Читать книгу The Rebellious Rancher - Kate Pearce - Страница 11

Chapter Four

God, she was tired. The sun was setting, and there were no other lights around them as Ben finally called a halt. In the gathering darkness, she could just about hear the sound of running water and make out a copse of trees. For some reason, she’d been expecting a lot more than that.

She managed to dismount and just stood there holding Ladybug’s reins as Ben started to unload the mules.

“Where’s the backup staff?” Silver asked.

“The what?” Ben looked over at her, his face barely visible in the gloom.

“The people who set up the campsite.”

“That would be us.” He set two of the packs on the ground and started on the second mule. “Everything we need is in here. Which would you rather do first, start the campfire, or put up your tent?”

She slowly closed her mouth. “I was kind of expecting those things would be done for me.”

His teeth flashed white in the darkness. “If you want to eat and sleep safely tonight, then you might have to manage your expectations.”

He walked over and took Ladybug’s reins out of her unresisting fingers. “I’m going to release the horses and mules into the enclosure. Do you want to help?”

Aware that if he went away too far from her, she’d be alone in the dark, she nodded. “Sure.”

“Come on, then.”

She stumbled after him, leading Ladybug and Ted toward the dense group of trees. “Do we have food for them?”

He glanced back at her. “Nope, they’ll be having beans and singing Kumbaya with us around the fire.”

Silver took a moment to respond. “I hope they sing better than you do.”

Ben chuckled. “I’ve got hay, and if there’s not enough grass for them to graze on, I have alfalfa pellets, which we’ll also be eating if we don’t get our camp set up.”

He removed Calder’s saddle and placed it on the sturdy fence. Silver tried to do the same with Ladybug’s and staggered at the weight before she managed to right herself and just get it on the fence.

“Good job,” Ben said as he took off Calder’s saddle blanket and bridle, replacing it with a halter before he turned to the mules.

He spent a few minutes checking each animal over, picking up their feet to inspect their hooves and generally making sure they were in good shape. While he worked, he offered Silver a running commentary of what he was doing and encouraged her to get involved.

After securing the gate of the enclosure and checking the animals had access to water, he turned back to the campsite. “Come on.”

Silver didn’t even mind when he grabbed her hand and towed her up the slope.

“Can we start with the tents?” Silver asked plaintively. “I don’t think I want anything to eat. I’d just like to go to sleep.”

“Sure.” He knelt down and unrolled one of the packs. “Here’s yours. There are instructions on the top.” He glanced over at her, a challenge in his eyes, and she stiffened. “While you do that, I’m going to start the fire.”

* * *

When he came back with some wood, Ben tried not to look directly at Silver who was sitting on the ground puzzling over a pile of poles, a ground sheet, and the tent fabric. Usually, he helped the guests with their tents, but her expectation that they would have a support staff setting everything up for them had made him think that she needed to understand that her participation in all events was not only required, but essential.

He hunkered down beside the two flat stones in the center of the circle and carefully stacked his wood before adding some dried grass to act as an accelerant. The wood was quite dry, so he was confident he’d soon have a decent fire going. He always carried cured wood with sap, which burned easily and kept burning long enough to start a good fire.

“Ouch,” Silver muttered. “This is way more complicated than it looks.”

After making sure that the fire was taking, he went to take a look at what she’d accomplished so far.

“Push that left side pole in further and you’ve got the basic shape,” Ben said. “Then all you have to do is build the sides and the roof structure and you’re good to go.”

She looked over at him. “You don’t think I’m going to be able to do it, do you?”

“No shame if you can’t,” Ben said provocatively. “You can always share mine. It’s also bigger.”

The glare she gave him made his lips twitch, so he turned away, opened up his own tent, and started construction. He set a lantern between them so that she’d be able to get a good look at what he was doing. He also slowed down so that she wouldn’t miss anything.

“I did it!” She squealed and jumped up and down like she’d won a medal or something.

“Go, you.” Ben handed her a canvas bedroll, a pillow, and a sleeping bag. “You can put those inside and then come out and get something to eat.”

She disappeared inside the tent and reversed out, giving Ben a fine view of her jeans-clad ass. She sat back on her knees and looked up at him, her hair in disarray and her cheeks flushed.

“There is one thing . . .”

“What’s that?” Ben asked.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

He extended his hand wide. “Pretty much wherever you want it.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” He turned back to his pack and handed her the camp trowel. “Stay two hundred feet from the creek and the camp, and you’re golden.”

While she stomped off with her torch in something of a huff, he set a tripod over the fire with a pot and boiled some of the water from his flask. There were a couple of sandwiches left over from lunch, but they’d definitely need something else.

He pulled out a couple random packs of freeze-dried food and placed them close to the fire. Silver might not be hungry, but he certainly was.

When she came back, he held out a roll of recyclable toilet paper. “I forgot to mention we have all the luxuries.”

She sniffed. “I used my tissues, thanks.”

She definitely wasn’t happy with him, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Either she worked out that things were different out here or she gave up and went home. He’d only had one family bail on him on a trail ride before and that was because the kids had been so obnoxious that the parents had given in to their constant whining and gone back. If it had been up to Ben, he would’ve ignored the complaints and made them follow through, but that was probably because he’d been brought up by a father who didn’t suffer fools gladly and had never let any of his sons slack off or complain about anything.

Silver hunkered down on one of the logs set around the now-blazing campfire, her gaze fixed on the flames. She yawned so hard, Ben heard her jaw crack.

“You should eat something before you turn in,” Ben said. He picked up the packs of freeze-dried food and squinted at the labels. “I’ve got beef stew or sweet and sour rice. Either of those grab you?”

She shuddered. “If that’s anything like the astronaut food I’ve tasted, it’ll be disgusting.”

“It’s not the same thing, and just remember that unless we catch or shoot our own food, this is all we have.”

She didn’t look convinced and Ben didn’t push it. “There are a couple of sandwiches left from lunch, and Mrs. Morgan made some brownies and snuck them in.”

“Brownies?” Silver’s head came up like one of his dogs chasing a chicken. “Where?”

He pushed the container over to her. “I’m surprised you didn’t see them. They were right next to my boxers.” She grabbed the box like he’d handed her a lifeline. “You should eat a sandwich as well.”

She was already on that, devouring the white bread and mayo sandwich she’d reluctantly nibbled on at lunch in five bites. Ben hid a smile as she started on the brownies.

“Shouldn’t you be consulting your diet app?” Ben asked. She literally growled at him and he held up his hands. “Remember, we’ll be out here for over a week, so don’t eat them all at once.”

* * *

Silver ate her second brownie, almost moaning at the glorious chocolatey feel of it sliding down her throat. She couldn’t remember being quite so hungry before in her life, and yet she’d done nothing more strenuous than sit on a horse and listen to Ben Miller lecture her about stuff. Getting the tent up by herself had felt like some kind of victory, but she had to give him credit for letting her crow.

She glanced over at him as he tended to the fire and then carefully tipped boiling water from the pot into one of the foil pouches. He stirred it with a spoon and then set it to one side.

“Which one is that?” She spoke through a mouthful of brownie.

“I’m not sure. I like to live dangerously.” He mock-frowned. “Not as good as Mrs. Morgan’s home cooking, but it’ll have to do.”

“Does your mom cook?”

“Occasionally, but it’s mainly Adam because she doesn’t live with us.” He shrugged. “He finds it relaxing for some reason.”

She withheld her curiosity about his offhand comment about his mom and held out the container. “Do you want this sandwich?”

“You have it if you need it.” He returned his attention to the pouch.

Silver didn’t think that she’d ever met a man who was so contained in himself and yet so comfortable in his environment. She’d already established that he didn’t shout, had a dry sense of humor, and that he wasn’t willing to take any shit even from her. He spoke the words he wanted to say, and then shut up. He was so completely alien to her, that she didn’t know what to make of him or how to charm him into liking her.

Why she wanted him to like her was another issue entirely, and one she wasn’t sure she needed to examine right now. Her therapist said she had a compulsive need to be liked, and not in a good way. Did she assume everyone would love her? Was she really that conceited? Maybe she needed to make more of an effort to get to know him.

“So your sister Daisy is the only girl,” Silver asked.

“Yeah.” For the first time he smiled with real warmth. “And the youngest and definitely the smartest of the bunch.”

“She’s in tech?”

He nodded, stirring the contents of his meal and then set it down again. “She’s in a start-up that’s looking like making her a millionaire in a couple of years.”

“That’s awesome.” Silver resisted the lure of the brownies and firmly resealed the lid. “Does she look like you?”

“A little bit, but her hair has less red in it, and she’s petite.”

“Is she pretty?”

“How would I know? The guy she’s engaged to seems to think so.” Ben opened his meal, stirred it again, and sat down on one of the logs opposite her. “I think Daisy is more interested in being smart than in being pretty.”

Silver raised her chin. “There’s nothing wrong in being both.”

“True.” He ate a spoonful of his meal and chewed slowly. “I think it’s beef stew.”

“People often think I’m dumb just because I’m blond,” Silver added.

“I don’t think you’re dumb.”

“But do you think I’m pretty?”

Ben turned fully toward her, his considering gaze on her face. “Not really.”

“Beautiful?”

“I don’t judge people on what they look like on the outside.”

“Everyone does that whether they mean to or not,” Silver countered. “That’s why women and men who look a certain way become famous.”

“Maybe I don’t care about the being famous part.” He ate another spoonful of stew. “Why does it matter what I think of you anyway?”

“Because...” Silver was beginning to regret starting such a stupid conversation. “You said you loved my cowboy show.”

“I liked the show, yeah, but that wasn’t you, was it? That was just a character you played on TV twenty years ago.” He met her gaze. “I don’t know the real you, do I?”

“You know more than most fans,” she said, all the while wondering why she was being so obstinate about nothing. “You’ve spent a whole day with me.”

“Whoop-de-woo, like I won a contest or something?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “The thing is, Ms. Meadows, for the next week you’re in my world, and whether I think you’re pretty or not is secondary to whether you have the intelligence to stay alive, learn something, and not fall apart on me.”

She put down the brownie box with something of a thump. “We’ve already established that I’m not stupid, and I’m pretty certain I can manage the rest of it.”

He sighed. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. You’re a guest on this ranch, and I’ll make sure that you get the best trail riding experience of your life, okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to complain to your employers if you actually engage with me as if I am a real person,” Silver shot back. “I can take criticism and I do want to learn.”

“Then we’re good.” He focused his attention on the fire. “Are you sure you don’t want some of this?”

Aware that he’d dismissed her again, Silver considered what to do. “I think I’m full.” She faked a yawn. “Is it okay to use water directly from the creek?”

“I’ve got drinking water if that’s what you need.” He nodded over at the pack set up against one of the rocks.

“What about washing myself?” She’d already given up on the notion of having a proper shower.

“You can use it for that, too. I’ll fill up the bottles again tonight and add purification tablets so we’re good to go tomorrow.”

“I think I might turn in, then.” Silver stood up and stretched. “Do I need to set an alarm?”

“I’ll wake you.” He abandoned the fire, walked over to the pack, rummaged around for a few moments, and offered her a small plastic basin, a mirror, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. “I figured you’d need these.”

“Don’t most people?”

He grinned. “Not our guests. They tend to just jump in the creek, splash around a bit, and call it good.”

She considered calling his bluff and then took the proffered items. “Thank you.”

He followed her over to her tent. “Take one of the small lanterns, the water, and a torch in case you need to get up during the night.”

“I can use my phone if I need a light.” She looked up at him. “Speaking of which, where do I plug my adaptor in?”

* * *

Ben made sure he was well clear of their campground before he allowed himself to laugh out loud. Her face when he’d had to point out that there was no electricity had been priceless, like he’d offered to murder her firstborn child or something. She’d rallied fast and inquired about the availability of the Internet, and had taken the fact that it didn’t exist out here very well, considering . . .

Ben sighed and looked up at the stars. She wasn’t the first guest to have a complete freak-out when deprived of their daily barrage of social media. If she’d bothered to read through the package of information from Morgan Ranch, she would have seen that it clearly stated that Internet coverage was spotty on the trails and electricity hard to come by.

He continued to walk up the slope to the top of the hill and took out his radio to check in with BB who was acting as his base camp buddy. He’d set up a series of talk windows every evening to share information about his current position. If he missed the half hour check-in time, BB would assume something was wrong and attempt to get to him as soon as possible.

For his part, BB would relate current weather conditions, any fire risks, and anything else that might cause problems along the way. It was a system that worked well, and so far, apart from the bratty family insisting on returning to the ranch early, they hadn’t had any major issues.

Ben paused to look up at the sky, seeking out the familiar constellations his father had shown him when he was a kid. After their mother left, at his sister’s urging, Jeff had made the occasional effort to do stuff with them that wasn’t directly related to work on the ranch. He’d been really bad at it, but looking back, Ben appreciated that he’d made the effort.

His radio crackled and BB’s voice came over loud and clear. Seeing as they were still on Morgan Ranch land, there wasn’t much to talk about after Ben updated BB with his position and the route he intended to take the next day. He ended the exchange and leaned back against the rock wall, his keen gaze sweeping the land below him. In the distance, a pack of coyotes howled, and he decided he’d better get back in case Silver woke up and wondered why the hell it sounded like babies screaming into the void.

After telling her there was no electricity, he’d braced himself for her demanding to go back to civilization, but she’d surprised him by laughing and going into her tent. She was a mass of contradictions. Sometimes, he felt like she was trying on different roles waiting to see which one worked on him, and then occasionally she’d laugh at something and he’d get a glimpse of what he thought of as the real woman.

She’d asked him if she was pretty. . . .

He thought about that as he walked down the slope. She wasn’t conventionally pretty, but when she smiled she was so damn beautiful he couldn’t look away. And somehow, when she was on screen, that ability to hold his attention was magnified a thousandfold. She had that “it” thing that made you want to keep looking even when you knew you were way out of your league, and she was your client, and you had to remain professional.

Ben stopped walking on the edge of the camp. When the hell had his musings become so personal? She was a famous actress; he was a professional trail guide, and that was how it was going to be until he delivered her safely back to her father, happy and healthy in less than two weeks.