Chapter Twenty-Eight

Travis

When we woke up the next morning, the storm had passed. The clouds were still dark in the sky but I was certain that we were over the worst. When I woke up, I was surprised that Harper wasn’t in bed next to me. For a brief moment I thought that perhaps I’d only just imagined that she’d slept over the night before. But the memory of the two of us making love was too vivid to be wrong. We’d had sex before going out to check on the animals and we’d done it again when we’d climbed into bed afterwards. We’d stayed up late with Allison and waited for Mike to come back, and by then it was so late that I was sure nothing more would happen between us. But we’d gotten into bed and immediately turned to each other. I think the two of us knew that it was all going to be over soon and we wanted to make the most with the time we had left together.

I got out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and waited for Harper to come back. When she didn’t, I made my way to the kitchen and saw Mike sitting there cradling a cup of coffee.

“Morning.”

“Hey, sleep okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. I was exhausted. I’m glad the storm has passed.”

“Yeah me too. It always sounds so still the night after a storm.”

“And I don’t need to ask you if you slept okay,” he said and grinned at me.

I shook my head, a little embarrassed by his words. He thankfully hadn’t teased me when Harper was around the night before. “I slept great,” I said and grinned back. There was no point denying it. “Speaking of which, do you know where Harper went? I woke up and she was gone.”

“Yeah, she went back to the ranch with Allison. They wanted to check on everything and talk with the guests. I said I’d join them as soon as you were up.”

“Ah, sorry if I took so long to wake up. I slept better than I have in a long time.”

“I’m sure,” he said with a knowing grin. “No rush at all. Grab some coffee and we’ll head out there to see what’s happening. I hope there’s not too much damage.”

I poured some coffee into a flask and the two us made our way back to the ranch. I wasn’t sure how much I liked the look of the clouds. If the storm had completely passed, they probably shouldn’t look quite so dark, but it was hard to tell if it was going to clear or not. When he climbed out of the truck, we walked around to survey some of the damage. There was definitely a lot more than I thought there would be. It hadn’t seemed so bad the night before but it had been too dark to really tell what was going on. Seeing it in the light of the day proved just how bad the storm had really been. I thought of the tool that had come flying toward Harper and shuddered. The thought of something happening to her frightened me more than I cared to admit.

We found all the guests huddled in the main room. Allison had organized coffee and breakfast rolls for everyone and they were all eating happily. Allison obviously knew that the one way to placate the guests was to make sure that they were always properly fed. She was the best person to have in a bad situation, that was for sure.

“How’s everyone doing?” I asked the group. I noticed that Jackson was back, and I wondered just how much the group knew about what he had done. I made a mental note to ask Harper if she’d heard any of them talking. Harper was sitting in the far corner and she shot me a smile as soon as she saw me. I was glad to see that things weren’t awkward between us now that we had shared a night together.

“It was scary,” Barry admitted.

I walked around one by one, asking how everyone was, and I could see that they were all a little bit shaken up by the storm. None of them had expected it, and none of them seemed to have experienced something quite like it before. It was something I was used to. The area was prone to bad storms, and I had grown up knowing that they could hit at any moment. I sometimes forgot how scary it could be for people that weren’t used to it at all, especially people were out of their comfort zones already. I assured them that everything was under control and that they were all safe. Priscilla had her hand up. I tried not to giggle at the sight of it. It wasn’t like we were all at school. People were free to talk as they pleased without putting up their hand. The sight of it transported me back to my own classroom at the college and reminded me of the life I had waiting for me when I got back. It was a strange thought. Pretending to work at the ranch had felt so real that I’d forgotten it wasn’t true at all. It was going to be strange having to transition back to normal life.

“So, I know that we have our big overnight ride coming up this afternoon so by show of hands, I just want to find out who is still interested in going?” I asked and looked around the room. Everyone had been having such a good time that I expected them all to put their hands up. I was, however, very surprised when only two people put their hands up: Jackson and Harper.

“We’d rather stay inside,” someone said. “It’s so muddy outside and we don’t mind at all not going.”

I nodded. I could completely understand and I wasn’t going to force anyone to do something they didn’t want to do. I told them all not to worry and that I would discuss everything over with Mike and Allison before deciding what to do. I assured them that nobody would be forced to do anything. I walked over to Mike and Allison and shrugged.

“Now what? Jackson seems pretty adamant about wanting to go.”

Mike shook his head. “There’s no way I’m letting him near a horse. I know he wants to go but I already talked to him about it this morning. He’s just trying his luck with you. He’s lucky we are still letting him stay here. Last night I almost sent him packing, but I woke up this morning and thought I’d better give him another chance. He’s not a bad guy, but at the same time he needs to realize that he can’t just go around doing things like that. It’s a little bit crazy to put himself and all the animals in danger.”

“I completely agree,” I said. “Okay, so the ride is off then? It’s a pity, I was looking forward to it, but maybe it’s for the best.”

“Well, Harper still wants to go,” Allison said.

“Yeah, but that’s just one person. We can’t do the ride with just her. And anyway, it’s probably better if we all stay here with the rest of the group, and use our time to maybe fix some of the damage caused by the storm.”

Mike shook his head. “It’s fine. Allison and I can handle it. You must remember, Travis, we’ve done this plenty of times before without you. We’ve got this covered. We can stay here and assess the damage and spend time with the guests. I don’t think they want to be out there so we can maybe do some indoor things with them. We have plenty of provisions planned in case of things like this. But Harper wants to go and you should take her. She paid for the experience anyway.”

“Just her and I?” I asked with surprise. I tried to ignore the look that Mike and Allison passed one another.

“Yeah, come on, it will be fun. Anyway, it will be a great way for the two of you to get to know a bit more about each other.”

I shook my head and laughed. I was about to tell him what a ridiculous idea I thought it was when Harper suddenly came bounding up my side and looked at all of us.

“Don’t tell me the ride is off!” she said. “I was looking so forward to it. We can’t let a bit of bad weather stop us.”

“It’s not off,” Mike said before I had the chance to say anything. “I was just saying that Travis should still take you. Allison and I will stay behind to look after the rest of the guests. No point the two of you staying if you want to go. We would’ve all gone if the group wanted to anyway. But we’re happy to stay while you go as there is quite a lot to be done here, anyway. And, let’s face it, if there’s one person that can handle this, it’s you.” I tried not to groan at Mike’s words. He was clearly pushing for the two of us to go out and do this ride. I wondered why he cared so much.

Harper grinned. “Really? Oh that would be amazing. I definitely want to do it.”

“Harper, are you sure? We can both stay behind with everyone else too. I don’t mind. You don’t have to go for this ride just because you think you have to,” I said.

She laughed. “Oh yeah? Why’s that? Are you scared?”

“Scared. I’m not scared!”

“Well, then prove it!”

Mike and Allison chuckled. “Yeah, Travis, are you going to let a girl show you how it’s done?”

I shook my head at all of them. “You’re all crazy, you know that? Harper, I’m not scared, but have you seen the clouds? They’re a lot darker than they should be the day after a storm, and that’s usually an indication that it’s not over yet. There is no guarantee that there won’t be another storm and it probably won’t be the best out idea to get caught in it.”

Harper looked up and as she did so there was a parting in the clouds showing a large section of blue sky. She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “I think we’re going to be fine.”

“So does that mean you don’t mind camping anymore? I thought you didn’t even like glamping. Also, I remember you saying you hated dust when we you first arrived. Well, it’s not dust you’re going to have to contend with, but mud. I mean, I know you have the right shoes now, but are you sure it’s something you want to be exposed to?”

She chuckled. “You do realize that by saying that you’re making me want to go out there and prove myself even more, don’t you? Now I feel like I have to go! Have you seen my nails?” she said and held them up. To me they still looked perfect but in her world they were obviously a mess. “I’ve already broken all my nails since I got here. I have nothing to lose.”

I shook my head and chuckled. “Okay then. Let’s do it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I walked off with a self-satisfied smile. I still wasn’t too sure if we should be out there with an impending storm brewing overhead, but I knew I wasn’t going to fight it anymore. The truth was simple: the thought of being out there under the stars with the beautiful Harper by my side was worth taking a chance on the weather.