by Em Petrova
After a quick examination, he knew it hadn’t broken a leg. It was down for some other reason, but he wasn’t about to let it die on his watch.
He smacked its rump. “Get on! C’mon!”
The animal rocked in attempt to get to its feet but didn’t make it. He maneuvered behind the thousand-pound steer and pushed on its back. “Yaw! Get on!”
This time it rocked more toward its stomach, a good thing since it was the only way to get its legs beneath it. He dug in his boot and pushed with all his might. The extra boost helped the steer into a better position, but it still gasped for air.
He had a bloat tube in the bag on the ATV, but first he had to get the animal up. Moving to the head, he got the rope and pulled. The steer didn’t budge. After a few more attempts, he was able to get the animal to push up a bit on its forelegs.
“Get on!”
The steer tried again, and he simultaneously gave the pull of his life. Suddenly it popped up, swaying. He had to regain his own balance after the sudden shift in strength, and he planted his cast to remain upright. No pain shot through his foot, so that was a good thing.
He rushed to the bag and got the bloat tube. One jab in its hide—the steer wouldn’t feel it anyway since the hide didn’t have nerves—and the trapped air could get out. Wheeler approached the beast slowly again, cooing to it.
Less than a minute later, the air was draining out of the animal, ripe and fowl. Wheeler stepped back, assessing how to get it back to the barn to be looked after before releasing it to the herd once more. On horseback, it’d be nothing to lead it by the rope, but he’d never used an ATV for the task before. The steer could be just spooky enough to resist and not follow.
Nothin’ to do but give it a shot. He’d gotten this far.
Taking hold of the lead rope, he hopped on the ATV again. The animal tolerated the engine noise, but when he tried to get it moving, it refused to follow behind. Thinking it could do with the smell of the exhaust, he moved the ATV to the side, keeping the rope taut horizontally. When he rolled forward, the steer began to walk alongside him, about ten feet off.
It made for some slow progress, but eventually he got the animal to the barn. He gave it a more thorough examination but couldn’t find much wrong. By this time, Schmitty and King turned up.
“A call to the vet is in order. Could be summer pneumonia. The abrupt change of season causes it sometimes,” Wheeler told King.
He gave a nod. “I’ll call now. How’d you manage with the ATV instead of a horse?”
He laughed. “I prefer four legs to four wheels, but we managed fine.”
“When’s your next doctor appointment?” King eyed up Wheeler’s cast. He’d stuck a knit hat over his exposed toes, but everything looked the worse for wear after walking through the pasture on it.
“Not soon enough,” he responded.
“Heard you were at the tack shop yesterday.” Schmitty knew all the comings and goings in town and on the outer limits.
He gave a nod. “That’s right.”
Schmitty shot King a shit-eating grin. “Giving a woman a saddle is equivalent to getting on bended knee. So? Did you pop the question?”
Irritated and angry with himself, Wheeler grunted. “No. I flubbed it.”
King and Scmitty exchanged a look and then burst out laughing.
“Sure, poke fun at the guy who sucks with words.”
“Dude, do you think we’re any better? We’re men. We don’t talk—we take action. Your first mistake was opening your mouth,” King said.
“Your second was not just grabbing her and kissing her.”
Wheeler doffed his hat and raked his fingers through his hair. “I know that now. A day late and a dollar short.”
“Never too late, my friend.” King smacked him on the shoulder. “But you know she’s leaving soon, right?”
The news slammed into Wheeler. He almost stumbled back but braced his legs and dragged in a breath. “Leaving?”
“Yeah, the big awards nomination banquet. The entire cast goes. Bellarose said I don’t have to attend this but when the actual awards show takes place, I’ll need you and Schmitty to watch the place.”
“’Course,” Schmitty said.
Wheeler stared. “How long will she be gone?”
“Half a week, by my guess.”
No. He couldn’t allow her to leave Washington without knowing exactly how much he wanted her. How he’d throw himself in front of a stampeding bull for her—or hell, a jet if it meant stopping her from leaving before she spoke to him.
“When does she leave?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Shit. Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Maybe it slipped her mind.”
“I gotta head home.” Wheeler turned for his truck without another word and didn’t look back. Aria had told him she’d see him later, but with her schedule, later could be anytime.
That wasn’t acceptable.
He was halfway to the truck before he remembered he’d left the crutch next to the ATV shed. Fuck it—he had another at home, and he’d been walking on the cast most of the day. He had to find Aria.
* * * * *
Pressing her fingertips to her lips, Aria stared out at the beauty of the land. Mountains jutted into the crystal blue sky and green valleys below were dotted with cattle. A big bird of prey swooped out of the sky and rushed the ground to catch a mouse or some other small critter. Growing up a country girl, her surroundings had always fascinated her, and now she had a deep connection to Washington.
Some of it was the beauty of the landscape, sure. But she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that most of her attachment had to do with a stubborn, hard-working wrangler who’d given her refuge in his barn one night.
Partnership. What the hell did that even mean? Their previous night together had been filled with passion and sweet moments tucked under the blankets, and then he’d surprised her with the gorgeous hand-tooled saddle. To a rancher’s daughter, that might as well be a diamond ring.
Wheeler’s eyes had glowed when he stared at her and… told her what good partners they made? As if they were a business transaction and not a couple.
She wrapped her arms around her middle and continued to stare over the land. From her vantage point in the small-town motel she’d stopped off at on her way to the airport, things were beautiful on the surface but feeling bleak on the inside.
She was headed back to Hollywood for a few days, but she’d left early, needing some time apart from the cast, from Wheeler.
It had become painfully clear to her that she was in much deeper than he was. At last, she’d made up her mind and taken steps toward things she wanted in her life, and look what it had gotten her.
To Wheeler, she was a warm body to comfort him at a time when he was low. She’d provided much-needed help around his place and with his animals, picking up the slack for him. And then she’d been silly enough to buy those horses and make improvements to his land.
If things were over, she had more choices to make. The horses she could move to her daddy’s ranch without trouble, so it wasn’t a huge deal. And what was a bit of lumber or labor costs compared to her broken heart?
Stupidly, she’d believed there might be so much more between them than a simple partnership.
Ugh. That word pissed her off.
She turned for the cheap sliding door off her motel room and went back inside. The room was simple but clean, and for that she was grateful. If she had to find a hideout, at least it didn’t have bedbugs.
She flopped onto the double bed and drew her legs up to her chest. By being here, she wasn’t really running again, was she? No, she’d simply taken a detour on her way to the airport, was spending time in a small town.
Call it mental recuperation before she had to return to the rat-race of an industry she didn’t totally understand—and if she was honest with herself, did not love.
She rested her cheek on her knees. A tear rolled from
the corner of her eye.
If I don’t love it, why am I doing it?
Because it had been an opportunity nobody could turn down. Fame and money was the dream of many.
Just not Aria.
She was good at acting and it wasn’t the worst job a woman could ask for. But she preferred the simple life of training horses.
Buying that pair of reining horses had given her the boost to her spirit she needed, and her hopes had sailed even high when it came to Wheeler.
How off she’d been to believe there was more between them than a partnership.
Or had she?
A man couldn’t fake lovemaking like that. Wheeler had touched every inch of her with tender loving care that night… He’d stared into her eyes and watched her come apart for him with a shimmer in his eyes that had made her believe he returned her feelings.
Could it be he was really just terrible at vocalizing his true emotions?
He was a rough man, callused and work-worn. He talked to men and cattle. The softest words he probably had were for his horse. So it was completely possible that the cowboy just didn’t know what to say to her.
Reading between the lines, she might hear love in his soft whispers while he was buried deep inside her or in the gleam in his eyes as he revealed the gift of the saddle.
She swallowed hard around the tears that threatened to tumble down her cheeks. She was far from perfect, was growing and learning about how to get the things she wanted in this life.
First, she wanted to end her acting stint. Horses were her true love—that and Wheeler. She was head over heels for the man, and she couldn’t run from that another second. She had to go back.
Five minutes later, she was checked out of the motel and in her rental car on the way up the road again, headed toward the massive mountain range stretching along the horizon. Just beyond the foothills of those mountains was a small ranch with five very special horses on it. Not a lot, but each one important. There was a cozy house with new butcher block countertops and a porch that needed fixing.
And a cowboy with a broken foot he refused to stay off and who sucked at telling a woman how he felt about her.
Aria gripped the steering wheel and fixed her gaze on the farthest point in the road. She was going back to get her man—her decision was made.
Chapter Ten
Wheeler rolled up on King’s ranch like it was on fire and he had the only bucket of water. When he jumped out of the truck, his foot gave a twinge he ignored as he ate up the ground to the enclosure where King was working with the horses.
He gave a shrill whistle, and his buddy whirled around. Concern etched on King’s face as he hurried toward Wheeler.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bellarose is gone?”
His brows pinched together. “Yeah, she should be at the airport by now. A bunch of the actors rode together. They fly out in an hour and a half.”
“Dammit. That’s what I was afraid of. Thanks!” He took off again, moving too fast to call it walking, yet he couldn’t quite run on that cast, and he’d abandoned all thoughts of using the crutch.
He jumped back into his truck and took off to the road in a blaze of dust. The shocks on his truck left a lot to be desired over the humps and dips, but his mind was centered on one thing—getting to Aria.
If he let her board that plane without telling her how he felt… Oh God, he could lose her. The filming wasn’t yet finished for the season, so she’d have to return to the set, but once she left Washington, would she forget all about him?
He’d fucked up, pure and simple. The previous day she’d told him she’d see him later, but she’d never turned up. His biggest mistake yet had been not going after her then. But somehow, in his mind, he figured she needed some space. What an idiot he’d been to wait. If only he’d stormed the set and demanded she hear him out, he wouldn’t have his heart aching in his throat right now.
He jammed his boot down on the gas pedal and sped toward the highway. The airport wasn’t a long drive, but he wondered how much he could shave off if he gunned it.
As long as the flight hadn’t taken off, he’d catch her. He only prayed that by some freak chance, Aria wasn’t on a different flight than Bellarose.
The longer he drove, the more his mind fooled him into believing he’d lost her. He ground his molars until his head ached, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. He loved the woman, wanted to spend the rest of his days with her by his side. And if he’d missed out on having the perfect woman for him because of his stupid inability to just tell her he loved her, he was going to tie himself to a horse and have it drag him behind it as punishment.
When he spotted the airport sign, his heart gave a hard leap against his chest wall. He breathed around the crash of pain and careened into the lot, found a spot and haphazardly parked.
The distance to the building made him wish he had a better mode of transportation than his damn casted foot. He’d have to make do.
He took off at a walk/run, limping as fast as he could to the big doors.
The minute he entered, he shouted at an employee. “Flight for Hollywood!”
She gave him a startled glance and then stumbled out directions to the gate. He thanked her and took off again.
Passing people sleeping in seats and parents trying to keep their offspring entertained, he hurried to the gate where the cast would board.
When he spotted Bellarose’s head of thick red hair, his heart gave that crash against his ribs again. She had to be here. Aria was here.
He scanned the group of people sitting there. He didn’t know much about the show—why hadn’t he shown more interest in what Aria did? It was important to her, and he should have been more invested.
It was because he didn’t think of her as an actor and celebrity, but just as the beautiful, tough and knowledgeable rancher who meant the universe to him.
He didn’t see her among the people. Maybe she’d gone to the restroom.
“Bellarose.” His voice came out like ground glass.
The woman snapped her head up, and seeing it was him, leaped to her feet. “Wheeler.” Her face drained of color. “Is something wrong with King?”
“Oh God, no. I’m sorry to scare ya. I’m looking for Aria.”
The blood rushed back into her face, and a hand fluttered to her chest. “Thank God. Aria… she isn’t here. She left last night. She should already be in Hollywood.”
The words were like bullets striking him. It was everything he’d feared, come to light. He’d waited too long, been slow to act, and now she was gone.
He tore the hat off his head and slapped it against his thigh. Everyone seated looked at him, and one guy, probably a bodyguard traveling with the actors, stood up.
Bellarose waved him back down. “It’s okay. He’s a friend.” She grabbed Wheeler’s arm and steered him a few feet off. “Did you have an argument?”
“No, I had a dumb fuck moment. Pardon my language. I wanted to tell her I love her, and it came out all wrong. She left, and I knew she wasn’t happy. I should have gone after her. Fuck, why didn’t I?”
She squeezed his arm. “Misunderstandings happen. It isn’t the end of the world. You can still talk to her on the phone and make things right.”
“What I want to say involves me getting down on one knee. Hell.” He ran his hand over his face. “All right. There’s nothing I can do right now. She’s there and I’m here. I’ll have to wait till she returns. How long will that be?”
“We resume filming on Tuesday.”
Dammit. Tuesday was days away, too far off.
“Do you want me to try to text her for you?” Bellarose’s eyes glowed with concern.
“No, I need to say the words myself. Thanks, though.”
Just then her phone rang, and she drew it from the purse she had looped across her body. She shot Wheeler a look. “It’s King.”
“He’s prob wondering about me showing up at Blackwater acting
like a crazy person. Take the call. I’ll go on home.”
Bellarose gave a nod and brought the phone to her ear. As Wheeler walked away, he heard her words grow fainter and fainter.
* * * * *
Wheeler’s truck wasn’t in the driveway. Aria didn’t think he was in town, either, as she’d just driven through there. He could be up at Blackwater working with King, but he typically went first thing in the morning when he could be of the most help with feeding and checking the herd.
Maybe he got delayed.
Aria parked the rental car and sucked in a breath of the fresh, pine-and-hay-scented air. Tears sprang to her eyes.
It shouldn’t feel like she belonged here, but it did. It was as if she’d run straight for home after Jason sprang that wedding on her. Somehow, without even knowing it, she’d been led to this place that soothed her soul and had found a man who did the opposite—by stirring it.
She looked around. The place was changed with her being here.
I’m changed.
She guessed Wheeler was different as well, if the stubborn ass could admit such a thing to her. For some reason, the thought brought a touch of a smile to her lips.
When she wandered to the barn, she noted the horses were not out. Odd and somewhat disturbing. If he hadn’t let them roam free for the morning, he must not plan to come back anytime soon.
What if something else had happened, an accident? It was more likely the only accident that would befall him was him taking a handsaw to his own cast.
She entered the barn. Immediately, her gaze fell over the saddle. It hadn’t been moved. A pang of regret swept through her. Why hadn’t she just talked it out with Wheeler at the time? She’d let her emotions run too high and only thought to escape. Well, this last time she’d learned her lesson—three times was a charm. Spending a sleepless night in that motel while longing for Wheeler had set her straight, and she would never run again. She knew her course now, and she intended to stick to it.
The horses greeted her with soft sounds, which brought a smile to her face. She drifted to Gusto’s stall first. The big animal stuck his head over the door, reaching out for the carrots she typically brought him.