“Please excuse me?” He took her hand from his arm and stepped away.
“Okay darling. I see the Simpsons are here as well and I really need to talk to them.”
He turned and strode purposefully towards the area where Trevor and Sophie were seated, just managing to hide his impatience as he was stopped several times on his way.
“McTaggart!” Trevor greeted him enthusiastically as he stopped in front of them. “Just the man I wanted to see. I have to say that it has been a real pleasure coming here today for more reasons than one.” His hazel eyes twinkled. “Aside from the cattle I have manage to purchase from you, this lovely lady has agreed to make my visit even more pleasant by agreeing to go to dinner with me. I was just telling her that I wished I had enough money to tempt her away from your employ.”
A frown descended on Hunter’s brow. “You are going to dinner?”
“We decided to do so tomorrow night.” She smiled at him sweetly. “Don’t worry; I will make sure that I have finished my duties before I leave for the night.”
“You are off tomorrow,” he reminded her automatically.
“That’s even better.” Trevor said enthusiastically, not noticing the tension between the two people. “We could make a day of it.”
“That would be great.” Sophie turned to look at him with a smile. “I haven’t had a chance to go into town since I arrived.”
“We must remedy that.” He told her with a pleased smile before turning to Hunter. “Is this a good time to talk shop?”
Hunter hesitated a moment as he stared at her and then nodded.
“I will be right back, my dear.”
“I will be here.” Sophie said with a forced smile. She was really starting to feel wilted and the nausea was getting worse. She waited until the men had departed before she got to her feet slowly and felt the place spinning with her. She had to steady herself against the back of the seat and took a deep breath.
“Hey Soph, you okay?” Joe called out to her as he hurried forward.
“I am just a little tired.” She told him with a strained smile. “Could you tell Trevor when he gets back that I was not feeling well and went inside to lie down?”
“Sure,” he stared at her worriedly. “You do look a little peaked. Want me to help you up to the ranch house?”
“I am fine.” She told him.
*****
She barely made it into the bathroom before everything she had ingested came back up. She waited until she was finished dry heaving before she crawled back against the tiles and sat there with her knees drawn up to her chest. It had never been so bad before and she wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she had been so emotionally charged for the entire day. She was in here puking her guts out and he was out there; she shook the thought away. She did not want to think about it or to think about him or her, or what they would be doing later tonight. She could not think about it or she would drive herself crazy! Her body felt weak and disoriented. Taking a deep breath, she struggled to her feet and got up to rinse out her mouth before going into the bedroom to climb into bed after taking off her sandals. The AC was on full blast and she could feel the goosebumps rising on her skin.
Using the remote to turn the TV on, she settled on a comedy that she had watched before and knew that it would not take her mind off her problems.
*****
She had left but at least Trevor was still there. They had come back to the area where she had been seated and she was not there. Joe had told Trevor that she was not feeling well and had left to go inside. Hunter wanted to go in and check on her, but he had things to do. The upcoming horse taming was just about to start, and it was the main event. Maybe he could just….
“Darling there you are!” He closed his eyes at the sound of Marie’s voice and waited for her to join him. “I was just telling the Simpson’s that we could pop on over for brunch tomorrow afternoon.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.” He told her mildly.
“Don’t tell me you are working tomorrow?”
“I work every day.” He reminded her. “This is a respite for us but there are things to do the every day. Things that were not done today. The ranch does not rest Marie.”
“Darling I thought you would take the time off now that I am here.” She protested.
“I will talk to you later,” he took her hand off his arm as his name was announced.
“Leave the saddle off.” He instructed the ranch hand.
“Sure thing boss.”
Hunter vaulted over the fence and cautiously approached the Arabian black thoroughbred. They had gotten the animal for a steal from a very frustrated rancher who could do nothing to tame the horse. “Take the damn thing off my hands McTaggart.” He had said with a wave of his hands. “I am willing to suffer the loss as long as you get the ornery cuss off my hands. Did you know he bit a chunk off my ass and almost trampled two of the stable hands? The animal is evil I tell you!”
Hunter had been softening the animal up for the past few weeks and had read up on it. The animal had been abused badly by a prior owner, before the man he had brought it from; and was gun shy, never allowing a saddle on its back. Hunter had been soothing it by laying hands on the flanks gently as well as feeding it to bring reassurance. He would like to think that the animal had gotten used to his voice by now.
“Easy boy,” he murmured as he approached the animal, stopping as it skittered to the side, its front hooves beating the air. “Easy,” he whispered as he moved closer. “It’s me, Hunter, remember? I am not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you. We have been bonding over the past few weeks.” The horse allowed him to get near enough to touch its flank and he sighed in relief. He knew that the crowd was looking on with bated breath, but he did not dare take his eyes off the task. “There, there,” he rubbed his hand done the silky flank slowly, edging towards the proud head and the wild eyes. “Here we go,” he passed his hand over the horse’s face and the horse bared its teeth in a threatening manner. “I am not going to hurt you.” He repeated as he continued stroking. He had a method that was fail safe, but he had a feeling that it was not going to work this time.
“Easy boy,” he whispered as he stood carefully in front of the horse and used both hands to smooth them down its face. “Easy, I am not going to hurt you. I just want to get a chance to bond and get to be friends. A man at one with his horse. You would like that wouldn’t you?” The horse’s ears flickered, and Hunter could swear that it understood everything that was being said. “I am just going to ease onto your back without any saddle. I know what you have been through and I swear that I will not add to it.” Hunter moved slowly to the side and continued to soothe the flank. He waited until the animal was still before he gathered up the reins and slowly mounted, all the time soothing and talking to the animal. It skittered and pawed the air, tossing back its magnificent head.