“No,” I said and Rubin laughed. “Not really. I mean, we’ve had children and heavy folks and people with limitations out here, but they all seem to want to do it, you know? Motivation is all it takes, and they make it happen. Those two, though…”
“They’d rather be at a Gucci store with a fancy cappuccino,” he said. “Chauffeured around or driving a Mercedes.”
I nodded. “Something like that.”
“Well, it’s just a couple of days they have to tough out,” Rubin said. “Just a few days of keeping themselves alive, and then they can get back home. They have no business out here, at least not like the men. We’re all ready and capable. Them, not so much.”
I stayed quiet a second, letting him rant a bit. Clearly, he wanted to be seen as manly and tough, but also there was a hint of bitterness I picked up on. Like perhaps he wasn’t as spoiled as the girls were, or at least as indulged. I could understand that. For as much as our own dad was a fair man from all I remember of him before his mind began to slip, if he had a daughter, she would have been the most pampered and well-protected girl on this side of the Mississippi.
“Jane seems to be getting the hang of riding at least,” I said.
“Eh,” Rubin said. “We’ll see what she’s like when she actually has something she has to do.”
“True,” I said, “but everyone here, except Colt, myself, and it looks like Walter and Lucien, are amateur riders.”
I knew including him as an amateur might hurt his feelings a little, but I needed him to understand that he was still a guest here and learning. If he got too cocky, he could get hurt or worse, hurt someone else. It was a common thing for people who came on these tours to think they got the hang of things immediately, and then two days later, they try to do something on their own that they shouldn’t. That was how lawsuits ended up happening, and I had no intention of that mess happening on our ranch.
“Say,” Rubin said, seeming to glide right past the comment, “you don’t have any whisky, do you?”
“No,” I lied. “Never bring liquor out on the drives,” I lied again. Then I smiled. Maybe if he checked his ego by Wednesday, I’d spike his coffee. Until then, he’d have to stay dry.
Chapter 14
Jane
I woke up with that feeling I always got when I was having a really wonderful dream, but it slipped out of my grasp before I could commit it totally to memory. By the time I was fully conscious, it had drifted away and I couldn’t remember any of it.
For a few seconds, I couldn’t figure out what woke me up. It wasn’t the type of easy, gradual coming into consciousness that came from waking up when I was simply done sleeping. And it wasn’t the familiar reaction that came from hearing my alarm and my brain automatically coming out of sleep. I hated the sharp, obnoxious sound of an alarm clock or the traditional chime on a phone, so I used a soft bubbling sound. It woke me up more out of conditioning than startling.
But that morning, I had definitely been jostled out of my sleep by something. I realized it was the sound of pots and pans clanging around somewhere outside that had gotten to me. I had no idea what time it was or if I was the only person still asleep.
For a moment, I forgot where I was. Rolling over onto my back, I moved to stretch. It caused part of my blanket to slip away from me and the cold snap in the air took my breath away. I immediately scrambled to grab my blanket back up and tuck it around me as close as possible. Everything came rushing back to me. I wasn’t at home. I wasn’t even at a hotel.
I was in Montana in something called a bunkhouse. It had no heat, which meant the November morning was already kicking my ass before I even got off my bunk. Which was another thing. I was sleeping in a bunk bed. Never in my life had I slept in a bunk bed.
The idea of siblings of the same sex and close in age sharing a bedroom as they grew up was so common it