CHAPTER TEN #2
“It’s not a blind date vacation,” she huffs, unwittingly taking the bait. “Two strangers get stranded on a tropical island.”
“Kind of like Survivor meets the bachelor, huh?”
“Yeah,” she agrees, though obviously annoyed by the analogy. “Kind of.” Then she seems to remember she was pissed, and her mouth flies open again. Presumably, to rant some more.
We’ll never know.
Because the rest of our party joins us, Vale leading the pack. “There you are. Come on,” he hooks his arm, gesturing for all of us to follow him. “I’ve had enough of people. I booked us a private tour of the barn and horses. And then a trail ride for eight immediately after.”
“I guess I’ll catch up with you later,” Matti rumbles near my ear.
I just watch as he starts to split off from the group.
“Whoa, where are you going?” Vale stops him. “I just said I booked it for a group of eight. Why are you messing up my numbers.”
Matti casts a sideways glance in Oliver’s direction. “Your number eight is over there.”
“Nah.” Vale waves his hand, dismissing him. “He’s hanging back to take Renee out for lunch when she goes on break.”
“Are you serious?” Tori apparently only just now caught up to current events. “Oliver already ditched Nessa?”
“Ouch.” I’m tempted to tell her it was a mutual decision, one we came to last night long before mugs and attractive front desk workers, but then I’ll be the bad guy again, so I keep my mouth shut and let Oliver take the heat for this one.
He won’t mind. After all, he’s not related to these freaks.
He can stop talking to them anytime he likes.
“But yes, it seems he’s moved on to someone new. ”
“Guess that means we’re stuck with someone old,” Roni mutters. “Unless you’d rather not come, Matti. Fear of horses and all.” She tilts her head, tapping her chin, looking confused. “Tell me again why you decided to come to a dude ranch for your vacation?”
“Wasn’t my idea,” he answers smoothly. Much more so than when I asked him that yesterday. “But I figure it’s as good a chance as any to try again.” He glances in my direction and smiles. Then looks back at Roni. “With horses.”
“Right.” Her narrowed eyes and tight lips say everything she’s not putting into words.
“Shall we?” Vale overrides Roni’s taunting, gesturing for everyone to follow the cowboy who just showed up, appearing all too eager to give us a tour. “I do believe Cowboy Frank is ready for us.”
The guy in the boots and hat chuckles. “Just Frank will do.”
Vale slaps his shoulder, grinning. “Frank it is then.”
The two of them take the lead, Anna trailing a few steps behind, chatting it up with Roni while everyone else falls in along the way.
Matti and I hang back, bringing up the rear of our group. “You really ready to face your fears? Get back on the horse, or you know, behind it?”
He watches me for a moment, a sly smirk on his lips. “Think you’re being clever?”
“I think I’m automatically clever for not being afraid of animals who have no predatory instincts and are known for favoring flight in the whole flight or fight scheme of things.”
He lets out a shocked laugh. “Wow. That’s how it is, huh?”
“I mean...yeah.” I grin at him, relief and delight spreading the longer we walk.
I’m no longer a divorced woman on my first couple’s vacation with a man who isn’t my husband, any more than I’m a teenager on her first date.
I’m just me again. With Matti. And for the first time in forever, it feels like we’re us.
Not a flashback, or a lingering of what once was, but us .
“Interesting level of judgment and mockery from a woman who fears frogs.” He taunts. “What do you suppose they might do to you? Leap you to death?”
“Hey, now.” I jab my pointer finger in his direction. “Some of them are poisonous. There’s one that can produce enough toxins to kill ten people at once!”
He laughs. “They don’t exist anywhere you’re going to cross paths with them.” He huddles in closer, getting his intense discussion face now. “Seriously. If we’re talking odds of irrational fears coming true, the guy afraid of horses strolling through a barn full of them wins.”
I sigh dramatically as if this defeat pains me. “Fine. I suppose you’re right. You’re more likely to die by horse than I am by frog.” I twist my mouth back and forth and sniff. “Today anyway. Tomorrow, we may find ourselves in an entirely different scenario where death by frog is imminent.”
“I’m going to say that’s unlikely given we’re staying at a dude ranch, but sure, if it makes you feel like there’s a chance you could win this one another time, we’ll go with that.”
I’m fighting back laughter, preparing to defend myself, when I notice Tori glare at us over her shoulder.
“Some of us are trying to listen to the cowboy up front, not the bullshit in the back,” she hisses.
“Rude,” I mumble. But as we’re slowing to a stop, I’ll concede to the fact there may be something of value happening worthy of our attention. So, I nudge Matti to find a spot closer to the cowboy where we can better listen.
“Now this here’s our girl, Ebony,” Frank says, patting a large, stunning, black mare, who’s kind enough to greet us, head poking out of her stall, warm dark eyes curiously taking us in as she snorts every so often.
“We don’t ride her much, on account of her being mistreated for a long time before she came to us, and she just don’t enjoy it much.
” He runs his hand up her forehead, scratching under her long, wavy mane.
“But she does love visits and loads of attention, so we let her hang up front.” She shakes her head like she’s agreeing with him, and he laughs.
“I guess you could say, Ebony is a bit like our welcoming committee.”
“Holy shit, that’s a big horse,” Matti wheezes under his breath. “I’m glad only her head fits through that opening.”
I roll my eyes at him. “You do realize you sound ridiculous, right?” I mutter quietly. “Just look at her. She’s absolutely stunning. I swear, the only way she could harm you is by taking your breath away.”
He makes a face but doesn’t say anything else.
For a moment.
Then he adds, softly under his breath, “If it were possible to die that way, you would have killed me a million times over in the last twenty-seven years.”
I just stare at him, unsure of whether to laugh or gush. “I swear, you say the cheesiest things sometimes,” I whisper, trying for amused but the choked sound in my voice suggests otherwise.
“Cheesy but true.” He leans in a little closer. “And since we’re finally back to being honest –”
He never gets to finish his thought out loud because Frank loudly clears his throat before he moves on to the next horse. “Next up, we have our boy, Jasper.”
“Ness,” Matti gets my attention again. Then he goes frigid at my side when Frank moves to open the stall door.
“Jasper’s just a young kid, kind of like a teenager.
A bit wild, always testing the rules. But he’s smart and he’s got a good heart.
” Frank turns to look around our little group.
“It’s good practice for him to interact with new people, so we make a point of bringing in someone from every tour to handle him.
Anyone up for helping me out with Jasper’s little lesson today? ”
No one says a word out loud. But all eyes go straight to Matti.