Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,13
time we’re floating the Gallatin tomorrow.”
“Dana, I—”
“Do. Not. Try. To. Get. Out. Of. This.”
“You don’t need me,” Hilde said, and realized she was sounding jealous. “I really should work.”
“I know business is slow right now. Remember? I’m your silent partner. So don’t tell me you have to work. Come on. When was the last time you floated the river?”
“I’ve never floated it.”
“What? You’ve never been down the Mad Mile?”
“No, and I really don’t think I want to do it now when the river is so high. Dana, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I’ve already talked to Dee. She’s excited. She was trying to get Hud to go with us. Stacy said she’d watch the kids, since Hud said he had something he had to do. Dee was excited to hear you were going with us.”
I’ll just bet she was.
“Come on. It’s going to be fun. You need a thrill or two in your life.”
“Don’t I, though.” What could she say? That there was something not quite right about Dee Anna Justice? That the woman had shoved her at the top of the falls? But then grabbed her to “save” her?
“Great,” Dana was saying. “We’ll pick you up tomorrow at your place so we can all ride together.”
“Great,” Hilde said. By the time she hung up, she’d almost convinced herself that Dee hadn’t pushed her. That there was nothing to worry about. That she was just jealous. Or crazy.
More likely crazy, she thought, glancing out the front window of the shop hoping to see Colt Dawson. His usual table was empty.
* * *
COLT WAS AT the marshal’s office filling out paperwork when Hud walked in.
“I would really appreciate it if you would go on this rafting trip with Dana and her cousin this afternoon,” Hud said. “Dana’s cousin is a little clumsy. Hell, a whole lot clumsy. I don’t want her falling off the raft and taking Dana with her.”
Colt looked at his boss. “You aren’t really asking me to babysit your wife and her cousin, are you? Why don’t you go?”
“I have to take care of a few things at the station. Oh, and I did mention Hilde is going, right?”
Colt swore under his breath. “You think that’s going to make me change my mind?”
Hud grinned. “I could make it an order if that would make you feel better.”
“You should be worried about Hilde drowning me.”
His boss laughed. “You’ll grow on her over time. Look how you’ve grown on all of us around here.”
“Yeah. What time do I have to be there?”
“You probably better go change.” He told him the name of the raft company and where they would be loading in about an hour. “Good luck.”
Colt ignored him as he left to head to his cabin. When he’d taken the job, he’d lucked out and gotten a five-year lease on a small cabin in the woods outside of Big Sky. One of the biggest problems with working in the area was finding a reasonable place to live.
At the cabin, he changed into shorts, a T-shirt and river sandals. As he did he wondered what Hilde would have to say when she saw him. He’d never been tongue-tied around women—until Hilde. What was it about her? She seemed unfazed by him. He really didn’t know what to do when he was around her.
He knew what he wanted to do. Carry her off and make mad passionate love to her. Just the thought stirred the banked fire inside him.
Colt shook his head, realizing how inappropriate his thoughts were under the circumstances. Hilde hadn’t looked twice at him. His chances of getting her to go out on a date with him didn’t even look good.
Well, he’d make this float with her and Dana and Dana’s cousin because Hud had asked him to keep an eye on them. But he would give Hilde a wide berth. She’d made it clear she wasn’t interested. The best thing he could do was move on. Maybe there’d be some young woman on the raft who’d want to go out to dinner later tonight. Best advice he had was to get back on that horse that had thrown him.
With that in mind, he drove down the canyon to where the rafting company was loading the rafts. Dana waved him over as he got out of his pickup. Her cousin stood next to her. He did a double take. The two looked a lot like each other, especially since they were both wearing their hair back.