Page 64 of Colt

“Guys! Can you ride faster, please?” Dean shouts. “I’m so far ahead of you, jeez!”

Colton chuckles. “We’ll be right there.” He looks at me. “Give your horse a squeeze with your legs. He’ll know to go a little faster. You got this, yeah?”

Wait, wait. Is Colton being nice to me now too? After opening up to me and everything?

It’s a mindfuck of the first degree.

“I’ll do my best,” I say and squeeze the horse like he tells me.

I follow Colton and Dean in a big loop around the pasture before we head back toward the stables. A shadow of disappointment falls across my chest at the prospect of our ride being over. I could keep riding—keep talking—all day.

A woman and a dark brown baby horse are in the corral just outside the barn. The horse canters easily around the corral, and the woman beams, her hands going to the ends of a stethoscope that hangs around her neck.

“Come see, Miss Lainey!” Dean says. “That foal broke her leg a while ago, but Doc Sally fixed her right up.”

“Doc Sally?”

“The head of our veterinary program,” Colton explains. “She’s a rock star surgeon.”

Colton and Dean dismount, handing off their horses to a waiting stable hand. Then, in that no-nonsense way of his, Colton reaches up and grabs me by the waist.

“Same as last time,” he says. “Hands on my shoulders. I got you.”

Same as last time. He says it so casually, like last time didn’t entail handcuffs and mutual masturbation.

I glide easily off the horse, Colton silently setting me on the ground like I weigh as much as a feather.

Our eyes lock. His are very green in this light and soft. My stomach flips for the hundredth time today. Something is different between us now. Something, however small, has shifted, and now…

Well, now I want to keep hating him, but I’m struggling to keep that fire stoked.

Especially when he asks for the second time today, “You good?”

I try to find some air, which is suddenly in short supply. “Yes. Good.”

“Let’s go see how our foal is healing, then.”

I follow him inside the corral. Because Colton is a magician with horses, he’s able to summon the foal to him. Then he squats beside the animal while Dean listens intently.

“See here, son? Two plates and six screws hold this joint together. It’s healed beautifully, so this foal is gonna be able to work cattle just like her mama. Doc Sally saved her life. Maybe one day you can be a rock star veterinary surgeon like her, yeah?”

I take a mental note. All kinds of jobs are available on a ranch. It’s interesting that Colton mentions higher education for his son. Is that a continuation of their heritage or a break from it? It would be a major contribution to the community.

Doc Sally laughs. “I’m no rock star. But I do love my job.”

“The leg really looks great, Sal,” Colton says. “Good as new. Your work is truly incredible.”

I’m starting to think Colton really is a decent boss.

A great one, actually.

The pride is obvious in Sally’s voice when she replies, “Thank you, Colt. But y’all saved the day too. Most ranchers, they wouldn’t bother fixing an injury as bad as that one. You did the right thing. The hard thing. That’s why I love working for y’all so dang much.”

“Well, we love havin’ you. Still don’t get what you see in Wyatt Rivers, but⁠—”

“Hey.” Sally gently elbows him. “Wyatt’s got a big…heart. That’s why I chose to stay in Hartsville to be with him.”

“I’ve heard a lot about those Riverses’ hearts.”