Into the Storm (Signal Bend #3)(12)

When she went into the barn, Show and Badger had hung the harness on the wall and were checking it closely. Badger was so close, in fact, that one might think he was examining it with a jeweler’s loupe. As she walked down the aisle between the horse stalls—all of them empty while the horses were loose in the pasture—she called out, “How’s it look, guys?”

Show turned at her voice, but he didn’t look at her. She was disappointed at that; she’d hoped maybe that smile meant he was warming a little. He’d been even more reserved in the past few weeks, though, hardly around at all, and staying near the barn, away from the house, when he was.

But he answered her question. “Won’t be sure until we get it rigged up, but it looks good—right, Badge?”

Badger looked back at Show and then at Shannon. “Yep. I want to get Eddie harnessed up and make sure, but I think we’re good.” Badger was an unlikely choice for livestock manager. He was young—just twenty-one—and skinny, with long, straight auburn hair he wore in a ponytail, but Lilli’s instincts to hire him had been good—they were seemingly always good. She’d given people jobs at the inn who never would have been given these opportunities at more established facilities, and as far as Shannon could tell, she hadn’t missed one step.

They had six horses and nine goats, and Badger loved them all like his own children. He knew his stuff, too. He’d gotten two of the horses under saddle himself and had them fit for intermediate riders. He led trail rides for guests through the adjacent woods, riding a big, beautiful, black mare named Gypsy. He was in the process of training a border collie pup to herd the goats for him—more as a hobby than an actual necessity.

The nine goats were a docile, compliant, ragtag bunch, all of them rescue animals, so all of them altered.

They didn’t need a herd dog. But the pup, Weasel, was cute, and Badger was having a good time.

He was shy and sweet and, as far as Shannon could see, ink-free, so, despite his long hair and his Harley ride, he didn’t seem the type to be prospecting for the MC, but he was. As a Prospect, he’d taken a fair amount of grief from the members, but Show didn’t seem to be one to lay that on him. Shannon liked that. She felt a little maternal toward Badge, and it got her hackles up when the guys yelled at him just because they could.

“That’s great news! The bride is going to be ecstatic.” She held up the thermos. “I brought coffee out for you boys. Can I interest you in a cup of Beth’s fresh brew?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned and set the thermos on a work table and pumped some out into one of the disposable cups. She handed Badger the first cup, even though he was farther away. He looked a little awkward at Show being passed over, but then he took the cup with a grin and a nod. Shannon filled another cup and turned to Show.

“I didn’t bring sugar or cream down. Sorry.” She held out the cup.

“S’okay—I take it black.” His hand dwarfed hers as well as the cup she offered—there was no way they could both hold the cup, even for the brief moment it took to pass it from one hand to the other, without touching. She gasped a little, just an intake of breath, at his hot, calloused fingers on her hand. His thumb covered hers, its nail wide, blunt, and flat. He had the hands of a man who knew hard work.

She’d held on a beat too long, and he pulled on the cup. “Black’s fine, hon.”

“Oh, sorry.” She let go and looked up into his face. She found his eyes on her.

“Thanks. For the coffee.” He smiled a little, one corner of his mouth coming up a fraction of an inch.

Then he took a drink, and the moment was gone.

Shannon composed herself quickly and, feeling blushy and awkward, she said, “No problem. I’ll be back down for the thermos later.” She turned to Badger. “Let me know if you have any problems with that thing.” Badger nodded, and Shannon turned and walked out of the barn, feeling like she’d managed somehow to make a fool of herself in those few minutes.

oOo

Two hours later, she’d seen the wedding party off on their various adventures for the day, and she and Beth were in the dining room running one more time through the seating chart. Katie had come to her in a crisis not five minutes after Shannon had gotten back from the barn, remembering that two cousins she’d seated at the same table had come to blows and started a melee at the last family function.

Wonderful.

So they rearranged the seating, and now Shannon knew to have the staff keep an eye out for anybody looking especially scrappy tomorrow evening. A brawl, inevitably caught on somebody’s phone and uploaded to the internet at the earliest possible opportunity, was not the kind of publicity Shannon was hoping this wedding would bring.

That crisis hopefully averted, Beth went back to the kitchen, and Shannon headed back to the front desk. Show was standing in the middle of the parlor, dangling the thermos by its handle and looking generally uncomfortable. When he saw her, he took a couple of steps her way and stopped, holding up the thermos.

“Brought this back. Didn’t know where to put it, though.”

She’d said she would go back down to the barn to pick it up. She was sure he’d heard her. So this was either nothing more than simple chivalry, saving her a trip, or the coffee was providing him the same kind of excuse to see her as it had provided her to see him. Though she knew it was probably the former, she decided to play on the latter. She wanted to get to know this guy. He was obviously not going to make a move. But she had skills. And assets.