Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cheyenne
Life felt like a dream. It was a cliché thing to say, but there was no other way to describe it. Every morning, I woke up in Rhett’s arms. We had coffee together on the porch while Ash ran around outside. Then we went to work together, where Naomi had arranged for Rhett to be my partner on the trail. I’d always loved my job, but sharing it with him made it a thousand times better. Plus, the patrons loved it. All the little kids wanted to get their picture taken with the “real cowboy.”
A few of the women wanted that too, and one even went so far as to tuck her number into Rhett’s back pocket.
All it did was make me laugh. I couldn’t blame her. He was gorgeous, sexy, and—most importantly—he was mine.
I never officially told anyone we were together, other than Claire. But I didn’t need to. It was obvious in the way he looked at me—and by the way we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. After the first few days, I gave up trying. Without even thinking, I slipped a hand on his knee during lunch one day, and his arm automatically wrapped around my shoulders. When I realized what we were doing, I looked up and saw Naomi giving me a knowing smile. After that, I relaxed and stopped worrying about it.
Family dinner became a regular thing, and we stopped trying to hide our relationship there, too. The first time Rhett kissed me in front of everyone, I was startled. But then I realized no one seemed to care. We didn’t need a big announcement. We were together, and it was as natural and normal for everyone else as it was for us.
When Thursday rolled around, I was actually disappointed about missing the family dinner.
“You ready?” Claire asked, waltzing into the barn, still wearing her sheriff’s uniform.
“Almost,” I answered, leading Diablo back to his stall. Soon, he’d be able to stay out in the pasture if he wanted.
We’d had to keep him in the barn full-time at first while we monitored his recovery and got his weight up to where it should be. The poor horse had been horribly malnourished and injured when we’d gotten him. But today, he looked sleek, healthy, and confident. He wasn’t nearly as skittish and had even let Rhett saddle him without bucking.
It was such an interesting thing. Diablo was still uncooperative with Travis and Jonathan, even though neither of them would try to “break” him the way old-school cowboys did. Everyone on this ranch followed Walker’s rules, which included a strong respect for the spirit of a horse. Even so, Diablo clearly preferred to be handled by women. But he had become comfortable with Rhett since we’d gotten together, as if my trust in Rhett made Diablo trust him, too.
Rhett walked in, his face lighting up as soon as he saw me. My face lit up at the sight of him, too. I couldn’t help it. Those black boots, that long hair hanging down underneath his cowboy hat. That sexy grin and swagger. My heart felt like it could beat right out of my chest every time I saw him.
“You have it so bad,” Claire said, laughing as she elbowed me.
“I sure do,” Rhett said as if she had been talking to him. He swept me off my feet into a giant bear hug, then planted a loud kiss on my lips right in front of her.
“Hi,” I said when he put me down. “That can’t have been good for your ribs.”
“Worth it,” he said, winking. “I wish I could come with you tonight.”
“Really?” I cocked my head. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I think what you do is cool, and it’s a huge part of your life. I’d like to see it in action. If you played a sport, I’d want to cheer for you at your games, right? Same thing.”
“It’s not the same thing at all,” Claire interjected, rolling her eyes. “You can’t compare search-and-rescue to a sport.”
“But if you really want to come, you can,” I offered. “We let civilians observe or train with us for a night to see if they’re interested in joining. ”
“Really?” His eyes lit up.
“Yeah, sure.” My heart fluttered all over again, knowing that he cared about something I was so passionate about.
“Awesome. I’ll tell Mom I won’t be here for dinner after all.” He turned to leave, then stopped. “Wait, they have food, right? You’re eating there?”
“No,” Claire said, straight-faced. “Hunger is part of training. We all skip dinner in order to simulate what it’s like on a real search.”
He hesitated, rethinking his decision.
“Claire’s kidding,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Yes, there’s food. Hank’s wife cooks the team dinner every Thursday. We eat, then train for a couple of hours. She cooks enough to feed an army, so there will be plenty for you, too.”
“Perfect.” He threw me a wink, then disappeared out of the barn.
The sun had already set when we arrived at Hank’s and let ourselves in the gate to their backyard. The team had long outgrown Hank’s small house, but it was tradition to meet there before training. So Hank and his wife, Jackie, had installed multiple picnic tables in their backyard and lit the space with hanging lanterns. The effect was as beautiful as it was practical.
Hank and Jackie both welcomed Rhett with arms wide open. As far as Jackie was concerned, the more the merrier. She, like Naomi, loved playing hostess and always enjoyed a crowd.
Hank, meanwhile, was always looking for more people to add to the team. He would see Rhett as a prime candidate: strong, experienced on horseback, and the kind of person who liked to push himself. That was something everyone on the team seemed to have in common. You didn’t sign up for this kind of thing unless you wanted to see what you were made of and continually challenge both your mind and your body.
I slipped my hand into Rhett’s as I introduced him to team members. It gave me a thrill, knowing that even though I hadn’t said anything, we were officially going public with our relationship. I’d never brought anyone to training before, and I had certainly never held hands with anyone in public. It was new territory for me, but it felt right.
It always felt right with Rhett.
Everyone seemed happy to see Rhett except Sam. He glanced at our intertwined hands and gave me an unreadable look. I smiled at him, trying to let him know that I was okay—that everything was good. But his disapproval spoke loudly, even though he didn’t say a word.
Jackie had set up a taco bar for dinner, so we all feasted and laughed before diving into training. The camaraderie of the group was an important part of how we functioned. We all needed to be able to trust each other and feel comfortable with each other out in the wilderness.
Rhett fit in right away, which brought unexpected relief. I hadn’t realized how nervous I was about mixing these two parts of my life. Search-and-rescue could be incredibly hard on relationships. We frequently dropped everything to respond to callouts and were often put in dangerous situations, coming home bruised, sore, and exhausted. That was hard on loved ones back home. I’d seen more than one relationship fail because of SAR—and I’d seen more than one person drop from the team in order to make their relationship work.
I didn’t want to be in either of those camps. I wanted this to work well so I could have both. Rhett fitting in so easily with the group, laughing and cutting up with them over dinner, felt like a step in the right direction.
When we wrapped up the meal, Hank stood and clapped his hands for attention.
“Alright, folks. Don’t forget, we’re here to train. Tonight we’re working on swift water rescues. Grab your gear and let’s head down to the creek.”
There were a few groans—though they were accompanied by grins. Water rescues were neither our specialty nor our favorite thing to do. But it was a crucial skill in the mountains, and we did whatever was necessary.
Rhett whispered in my ear as we began the short hike from Hank’s place to the creek. “Thanks for letting me come.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled up at him.
“You guys really are like a family.”
“We are,” I confirmed. “A pretty dysfunctional one sometimes. You get a mix of personalities on the team. Occasionally, someone will join who doesn’t jive with the rest or who wants to take charge. It can cause some conflict. But in the end, we all come together for the mission.”
“So what are we about to do?”
I grinned. “You’ll see. And I mean that—you’re limited to observing today. But if you ever want to think about joining the team…”
He chuckled. “Hank suggested the same thing.”
“You’d probably be good at it. It’s a big time commitment though. Something to think about.”
“Yeah.” He looked thoughtful. “It is.”
Hank put us through our paces at the creek. We worked on shallow water river crossing techniques, reaching for subjects with a pole, throwbags, swimming out to subjects, and belaying. By the time we finished, we were exhausted.
Rhett was grinning from ear to ear when Claire and I exited the water for the last time.
“That was amazing,” he said. Pride sparked in his eyes. “You both kicked ass.”
“Of course we did,” Claire laughed.
“I mean it,” he said. “You two are the best on the team. I don’t know why that would surprise me, but seriously. Fantastic job.”
“Thanks,” I said, pulling my helmet off and wringing out my ponytail. Despite my gear, I shivered in the cold night air. I was more than ready to shed these clothes and get warm—preferably with Rhett.
“Wait until you see us descend out of a helicopter,” Claire said, punching him on the shoulder. “Then you’ll really be impressed.”
Rhett’s eyes widened. “You guys do that?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sometimes. Our county doesn’t own a heli yet, but once per quarter, we have longer training days where we go to some of the counties that do. It’s a big part of what happens here in Wyoming.”
“Why don’t we own one, then?” He frowned.
Claire shrugged. “Lack of funding. We’re working on it. We’ve increased our fundraising efforts and are stashing away anything we raise for one.”
“You mean the team has to buy it?” He looked shocked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “We buy all our own gear.”
“So you’re volunteers who give up work without pay and buy all this gear I’m seeing out of your own pockets to save the lives of strangers?”
“Basically,” Claire answered, nodding. “I get paid now because of my role at the Sheriff’s Office, but everyone else is a volunteer.”
“Wow.” He shook his head in disbelief, then slung an arm around each of us. “You two might be the coolest people I know. How close are you to the helicopter funding?”
“Oh, we just need another half a million,” Claire said, laughing. “For now, there are some private agencies we can contract with if we need one for a search. Or sometimes, one of the other counties will help us out. But, hopefully, someday we’ll have our own.”
“Hopefully,” I agreed. “Although, I definitely prefer being on the ground.”
Rhett grinned. “Afraid of heights?”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” I teased. “But we all have things we’re better at, and I’m better on the ground. It’s what I do. Up in the air, you’re scanning with your eyes, hoping to spot something—or heading straight to where you already know the person is. On the ground, I can get into the mind of the missing victim. Figure out what moves they might have made. Look for the small clues you can’t see from the sky—a broken branch, or a torn piece of clothing. Ground searches are my specialty.”
Hank came up and slung an arm around me. “That’s right. Cheyenne’s got the best instincts of anyone on the team.”
Rhett’s eyes shone with pride. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
When Hank walked away, Rhett pulled me into a tight embrace, wet gear and all.
I sank into his arms, feeling totally at peace.
Until I saw Sam staring at us with disgust all over his face.