Page 4 of Wild and Unruly (Three Rivers Trevors Ranch #3)

stetson

Sweat drips down my face as I lead my horse back into the barn and tie him to the crossties. It is already getting hot again, and I am hoping, begging, and praying that CT will make it a priority to install some air conditioning somewhere in this barn.

Fans run, blowing into each horse stall, and the urge to run over and stick my face into it is real, but I turn my attention to untacking my horse instead.

CT has been in charge of this barn for almost ten years now, taking over from his dad when he was in his early twenties. He’s built a hell of a reputation both as a trainer and a cattle rancher.

He now has ten employees under him and Dani, running the cattle ranching side of the business, while CT, Dani, my brother Logan, and I run the training and equine therapy operation. It was a bustle of activity on a busy day.

The barn is immaculately kept up, per Dani’s orders, and the horses live a good life here, with plenty of space on their run attached to the stalls to get outside.

They are let out into a big open area, usually the outdoor arena, for time to run each day, and most, if not all, have training sessions every day as well.

I help with the babies. The two-year-olds that are still a little feisty and need calming down before they graduate stages to my brother, who polishes them off and hands them over to CT or trains them himself.

My cousin, Dani, is more client-based and works with the disabled and injured folks who need her magical healing ability. Sometimes, my niece Lue comes to help out as well and will typically attach herself to Dani’s side.

“Hot one today,” a voice calls from behind me, and I turn, wiping away the drip of sweat that falls just past my eye.

I see CT standing there, hat on, and walking toward me.

He always has his hat on, but when it is hot and not sunny, like in the arena, I opt for a baseball cap I can dunk in water to cool off.

“You’re not kidding,” I say absentmindedly, looking past him to see Dani and…

damn. Bonnie Helix. She has something held up as if she is recording something, and her long brown hair is tied up in a long ponytail.

I don’t know what that means that I find a fucking ponytail attractive, but I look away before I blurt out something I can’t take back and embarrass myself.

“Stetson, this is Bonnie,” CT starts as they get close enough that the sun hitting her back doesn’t hide the look on her face.

Which is pleasant. Or she’s faking it. She was not very good at hiding her expression when I told her I was a horse trainer, and she’s not even that good at hiding the fact that she is unimpressed now.

“Bonnie, this is Stetson Cash, our cousin and one of our trainers.”

I reach for her hand, smiling with charm. Which was hard not to do. I was Stetson Cash. “Pleasure to see you again, Ms. Helix.”

“You too,” she replies, taking back her hand quickly and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Oh, you two have met?” Dani asks curiously, looking at me with suspicion as if she was going to find some hidden meaning under the surface.

“Stetson was kind enough to help me with my bag at The Lodge. I tend to overpack,” Bonnie says, surprising me with the kindness she infuses in her words. “For some reason, I feel the need to pack about double the amount of underwear when I travel anywhere as if I’m accident-prone.”

I watch in amusement as heat takes over her cheeks. CT looks away, embarrassed and not good at hiding it, and Dani smiles broadly.

“Oh, me too. I thought I was crazy.” Dani’s quick comment smooths over the awkward comment, and Bonnie laughs.

Well, shit. Her laugh is amazing.

I realize I’m smiling broadly when CT nods to the horse I’m cleaning off and asks how she’s doing. “She’s a feisty one,” I start, heading back toward her to take care of her needs. “She definitely likes to test me, but we’re finding some middle ground.”

“Good,” CT says, taking off his hat for a moment to scratch at his head. He directs his attention to Bonnie. “Stetson works mostly on babies, getting them to the point to start training in the right discipline. He’s gotten through to several of our babies over the years.”

“Oh, okay, so you don’t show then?” Her question catches me off guard .

If I’d known I was getting interviewed, I would have brushed my hair.

“Oh, I do things every now and then. But showing isn’t where I put my energy right now.”

“Stetson is being modest. He’s won several team roping jackpots over the years. He and my other cousin, Logan, won two last year together.” Dani beams with pride at me, and Bonnie gives a thoughtful look.

“Oh, so that doesn’t bother you?” She directs the question to CT.

“Bother me how?”

“That your staff ventures outside of the disciplines you show in?”

CT frowns a little but tries to cover it up with a smile.

I can tell her question confuses him, and I’m curious why that was important as well.

“Well, I’m not in control of their lives.

While we mostly focus on reining, cow horse, and cutting, my staff can show or compete wherever they like.

We’re family. We’re not going to shove them into a discipline they’re not interested in. ”

His words seem to strike a chord with Bonnie, her expression barely concealed before she smiles and nods, tapping on her phone before walking over to the mare I have tied up. “Aren’t you beautiful?”

“You know, it’s rude to give me a compliment in front of the horse and not give one to her.” I say it low enough that only she hears it, and she rolls her eyes.

“I was most definitely not talking to you.”

“Eh, you’ll warm up to me.”

“The only thing I’ll be warming up to is battery-operated,” she snaps quickly, and then, her eyes widen—as do mine—when she realizes what she’s said. “I mean…I…no, that’s?— ”

I laugh quietly at her comment, enjoying more than I should that she’s fumbling all over herself in front of me, and well, the mental picture she just put in my head has me curious.

Bonnie glances over to my cousin and sees her and CT talking quietly with one of their clients who just showed up.

“They didn’t hear you,” I say, trying to give her peace of mind.

She purses her lips together and takes a step away from the horse, who leans her head out further, trying to regain the pets. Bonnie laughs and gives in.

I find myself staring at her for a few seconds longer than I should and clear my throat. “So, are the interviews done?”

Bonnie frowns slightly and shakes her head. “Not even close. I’m doing a spread, so I need to be here a few days, maybe even a couple weeks, to get a good feel for the story.”

“You’ll be here for weeks?”

“Well,”—she shrugs a shoulder—“I may have to head home for a few days in between to check in at the office, but yeah, I’ll be here.”

“Oh.” I don’t know what it is about this new information that piques my interest and has my heart rate ticking up a little more, but I find myself imagining scenarios. And when I start to imagine scenarios, there’s no telling what I can come up with.

“Anyway, I’ve gotta get out of their hair for a while.”

“You’ll be back, though?” Her eyes meet mine at my question, and I’m momentarily blown away at how green they are.

For a minute, maybe longer, we both stare at each other before a small, hesitant smile crosses her lips. “Yeah, I’ll be back.”

“Good.” I duck under the crossties as she starts to walk, and we come up on Dani and CT talking with Celina, a client they’ve had for a while that came from a bad trainer.

“What does he want, though? I mean, why bother you after all this time?”

“Tommy Smith does what he wants,” their client says, almost resigned, and I grit my teeth at the name. Briefly, I feel Bonnie tense next to me before my attention goes back to Celina. “He’s still showing, even after everything that happened!”

Her accent runs together a bit at her words, clearly showing how flustered she is, and Dani rubs a comforting hand on her arm. “It’s okay. Just make sure you don’t go near his place, and when we’re at the show next week, you stick with us or someone from our barn, okay?”

Celina nods her head, and I frown. That’s not fucking fair that she has to be babysat because of that prick making her feel unsafe. Makes me wish I’d been around the barn more when shit went down, but I had only been working here part-time for a couple of months when everything was happening then.

Tommy Smith was a shithead horse trainer that thought his shit didn’t stink.

When Dani and CT were apart, she had to find another trainer to help her out with her horse, and Tommy was the one she went to. What she didn’t know was the number of drugs the dude uses on his horses or the shitty way he was in general.

When she left and inevitably ended up back at Three Rivers, he started to threaten Dani until CT had to take it into his own hands.

Now, it seems the dickhead wants to start more drama.

Dani looks over and puts a smile on her face. “Heading out for now, Bonnie? ”

Bonnie startles and says, “Yeah, I’ll be back tomorrow. Noon, you said?”

“Yup, Logan will definitely be here, and I have a couple of clients in the afternoon.”

“Fantastic.” Bonnie says her goodbyes, and I watch her leave, my lips curving at seeing the effortless way she smiles at a horse who whinnies from their window at her. She slips her sunglasses over her eyes before disappearing from view.

“You okay, bro?” CT asks, watching Dani take Celina into the office.

I break my gaze off from where Bonnie left and give him a nod and smile, “Yeah, I’m good.”