Forever's Affection (Forever In Luck Series Book 3) (5 page)

Giving
him the bird, Kris looked across the table. “How about you Dad, what wealth of
knowledge do you have to offer?”

Chewing
on his toothpick, his dad sat contemplating,
then
answered, “Listen to Jules and Linnie. Some of the best times your mother and I
ever had were spent just sitting together quietly or going for a walk. With
Dani it would seem that less is better. I do wonder though, she’s pretty young
to move away from everything and everyone she knows, and take on the
responsibilities of a ranch all alone, albeit a small one. Seen a lot in my
time, but something tells me there’s more to the story here, and given her
behavior...” He shook his head a little and took a drink of his coffee. “I
pretty much see red flags all over this one.”

Well,
couple that with what Linnie had said, and Kris pretty much came to a complete
stop. Could she be on the run? “I’ll finish up with the morning chores and head
over there. We picked up supplies for a new fence yesterday and I’m sure she
wants me to put it up.” Well, at least he thought she wanted his help.

“Head
on over there now,” his dad answered. “Help her
out,
see if you can get a handle on what’s going on. I have a feeling in the pit of
my stomach on this one, and when I get that, I never ignore it. It’ll take you
most of the day, but you should be about done come sundown. We’ve got things
here.”

CHAPTER 3

Driving
to the end of the road and coming to the highway, Kris looked across the
pavement to the ranch and sighed. He’d had a feeling. There she was,
sledgehammer in hand, pounding sturdy metal posts into the ground. Of course
she wouldn’t wait for him, now would she? Nope. She wasn’t acting like other
women would. Wasn’t he supposed to like that? Isn’t that what he’d wanted in a
woman? Yep, so why was he irritated that she hadn’t waited for him?

In
the yard and through the gate, he drove across the pasture to her and stopped.
Getting out, he knew better than to say anything other than a veiled
compliment. Watching as she swung the sledgehammer, he waited. Her jeans were
big and loose, her long sleeved chambray shirt even looser. She was sweaty from
the exertion, and one shoulder length tendril of hair had escaped from its
hold. Looking at it, and then at her, he realized at that moment she had
naturally curly hair. Well, he wasn’t so sure about curly, but from the looks
of it, it was definitely wavy. She’d be a lot cooler if she wore a t-shirt, he
thought. Finished, she turned to him, the hammer dropping to the ground with a
thud.

“Got
a head start,” she said breathlessly, her chest heaving as she took deep
breaths. Reaching up, she captured the loose lock of hair and worked to tuck it
back in with the rest.

Turning,
he looked back at what she’d done, straight and even. She had to of started at
the crack of dawn, so that meant four hours of hard labor. “You done
good
. Got some experience putting up fences, I see.”

“Yep.
Put up my share
of fences over the years.”

Glad
he’d been thinking ahead, he said, “If you’re thirsty, I have a cooler in the
truck.”

Taking
a bandana out of her pocket, she wiped her face and made the dirt streaks
worse. He had to work to hold back his smile. She was exhausted, he could tell,
but he wouldn’t try and tell her that and expect to live to talk about it.

“Don’t
mind if I do,” she answered, turning for the truck. “If you pound the posts,
I’ll string the line.”

Nodding,
he picked up the hammer. “I got it, go take a load off.”

Several
hours later, Linnie and Jules arrived. Stopping partway down the drive and
along the pasture, they got out of the car.

“Hey
you two, you’re really coming along,” Linnie said, as she carefully stepped
along the fence. “You’re way over half done.”

“We
brought you some lunch,” Jules added, as she held up a bag and shook it.

Thank
God, he was starving. “Sounds good, what are we having?” He gave Jules a
grateful look as he took the bag.

Smiling,
she responded with a small nod and pat on the hand as she looked over to Dani
trying to measure the situation. “Italian roast beef hoagies with smoked
Havarti and all the fixings, chips, pop, and a little something sweet. The
sandwich is a trial
recipe,
let me know what you
think.”

“Now
you’re talking, bring it on,” he answered, damn near ready to faint from hunger.

“Dani, how you doing?”
Linnie asked. “You
find everything you’re looking for yesterday?”

Dani
nodded. “Yeah, except for western and horse stuff, need to find a place for
that. Thanks for
lunch,
you didn’t have to do that.”

Yes,
they did, Kris thought, feeling kind of shaky. He was certain she would’ve
worked till the job was done with nothing more than drinking water.

Linnie
nodded. “Not sure what you need, but there is Luck Saddlery and Outfitters on
Main Street.”

“Really?”
Dani answered,
surprised. “Guess I missed that yesterday on the tour. Thanks, that helps.”

“Maybe
you two should take a break and finish tomorrow,” Jules suggested, looking at
Dani, then added quickly, “You both look a bit tired.”

“Kris
can stop if he wants,” Dani answered, “but I need to keep going. I have a
couple horses arriving anytime now.”

Laughing
to himself, he turned to her and said, “Let’s take a small break and eat, then
we’ll keep going. We’ll be done in a few more hours. I won’t leave till the
fence is up.”

She
stopped and stared at him, then looked away as she gave a small nod of her
head. The tension was palpable.

“Well,
we have to get going,” Linnie said, with a smile. “We’re heading to Bella’s to
get our hair cut, and then on to St. Croix. If you need anything, give us a
call, we can pick it up.”

“
Thanks,
will do,” he hollered back, as he pulled down the
tailgate of his truck. Opening the bag, he unloaded its contents. Grabbing the
cooler, he went to her. “Hold out your hands.” Doing as he asked, he poured
water over them, callouses and all, watched as she rubbed them around, then
added more water, before doing his own. “Let’s eat.”

Grabbing
some jalapeño peppers
slices,
she popped them in her
mouth. Then she grabbed some more and put them on a sandwich with a boat load
of onions and green peppers. So, she likes spicy vegetables, he thought. He sat
on the tailgate, while she stood. “Why not sit down?” he suggested more than
asked.

“Because, I want to stand.”

“We’ve
worked the last several hours without
so
much as a
word. Can we talk?”

“I
don’t want to keep you from your chores,” she snipped.

Definitely
not like other women, they always wanted to keep a man around while they did a
bunch of nothing. “You aren’t.”

Now
she snapped, “I find that hard to believe, I’m not ignorant.”

“No
one said you were.”

Silence.

He
tried again. “I’m in charge of land and crops, so I have a little time right
now as I just got the crops in the ground, and it’s not haying time yet, so
yeah... Dad, Jake, and Nik have milking covered. You’ve been working hard.
Please sit.”

She
sat.

“What
kind of horses do you train?”

“You
don’t have to do this,” she responded looking off in the distance.

“No,
I don’t,” he answered calmly, “but I want to. Now, what kind of horses do you
train?”

“Any
kind,” she answered briskly.

“What
kind do you have arriving?”

“I
don’t know.”

“How
long have you been training horses?”

“Most of my life.”

“Who’d
you learn from?”

“Anyone,
everyone, but mostly I learned from the horses themselves.”

“Do
you have family?”

She
hopped off the tailgate, shoved the last bite of her sandwich in her mouth,
then walked over to the sledgehammer and picked it up. Moving to the next fence
post lying on the ground, she stood it on end and lined it up. He watched as
she started pounding it into the ground. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination
or not, but he could swear she was using a little extra force with each blow.

Later
that evening, the fence up and back home, Kris showered and headed for town.
Stopping at the
Bottleshop
on Main and the Flying
Pie, he picked up beer and pizza for what he hoped would be an evening
together. Other than when they’d eaten, they hadn’t talked all day. So, he
pretty much decided against asking her if she wanted to get together or not,
because he knew she’d just say no. Instead, he just went ahead and did it,
hoping like hell she didn’t throw his ass out.

He
didn’t know a damn thing about horses, or horse related stuff, so he had no
clue as to what to talk to her about and she’d given him nothing to go on. Why
did women have
to be so difficult, he wondered. Hell if he
knew, but he wasn’t about to quit yet, there was something about her that told
him to keep going. She was the antithesis of what he’d become accustomed to in
a woman, and yet to him, she was just that, a woman, more so than all the rest.
Don’t tell her that, he thought shaking his head. The more she wasn’t like
other women, the more woman she was. His mind spun circles, baffled at the
conundrum,
 

She’d
worked as hard as him without complaining, surprise. She didn’t like to talk,
shocker. She was fiercely independent, not clingy, double shocker. No girly,
frilly, giggly shit for her, big bonus and huge relief for him. No dinner
dates, which meant no dancing, hallelujah! No bullshit, no pretenses, ding,
ding, score. In fact, she struck him as the kind that would help a guy pack his
bags if he threatened to leave, and then would kindly remind him to not let the
door strike him in the ass as she kicked him out. He really needed to watch it
with her, or he may find himself sitting in a pile of horseshit.

Pulling
up in front of her house, he headed into the porch and knocked, wondering if he
should’ve listened to Nik and worn his nut cup just in case. Waiting, he soon
heard her come to the door. Moving the curtain on the little window, she looked
and saw him. Opening the door a crack, she gave him a plain and profound,
“What?”

“I
brought pizza.”

“I’m
not hungry.” Her stomach growled and they both heard it.

Smiling,
because he’d expected as much, he said, “It’s got everything on it, and it’s an
extra-large.”

“Not
hungry.” Her stomach growled even louder.

Now
what? “I brought beer.”

“Well
why didn’t you say so?” she snapped.

The
door fell open and he carefully looked inside. She’d already turned and walked
away. Stepping into the house and closing the door, he took a few steps in and
stopped, staring at her. “
Ahhh
, what are you
wearing?”

“Don’t
tell me you’ve never seen hip waders before,” she responded coolly to the
inquiry.

Man,
she was bitter. “Well yes, but why are you wearing them?”

“Because.”

Alright,
he refused to give up. “Because why?”

“Because
I found them in the closet and wanted to see if they fit.” Annoyed, she turned
and went through a doorway to the next room.

Setting
his load on the counter, he stepped to the oven and turned it on. “It’s a take
and bake pizza, you want a beer while we wait?” he asked loudly, as he went to
the fridge. He would see this through, he would.

“Sure,
why not.”

Opening
the fridge door, he stood staring at its contents, a gallon of milk, some
carrots,
some
apples. That was it, and he’d bet the
carrots and apples were for the horses. Grabbing two beers, he shut the fridge
door. Walking into the dining room, he stopped again and couldn’t help but
stare. Wearing nothing more than shorts and a white tank that detailed her
figure beautifully, she stood in front of the table. She was shapely, nicely
muscled in a natural, healthy way, and a lot thinner than her men’s clothes
made her out to be. Her hair was wet, and long, and yes, it was very wavy. He
definitely liked what he saw and had to swallow a time or two.

Leaning,
she reached, picked something up from a chair, and put it on the table. His
heart started pounding and he held his breath as she opened the box. Feeling a
catch deep inside when he saw the contents, he knew something momentous had
just happened within him and he was hooked. His breath left him and time
slowed.

She
must have sensed it, because he watched as she turned her head and stared at
him over her shoulder, those stormy, steely blue eyes of hers warning him. He
knew that look, he’d worn it himself, she was hurting and in pain. She’s been
hurt, bad, and she was the one for him, he knew it. Damn it.

Their
eyes met again, and she gave him a husky rebuking, “You’re staring.”

He
didn’t even try to deny it as he looked her over from top to bottom. Nodding,
he opened the bottle of beer and handed it to her. “What’s that?” he asked,
indicating the open box on the table.

Bottle
almost to her lips, she stopped and said, “First the hip waders, and now you
don’t know what fishing lures are. You need to get out more.”

Laughing,
he watched as she downed half the beer,
then
answered.
“I’m trying, but you said no, remember? You like fishing?”

Putting
the bottle on the table with a smack, she focused on the box as she shook her
head. “No, I don’t like fishing, I
love
fishing.”

Kris
could swear he heard the trumpets of heaven sounding right at that moment,
followed by a round of hallelujahs from the angels above. “Can I show you
something?”

“Depends.”

“Yes or no?”

“I’m
not interested in seeing your worm,” she said flatly.

Caught
off guard, he paused,
then
busted out laughing. Unable
to stop for whatever reason, he leaned against the wall and looked at her as he
laughed feeling kind of embarrassed. She was…nothing like what he’d encountered
before, that was for sure. “No worm. A simple yes or no, please.”