Yukon Cowboy

by Debra Clopton

  “Are you hurting?” Bethany asked her, as she eased down onto the blanket.

  “My hip is a bit tender, but I’m good. And this feels great.”

  “Oh, yeah, and it’s beautiful, too,” Shelly cooed, stretching out her legs and leaning back on her elbows.

  Bethany watched Nate getting the guys situated with their poles.

  “So what’s the story between you and our fearless leader?”

  The question from Shelly caught Bethany off guard, and she realized she was staring at Nate. She pulled a bag of trail mix from her backpack.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know what she means.” Lisa gave a knowing smile. “Everybody should, with the way you two keep giving each other those smokin’ hot looks.”

  Bethany almost choked on her trail mix. “I haven’t given him a look like that. And he certainly hasn’t given me one.” Had she? Had he? Mad looks, maybe.

  Lisa and Shelly laughed.

  “Yeah, right,” Shelly drawled. “So what’s the story? We’re out here in the boonies, so we can’t help but be nosey. Are y’all dating and have had a fight?

  Or dating and no one is supposed to know?”

  “Yeah, is there a no-dating policy at Alaska’s Treasures tours?” Lisa asked, her face alight with curiosity.

  “No on all counts.”

  Shelly looked thoughtful. “I’ve got it! You used to date, didn’t you?”

  What was the use of hiding it? “Yes, we used to date. But it was a long time ago.” There was nothing else for her to do but admit it, even though it wasn’t any of their business. Shelly and Lisa had “starry-eyed romance” beaming in their eyes as they gaped at her. She glanced in Nate’s direction, and wouldn’t you know, he looked up at about that time and their gazes locked. The air seemed to suddenly electrify in that moment.

  She yanked her gaze away and found herself staring at two sets of knowing eyes.

  “Just as I thought. Unresolved love,” Shelly said sighing.

  “You can say that again,” Lisa added. “How long has this been going on?”

  Bethany would have laughed if she wasn’t so bewildered. “I’d really rather not discuss this. It happened a long time ago. I just moved back into town a few days ago—”

  “Oh,” Lisa exclaimed. “That is so exciting. You’ve been gone, but now you’re back and it looks like things could get wildly interesting.”

  Shelly smiled at the younger woman’s enthusiasm. “I have a feeling Bethany and Nate may not resolve everything so easily. Am I right?”

  “You are absolutely right. For one, he doesn’t love me, so there is nothing to resolve.” Why had she added that bit of info? If they only knew the half of it—which they wouldn’t.

  Lisa rested her chin on her knuckles and dipped her brows. “If that man doesn’t love you, then he must be a very intense man.”

  “He is.” Bethany didn’t need this type of speculation. Of course, Lisa was in love and flying high on cloud nine, so of course she would imagine love blooming everywhere.

  “So why did you move back?” Shelly asked.

  “I’m a wedding planner.”

  “Oh!” Lisa exclaimed. “How fun. I had a blast planning my wedding. We didn’t do it up real fancy, just a country wedding at my little church in Texas, but I loved it.”

  “I love country weddings. I’ve planned huge weddings and small weddings.” Thankfully, the talk of weddings distracted them from focusing on her and Nate. For the next hour, they chattered about weddings like old friends. She told them about her new space and how women were already making appointments. She almost said even women without grooms were planning weddings, but decided not to mention that. She hoped Delilah found a groom, and she hoped Joleen was making progress with Harry. She watched Nate help Ely get a fish off his line.

  “You’re looking at him again,” Lisa said.

  “What?” Bethany asked.

  “Nate. You’ve been watching him almost the entire time we’ve been talking. It looks like love to me,” she said, teasing.

  Bethany gave a dismissive laugh. “You’re the one in love. Not me.”

  “Maybe,” Shelly said, jumping back on the bandwagon. “But you’re kidding yourself if you think there’s nothing there.”

  “It’s time to hit the last leg of the trail,” Nate called, as the men gathered up their poles.

  Bethany jumped from the rock and grabbed her backpack, as though it was time to abandon a sinking ship. “We will have to push hard to make it to the cabin before dark.”

  “Do you think the temperature is going to hold out?” Shelly asked, changing subjects. “This forty-five-degree weather is fine, but if it drops lower I’m going to worry about having brought Cody out here.”

  “The outlook has been good so far. We don’t even have rain on the forecast, and that’s unusual for this late in the season. And even though the temperature will drop tonight, we’ll be inside.” Cody was hardly noticing the weather. “Relax, look at that boy. The brisk weather isn’t hurting him.”

  Cody was jumping beside his dad as they headed toward the horses. He would sleep well tonight. So would they all, she was pretty sure…at least she hoped she could. The last thing she wanted to do was have a sleepless night, thinking of Nate.

  Was it really so clearly visible in her expression how she’d felt about him all those years ago?

  She was going to have to work on that. The last thing she wanted was Nate thinking she was still pinning away over the likes of him.

  They made it to the cabins just before nightfall.

  Bethany helped Ely set up the women’s cabin, while Lisa sat on a log and watched. Her hip had stiffened up a bit, but she assured Bethany that she was fine. The girl wasn’t a complainer. That was apparent. She was really a great sport.

  Nate kept his distance—and it was a good thing, because she still hadn’t gotten over what had happened that afternoon, and she’d rather not try to make conversation with him.

  He spent the first thirty minutes taking care of the horses, then he began to start a campfire. Bethany headed out to get wood. That would keep her busy for at least a few minutes.

  “Where ya goin’?” Cody asked. He was watching his parents put their gear in the cabins.

  “To get firewood.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Sure you can if it’s okay with your parents,” Bethany said.

  “That’s great. We’ll help, too,” Robert said. “Just as soon as we get through here.”

  “Yesss,” Cody shouted, pumping his small fist in the air as he’d probably seen someone do.

  Bethany chuckled at his enthusiasm. “With that kind of energy, we should have a bonfire within minutes.”

  They headed off into the woods. Cody walked beside her, picking up sticks as he saw them. “You think the bears will come to camp?”

  Bethany bent to grab a tree limb. “We shouldn’t have any trouble with the bears.”

  She could see the bears were quickly becoming an obsession. “You don’t need to be afraid.”

  “I’m not afraid. My daddy wouldn’t let one get to me. You think they might come get the horses, though?” He wasn’t worried about himself, but he was worried about the horses.

  “They’ll be fine. Nate is watching out for them. Besides, those horses would make enough noise to wake us all up if any wild animal decided to bother them.”

  “Yeah, they would snort and whinny like Lisa’s horse did.”

  Bethany smiled reassuringly at him. “That’s exactly what they would do. I promise.”

  He looked as if he was trying to convince himself of this. “I’m gonna go tell my dad you said that.” Turning, he headed toward where Robert and Shelly had started picking up tree limbs a few feet through the woods. Bethany watched him make his way to them, and then she went back to picking up more wood.

  She was thinking about Nate and how she couldn’t let herself weaken around him. Her arms full, she headed
back. She couldn’t see Robert, Shelly and Cody, but she knew they were close enough to camp not to get lost.

  She’d just stepped into the camp area when she heard the horses getting excited about something on the far end of camp.

  From where she was standing, she couldn’t see them. She saw Nate come out of his cabin, then glance her way and headed off without a word. She dropped her wood and followed him. They spotted Cody at the same time. The kid was standing in the middle of the seven horses, trying to hang onto the lead rope of one of the horses he’d obviously just untied.

  “What are you doing?” Nate roared, rushing forward to grab the rope from his small fingers.

  “I was gonna move the horses closer to the cabins,” Cody said, looking worried. “They want to be closer to us.”

  Nate tied the reins back to the rope he’d stretched between two trees and gently lifted Cody to the other side of the rope so he wouldn’t be harmed if the horses got spooked. “They’re fine right here Cody.”

  “But are you sure?”

  Bethany wasn’t certain how to take Cody’s behavior. She’d thought he was fine with her explanation earlier, and then this. Not to mention the fact that he was supposed to have been with his parents. It didn’t take but one glance from Nate to tell her he was holding her responsible for this. “Cody, the horses will be fine. But you were supposed to be with your parents.”

  “I told them I was picking up wood with you, but then I got to thinking about the horses and came to take care of them instead.”

  “Well, it’s nice that you’re so concerned about the horses, but you could have been hurt, standing in the middle of all of them. Will you promise me you will be careful and not come near the horses, or wander around in the woods, without one of us with you? This is really serious, Cody. You could be harmed. Promise me you won’t do this again.”

  He looked at his feet, kicking a golden leaf with his boot. “I promise.”

  “Good. Now let’s go find your parents and tell them what just happened.” She stood up and took his hand.

  “Come back here when you’re done, Bethany,” Nate said, gravely.

  “You got it,” she said.

  She took Cody to Shelly and Robert and explained quickly, and then headed back to Nate. He was mad at her, no doubt about Cody, and she deserved it. Her heart was still racing at the sight of the little boy in the middle of the horses. Careless is what she’d been.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, the instant she got back to Nate.

  He stalked to the opposite side of the horses, out of range of the camp. “How many times do I have to tell you that that boy needs constant supervision? He is your primary responsibility out here despite his parents being here. Can’t you tell that he doesn’t take direction more than half the time?”

  “Yes, I know that.” She didn’t tell him that he was supposed to have been with his parents. That served no purpose. She had been in the wrong because she should have double-checked, made certain that he was with them before she left them in the woods.

  “If you know that then why is he constantly where he isn’t supposed to be? You know how important this is.”

  “Because,” she said defensively.

  “Because what?” He stepped close.

  She looked up at him and her frustration took over. “Because I’m distracted by your behavior. I’m not doing my job because I can’t figure out what is going on with you. I can’t figure you out, period.”

  The angry glitter in Nate’s blue eyes stalled as he stared at her. “I’m not that hard to figure out. I want that child safe. He’s the reason you’re on this trip. I’ll be searching for signs the next couple of days with this treasure map from Amy. I can’t be worrying that you aren’t holding up your end of the deal.”

  That hit her wrong. So wrong. “You are asking me if I’m going to be trustworthy enough to hold up my end of the deal?” Of all the things he could have said, that one pushed her buttons like nothing else could. He nodded, and it was like a hammer slamming the nail home. “Give me a break,” she snapped, stepping into his space. “It seems to me that if anyone can’t hold up the end of a deal it’s you. If I commit to something—and I have where this tour is concerned—then I’m going to honor my end of the deal. You, on the other hand, toss out promises, expectations that you have no intention of upholding, so don’t give me this holier-than-thou spiel. This was an honest—if you know what that means—mistake where Cody is concerned, but you can be sure it won’t happen again.”

  Spinning away, her face hot, she headed back to camp on weak legs. His hand on her arm halted her.

  “Bethany—”

  She needed to cool down and she knew it. His hand was strong on her arm, and instantly she was embarrassed by her behavior earlier, when she’d wanted him to kiss her. Brother!

  “What?” she asked again, her voice coming out in a low whisper, as she fought tangling emotions. There had been a time when she’d thought God was smiling on her with the blessing of Nate’s love—stop, she ordered herself.

  “Bethany,” his deep voice was gritty as he said her name.

  She shook her head, backed away from him and willed herself to not humiliate herself again. “This is business, Nate. Let’s keep it that way. I’ll put on a show for them.” She jerked her head toward camp. “But we don’t need to pretend.”

  She wasn’t sure how to read the way his eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. Was he thinking she was overreacting? Did he think she was crazy? It didn’t matter. This was business and nothing more. This was supposed to be her getting over Nate, not her throwing herself under the bus!

  Chapter Eight

  “I’m so sorry,” Shelly said, the minute Bethany reached them. “This is exactly what I was worried about when I agreed to come on this trip. Cody gets distracted easily. I feel like I’m not doing a very good job, sometimes.”

  Bethany gave her a hug and tried to let go of the tension shrouding her. For Amy’s tour company, she had to do right by her clients. Dragging them into this thing between her and Nate wouldn’t be right. Totally unprofessional. And she’d learned never to be that in her business.

  Planting on a smile, she tried to ease Shelly’s concerns. “We will just have to be more aware, and if he’s with me, then I won’t take my eyes off of him until I see that he is with you. And you do the same. That way, we will both know he’s where he is supposed to be,” she said, as Nate walked up looking like a volcano about to explode. “And that will make our grumpy leader extremely happy, since your safety is his direct responsibility,” she added brightly, strictly for the camper’s benefit. But also because, despite her personal problem with Nate, this part was true.

  Robert had been speaking quietly with Cody, and now they approached. Cody looked up at Nate with serious eyes. “I’m sorry for wandering off and going to the horses by myself.”

  Nate shifted his weight from one boot to the other. If he’d had on his cowboy boots instead of his hiking boots he’d have been classic cowboy, as he shifted his shoulders and touched the rim of his hat—a cowboy’s way of giving himself a second to gather his thoughts. “You could have been harmed by the horses, son.” He knelt beside the wood and prepared to light it. “That’s all I’m worried about.”

  “I’m worried about the horses,” Cody repeated, without skipping a beat.

  Bethany sank onto a log and patted the seat beside her. “Let me tell you something about Nate. He is a cowboy and a wilderness guide, but he is also an animal rescue worker. Did you know that?”

  Everyone moved to sit around the fire as it sparked to life. Cody’s eyes widened. “You mean, you save animals?” he asked, as Nate pushed limbs around to catch the flame.

  “Yes, I do.”

  Bethany knew she was on the right track for Cody’s benefit. “So you see, Nate not only knows how to protect you, but he knows how to protect animals, too. He’s not going to let anything happen to the horses.”

  Cody looked
relieved. “What kinds of animals have you rescued?”

  “All kinds of them. Bethany helped me rescue a baby moose one time.”

  “How?”

  Nate grinned, taking this “let’s get along for their sake” over the top. “She fell in the water trying to help pull it into the boat.”

  Nate chuckled, and despite everything, Bethany couldn’t help smiling.

  That had been quite a day. Nate had managed to fish her and the worn-out moose into the boat, then drive them to safety. The memory of how worried he’d been for her washed over her, just as Nate sat down on the log beside her—great, just what she did not need!

  A walk down a memory lane of the good times they’d had was not what she intended when she’d brought up the subject of animal rescue.

  Nate realized instantly that Bethany had found the way to ease Cody’s mind. He felt bad about what he’d said and was disturbed by what she said. He gave her a tight smile, feeling bad and needing to apologize to her, but now wasn’t the place. They were both experiencing the strain of this trip.

  “I couldn’t have saved that moose without her that day,” he said, feeling as though he needed to fix what was going on between them, while not sure how to do it. They didn’t used to fight, but it seemed the only thing they could do now.

  He’d been blowing up or messing up with her at every turn, and it had to stop. Sitting here with the group, they could at least put on a pretense that all was okay between them.

  “I bet it was funny to see Bethany and the moose in the water together,” Cody said.

  Nate remembered how worried he’d been. “It was a very dangerous situation Cody.” Then, not wanting to totally scare the kid about the dangers of being outdoors, he added, “But yeah, it was something to see.”

  Bethany smiled at him and gave him a wink—really stretching the show. She obviously was worried that he’d been about to terrify the boy all over again by talking about how dire the situation had been.