Chapter Four
Jack was already at the stables with Branch Masters and the horses when Lucy arrived. The tall horse, a big red one, stood still while Jack placed a saddle and bridle on him. A smaller horse, black with white hindquarters and black dots, stood already saddled and ready for Lucy to ride.
“Hello, Miss Lucy,” Mr. Masters greeted her. “Jack tells me this is your first trail ride.”
“Yes, sir. I’ve never been on a horse.”
Lucy approached but also hung back a little. The horses looked so large and powerful, she was unsure.
“Let me introduce you, then. The sorrel is Cayenne. Now he might look big and intimidating, but he’s well trained and good-natured. Why, he could carry you along the trail without you doing a thing, if need be. Jack will be riding him and you’ll be on the mare.”
“Oh good.” Lucy was more than a little relieved to hear that.
“Your mount, Freckled Fanny, is a sweet mare and gentle as the day is long. We just call her Fanny. Come on over here and meet her.”
“She’s so pretty with all her spots,” Lucy gushed.
“She’s an appaloosa. They’re the ones with the white blankets with black or brown spots.”
“Hello, Fanny.” Lucy placed her hand on the mare’s nose and petted her as the mare looked at her with gentle eyes. “You’re very pretty with your freckles.” She stood rubbing and petting the mare and getting to know her while Mr. Masters continued to talk.
“These horses are used to city folk coming out to ride, so don’t you worry. And you’re in good hands with Jack, who’s an experienced rider.”
“My goodness, they are tall.”
“And you are short.” Jack winked.
“Compared to you. How tall are you?”
“Six foot.”
That was tall to Lucy, who was five foot four inches. She looked at the mare. “I don’t know how I’ll get up on her.”
“We have this mounting block,” Mr. Masters said and pointed to it.
Lucy saw the wooden box then, with the two steps, which stood on the left side of the horse.
“I’d have given you a lesson,” Jack said. “Taught you how to bridle and saddle your mare first, but I want to have you back before dark.”
“Afraid I’ll turn into a pumpkin?” She smiled up at him. “Or that werewolves and vampires are out?”
“It’s safer to be back before dark.” Jack remained serious. “Because I’ve been on this trail already while you’ve never even been on a horse. And everything is more dangerous in the dark.”
Her smile dropped. “Will I be in the way of your work?” she asked quietly, worried.
“No, not at all.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have invited you if I thought there’d be a problem.” He held up a bag. “I had the cook fix us a picnic dinner. We’ll find a good spot, eat, and then ride back. Just an easy ride for your first time.” He stowed the bag on the horse’s saddle.
“That sounds like fun. Thank you, Jack.”
He gave her a warm smile. “You’re welcome, Lucy. Are you ready to ride?”
Jack’s question and the smile he gave her were impossible to turn down. “Oh yes.” She smiled back at him.
“Then let’s get you up on that horse.”
“Okay. What do I do?”
“Step over here, on her left, and take the reins in your right hand. Now, don’t pull them too hard or she’ll back up on you. Step up on the mounting block, grab the saddle horn with your left hand, and put your left foot in the stirrup. Then swing your right leg over.”
She followed Jack’s directions, and then she was up on the horse looking down on him, wondering what to do next.
“You good?”
She nodded.
He mounted his horse and moved over next to her. “These horses know the trails so well, they could find their way back here in a storm. So don’t worry about the trail. Just enjoy the ride.”
“How am I going to get back on after our picnic? Will there be a mounting block at the picnic place?”
“No, but you have me to help you.”
“All right. Lead on, then.”
“I’ll be riding beside you the first little way until I know you’re comfortable.”
“Thank you.”
The horses moved with a slow and steady gait. So slow, Lucy might have dozed in the saddle if not for her nervousness. All the newness of horseback riding, along with a first date with Jack, had her in a state of excitement.
Moving along the trail through the tall pine trees, she noticed everything at a different level than if they’d been walking. She was up higher now and sunlight came between the tree limbs. Birds sang as they passed and headed up the trail toward the mountain.
They reached a place that seemed perfect for a picnic. There was a stretch of grass in between several trees and a large rock to sit and eat on. They stopped their horses, and then Jack reached up to help her down.
His warm hands went around her waist as he lifted her to help her down, and then she was on the ground, face to face with him, her eyes wide with the nearness of him and the way he’d just touched her.
“Hungry?” His eyes searched hers as he spoke.
“Oh yes. Very.”
“Good.” He took the horses reins and turned away to find a tree to tie them to. “Don’t want them deciding to head back without us.”
“Do you think they’d do that?”
“If spooked and if they ran, yes.”
“Oh,” she said as he gathered the bag of food.
They both sat on the rock and he opened the bag. ”Let’s see what she fixed for us.” He pulled out two roast beef sandwiches on hard rolls, cheese cubes, carrot sticks and celery sticks, two apples, and two oatmeal cookies. “Looks good.”
“Yes, it does,” Lucy agreed. She picked up a sandwich. “I’m surprised she used rolls instead of bread.”
“Can you imagine how that soft bread would have held up with all the bouncing? Notice that nothing got smashed from the ride.”
“I do feel quite… bounced.”
He laughed, and she laughed with him.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said with a sigh.
“Yes it is.”
“Have you been riding a long time? I know you said you’re from Houston, Texas. But that’s a big city. Did you grow up around horses?”
“Yep. We lived on the outskirts of Houston, not inside the city. Had my first pony when I was five.”
“Oh wow. You were hardly even in school yet.”
“Cherokee was his name. I rode him bareback, rode him so much, I used to sleep on him.”
“Wow. So you’re a Marine and a cowboy.”
He grinned. “Yes ma’am.”
“I thought you seemed to fit here. Kind of like you belonged. Do you have horses?”
“No. I do good to keep a house. Away on deployments for so many years didn’t leave room for horses or a dog or any other kind of animal back home.”
“Have you thought about it since you got out?”
He looked through the trees and down the hill, through to the field where two horses were grazing. “I could settle here in Montana.”
“It really is beautiful. And it’s so peaceful here.”
“You needed to get away.”
“Yes, I did.”
Both of them knew how much Lucy needed a bit of peacefulness and a break from Angelica.
They ate, drank water from the canteen, and enjoyed each other’s company and the quiet surroundings.
“We’ll have to head back soon. So you don’t turn into a pumpkin.” He winked at her.
She laughed. “Yes, we wouldn’t want that. Unless you like pumpkin.”
“I like the taste of pumpkin, and I’m sure you would be delicious.”
She blushed, realizing he was talking about more than food. “Well, I hope I am.”
He leaned forward and kissed her lips, a soft, sweet brush of the lips as she closed her eyes, and then he sat back.
She opened her eyes and gazed into his.
“Sweet,” he said. “Very tasty.”
Smiling from ear to ear, inside she was full of joy and wanted to jump up and down shouting, “He kissed me! He kissed me!” Instead, she just smiled that happy smile and let the joy flow through her.
He got up and held out his hand. “Ready to head back?”
“Yes.” She placed her hand in his, ready to go, though she wished they didn’t have to. It would be nice to stay out under the stars, watching the night sky with him. But maybe they could do that another time.
He packed away the food wrappings so they’d carry out everything they’d carried in, and then he untied the horse’s reins.
She came over to him, wondering how she’d ever get up on the mare again without the wooden steps to help her.
“Put your left leg in the stirrup,” he said. “And I’ll help you up.”
She eyed the stirrup, which seemed way too high, and tried to get her foot into it. It didn’t quite reach. She put her hand on the saddle horn, ready to try again, and he said, “On the count of three.”
She nodded once.
“One, two, three.”
Next thing she knew, his hands were on her waist, lifting her up, but she leaned too far one way and one of his hands ended up on her ass as he caught her. Then suddenly, she was raised up again and she threw her leg over this time and was on the horse.
Red faced that his hand had been on her ass, when her mare snorted, she reached to hold on to her mane and still her racing heart. Well, Fanny, she wanted to say. He’s just had his hand on my fanny. A giggle she couldn’t hold back bubbled up.
He could do that again any time. She liked the feel of his hand.
The thought made her blush even more.
“You all settled?”
She nodded, thinking she’d never been less settled. Between his kiss and his hand so near her most private places, she was about as far from settled as she could be. She watched his hands as he worked with his horse, and wished they were touching her instead.
Then they were riding back along the trail and instead of the scenery, which she’d seen on the way there, her mind was on nothing but Jack.
She really hoped he would kiss her again.
When they reached the stables, Swede was waiting for Jack. They’d just ridden in when he said, “There’s been another note. It was tied to the front gate with a balloon that said congratulations on your engagement. Montana has called in a G2 he knows.”
Jack swung down off his horse.
“What’s a G2?” Lucy asked.
“Secret opps,” Jack said. “You’ll never meet him or see him.”
“Oh, like a CIA guy.”
“CIA doesn’t operate on U.S. soil. This isn’t a guy you want to ask a lot of questions about, Lucy.”
“Okay. I understand.”
“Sorry to ruin your date, Gunny.”
“That’s the job,” Jack said. “We were headed back anyway.”
“I’ll head to the house, give you a few minutes alone.”
“Thanks.”
They watched him turn to go and then Jack came over to help her down from the horse again.
“Can we do it like we did the last time?” She giggled, surprised at her own boldness. “I kind of liked that.”
“You did?” His strong, warm hands settled around her waist.
“Oh yes.” She gazed deep into his eyes, showing him what she was feeling. “I did.”
He lifted her up, and then she was over and off the horse and up against Jack’s body, this time sliding slowly down as his hands held her close. When she reached the ground, his hand slid down to her ass, cupping it and pulling her closer, and then his lips bent down to meet hers beneath the setting sun.
Pressed against him, she felt his desire for her and he felt her response as they kissed, their tongues entwining.
When they came up for air, he said, “You’re delightfully responsive and quite delicious.”
“I am?” Surprise filled her face.
“Oh yes.” He nodded. “Most definitely.”
“You’re delicious too.”
He gave her a deep smile.
One of the horses nickered and he glanced at it and then around the area, his eyes searching in the dusk, surveiling the area. Without looking at her again, he said, “The next time I kiss you, it won’t be out in the open. The next time I kiss you will be slow and uninterrupted.”
“Oh good,” she said.
Branch Masters stepped out of the barn and said, “Did you enjoy your first ride?”
“Oh yes. Very much,” she said, smiling from ear to ear.
“Good.” He smiled at her and winked, making her wonder of he’d seen them kiss.
“I need to head to the meeting,” Jack said. “We’ll take the jeep back to the house.”
“Okay. Thank you for my first horseback ride. It was wonderful.”
“You’re welcome.”
****
“Monroe, I am out in the middle of God-forsaken nowhere and there is nothing to do,” Angelica bitched into the phone.
Lucy wanted to shake her head.
Nothing to do, in Angelica’s mind, meant nothing Angelica wanted to do. They’d only been there three days, and keeping the actress busy and not bored was a challenge. The first day, she’d had a manicure and pedicure, the second day, Swede had taken her on a tour of the ranch and today, day three, she’d had a new script to read. Angelica hadn’t managed to seduce Jack, and Montana had a wife and child so he wasn’t interested. She must have struck out with Swede, too. Maybe he was married. Lucy wasn’t sure.
No, it wasn’t that there was nothing to do; it was that Angelica needed an audience.
Whatever Monroe said to her only agitated Angelica more as Lucy watched from behind the bar where she was fixing Angelica yet another rum and cola.
Since Angelica thrived on attention and being seen at the latest clubs and parties, she was miserable. Eagle Rock was as different from L.A. as a town could be.
The closest grocery store was thirty miles away, and if you ran out of milk or bread, there was only one place to get it. The convenience store in Eagle Rock was it, and it sold such basics along with dusty cans of soup and beans. Lucy had ridden into town to find more chocolate peanut butter cups and wondered how old the supplies were there. It was clear she’d have to order the chocolates in at the rate Angelica had been going through them.
Not that Angelica would have known any of this about the local stores, as she never bought her own groceries anyway. She was the kind of person who got everyone else to do things for her and she had that down to an art.
“I’m going out. I am not going to be cooped up in this log cabin one day more.” She hung up the phone and flung it onto the couch.
Fortunately, it didn’t drop off and break the screen the way it had the last time. Lucy waited for her to bellow out her name, but it never came. Instead, Angelica flipped her hair and marched out the back door and past the pool, heading toward the garage.
“One day more? We haven’t even been here a week. So she’s going to drive herself,” Lucy mused. “Well, so much for that drink.” Lucy set Angelica’s freshly made drink on the counter and reached for her latest and newest diaper bag, as she’d come to think of the large bags she always had to carry when Angelica went out.
Jack, who’d just had a shower, came into the room with wet hair and a freshly shaved chin, ready to start his shift. Looking more charming and less rough and dangerous, he walked into the room as if he owned it. “Who’s going to drive herself?” he asked. Realizing even as he spoke that Angelica wasn’t in the room, his smile turned into a serious frown. “Where is she? She was dozing on the couch ten minutes ago.”
Lucy continued checking the contents of the bag, seeing the three most important things were there, she then pulled her phone and charger away from where it had been charging on the counter and tossed them into the bag. “That was fifteen minutes ago, before her manager and agent called. Now she’s headed for the garage.”
“Damn.” Jack’s hands went through a quick pat down of his weapons, starting at his hip. Hip, ankle, automatic movements as natural to him as breathing, and then he spun and was out the door faster than Lucy could catch up to him.
Jack caught up with Angelica just as she collected the keys to a black SUV and headed toward it. Planting himself in front of her, he held out his hand for the keys. “You’re not supposed to go anywhere by yourself.”
“I’m not going to be cooped up in that log cabin one minute longer.” She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’m going to find some life around here somewhere if I have to drive over those mountains to find it.”
“Then tell me you want to go out next time and I’ll see you get there and back safely.” He got on the radio then and said, “Swede, need you and Montana, pronto.”
Lucy arrived in the garage out of breath with her cell phone in hand and a big, black shoulder bag with pink cowboy hats all over it. “Where are we going?”
“I am going dancing.” Angelica made the announcement and tossed her hair.
“There aren’t likely to be any clubs around here, but I can Google it and see how far one is.”
“You’re not going to find an L.A. style club here.” Jack shook his head. “All you’ll find are country bars and honky tonks.”
“Then take me to a honky tonk. I want to party.” Angelica slid into the back seat of the SUV and waited to be driven.
Jack closed her door and then went around to open the other door for Lucy.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said.
He gave her a look that made her stop protesting.
She climbed in and said a soft, “Thank you.”
Speaking into the radio, he said, “Spotlight is on the move.”
“What? Where?” Swede answered back.
“She’s on a wild tear. Heading to some club. Hell if I know. Just follow.”
“Roger that.” Swede, from the sound coming over the radio, was running to his car. Montana would join him and they’d follow, catching up to Jack in the lead car and they’d reach the club together.
Once Jack got in and started the car, silence reigned. Lucy sat googling places to go and frowning.
Angelica sat with a bored look on her face, staring out the window.
Jack drove while running scenarios through his head of all the possible things that could happen with a famous actress while in a country western bar or honky tonk. All three men would be on duty tonight. Jack was the freshest as he’d just had eight hours of sleep. Montana wasn’t so lucky. He’d just been getting ready for bed.
Hell, all she’d had to do was tell us she wanted to go out, not pull this childish bullshit. The woman was spoiled by everyone bending over for her every time she said bend. I’m not bending, and she sure as hell is not going to that club with only one bodyguard.
“Well?” Angelica turned to Lucy, impatient. “What have you got?”
“Some of them close earlier than you’re used to.” Lucy continued frowning as she searched the internet.
“Well, find something,” Angelica ordered. “A town with that many people has got to have something. I need a drink. And I want to dance.”
Without mentioning the perfectly good drink Lucy had just made for Angelica that was now left melting on the bar back at the house, Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out emergency supply number one and handed the Bacardi to Angelica. Then she went back to looking up places on her phone.
Angelica sat drinking and staring out the window, shaking her head. “Middle of f…ing nowhere.”
Lucy looked up, her face brightening. “Here’s one! The Zebra Cocktail Lounge. It’s even in a historic setting.”
“I don’t care about the history here,” Angelica snapped. “I just want to dance and party. Find that.”
“No, really, I think you’ll like this one. It says, ‘underground night club in the basement of the historic Bozeman hotel is your party playground destination.’”
“Well, that’s better.” Angelica’s mood brightened. “A party playground. Yes, let’s go there.”
Lucy gave the GPS coordinates to Jack, who’d remained silent so far until now, when he finally spoke.
“When we get there, we’ll check the place out before you enter. So no rushing ahead. Once I give you the okay, you follow me in.”
Seeing the expression on Angelica’s face at being told what to do, Lucy diverted her with a tube of Precarious Pink lipstick, the third of the big three, diverting her attention and preventing an argument between the two of them.
“Thank you, dear,” Angelica beamed at Lucy, completely ignoring Jack as she flipped up a mirror and looked into it to apply the lipstick.
Once Angelica started looking into a mirror and fussing with her makeup, she was oblivious to anything else.
Jack didn’t appear pleased, but he’d yet to be drawn into a heated argument with Angelica. Knowing how strong the two of them both were, Lucy really didn’t want to be anywhere near that if it happened.
****
The Zebra Cocktail Lounge may have been set in the basement of the historic Bozeman hotel, but the bright neon signs in the lounge and on the stage placed it right in modern day times.
Lucy hoped this was enough of a flashy party scene to make Angelica happy, as all she’d done since arriving in Montana was complain about how rustic it was. The band was playing country and western music and Lucy wasn’t sure how Angelica would feel about that. Dancing appeared to be line dancing at the moment, which was likely not what Angelica had had in mind. Currently, she seemed to be enjoying the buzz that was spreading as people in the bar noticed her.
They found a table, ordered drinks, and then Lucy left Angelica with Jack and headed for the ladies room.
She was on her way back to the table, making her way through the crowd, when suddenly, a blonde haired man stepped in front of Lucy and she froze.
Grant?
Her jaw dropped open in shock as she stared into his green eyes.
Oh my God. Why is he here?