Cowboys & Nightmares

Chapter Thirty

Snipe grabbed his shoulder, laughing. "You've gone completely soft, you old brute." He smiled at me, winking. "Let this girl get some rest."

Contrary to his statement, I wanted nothing more than to saddle up Arion, grab Dune, and the two of us ride out to the farthermost fence posts on the property. I was tired of being on bedrest. I was tired of being stuck inside.

As we approached the bunkhouse, our large welcome party dispersing, I recognized the two figures standing by the door. Well, one was. The other one was sitting in a chair, the weary lines on his face melting into a smile as he made eye contact with me. But he was dominated by the other, much more elated figure.

"Miss Klintson!" Boss's voice boomed at me. I smiled, letting him shake my arm senseless. "I'm glad to see you on your feet again!" He said. "You had us all worried there with that little stunt." He lowered his voice. "I'm sorry all of that happened the way it did. Guess old Ronnie was a bad apple all along, huh?"

My smile was slipping with every poor word he chose. Beside me, Dune was smoldering like a forest fire.

"In any case," He continued, "I hope that we can all let this all fall to the wayside, and in time, I'm sure we'll all forget about this madness."

Dune growled, and I placed an arm around his waist to contain him. Boss had no idea what he was doing. Thankfully, Zane was the calmer of us, and stood up. "Sir, I think I heard Mrs. McGrange calling for you."

Boss laughed, turning to the younger hand. "Glad you heard it, my boy, cause I wouldn't have." He gave us a final wave before striding back the way we'd come.

I thought Dune was going to break his teeth, the way he was clenching them. "That little stunt?" He gritted out, spitting in the direction of our employer. "'Bad apple all along, huh?' Does he not remember when that bastard almost-"

"Dune, please." I ushered him into the bunkhouse, waving for Zane to follow behind us. "He knows he messed up."

Dune was pacing the floor, and turned to me when I spoke, throwing his arms out. "How can you defend him?" He asked, his voice raising in pitch and volume. "He just stood there, looked you dead in the eye, and practically brushed off all of Ronnie's advances on you!"

I felt my heart strings pull. "I know that. It's okay."

He stepped closer, cupping my face in his hands. "Rylie, it's not okay. He's trying to sweep this all under the rug and act like it was nothing how that man treated you."

"He does feel sorry,"

Both Dune and I turned to Zane, who had lowered himself onto one of the couches. "Before you guys got here, he was a huge mess. He kept pacing, and talking to himself. He wanted to say the right things." The younger hand shook his head. "Right as you guys pulled in, he went into outright panic mode. I'm pretty sure everything he said was him trying to make things better."

"Horribly."

I huffed at Dune's comment. "He's trying," I insisted. "I'm sure that he is more than embarrassed about the whole thing." I turned to Adrian's painting. "I will never forget Ronnie, but I can start to move past the whole ordeal."

As I studied Willow and Thunder racing across the pasture, Dune took my hand in his. "Okay," he whispered, his voice growing into a normal tone. "If you're willing to move on, so am I."

"Me three," Zane gasped as he stood up, holding his side. "This stupid hole in my lung needs to heal up." As we laughed, he stepped closer and pulled me into a one sided hug. "I'm going to head to my bunkhouse and lay down for a bit. I'll see you two later." He shuffled to the door, and then was gone.

"I'm glad to see him on his feet," I said, staring at the closed door. "That was scary."

Dune snorted. "And what do you call getting shot?"

I frowned, feigning irritation. "Well, it certainly wasn't in the job description."

My bunkmate laughed as I placed my small bag of things in my room. "Do you want to rest?" He asked.

I stared at him. "Of course not. I want to ride my horse."

"The doctors said-"

"They said light work," I interrupted, walking back to the threshold of my room. I stood toe to toe with him. "I've been cooped up inside for the past few days, Dune. Riding for a little while won't hurt."

For a moment, he just stood there, staring at me. Then he chuckled, planting a kiss on my forehead. "Stubborn as a mule," He murmured as he turned and opened the door, letting us back outside.

He didn't stay in front of me for long. As my boots touched the familiar dirt again, I stretched my legs to their full length, power walking to the barn. This surprised Dune, and it was a few moments before he finally caught up to me.

As we neared Arion's stall, I whistled. Instantly, A navy blue head shot up within the stall, ears perked toward the sound. When he saw me, the gelding rumbled as he hung his velvet nose over the stall door, his nostrils taking in my scent from his outstretched hand. "Hey, boy," I cooed, straightening his forelock so that it hung down the middle of his face. "Wanna go for a ride?"

As if in response, Arion swung his head up once, giving a snort. Laughing, Dune and I headed for the tack room. It was only a few minutes before I was tightening Arion's girth, watching Dune do the same to Sadie. I smiled as Arion took the bit in his mouth. "You always are a good boy," I laughed, running my hand along his sleek neck.

Dune smiled at me. "Oh, I know that." He waggled his eyebrows in response, his dimple deepening as he beamed at me.

I shook my head, unclipping my mount from his leadrope. "Please," I muttered, sarcasm dripping from my tongue as I led Arion outside. "I beg to differ."

He was right behind us, Sadie obediently following in his footsteps. "Really?" He mockingly asked.

I eased Arion to a halt, then turned to face Dune, who walked right up to me. However, when he stopped, Sadie, in her own world, kept going. Her head rammed into Dune's back, shoving him into me. Thankfully, Arion held his ground, keeping us from tumbling to the ground. We both laughed as he stood back up on his own two feet. "That just proves it," I laughed.

I think it was retaliation, or it could have been that he was wondering why I was just standing there. In any case, my roan turned his head, and throwing his head, pushed me against Dune's chest. While I was laughing, I couldn't help but remember the first time I met my bunk mate, and couldn't help but blush.

Dune, for his part, helped me to my feet. However, he didn't let me go, and instead kept his hands on my waist. He lowered his head until his lips were inches from mine. "I love you," he whispered.

He smiled. Despite everything, it seemed we had beaten the odds. And even though we would most likely face more hardships in the coming months, I knew that we would have each other's backs through it. "I love you, too," I replied. I let him kiss me, then I pulled away.

"Let's ride." 

^^^

Cut! And that's a wrap!

So I have a very good explanation for why I didn't update on time. Turns out, I had a SUPER important test on Saturday, and any spare time I had last week was devoted to studying my BUTT off for that thing. (I passed, by the way! Whoo hoo!) Then, I came home, and it has been nonstop running sense! I'm forcing myself to sit down and finish this now. I'm really sorry for the late update, honestly. But HERE IT IS!

What do you guys think? Is it everything you wanted? What thoughts do you have on the ending? Don't be surprised if I come back through and change a few things in this chapter, though (Especially those nasty typos). 

Anyway, I hope you guys vote if you liked it, and follow me if you want to keep up to date. In case you didn't know, I have this CRAZY AWESOME idea for a story. But I don't want to start publishing that until I have it practically done. That way, I don't leave you guys hanging! I'm thinking of putting up a book full of fun info and stuff.

I'll see you guys around! Bye, love you all!