“Charlie’s fine,” she said.
He nodded. “Once we find out what’s what with the herd, and we get you settled in, you’ll take turns with us cooking. You can cook, right?”
She nodded.
“Good.”
The barest hint of grey light shadowed the yard after they’d finished eating, cleaned up the dishes, and walked to the barn. The cow dogs followed them and sat, waiting.
Jasper and Goyo walked around the outside of the barn first, then inside.
“We got lucky,” Goyo said as he shoved his hat back on his head. “Real lucky. Looks like the roof’s okay.”
“Must have been a small storm,” Jasper agreed. “I wonder how much fence is down.” He turned to her. “You know how to mend a fence?”
She nodded.
Jasper led her to the feed room. “There’s chicken feed in there. If you go scatter it outside, it should bring them back. We’ll worry about the pigs later. I want to get the horses rounded up.” He scooped horse feed into a bucket. Then he went outside and walked across the yard to a wooden corral fence. He started shaking the bucket and whistling.
As she scattered feed for the chickens, she heard hoof beats approach. A moment later, as Goyo joined Jasper at the fence, eight horses galloped into the corral through the open pasture gate.
“That’s a relief,” Goyo said as he walked around and shut the gate.
“They don’t look bad,” Jasper said as he ran his hand over the neck of one.
Goyo walked around them. “Couple of minor scratches. That’s real good. The herd should be okay too, if these guys are in good shape.”
Jasper disappeared into the barn and returned with three bridles. “You ever work with cow dogs before?” he asked her. She shook her head. He handed one of the bridles to her and indicated the smallest horse, a sorrel gelding. “You can ride him. He works well with the dogs. Just point him and hang on.”
She climbed through the fence and approached the gelding, which blew out a few wide-nosed breaths at her before sniffing her outstretched palm. She slipped the reins around his neck to hold him while she bridled him.
She realized the men were watching her. “What?”
Jasper’s smile seemed to hold more behind it than he let on. “Nothing. Just wanted to see if you were telling the truth about your horse sense.”
She led the horse out of the corral and over to a hitching rail in front of the barn. “Where’s the saddle?” she said in reply, trying to rein in her irritation. Why would they doubt her word if they thought she was a man?
I’ll show them.
The tough, compact pony stood still while she quickly brushed and saddled him. Not a beautiful beast, and not very big, but he looked tough and strong in the hind quarters despite his short back.
Goyo led a slightly taller bay over to the hitching rail. “Cow ponies in Florida tend to run smaller to what you’re used to seeing, I’m sure,” he said as he patted her horse’s neck. “Can’t run no big ole saddle horse through the scrub. These ponies are as tough as us Crackers.”
“Crackers?”
She jumped, startled when a whip cracked far too near for her liking. The two ponies and Goyo never flinched. Jasper, a teasing grin on his face, stood in the barn doorway and coiled the whip. “Crackers. That’s how we drive them.”
A few minutes later they all mounted, and she followed the men through the woods as the sun slowly climbed and filled the pines and palmettos with a crystal clear, golden-tinged hue. Sunlight sparkled off rain drops still clinging to the vegetation before the heat of the day evaporated it and turned the air into a steamy soup.
“How many head you got?” she asked.
“A hundred,” Goyo called over his shoulder, “but we’re getting ready to expand. Buying the property next door, and his herd. Another hundred.”
The land opened up into scrubby palmetto prairie and pasture land. In the distance, she spotted the herd they sought.
With Jasper in the lead, he picked up the pace, and she followed the men until they reached the herd. They all dismounted. The men handed her the reins for their horses before they walked into the herd, examining them.
After a few minutes, Jasper shook his head. “I don’t believe it, but I’m glad of it.”
“You and me both, Jaz,” Goyo echoed. “That’s one worry down. Now we need to check the fence, and then we get to clear the road.”
Jasper groaned. “Thank goodness we picked up that new double-ended saw last month.”
She remounted, and that’s when Callie realized she had a problem. The men stood on the other side of their horses, their backs to her for a moment before mounting, and she knew they’d relieved themselves.
She glanced around. It’d be hard to explain having to find a tree for modesty’s sake, and even more embarrassing to piddle all over herself. She couldn’t very well squat in front of them, or they’d know the truth about her.
The men took swigs of water from a canteen before Goyo handed it back to her. Thirsty, she also took a drink even though she knew that would only add to her discomfort.
They reached the fence line a few minutes later. She felt more than happy when Goyo sent her riding down one direction while the men went the other. As soon as the men were out of sight, she hurriedly dismounted and relieved herself.
I should have thought this plan out a little better.
That taken care of, she quickly remounted and continued on her way.
By the time she hit the turn in the fence they’d told her about, she hadn’t found any breaks. She turned her horse and headed back to their meeting point, but Goyo intercepted her before she reached it. “Big tree down that way. We need the saw. Come with me back to the house to get the stuff we’ll need.”
“Where’s Jasper?”
“He’s gonna ride the rest of the fence on this side to see if there’s any more.”
She followed him back to the house and helped him gather what they needed. Their wagon couldn’t make it through the thick brush, and with the road blocked, they had to load the supplies on the two larger team horses. She snuck a trip to the privy while using the excuse that she’d refill their canteens and get them some food.
“These aren’t cow ponies,” she observed when she returned.
“No, we don’t use them to work the herd, they’re too big. We use them for the wagon, for pulling, and for pack work when we need them.” When she mounted, he handed her the lead for one. “You can lead a horse, right?”
She furrowed her brow in irritation. As handsome as he was, she’d begun to think he had an ego to match his good looks. “Yes, I can lead a horse.” She headed off down the trail, trying to ignore his amused snickering behind her as he mounted his horse and followed.
Jasper had discovered two more fence breaks, neither as serious as the first one. By mid-afternoon, they’d repaired them and headed for the road to take care of the downed trees. The two men stared at the first tree, the one that had nearly killed her.
“We’re going to need the team hitched to pull this out of the way.” Jasper looked at her. “You know how to hook up a team for pulling?”
She’d had just about enough of this. “You got collars for them?”
Goyo laughed. “I think you riled his feathers, Jaz.”
“Just get the stuff you need from them unloaded,” she sniped. “Where’s their harness?”
“Everything’s hanging in the tack room in the barn.”
Stewing, she mounted her pony and took the team’s leads when the men handed them to her before leading them back to the house. After another quick trip to the privy, she investigated the tack room and found everything she needed except the whippletree and a stout chain or even a log hook. Finally, she found it all hanging in the back of the barn near a small plow.
She wouldn’t need her pony, so she turned him loose in the corral with the others. Then she swung up on the back of one of the team and rode down to the men.
&nb
sp; Jasper looked up from where they’d nearly sawed through the tree. “Don’t suppose you found the—”
She shot him a smug grin as she jumped down from the horse she’d rode and pointed. “Yes, I found it. Thanks for remembering to tell me it was in the back of the barn.”
Goyo leaned against another tree, slapping his thigh as he laughed at Jasper. “I think—”
Jasper cut him off with a dark look. “That you’d better shut your mouth.”
Goyo snickered but nodded. “Sure.”
* * * *
Jasper stewed, not sure how to call her bluff. He’d been sure Charlie, whatever her real name was, would have revealed herself before now. She’d certainly surprised him. He had to admit with more than a little respect that she hadn’t lied about her skills. A hard worker, harder than some men they’d hired in the past. He had no doubts about that part of her history being the truth, even if she lied about who she was.
As she bent over to hook the traces to the log, he would also admit to admiring her curvy backside. Goyo caught sight of him staring and shot him a wink and a grin. No doubt he’d noticed her backside, too.
Two more trees had fallen across the road, both smaller than the first. Late in the afternoon they finished clearing them and returned to the house.
She jumped down off the horse and led the team to the hitching rail. “What now?”
“You take care of the horses, we’ll get the milking done. Then I need a swim.” He suppressed his laugh. That would work. No way she could hide who she was in the spring. “In fact, as hot as it is, I think we all need one.”
She didn’t say anything. He’d toss her into the spring if he had to, but one way or another, before she went to bed that night, he would get her to admit her secret.
Then it hopefully wouldn’t matter if she discovered theirs.
She made excuses and hemmed and hawed about not being able to swim, but between Jasper and Goyo, they finally coaxed her behind the house and down the short path to the small, clear spring.
He started stripping his clothes, his eyes on her face. “Hey, makes bathing easy.” He tossed a bar of soap and wash rag he’d brought from the house onto a rock near the edge. “Saves us the trouble of running a tub full of water.”
He couldn’t help but notice that when he and Goyo pulled their trousers off, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “Come on in, Charlie. Nothing like a cool swim after a long, hard day of honest work.” He waded into the spring.
* * * *
Callie stood there, mortified. Well, not just mortified, curious, too, because she’d never been with a man before. Theoretically, she knew what they must look like based on animals, but...
Holy heavens!
Their thick members hung over heavy sacs. When they turned to wade into the water, she was treated to an unobstructed view of their firm backsides.
“Come on in,” Jasper repeated, his eyes twinkling.
She shook her head. “I told you, I can’t swim.” Okay, another lie, but it was either lie or go in with her clothes on and try to explain that to the men.
“We’ll teach you,” Goyo said. “Come on, Charlie. Live dangerously.”
She kicked off her boots and carefully laid her socks in them so they wouldn’t get wet. “I’ll just dip my feet in.” She rolled her pants up to her knees and carefully walked to another rock near the edge, but hopefully far enough away from the men that they wouldn’t be tempted to try anything funny.
* * * *
The men swam to the far side of the spring. Goyo chuckled under his breath. “She’s really doing anything she can to stay away from the water, isn’t she?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Jasper said.
“She is cute.”
Jasper studied him, an eyebrow arching in surprise. “You think so?”
“Don’t you?”
“Well, yeah.”
He shrugged. “Just because I’m with you doesn’t mean I don’t like women. I’d been with women before I decided I liked men, too.”
Jasper laughed. “I guess I’d forgotten that.”
“You’re not really going to make her sleep in the barn tonight are you?” He glanced at her. “I’d feel really guilty if we did that. Even if she is willing, it wouldn’t be right to make her do it.”
“Not if I can get her to fess up before bedtime.” He looked at Goyo. “It means we wouldn’t have to explain you and me sharing a bed when she’s not in the house.”
“Always so logical.”
“I want to bend you over and stick my cock in you right now.”
“And so horny, too,” Goyo teased, then he sighed. “If she stays long enough, maybe you can use her as a way to avoid Sarasota’s eligible ladies.”
“You mean we.”
His blue eyes darkened as he crouched in the water. “No, papi, I mean you. No white woman’s going to want to settle for a Cubano half-breed, even if they don’t know I’m part Seminole. Besides, I don’t want anyone but you. No one will question me being single.” He grinned. “I can always tell them I flunked out of the seminary but still hold my vows.” He backstroked away to Jasper’s roaring laughter.
* * * *
Callie looked up at the sound of Jasper’s laugh. The easy sound rolled out of him and across the small spring. She watched the way Goyo looked at him, and Jasper’s return glances. At the very least they seemed good friends, as close as brothers from the way they worked together. Many times silently, as if knowing the other’s thoughts.
She wondered why they were single, then decided it didn’t matter. She’d hate giving up a nice bed for a pile of hay, but if it meant staying safe, she’d do it.
The dogs had followed them to the spring and plunged in with the men, paddling around for a few minutes before climbing out and shaking water all over. She watched them, not paying attention to the men until she heard a splash of water and realized Jasper swam over to her. Even through the rippled water she could see his thick member, seemingly waving at her as the clear spring created the illusion.
She swallowed hard.
“It’s a hot day, Charlie. You should come on in. I’m sure you’d like to cool off.”
She didn’t dare draw her feet in, reading something in his eyes telling her that’d be the wrong thing to do. “I’m all right. Just wettin’ my toes.”
He stood, the water just below his hips. Water clung to the dark, curly nest of hair just barely exposed by the water. She struggled to keep her eyes off the trickles of water running down the dark hair on his chest and dripping from his...
Oh, my!
He put his hands on his hips. “I think you’d enjoy a chance to scrub the dirt and sweat off after a day like today. You smell like a horse.”
“Well, you smell like a wet dog, Jasper.”
He grinned. “Do I?”
Goyo chimed in from nearby, where he sudsed up with the soap. “Yeah, now that I think of it, Jaz, you sort of do.”
Jasper’s smile didn’t put her at ease, but before she could scramble backward off the rock and out of his reach, he’d grabbed her, hoisted her off the rock, and slung her out into the middle of the spring where she nearly landed on Goyo.
She came up screaming her outrage as she tried to swim to shore, but Jasper blocked her progress.
“No, Charlie, I told you we’d teach you to swim,” he said as he grabbed her and tossed her into the middle of the spring again, “and that’s what we’re going to do!”
She finally had to swim across the spring to get away from him. Goyo stood near the opposite shore, laughing. “Look at that, Jaz. You’re a good teacher. One swimming lesson and she’s swimming like a gator.”
Her eyes widened, horrified. “There’s gators in here?” She frantically looked around, terrified.
“Not in this one, it’s way too small.” He crossed his arms and stared at her. “Now tell us your real name, Charlie. Or is it maybe Charlene? Or Carla?”
She stared at the men as she r
ealized they knew her secret, then she broke down crying. She’d tried so hard to pretend. How was she supposed to escape and hide from Bart if she couldn’t even fool these two guys?
The men swam over to her. She felt too upset to even remember they were naked as they surrounded her in the water.
“Hey,” Jasper said, his voice gentled, “it’s all right, honey. We knew last night when we got you back to the house. It’s okay. We were just waiting for you to admit the truth. We didn’t want to make you sleep in the barn tonight.”
“Yeah,” Goyo agreed. “We’ll keep you hid, but you need to tell us the truth.”
Standing there in the spring, in sopping wet clothes with two handsome, naked Crackers flanking her, she cried out the story.
The men appeared angry, she realized, when she finally opened her eyes and looked into their faces. Jasper reached out and touched her chin. “How old are you, really?”
“How old are you?” she shot back.
He smiled. “I’m thirty. Goyo is twenty-six. Now answer my question.”
“Twenty.”
“Is that the truth?”
“Yes.” Why bother lying anymore? It didn’t matter.
He nodded. “We will keep you safe. But you can’t sleep in the barn. You can keep the room you’re in. We’ll share.”
She felt horrible about that. “That’s not right, though. It’s y’all’s house. I don’t mind the barn.”
The men exchanged a glance. “We don’t mind sharing a bed. And we’ll help you keep your secret if you’ll promise to help us keep ours.”
She sniffled. “Yours?”
The men exchanged another glance. Goyo nodded.
“Are you a religious girl?” Jasper asked.
She shrugged. “Will it shock you if I tell you no?”
Goyo grinned. “I like this girl.”
“Will you promise?” Jasper repeated.
“Okay, sure.”
He let go of her. “I’m a widower. I don’t feel like telling the story right now. Goyo saved my life when I tried to kill myself. And let’s just say that we’re a lot closer than any brothers. Sharing a bed isn’t any great sacrifice, because normally we sleep together anyway. That’s a secret we don’t want getting out to anyone.”
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