Chapter Two #3
“I don’t owe it to you to be friendly. I don’t owe you anything,” Jeremy puts his shoulders back, eyes flicking to Clark with newfound intensity.
Clark eats it up, stepping forward until he’s in Jeremy’s space, “Okay. Is there anything I owe you then?”
Jeremy unconsciously gets lost in Clark’s gaze. He’s only an inch taller than Jeremy but the stance is so effortlessly commanding. A spark flies between them that Jeremy is careful not to chase. With great effort, he turns his back to Clark and says, “C’mon, we need to find ‘em ‘fore high noon.”
Getting back up on the saddle, they giddy up their horses and make it into the rolling thicket of the mountainside. Jeremy’s pounding heart trails behind him as he rides on with a hazy mind and tight chest, not knowing if he can blame the liquor.
The search for the cattle doesn’t take much longer.
Jeremy knows this particular herd likes to frolic in the open grassy field east of the dense brush, cradled in a secret valley of the mountain’s shadow.
Just as he thought - as the thicket line separates, the grazing cows come into view.
Their shapes are dark in contrast to the blanket of snow they push their snouts through to get to the grass underneath.
Jeremy counts them quickly, making sure all are accounted for.
“Alright,” he says behind him to Clark as he gets ready to ride, “See that opening in the rocks over there? That goes down to the pasture. Stay to the right of it and follow my lead.”
“That’s all?”
“And don’t get run down,” Jeremy warns before whipping the reins and getting up on the stirrups as Asher gallops onward.
He leans into the Morgan’s stocky body, his movements mirroring hers as they chase the wind.
Riding to the left of the herd, some stray cows frightfully kick their back legs and race to join the safety of their herd.
Jeremy yells out to them, spinning Asher around on a dime and rounding up the herd as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The cattle rush toward the opening, Jeremy noticing that Clark is sitting way too close to the stampede.
Veering their way on the outskirts of the rampage, a calf races away from its family and darts for the brush’s edge.
Redirecting Asher, Jeremy grabs for his rope and begins swinging the lasso over his head as the horse speeds up on the young cow.
Flinging the loose lariat loop toward the calf, he pulls tightly and snatches the back two hoofs so that it can’t run.
Jeremy gets off Asher and wrangles the calf to the ground, hogtying its legs together so it won’t kick him before picking her up.
“Wow!” Clark yells out.
Calf now securely in his arms as he carries it back to its mama, Jeremy looks over just as Clark takes another picture with a small film camera.
Blushing, Jeremy finishes his task and gets back to work.
Calf back with the herd and Jeremy on his horse again, he rides away from Clark and yells out to the remaining cattle to get them to go down the slope.
“Woah there!” Clark cries out.
Jeremy looks over to Clark in the middle of a group of startled cattle as Bunny starts bucking.
Racing over to help calm her so Clark doesn’t get thrown, there’s no need.
Clark expertly rides her bucking back, hips gesticulating with the upward movement to stay on the saddle with a hand in the air for balance.
Commanding the animal, Clark manages to get all four hooves back on the ground.
He rubs her neck, soothing her as she continually spins with anxiety.
“All good?” Jeremy asks trepidatiously
“Oh yeah,” Clark reassures him, riding over to be saddle to saddle, “Guess she got startled by all the cows.”
“Told you so.”
Clark looks over and grins, “That’s my line.”
No doubt that Clark handled Bunny’s bucking like a pro, but that still didn’t make him fit to run a ranch. Jeremy looks away but feels eyes remain on him.
“So what’s the plan?” Clark asks to break the silence, “We ride down with them?”
“Down there? Nah. Too steep. We go back the way we came.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have gorgeous eyes?” Clark suddenly asks. Jeremy whips his head around and looks at him with startled irritation. The king smirks, adding, “They get really light blue in the center. Almost white.”
Not knowing if it’s alright to feel flattered by the observation, Jeremy moves Asher and himself away from Clark, asking, “So what?”
“What?” Clark asks innocently, right on his tail, “Can’t take a compliment?”
Jeremy chews on that, diverting from an answer by changing the subject, “What were you taking a picture of earlier?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Clark says very seriously.
They maintain eye contact for a heavy moment longer.
Jeremy’s heart is in his throat, but Clark shows no sign of moving.
Jeremy remembers how many insults Clark hurled at him in high school, a single compliment about his eyes couldn’t make up for that.
Nerves steeled, he prods Asher forward and moves back into the shade past his new boss to get on with the day.