Rachel spent the next few days exploring the ranch in the morning—camera in hand—and the afternoon happily working at her new desk. She processed the pictures for Alyssa and Beau then emailed them the files, so they could see them on a full screen or even take them to the flat screen TV for extra-large viewing. Then she spent the rest of her time playing with the pictures she’d been taking in her morning adventures. She wanted to send some of them off to be printed and shipped to the art gallery in her home town of Chedwick, Washington. They were always happy to have new inventory to sell.

The only thing she wished for, was her desktop machine and dual monitors. It had more horse power than her laptop. Even though her laptop was high end, it had a small screen. What she wouldn’t give for her extra monitors. And maybe her printer, she liked to print some images, so she could play around with them and see the differences in a printed copy. Not that her printer would do the photos justice or be sale ready, but for her purposes it was great.

Alyssa came bounding into her room one day. “It’s done and emailed to the school. Yay, I feel like I’ve been let out of jail. You would not believe how long and detailed of a report they wanted. I thought I would never get it done.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “It was a report for a whole semester’s work. I would hope it was detailed. Did Beau get his sent in, too?”

“Yes, two days ago. His wasn’t quite as long as mine. But he let me read it and it was glowing. You would think I walked on water. I did work hard while I was here, so he said it was deserved. But I rewarded him very well, anyway.” She grinned naughtily.

Rachel chuckled. “Well of course you did, and I imagine he rewarded you right back.”

Alyssa sighed dreamily. “Yes, he did. But I’m not going to kiss and tell.”

Rachel huffed. “Since when? Where is the fun in that?”

“Since, I’m marrying the man and you are here in the house with us both. It seems a little awkward to say too much.”

“That’s probably true. I might have to critique him or stand in awe.”

Alyssa gave her a very naughty look. “Stand in awe for sure. And you might get jealous.”

Rachel barked out a laugh. “Good to know you are a very satisfied woman.”

“I am indeed. Now let’s get out of here for a while. I feel like I’ve been cooped up for days and days.”

“Sounds good, what do you want to do? Take the horses out? Go into town and buy candy? You need to show me this candy buffet you keep talking about. But then we’d have to take everyone’s order and that might take all night.”

Alyssa nodded. “True enough. Let’s take the horses out, and we can go into town tomorrow. You should see it, it’s such a cute little town. Should we invite Emma and Tony and make it an event?”

“Yes, that would be fun, and Emma can collect the candy orders again.”

“I like the way you think.”

“That’s why we’ve been friends since kindergarten,” Rachel said wisely and then grinned. Alyssa grinned right back at her.

* * *

Adam finished up the accounting books for the week and decided he had time to take his horse out for a run. Being the business manager for the ranch took so much time, it seemed like he was always indoors. But he had everything caught up, finally.

He got a text from his sister.

Emma: Girl’s day in town tomorrow escorted by Tony. Taking candy orders.

Adam laughed. She’d be getting a flurry of texts while everyone ordered. They all knew to text her directly, so everyone wouldn’t be bombarded with candy text messages. He sent her his request and walked out to the barn to get his horse.

He stopped short when he heard women’s voices in the barn. It sounded like Alyssa and Rachel. Was it too late to beat a hasty retreat? Yes, apparently it was. Rachel walked out of the stall leading the same chestnut mare she’d ridden the other day, with Alyssa right behind her. He tipped his hat to them as they walked by on their way out to the pasture. “Afternoon, ladies.”

Alyssa chirped, “Hi Adam. I finally got my paper done so we’re taking the horses out.”

Adam nodded. “I finally got the books up to date, so I’m doing the same thing.”

“You’re welcome to join us,” Alyssa said.

It was a nice offer, but he just wanted to take a ride, not chat, not play tour guide. Just get on his horse and ride. Would they be offended if he said no, or relieved?

Rachel rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t strain anything Adam. It was a simple question. From your soon to be sister-in-law who comes from a family of six siblings and she’s a middle, so she’s always wanting to make everyone feel welcome. I, on the other hand, am a single child. So, I don’t have that inclination, and I don’t give a rat’s ass whether you come or not.”

Adam raised an eyebrow at her and decided to lie to her face, she needed to learn some manners, the sassy little miss. “I was just debating if Alyssa was simply being nice, or if you both wanted me to come along. I guess your comment seals it. Have a nice ride, ladies.”

He saw Alyssa glare at Rachel, who sighed. “No, please do come along, apparently Alyssa would like you to join us and it’s okay with me.”

Well damn, now he was stuck, that’d teach him for lying. “How could I pass up such a gracious invitation?”

He went into the barn, saddled his horse, and led him to where the girls were patiently waiting. Lucky him.

They started out across the pasture and gave the horses their heads, at least enough that they could get some exercise, and not scare the cattle. They were at a nice steady canter, when suddenly Alyssa dropped back. He looked back to see what was going on and saw her turn toward the left, heading for some cattle. He slowed to follow and noticed Rachel was doing the same.

He saw Alyssa leap off her horse with the medical saddle bag in her hand. When he and Rachel got in close she called out to them. “Adam, call Beau to bring the truck. Rachel, I need you to give me a hand.”

Adam didn’t question her, he called his brother and gave him the coordinates of where they were. He didn’t know what was wrong just that Alyssa said to get him there with the truck. He gathered up the reins for the three horses and tied them to a tree. Then he hurried over to see what the problem was. One of the one-year-olds was bleeding heavily. Alyssa had already washed out the wound and started stitching, by the time he got there. The bleeding had stopped. Rachel was helping to hold the wound closed so Alyssa could close up the cut. Beau arrived with the truck just as she finished stitching.

Alyssa said, “We need to get him back to the barn. He lost a lot of blood.”

Beau nodded and the four of them got the animal into the truck.

Alyssa climbed in the back. She looked back at him and nodded toward Rachel. “She’s squeamish around blood, take care of her.”

He looked over at Rachel, and sure enough, her face was white as a sheet, and she was staring at her hands.

“Got it,” he said, as the truck pulled away.

He went over to Rachel and drew her over toward the horses where he knew there was some water. She walked woodenly beside him, he just hoped she wouldn’t pass out. He grabbed the canteen and then pushed her down on some grass. He poured water over her hands and used his handkerchief to wipe the blood and water off her. When he had all the blood removed, he tried to get her to talk to him, but she just kept staring at her now clean hands.

“Rachel, snap out of it.” She didn’t respond, and he didn’t know what to do. He had to get her attention. He took her hands and they were like ice, so he rubbed them to get the circulation flowing again. She shivered so he dragged his jacket off and put it around her shoulders. He took her chin in his hand and pulled it up, so she was looking at him instead of her hands. Her eyes were blank.

“Rachel, come on, you need to come back. There’s no more blood. Come on, sweetheart. Look at me.”

That seemed to get her attention. Her eyes started to focus. “I’m cold.”

He wrapped his arms around her to share his body heat. She fit very nicely in his arms, but he didn’t want to think about that, or why he’d called her sweetheart. He could always tell himself it was to surprise her out of being in shock.

He started talking, just to give her something else to focus on and think about. She’d mentioned she wanted to explore the area, so he started talking about all the things he could think of that she might want to photograph. Gradually he could feel her warming up and focusing more on what he was saying. When she finally asked him a question, he knew she was back in control. So, he drew back from her enough that he could look at her face, and was thankful to see her skin had color and her eyes showed him she was interested in what he was saying.

He was so relieved she was recovering he wanted to kiss her. Not because he really wanted to kiss her, of course, but because he was so happy that she was fine. He looked at her mouth and saw her catch her breath. Oh no, this was not a good idea.

He pulled back further. “So, are you ready to take the horses back to the barn and see how that steer is doing?”

She blanched at his question. What a stupid thing for him to say, to remind her of the blood. What a dumbass he was sometimes. But instead of freaking out she nodded and started to stand. Her legs seemed a little shaky, so he held onto her arms to steady her.

“I’m fine. I just don’t like blood.” Her tone dropped as she said, “At least I didn’t pass out this time.”

“You did great. You held it together when you were needed. That’s what matters the most.”

She laughed a little bitterly. “I guess.”

“No seriously. It’s a very valuable ability to put your personal reactions aside to help during a crisis.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “Why are you being so nice? It makes me nervous.”

He laughed and knew if she could mouth off that she was fine. Ignoring the question, he shook his head. “Let’s get these horses back to the barn.”

She went over to her horse to get on and apparently had just noticed his jacket over her shoulders. Rachel shrugged out of the garment and brought it over to him, she handed it to him then reached up and gave him a small peck on the lips. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

As she walked back to her horse he tried to figure out what had just happened. That two-second touch of her lips had sent fire through his veins. It was the strangest thing he’d ever felt, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. In fact, he was sure he didn’t like it. He shook himself and untied the horses, secured Alyssa’s horse to his saddle and swung on to his own. During the entire ride back to the house he told himself he did not like that kiss. Not one little bit. He still had not convinced himself, by the time they rode into the yard.

* * *

Rachel couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to kiss Adam, even that little peck. She didn’t like him. Most of the time he was a jerk. Yeah, he’d been nice to her. He’d washed the blood off her hands, and given her his jacket, and held her until she warmed up, and talked her out of it. But did she really have to go and kiss the man? He’d not said one word about it either. Did he think she was crazy? That she was coming on to him? Or that she was grateful? Which is what it had been, gratefulness, that’s all, nothing more than that. And there had been no tingles at the mere touch of lips, no tingles whatsoever, just a remaining shiver from the blood touching shock. Yep, that’s all it had been, not tingles. Not. Tingles.

She was not looking forward to grooming the horses next to the man. How could she even look him in the eye? What a mess she had created from her impulsive gratitude.

When they got to the yard he didn’t quite look at her, but said over his shoulder. “You go on in the house and lay down, I’ll take care of the horses.”

“Oh, but…”

“No really, you’ve had a shock and shouldn’t stress your body out anymore today. Go get something sweet to drink to bring up your blood sugar, and either lay down or sit, to let your body regulate. If I need help with the horses I’ll get one the hired hands to help, or one of my worthless brothers.”

This was a convenient way out of having to talk to him about the kiss and she was no fool. She was going to take it. “You’re probably right. Thanks for everything.”

“Thanks back, for helping Alyssa with the steer.” That time he did look at her, probably to make sure he hadn’t sent her over the edge again. She just waved her hand like, no big deal, slid off her horse, and wrapped her reins around the hitching rail next to the barn.

Beau and Alyssa were in the kitchen getting large glasses of soda, probably for the very same reason Adam had told her to, only theirs was adrenaline not shock.

Rachel thoroughly washed her hands before Alyssa could hand her the glass. Once they were clean Alyssa shoved the drink into Rachel’s hand and pushed her into a chair. “Are you all right?” Alyssa asked, looking intently into her eyes.

She took a big gulp of the sugary soda. “Yes mom, Adam talked me down. And then made me come in for a sweet drink and to relax. He’s taking care of the horses.”

Beau handed Alyssa a new glass of soda. “Good. I was worried.”

“I didn’t pass out or anything and Adam was nice to me.” She nodded at Alyssa’s glass. “Now have some of yours before your blood sugar bottoms out.”

Alyssa laughed, flopped into a chair and took a large gulp. Beau set some cheese and crackers on the table, along with a large bowl of salsa, tortilla chips, and grapes. Then sat beside Alyssa and took her hand.

Rachel happily took some food and put it on the plate he had provided. She was feeling hungry. “So, what happened to that steer?”

Beau shook his head. “We don’t know. It wasn’t cat scratches. It might have been barbed wire, but the cut was too deep. The barbs on barbed wire are less than an inch long. From what Alyssa said it was deeper than that. I’ve sent some ranch hands, and Chase and Cade out to comb that area to see if they can find anything that might have caused it. We don’t want more injured animals. Thanks for your help out there, Rachel. You did a good job and Alyssa says you’re not a big fan of blood.”

Rachel shook her head as she chewed on the cheese and cracker she’d just put in her mouth. Goodness, she was starving.

Beau said, “Well we appreciate your help. Another pair of hands in a situation like that can make a huge difference.”

“You’re welcome,” Rachel replied.

Everyone was quiet as they ate the food on the table. Beau got up and refilled all the glasses and made a fourth one just as Adam walked into the room. After he’d washed his hands he drank down at least a quarter of the drink, before he asked the same questions Rachel had. Beau repeated the same answers while Adam shoveled in what food was left.

By the time Beau was finished speaking Adam was frowning. “I can’t think of anything that would cause something like that cut. At least not anything natural.”

Beau nodded. “I agree, let’s hope someone finds something.”

“Did you send out Thomas?” Adam asked.

Beau rolled his eyes. “Do I look stupid? Of course, I did. If anyone can track the blood to the cause, it will be him.”

Adam nodded as he stuffed more food in his mouth.

Rachel looked at Beau for an explanation.

Alyssa said. “Thomas had a grandfather that taught him all about tracking. If something leaves a trail he can follow it. That steer probably left enough blood anyone would be able to track it, but with Thomas it will be certain.”

“Good to know, and handy to have on board,” Rachel said.

Beau nodded. “More than you could guess.”

Rachel could feel her eyelids drooping and her body felt heavy. “I think I’ll go to my room and rest for a bit.” She thought her speech sounded a little slurred, but her brain felt fuzzy, so she couldn’t tell for sure.

Alyssa got up. “I’m going, too.”

Alyssa took hold of Rachel and dragged her to her room. “I’m okay, Alyssa.”

“You will be after a short nap.”

She nodded. “I am tired.”

Alyssa smiled as she helped her out of her jeans and shirt, leaving Rachel in just her underwear. “Just a side effect from the shock. Nothing to worry about. I’ll come wake you in an hour.”

Rachel flopped down on the bed and Alyssa covered her with the blankets. She was asleep before she could hear Alyssa shut the door.