Kiss Me (Fool's Gold #17)(34)
“Line ’em up,” Zane yelled.
He and Chase quickly moved the greenhorns into position. Zane trotted to the front and took off his hat.
“Move ’em out,” he yelled, and they headed east.
CHAPTER NINE
CHASE WOULD RATHER have his teeth pulled out by rusty pliers than admit the truth, but he was having second thoughts. It was only midmorning on the first day and while nothing had exactly gone wrong, he was getting a bad feeling about the whole cattle-drive experience. Fifty steers didn’t sound like many during a conversation at dinner, and most cattlemen could control three times that many without thinking twice. But their motley crew wasn’t exactly made up of average cattlemen.
There were kids and old ladies. Maybe, just maybe, he’d really been an * when he’d taken everyone’s money. Maybe he should have thought about the consequences of day-trading and then trying to get it all back based on a stock tip that had been as realistic as a steer siring twin calves. Maybe—
He coughed and tried to move out of the cloud of dust. It was a futile effort. Zane had positioned him at the rear of the herd, the worst place to be. No doubt he’d considered it fitting punishment for his screwup half brother.
Chase tugged his hat lower and thought about tying a bandanna over his nose and mouth. He had a clean square of cloth in his jeans pocket. But somehow using it felt like giving in or admitting he’d been wrong.
He had been wrong. Chase winced as the realization settled on him like too heavy a load. He’d been impulsive and arrogant and a fool. His insides felt all twisty and hard. Guilt, he acknowledged. Pure guilt.
The obvious solution was to admit he was wrong and apologize to Zane. Only that had never worked in the past. His brother didn’t care about apologies. Zane talked about not getting it wrong in the first place, which Chase was in favor of...if only he knew how. Zane seemed to always know the right thing to do. He never made a mistake. Good thing, because Chase made enough for both of them. And every time he got it wrong Zane would give him that look. Not the death-ray one—although it was bad enough—but the one that said he was disappointed. Again.
He slumped in the saddle, prepared to spend the rest of the morning feeling sorry for himself. Up ahead the cattle moved at their slow, steady pace. At least the weather was halfway decent, he thought. Plenty of sun. It would warm up during the day and—
A scream cut through the sound of steer hooves thudding on packed ground. Chase straightened, then swore as Andrea’s horse cut sharply to the left and headed directly into the thick trees on the side of the trail. The woman still clung to the saddle, but with all the low branches she was likely to encounter, that wouldn’t last for long.
Chase swore again as he turned his mount and headed after her. There was no reason for her horse to take off like that, not if she hadn’t done something she shouldn’t have. Zane had been real careful to choose calm horses for everyone. But regardless of the reason, the fool woman was his responsibility.
He ducked as his horse raced through the trees. Up ahead came the thrashing of something large moving at a fast speed, and without much regard for the potential danger.
“Help me!” Andrea screamed. “Oh, God, don’t you dare jump.”
The instruction was followed by a long, high-pitched yelp, then an awful silence that made Chase’s throat go dry.
He rounded a couple more trees, then saw Andrea barely clinging to her horse. She was more off the saddle than on, with her left leg flopping around and both hands holding on. Chase kicked his horse once and the animal moved closer. He had to duck under a low branch, and then he was able to lean low and grab the runaway’s reins.
The horse instantly slowed. Andrea continued to slip. She gave a cry of alarm, but Chase caught her arm before she slipped too far, and he helped her back into the saddle.
“You saved my life,” Andrea said as she pressed a hand to her chest. “I thought I was going to die for sure.”
“Are you all right?”
She shook her head, then drew in a deep breath. “I’m fine. That jump. It was so high and we were flying, then we came down with a thump, and I couldn’t stay in the saddle.”
Chase looked her over, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. She was a little shaken but still functioning.
“Your horse doesn’t usually take off like that,” he said. “What happened?”
Andrea smoothed her hair away from her face. “I’m not sure. I was just humming to myself and—” She broke off and stared at him. Her eyes widened. “Oh, my. I was humming and sort of bouncing to the music and I must have accidentally kicked him.”
She leaned forward and touched her mount’s neck. “I’m so sorry. I would never have kicked you on purpose.”
Her horse didn’t respond, but that didn’t seem to bother her. She returned her attention to Chase. “I don’t even know what to say. Really. You were great.”
Just then Zane rode up. “You all right?”
Andrea beamed. “Your brother saved my life. I think I accidentally kicked my horse, and then we were racing through the trees, and he jumped over a stump, and I was hanging from my saddle. I just knew I was going to fall, and then Chase was there.”
Zane didn’t spare him a glance. “So you’re not hurt?”
“Just my pride.” Andrea slowly turned her horse to face back the way they’d come. “No more humming for me.”