Chapter 11
RILEY
T he blinking lights of the tow truck disappeared in the opposite direction.
“Wait where are we going?” Jules asked, craning her neck to read a passing sign. “Why didn’t you just pop a U-turn?”
He cast her a sideways glance. “Because that won’t get us where we are going.”
“It’s how we got here, why wouldn’t it get us back?”
“We aren’t going back, wild thing.”
This caught her attention. Twisting back to face him, she knitted her brows together skeptically.
“You were so busy distracting me with concern for the dangerous men at The Gin Mill, I forgot to worry about you. I jumped right into your trap. Oh,” she paused to sigh dramatically, pressing her fingers to her forehead. “I’m going to become a Lifetime movie.”
His chest rumbled from the laughter that escaped him. “You caught me. But one question.”
“What’s that?”
“If I’m a dangerous man, how did you make it out of Texas unaffected?”
The playfulness in her gaze shifted as she dropped her hand from her forehead, weaving it together with the other. “Who said I made it out unaffected?”
Silence stretched on behind her words. He had no response; he certainly wasn’t going to admit that he spent the last year completely affected himself. Completely heartbroken over getting just a taste of something that could have become his new favorite indulgence.
Sinking down in the seat and propping her feet up on the dash, she didn’t seem to mind his lack of response.
She drummed her fingers along with the song that was turned down so slow it was nearly indiscernible.
Was she that oblivious to the heat that he felt crackling between them?
It was always demanding Riley’s attention when she was around.
“Okay, but if we aren’t going back to the ridge, where are we going?”
“The ridge?” he chuckled.
“Are you telling me people don’t call it that? Please , it’s right there for the taking.”
“Maybe people should. But instead of going back to the ridge , we are going to the sanctuary. You wanted to go, and I would like to be the one to show it to you.”
The drumming stopped. Sitting up in surprise, she said, “I can’t ask you to completely throw away your day on me, coming to get me was already more than enough.”
“Why would time with you be a thrown away day?” He turned towards her, noticing the way she pursed her lips in thought.
“Well…”
“I like horses, Jules. Don’t overthink this.” It was a true enough statement, even if the mustangs weren’t his only motivator. She had her hopes set on this today, and if he could still make it happen, why wouldn’t he? It was a matter of being a nice guy.
“If you insist… then thank you,” she agreed, giving a hesitant shrug of her shoulder.
With their plans settled, Riley turned the radio up, a subtle static mingling with the sounds of Zach Bryan. She had made it pretty far on her own, and in no time, he was pulling into the drive of Blue Sky Wild Horse Sanctuary.
Split rail fences lined the dirt drive, the only fence line as far as the eye could see. The horses here truly got to be wild, giving them protected land without constraints. It was still one of his favorite places.
The truck wasn’t even turned off before Jules bounded from her seat, excitement radiating from her. With her camera bag in hand, she was halfway to the welcome center door as he climbed out of the driver’s seat.
She disappeared inside with only a cursory glance over her shoulder to be certain he was following. An amused snort escaped him, as if he wouldn’t follow this woman anywhere.
“There you are,” she whirled around at the welcome desk as he stepped inside. “We can do a tour or?—”
“It can’t be! Riley Walker, is that you, son?” the chipper man he knew as Red called from behind the desk.
“Good to see you, Red,” he replied, strolling through the swinging gate that led to the staff area. Crossing the brick floor, he reached out to greet his old mentor.
They clasped hands as Red asked, “What brings you back to your old stomping grounds?”
“Juliette does.” He motioned to where she watched them with curiosity. “Can I take her out there? Show her around? She’s a pretty famous equine photographer.”
The old man let out a whistle of approval. “You don’t say. Pleased to have you on our corner of land, ma’am.” He jabbed his thumb towards Riley. “You’ll have no better guide than the kid. He could probably guide you in his sleep.”
“You’re giving me too much credit.”
She was leaning forward on the counter between them, engrossed in the conversation. Her eyes swam with questions, all pointed Riley’s way. “Well, I sure am happy to hear that I called the right guy,” she drawled.
“You called the best guy.”
Red’s compliment caused heat to color his ears. “Alright.” Riley cleared his throat. “Can we take an ATV?”
The older man nodded, plucking a set of keys from the peg board behind him. “Don’t be such a stranger now that you’re back, ya hear?”
“Yessir.” He clapped Red on the shoulder and accepted the keys.
He had barely crossed back through the gate before Jules was at his side. She was practically vibrating from trying to contain herself, her eyes wide as a full moon. “Something on your mind?” he teased.
“I’m guessing you’ve been here before?”
Riley laughed as he held the door open for her. “What gave it away?”
They stepped outside, following the dirt path around the corner of the log cabin welcome center to the waiting row of side-by-sides. Locating the one with the number three sticker to match the three on the keys, he settled into the driver’s seat as Jules asked, “Just a frequent visitor, or what?”
He started the engine and headed towards one of his favorite spots. The land was a bit flatter here, but there was a ridge line that would give her some beautiful views—hopefully sprinkled with horses.
“Well, my first time here was when I did their summer internship program freshman year of high school. I had already spent years hovering around stables in town. But the idea of coming out to a reservation and seeing truly wild horses, that really grabbed my interest.”
“What was the internship like?” she breathed, her eyes still alight with fascination.
He should be watching the trail, but Jules was so expressive, he wanted to catch each reaction.
“Amazing. It was amazing. There is just something about mustangs—they have a different spirit about them, unrestrained and strong. I enjoyed the challenge of finding that mutual respect. Building trust.”
“Mm,” she hummed in appreciation. “Is that why you stayed on after that internship?”
“Partially. The horses, the land, Red and his team. I wanted more of this wide open. So, I started coming up here every summer, working full time until the rodeo thing took off.”
“The rodeo thing,” she laughed, withdrawing her camera from the bag and readying herself as horses appeared, just small specs on the horizon. “That little hobby you had.”
He shrugged, feeling a crooked smile tip his mouth upward. Before he knew it, she lifted her camera and caught his amused expression.
Peeking around the device, she added, “I can see why they made you the caretaker at the ranch. I knew you were good with horses, but this,” she waved her hand outward. “You have an appreciation for these animals that most probably don’t.”
Turning her attention back to the wilderness with a gentle smile, she acted as if her words weren’t the type of compliment that cracked right through the armor he was desperately trying to maintain.
“Get your camera ready,” he told her as they careened around a ridge.
“How do you know there will be—never mind,” she muttered, doing as he said.
And once the cliff face disappeared, they were greeted by a herd of wild horses basking in the sun along the stream. Jules wasted no time sneaking out of the side-by-side towards them. Her laser focus was a sight to behold as she lost herself in capturing the magnificent animals.
Jules dropped onto a knee, her hand fidgeting with the lens. Watching intently, he shook his head to himself, staying back to watch her do her thing. How on earth could he be throwing away a day by being here with her? This was turning into the best of days.
After clicking relentlessly, she turned back to him. “Do you know all the good spots here, then?”
“A few.”
They continued on, hitting all the locations he felt certain would have a good view, and a few horses.
Each time he stopped somewhere new, she was eager to ask about it, wanting to hear his stories about working at the reserve.
And it didn’t take long for him to realize how much he missed talking about this, even the hard stuff. How much he missed being here.
At the last stop, a bay mare limped near the side-by-side. She looked worn down, as if having suffered before her arrival. “What would have happened to her?” Jules asked, keeping her camera lowered as she frowned at the sight.
“Could have been a number of things. But lately, there’s a good chance she came here after escaping a round-up.”
“A round-up?”
Riley nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “The government has been rounding up wild horses—herd management they call it. It’s not the first time this has happened, but the number of horses they’re capturing… it’s unprecedented in these parts.”
His shoulder sagged as he pictured the fear this mare might have experienced. The topic was a highly debated one. But as far as he was concerned, the horses should remain wild and free.
“What happens after they catch them?” Her voice had dropped to a hushed murmur.
“They try to put as many as they can up for adoption. But it’s not a guaranteed happy ending.”
Her face fell, pain weighing heavy in her expression. “So if she escaped capture, how did she end up here?”
“If that’s what happened, she may have gotten hurt fleeing. They use helicopters to swoop in and herd them towards make-shift pens. The scene is chaotic. The horses are terrified.”
“Riley,” she whispered, her voice cracking now. “That is awful.”
He nodded. His plan wasn’t to bring her down and ruin her day. It was simply the reality these majestic mustangs faced. It wasn’t considered a sanctuary here for no reason.
“I hate it.”
Her tone didn’t carry her classic fire. Frowning, Riley reached over and placed his hand on her forearm. “Just think about all the animals you saw today. They’re here. They’re safe.”
“Red seemed pretty surprised to see you, like it’s been a while,” she said, keeping her sights on the mare. “Is it hard being back and thinking about all of this?”
“I don’t have to be here to think about it. But I should have made my way back before now,” he admitted.
“Why didn’t you?”
It was a simple enough question.
His response was anything but. Because he didn’t like the truth of the matter. He didn’t care to admit that he had stopped a lot of things the day he woke up in a hospital bed. And he had no intentions of letting Red, and the rest of the team here, see his broken spirit.
“No good reason,” he told her. “No good reason at all.”