She stared down at him. “I tried to warn you.”
He laughed a little harder until he was consumed with a sudden and voracious need to spew cuss words.
“Fucking hell! What the shit is going on?”
Maleah’s eyes widened. “What? Are you hurt?”
“Yes!”
Sharp biting stings on his legs took priority of the moment. A painful stab to his inner thigh had his full attention. Ben flew off the ground and onto his feet. The distinct sensation of something crawling toward his crotch had him unbuttoning his jeans and reaching to save his boys as if he were about to be castrated. His jeans were around his knees when he caught a glimpse of the little fuckers. “Ants! Holy bejesus! Ahh!” he yelled when another red ant took a bite of his ass. He swatted and slapped. With his boots on he couldn’t get out of his pants but at least he now knew what was attacking him.
“I told you there was a red ant pile next to the tire,” Maleah said.
He responded with a sour look. “No, you didn’t.”
“I did. You may not have heard me, but I did. Twice.”
Ben rolled his eyes and continued dealing with the new crisis. Bright and shiny clarity hit hard as to why Maleah had been mostly naked on the side of the road slapping herself. The bites stung like a bitch. A fiery hellish bitch.
With the knowledge that he was only battling ants, he was able to calm down enough to systematically remove them by brushing his hands over himself. He removed a lone assassin from his bunched-up jeans and then noticed the blood on his fingers.
“What kind of bloodthirsty ants are these?” He pulled up his jeans, leaving them unzipped in case he missed an ant or two. Ben inspected his work boots, looking for any more creepy buggers.
“I’m not bleeding,” Maleah said unhelpfully. “The bites hurt, though.”
Ben clenched his jaw and this time it didn’t have anything to do with holding in a laugh.
“Oh, I see. Oh no.” She flinched. “You tore your pants on the fence and the barbed wire must have cut you.” Maleah squatted down for a closer look and reached toward the torn denim. Tentatively and with care, she eased the ripped jeans away from his cut. “Ooh…” She made a pained face. “That’s not good.”
“Stop that.” Ben didn’t care to be fussed over.
She glanced up. “I think we better get to town and get you cleaned up. When was your last tetanus shot?”
“Tetanus?” That was all that managed to come out of his mouth when they heard an approaching car. They both turned to look as a pickup truck crested the hill in the road, slowed, and came to a stop.
The window lowered. “Hey, Ben? I recognized your truck. Everything all right?”
The driver leaned toward the passenger side window for a better look. Ben recognized Gilbert Cantwell, an old friend from way back.
“We’re good,” Ben yelled back.
Gilbert’s eyes widened, and his wide smile exposed the gap between his two front teeth. “Well, alrighty then. Sorry to interrupt your evening.” He paused, squinting into the dimming evening light. “Is that Maleah Hale? Holy craptastic. Really?”
Maleah raised a hand and waved.
Gilbert’s laughter echoed out of the truck window. “Ben and Maleah Hale. Smokin’ frijoles,” he said again as he sat back, honked the horn, and continued driving toward town.
Maleah looked up as Ben looked down.
“Umm.” Ben reached to zip up his jeans. Maleah’s face was less than a foot away from his open fly. Apparently, she hadn’t caught on yet as to why Gilbert acted the way he did. He wasn’t worried about his reputation, but hers. Gilbert would inform everyone and anyone what he’d witnessed out on Highway 9 next to the Donovan ranch.
Ben stepped back and buttoned his pants. “This probably doesn’t look great from the road.”
Watching the dawning realization hit her face was similar to seeing the clown pop out of the jack-in-the-box. Her cheeks flushed again, and the hue was nearly identical to the maroon glow on the underbelly of the clouds on the western horizon.
“But I’m… and you…” She rose to her full height. Maleah was always a little taller than most of the girls in school, and she looked him straight in the eyes and sighed. She shook her head and there was a twitch at the corner of her lips.
Ben started laughing again. He couldn’t hold it in. “Shit,” he said.
“Yeah. And my legs hurt. Stupid ants.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “My leg hurts too. Grab your bags and I’ll give you a ride into town. No one wants to fool around by that ant hill tonight. If it’s all right, we’ll deal with the tire tomorrow.”
She took a moment to consider his offer. When she didn’t answer, he asked, “You are headed into town, aren’t you?”
Maleah smiled, and it softened her face and gave him a look at her for the first time since he’d pulled over that wasn’t full of stress, biting ants, or angry bulls. She was beautiful in the most natural way and without heavy makeup or some fancy hairstyle.
“I was. I’m staying at my aunt Kiki’s, in the Columbine Building.”
That was a surprise he hadn’t expected. “I’m headed downtown too,” Ben said and didn’t mention their other coincidence, because he had to get something off his chest first.
“Maleah?”
“Hmm?” She made the smallest of inquisitive sounds and waited for him to ask.
“Do you know there’s a difference between a cow and a bull? It’s kind of significant.”
She jabbed him in the ribs with a pointy finger. “Of course I know the difference.”
“Just checking. In case you ever have to explain how a cow stole the clothes off your ass again. Sometimes the devil’s in the details. I could have benefitted from this small detail before heading into the pasture.”
She had enough sense to look mildly abashed. “Don’t tease me, Ben Erickson. In case you didn’t notice, I was a little stressed out when you asked me why my ass was hanging out.”
He loved how she punctuated the words “my ass.” Ben smirked. Having Maleah around is going to be fun.
She placed a hand on her hip as one fine eyebrow lifted in a questioning glare. “Where the hell are my sandals?”
“I suspect the bull is wearing them. They match the skirt.”
Four
BEN HELPED MALEAH TRANSFER her bags to his truck. They were careful to steer clear of the side of the car with the flat tire and the angry ants. Even so, Maleah checked her sneakers after sitting down on the passenger seat. No vicious red ants were to be found. She was grateful she packed more than one pair of shoes, but then again, Maleah didn’t go anywhere without being overprepared.
On their drive into town, she and Ben shared more laughs over the incident by the side of the road.
Downtown Three Peaks came into view, and she said, “I think I need to stop at Franklin Drugs or the grocery store and find something to put on these bites. Do you have any antiseptic? You need to clean your cut.” She hadn’t packed her bottle because her knee had scabbed over.
Ben stroked his jaw and looked thoughtful. “I’m not all that concerned about my leg. I’m current on my tetanus shot. But if you want to stop, we can.” He pulled into the parking lot of City Market and turned off the engine.