by Stark, Cindy
Oliver averted his gaze, and Daisy realized they were caught in the crossfire of playful interaction between Rachel and Caleb.
In an effort to avoid the escalating awkward position, Daisy pushed back from the table. “I’ll get the dishes.”
“Absolutely not.” Rachel stood as well, wobbling slightly. “I won’t have the guest of honor cleaning up.”
“That’s right,” Caleb agreed. “You’re both tired after traveling. We’ve got this.” He winked at his wife, and Daisy suspected doing dishes might turn into foreplay.
“Thank you so much for this lovely meal and for opening your home to me.” She hugged Rachel.
Caleb wrapped his arms around her and squeezed before planting a platonic kiss on her lips. “We’re glad to have you here, little sister.”
Oliver carried his dishes to the sink despite Rachel’s protests. “Time for me to hit the road as well.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, mister,” Rachel said with a laugh. “We polished off half a bottle of Jack in addition to the wine, and I doubt you’re in any condition to drive.”
Oliver shot an unhappy look in Rachel’s direction. “I didn’t have near as much as you did.”
Rachel gave a tipsy laugh that made Daisy smile. “You had plenty. We were all having a good time, and we don’t want it to end badly if you plow your truck into a tree or worse. You’re staying the night.”
“I’ve found it’s best not to argue with her, buddy,” Caleb said with a laugh. “God knows we have enough bedrooms upstairs. You might as well crash in one of them.”
Daisy rolled her eyes when Oliver agreed. Would she ever get rid of the man?
“Goodnight,” she said as she headed for the staircase in the outer room. At this point, she had no idea which bedroom was hers, but she’d rather figure that out on her own than wait for Oliver to show her.
She made it to the top of the stairs before Oliver called out to her. “Hey, Daisy. Hold up a second, will you?”
Hell. She exhaled a silent but impatient sigh and then turned to face him. He made her wait until he climbed the stairs before speaking again. With each step, his unnerving presence left her more on edge.
When they stood on equal ground, she looked up and met his solemn gaze. “I owe you an apology for what I said in the barn.” He tilted his head as though gesturing toward the outside.
His apology had come out of left field, taking her by surprise. “What do you mean?” She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing whether or not she’d overheard him. Even if he was sorry she’d heard it, he’d still said those hurtful words.
He held her gaze for a long moment and then gave her a brief nod. “I feel like we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. If I’ve said anything or done anything today to offend you, I’m sorry.”
She accepted his peace offering with a nod of her own, before she turned toward the hall.
“Your suitcases are in the room at the end next to your sister’s. It has the nicest view.”
“Thank you,” she said, offering him a small smile. “That was thoughtful of you.” She couldn’t for the life of her figure out this man. One minute he was kind, and the next she wanted to scratch out his eyes.
“Good night, Daisy.” Her name rolled off his tongue, sweetened by that sexy southern drawl. He slipped past her and headed to the room directly across from hers. Without another word or another look, he stepped inside and shut the door.
She stared after him for a long moment, wondering why he had the capability to push so many of her buttons, both good and bad.
Chapter Five
Daisy woke to the sound of sharp rapping on her door, and she sat straight up in bed, her heart pounding.
“Breakfast,” Rachel called.
She groaned and flopped back onto her pillow as she shifted her bleary eyes to the clock next to her bed. Five-thirty? Seriously?
She rolled over and snuggled deeper into her comfortable bed. Even if Rachel was an excellent cook, she wasn’t about to trade food for sleep.
As soon as she’d settled back into a sleepy daze, someone knocked again. “I’m not eating breakfast, but thanks,” she called out. If life on a ranch meant getting up this early, no wonder her mom had hated it.
The knock sounded again, more incessantly this time.
She cursed as she crawled out of bed and stumbled to the door. She opened it, ready to give Rachel a piece of her mind.
“Good morning, sis.” Caleb leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Time to eat.”
“I’d rather sleep.”
He laughed. “Wouldn’t we all?” He took her hand, and the next thing she knew, he’d tugged her out of her room, headed for the stairs.
If she jerked away, she’d appear rude. So, she allowed him to lead her down the stairs and into the kitchen like a lost lamb.
“Morning,” Rachel said with a bright smile.
Oliver sat at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand. He glanced at her before returning to the newspaper, and then did a double take, leaving her self-conscious. She finger-combed her hair before crossing her arms over the thin tank top she’d worn to bed.
“It’s still night,” she said to break the awkwardness and headed straight for the coffee maker. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll skip breakfast instead of getting up so early.”
Rachel laughed. “You won’t make it through two hours of work if you don’t eat. Can’t have that.”
“Work?” She took the seat across from Oliver again, deciding she’d rather have the table separating them than be next to him.
“Everyone around here works,” Oliver said. “Why would you think you wouldn’t as well?”
She eyed him over her cup. He looked good with a day’s scruff covering his jaw. “I’m not going to be of much use. I don’t know how to do anything.”
“Then it’s time you learned, don’t you think?” He challenged, his gaze dipping to her breasts for a brief second.
She shot him a nasty look. This was why she required a formal education. Then she wouldn’t have to learn about working on a ranch with stinky cows. Educated people had better jobs, ones that weren’t so physically demanding.
Rachel chuckled. “Don’t worry about ranch stuff, but I could use help in the house.”
“Why not give her a taste of life on a ranch?” Caleb asked as he took his seat. “What’s the point of being here if she’s going to stay inside all the time? People pay big bucks for that kind of experience.”
Daisy lifted hesitant brows as she glanced at the faces of her companions. Maybe crazy people paid to experience life on a ranch, but not her. She wasn’t an outdoorsy girl by any stretch of the imagination.
Rachel shrugged as she carried a dish of scrambled eggs in one hand and a plate of bacon in the other. “I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”
“Why would I get hurt?” Daisy asked, pretending she hadn’t wondered the same thing. “Are the cows going to trample me or something?”
“No,” her sister answered, sounding sheepish. “But you did fall off a horse once.”
“I was six.” She didn’t want to appear weak.
“You’re not going to get hurt,” Oliver said, shaking his head.
“Let her live a little.” Caleb took one of the platters from Rachel and set it on the table. “We’ll treat her like a newbie ranch hand and all watch out for her, okay?”
Daisy opened her mouth to debate the issue, but Rachel spoke before she could. “Fine. I suppose she’s not a kid anymore.”
No, she wasn’t, but… Dammit, she didn’t want to hobnob with the animals.
She’d expected to laze around the house, work on her tan, and embrace her inner bookworm the rest of the time.
“Good deal.” Caleb smiled at his wife. “I’m headed to town in a bit, and you’ll be busy with the herd in the south pasture. Probably not the best first-time job for Daisy.”
Caleb shifted his gaze to Oliver. “Looks like you’re the man in
charge this morning. I’m sure she can help with the horses, right?”
“Horses?” The last time Daisy had interacted with a horse, things hadn’t ended well. Granted, she’d been much smaller then, but the large animals still made her nervous.
“You could take her to town with you,” Rachel offered.
“Then she’s not learning about the ranch,” Caleb countered.
“Don’t worry,” Oliver said as he lifted his coffee cup. “I’ll keep Daisy safe and busy.”
****
Daisy took her time getting dressed. How could she get out of this mess? She should have followed her gut instinct instead of letting her mother guilt her into coming to see her sister at the ranch. Daisy could have found accommodations if she’d tried. Even a rundown place in the worst part of Cheyenne would be better than this. At least she’d be in civilization.
Anything but ranch work.
Wearing her oldest jeans and a vintage Def Leppard t-shirt, she ambled toward the barn. With no other reasonable excuses coming forward that would keep her away, she stepped inside and found Oliver writing something on a sheet attached to a clipboard.
“I’m ready to report for work.” Strong scents of hay and horses assaulted her nose.
He glanced up, taking a moment to survey her. She hated that every time he looked at her, the blood in her veins heated. “I grabbed gloves for you.” He shifted the clipboard to his opposite hand and pulled them from his back pocket.
She took the pair of thick buckskin-colored gloves and slid her hands into them. They were bulky and awkward. “Now what?”
“You can start by mucking the stalls.” He nodded toward the double row of stalls before he stepped inside an adjoining room, leaving her alone.
She stood frozen in place as she counted ten stalls on each side. That would take her all damn day.
“Is there a problem?” he asked as he reappeared.
“I don’t think Rachel meant for me to clean stalls.” Daisy wouldn’t even know where to begin.
He snorted as he walked toward her with a blue nylon rope in his hand. Tough and capable, he ignited her instinctive feminine senses. “Why is that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s…”
“Rachel cleans them all the time, and it’s a reasonable, safe job.” He narrowed his eyes, his look serious. “Or are you above that kind of labor?”
“No.” Rachel and Caleb had deserted her, leaving her at the mercy of a man who’d called her a high maintenance princess. If she didn’t do as he asked, he’d have full claim to that label of her.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I guess there isn’t one. I’d just expected something else.” She’d complete her disgusting task to prove him wrong, and then she’d leave as soon as possible. Tonight, after dinner, she’d peruse the want ads and see if she could find a job and an apartment in Cody. Her mother didn’t want her to touch the inheritance she’d received from Uncle Walt, but this was an emergency.
For now, she’d suck it up and show the cowboy that she could do as good of a job as anyone else. “Show me what I need to do.”
An entertained smile hit his lips, but she refused to acknowledge his humor. “Before you muck the stalls, you’ll need to take the horses out to pasture. I’m guessing you’ve never haltered a horse before, either.”
She steeled her gaze. “No.”
“We’ll start there, then. I’ll take care of the colt in the second stall, though. He can be a bit frisky.”
“Why don’t you leave them outside all the time?” she asked as he handed an odd leather contraption and the rope to her. “Seems silly to constantly clean out their stables when it’s warm enough for them to stay out overnight.”
“Wolves.”
She widened her eyes. “They… get the horses? They come that close?”
“They have in the past. Most of the trouble we have from them is in the winter when they come down to the lower elevations. But, Rachel likes to protect what’s hers if possible.”
She supposed she couldn’t argue with that.
At the first stall, she peered inside. A huge black horse snorted and stared back at her with large eyes.
Oliver held out his hand and let the big beast nuzzle him. “First rule is never stand behind a horse. The best place is by his shoulder. Right, Cognac?”
Daisy nodded in understanding. If she had her way, she wouldn’t be anywhere in the vicinity.
Oliver slid the lock open on the gate and stepped inside, encouraging her to do the same. Tentatively, she joined him in the small space.
“Halter,” he said taking the leather contraption from her. “Goes over his nose and then the top piece over his head. Buckle the strap on the side of his cheek, and you’re done.”
She blinked, not giving him any encouragement.
He handed a length of blue nylon rope to her. “This is a lead. Attach it to the lower ring on the halter. Not the upper one. You won’t have as much control of the horse if you do.”
She turned her gaze upward, looking into the massive horse’s eyes. At this point, control was an illusion at best anyway. “Probably better if I don’t handle the horses. We haven’t been the best of friends in the past.”
“No time like the present to make new friends.” If Oliver was hinting he and she should be friends, he was in for a big disappointment. Friends didn’t make friends shovel shit.
She frowned and glanced at the rope.
“Clip it right here.”
“Hey there,” she said, holding out her hand for the horse to sniff. Brief memories of being astride a horse with her father holding the reins as he walked with them stirred in her mind. She’d enjoyed riding that time.
It wasn’t until afterward when Rachel had tried to repeat the same with her that Daisy had fallen. That horrifying experience had been enough to make her never want to ride again.
Granted, that was a long time ago, and she wasn’t the same scared little girl. She’d grown into a woman capable of handling almost anything, but the thought of mounting the tall animal terrified her.
With her heart beating faster, Daisy clipped the rope to his halter and then tried to give it to Oliver.
“You keep it so you can walk Cognac out to the pasture.” He laughed when she gave him a hesitant look. “Don’t worry. I’ll be with you. I’m not going to let you do anything stupid.”
Oliver took hold of the other side of Cognac’s halter, and together they left the barn and headed for a nearby fenced area.
Inside, Oliver removed the halter from the horse, and they headed back to the barn.
“Think you can handle the next one on your own?”
“No,” she said with a laugh even though she was quite serious.
“You’ll be fine.” He patted her on the back. “I’m right here if you need me.”
His reassurance didn’t help in the least, but he walked away as though he had all the faith in the world in her.
“Okay…” she whispered under her breath. She walked to the next occupied stall and opened the gate. Before she could move inside, the horse stepped forward, firing up the fear inside her. She held up a defensive hand. “Whoa.”
The horse continued toward her. She took a step back, but the intimidating beast was relentless in its pursuit. She lifted the rope and held it up hoping it would take a hint and stop. Instead, her back hit the stall on the opposite side, with the horse right in her face.
“What are you doing?” Oliver strode forward and put his hand on the horse’s neck, bringing him to a stop.
Her heart thundered. “Trying to put that halter thing around its neck like you said, but I think it wants to kill me.” She slipped from between the horse and stall, and found safety behind Oliver.
That huge beast could have knocked her flat. Killed her if it had stepped on her. Horses didn’t look so big on TV, but standing next to one was a whole different story.
“Always make sure you have an out so
a horse can’t pin you against the wall.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe you should move the horses, and then I’ll finish the rest.” She tried to step away, but Oliver caught her arm.
“Don’t be afraid. Bastian won’t hurt you.”
“Then why is he chasing me out of his stall?”
“He’s not chasing you, Daisy, but he is super friendly.” A genuine smile tilted his lips. “When you leave the gate open, he assumes you want him to walk out.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, I did, eventually. But I didn’t want him to knock me over while doing it.” A herd of shivers rolled through her. The horse was magnificent, truly, but much too big for her to manage.
Oliver took her by the elbow and tugged her from behind him. “Come here.” He kept one hand on Bastian’s neck while he placed her between him and the massive horse. She pressed as close to Oliver as she could, trying to keep as much distance as possible between her and the horse.
The horse whinnied and shifted. She tried to turn, but Oliver held her in place. “Don’t be afraid. They can sense fear.”
“That doesn’t help. Now, I’m more worried because I know that he knows.”
Oliver chuckled, the sound close to her ear, and she became aware of every space their bodies touched. His warm chest was against her back, her thighs next to his, his mouth only inches from her hair.
“He doesn’t want to be here anymore than I do,” she said and followed with a nervous laugh.
“Pet him. Let him know you’re his friend.” He took hold of her hand and placed it on the horse’s neck, sandwiching her between them. Instead of releasing her, he guided her hand with gentle strokes across the animal’s hair.
“He’s warm. And so big.” So incredibly big.
“He is.” Oliver finally removed his hand from hers. “Take the halter and slip it gently over his head.”
The idea rekindled her fear. “I can’t. You do it.” She tried to hand the leather to him.
“No, you need to learn. Don’t be afraid. Lift it slowly and place it over his nose.”
She searched the horse’s eyes, trying to slow her pulse. “Hello, Bastian,” she said softly. “I’m going to put this on you, okay? I promise I won’t hurt you.”