Chapter 7
CASSIDY
The calf darted toward his mom, finally safely returning to the herd that was hunkered down in a small valley, protected by a large grove of trees. A small brook, overflowing with the rain, blazed along the bank that no longer existed. The damp grass, weighed down by the heavy storm, was as green as it would ever be. Cash sat on his horse beside me as we simply watched the herd, ignoring the wet liquid still tumbling from the sky. Briar was back at camp, hiding out inside a tent while her clothes dried near the crackling fire.
“You’ve gotta be as cold as she is; I can see the mud on ya even with that slicker,” Cash said, breaking the rumbling sky.
I chuckled. “Eh, not bad. Mostly got my shirt; my britches feel fine.”
“Well, perfect. ’Cause you’re tenting it with Briar tonight.”
“What?!” I snapped my gaze to Cash and glared at him.
“Where else is she gonna sleep?”
“Can’t your boys crawl in with you?”
“And have four of us in a two-man tent? Do you not remember Keaton’s growth spurt?”
Pulling a frown upon my lips, I leaned back in the saddle. “Then how am I supposed to get out of these clothes and dry, Cash? She’s a woman.”
“Exactly. You’ve practically become a monk; it’s high time something stirs things up.” He wiggled his brows and then spun his horse around and loped off.
“YOU—” I wanted to say some fairly rude things, but I let it go as he disappeared back toward the camp.
Rolling my shoulders, I let the rain trickle off the brim of my hat and watched the massive herd of cattle. They’d be fine here, and I could head to get some supper, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to just yet. There was something quite peaceful out here, sitting on the edge of the sharp sword that could swing at just any moment. There was something relatively blissful about being all alone.
It wasn’t as lonely as it probably should’ve been.
It was quiet, the dull drumming of the rain drowning out any other sound. Much like the early mornings that I loved.
It also smelled a lot like Briar did.
Stop it, Cassidy. You’re acting like some love-struck puppy.
Shaking my head at the spoiled moment, I turned my horse away and trotted down the faint trail. Rounding a bend, I emerged at the base of camp and smiled. Most of the men must already be in bed, since only Cash was sitting beside the fire beneath the large canvas tent. Smoke billowed out from the tiny open circle at the center of the roof. Water trickled down the sides, obscuring some of my view. The large cart that Drake and I drove up here was shut down, the cooking equipment neatly tucked away for the night.
Horses stood beneath the temporary lean-to that we’d set up during prep day, and the two draft horses that pulled the cart lay upon the grass, sleeping the storm away. Everything was as it should be. Except there was a woman waiting in my tiny, two-man tent that I would’ve gotten to myself. Again. For the third year in a row.
But this time, she was in there, wearing who knows what, since her clothes swayed beside the dwindling embers—where I should probably leave my shirt for a bit.
Dismounting, I led my horse over to the makeshift corral and pulled the tack off. Draping the bridle over the saddle horn, I carried the equipment with me over to the canvas tent and finally ducked out of the rain.
“Looks like the men left you some food,” Cash said, nodding toward a single plate waiting upon a stone beside the fire.
“You should get to bed.” I walked toward the row of saddles and propped mine up on its pommel. In hopes they would dry out by morning, I draped the pad and blanket over the saddle.
“Drake let Briar borrow one of his button ups, but he said you’ll have to bring him an extra one back up before he comes down for laundry day and trades out one of the hands,” Cash slid in, and I rolled my eyes, shrugging out of the slicker.
“So, they’ve already got their rotation of who’s staying here with the herd and for how long?” I asked and walked over to Cash. Sliding the metal plate from the rock, I sat down on a log and leaned back, dipping my chin.
“Same as last year.”
“What do they need me for? Maybe I should pray that a round of bloat goes through the herd or something.”
Cash and I chuckled at the same time as I began poking my fork at the cowboy mash on the plate. My mind was anywhere but here.
“What’s got you thinking like that?” Cash asked, his red hair extra curly from the wet ride.
“It’s gonna sound dumb,” I answered.
“Try me. I married your sister, nothing sounds dumb.”
As I raised my brows in silent agreement, he gave me a crooked smile.
“Briar,” I finally muttered.
“Thought so. Seems the infamous womanizer is having lady troubles,” Cash said, and I rolled my eyes, plopping a piece of potato in my mouth.
“More like I’m out of practice ’cause I can’t figure her out.”
“Oh man, today’s the day! The rapture is coming. Cassidy Duke can’t figure a woman out.” Cash pursed his lips. “You’ve known her for almost a week, dummy.”
“It normally takes me an hour, tops.”
“Yet you thought Tenley was stringing you along for a lot longer than an hour.”
“No. I was simply using that to try and get her to admit she liked Weston.”
“By what? Making her jealous? Annoyed?”
“By pushing her to the point she’d stake her claim on him to get me off her back.” I chuckled as a smile caressed Cash’s face.
“Tenley really missed all of the obvious signs, didn’t she?”
“But who better than someone like her for my equally oblivious brother?”
He nodded and leaned his head back, the shift in the conversation palpable. “I wish it would stop raining. I wanted to sleep ’neath the stars tonight. I wanted Keaton to have that for his first solo drive.”
My eyes drifted out across the stormy night. Man, this was life. Even though we couldn’t sleep beneath the silver canvas that stretched a deep purple tonight, it certainly would happen at some point. I could never give this life up. Riding across fields of grass set my soul free. Everything in me churned with excitement at the possibilities that lay out upon the hundreds of thousands of wild acres of these mountains.
Tomorrow, the Earth would be new; the rain washed the ground fresh, sifting through what wasn’t steady enough and what was. And whatever storm was following Briar, whatever she was running from, would be something I could weather.
But could she?
“Cash?” I asked, staring past the tent canvas that billowed in the wind.
“Hmmmm?”
“Am I crazy?”
“Absolutely,” he answered, and I glanced at him.
“What if I wanted…more?”
Cash furrowed his brows and sat up as I rested my now empty plate on the stones in front of me. The flames of the campfire flickered, dancing brightly against the unusually dark night. “More than what?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t really sure how to explain it, and something like this was normally a conversation I’d have with Weston. It wasn’t that I wanted anything other than this life. I just wanted…more. Something else. A new adventure. Something that I’d forgotten I once longed for. Something I didn’t think I really deserved.
“Never mind. I’m gonna hit the sack,” I said and stood up.
Cash narrowed his gaze, studying me for a moment before pointing at my chest. “I wouldn’t take that muddy shirt in that tent.”
“Right,” I mumbled and tugged it off, draping the shirt along the wire that held Briar’s clothes. The moment the breeze danced across my bare skin, goosebumps erupted, prickling along every inch of my body.
“Oh, and Cassidy?”
“Yeah?” I glanced at him, running my calloused hands up and down my arms.
“Nothing wrong with that.” He smiled. “Nothing wrong with that.”
I watched him for a moment, wondering how much he actually understood from my question. Wondering if he realized what I’d truly meant. Wondering if I’d ever feel like my debt was paid and I could actually pursue it. Wondering if I would ever build up enough courage to actually go for it.
Quickly dashing out from beneath the canvas, I raced toward my tent and tugged back the flap. I ducked inside and immediately kicked my boots off as I zipped the tent closed, then left them beside the pair already lying at the entrance. When I glanced at the two bed rolls, I paused, staring at the lone figure barely illuminated in the dark.
Dropping my hat on top of my boots, I studied her as silently as I could, the rain pattering against the tent walls. Every so often a flash of lightning brightened the sky, and I could make out the rather long, pale lashes that were closed over her eyes.
Her eyes expressed everything she was thinking. She really wasn’t that good at hiding her emotions, which was how I knew she was running from something. But those blonde lashes, curling upward like her own individual lightning strikes, fluttered. Whatever dream she was having laid a blanket of peace across her features.
It was a peace I had yet to see in her. I understood why—her fear, grief, pain wasn’t just from whatever brought her here. Her dad had died only six months ago. I remembered exactly how much it had destroyed Tenley when her father passed only a couple of weeks after she and Weston got engaged. I remembered how withdrawn she’d become, how closed off. And how the grief and pain lasted longer than she would ever admit.
No matter how strong and sassy Briar tried to be, she was still wrapped up in that grief. Something that I doubted would ever fully go away. She had no parents whatsoever, and if her mother died in childbirth, I doubted she had any siblings either.
She was alone.
Other than Rooney. Though, maybe they weren’t as close as I hoped they were. Because if she at least had him, then she wasn’t entirely alone.
“Are you just going to stand there like a creep?” Briar said and suddenly sat up, her eyes pulling open.
I swallowed stiffly, startled. “Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “Just lost in thought.”
“Shirtless?”
“I-I—” I glanced down at my torso and wrapped my arms around my body.
“Self-conscious are we?”
“You know what, stop being sassy and go back to sleep, Goldie,” I grumbled, then knelt down, crawling across the top of the blankets covering the small bedroll on the left. “And I’ll have you know, I’m not ashamed of my body.”
“Good, you shouldn’t be,” she teased.
My entire body froze, even the rain that trickled down the side of the tent dripped more slowly. My heart pounded in my chest, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was cold, wet, and tired that everything in me tingled, or if it was because of her words.
“Don’t take that to heart, Cassidy. I still don’t like you,” she added as she rolled over so her back faced me, snapping me out of my stupor. Sure. I crawled forward and pulled myself beneath the blankets.
“I thought you said I was perfect?” I taunted.
“I would never say something like that.”
“Uh-huh.” Pulling the covers up to my chin, I quickly undid my belt and wriggled out of my damp jeans.
“What are you doing over there? You’re shaking the entire tent, and if anyone sees, they’re going to get the wrong idea!” she exclaimed.
“Then you better not look my way at all, cause I’m takin’ my pants off,” I teased and heard her sharply inhale.
“Don’t you dare!”
“They’re denim and wet. I’m not sleeping in them tonight if I don’t have to.”
“Only one of us gets to not wear pants tonight, and that’s me!”
“Speaking of, how are you planning on getting them on without anyone seeing you without your britches? I’m pretty sure they were hanging by the fire.” I tossed my jeans to the end of the bedroll by my feet.
“I was…” Her voice trailed off, and I glanced briefly at her. Her back faced me, her blonde hair—no longer drenched in mud—was hanging in a very wet braid that disappeared beneath the sheets.
“Better be nice to me, Goldie. Otherwise, I might not get them in the morning for you,” I answered, and her entire body shivered.
“Cassidy?”
“Yes, your highness?” I smiled to myself, knowing she just had to have rolled her eyes.
“I already said it’s not like the princess,” she grumbled and then suddenly flopped over and faced me, tucking her own blankets up to her chin.
She simply looked at me for a moment and then her voice softened. “I am sorry. For nearly dying and dragging you into it.”
I raised my brows, scanning across her face. Her eyes were once again wide, the gentleness I’d seen upon her cheeks earlier, though, was not as prevalent. “I’m also sorry for making you mad a few nights ago. I tend to…”
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, genuinely curious. I wanted to know how much she knew about me. I wanted to know what Rooney told her, by her mouth, not his. Calling him would be a last minute attempt only if necessary.
“Do what?” Her brows lifted, her gaze locked intently onto mine, and I faltered in my response. Everything in me started to run warm, heat dancing low in my torso. She was so close, her hot breath washed over my face, sending a shiver running down my spine.
I inhaled slowly and finally managed to answer. “Dig at me like you did.”
“I didn’t!” she snapped, the storm in her eyes returning, the brief guilt now replaced by annoyance.
And just like that.
“Never mind. Go to sleep,” I grumbled and rolled away. So much for making amends. Curse whatever was making me feel like this.