9
Darana
“I almost kissed her, damn it!” I yell into the void, kicking a hapless rock with all my might so it flies through the air and bounces off the wooden posts.
Hours have passed, I haven’t slept a wink, and my heart’s still racing. I walk along huffing and taking such long strides that I almost trip over my own boots. My hormones are on high alert, and I’m so pissed off I can barely contain myself.
“That was close! By a hair’s breadth!” I scold myself, tugging desperately at my cowboy hat. Thank goodness there’s no one around, because otherwise, I’d be writing a romance novel about this. “Are you stupid or what? You hate her! Camila Bennet is the woman who destroyed your life!”
I spin around three times on the dirt path that runs alongside the geranium plantation.
Supposedly, this damn place—right next to the fence and with a canopy protecting the crops—is my Zen zone.
The corner where I come to catch my breath when the world goes crazy.
The breeze is usually gentle, and the scent filtering through the slats relaxes me.
But today, I couldn’t care less about the scenery because my blood is boiling, my pride is in tatters, and my face is flushed with shame.
Because after what happened last night… Yes, before she married my brother, disaster struck, and she took off from here, I was madly in love with Camila Bennet. The most unattainable woman in this whole damn town.
“What a mess!” I shout, and a little bird flies away.
I clench my jaw and force my eyes to focus on the colors of the plants while I check that the perimeter is intact and the animals are still grazing. I have to work. I have to be the ruthless boss that I am. Even though fate isn’t going to make it that easy for me.
“No… no, no, no… Duchess, for Christ’s sake!” I quicken my pace, heading straight for the disaster.
Duchess, my enormous, stubborn, and unbearable star cow, has decided that Birdsong Hills’ safety rules are optional this morning. Of course, Angus is a true master when it comes to teaching mischief.
While the donkey stands calmly in his own area, surrounded by the dogs, this young lady has managed to squeeze half her body through a broken rail in the fence, encroaching on the edge of the field, only to end up chewing her cud with an innocent look on her face.
And right beneath her hooves, crushed against the broken post, lies what—until five minutes ago—was a state-of-the-art weather sensor.
The device is bent out of shape, the torn-out wires look like overcooked spaghetti, and the aluminum casing is split open.
Duchess looks at me, blinks slowly, and continues chewing her grass, happy to have outwitted the fence.
“Don’t look at me with those innocent-lamb eyes,” I growl, pointing at the carnage as I gently push her backward so she’ll step out of the gap in the fence.
“You know perfectly well what you’ve done, you shameless creature.
If you so much as mess with my flowerpots, I’ll ground you for two weeks. Do you hear me?”
The damn cow rubs herself roughly against the wooden post, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. I can almost see her smiling.
This is going to get me into trouble. A lot of trouble. “Just when I least wanted to see Camila.”
“You’re a devil,” I mutter, crouching down to pick up the technological debris scattered across the ground. I don’t have the faintest idea how this contraption works, but I know full well that even three rolls of electrical tape won’t fix it.
And then, the real storm hits:
“What the hell is this?!”
I lift my head slowly, mentally bracing myself. Camila is striding across the edge of the field, her cheeks flushed and her body wrapped in tight jeans that should be banned. She’s not here to be angry; she’s here to commit murder.
“Shit.” I swallow hard.
She plants herself in front of me, hands on her hips, staring at the hole in the fence.
“I told you to keep your animals properly fenced in, Calloway!” she snaps at me without mincing words. “That electric fence sensor cost more than three of your best head of cattle, and your damn cow has turned it into scrap metal. Scrap metal because you didn’t keep your cows behind their fence!”
I straighten up very slowly, adjusting my hat with as much elegance as I can muster, and then cross my arms.
Switching into “annoying rancher” mode.
“You should’ve put it farther away from the cattle’s path, Bennet. I warned you as soon as you got here,” I reply with a smug little smile. “You know Brahman cows are very curious, and Duchess doesn’t give a damn about your scientific toys installed in my pastures.”
“They’re not toys. They’re atmospheric conductivity sensors designed to measure the electrical potential before the storm fries this place,” she retorts through clenched teeth.
“Well, now they’re eco-friendly trash,” I reply, shrugging dismissively.
We’re left in a crackling silence. We’re too close. Again. And this can’t be. The distance between us is supposed to be wider. Though, as they say, from hate to love…
I mentally shake my head, but my eyes remain fixed on the anger in her lips.
“You’re unbearable,” she says, clenching the broken wires between her fingers.
“And you’re a stuck-up snob with no common sense,” I retort, holding her gaze without backing down.
“I came here to do my damn job and save your skin,” Camila insists, taking a reckless step toward me.
“Well, do it without getting in my face… or in my way, or near my fences,” I snap, fixing my eyes on hers.
“Birdsong Hills is in real danger. But you’re too busy playing the proud boss to see reality.”
The blow hits me squarely. No, no. In fact, it stings my pride.
“You don’t have the faintest idea what it takes to keep this land going with all the cattle ranches around us,” I snap at her, my tone verging on threatening.
“I’ve been working my butt off for years, battling droughts, banks that want to bleed me dry, and exhaustion that won’t even let me sleep.
So don’t you come here now with your colorful screens, your promises of being a savior scientist, and your know-it-all attitude to tell me how to run my life. ”
“And you don’t have a clue about the supercell forming up there!
” Camila counters, pointing her index finger toward the horizon.
“I’ve been studying these convective systems for years.
This isn’t just going to be a passing shower—it has brutal rotation and is going to wipe everything out if you don’t react. ”
I get ready to fire off one of my signature comebacks—the kind that go down in history. I open my mouth, ready to tear her apart… but damn fate decides to interrupt us.
A high-pitched, frantic, shrill beep cuts through the air. It comes from the tablet hanging from Camila’s shoulder.
She looks down at the screen. And in a second, all her arrogance and fury evaporate. Her face goes pale, bathed in a real and genuine fear that makes my hair stand on end.
“It can’t be… no, no, no. This is impossible,” she murmurs.
The beeping grows louder, deeper, and more constant.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Camila doesn’t answer. Her fingers move at lightning speed across the touchscreen, analyzing graphs that are complete gibberish to me. She frowns, utterly terrified.
When she looks up, she stares at me.
“The electric potential gradient has skyrocketed. Lightning is going to start striking any second now,” she says, her voice nearly breaking. “This isn’t an ordinary storm. The squall line is heading straight for us.”
Instinctively, I look up at the sky. And my heart sinks. The radiant blue from just a few minutes ago has vanished, swallowed by a wall of dense, almost black clouds advancing like an army at full speed.
The wind suddenly bursts forth. A brutal gust lashes at us, kicking up dust from the road and making the geraniums sway wildly. And suddenly, a violent chill runs down my spine.
“What the hell…?” I start to say.
I don’t have time to say anything more. A blinding flash illuminates the field, instantly followed by a brutal clap of thunder—the kind that makes your teeth rattle and the ground shake beneath your boots.
Duchess, who’s anything but a fool, lets out a panicked bellow, backs up, and bolts at full speed toward the main shed, disappearing along the stream. My ranch-girl survival instincts kick in. I grab Camila’s arm tightly.
“Hurry up!” I yell to make myself heard over the roar of the wind. “To the car, now!”
To my surprise, the know-it-all doesn’t protest or come up with any witty retort. Instead, she runs alongside me.
The gale lashes at us, making every step along the dirt track a struggle.
The first raindrops begin to fall: they’re huge and heavy, like stones slamming into the ground.
Within five seconds, my shirt is soaked and clinging to my body, and water streams down my face from the brim of my hat, blurring my vision.
“This way! Let’s go!” Camila shouts, pulling my arm decisively toward where she parked her SUV.
The ground shakes again with another clap of thunder that sounds like the end of the world. The electricity in the air is so intense that I can feel every hair on my body standing on end. It’s insane.
We make it to the car by the skin of our teeth.
Camila unlocks the doors and dives headfirst into the driver’s seat.
I circle around the hood, climb into the passenger seat, and slam the door shut, blocking out the full force of the gale.
The noise outside is muffled, but the cabin is shaking. The sky is literally roaring overhead.
We sit in silence, gasping for breath, our chests rising and falling at a frantic pace. We’re soaked, our hair a mess, crammed into a tiny space and pressed devilishly close together.
And for the first time since she returned to town… the hostility vanishes. There are no more reproaches, no sarcasm, no jabs. Only the absolute certainty that we’re right in the lion’s den.
I take off my soaked hat, toss it onto the back seat, and stare intently into those eyes that now, in the leaden light of the storm, seem almost dark.
“Okay, Bennet,” I say, trying to regain control of my own voice, which sounds rushed. “Tell me what we need to do.”