He rode up next to her. "This is Mission." He patted his horse's neck.
"Beautiful horse."
"I hope you don't mind me crashing your walk. I saw you heading this way and figured you took this trail."
She didn't mind at all, but she didn't want to appear too eager. "It's your mountain."
His laugh echoed. "I wish. But I can go back if you prefer."
"No, I wouldn't. As long as we don't talk shop, you're good. I promised Journey this was just for fun. A little stress relief." She bit her lip. "But did anyone see you follow me? If they did, the goons will come to track me down and cause more trouble."
"No, I took the back exit out of the barn just for that reason. As far as I know, no one saw me. I also didn't see anyone paying particular attention to you."
They reached a ridge and dismounted. Joey stood and looked over the valley. "This is gorgeous."
"It is."
She turned and found Drake staring at her. She couldn't help but laugh. "That is the biggest example of cliche that I've ever seen."
He sat on a boulder and patted the spot next to him. "Come sit."
She did and tried to ignore the tingles she felt on the side of her body closest to him. "This is nice."
"You want to tell me what's going on? With the rodeo. This Percy guy."
She stared at the horizon. "I do, but not here. They'll be coming to look for me."
"I'll make you a deal. I'll disappear right now so they find you alone, but you meet me tonight at midnight in the storage room where I met you the first night."
"We have a show tomorrow."
He shrugged. "Then sleep in; the show isn’t until the evening… Deal?"
She stared into his eyes. She already knew she could trust him, but it was good to be able to see it reflected back at her. "Deal."
He bopped her on the nose before he hopped on Mission and thundered up the trail. The simple gesture made her weak in the knees. Two minutes after he disappeared from sight, she was still sitting on the boulder when Clancy rode up.
"What are you doing?"
She stood and faced him. "What the hell does it look like I'm doing? Am I not allowed to take a ride?"
"Where's the guy?"
"What guy?" She gave him what she hoped was a puzzled look.
He glanced around before he spun his horse around. "Get back to camp."
"Did I miss a memo that we're under house arrest or something? What the hell is going on with your ego-trippers?"
He rode off without another word. Something was up, and she was almost afraid to figure out what it was.
Chapter Twelve: Learning the Story
Drake Hale
Drake kept himself concealed when Clancy burst into the clearing thinking he was going to catch him with Joey. Once he knew she was safe, he headed back down the mountain and turned Mission out to pasture. He wanted nothing more than to deal with all of Percy's men, but first he needed to figure out what was up with his sister.
Sarah had been acting weird lately, but her reaction to Joey was bizarre even for her.
