Annie And The Cowboy (Western Night Series 3) (89 page)

“
What? Why
?”
She asked nervously. Lucas watched her for an amused moment and shook his head.

“
Yo
u’
re just making it worse by doing that. Ther
e’
s a ton of mud and yo
u’
ll get stuck in it and I do
n’
t really feel like trying to dig you out
.”
Kate stopped twisting and glared at him.

“
You scared the crap out of me. You need to work on your phrasing. We need to establish a difference between
:‘
do
n’
t do that ther
e’
s a giant spider that can kill yo
u’
an
d‘
do
n’
t do that it will cause an inconvenience
,
’
”
she said, stomping toward him. Lucas shrugged and climbed back into his truck.

“
Alright. Do you want me to use a different tone? Like I can get all high pitched for spider attack and keep it low for an inconvenience
,”
Lucas teased. Kate glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest as he began driving them forward again.

“
Or, I could shout one and not the other. Would that work
?”
He joked. Kate shook her head and remained silent, not wanting to encourage him. Not put-off by her behaviour, Lucas continued.

“
I could do different bird calls. Or what about a huge roar if ther
e’
s a deadly spider and a small cat if ther
e’
s not? O
r
—”

“
Or you could just say
,‘
hey, do
n’
t move ther
e’
s a giant killed spide
r’,”
Kate interrupted, finally at her limit with his jokes. Lucas grinned and nodded.

“
Or I could do that
,”
he conceded. Kate shook her head and looked out the window. After another hour, she realised that they were heading back toward the city. She glanced at the clock and noticed that there was still plenty of time to make it to their next location and back before dark.

“
Hey, what are you doing? We should go to the next place
,”
she said, sitting up and glancing around them. Lucas shook his head and continued to drive in the same direction.

“
There you go again, thinking you know wha
t’
s going on
.”
Kate made a growl of frustration and clenched her fists.

“
Stop saying that! Just explain yourself and stop being such a condescending dick
!”
She shouted. Lucas flinched at her sudden volume and slammed on the breaks. Kate held out her arms to brace herself against the suddenness of his stop and turned to him with wide, surprised eyes. His teasing smirk was gone and was replaces with a firm scowl and his eyes were so furious that they were like daggers.
Well now I know where the line is,
she thought, swallowing hard.

“
Do
n’
t ever call me that.
I’
m just helping you out, sweetheart. Either trust the fact that I know what the hell
I’
m doing or get yourself another guide. If you know so freaking much, why do
n’
t you just get out and go your own way. I wo
n’
t stop you
,”
he said, his tone sharp and firm. Kat
e’
s heart sped up and she looked around fearfully. She turned back to him and straightened her spine. She was
n’
t about to let him get the best of her.

“
Alright, fine
,”
she said, opening the door and hopping out
.“I’
m still paying you so you better come back and get me in three hours
,”
she demanded, slamming the door behind her. She hiked her backpack up onto her shoulders and stalked off down the road they had just come. She did
n’
t know how far it was to a village or her next location but she did
n’
t care. Sh
e’
d walk for the next three hours if it meant she did
n’
t give him any satisfaction. Lucas watched her stomp off down the road and angrily took off back in the direction of the city, grumbling the entire way.

“
City girl and a reporter, tha
t’
s the worst combination. Thinks she knows everything and has absolutely no understanding of the outback
,”
he muttered to himself as he drove away.

Kate turned back and watched the Land Rover get smaller and smaller on the horizon until she could
n’
t see it anymore. She let out a heavy breath and her legs began to shake as the adrenaline wore off. She looked around her at the unfamiliar land and took a shaky breath in.

“
I
t’
s okay. I
t’
s just like hiking. Stay on the road and maybe you wo
n’
t find any of those deadly creatures
,”
she told herself, trying to push past the sense of dread filling her. She walked for about a mile in the opposite direction of where Lucas had disappeared and stopped. Nothing looked right and she did
n’
t even know what she was looking for any more. She felt tears start to prickle her eyes and she stared up at the darkening sky.

“
What the hell did I just do
?”
She asked aloud, receiving no answer except from the wind. She continued to walk, the humidity in the air beginning to weigh down on her. She took deep breaths, trying to suck the oxygen out of the moisture-infused air but was still finding it difficult to breathe. She wished she had brought a hat as the sun beat down on her and regret continued to fill her. She tried to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other as her body began to tire. She was
n’
t sure how long it had been, or how far sh
e’
d walked, but she was ready to collapse under the oppressive heat. It had
n’
t felt this bad earlier when they were at the first location, but as the hours wore on it just became worse and worse. Kate looked down at the dirt road and contemplated plopping down on it and just giving up until Lucas came back, but she was pretty sure she would
n’
t be able to get up if she did.

Sighing, she continued to walk. She did
n’
t even know which direction she was headed in anymore. She tried to pay attention to the environment around he
r—
taking some notes as she walked in an attempt to make this horrible circumstance productive. After a while, she gave up and finally dropped to her knees. She took off her backpack and pulled out her water bottle, guzzling the contents. Even though the air was so muggy it was almost solid, she was parched form the heat of the sun.
You really need to work on that stubbornness. Maybe next time, acknowledge that the other person might have a point and let it go s
he advised herself. She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees and waited.

“
How long have I been out here
?”
She wondered aloud. She had told Lucas to pick her up in three hour
s—
which, who knew if he actually would. She groaned and dread filled her once more. She just pissed off her tour guide, had him leave her here in the open wilderness, and to top it off he was the only person who knew where she was.

“
Shit
,”
she cursed. She did
n’
t even bother checking her phone, she knew there would
n’
t be any reception out here. There was
n’
t a cell tower for miles and she did
n’
t have a satellite phone. She cursed again and buried her face in her hands.

“
Oh god, what did I do
?”
She asked desperately. She did
n’
t expect to receive and answer but when she did she jumped. Yet was
n’
t the sound of a voic
e—
although she would have gladly accepted Luca
s’
s mocking tone any da
y—
or the rumble of a car engine. Kate stared in shock at the hissing snake crouched a few feet away from her. She gulped and froze, trying hard to remember what to do in such a situation.

“
At least i
t’
s not a spider
,”
she said to herself, slowly scooting away from the snake. She heard another hiss from behind her and stopped moving. She slowly turned her head and her breath caught at the sight of another snake.
So this is how it ends. In a snake pit with Lucas soaking up all the satisfaction that he was right
she thought bitterly. She pushed herself off the ground inch by inch so as not to alarm the snakes around her. She eased up until she was standing and then froze again. She did
n’
t take her eyes off either of the snakes and tried to determine the best way out. She took one step to the side and stopped when one of the snakes hissed again. She closed her eyes and tried to fight back her tears.

“
Stay very, very still, City Girl
,”
she heard a deep voice say behind her. Her eyes snapped open in shock and her mouth dropped open. She turned her head at the sound of his calm and soothing voice and grinned thankfully at Lucas.

“
You came back! I never heard the car
,”
she elatedly said, as she remained exactly where she was. Lucas smiled at her and raised a rifle, aiming at the first snake.

“
Tha
t’
s because I did
n’
t come in the truck
,”
he said, taking aim and firing. Kate jumped at the loud percussion of the gun and tried to calm her beating heart that was about to leap out of her chest. Lucas took a step toward her and turned the barrel on the other snake. He fired another shot and Kate let out a sigh of relief. The hissing had stopped but she remained very still as Lucas circled her, checking for more snakes. He nudged her backpack with his foot and when nothing happened, scooped it up and checked it again. Noting that it was clear of hazards, he handed it back to her. Kate spun around and faced him, swinging her backpack onto her shoulders. He grinned at her widely and slung the rifle over his shoulder.

“
Glad to see me
?”
He teased. Kate let out a dry laugh and launched herself into his arms. Caught off guard, Lucas rocked back and wrapped his arms around her to steady them both.

“
Whoa
!”
He exclaimed, the wind getting pushed out of his lungs at the force of her hug. He felt her body begin to convulse and tears dripped onto his neck from where she had buried her face on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly and rested his cheek on the top of her head while she sobbed. He made soothing sounds and rubbed her back, trying to calm her.

“
I
t’
s okay, yo
u’
re alright now
,”
he whispered. Kat
e’
s sobs began to subside and she took a step back, sniffling and wiping her eyes with her pink button-up.

“
I-
I’
m sorry. I was very overwhelmed. I though
t…
I though
t
…
”
She said, trailing off as tears began to choke her. Lucas gave her a soft smile and nodded at her.

“
I know. I
t’
s okay
,”
he said, straightening his hat and giving her a tender look. Kate nodded and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

“
H-how did you get here
?”
She asked, looking around the road for any sign of the truck. Lucas shrugged, his small smile still on his lips.

“
After about a mile I turned around and came back. When I did
n’
t see you, I pulled off the road and got out.
I’
ve been following you for about an hour now
.”
Kat
e’
s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“
An hour? Ho
w’
d you catch up to me
?”
She asked. Lucas grinned at her proudly, exposing two dimples in his cheeks.