleeping camp, but I pushed the willies aside that I was getting. I had made my way here by myself, but in this moment I was more nervous than any other time. I was worried about what I was going to find when I opened the tent up. That sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach was back and I couldn’t believe that it had come to this. Why did I feel like this was a make or break moment?
Unzipping the tent’s door, I pushed back the material and I saw the silhouette of Dante in the sleeping bag. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, but it was quickly back when I heard a familiar voice.
“Scoot over Dante, you are taking up all of the covers.”
Dante didn’t answer, just mumbled and moved to his side. He was now facing me and I could see the peace on his face. I shouldn’t have come. I shouldn’t have seen this. I don’t know what I was thinking, but now all I was thinking about was getting the hell out of here before I really embarrassed myself.
My heart was racing a mile a minute when I went towards where I had left Thunder. The horse looked at me coming up and started to immediately walk towards me. I swung myself up into the saddle and took off back the way we came. I should have said something. Maybe I should have done something, but I couldn’t. My heart was broken and all I wanted to do was get away from them as quickly as possible. Once again I felt like the biggest fool for ever thinking that it could be anything different between me and Dante. I was just fooling myself the most to think that he actually loved me or that he was even a man that was capable of such an emotion.