Forever's Embrace (Forever In Luck Series Book 2) (29 page)

Looking
Kris over with a critical eye, then to his watch, his dad said clearly
irritated, “It’s two thirty in the morning.”

Ignoring
the statement, hoping his dad would let it go, Kris asked, “What’s going on in
the barn?”

“It’s
a good goddamn relief your mother isn’t alive to see you sneaking and sleeping
around.”

No
luck, this had been one hell of a day. “I’m a grown man,” he answered, sounding
tough but feeling a little bleak.

Nodding,
his dad said, “Yes, you sure are. So quit acting like a boy.” Then he turned
and walked to the barn.

Well,
that was his third kick in the ass, all within twenty four hours. Heading in
the house, he went up the stairs and into the kitchen. Seeing his sister
Linnie, he tried smiling. “Hey, what are you doing up?”

Stopping
what she was doing and staring at him, taking him all in, she raised an
eyebrow. “Maybe, I should be asking you that. Slow in the ER, just got home
from work. Who is it this time?”

“No
one, it’s over.” Looking down to where she was staring, he saw that his shirt
was on inside out. Great. He headed for the fridge. “How’s the baby?”

“Kicking,”
she said, rubbing her pregnant belly. “Kris, hate to break it to you, but
you’re a mess. You need to let this thing with Vanessa go. It was years ago.
There are a lot of good women out there, but you’re getting to an age where
you’re going to have to go a lot younger to find one that isn’t divorced with
children, and we all know how you feel about kids.”

Laughing
as he slapped a thick slice of ham on a bun, he answered her, “Kids are okay,
as long as they’re not mine. Besides, it’s not a problem. I’m not going to get
married, and don’t want kids, I’m going to be a bachelor forever. I’ll simply
spoil my nieces and nephews,” he said with a mischievous grin and a wiggle of
his eyebrows. “You better watch out, I’m buying them the noisiest toys I can
find, then sending them all to your house. And what do you mean about my age?
You make it sound like I have one foot in the grave, I’m twenty-eight not
eighty-two. Besides, even if I was interested, which I’m not, there are only
two good women in this world, you and Jules, and that’s a no go. So, there’s no
hope for me,” he said with a shrug. “What’s going on in the barn?”

“Famous
last words, you’re impossible. You just wait, keep talking like that and I
promise you, you’ll be eating those words,” Linnie answered with a shake of the
head. “One of the heifer’s been laboring for a while and is having trouble.
Jake and Dad have been out there all night. Nik’s sleeping. You better catch
some winks yourself, because the two of you will need to pull double duty
tomorrow, and with this storm, who knows what kind of clean up there’ll be. Oh,
and Jules left a note on the fridge for you, something about new neighbors at
the Luck-E ranch looking for hay.”

Gulping
down a glass of milk and finishing his bun, Kris grabbed the note and glanced
at it. “Heading to bed now. Get to bed yourself, and give the little one a
rest.”

She
grunted. “Yeah, right. It’s the other way around, the little one needs to give
me a rest. Good night.”

Grinning
as he left the room, he took the stairs two at a time. In his room and crawling
into bed, Kris thought about what Linnie had said. He’d let it go, sure had, a
long time ago. Even had the satisfaction of laughing in Vanessa’s face when she
came back several years later, unmarried with a child in tow, “missing him.”
Hah, yeah right! So not into that scene, he thought as lightening flashed
outside followed by a loud thunderous boom overhead.

A
woman would mean rearranging his life. Did that once, not doing it again, he
thought. Besides, he liked to come and go as he wanted, sleep with whoever he
wanted. Go hunting and fishing when he wanted, and then drinking with the guys
if he wanted. He’d play cards, watch football, and spend money if he wanted,
all without having to get permission from the little woman.

Not
to mention he hated chick stuff, the romantic dinners, the “aren’t I special”
dance nights, the “you never buy me flowers” crusade, and then the sappy, make
you want to poke your eyes out with a rusty fork, movies…hell no. No thanks,
forget it, he’d take a rain-check and never redeem it.

So
yeah, he was destined to be a bachelor, because he was sure there was not a
woman on the face of the planet that would go for even half of that and then
some. Yep, he was one of the smart ones who stayed single and was a hell of a
lot happier for it. Mmhmm, right, Nik’s voice went through his head.

“…you can be a
crabby, bossy, arrogant son of a bitch…”

Irritated,
he rolled over and punched his pillow a few times, refusing to think about it.

*****

Kris
woke with a start. What the hell?

“Get
out…”

Whoa,
that was the second time in a matter of hours that he’d heard those words,
except he was at home and in his own bed. “Hmmm?”

“Get
up!” Linnie demanded, as she shook his shoulder. “Get out there.”

Huh?
Rubbing his face, he tried again, “What’s going on?”

“Big
storm came through, fence is down in one of the pastures, and about a hundred
cows are spread from here to the Gandy Dancer. It’s just getting light out.
Jake’s trying to get them with the four wheeler, but they keep moving farther
away and closer to the highway.”

Sitting
up, he shook his head, trying to get rid of the fog. “Okay, I’m coming, how
about Nik?”

“Getting
dressed. Dad’s out there too.”

Pulling
on the clothes he’d had on the night before, he ditched the shirt because it
had the nauseating smell of cloying female perfume on it. Ick. Why couldn’t
they just be happy with plain old soap and water? Stumbling down the stairs, he
stopped and slipped on his boots, then went outside. Standing in the yard
talking were his dad and brothers.

“They
just keep moving west,” he heard Jake say as he came to stand with the group.

His
dad nodded. “I’ll take the truck and go south and around on 260
^th
,
then come at them from the west, see if I can get them to move back towards the
farm. You three keep them moving to the downed fence area and we’ll work on
getting them back in. We need—”

Far
off in the distance there was some shouting and a cracking sound. Standing on
the hill of their farm in the dim morning light, they all turned to look out at
the distance below. Cows were scattered from hither and yon in little batches.
There was more yelling, some shrill whistles, then more cracking sounds,
followed by barking from a dog. Becoming restless, the cows started to move,
gathering together and turning towards the farm. Slowly, they began to make
their way closer. Then more cracking sounds, more barking, more whistles.

Nik
about summed it up when he said, “What the hell?”

Just
then, the sun broke the horizon, and Kris saw what he would look back on as one
of the most spectacular sights he’d ever seen. A woman on a golden horse,
cracking a whip, as she and her dog rounded up the heifers. Fascinated, he
watched her weave back and forth, cracking that whip and whistling commands to
her dog, the two effectively gathering the herd and bringing them in.

Now
it was his dad who about summed it up when he said, “Well I’ll be damned, look
at that.”

Yeah,
he was, and she was amazing. Were those chaps and spurs? And a…a…lasso? Whoa,
more of the whip action. His eyes slowly went wide, not wanting to miss a thing
as he watched her handle the horse with reins in one hand and the whip in the
other, the length dragging along the ground.

Oh
man, up went her arm, then a little wrist arm action—CRACK! The noise sliced
through the air with an electrifying snap. The thoughts in his head—CRACK—this
was—CRACK—downright sinful—CRACK! Standing in awe and feeling like he’d just
received some life giving shocks to the heart, he wondered if she knew how much
power she had over man and beast right at that moment. Feeling himself
drooling, he quickly lapped it up before he made a mess of himself.

Nik
let out a little whistle, clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly,
then made a point of cracking his knuckles. “Bet you wish you were a single man
right now, huh Jake?”

“Nope,”
Jake answered, shaking his head while staring at the spectacle. “Happy man
right here, but that whip does make for an interesting proposition, for sure.”

“Hands
off,” Kris barked with emphasis, as he stood watching the vision of her. “She’s
mine.”

“Maybe,”
Nik said amused, clearly trying to push some buttons.

Turning,
he looked Nik in the eye. “I will take you down and beat you senseless.”
Turning back and watching her, he said it again, “She’s mine.”

His
dad shook his head. “Well, quit being a Neanderthal then and go open the gate
for her.”

They
all started moving to the gate.

Nearing
them, she waved and smiled, yelling a hearty, “Morning neighbor!”

She
had a nice smile, Kris thought, and the rest of her wasn’t bad either. Moving
her horse back and forth, getting even closer as the last of the cows went
through the gate—CRACK—went the whip as one of the heifers tried to go back the
way they’d come. He and his brothers just stopped in their tracks and stared.
Kris heard his dad chuckle, and saw him shake his head again out of the corner
of his eye. He knew he should move, but simply couldn’t because he was frozen.
His brothers must’ve been too, because his dad stepped up and closed the gate
as the last of the cows went through.

Whistling
for her dog, she wrapped up her whip with a few snaps of the wrist and stuck it
in a hold by her side, her saddle creaking with the movement. Coming closer,
she stopped. “What a fantastic welcome to the neighborhood! I thought my days
of being a Cracker were over. That was great. Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

“Sure
is,” his dad spoke up. “I’m Karl Albrecht.” Then pointing with a smirk, he
said, “And these here statues are my sons, Jake, Nik, and Kris. And you are?”

She
chuckled as she smiled, and Kris decided he found that sound about as
intriguing as the whip’s.

“Nice
to meet you all,” she drawled, with a nod of her head. “I imagine you don’t see
many cattle roundups around here, at least not by horse from what I’ve seen.
I’m Danielle Reed, you can call me Dani, and this here is my horse Topaz,” she
said, leaning and giving the horse a pat, “and my dog Coco.”

Kris
swore if a dog could smile, this one was. He, or she, was happy as can be,
sitting pertly next to Topaz, tail thumping, tongue lolling.

Stepping
closer, his dad put his hand up. Hopping off her horse, she removed her leather
work gloves and took his hand, shaking it. Well it was official, those were
chaps, and she was definitely wearing spurs. They made an interesting jingling
sound when she jumped down. That ought to be a crime, Kris thought to himself,
figuring he’d never get another wink of sleep for the visions that were sure to
be dancing through his head all night long.

“Where
you hail from?” his dad asked politely.

“Wyoming,
just south of the Montana border near Sheridan.”

His
dad nodded. “What’s your business?”

Her
tongue grazed the seam of her lips and she smiled a succulent smile. Answering
with a gleam in her eye, she said, “Horses.”

“Seems
like it would be horses and cattle, the way you moved this bunch,” Nik
interjected with a flirty grin.

Kris
was going to kick his ass.

Widening
her stance and putting her hands in her back pockets, she looked Nik straight
in the eye, hers having lost their glimmer. She was having none of him. Oh boy,
Kris swallowed hard. She wasn’t like other women, nope, not at all. He could
tell in that instant, her mannerisms were more like a guy’s, and although she
wasn’t overweight by any means, she wasn’t dainty, or wispy, or thank God
giggly from the attention of a male. She was taller, bigger boned, solid, curvy
in all the right places, and flat out serious.

“Yeah,
I’ve moved some cattle in my time,” she responded unimpressed.

It
was clear from the vinegar in her tone, she didn’t find Nik’s comment
complimentary.

Jake
started laughing and her eyes zeroed in on him. “In your time? You’re not that
old.”

Looking
down to the ground, she put a hand to the brim of her cowboy hat and pushed it
back some, then looked solidly at Jake. Kris swallowed again, deciding she had
the most interesting eyes, a piercing stormy blue-gray, silver almost.

“Well,
let’s just get straight to it, why don’t we? I know how this works, from a
small town myself. I’m twenty four. Was on a horse before I even knew how to
walk, been dealing with horses and cattle ever since. Lived on a ranch, raised
and taught most of what I know by ranch hands and professionals. I’m known
throughout Wyoming for my horsemanship. I’m single, never been married, and
have no plans to be. Ever,” she spat. “I’m here, staying at the Luck-E as a
favor, and my job and talent is in training horses. Which by the way, I’m missing
one, had some fence down myself. Wonder if we can look around, see if it made
its way over here.”