Tackling Summer (10 page)

“I’m sorry, Seth,” Chanel said, and she meant it. “It’ll be good for you to get out here and clear your head.”

“How’s David?” Seth asked.
 

“Fine. He’s still seeing Faith. Spends most of his time off on the weekend in town with her. Your mom wishes he’d come around the house more.” Mentioning Christine made Chanel think back to seeing Fritz leaving her house and their whispers in the cook tent. The words were on the tip of her tongue. She was sure Seth would be fine with it. He understood lonely and would be pleased to know his mother was finding some happiness, especially with Jessi about to leave the nest, but Mitch came in through the mudroom door.

“What do you think he’ll think about me being home?”

Chanel had to take a moment to bring her brain back to the conversation. “Don’t expect too much.”

“I figured,” Seth said, and Chanel could hear the sadness in his voice. He and David had been so close before David knew the truth. Chanel just couldn’t figure out how her older cousin could just flip a switch on how he felt about his own brother.
 

“Wish I had a different answer. Hey, Dad just got back in. I should probably scrounge up some lunch for us.”

“I’ll see you next week.”

“Drive safe. Love you,” Chanel said.

“Love you too.”

She heard the click signaling he’d hung up. They never said goodbye. Even as kids returning to their respective homes after a long day of playing, they’d always hugged and scampered off with a “See you tomorrow!” called over their shoulders.

“Who was that?” Mitch asked with a wink at his daughter. He pulled out a pitcher of iced tea and held it up to her. “Want some?”

“Sure, and that was Seth, so don’t go getting excited,” Chanel replied. Mitch was a great dad when it came to her dating. He had the right mix of protectiveness and acceptance. Though she knew it would break his heart when she finally found
the one
and stopped using the ranch as home base, but she also knew he wanted her to experience the loved he’d shared with her mother.

“What’s Seth up to?” Mitch asked taking Chanel’s empty water glass from her and filling it with iced tea.

“Getting ready for a trip home. He’ll be here next Wednesday.”

Mitch’s eyebrows were raised when he passed a glass to Chanel. “Really. It’s been a while.”

Chanel nodded. Mitch had always been supportive of Seth, and for that she was grateful.
 

“Christine sure misses him. She wishes she could get to Eugene more often,” Mitch said.

“Yeah. Same here. I haven’t seen him in over a year,” Chanel said wandering over to the sliding glass door on the other side of the great room.

“Have you seen Maddox today?”
 

Her father’s words had her spinning around, almost spilling her drink. “Why?”

Mitch eyed her suspiciously. “He wasn’t at the bunkhouse. His car’s here. I was going to invite him to dinner over at Christine’s. No doubt he hasn’t been eating much real food since he got here. Can’t have him losing weight. Talbot will kill me.”

“Oh,” Chanel said turning back to the view of the horse pasture and the mountains beyond. “We went for a run this morning. He must’ve decided to keep going after I headed back.”

“You left him out there?”
 

Chanel cringed at her father’s tone. “He’s a big boy. He could have followed me home if he wanted.”

“I better go look for him,” Mitch said with a sigh. “Where’d you leave him?”

Chanel told him and turned to head to the bathroom for a shower.

“Chanel, one more thing.”
 

She paused and looked over her shoulder.

“We’re going to need all hands on deck in July for the yearling drive. I need you to teach Maddox how to ride.”

It was all she could do not to slap her hand to her forehead. As if they didn’t already spend enough time together during the day, now their evenings would be full of horsemanship lessons. Given Maddox’s stubborn, pushy nature, Chanel didn’t see him getting along with a horse very well.

Mitch must have read her mind. “You’re a great teacher. You’ve got more patience than anyone else around here.”

Chanel worked at a stable near Doumit University teaching riding lessons to children and teens. She often led weekend trail rides for dudes of all ages. Unless she wanted to argue with her father again, and she didn’t, there was nothing she could say except, “No problem. We’ll start after dinner tomorrow.”

Satisfied with her answer, Mitch nodded and grabbed a banana from a bowl on the counter and headed back out the door.

***

Maddox watched Chanel disappear into the trees and then turned and jogged the opposite direction. He should follow her but was unwilling to give her the satisfaction. How hard could it be to find his way back to headquarters? He noted the aspen grove to his right and a couple of unusual looking rock outcroppings before heading up the hill.

She ran with a gun. It seemed like overkill. Wolves? Seriously? He urged his feet to carry him faster, resulting in trips on tree roots and random rocks. Why had he kissed her? She wasn’t his type, but there was something about her that drew him in, made him want to get closer, and not just for sex. It’d been there from the first day. No woman had ever been able to rankle him. Why would he want to be with someone like that?

The toe of his shoe caught in a hole and he stumbled to a stop, twisting his ankle hard. It made an ugly crunching sound and there was a stab of pain.
 

Maddox hobbled over to a log to catch his breath wishing for a bottle of water. Man, it was nice to have some lackey to hand him one whenever he even looked thirsty. He had to admit he’d never really appreciated the service until now. That was the kind of thinking Chanel kept harping about, he thought while massaging his ankle.

Once he was sure there wasn’t anything seriously wrong, Maddox took an easy jog back down the hill. Temper cooled, he took the time to breathe in the scent of the forest, damp with herbal notes he didn’t recognize. It smelled good. He paused when he reached a fork in the trail. Hands on hips, he studied it. He didn’t remember seeing this on his way up. Scraping his hair away from his face and holding it with both hands, he took the path on the left. He walked and walked waiting for the aspen grove to appear. Rustling in the bushes made the hair on his arms stand on end. Occasionally, a chipmunk would skitter by just in front of his feet making him feel silly for his unease. Chanel had probably packed that pistol just to freak him out. There was nothing out here except rodents and deer. Weren’t wolves about extinct anyway?

And then it happened. The biggest gray dog he’d ever seen stepped into the path about a hundred yards in front of him. Maddox froze as the animal turned and pinned him with an amber stare. Holy shit, Chanel hadn’t been kidding.
 

Afraid to break eye contact, Maddox hoped he wasn’t surrounded by an entire pack and wondered if there were any limbs on the nearby trees he could grab so he could climb up. Before he could move, a shot rang out, and Maddox felt his feet leave the ground. He looked around wildly, not sure what to do in his panic. Eyes forward again, Maddox found the trail empty. Where had the wolf gone? Bile rose in his throat. The damn wolf was hiding somewhere ready to attack. Someone was shooting at him. He was having a hard time catching his breath.

“Maddox!”

He spun around to see Mitch emerge from the trees. Never had he been so excited to see another human being, but before he could speak, his stomach buckled and he threw up.

“Easy there!” Mitch said coming alongside him, putting a hand on his heaving back. “You okay?”

Maddox righted himself and drug his forearm across his mouth. “I will be.”

Mitch grinned. “Got a good look at him, didn’t ya.”

Maddox nodded. He could feel the cold sweat covering his skin.

“He’s gone now. Let’s head home.”

Unable to find intelligible words, Maddox pulled on his shirt and followed Mitch. Half an hour later, they came to the main road. Maddox was grateful for the older man’s silence. Most guys would have harassed him for getting lost and teased him for freaking out.

“I gave her a talkin’ to,” Mitch said when the ranch buildings came into sight.

“K.”

“I know you don’t like taking orders, but life’ll be easier for you if you listen to her.”

Maddox clenched his jaw at the offered wisdom.

“It’s okay to be quiet and learn sometimes. We don’t have to know everything.”

They were in front of the barn now. Maddox appreciated Mitch’s quiet correction. It was easier to swallow than the bellows from the coaching staff or the sharp disdain he received from Chanel.

“Thanks,” Maddox said. “You won’t tell anyone I…”

“Nope. We all have our moments. If it had been me, I woulda shit myself.” Mitch’s eyes danced, and his lips turned up just a bit.

Maddox laughed. “I’m not sure that I didn’t. Think I better go do some laundry.”

Mitch laughed and turned toward the barn. “See you in the morning, son.”

Son. Maddox’s dad had never called him that outside of formal introductions.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Chanel handed Maddox a horse brush and currycomb, keeping a set for herself for demonstration purposes. “Okay, let’s get you started brushing Rosalind.” Chanel led the way to the stall where a gray mare was tied. “She’s Dad’s horse, but she’s getting up there in years, so she doesn’t get ridden much these days. Sometimes Dad takes her out for an easy ride on Sundays.”

When Maddox hesitated, she heaved a sigh. She was tired and hot after a long day of moving cows. More than anything, she wanted a long shower and to stretch out on a lounger on the deck. “Get in here. She won’t bite. Just set your hand on her butt as you come in, so you don’t startle her.”
 

“Yeah, right. She’ll probably kick me in the nuts then bite me on the head when I’m doubled over,” Maddox muttered taking a tentative step toward the stall.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”
 

“After your little stunt yesterday? I don’t trust you.”

Needing something to do with her hands, Chanel began working through Rosalind’s mane with the currycomb. She probably shouldn’t have left him in the forest. Mitch had hiked out and found him wandering in the opposite direction of the ranch, sunburned and ticked off. He’d told Chanel at dinner that the kid was spooked out of his gourd after his first wolf sighting.

Chanel had laughed and confessed to telling Maddox about the wolves and showing him her gun. Mitch had glowered at her and told her leaving him was childish. She’d protested saying she took off down the trail they’d just come up on, and it was on Maddox for not following her.

“Whatever it is that’s eating you about him, get over it. I’ve got enough on my plate right now keeping Jerry from smothering him with a pillow during the night. Sounds like he’s a bit of a whiner after hours.”

Chanel rolled her eyes. “Tell me you’re surprised.”

Mitch shrugged. “I still stand by my decision to take him on this summer. Be the adult, Chanel.”

This was one of those times when Chanel wished she wasn’t so devoted to her dad. Not wanting to cause him any extra stress, she’d agreed to attempt to make Maddox horse savvy enough to ride drag during the yearling drive.

 
“I don’t mess around when it comes to the horses,” Chanel said as she unsnarled a particularly nasty snag in Rosalind’s mane. “It’s not fair to them. Now, pay attention and we’ll get this over with. Use the currycomb and go over her whole body, including her mane and tail. Work out the dust and loose hair. Then smooth her out with the brush. If you want, you can do it all at once like this.” Her hands were in motion before she’d even stopped speaking— the left sweeping down with the currycomb, closely followed by the right. She moved with speed and grace, a product of a lifetime of grooming horses.

Maddox cautiously shuffled up to Rosalind’s hindquarters. Placing a hesitant hand on her rump, he eased in on the opposite side from Chanel. She noticed the weary look in his eyes, and a zing of satisfaction whizzed through her. Good, he was as drained as she was. Maybe he’d cooperate, so they could turn in sooner.

Determined to be the bigger person, Chanel didn’t comment. Instead, she left the stall and said, “I’m going to catch someone for me to ride. We’ll get you saddled when I get back.”

A couple of minutes later, she reentered the barn leading a short red roan horse with a wide blaze running down his nose.

“Not using Vivi tonight?” Maddox asked.
 

“No, I worked her pretty hard today. She needs to rest. Overworking your horse can make it lame.”

Maddox nodded and moved around to Rosalind’s other side to finish where Chanel had left off. Unable to help herself, Chanel watched him as she curried her horse. His broad shoulders were relaxed, and he seemed focused on his task. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was enjoying himself.

“You about ready to saddle up?” Chanel said once her grooming was done. She was impressed with the job Maddox had done on Rosalind.

“Sure,” Maddox replied giving the gray horse a pat on the rump and following Chanel to the tack room.

“Grab that saddle right there with the blue pad on top,” Chanel said pointing to the tack atop a wooden stand attached to the wall. She grabbed her own saddle, but instead of snagging her regular hot pink and black Navajo print pad, she reached for a black one from another shelf.
 

“I’ve never seen you use that one before,” Maddox said nodding at the pad in her hand.

Impressed with his observation, Chanel smiled and said, “My regular pad is wet with Vivi’s sweat. Pete will appreciate a dry one.”

“Makes sense. We always use fresh base layers under our gear on double practice days.”

Chanel led the way out of the tack room, saddle under her left arm, blanket in her right hand. Maddox positioned his tack the same and stood outside Pete’s stall to watch as she flipped the blanket onto Pete’s back, pulling it up to where his mane began. Then with an effortless swing, she settled the saddle in place. With a grin his direction, she began outlining what she was doing.