Wild Trail (Clean Slate Ranch #1)(22)
By the time ten o’clock rolled around, the camping trip had expanded by two: Miller and Liam. It surprised Mack, because the trio of girls weren’t going, and they didn’t seem to have any use for anyone in the bridal party except Sophie. But the seven-person group meant they didn’t have to add any other ranch hands to the overnight. He and Reyes could handle seven greenhorns on their own.
The group arrived at the corral for their lessons. Mack had picked out horses for each of the original five, and after thinking a minute, he sent Quentin into the barn to get two more for the frat brothers. Reyes called up to the guesthouse to let Patrice know what they’d need on the chuck wagon, and then he and Mack went through the motions of showing everyone how to tack their own horse.
“It’s important to remember every step,” Mack said. “You miss something, you risk injuring yourself and the horse.”
Zodiac was for Sophie, and the pair seemed to bond right away. She had trouble pulling the straps tight enough, so Mack helped her out while Reyes showed Conrad how to manage his horse. Everyone waiting their turn watched, though, and it helped when it came time to do the next pair. Derrick and Miles got their horses second, and by the time they were finished, Quentin returned with two more horses.
Quentin and Reyes saddled up with the college boys, so Mack led Blizzard over to Wes, who was delighted by his horse’s name. “Is it because she’s mostly white with black specks here and there?” he asked.
“Pretty much,” Mack replied. He couldn’t deny the way Wes’s proximity made his skin prickle, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “We got her about three years ago. Arthur named her.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“She is, but she’s also a little stubborn. You gotta rein her hard sometimes, or she’ll wander off-path. But you seem to know somethin’ about being stubborn.”
Wes smirked, and no, that look didn’t make Mack’s belly wobble. At all.
Working closely to prepare Blizzard fucked with Mack’s senses a little. Every brush of skin or random touch zinged awareness through Mack’s gut. Each time Wes bent, stretching already tight jeans across that perky little ass. Long, thin fingers working the buckles.
Jesus, get a grip.
Finally, they were done and Mack could get some space from the sweet scent of Wes’s skin and clear his head with the stronger smell of horse dung. He ordered them all to mount their horses one at a time. Sophie needed a boost, even on a shorter horse, but she seemed less tiny on Zodiac than she had on top of Hot Coffee yesterday.
Mack swung up on Tude, Reyes on Hot Coffee, and they did a few practice walks around the corral. It was a different beast, trying to direct a single horse at a time versus control one horse as part of a group, but everyone did pretty well. Wes looked great atop Blizzard, his lean body rolling with each step. The tip of his tongue stuck out as he concentrated, which was...kind of cute.
No, not cute. Seriously, stop.
At eleven thirty, they helped the guests tie up their horses and then broke for lunch. “Make sure what you wear when we go out is comfortable and durable enough to wear until we get back tomorrow,” Mack said. “Bring sunscreen, wear a hat if you’ve got one. If not, you can purchase one at the canteen in the main house. Don’t worry about bringing your phones, unless you’re taking pictures, because once we get a quarter-mile out, the Wi-Fi signal will drop. We leave in one hour. You’re not there, you get left behind.”
He got a lot of nods in return. The guests headed toward the guesthouse front door, while Mack, Reyes and Quentin aimed for the back door. Halfway there, raised voices snared Mack’s attention, and he paused. On the front porch of the main house, Arthur and Judson were having an animated conversation that didn’t look particularly pleasant.
Judson was the Everyman on the ranch. He oversaw Patrice and the guesthouse. He oversaw the horses and their caretakers, including Mack. He assisted Arthur in running the business side of things, including payroll, the website and a social media presence. Judson kept a lot of plates spinning in the air at once, and that was one of the reasons Mack had taken over sleeping arrangements, instead of it being one more thing to land on Judson’s desk.
Mack steered himself in that direction. Arthur went back inside. Judson put both hands on his hips and tilted his head toward the porch ceiling.
“What’s going on?” Mack asked before he’d even put a foot on the bottom step.
“Same argument as always.” Judson came down to the ground and crossed his arms. “Realtor put in a higher offer on the back forty, but Arthur’s still reluctant to sell.”
The back forty was what they’d nicknamed the big patch of unexplored land northwest of the barns and buildings. Wild animals lived on that piece of the property, and they’d never had any reason to go out that far. Arthur had gotten offers on it fairly regularly over the past year or so, which was weird enough, because as far as Mack knew, there was no road access. The buyer wouldn’t come out and say why they wanted the land, and Arthur refused to sell to anyone who would develop it.
“It’s our job to preserve whatever bits of nature we can, before the politicians sell it all to corporations and ruin it,” was one of Arthur’s favorite lines.
“You know I’m gonna agree with Arthur,” Mack said. “Even though an influx of cash would boost the horse rescue, I understand and support his reasons for saying no.”