"Boss?" Steve turned his head to the right and a man came into view.
"Oh, I am so sorry," the man looked at the ground when he noticed how close the two of you were standing. "I did not mean to interrupt." You took a step back and blushed. Steve cleared his throat.
"You did not interrupt, Billy," Steve said and took a step closer to the man. "Is there a problem?"
"The food store just called saying that they won't be able to deliver today, but that they will be here tomorrow instead," Billy answered, still looking at the ground. Was he embarrassed or shy? You wondered, but then you saw it. He had scars on his face and on one of his hands. It could be more on his body, but he was wearing a long sleeve flannel shirt, so you could not see. But you could guess. Maybe he was not comfortable around new people. You stopped looking at him since you did not want to make him uncomfortable. Being a nurse, you had seen a lot of scares and knew that many got uncomfortable being around people after something like that. From what you saw it looked to be something other than burn scares. Maybe a war injurey? Could the man be a ex soldier. And how had he ended up here?
"That is fine," Steve assured him. With that Billy bid you goodbye and went back towards the barns.
"So, shall we go to the stables?" Steve said and turned away from you. He did not look if you followed him, but you did. And trying to look were you were going instead of looking at his butt. However, it was hard, since he had an amazing butt and the jeans Steve had on really showed it off. Steve took you directly to the stable and when you stepped into the stable the smell of horses and hay filled your nose. The stable was big and roomy, and cleaner than most stables you had seen. There were a large number of boxes, but some of them were empty. A bay horse stuck out its head over the gate and nickered.
"I am coming, sweetheart, just give me a moment," Steve chuckled and took your camera bag from you. He walked over to a door and opened it and put your bag inside. It looked to be a small office, from what you could see. Steve then closed the door and walked over to the box. You followed behind curiously. Steve started stroking the mare's head when she saw you and nickered again.
"Y/N, come meet Cinnamon," Steve said and you walked over. Cinnamon pushed her head against your shoulder and you started petting her and whispering endearing words. Steve smiled and looked on. You heard another sound and looked into the box. There was a small foal.
"Is that...?" you said and Steve nodded.
"That's Peanut," Steve smiled.
"He is so small." You looked at Cinnamon before you put your hand inside the box so that Peanut could come closer if he wanted to be petted. It was a bit of a struggle to reach the foal, but you did. Just with your hand. Cinnamon did not seem to mind, since she was being petted by Steve.
"Hence the name," Steve admitted.
"They are both beautiful." You smiled and looked around the stables. A few more horses had stuck out their heads to look at who was in the stable. All the boxes had names and you saw that the horses that had put their heads out that are closest to you were Ember, Snowball, and Lacey. "They all are. You have bred some amazing horses." Steve seemed to have trouble looking in your eyes. Was it the compliment?
"Well," Steve muttered. "I am not breeding thoroughbreds or show horses."
"I know." You smiled. "You are breeding working horses with a good psyche." Steve looked up at you. Then you talked with and petted all the horses that were in the stable. It helped that all the boxes had the horses' names on a brass name tag so you knew who you were talking to. Steve just continued to look at you, while also petting some of the horses. After saying hello to all of the horses you turned back to Steve.
"So, which one can I ride today?" you wondered, feeling giddy. It seemed to bring Steve out of his thoughts.
"I had Wanda saddle us two horses," Steve said and brought you out back of the stables where two horses stood ready for you. One was a majestic, white stallion and the other was a beautiful brown mare with a white blaze and two white socks on the front legs.
"This is Shadowfax and Sweet Pea," Steve said and walked over to the horses.
"Who is the Lord of the Rings fan?" you laughed and followed him over to the horses. ,
"Guilty," Steve chuckled and stroked Shadowfax on the neck. "I thought you could ride Sweet Pea."
"That works for me," you said and walked over to the mare. You greeted her with pets and talked to her. Then you looked at her legs and lifted her hooves to make sure that there was no problem. Then you checked the saddle to make sure it was on correctly. Steve stood by Shadowfax's side looking at you, not saying a word. It felt like a test, but it probably wasn't. When you were content that Sweet Pea was not hurt, had anything in the hooves and that the saddle was secure, you were going to put your foot in the stirrups when Steve came over to help you up. You wanted to say that you could do it on your own, but the thought of having Steve's hand on your body again made you not say a word. Steve took a grip of your hips and you put your foot in the stirrups. When Steve saw that your foot was in it properly he gave you a hoist up at the same time as you pressed off the ground with your other foot. And just like that you were in the saddle. The loss of Steves hands on you almost made you want to whine, but you keept it inside. Steve gave you the reins and then he walked over to Shadowfax and mounted. The way he did it made something clench in your stomach. He looked to be born in the saddle and it made you think very inappropriate thoughts. You bit your lip and tried to concentrate on the moment and not get lost in your head. Steve pointed in the direction he wanted to go and set off on Shadowfax. You pet Sweet Pea's neck again before the two of you set out after them. You rode up next to Steve. Not a word was said between the two of you, but you didn't mind; you missed riding more than you thought and being on a horse again made you smile. The only sounds were the horses' hooves on the ground, the birds singing and the cattle. It felt like heaven.
"For being a nurse, you know a lot about horses," Steve commented after a while.
"I used to own a horse," you admitted. Steve looked at you, but you didn't say anything else. It was not a subject you wanted to talk about. It was still very painful and raw. Especially now sitting on a horse and realising how much you missed it. Maybe you could find a stable in New York where you could rent a horse for a couple of hours when you had free time? Maybe you could ask Nat to join you? You knew that she usually rode when she was here in Montana, so maybe she missed it as well? You had to ask her when she arrived.
The two of you continued to ride in silence. You were looking around you, taking in the views. The mountains seemed to be in every direction. Strangely all the space around you and the views made you feel more relaxed than you had in a long, long time. If you were honest, you did not miss New York at all. The stress and the crowds. The short amount of time that you've been in Montana you have felt at home. Steve broke your thoughts by swearing under his breath. You looked to where Steve was heading and saw that one of the lines in the fence was loose.
"I need to fix this," Steve dismounted from Shadowfax. Then he handed you the reins. He took out some tools from the saddlebag on Shadowfax and went to work. Within five minutes the fence was fixed and you could continue on your ride. Steve did not seem to mind the quiet either, even though he sent glances your way from time to time. It started to annoy you. Did he want to talk? Or what was he doing? You decided to make it easy for him.
"Tell me about your horses," you said, hoping it would start a conversation.
"What do you want to know?" Steve looked over at you.
"Have you always wanted to breed horses?" You tilted your head.
"No," Steve said in a short tone. Maybe horses had been the wrong conversation subject? But still you could not leave it alone.
"Then why did you start?" you wondered.
"There was a time I needed some extra money and I sold one of my younger mares," Steve answered. "The buyer was very happy with the mare and the reputation kind of spread and I got a lot of offers for my horses. It seemed to be a good way of doing something I enjoyed doing as a hobby as another source of income for the ranch so I just kept with it." You nodded and were about to ask another question, when Steve turned to you again.
"Let's let the horses gallop a bit on the way home." The smile he gave you did not reach his eyes and you knew something was wrong. You nodded again, deciding to drop the subject. Steve sat away on Shadowfax in a gallop and you urged Sweet Pea to follow. The speed and the sheer joy of the rush made you laugh out loud. Steve turned his head around and looked at you. All you could do was smile at him and he smiled back. This time the smile reached his eyes.
You didn't gallop all the way back to the ranch, but when you decreased your speed and you once again were side by side with Steve, you could see how much more relaxed he seemed. You decided then and there not to talk about why he started with breeding. Not until he let you in more. There must be a reason that he was not ready to talk about.
Back at the ranch, Steve rode back to the stables. You followed and noticed that a lot of the workers were doing work around the stables and the barns. You nodded hello to the ones that looks at you. Maybe Steve could introduce you to some of the workers before lunch, you thought and smiled at the idea. It would be nice to know the names of the faces you would be seeing the next couple of days. Steve dismounted Shadowfax and tied him to the hitching post. You swung over your legs to dismount Sweet Pea when you heard a ripping sound. Your jeans just ripped at the seam on the butt. All you could do was position yourself so that you had Sweet Pea behind you, but a look at Steve said that he had seen what had happened. It was embarrassing and more so by the fact that you saw at least four men in the vicinity. They were some of the workers on the ranch, and even though you wanted to be introduced to them, you did not want to do that when your panties were showing. At the same time you tried to remember what kind of panties you had put on that morning. Thankfully you had not packed any of your less flattering panties, but still, if you were going to show them off they might as well be a better pair.
Steve had heard the ripping sound and turned around just in time to see the rip in Y/N jeans. Through the rip he could see that Y/N had on hot pink lacy panties and he suddenly had a hard time breathing. He was also well aware of all the workers that were around the yard. Y/N placed herself so she had Sweet Pea behind her, as she was looking around. Steve tried not to think about her underwear and if the bra matched. Well, he did, but at the same time he wanted to cover her up, not only for her sake, but also since he did not want any of the men around to see her underwear. It was personal and intimate. And at that moment Steve realised that he wanted to see her underwear or more than just her underwear. He wanted to kiss her and do so much, much more. Steve started to unbutton his flannel and walked over to Y/N. She was blushing and looking down on the ground when he came over. He took off his flannel and handed it to her.
"Tie it around your waist," he instructed her before he took the reins from her. He tied them to the hitching post, before he turned back to Y/N. She had followed his instructions. It made it a bit easier to breathe.
"Wait here," Steve said and walked into the stable. Inside he found Wanda and asked her if she could take care of the horses. Usually, Steve liked to do it himself, but he wanted to get Y/N inside so she could change. Wanda followed him out to the horses.
"Wanda will take care of Shadowfax and Sweet Pea," Steve said to Y/N, who nodded. "Let's go to the house." Steve took Y/N's hand and started to walk back to the house. A shot of what feels like electricity shot through his body, but he ignored it. He also ignored how well her hand seemed to fit in his. This is Nat's best friend, he tried to think of instead. Do not think things like this about her.
You looked down at your connected hands and followed him. Steve's hands were not soft, they were warm and rough. You could feel the calluses on his hand, but it somehow made you wonder what it would feel like to have those hands caress your body. Had you ever been with a man that had as big hands as Steve, you wondered. No, you hadn't. And the men you were with had soft hands, sometimes softer than yours. Then the fact that Steve now only had a white t-shirt on, a tight t-shirt, that made you see that he was lean, hard, and full of muscles. But what did you expect from a man that worked hard every day? When he had handed you his flannel you almost swallowed your tongue. You tried to concentrate on where you were walking instead of on Steve, but it was not easy. Your mind came back to him as well as your eyes. It seemed like all the other people around just disappeared and all you saw was Steve. Suddenly you were tripping and all you thought was that you were falling. In more than one way. A strong hand gripped your other arm and you were back on your own two feet. You looked up and met Steve's eyes. He was looking down at you with a frown on his face. Part of you wants to caress his face and see if you can erase that worry line on his forehead, but Steve has a hold on both of your arms. Instead, you stand there looking at each other. You fellt unsteady, in more ways than one.
"Hey, are you coming in for lunch?" Peter was standing in the door opening into the house. You had tripped on the stairs. Steve looked over at Peter and you wanted to sink into the ground and disappear.
"Yes, we are coming," Steve said and released your arms. "Look where you are going." The last part Steve said to you in a softer voice. You nodded and walk ahead of him up the porch steps. Peter steps back and you hurry inside and up the stairs. That was the second time you thought about kissing Steve - no, that was a lie. You had thought about it a lot more. In your room, you took off Steve's flannel and placed it on your bed before you shimmied out of your jeans. You held them up in front of you and saw just how big the tear was. It made you realise that you probably showed Steve a lot of your panties. Thankfully it been one of your better pair, but still. It was embarrassing. Hopefully nobody else had seen them. You toss the jeans on the floor and pick up another pair, but you check to see that this pair looks whole before you put them on. A look in the mirror shows that your face is lightly tinted red. How were you going to look in Steve's eyes again and what were you going to do with his flannel?
"What happened?" Peter wondered as Steve opened the fridge.
"What do you mean?" Steve took out leftovers from the day before and placed them on the counter.
"With Y/N?" Peter almost groaned. Was Steve really that clueless?
"She almost fell and I helped her stay on her feet," Steve answered and started to get everything ready to heat up the food on the stove.
"Not that," Peter looked over his shoulder to see that Y/N was not walking in. He had seen that, and something more, that he did not know what it was yet. Maybe Steve had finally found a woman for him? "Why was she wearing your flannel?"
"Oh, that," Steve did not really know what to say. Thinking about it made him picture Y/N hot pink panties and it did things to him. He cleared his throat. "Her jeans got a tear so I gave her my flannel so she could cover-up."
"Ah," Peter said and saw Y/N walk into the room. He did not know what to say and in her hands, she had Steve's flannel. He looked over at Steve who seemed as lost for words as he was.
When you walked into the kitchen the conversation between Peter and Steve stopped. You wondered if they were talking about you or if you interrupted something.
"Thank you for the loan," you said to Steve and handed him his flannel.
"No problem," Steve smiled and placed the flannel on a chair. You washed your hands in the kitchen sink before you walked over to Steve. He had placed a pan on the stove and was looking at the two containers with the leftovers from the day before. You gently nudged him aside and took over warming up the leftovers. Steve gave you a small smile before he leaned against the counter a bit from the stove. You could feel his eyes on you, but you ignored it and focused on cutting up the potatoes into smaller pieces. Peter sat quietly by the counter on one of the barstools, but you were pretty sure that he was watching both Steve and you. After the potatoes were cut you started on the meat.
"Do you have any eggs?" you asked Steve. He did not say a word, but went over to the frigid and came out with five eggs. He placed them beside the stove before he leaned against the counter again looking at you. A small smile tugged in the corner of your mouth. It did not help to notice in the corner of your eye that Steve was smiling at you.
"Instead of looking at me," you smirked. "Why don't you give me a spatula." You were thankful that it did not feel awkward between the two of you. Steve walked over to a drawer and pulled out a spatula. He handed it to you and then walked over to the fridge. He came out with a glass bottle of oil for the pan. You started to fry the food. Steve placed another pan on the stove and started to fry some eggs. It felt homey and easy cooking food next to Steve. You did not talk. But every now and then you saw him glance your way. Then after a while, he gave you a small nudge with his hip, so you nudged him back. You heard Peter make a sound and turned to him. He looked confused so you smiled at him.
"Peter, can you please set the table?" you tilted your head lightly to the side and he nodded. You turned back to the stove and Steve nudged you again. You tried to keep a straight face, but a smile escaped. You saw Steve start smiling bigger and it got harder to not smile as big as him. When the lunch was finished the three of you sat down to eat. Peter wondered how the riding had gone and you talked about it. Then the three of you started talking horses.
"Do you know what horse you want Y/N to have during the cattle drive?" Peter turned to Steve.
"No," Steve answered. "Now that I have seen her ride, I don't think I need her to be on Sweet Pea." Peter smiled at you.
"You are taking her out again tomorrow?" Peter smirked at Steve, who ignored the smirk.
"Yes," Steve nodded. It made you smile.
"I did not realise how much I missed riding," you shared.
"Now that you are here," Peter smiled. "You can do it every day." Steve nodded at this. There was silence and you decided to keep the conversation going.
"So what is the plan for the rest of the day?" you looked at Steve.
"When Peter is finished with his chores he needs to start putting together kits for the cattle drive," Steve took a sip from his glass of water. "Can you help him?"
"Absolutely," you smiled. "Just tell me what the kits need to contain." Steve laughed.
"All the supplies we need," Steve explained.
"Things like tents, utensils for eating, first aid, sleeping pads, mugs and so on," Peter said and you nodded.
"Peter knows what is needed," Steve nodded at Peter. "If something is missing the two of you can go into town and pick it up." Steve continued.
"Is there a car we can use?" you wondered and Steve smiled at you.
"You can take my truck."
"Oh, I want to drive," Peter beamed. Steve shakes his head.
"Y/N drives." He smiled at you. Peter looked down at the table with a pout. Deciding to change the subject, you smiled at Steve again.
"How about all the food?" you wondered.
"Frank is taking care of that," Steve shrugged and took a bite of his food.
"Frank?" you wondered. That was not any of the men you had met.
"I really need to introduce you to all the people on the ranch," Steve smiled. "But Frank usually makes all the food on cattle drives and he agreed to do the same for this."
"He is one of the workers?" you tilted your head to the side. Steve just kept smiling at you.
"Yeah, he is the resident cook and mechanic," Peter answered. "He makes all the food for us at the ranch."
"Wait," you looked around. "You usually eat with the workers, don't you?" Steve scratched his neck.
"Well, yeah," Peter smiled. "We only eat in here on special occasions."
"But why are we not eating with them now?" you looked first at Steve and then Peter. Steve cleared his throat.
"I thought it might be a bit overwhelming," Steve answered, not really looking at you. Overwhelming for who? "And this way we get to know you better."
"Yeah," Peter nodded. "And when Nat is here visiting, we usually eat here in the kitchen." You nodded and tried to wrap your head around it. Even though you understood their reasoning, you hated that they did not live their life as they usually did. You were breaking their routines. Peter and Steve talked about what else was on the agenda for the day, and you just listened, trying to understand what they were talking about.
After lunch Steve left Y/N and Peter to do the dishes and left the house. The thing that was nagging in the back of Steve's head could not be ignored any longer. He had almost kissed Y/N. He could not believe it. Still, he knew that if they had not been interrupted he would have kissed her. And not just once. He had almost done it twice. First, it was all because she had been bitten by a foal, even if it was the foal they all knew was a biter hence the name Nipper. But still. And then when she almost fell to the ground. If Peter hadn't interrupted them, he would have kissed her. To add to all this, he was now going to add 10 people to his cattle drive. How was that going to work? Steve went to the main barn and considered all the things that could go wrong on a cattle drive. Things like poison oak, stampeding cattle, broken legs, and people who could not ride. It could be much worse than that, but if he was lucky it would be the worst that happened and that was not an easy thing to happen. Steve was not a person to second guess a decision, since it wasted time, but now he wondered if it had not been easier just to refund all the deposits and then make Peter work the whole summer to pay him back. Steve sighed. Peter was going to give him grey hairs and probably put him in an early grave.
Steve walked into the barn and headed towards his office. He walked through the filing room, which was a room filled with cabinets that contained all the records for the ranch, breeding information and medical histories for every Black Angus steer, cow, or bull that the Rogers Ranch had ever owned. In his office he walked over to the big map of the area that showed his ranch as well as the neighbouring ranches to the east and west. The normal route for the cattle drive would take him to each end of the ranch, with two weeks of wide-open spaces, an easy ride that would be without the everyday hassles. But this would mean that he would be as far from the main ranch as he could get and sometimes he would be outside the radius of the cell towers that he had installed several years ago. Steve usually took one of his horses, a few supplies, and a few men on the cattle drives. It would be primitive conditions at best. And it was his two favorite weeks of the year. But this year, it was with 10 people who might never have been on a horse. Not all of them could be Y/N. Seeing her ride today and how she handled the horse made it harder for him to ignore what was happening inside of him. Y/N was an amazing rider and he loved seeing how relaxed she looked as well as how at home she looked on his horse and on his land. He tried to tell himself that it's just lust. That it was because he had not been with a woman for far too long, but deep down he knew that it was not true. It was just something about her.
Steve was staring at the map when the sound of footsteps distracted his thoughts. It was just as good. He did not need to think about Y/N more than he already did. He turned his attention back to the map as Bucky entered the room and walked over to stand beside him. Steve took a step closer to the map.
"We can't take all those people on our usual cattle drive," Steve said.
"I know," Bucky said and looked as intensely on the map as Steve did. "So what is the plan?"
"We could follow the river toward the edge of our property that borders the Stark Ranch and then turn west here." Steve pointed to a spot on the map.
"So you are planning on taking them in a circle?" Bucky rubbed his hand over his arm.
"Yeah, a big one. I don't want us to be more than four hours on a horse away from here, the Starks or Banner ranch."
"Do you really think Banner will help?" Bucky frowned.
"He might not appreciate people," Steve said. "But he will not turn down a stranger in need." They looked at the map a few minutes more talking about possible places to sleep.
"I need you to arrange for supplies to be delivered every day and to write up a schedule for the men I am not taking with me," Steve turned to Bucky.
"I can do that," Bucky agreed. "What supplies do you want?"
"I am going to have Frank write up menus and then he can give you a list of the supplies needed," Steve walked to his desk, and therefore he missed how Bucky's eyes widened.
"Steve, you can't take Frank with you," Bucky tried to plead. "He and you are the only ones that can cook edible food. What are the men going to eat?"
"One of you just has to do your best." Steve tried to keep a straight face seeing Bucky's devastated expression. "I think there is enough food in the freezer to make everyone through a week."
"Oh, man," Bucky slumped. Steve ignored Bucky since he would be stuck on the ranch. As Steve's second in command, Bucky would be in charge when Steve was away.
"I will pack the two-way radio with me," Steve changed the subject. "With that, you should be able to reach me all the time." Bucky was still muttering under his breath about losing Frank for a week.
"Want to trade with me?" Steve wondered and that made Bucky stand up straight, since they both knew that taking 10 inexperienced riders out on a cattle drive could be harder than going to hell. Bucky would be crazy taking that trade. So far the June weather had been good, but there was always a possibility for a freak snowstorm or a flash flood. Not to mention bears, runaway horses, snakebites, saddle sores, spooked cattle, or broken bones. Bucky placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"I think it's best that you go and I will keep things running back here." Bucky smiled at his friend.
"I knew you were going to say that."
"Hey, you might have a good time out there, punk," Bucky smirked. Steve laughed, thinking that he probably would not. But then he thought about Y/N. Her smile. Her laugh. Her love for the horses. Maybe Bucky was right.