Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 317(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“Really?” He sounded so happy suddenly.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Thank you,” he said, and I could hear the sincerity in his voice.
After that, I went and found Juju having some hay with other horses in the corral, saw that there was water there as well, then went to find Ed. I told him he could go ahead and ride drag with Pierce and Tom, and I would drive the chuck wagon for him.
“Oh thank God,” he nearly whimpered, hand on my shoulder for a second. “I just—is there some trick to it that I don’t know?”
I smiled and asked him if he’d like me to show him.
“That would be great,” he said, exhaling a sigh.
Immediately, just moving the wagon forward fifty feet, I realized the reins were far too short, and more importantly, that the horses needed to be switched. At the moment, the two mares were pulling apart instead of pulling together. It could be easily remedied, but you had to know what you were doing. The issue was that a lot of good wranglers were not versed in other areas, like, for instance, driving a tractor. Lots of hay had to be moved, especially in the winter, and they had to be shown how to do that. Same was true for a wagon. I loved that Rand assumed Ed could take over the chuck wagon without any training. It was something I’d learned from owning a business. Everyone came to me with a different skill set and a different way of learning. Some people I had to show, others I had to have them write it down, and still others I had to have listen to me over and over. Ed had no clue what he was doing, but assumptions had been made. I was glad to be able to show him how he could improve.
Once Ed was saddled up, riding over to join Pierce and Tom, I moved the wagon over to the edge of the eating area and sat there, waiting on Rand.
Zach saw me first, pointed, and Rand stopped standing around—glowering and looking miserable because it was now after eight at night and people were still eating—and started toward me. I was thinking, as I watched him close in on me, that us getting to the Lone Pine by midnight had been an optimistic estimation.
Before Rand reached me, I backed the wagon up, then forward, turned it all the way around, and then returned it to how it was when I rolled up. He stopped walking and scowled at me. I waggled my eyebrows at him for good measure.
He sighed deeply as he reached the wagon, put a hand on the seat, and looked up at me. “So you’re saying you can drive the wagon just fine?”
“I really can,” I assured him. And yes, my side twinged a bit, just with the jostling of the wagon, but nothing like the stabbing, shooting pain it had been in the saddle. “I would tell you if I’m dying, I swear to God.”
He grunted.
“I already called Everett and told him not to come, so if you still want him to come, you have to call him and break his heart and wake up his angel.”
“Dramatic much?”
I shrugged. “Don’t you remember what it was like to have a new baby? Didn’t you want to just sit at home and look at your child?”
It took long moments of him studying my face before he finally nodded.
“I can drive the goddamn wagon, Rand. Just fuckin’ let me.”
“Fine,” he conceded. “But if anything changes, you better tell me, and I will look at that first thing in the morning, you hear?”
I scoffed. “Morning? Are you kidding? You’ll still be in the saddle in the morning?”
“Fuck,” was all he said.
“Succinctly put,” I teased him, and lo and behold, he smiled.
Annalise rode Juju right beside the wagon, and her parents were thrilled that she was with me so they could concentrate on staying on their horses and not breaking their necks.
“This is not at all what I thought it would be,” Kate said, staring daggers at her husband.
I bet not.
Keeping an eye on Annalise, when her eyes started to droop, I stopped, plucked her off Juju’s back, and had her pull out a small pillow and bedroll from the back and lie down. Since it was after ten at that point, she was out like a light. An hour later, we had to stop to feed and water the horses, and when we did, I unsaddled Juju and put my gear in the back of the wagon. Since rain was forecast, I put on her padded raincoat, and the head covering, which she hated, but I refused to let her get wet or cold no matter what her opinion was on the matter. What was helpful was that with only her bridle on, she would stay right next to me so I could put everything on snugly.