“Come on, there was one time?—”
“Forest, you better not finish that sentence or I swear I’ll push you off this horse,” he threatened, glaring at me.
“They were in the barn and I heard grunting?—”
Jude pushed me and I laughed, which made him laugh. He was stunning as he laughed, looking more relaxed than I had seen him in a long time. I didn’t realize I had stopped laughing until he pushed my shoulder.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, a little confused.
“I hadn’t seen you laugh or look that relaxed in a while,” I said truthfully. “It looks good on you.”
Jude instantly blushed, biting his lip, opening his mouth to say something as Theo and Colt came out of the stables.
“Forest, I’m assuming you can shoot a gun?” Theo asked.
“Yeah, I’m a pretty good shot,” I said, glancing at Jude.
“Take your pick,” Theo said, holding out a pump action shotgun and a Glock.
I took the Glock and Theo gave his brother the shotgun.
“You know how to use it?” Theo raised his brow at me.
“Yeah,” I said, releasing the magazine, catching it and reinserting it.
“Great,” he said, handing me a holster.
“Let’s move this herd west today, and keep an eye out for any vermin,” Theo said. “Stay with someone at all times. Roger from up north said they saw a mountain lion and I can’t have one of you dying on me.”
Shit, I didn’t think any of us had a chance if it was a mountain lion, but I didn’t say anything.
“Well, let’s hope we move and don’t see anything,” Colt said.
“Be safe and be smart,” Theo said, and we rode out.
Colt and Theo rode in front of us. We kept a good pace until we reached the herd. The sky in the distance was hazy and while we had been hearing about the fires for a couple of weeks now, it seemed like it might be a possibility it could come towards us.
“Damn, that doesn't look good,” Jude said, looking around.
“Have you heard anything more? Theo looked over his shoulder.
“Not much other than they contained the fire in the north, but it looks like we might need to be worried about the fires inthe west now,” Jude said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll message the chief and see if he has any news.”
“Alright, let’s see if we can get the herd back around lunch,” Theo said. “Colt, why don’t you ride up ahead and be a lookout for us while we wrangle the herd, and you can keep an eye on us.”
“Maybe as we ride forward, we can have Jude run up ahead and they can switch off keeping an eye on us,” I suggested.
“I like that,” Theo said. “Keep your eyes open and your radios on.”
We all murmured our agreements as we rode out. Theo and I settled into a rhythm of riding, watching for any stragglers and keeping everyone together. It was a little harder than usual since Sadie wasn’t with us, but yesterday, Theo decided he didn’t want to bring her if we might run into wolves or a fucking mountain lion. I suggested we get a few dogs, that way no one fucked with us, but that required time and energy that we didn’t have right now. Maybe another dog wouldn’t be too much of a hassle in the future.
“Watch your six and nine,” Jude’s voice came through the radio. “I don’t know what it is, but something is following us.”
“Don’t rush the herd, we don’t want to panic,” Theo called out.
I looked over my shoulder, not seeing anything right away. A new momma and her calf slowed down making me nervous when the baby wasn’t moving fast enough. I tried to get them to move a little faster, but as the sun was rising the hotter it got. The little guy was getting hungry.
“We might have to take a break, this little guy isn’t moving,” I said through the radio, as I turned around to look behind me.
