Blackhill Ranch (2 page)

One trait about my dad is
that he certainly doesn't waste anytime. That's probably why he is
so successful at what he does. Now, I just needed to find Cole and
the infamous Rhet. I wonder what he is really going to be like. I
have seen a few pictures of him and Cole together from college so I
know what he looks like, and I have heard about him so much I feel
like I already know him. What the? Sweet Child of Mine filled the
room. I forgot I had my phone in my back pocket.

“Hello?” I said as I
answered my cell.

“Lexi! I miss your face,
girl. What are you doing? Cleaning up horse shit?” Chloe laughed
into the phone.

“Oh no, I'm going to wait
until you're here to do that.”

“Yeah right, I am not
touching any shit. Period. I will monitor all the hot cowboys
though, I think I could handle that job,” she giggled.

“Haha! So what are you up
to? Working on your tan, or have you found a sugar daddy yet to
support your wannabe celebrity life style?” I teased and laughed to
myself.

“I wish. Okay, so let's
get all of our plans on paper. I'm thinking of leaving this Friday
and I can stay for a week or two. How long do you want to put up
with me? Oh my gosh, guess what? I just bought the cutest purple
boots! You are going to die. I am kind of scared to bring them
though, because I don't want to get them all dirty,” she grumbled
as she muffled her voice.

“Stop being a princess,
that's what boots are for. If you spent that much and you don't
want to get them dirty, then they aren't meant for a ranch. Oh,
Chloe. I am so excited to have you here. I miss your face, too, and
although two weeks sounds like a short amount of time I will take
whatever I can get. How are your parents now that you aren't in
school? Are they still helping you out, or have they cut you off
yet?” I asked as I headed down the trail to the barn
stalls.

Chloe comes from a very
well known family in L.A., and she has become quite accustomed to a
carefree lifestyle. Except her parents think it's about time she
goes out and makes a go of life without their money.

“Ugh, don't remind me. I
mean I have my trust fund, but I won't get a penny until I have an
established job, my own place, and can support myself. Isn't that
the silliest thing you've ever heard? I mean, why would I need a
stupid trust fund if I can do all that. However, they are giving me
the summer to get all my “Pre-Real world” stuff out. So I am yours
for however long! I'll call you when I fly out of L.A. Can you come
and pick me at the airport when I land?” she questioned like I
would leave her stranded.

“Of course! What kind of
question is that? Just email me your itinerary and I'll be there.
Bells and whistles. I love you and I'll see you Friday. Oh my gosh,
I'm so excited!” I yelled as I was reaching the huge barn
doors.

“Okay biotch, don't do
anything I wouldn't do, which isn't much. Well, at least wait until
I am there. Okay? Lexi? Hello... LEXI!”

“Holy hell he is real...”
I barely whispered out.

“Who? What? Who's real?
The Hulk? Superman? What the hell are you talking
about?”

“Wow. So, yeah. Friday.
Right? Whoa, he has a beautiful chest. I better go, they are
looking my way. Love ya.” I clicked the phone off as I heard her
protesting for more information.

So this summer may have
just gotten a little more interesting. To say the least.

Chapter 2

“Well, look what the wind
blew in! My baby sis. Lexi, get over here. What is wrong with you?”
Cole asked as he engulfed me in a huge bear hug.

“What? Oh, nothing. Hi.
Yes, I'm here wind blown and all.” I choked out as I tried my best
to avoid eye contact with what could only be considered as a Greek
God on Earth.

“Right. Well, Lexi, I am
so glad you and Rhet are finally meeting. Only to prove he is not
my imaginary friend, but my real life friend. Rhet, this is my
pride and joy baby sister, Lexi. Lexi, this is my best bud,
Rhet.”

“Hi, Lexi. It’s great to
finally meet you in person.” Rhet smiled as he reached his hand out
towards mine.

Dimples. No. He has
freaking dimples? I am in trouble. Breathe, think. What did he just
say?

“Hi. Yes, and I'm not your
sister,” I blushed and grabbed his hand a little too hard and
started shaking it uncontrollably.

“Well, that's good right?”
He laughed as he let go of my hand and rubbed it a little. “You
have a good grip there, girl.”

“Lex, you couldn't be any
more awkward. Help us saddle up the horses. We are taking them out
for a walk. You can have Paint. I think he missed you.”

Great. I'm a complete
dork. I smiled and headed over to Paint's stall to saddle him up.
Why was I acting so weird? Rhet is Cole's best friend. I couldn't
have feelings for him. Besides, Brian and I were going to get back
together. I think. Even though he doesn't want a Ranch life, and I
don't want to live in a huge city my whole life. I guess I'll worry
about that when the time comes. For now, I need to keep my distance
from Rhet. Wait, weren't we supposed to do the website together
too? Ugh.

“Hi, Paint man. Did you
miss me? I missed you.” Paint huffed and did his signature stomp
and head butt. I loved this horse. We got him right after my mom
passed away from breast cancer. He helped me in ways that no one
will ever understand. If I could have taken him with me to L.A., I
would have. I'm not cruel, so he got to stay and be the boss of
everyone.

“You two sure have a
special bond.”

Goosebumps instantly ran
up my neck. I smiled, turned around quickly, and was face to face
with Rhet. Okay, here it goes. I needed to do the soul mate test.
If I touched him and felt that spark of electricity, then that was
my sign. Here goes nothing. Wait, we already shook hands. Did we
spark? Was I too zoned out to remember the spark? If it happened
once it surely had to happen again. “Yes, we do,” I said as I
touched his arm.

What? Nothing, well crap.
Maybe I didn't touch him in the right spot. So I moved my hand back
and touched his bicep. Nope. Dang it! Except his bicep was amazing.
Okay maybe it's the hands. I was just about to grab his hand when
he laughed and asked me what I was doing.

“What? Oh nothing. I
thought I saw something on you, but I guess I was wrong. You look
good, I mean fine,” I stammered as he laughed and walked back over
to Stormy, shaking his head.

Could I be any stranger?
At least he put his damn shirt back on. Lexi, get with it. Get on
your horse. There was no spark. Great, now I'm talking to myself.
Just then I noticed Cole looking at me with a strange
expression.

“What?” I mouthed as he
mounted his horse, Butterscotch.

He chuckled and shook his
head as well and started to head out the barn doors.

Great, well at least
things couldn't be any more awkward, thanks to yours
truly.

I finished the last strap
on the saddle and hopped up on Paint. He twitched and brayed as we
headed out of the stall. I glanced over at Rhet and he winked at me
as he passed us out of the door. Now he is just torturing me. I
have to stare at his ass, his glorious perfect ass. I guess I can't
complain about that. Ah! I have to stop this. Think of something
gross. Mr. Gonzales from Spanish class, with his shirt off pinching
his nipples. Yup, that did it.

As we stepped out of the
barn I couldn't help but have a sense of calm wash over me. Our
ranch was the most beautiful place on Earth. If you haven't been to
Western Montana you are missing out. It is heaven on Earth, and I
was the lucky girl who got to grow up here.

My parents inherited this
family ranch from my grandparents. They decided they were ready to
travel the world and signed everything over to my Mom and Dad. It
was my mom's idea to change gears and be more of a tourist
destination instead of a working ranch. The great thing about that
is we are busy nonstop from April to October, but then we slow down
the rest of the year. We really aren't the go-to place when we are
under a few feet of snow. We still run cattle during those months
to fill in the gaps, but our main income is from
tourists.

“Hey, Lex, quit day
dreaming and get up here with us!” Cole yelled in front of
me.

“Easy, I'm coming.” It had
been a while since I had been on Paint and it felt wonderful. Well,
maybe my crotch would say a different word, but it takes a few
rides to get back in the swing of things.

“So, Lexi, Cole tells me
you graduated with a business major?” Rhet asked as I trotted up
besides him and Stormy.

“I did, I love business. I
feel like it's just in my blood, and one day I hope to own a Ranch
just like Blackhill, well, I think I do. I guess I'm really not
sure what I want to do.”

“That sounds like a plan.
I would love to have a Ranch someday, too. I grew up in Wyoming so
I love the outdoors and country life.” He smiled as his Greek body
flexed like he was meant to be on a stallion and ride away with a
women in his arms.

Dang!

I blushed and looked
towards Cole. He shook his head at me and pointed towards a hill.
“We'll just ride up past the hill and then loop back by the creek.
We don't need to be out too long. These three and two other horses
are going out on a trail tomorrow with me and some
guests.”

“This is so great how busy
the Ranch has gotten. You've done such a great job, Cole. You were
definitely meant to run this Ranch. Mom would be so proud of how
much you have helped with the guest and groups coming
here.”

He looked over at me and
gave me a devilish grin, “Enough sap, the race is on!”

Cole and Butterscotch were
off like lightning, and Rhet zoomed past me with a bark of a laugh.
I was left in the dust. Well, he was right. The race is on. I gave
Paint a nudge and whispered in his ear to show the boys how it's
done, and with that we were off like a rocket. It didn't take us
but a few seconds to catch up and pass the two guys.

Paint is one of those
horses that if another horse is in front of him, it drives him
crazy. He will do anything and go as fast as he needs to win. We
rounded down the hill and headed for the creek. When we hit the
edge, I slowed Paint down and hopped off so he could get a
drink.

“Good job, boy. You still
have it huh? You're so fast, I'll get you a good treat when we get
back to the barn.” I cooed in his ear as he bent down to quench his
thirst. Cole and Rhet raced up and had big grins on their faces.
“Ladies, it's nice of you to join us. I think Paint was getting
lonely,” I joked as the boys hopped of their horses.

“Haha, very funny. I
should have know better then to race against Paint. He's a beast.”
My brother joked as he led Butterscotch to the creek to join
Paint.

“Man, your land really is
beautiful. Cole, you’re leading the trail ride tomorrow, right? How
long is it?” Rhet asked as he stroked Stormy.

That lucky
horse.

Cole jumped up on
Butterscotch and turned to head up towards Paint and me, “Yeah, I
am. It's only a two day trip. We will stop and camp one night and
head back the next day.”

“I have heard it's a
really sweet family that is coming up for the week. They have some
younger children so that will be a neat experience for
them.”

Cole coughed and caught my
eye. He gave me a confused look and waited for me to say something
but I was busted. Busted for ogling his best friend. Caught
red-handed. “Yeah, that sounds good.” I was acting like an idiot.
Did I act like this with Brian? No, it was so easy with him. He
became my best friend instantly and we always got along. No
weirdness, I never acted like a lunatic around him. I may have to
ask him though. What did that say? Maybe Rhet makes me a crazy
person? That's not good at all, or maybe it's a sign. Me and my
damn signs.

“Let's take it easy back
to the Ranch and then we can feed and brush them,” Cole said and
set a steady slow pace on the trail.

“Sounds great, and then
maybe you and I can talk about plans for the website,” Rhet said as
he looked over my way.

“I am not really that good
at website stuff. Maybe you should just look at it and I'll look
over the finished product?”

“I thought your dad said
you had a real talent for that sort of stuff. If you don't want to
work on it, that's okay. I can try to handle it.” Rhet said with a
hint of disappointment in his voice. Was that disappointment, or
was I just reading him wrong? He definitely made me feel a little
nutty.

“Yeah, I really do like
computers and am pretty good with them.” I blushed and looked away.
“Let's make a plan and maybe we can start on it later today.” What
was my problem? Rhet is Cole's best friend, and my dad adores him.
Of course we could work together. He may even become a good friend
to me, too, at least I could keep telling myself that.