Chapter Two
Chance
The wind whips at my hair as we ride through the herd, trying to find that injured cow. Beneath me, Constantine is building the power in his legs as he gallops through, no fear to be found anywhere in his body. The way he moves, any other horse would have broken several bones.
But not Constantine. This stallion was born to be a cutting horse. Every fiber of his being is dedicated to his work, and it shows. As the sweat glistens on his shoulder, I spot the injured cow. She’s trying to run after the rest, but one leg is lame, and she’s starting to lag behind. This is our chance.
“Ho!” I shout at Constantine, and he instantly knows what I’m talking about with that one syllable. With muscle-bound legs that could kill with a single kick, Constantine leaps forward, pushing his body between the injured cow and her still-moving herd.
She complains, hollering at him as if he’s trying to murder her, but Constantine does not give way. I loosen the reins a bit, allowing him the freedom to move exactly as he needs to. His neck swings as he blows hot air from his nostrils, widening his stance and lowering his body violently.
The cow finally turns, Constantine turning with her. I balance myself in the saddle, years of experience moving my legs for me. If I fall here, I’ll be more than badly hurt.
The herd is still moving away from us, the other ranchers hurrying them along. Our cow seems distressed, clearly desperately wanting to go with them. Neither Constantine nor I will let her. She needs a vet, or her condition could get much worse.
Patiently, we start working her back to the end of the field, where she’ll be loaded up and taken into town to get checked out. This part isn’t as exciting as the initial cut, but it’s just as crucial. If this isn’t perfect, she could duck us and get back to the herd. Then we’d have to start the whole thing all over again.
Luckily, Constantine and I are a great team. Every quick shout, every slight movement of my legs, he understands it all and executes it beyond perfection. It only takes fifteen minutes or so to get Number 215 all the way back to the gate. I leave it to the others to load her as I ride Constantine back to the stables.
I take my hat off once I’ve dismounted, wiping at my hairline with the back of my hand. It’s been a particularly sweaty morning with summer on its way.
“You got ‘er good, eh, Chance?” Bobby-Ray, a ranch hand who was probably born in a stable, walks up to me as he chews at the end of a long piece of grass. Guy is a walking stereotype and one of my best friends in the world.
“Always do.” I shrug, not being the type to always claim glory for myself, even if I want to. “Did you come over just to shower me with compliments?”
“Nah, nah, wanted to see if you’ve been ‘round the lodge,” Bobby-Ray answers cryptically, as if he’s heard a secret he’s just bursting to share. I raise an eyebrow at him. He’s always been the type to gossip as soon as anything new happens. To be fair, I can’t really blame him. Life out on the ranch is usually quiet. When something does come around, it’s more entertainment than we’ve had all year.
“Haven’t,” I answer as I start maneuvering Constantine’s saddle off his back. “Why? Some rude guests?”
“Mm-mmm.” Bobby-Ray spits out his shoot of grass and hooks his thumbs into his belt loops. “Your ma hired a new filly for the front desk.”
For a moment, I imagine a horse trying to check guests in and out. It brings a smile to my face. But Bobby-Ray’s gossip doesn’t mean much to me. A new receptionist isn’t exactly life-changing. One of the old ones quit for her grandchildren, and the other two couldn’t keep up with the new workload. Seems only logical that Ma would find a young replacement to join them.
“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” I carry the saddle over to its rack, preparing to brush Constantine down.
“You haven’t seen how pretty this ‘un is,” Bobby-Ray insists as he starts walking away, almost spookily. “A real looker, I swear.”
I shake my head, turning my attention back to what I’m doing. I don’t care if this woman is a goddess, I’ll probably barely even speak to her. After my last relationship, I’m not exactly in the mood for romance. I have enough work to do, and I keep myself busy without the need for the interference of a woman.
After I brush Constantine out properly and let him into his private paddock, I stop outside the stables at one of the outside taps. I might be a hardworking man, but there’s nothing wrong with cleaning your face every now and then.
As I splash the water over my head, something red catches my eye in the distance. It’s a quick flash of material, but my mind immediately insists that I have to look up. When I do, I spot her, heading into the wide oak front doors of the lodge wielding a suitcase almost bigger than she is. From this distance, she seems to be the same age as me. Maybe a couple of years older.
Her ash-blond hair has been tied up in a ponytail, but a few curls are fighting to come loose from it. She looks like she’s always in a hurry, even walking into a ranch lodge where time always slows down. Her crimson dress flows around her petite body as if it were made especially for her.
“Stop it, Chance,” I growl at myself, trying to shake my head to clear it of this feeling. Surely one look isn’t enough to know whether there’s something special about her, so why is my heart fluttering and my hands shaking? I haven’t even spoken a single word to her. This is ridiculous. Frankly, I should go down there and greet her so that my brain can see just how stupid it’s being.
Before I can argue myself out of it, my feet start marching me down the winding dusty footpaths that lead from the stables to the lodge. Maybe that’s a good thing. If I can see her upfront and realize I was just daydreaming about something and it wasn’t her making me feel like this, I can clear my head and get back to work.
The closer I get, however, the more this seems like a bad idea. What if I actually fall for this woman and she betrays me just like Liz did? Or what if she doesn’t feel the same way? Which would be worse?
“Pull yourself together.” I’m already angry at myself. Why would I be thinking about things like that when I haven’t even met her? By the time I reach the small gate leading to the sprawling stone path laid out before the entrance to the lodge, I’ve managed to gather my wits together again. I’ve convinced myself that I’m an idiot several times, and am now certain that this woman must be some kind of witch who’s trying to put me under a spell. All of my defenses are in place, and she won’t be breaching them.
Wooden steps under a massive archway adorned with the wide horns of a bull that lived here decades ago carry me up to the double oak doors, tall enough for even a giant to fit through.
I walk inside with one hand in my pocket, the other ready to dip my hat in greeting. The foyer is smaller than it would seem from the outside. Low ceilings with slow-moving fans hover over a room absolutely crammed with furniture and decorations, including hides functioning as carpets. My grandfather was the interior decorator, and none of it has ever been updated. The new receptionist isn’t here, but there’s a little girl of around six standing in the middle of the foyer and staring at the deer heads on the walls. She spots me, and her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates.
“Who are you, mister?” she asks, studying me from hat to breeches as if she’s never seen a rancher before. That’s one clue that she’s from the city.
“Name’s Chance Woods,” I say as I tip my hat and reach out a hand for her to shake. “My parents own this here ranch, and I work on it.”
I lay the accent on thick, hoping that she’ll find it entertaining. She takes my hand and shakes it quite seriously, even offering me a nod and a curtsey. I can see she wants to laugh, but she’s doing her best to be polite.
“Now, missy, what’re you doing around these parts?” I gesture around to the lodge and the ranch outside, and this time I do manage to get a giggle out of her.
“My mommy says she’s gonna work here,” the girl says, glancing to the door leading away from the reception area. “I think that’s gonna be nice. She worked for mean people before.”
“Ellie, where’d you go?” The voice that calls out from deeper in the lodge, past the swinging doors leading into the hallway, strikes me immediately. It is joined by its owner, who appears, looking flustered and in a hurry, from the door beyond reception.
Her red dress flutters as she flashes over to her daughter, grasping her hand and staring up at me in defiance.
This close to her, my defenses are rammed aside and destroyed by that single look. Beautiful wouldn’t be good enough to describe her. She seems like a whirlwind come to life. Curls have fought their way loose from her high ponytail, and she’s out of breath. She is the kind of woman who would be impossible to capture in a bottle.
“Uh, sorry. I’m Chance Woods,” I introduce myself, reaching out a hand. “My parents own the ranch.”
“Mmm.” She checks Ellie over before she even looks up at me. “Mia Hurst.”
She’s curt and cold with me, but I sense something beyond that that’s intriguing me. She probably wants me to walk away, but I can’t convince myself to do it.
“Can I get a hat like yours?” Ellie asks, still staring at me with stars in her eyes. “Mommy, can I have his hat?”
Mia flushes for a second, but she shakes her head. “Sweetie, you can’t just ask people to have their things. That’s rude.”
“Usually, sure,” I answer, getting on my knees and seizing the opportunity to get on Mia’s good side. “But Ellie’s such a nice kid, I think she deserves my hat.”
I take it off and offer it to the girl, and her face splits into an enormous smile. She wraps the hat up in a hug before trying to put it on her head. Of course, it’s much too big, but that doesn’t seem to deter her.
“Thank you, mister!” Ellie shrieks, running around the foyer happily. Mia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose with two fingers.
“Sorry about that,” she says, but it’s clear she doesn’t really mean it. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.
“No, no,” I counter quickly, laughing as Ellie pretends to be riding a stick horse. “Looks like she’s going to enjoy life here. Hope you do, too.”
This time, Mia does offer me a short and genuine smile. For some reason, it shakes me up.
“We’ll see, won’t we?” Mia says cryptically with a shrug. Her answer makes me wonder what kind of a life she’s lived before now. It makes me want to wrap her up in my arms and protect her from the world. Something tells me, though, that she wouldn’t like that.
I can tell that she’s not really in the mood for chatting, and pushing her further would only make me seem intrusive. I decide to switch to logistics and niceties about the ranch itself.
“If you need anything, you feel free to come up to the main house,” I start, pointing out the door at the trails that crisscross over the entire ranch. “I’m sure Ma will be down to explain how things work, but I figure I’ll tell you some of it. The restaurant down here will cook whatever you need, and you can just catalogue ingredients if you take them.”
As I’m explaining things to her, Mia pays more attention to me. She nods at the appropriate moments and is clearly actually taking it all in. Having her focus on me like this makes me never want to stop talking. There’s a flash of life in her eyes now, echoed in the quick smiles she gives me every now and again.
I finally realize that I’ve been talking for so long even Ellie is staring at me with a bored expression on her face.
“Anyway,” I finish off with a chuckle, “like I said, if you need anything, just ask.”
“I will,” Mia answers, and it sounds more truthful than anything she’s said this far. Before I can ask her if she’d like to have a coffee, a group of guests wanders into the lodge, back from an excursion to the outskirts of the ranch. At least, that’s what it looks like, considering all of the dust that they’re covered in.
Mia glances at them, offers me an apologetic smile, and hurries behind the counter. I decide it’s time for me to get going before she considers me an annoyance rather than someone she’d like to get to know.
I try to get back to work, but my mind keeps wandering back to her. What would it feel like to kiss her? To caress the skin of her shoulders and hold her body against mine? To sit with her until the sun comes up, talking about anything that could possibly come to mind?
Twice, I find myself daydreaming as I walk, shaking my head before I continue on. It’s not the kind of thing I’m used to. There are women in town, and a few guests have come through that were single and gorgeous. But none of them have stirred my head like this.
The thoughts are overwhelming, and to me, it’s strange. No woman has ever captured my mind like this, especially not so quickly. What is it about her that makes me want to go right back to the lodge to talk to her again? It’s not like she’s the most pleasant person on the planet. I end up back in the stables, unable to really focus on my work and deciding to just muck out Constantine’s stall before we go on our late morning ride. This woman is definitely going to be more than just the lodge’s new receptionist. Just how much more, though, I still have to find out.