by Raeann Blake
She blinked her eyes and looked down to try to blink them clear. “Then I won’t cry.”
“Hailey, wouldn’t that mean that you’d still feel like it but just not let me see it? I don’t like that either. Maybe I just need to quit telling you all the sad shit in my life. It’s all in the past. There’s not much point in talking about it.”
“I don’t want you to do that, Clay. I like that you tell me things. I hurt for what you went through, but I like feeling like you can tell me.”
He was so caught in the full moonlight on her face that he couldn’t turn his head. And he didn’t understand when his hands started moving without him telling them to or why they did. But there they were trailing the backs of his fingers down the side of her cheek. He jerked his hand back quickly and turned away quickly lighting two more cigarettes.
“Somebody’s behind us,” he whispered.
Hailey took the cigarette and stayed silent.
Clay turned his head and watched Lynn walk through the trees and saw her hesitate as she glanced at Hailey then back to him.
“Oh. I didn’t know she was here. I saw you leave camp and got worried about you,” she said quietly.
“You seem to be noticin’ a lot of what I’m doin’. And I don’t like it…not one fuckin’ bit,” Clay said coldly.
“I’m sorry, Clay. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I would like a chance to speak to you about something when the time is right. Alone.”
“That’s not happenin’. If you’ve got something you want to talk to me about, you set up something with Laine. Is that plain enough for you?” Clay snapped.
“Yes, Clay. It’s very plain. I’ll set something up with Laine. This is very important. I’ll just leave you two…alone,” she said lowly then turned and walked back through the trees.
Hailey waited silently as she watched Clay’s jaw work in anger. His voice was still harsh when he spoke. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come out here. I know it looks bad. I just thought you might be cold.”
“There’s nothing wrong with us being out here, Clay. We’re just talking,” she said evenly.
“We wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t heard her. And that shouldn’t happen either. We should go back,” he growled.
“You’re right,” she said as she put the cigarette out and then looked up at him to find his hand held out in front of her again. She made sure it wasn’t hot then laid the butt in his hand. His fingers started to curl around her hand, but he stopped them and quickly dropped it in his pocket before he stood up. He knew he shouldn’t, but he turned back to her and held out his hand. She laid hers in it and then rose as he tugged slightly. The gaze between them was charged with unfulfilled desires that threatened to pull them both back into the flames again.
Clay muttered a curse and made one step back as he dropped her hand. He slipped his hands into his back pockets as he turned and walked beside her.
“Thanks for bringing my jacket,” she said softly.
“You’re welcome,” he said quietly. His hands wanted to touch, but he kept them shoved in his pockets. He had been filled with such a hunger to touch her and have her touch him that he had forgotten where they were and who was around them. Only that one soft swish of leather soles against evergreen needles had pulled him back from the brink. He shifted his eyes around the hands lying in all directions until he found her and set his jaw back into a firm line when he saw her quickly jerk her head around and lay back on her bag.
“’Bout time,” Laine muttered from under his hat when they both lay back down. “What good is a bundling board without somebody to bundle?”
Hailey almost laughed even though she knew she shouldn’t when Clay grumbled for him to shut up and then reached out a hand and shoved it against Laine’s shoulder before he closed his eyes.
Laine lifted the hat just enough to glance up at Hailey and smile slightly before he shook his head then let it drop back over his eyes again.
She leaned back and looked up at the stars. She wasn’t seeing the stars. She was seeing the way he looked as his fingers had grazed against the side of her face. The desire to touch him was so strong, but she had heard more than he’d said. He knew as well as she did that this was a bad idea, and if she didn’t stop it he wouldn’t just be angry with himself. The right thing for her to do was help him, stay out of his way so they wouldn’t be tempted. But she wasn’t at all sure that she could resist that temptation herself. She kept feeling his lips along her neck, his hands brushing against her softly before they closed around her breast. A whisper of her name kept echoing in her ear, the memory of the way he had laced his fingers through hers at one point to keep her from driving him too far, too fast kept replaying in her mind so vividly that she could feel his hands against hers, feel him as he moved within her. How could she not want him?
* * *
“Isn’t it the most beautiful morning you’ve ever seen?”
“Oh, Lord. Here she goes again,” Clay muttered. He didn’t know how she could get up so full of energy when he knew she hadn’t slept any more than he had.
She sent him a wide smile and reached for the cup Shack had as both he and Laine laughed at him.
“Thank you, sir,” she said then tip-toed to kiss Shack on the cheek before she took a swallow then sighed. “Oh, God that’s good. And breakfast smells wonderful. What can I do?”
“It’s under control. You’re an early riser. It’ll be another few minutes. Sit down here and talk to me,” Shack said easily.
Clay’s head came up slowly and he leveled a gaze at Laine. “Oh. Talk. Now?”
“Yeah,” Laine said and pointed away from the camp then followed Clay as he rose and walked in that direction.
“Huh. What do you suppose that’s about?” Hailey asked.
“I don’t know. I could guess, but I won’t,” he said and pointedly cut his eyes over to where Lynn was just rolling up her sleeping bag.
“Oh,” she said simply then took another swallow of coffee.
“What’s up?” Clay asked quietly.
“I’m a little concerned about the way Lynn’s watchin’ you. I’ve seen her do it before, but thought it would pass. Evidently it hasn’t.”
Clay lit a cigarette then stopped walking.
“I noticed it. And when we were at the pond during the night, she showed up out there. If she thinks I was pissed off about her following me out there, she should just wait and see me if she keeps it up. She claims she’s got something to talk to me about. Said she wanted to talk to me alone. I told her that wasn’t gonna happen and if she wanted to talk to me she needed to set something up with you. Then she mouthed off somethin’ about me and Hailey bein’ out there alone. I’m not gonna put up with this crap.”
“I know. And you shouldn’t have to. I’ll talk to her. If she wants to talk to you about something, then she needs to tell me what it is. If I think you need to be bothered with it, I’ll let you know.”
“Fine. What’s her beef with Hailey?” Clay asked as they started back.
“Hailey’s got that job, and she’s got you. The two things that Lynn wants,” Laine said then stopped when Clay’s hand landed on his arm.
“What do mean? Nobody’s got me. Do you think Hailey told her that? Dammit, she’d better not have said…”
“Calm down, Clay,” Laine whispered and turned him to walk back the other way again.
“Son, you’ve gotta quit doin’ that. You have to quit assuming that everything that happens leads a path right back to Hailey. Clay, you have to know that you do look at her differently and treat her differently than any of the other women who have had that job. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s nice to see you smile and hear you laugh. You didn’t do that before she came here. It’s not something that Lynn would miss with the way she watches you.”
“Yeah, Laine, but if she got the wrong impression, you don’t think Hailey did too?”
Laine studied him for a few seconds before he spoke ge
ntly. “Buddy, I think she’s in the same place you are. Just feeling along, trying to find your way. You’ll settle into the right spot eventually, wherever that is. Just give it time, take one day at a time.”
Clay waited several minutes then finally looked down at the ground. “Uh…Laine, we never talked about girls. We’ve talked about a lot of things, but we never talked about girls.”
“No. Want to now?”
“Maybe. I mean, not right now, but…maybe sometime,” he said quietly without looking up at him.
“Clay,” he said softly then waited for him to finally raise his head. “Anytime you’re ready. Just let me know. Hell, I may not know a lot more than you do. But between the two of us, surely we can figure out the answers.”
Clay blew out a long breath and nodded. “Yeah. Maybe. Let’s go eat, son.”
“You gonna tell her good morning now?” he asked then grinned when Clay immediately shook his head.
“Hell, no. If you say one word, she’ll be off like a shot and you won’t be able to get her stopped until the last bite of her breakfast is gone. I’d like to get back on a horse sometime today.”
Laine burst out laughing and slapped him on the shoulder. “And you love it. You ain’t foolin’ me, boy.”
“Yeah, well. It does seem kind of quiet when she quits talkin’,” Clay muttered as they grew closer to the camp.
“I heard that,” Hailey said without turning around then grinned up at Shack when Clay swore under his breath and Laine started laughing.
“Old man, don’t you have a biscuit or something you can stuff in her mouth,” Clay muttered lowly but cut his eyes over to Hailey and then smiled slightly as he shook his head. He had to admit that the smile on her face and eyes that were lit up in amusement did brighten up the morning.
He turned his head and realized that Lynn was watching them steadily. She wasn’t close, but close enough to hear what they were saying. He made it a point to hold her eyes steadily then turned his head to look directly at Laine and nodded back her way. He knew she would see it and intended for her to. He wanted her to know that he noticed, and to make it plain that he hadn’t been kidding about not liking it. He cut his eyes back to her as Laine’s head turned that way and saw her quickly turn and walk away.
Hailey saw what was going on too. She didn’t like it, but she kept her mouth shut. Lynn had sent several flat looks her way already, but she was determined that if she wanted to start a war of words again this morning that she was going to have to take the first shot.
“Grab a plate, kids. Let’s get this grub down and head towards home,” Shack said quickly. He was worried that this was going to get worse before it got better. He knew Jean Ann thought it would take care of itself if they just left it alone, but he wasn’t so sure.
Clay cut his eyes to Hailey then back to Shack as he picked up a plate and started down the line. “Shack, how did you do that?”
“Do what?
“Get her to sit still. It’s the first time I’ve seen her still since she’s been here.”
Hailey burst out laughing as Shack and Laine looked at each other in confusion.
Clay shook his head as he spooned food onto his plate. “Man, I tried to get her to sit down and relax when I was cookin’ that steak the other night. It’s like trying to make a humming bird sit still. How did you get her to sit on that wagon without fidgetin’, and drumming her fingers? Even started hummin’ after a while.”
Shack and Laine both laughed and Clay finally lifted teasing eyes to Hailey’s to find her with her fingers folded against her lips as she tried not to laugh. But when he finally let the grin turn up the corners of his mouth she finally burst out laughing and shook her head without saying anything.
They were close to halfway to the noon stop when Clay caught Hailey’s eyes and jerked his head slightly towards the back of the riders and slowed Ringo to a walk as he let the others pass him then waited while she turned Soldier out to the side and rode back to him.
“What’s up?” she asked as she turned and rode beside him.
He clenched his jaw several times then shook his head without saying anything as he kept Ringo at a steady walk and she did the same. She didn’t know what he was doing, but she decided she should wait him out. They’d fallen really far behind before he cut his eyes back to her again with just the slightest twitch at the corner of his lips and a challenge in his eyes. When he kicked Ringo into a slow lope then settled his hat firmly on his head, she did the same, finally understanding.
Clay chuckled softly as he cut his eyes to her one last time then turned back to the front and whistled sharply. He grinned at Hailey when he heard laughter from the distance then head Laine shout.
“Clear a path.”
They rode steadily as he watched the group of hands stop and split into two groups with a wide lane between them. He turned to look at her and asked, “You ready?”
“I am. Are you?”
When he nodded they kicked both horses into a full gallop. They rode low and jockeyed back and forth with one horse nudging into the lead and then the other. When they flashed between the group they didn’t slow until they passed the last man. Only then did they slow and turn the horses to ride back to them. Hailey’s laughter filled his heart as they rode back side-by-side.
“Well?” Clay asked.
“Ringo. By just about this much,” Laine said with a wide grin as he held his hand up with his thumb and forefinger about two inches apart.
Hailey grinned and said, “Next time, boss. We’ll get you next time.”
“Uh-huh,” he said as he smiled back at her.
“Alright. Everybody who bet against Ringo pay Laine. Everybody who bet there wouldn’t be a race—all of you pay me,” Charlie said with a wide grin.
Hailey and Clay both laughed, but not nearly as hard as the hands did when Hailey dug some money out of her pocket and slapped it in Laine’s hand. But it grew louder and Hailey was wiping laughter tears from her face when Clay rode over and paid Charlie.
“You bet there wouldn’t be a race and then you raced anyway?” Hailey said still laughing.
“Changed my mind,” Clay said with a wide grin. He turned his head to find Shack where he had stopped the wagon.
“And what about you?”
Shack grinned and rubbed his fingers together. “They both owe me money. I got ‘em both right.”
“Figures,” Clay said then shook his head and nodded to the front. “Let’s go, old man.”
“Right behind you, son. Lead the way.”
* * *
After the noon break, Laine mounted beside Clay and they waited for Shack to pull the wagon out before they fell in behind him.
“Clay, I’ve been thinkin’.”
“Oh, God. Here we go again,” he said then grinned at him. “And what are you thinkin’ now?”
“About what Shack said. About different herds.”
Clay blew out a short breath and shook his head. “Great minds.”
“You’ve been thinkin’ about it, too?”
“Yep. I wanted to ask you what you thought. Is it time that we increase the herd and split ‘em up, or just split the ones we have and let them graze different pastures?”
“I think it’s time to do both. Granted we can’t be movin’ them from pasture to pasture every week like we’d like to do, but we could definitely double or triple the number of drives by having two or three herds. It should be better for the grass, too. We wouldn’t run such a risk of any of the areas being over-grazed before we can move them.”
Clay nodded in agreement. “What about the number of hands? Do we have enough hands to manage separate herds?”
“Yeah, I believe so. Those we send out to make the periodic checks wouldn’t need to change. We’ve got enough to go two or three different directions. And we wouldn’t need any more to make the drives. The exception to that might be calving time. We’re gonna need to bring them all together then. I don’t know if we
’ve got enough to handle five or six thousand at one time, but I can’t see paying a hand a full year’s wages just to have them here for that one time a year. We should think about it some more, but I think it’s a better management of the resources,” he said then stopped and grinned over at him.