Page 18 of A Curse On Black Lake (Black Lake Gothic Cowboys #1)

Chapter fourteen

Killian

Eliana has been quiet on our way to the ranch.

We probably would have finished sooner with what she needed done, but I kept catching myself looking for her, and listening.

She talks to herself, and I knew she did.

She has since I met her, but I can’t figure out if it’s because she’s dealing with something mentally speaking, or it’s more. My gut tells me it’s more.

Tiny sits in the bed of the truck with his nose lifted into the air as we drive down the long country road with the windows down. Eliana’s hair blows in the wind, moving like the invisible waves flowing through her.

Her eyes are closed, and she takes a deep breath.

“Oh, I made you something,” she says.

I glance at her from the road, right before I turn onto my gravel drive.

She hands me a small paper bag folded at the top with a handwritten label for relaxing tea.

“I thought you would like it. It’s soothing at the end of a long day,” she says.

I set the small bag in the cupholder next to me. “Thank you.”

She hums and tilts her head back into the wind again. My chest expands, and I ignore the feeling driving down the gravel road, stopping next to the barn. Tiny hops out on his own, off to find his pack.

“We need to check two sets of cattle, make sure they’re doing well. Stalls need to be mucked out, and then two of the other horses need to be exercised. I can’t do it the way I should. They’re out in the paddock now.”

“What do you want me to do first?” she asks, fitting her baseball cap on her head.

I look around, going through the list in my head. There’s always something to do and never enough time to do it. “Check the cattle with me?” I ask her.

“Sure, that means I can exercise one of the two horses. Two birds one stone,” she says.

“Yeah, that works.”

She reaches in the back for her chaps and slides them on over her jeans she changed into before we left, and I force myself to head into the barn to get the horses saddled instead of watch her put them on. What’s my problem?

I get Daisy saddled and then move on to Dad’s horse, Chester. He dips his head up and down at me. I know he misses being out. I haven’t been able to bring myself to ride him longer than to exercise him and make sure he’s healthy. He’s itching for an adventure.

“Wow, he’s beautiful,” Eliana says with Lucky, Moonbeam, Tex, and Tiny following her.

“Are you an animal whisperer or something?” I ask her, glancing down at all four dogs standing dutifully behind her. Eliana shrugs and looks behind her, patting each of their heads.

“Last time I checked, I own y’all,” I mutter. The dogs ignore me, focused on her.

“I’ve always had a connection with animals,” she says.

Heaving the saddle onto Chester, I glance at her before reaching for his belly strap. He stamps excitedly.

“You have a connection to a lot of things,” I mutter.

She meets my eyes, and lightning strikes me hard and true. Her blue eyes go dark, and she breaks eye contact, shattering the moment, reaching for Chester.

“He was my dad’s horse,” I tell her.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispers.

Chester leans his head into her hand like he's telling her thank you.

I walk Chester out and hand the reins to Eliana. She takes them, and, being a cowgirl her whole life she slips her foot in the stirrup and swings onto Chester’s back.

“What?” she says, looking down at me.

I hadn’t realized I was staring. “Uh, nothing. Are you sure you can handle this?” I ask her.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” she asks.

“I don’t know. We hardly know each other, so I guess that’s why.”

“I might not be a great roper, but I know enough to be dangerous,” she says.

I scoff. “I don’t think you have any idea how dangerous you are.” To me.

The corner of her mouth tips up and she lifts a shoulder.

I lead the way with Daisy to the far plot to check on a group. They should be good, since they’re by a healthy stream, but it’s been hot.

Eliana follows closely behind on Chester, and the tightness in my limbs releases. The dogs run next to us, stopping to sniff periodically before catching up.

I haven’t had a chance to look into my case, and I’m struggling to figure out how to get the information I need. I have a little from memory, but that was years ago. Though I do know one thing: I need an alibi to get Wyatt off my ass, and I don’t know anyone who would vouch for me.

Coming up to the gate, Eliana hurries past me and angles Chester so she can lean over and flip it. I trot in, and she pulls it closed behind her. We go down a small decline in the land and find most of the cattle around the water. A few are lying down, and I start counting.

We might not have a wolf problem like many do up north. But coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, and wild dogs enjoy easy prey, like my cattle. They can protect each other, but the dogs do most of the defending, and sometimes I have to guard the herd myself.

“How many should you have?” Eliana asks.

I wave my hand at her so she doesn’t break my count.

Out of the corner of my eye, she hops off Chester and makes her way down to the stream.

When I hit sixty, I search for my bull. I had to split my herd in two because I had one too many bulls, and this one doesn’t like anyone coming near his herd.

Eliana saunters down the small hill, and I spot him catch sight of her.

“Eliana,” I yell.

She glances at me over her shoulder and keeps walking.

“Stop!” I yell. The bull is honed in on her, and I’m afraid he’s going to charge. She does as I say and stops turning to look at me.

“What? I—”

“I need you to walk slowly back to me. You caught a bull’s attention, and he’s already locked onto you,” I tell her.

She starts walking back towards me, looking at where she steps. And I pull out my rifle, ready to put the bull down if I need to. Daisy shifts on her feet, sensing the stress, and I hold up the rifle, ready to fire.

Eliana is half-way to me, and the bull huffs, getting angrier by the minute. Dammit. I really don’t want to shoot this bull. I’ll lose a lot of money because I breed him too.

“Killian,” Eliana says, taking measured steps.

“Killian!”

I check her briefly, keeping my eyes on the bull that has taken steps towards her like he’s trying to decide if she’s a threat.

“Don’t you dare kill that bull,” she says.

“He’s going to charge you. Do you want to die today?” I say, keeping an eye on the asshole.

“Not particularly, but don’t kill that bull. You’re going to lose money.”

“Don’t know if I care much about the loss at the moment,” I mutter.

She gets closer to me, and then he starts running towards her. Bulls are fast when they want to be, faster than humans. I take off towards Eliana on Daisy, and her eyes widen in panic.

She runs in my direction as the bull gets closer, and I hold out my hand to grab her and push the bull off at the same time. I’m playing a dangerous game.

Eliana runs as fast as she can with chaps on her legs and lifts her arm.

I grab her forearm, lifting and throwing her onto Daisy with me, and somehow aim my rifle at the bull.

I holler, and Daisy whinnies, pushing the bull back.

He diverts close to us and then meanders back down to his group, suddenly tired of the chase.

Keeping my eyes on him, I turn Daisy towards Chester and go back up the hill. Eliana presses her head between my shoulder blades, and I can feel her deep inhales as she catches her breath. And for a moment, as brief as it is, I sink into her touch.

“You okay?” I ask her.

She nods against my back and sits up. “Yeah, I wish you told, me you had an asshole for a bull.”

“Sorry,” I mutter. I should have. She’s right. I swallow thickly as the panic subsides.

She hums and hops down from Daisy and then gets onto Chester. “Is your count good?” she asks.

“Yeah, let’s move on to the next one. I need to move them to another plot.” I lead the way to the next group and stop at the gate.

Glancing over my shoulder, I watch her take in the land of Eden Ranch. The sun hits her face, and her blue eyes seem sad. “Are you sure you’re alright?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

“I have two bulls in this group. They aren’t as mean, but be careful anyway. We need to move them to the plot a couple acres south of this one.”

“Alright then,” she says and wipes her forehead.

We go through the gate, and Eliana heads across to open the other one while I count.

As Eliana moves the group with Chester, I spot one of my smaller cattle on its side.

I groan to myself and canter over to it. Looks like a bobcat got to her because she’s torn to shreds. The dogs are sniffing, and Moonbeam catches a scent leading away from the group.

“I think there’s a bobcat out here,” I yell at Eliana.

She heels Chester, galloping to me. “What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to hunt it down,” I tell her.

“Won’t moving the herd fix it?” she asks.

“Well, they have noses and can hunt, so possibly, but I’m not sure that would do the trick.”

“What do you want me to do?” she asks.

“We’re going to keep moving the herd, and then I’ll come back. But let me follow Moonbeam real quick. It looks like she caught something.”

Eliana nods and turns around, going back to the cattle while I follow the dog.

There’s a small copse of trees and thicket off to the side, and Moonbeam beelines straight for it. I frown and pull my rifle again. The bobcat could have made a den in there. In that case, it would make my herd easy pickings, so I need to get rid of the animal now.

Moonbeam disappears, and I get off Daisy, following behind.

I push through some of the trees and thicket and find her sniffing at what looks like an old campfire. It’s been out for a while, but the black spot is defined from the ash. Someone was camping on my land.

This area is so far from the house I wouldn’t have seen the smoke. Dropping the barrel down, Moonbeam sniffs over by a tree, and it doesn’t look like a bobcat den, but a few food wrappers probably helped draw it here.